With global warming kicking in and rising sea levels displacing millions to arid regions, there needs to be much more cooling of buildings. Two new passive options need to be welcomed that use readily available, non-toxic substances - metamaterials and unprecedentedly white paint reflecting maximum sunlight away from a building.

Wednesday 10 November 2021 - The accelerating transition of printed/flexible electronics from technology push to market pull; Applications of printed/flexible electronic technologies that have been commercialized over the last 12 months; Roadmap for future adoption; A selection of both technical and commercial developments within the sector over the last year.

Under US sanctions, Huawei's revenue in the first half of 2021 was RMB 320.4 billion, which despite COVID-19 is a 38% decrease from RMB 454 billion in the same period last year; Xu Zhijun, Huawei's rotating chairman, pointed out that Huawei's goal is to survive. IDTechEx has recently launched the new version of their market research report on 5G - "5G Technology, Market and Forecasts 2022-2032". Some of the findings from the new report are presented in this article.

Think of a temperature sensor - and a traditional glass thermometer, or perhaps a small thermistor would probably spring to mind. However, a new class of temperature sensors is rapidly emerging that offers spatial resolution together with a thin-film format.

Thursday 21 October 2021 - IME offers multiple advantages relative to conventional mechanical switches, including reduction in weight and material consumption of up to 70% along with a much simpler assembly. Given these benefits, and increasing interest from OEMs/manufacturers/material suppliers, IDTechEx forecasts IME to be a $1.5bn market by 2032.

Thursday 14 October 2021 - What is the deployment outlook in 5 key regions including China, the U.S., Europe, South Korea, and Japan? Who are the key players? How will this technology disrupt 5G industry dynamics? - and much more.

The widespread adoption of machine vision makes image sensors that can detect light outside the visible spectrum increasingly useful, since the aim is to augment human sight rather than duplicate it. For example, imaging in the short-wave infra-red (SWIR) spectral region, which spans from 1000 to 2000 nm, offers multiple benefits that can supplement conventional cameras.

Attaching electronic components such as integrated circuits and LEDs to substrates is an essential aspect of electronics manufacturing. While conventional lead-free solder excels at the task for conventional rigid PCBs, it is not so well suited for emerging applications that require components to be attached to flexible substrates or conformal surfaces.