Aaeon, a developer of industrial computers and intelligent retail systems, has released an updated version of its Intelligent Vending Development Kit.The kit includes a vending machine controller unit, a separate UP board PC unit to handle the interactive retail functions, a motor for the machine's internal mechanisms, a camera, a QR Code device, and all the cables needed to connect these components. Additional WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity components are also available on request.Aaeon is now offering two versions of its Intelligent Vending Development Kit, but both come with the Windows 10 IoT Enterprise OS and a customer-friendly API pre-installed, the vendor said. The kits also utilize the power of the UP board and its Intel Atom x5-z8350 processor and DDR3L memory to manage a facial recognition program.Accordig to Aaeon, as a customer approaches the vending machine, an image of their face is captured and their age range, gender and mood are detected. Based on the results, a particular set of products are recommended. Crucially, the process happens almost instantaneously, so there is no risk of the customer being inconvenienced.The latest version of the development kit also incorporates Microsoft Azure and Power BI services. With this service, information about every product sold and the gender, age range and mood of each buyer is collated by Azure and broken down by Power BI's data analytics tools. The result is real-time inventory control information and a series of insightful customer behavior reports and charts that operators can access at any time. Users who buy this version of the development kit will also receive a 60-day free trial for the Power BI Pro service."Intelligent vending machines represent the future of automatic retailing," AAEON design manufacturing product manager Brenda Huang said. "Increasingly, customers are both expecting and relying on intelligent, interactive systems, and the data these machines collect will also give businesses an edge over their competitors."

Clientron Corp., a global leading provider of POS, thin client, and embedded systems, will proudly present its latest product innovation including all-in-one POS terminal and POS peripheral with the benefit of reliability, flexibility and functionality at FHA 2018 (Food & Hotel Asia 2018), Asia's most comprehensive international Food & Hospitality Trade Event. This exhibition will take place April 24-27, 2018 in Singapore Expo. Clientron booth is located at Hospitality Technology sector, booth 4K2-03.Demonstrating its leading POS innovation and rich product portfolio, Clientron's displays will include: the innovative PST650 all-in-one POS terminal with a built-in high speed thermal printer and a small, lightweight form factor for counter space savings; the most affordable POS terminal, PT2000, in a fanless design with long life span support to both entry and mainstream POS market segments; and the top-of-the-line POS terminal Ares755 with powerful Intel 7th Core i processors for high-performance options.Furthermore, Clientron will highlight the tower type Bello650 with 15" touch displays in a solid aluminum enclosure; and the Wing series - the butterfly lightweight POS terminal with a flexible dual-hinge stand design. Besides that, there will be the fanless, vent-free Ares650 series with an up-to-date ultra-slim aluminum system enclosure as well as cost-effective PT3200 all-in-one POS terminal for the mainstream POS market. Moreover, many of the extended portfolios of integrated POS peripherals will also be exhibited in this event.For more information about Clientron or its products, please visit us at booth 4K2-03, FHA 2018, or visit Clientron's website: www.clientron.com.Clientron to display its latest POS terminals at FHA 2018

Avnet Asia Pacific will host the Avnet Sigfox Conference 2018 at the Hong Kong Science Technology Park on April 19. The conference will showcase Avnet's enterprise solutions using Sigfox's network technologies to support companies embarking on IoT projects."As the partner of choice for IoT, Avnet is able to provide an integrated ecosystem that connects different parties with the three major types of low-power wide area network (LPWAN) technologies - Sigfox, LoRa and NB-IoT," said Joe Chung, director, solutions development, Avnet Asia. "We can customize solutions and designs, and bundle the required products and services with system integrators, service providers, device manufacturers, cloud platform providers, and components suppliers to simplify complexities of the IoT ecosystem, thereby reducing time to market. Through this integrated approach, we can support and drive IoT initiatives for our customers."Recently, Avnet entered into a global agreement with Sigfox to jointly promote their products and services. With the Sigfox Ecosystem Partner Agreement, Avnet is able to connect different parties to offer a complete end-to-enterprise solution in Sigfox: components from suppliers such as ON Semiconductor, NXP, STMicroelectronics; Sigfox-compliant modules from device manufacturers such as Wisol; connectivity services from network providers including Thinxtra and UnaBiz, and complementing with Avnet's design capabilities to customize IoT solutions. The conference will feature a line-up of speakers from many of these parties.Sigfox's competence in LPWAN makes their technology one of the most widely-deployed networks that serves IoT connectivity and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications. These network technologies are required in most smart city applications, as they are particularly suited for long-distance data transmission (more than 20km). The conference will demonstrate Avnet's capabilities at implementing Sigfox services within Avnet's end-to-end solutions, which in turn help bring customers' ideas to market.Avnet is committed to establishing itself as the partner of choice in the development of LPWAN and IoT solutions through a series of partnerships in Asia. Late last year, Avnet utilized the LoRa platform to work with Cisco on its first visionary smart-city program, "Digital Living Lab," which aims to build a smart and connected Hong Kong. Earlier this year, Avnet also collaborated with local telecommunications firm, 3 Hong Kong, to offer system integration support to start-up companies selected by the firm's "3Innocity" campaign, paving a way towards accessing 3 Hong Kong's expanded Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) network connectivity.

