#CONSUMER "E-ink unveils color ePaper"

E-Ink Corp. unveiled its long anticipated color version of its ePaper displays called Trition Imaging Film. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) can used the new color film for eBooks, eReaders and other ePaper applications such as color signage. Like its monochrome ePaper, the new Triton film used reflects light for easy reading where ever normal paper is easy to read, such as in bright sunlight. The display also continues its ultra low power tradition by only consuming energy when a page is turned.

E-Ink unveiled its long-anticipated color version of its low power ePaper displays that use filters to impart color it its paper-white films.

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#MEMS: gyro/accelerometer combo chip debuts

Invensense's proprietary fabrication process bonds the MEMS chip element to the ASIC in a stacked pair that seals the MEMS element against environmental contamination. 

Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) vendor Invensense Inc. Tuesday (Nov. 9) introduced the world's first integrated MEMS to include both a gyroscope and accelerometer on a single CMOS die. When used with a magnetometer (compass), the MPU-6000 forms a complete inertial measurement unit (IMU), according to Invensense (Sunnyvale, Calif.) . An integral motion processor core on the chip includes algorithms to fuse the outputs from the accelerometer, gyro and magnetometer to provide nine-degree-of-freedom functionality for applications including smart phones, touchscreen tablets, 3-D TV remote controls, gaming consoles, digital still- and video-cameras.
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#MEMS: "Accelerometer maker offers gyroscope, too"

Kionix' uses orthogonal resonators that harness Coriolis effect to measure gryroscopes angular momentum.

The No. 3 MEMS accelerometer maker worldwide—Rohm Co.'s wholly owned subsidiary Kionix Inc.—announced its first gyroscope model Monday (Nov. 8), for which it claims to have design wins pending at makers of mobile handsets, gaming controllers and automobiles.
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#AUTOMOTIVE: "Freescale rolls with automotive safety"

Freescale Semiconductor's new 77 GHz radar chips detect objects in the areas surrounding the car for adaptive cruise control, blind-spot detection, stop-and-go driving and impact mitigation.

Freescale Semiconductor unveiled new automotive sensor chips to meet consumer demand for increased safety and growing government regulations for better electronic stability and collision avoidance at Monday (Nov. 8) at Electronica 2010 in Munich, Germany. Freescale's new chips include the company's first low-g accelerometer for stability control, plus new matched transmitter and receiver chips for the 77 GHz radars used for collision avoidance, according to the company.
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#MEMS: "Analysts split on MEMS growth rate forecasts"

The micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) chip market will grow to over $7 billion in 2010, according to analysts at iSuppli Corp. and Yole Development, who spoke at the MEMS Executive Congress Wednesday (Nov. 3) in Scottsdale, Ariz. Both analysts forecast double-digit growth over the next five years, but Yole's growth prediction outpaced iSuppli's, projecting a $16 billion market by 2014. ISuppli projects that the market will be worth about $10 billion in 2014. One difference in the two forecasts is emerging MEMS markets in borderline device like electronic-compasses, which Yole counts but iSuppli does not include. Also, iSuppli only counts microfluidic devices cast on silicon substrates,
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#MEMS: "HP pursues 'sensing-as-a-service'"

Hewlett Packard Co. is actively pursuing "sensing as a service" in future applications of its micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) expertise, according to an HP business strategist. Delivering the keynote address at this week's MEMS Executive Congress in Scottsdale, Ariz., Rich Duncombe said MEMS is a unique technology that has been disruptive for 25 years—already revolutionizing multiple industries with no end in sight. HP has been developing MEMS since 1985--mostly for its ink-jet printers—but recently it developing new applications of its MEMS expertise for seismic imaging and infrastructure monitoring.
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#ALGORITHMS: "Eye movement controls gaming console"

Electrodes surround the eye of Doug Farrell, Product Marketing Engineer at National Instruments, as he demonstrates the game Mario controlled by eye movements.

Waterloo Labs, a team of engineers inside National Instruments Corp. (NI), Wednesday (Nov. 3) unveiled the LabView source code to "EyeMario," which demonstrates how video gamers can use their eyes to control Nintendo gaming consoles.
Marrying NI software with electrically isolated data converters from Analog Devices Inc. (ADI), enabled the EyeMario reference design, which NI is making available as a free download. Besides gaming, EyeMario will also being adapted to use in the treatment for amblyopia (lazy eye) as well as to empower people who have lost the use of their hands.
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#QUANTUM: "Researchers claim better 'quantum tunneling'"

Metal-insulator-metal diodes work by using two different metals with different work functions, allowing electrons to tunnel across the gap very quickly without consuming excess power or generating excess heat.

Researchers at Oregon State University (OSU)claim to have perfected a better method for "quantum tunneling" using metal-insulator-metal (MIM) architecture, potentially paving the way for faster, lower power and cooler running electronics. Quantum tunneling offers advantages over traditional current flow, in which electrons jump across device barriers rather than traversing through them, slowing down the flow, increasing power requirements and generating excess heat. Traditional tunneling diodes use a heavily doped p–n junction which has limited their use to discrete devices.
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