"CHIPS New Blackfin microcontroller lowers cost and power"

Analog Devices has added to its lineup of Blackfin microcontrollers. The new lower-priced, lower-power units target voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephones, mobile handheld devices, automotive- and industrial-controllers.
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=211600716
Audio: http://i.cmpnet.com/eetimes/audio/slideshow/56/6.mp3

"PODCAST: Week in Review, Oct. 24, 2008"

This week our top technology stories include how a new solar materal absorbs more of the Sun's rays, how mobile video-chat is enabled by WiMAX, how Google's Android gets improved security, how new chips can make cars safer, how to soup-up a car with 32-bit microcontroller and how to get warnings about upcoming road hazards.
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/podcast
Audio: http://i.cmpnet.com/eetimes/audio/NextGenLog-08-10-24.mp3
Slideshow: http://www.eetimes.com/galleries/slideShow.jhtml?galleryID=55

"CHIPS: Ziptronix unveils 3-D chip stacking technique"

Ziptronix (Research Triangle Park, N.C.) said the technology can be used for either wafer-to-wafer or chip-to-wafer stacking, further claiming that its 3-D bonding process is low-cost and provides high yields. The details were revealed in U.S. Patent 7,387,944 (on low temperature covalent bonding) and U.S. Patent 6,962,835 (on the direct bond interconnect). Based on through-silicon vias (TSVs), the company claims its low-temperature oxide bond provides a metal-to-metal contact for vias, without the high temperatures necessary when using thermal compression techniques.
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=211600160

"CHIPS: ST, Nokia unit collaborate on car navigation system"

In-car systems that warn drivers of road hazards like taking a curve too fast have been developed in a collaborative agreement between STMicroelectronics and Nokia subsidiary Navteq. The hybrid system embeds GPS in automobiles with or without navigation map displays so that even low-end models can warn drivers of upcoming hazards. Navteq databases feeding ST's GPS-based chips compare a car's current speed to a safe speed for upcoming curves and either issue a verbal warnings, vibrate the steering wheel, flash a warning light or reduce speed. Similar warnings can be issued to adaptive cruise controls that prevent collisions with automobiles, reduce speed automatically on highway exit ramps, limit speeds in urban areas and warn of obscured traffic lights over upcoming hills.
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=211300571
Audio: http://i.cmpnet.com/eetimes/audio/slideshow/55/3.mp3

"ENERGY: Solar material absorbs entire spectrum"

Current solar materials must be chosen to match a specific wavelength of sunlight, but a new hybrid inorganic/organic material could usher in solar cells that absorb all solar wavelengths. The new polymer could also enable much more efficient charge separation since electrons dislodged by light in the material remain free much longer than in conventional solar cells.
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=211300474
Audio: http://i.cmpnet.com/eetimes/audio/slideshow/55/1.mp3

"MEMS: devices to feel impact of consumer slowdown"

MEMS device growth will experience an impact from the credit crisis, since consumer products make up more than 50 percent of the MEMS market, a new report from The Information Network predicts. Neverthess, The Global MEMS Device, Equipment, and Materials Markets: Forecasts and Strategies estimates that new applications for MEMS in industrial, automotive, and other fields will lead to a 25 percent growth in 2008 to just over 2.5 billion units. On a dollar basis, the market will grow 11 percent, to $7.8 billion. The consumer portion of the total dollar value will exceed $3.5 billion of that $7.8 billion, the study predicts. In 2012, consumer applications of MEMS will reach $7.1 billion, approximately 46 percent of a total market of $15.4 billion.
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=211300215
Audio: http://i.cmpnet.com/eetimes/audio/slideshow/55/4.mp3

"WIRELESS: Android gets security suite"

Google Inc. is now has a security software suite from Mocana Corp. available for its Android Mobile Platform. Designed for OEMs using Android specifications for the Open Handset Alliance, Mocana's software suite, called NanoPhone, builds security algorithms into Android smart phones. San Francisco-based Monaca said it aims to add Blackberry-like wireless security to the Android smart phone.
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=211300198
Audio: http://i.cmpnet.com/eetimes/audio/slideshow/55/2.mp3

"CHIPS: New chips up safety margins for drivers"

Convergence 2008 in Detroit featured the debut of smart image processing chips that could enable future cars to make decisions based on visual information for navigational tasks like collision avoidance, green energy functions like motion-activated dashboards and environment comfort like automatic window tinting. STMicroelectronics (Geneva) announced a smart CMOS image sensor that runs decision-making vision processing software from Mobileye (Amstelveen, Netherlands). Separately, Elmos Semiconductor (Dortmund, Germany) showed an optical motion detection chip that can read hand gestures in 3-D and a sun-angle sensor that does not require an optical focusing mechanism.
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=211300147
Audio: http://i.cmpnet.com/eetimes/audio/slideshow/55/5.mp3