The lighting business of APD Group has long dedicated to the R&D and manufacturing of LED smart lighting for many years. Its lighting solutions are compatible with the latest related protocols in the lighting field and can provide a wider range of application solutions for smart lighting. APD will participate in the "Taiwan International Lighting Show 2018" (Booth Number: B0937a) held at the Taipei World Trade Center (TWTC) Exhibition Hall 1 from April 25 to 28 and introduce the newly developed LED smart lighting solutions at the exhibition.With the increasing trend of integration of smart cities, smart homes and the Internet of Things (IoT) technology, governments in particular have taken the lead in promoting smart lighting projects in many cities, which have the advantages of energy saving, convenience, and easy control, making the demand for smart lighting grow rapidly.Research institutions estimate that the global smart lighting market will reach US$13.4 billion by 2020, especially in the fast-growing areas of smart cities and industrial and commercial lighting, which is a priority for development and application. Backed by technological advantages from its complete R&D capabilities, APD's newly developed LED smart lighting solution features dimming stability and support for short-circuit, overload, over-current and overheating protection mechanisms. It is designed to meet the diversified needs of different users on LED dimming, switching, and scenario-based power setting, making it suitable for a wide range of lighting applications in all types of smart homes, building space, and industrial and commercial facilities.APD has been cultivating the lighting field for more than 20 years and has a strong R & D technical strength. In addition, APD prides itself on being an expert in offering customized design services based on customers' special requirements, which is the biggest advantage of APD over other power supply manufacturers. Moreover, the customized services provided by APD can fully meet the requirements for diversity, high quality, and high safety standards of lighting products. By working with its customers, APD has been able to continuously develop smart lighting products that offer clear competitive advantages.For more details, please visit APD Group's website for the smart lighting power solutions: http://www.apd.com.tw/en/our-products/lighting/smart-lighting/APD led DALI driver for smart lighting power solution

Indium Corporation has been recognized by ON Semiconductor for their "perfect" quality in 2017.Indium Corporation, one of more than 3,000 ON Semiconductor production suppliers, was selected for its commitment to ensuring high quality and supply continuity in an evolving semiconductor market.The annual Perfect Quality Award was presented to Weng Fai Pang, managing director for Asia-Pacific Operations, and Tim Twining, vice president of Marketing, at ON Semiconductor's Supplier Executive Conference in March in Hong Kong.Indium Corporation is a materials manufacturer and supplier to the global electronics, semiconductor, thin-film, and thermal management markets. Products include solders and fluxes; brazes; thermal interface materials; sputtering targets; indium, gallium, germanium, and tin metals and inorganic compounds; and NanoFoil. Founded in 1934, the company has global technical support and factories located in China, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the USA.For more information about Indium Corporation, visit www.indium.com.(From left to right): ON Semiconductor president and CEO Keith D Jackson; Indium's Weng Fai Pang, managing director for Asia-Pacific Operations; Indium's Tim Twining, VP of Marketing; and ON Semiconductor's Keenan Evans, SVP, Quality, Reliability, and EHS.

