GENERAL

Jack St. Clair Kilby's invention of the integrated circuit (IC), or microchip, at Texas Instruments in 1958 revolutionized the world, creating limitless applications for computers, calculators, space-age technology and much more. For his contribution to the field of engineering, Kilby received numerous awards and honors, including the Nobel Prize in Physics, National Medal of Science and induction into the Inventors Hall of Fame. Unknown to most people, however, is Kilby's artistic bent, which included making photographs of great sensitivity and beauty.

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Texas Instruments Incorporated introduced its second-generation, 15-W, stereo analog-input Class-D amplifiers with single-ended outputs. These highly-efficient devices eliminate components to reduce total solution size and cost in HDTVs and other consumer audio electronics. Innovative features address single-ended design challenges to ensure robust and reliable audio performance in LCD, plasma and DLP® TVs and other home audio products.

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Building on its leadership in power management and energy-efficient products, National Semiconductor announced that it has entered the photovoltaic market with new technology designed to increase the overall energy output of solar electric power generating systems. National's SolarMagic technology extracts the maximum power efficiency of each photovoltaic panel, even when some panels in the array are compromised by shading, debris or inherent panel-to-panel mismatch.

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EPCOS has now introduced the B1642 SAW filter for broadband TV and Internet access via cable modems. It has been developed specifically for the new international DOCSIS 3.0 standard (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification), which will be used primarily in the USA and South Korea. This standard places particularly high demands on receivers and filters because several TV channels are bundled in a 100 MHz wide frequency band at a transmission rate of over 100 Mbit/s.

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Cypress Semiconductor Corp. announced that Savant Systems, LLC has selected Cypress's CYRF6936 proprietary 2.4-GHz wireless solution for its ROSIE RF remote controls. The ROSIE remotes use the robust Cypress wireless technology to overcome limitations of infrared, including line of sight requirements and range of less than 10 meters. The CYRF6936 wireless device operates flawlessly anywhere within a 50-meter range, regardless of sight lines, allowing end users to move around the house freely. The ROSIE remotes also use Cypress PSoC® mixed-signal arrays, and the accompanying wireless receivers use enCoRe™ II microcontrollers.

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Renesas Technology Europe today announced the SH-MobileUL2 (product name: SH7366) in the SH-Mobile*¹ Series of application processors for mobile phones. Designed for popularly priced mobile phones incorporating multimedia-processing functions, the SH-MobileUL2 delivers an enhanced cost-performance ratio. Sample shipments will begin in September 2008.

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Vishay Intertechnology released a new 35 W thick film power resistor featuring a compact, easy-to-mount TO-263 package (D2PAK) and a broad range of resistance values. The new D2TO35 thick film resistor is non-inductive and provides a wide resistance range of 0.01 %u03A9 to 550 k%u03A9. Packaged in the very small TO-263, which measures a mere 10.1 mm by 10.4 mm with a low 4.5-mm profile, the resistor saves valuable space on the circuit board, allowing designers to reduce the size of their end products.

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Fujitsu Microelectronics Limited announced the development of a 256Mbit Consumer FCRAM(1) product for digital consumer electronics, the MB81EDS256545. The new FCRAM product runs on low power consumption and is ideal for system-in-package (SiP)(2) designs, with samples available from today. Key product features include a 64-bit I/O, low power DDR SDRAM interface that enables data transfer capabilities equivalent to two DDR2 SDRAMs(3) with 16-bit I/O, while reducing power consumption by a maximum of approximately 1 watt (1W) (equivalent to approximately 70%)(4), thus contributing to power savings for digital consumer electronics.

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Texas Instruments Incorporated offers equipment manufacturers another option to further innovate their IP phone and VoIP device offerings with the announcement of its Modular Open Voice Engine (MOVE) software, a flexible voice solution ported to run on TI's TMS320C64x TM digital signal processor (DSP) core. MOVE is a highly optimized system software architecture that enables equipment manufacturers to meet the next-generation processing requirements for a broad range of IP-enabled devices utilizing a field-proven voice engine.

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Debiotech and STMicroelectronics introduced first evaluation prototypes of a unique miniaturized insulin-delivery pump. The tiny device can be mounted on a disposable skin patch to provide continuous insulin infusion, enabling substantial advancements in the availability, treatment efficiency and the quality of life of diabetes patients. The breakthrough Nanopump, which relies on microfluidic MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical System) technology, has successfully passed initial testing stages and is now ready to enter volume manufacturing.

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