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Electronix Express Newsletter
December 2006 Issue
Welcome to the December 2006 Issue of the Electronix Express Newsletter
1. Battery-free Sensors Convert Motion into Energy
MicroStrain, a company that develops and produces innovative, smart, wireless, microminiature displacement, orientation and force sensors, has won a US Navy contract to develop wireless strain sensors that can operate indefinitely thanks to their ability to harvest energy from the rotating helicopter components on which they are installed.
The piezoelectric components generated approximately 1 mW in tests simulating straight, level flight and approximately 5 mW in simulations of maneuvers such as hard climbs and gunnery turns. The sensors, used to monitor strain for monitoring fatigue and estimating component life, consume 0.9 mW while sampling 40 times/sec and transmitting their findings as far as 70m, according to the company.
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2. Samsung Touts Super Slim LCD Panel
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has claimed what it says is the thinnest reported LCD panel at 0.82mm. According to Samsung, this would make this LCD panel, 0.07mm thinner than the panel previously reported to be the world's slimmest.
The company also announced that it has developed a new mobile technology, which it is calling, i-Lens, for integrating the entire panel assembly, including a protective layer, into a single, thinner module that is more shock-resistant and easier to read than conventional panels. To achieve the slimmer package size, Samsung said its mobile display team redesigned the light guide plate subassembly and the glass substrate, which accounted for most of the LCD module's thickness.
In Samsung's i-Lens process, a shock-resistant protective sheet is fastened directly to the LCD module, thereby eliminating the space between it and the panel surface. With i-Lens, the thickness of the LCD module is reduced to 0.82mm, while resolving the sunlight reflection problem the company said is inherent in the use of reinforced plastic. The new LCD screen is available in 2.1-inch-diagonal and 2.2-inch-diagonal screen sizes. Mass production is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2007.
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3. Mobile Security Set for Expansion
A new study from Juniper Research has found that the market for mobile security products, including anti-virus, VPN, data and file encryption and mobile identity management applications, will reach almost $5 billion by 2011 and be installed on 247 million mobile phones by that time. There are several factors driving this new market segment. They include the security risk of identity theft, the unauthorised access to corporate networks by mobile devices, the growing threat of mobile viruses and malware, corporate governance and state legislation, and the increased dependence by mobile users on the delivery and storage of critical data on their mobile phones. Juniper Research interviewed representatives of some of the fastest growing mobile security vendors uncovering a unique insight into the current and near-future status of the mobile security market.
The biggest mobile security opportunity will be in the secure mobile content sector (anti-virus, anti-spam, anti-spyware and content filtering) with 40% of the total market.
Mobile biometric solutions will contribute some $268 million worth of revenue of the total mobile identity and access management market ($1.36 billion) by 2011.
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4. Bluetooth Development Aids the Hard of Hearing
A powerful Bluetooth development tool has helped Sound ID to commercialize an innovative headset for the hard of hearing. This tool employs wireless communications to link an in-ear module with a remote microphone. The xIDE software development kit from Cambridge Consultants allowed Sound ID to eliminate the need for a separate microprocessor in its in-ear headset, by fully exploiting the processor that comes as part of the Bluetooth chip, to control the overall hearing system. This resulted in considerable savings, in terms of both real estate and the bill-of-materials. The approach also substantially reduced power consumption, another critical area of performance for this type of product.
Sound ID's Personal Sound System looks like a small Bluetooth mobile phone headset.
However, inside the device is a DSP that can be configured by an audiologist, or the user, to amplify sound based on individual preferences. The Bluetooth capability allows the ear module to link with a remote microphone that can be positioned to improve signal-to-noise ratio. It also acts just like a standard Bluetooth headset for a mobile phone, automatically switching from continuous amplification mode, to hands-free mode when a call is in progress.
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5. Digital Hearing Aid Worn On the Body
The hardware-design group at India's government-funded Center for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) has developed a low-cost digital programmable hearing aid (DPHA) that a user wears on his body. The DPHA-1 device employs a proprietary ASIC and embedded DSP to deliver stable amplification characteristics over a wide dynamic range.
DPHAs can be tailored to improve clarity of speech, reduce background noise, and help control unwanted loudness. You can also program them to make automatic adjustments in a variety of settings. These features give DPHAs an advantage over conventional hearing aids. CDAC's DPHA-1 features a digital volume control to eliminate the crackling-noise characteristic of conventional hearing aids and incorporates frequency dependent filtering to match its output to the audiogram of the user. You can reprogram the device in the field with PC-based software to tailor the output to match the user's hearing characteristics over a period of time. Body-worn DPHAs are more convenient for children.
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6. Canada Home to Fastest-Growing Technology Companies in 2006
Canada, known in the past for its Silicon Tundra, is home to some of the fastest-growing technology companies of 2006, as ranked by accounting and research firm Deloitte and Touche USA LLP.
For the first time in the five years Deloitte and Touche has ranked fast-growth companies, Canada at 3,876 percent had higher average growth than all other North American regions. By comparison, the U.S. average is 1,927 percent. Deloitte and Touche's ranking tracks the 500 fastest-growing North American companies in technology, media, telecommunications and life sciences. The program is based on percentage revenue growth over five years (fiscal year revenues 2001-2005).
Canadian companies have enjoyed a steady increase in average growth, from 1,597 percent in 2004 to 2,195 percent in 2005 to this year's 3,876 percent. Canadian companies are also among the top winners. Five of the Top 10 companies on the Fast 500 list are based in Canada, and two are in the Top 5. Last year, Canada was represented by one company in the Top 10. It had no winners in the Top 10 in the previous three years.
- TECHNOLOGY FAST 500: Top 5 companies
- No. 1: Occam Networks Inc. had a revenue growth rate over five years of 48,948 percent. It moved from revenues of $80,000 in 2001 to $39,238,000 in 2005. Based in Santa Barbara, Calif., the company is a publicly held provider of telecom equipment based on IP and Ethernet.
- No. 2: Westport Innovations Inc, a Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based publicly held company, is a supplier of alternative fuel power technologies. It reported revenues of $34,436,000 in 2005, a leap of 42,945 percent from 2001 revenues of $80,000.
- No. 3: Litle and Co., a Lowell, Mass.-based privately held company, provides payment processing and management services to direct commerce merchants. It reported revenues of $34,796,000 in 2005, a leap of 33,683 percent from 2001 revenues of $103,000
- No. 4: Airborne Entertainment Inc., a Montreal-based privately held communications/networking company, develops and packages mobile content. It reported revenues of $35,768,000 in 2005, a leap of 33,328 percent from 2001 revenues of $107,000.
- No. 5: NewMarket Technology Inc., a Dallas-based publicly held software company, works with new, innovative technologies and takes them to market. It reported revenues of $50,138,000 in 2005, a leap of 31,633 percent from 2001 revenues of $158,000.
- FAST-GROWTH INDUSTRIES WITHIN THE 2006 FAST 500 (average percent growth by industry)
- Communications/networking - 3,778 percent, up from 2,242 in 2005
- Scientific/technical instrumentation - 3,156 percent, up from 1,173 percent in 2005
- Semiconductors - 2,313 percent, down from 4,302 percent in 2005
- Internet - 2,299 percent, down from 3,983 percent in 2005
- Biotechnology/pharmaceutical - 1,897 percent, up from 1,420 percent in 2005
- Software - 1,822 percent, down from 2,400 percent in 2005
- Medical equipment - 1,553 percent, down from 3,129 percent in 2005
- Computers/peripherals - 883 percent, up from 877 percent in 2005
- Media/entertainment - 675 percent (this is the first time for this category)
SOURCE: DELOITTE and TOUCHE USA LLP
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