Leading semiconductor test equipment supplier Advantest Corporation (TSE: 6857) has introduced its T5503HS2 memory tester, the industry's most productive test solution for the fastest memory devices available today as well as next-generation, super-high-speed DRAMs. The new system's flexibility extends the capabilities of the T5503 product family in the current "super cycle," in which global demand for memories is skyrocketing.The memory super cycle has been driven by rapid growth in end markets including portable electronics and servers. Mobile DRAM bit share has grown more than 500 percent since 2009, according to market research firm IHS Markit. Market research firm IHS Markit estimates that, by 2021, 120 billion gigabits of DRAM capacity will be needed for such diverse data-processing applications as mobile electronics, data centers, automobiles, gaming and graphics cards. To meet this large and growing demand, chip makers are developing new, advanced SDRAM technologies such as DDR5 and LP-DDR5 memories with data-transfer speeds up to 6.4 gigabits per second (Gbps).Advantest's T5503HS2 is designed to provide test solutions for this new wave of memories as well as existing devices. It is capable of testing at speeds up to 8 Gbps with overall timing accuracy of +/-45 picoseconds. Leveraging its 16,256 channels, the highly versatile system achieves the semiconductor industry's highest parallelism and best cost efficiency in testing next-generation LP-DDR5 and DDR5 SDRAM devices while also allowing users to continue testing today's DDR4 ICs, LP-DDR4 devices and high-bandwidth memories. When equipped with an optional 4.5-GHz high-speed clock, the new tester has the scalability to handle future memory ICs with data rates exceeding 8 gigabits per second.With its built-in features, the T5503HS2 is the only production-volume tester for next-generation, ultra-high-speed memories that supports key new features in LP-DDR5 and DDR5 devices. For instance, the tester can automatically recognize and adjust DQS-DQ timing differences to secure more timing margin by real-time tracking. In addition, a robust new algorithmic pattern generator (ALPG) allows fast, high-quality evaluation of advanced device features. The T5503HS2 also comes with a new programmable power supply that responds four times faster than the previous edition, resulting in much lower voltage drop.Users currently operating T5503 testers can upgrade to the new T5503HS2 system to seamlessly and economically transition their production floors for the next generation of memory devices."Our T5503HS2 delivers best-in-class performance and precision for at-speed testing of next-generation memory ICs," said Masuhiro Yamada, executive officer at Advantest Corporation. "The system's unmatched scalability and productivity enable it to evaluate LP-DDR5 and DDR5 devices as quickly, accurately and cost effectively as possible."The first system shipments to customers are expected to begin in the second quarter of this year. More information about Advantest Corporation is available at www.advantest.com.

The booming GPU market, propelled by new implementations ranging from deep learning, virtual currency mining, computer vision and versatile smart manufacturing applications, is boosting the market values of chipmakers. In 2018, this momentum will continue for GPU and CPU vendors with growing demands for edge computing and upcoming fifth generation communication (5G) solutions, which involves participating in distributed cloud networks and requires more processing power and data IO bandwidth.Key vendors such as Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) have benefitted from the increased demand for these solutions. Observers noted that AMD gains in the market are significant and return to competitive footing in x86 processor solutions since the company's multiple successful launches of its 'Zen' architecture CPUs and 'Vega' cored GPUs in the second half of 2017. From the desktop to notebooks and data center servers, AMD processors offer compelling alternatives versus key competitors and have received a resoundingly positive market reception for successful introduction to big datacenter customers.In February 2018, AMD announced the EPYC Embedded 3000 and Ryzen Embedded V1000 series processors based on the "Zen" core and tailored to the growing embedded system market. The new families of processors are designed for core networking and storage applications to edge computing usage models in a wide variety of markets such as military and aerospace, casino and gaming, retail, healthcare and industrial solutions and applications. With this announcement, AMD is bringing the "Zen" architecture to many more applications beyond just PCs and Servers. Especially the rapid developments in hardware, software, and communication technologies that allow emergence of Internet of Things (IoT) devices can manage things and make life much easier for human beings.Machine learning for IoT data analysis boosting technological evolutionIn his keynote speech during the Embedded Technology Forum hosted by Digitimes, Steve Longoria, Corporate Vice President Sales, Datacenter and Embedded Solutions Business Group, AMD, explained IoT as billions of connections through LTE and 5G. The real meaning of IoT is enabling smart applications through machine learning algorithms that encompass every aspect of our lives, Longoria added.Intelligent processing and analysis of massive amounts of data is the key to developing smart IoT applications. Modern examples range from the car-sharing economy, high speed rail systems, airport visual security systems and aviation safety technologies. As more and more data has been collected by the internet, remote sensing networks, mobile devices and the Internet of Things, these varieties of applications require massive IO connectivity and bandwidth to analyze tens of terabytes in size in airport hubs or train stations. Data analytics and relevant technologies make up a 20 billion dollar opportunity, and AMD is proactively embracing the data-rich era with the launch of its new embedded processors.The highly scalable AMD embedded processor families deliver powerful performance, space savings and energy efficiency in edge computing systems. As edge infrastructure is distributed across wide regions, spanning gateway devices and cloud providers, it is very important to provide cybersecurity features to help protect data at the hardware level with an on-chip secure processor. Notable features of AMD product offerings are more advanced security features with Secure Memory Encryption, Secure Encrypted Virtualization, and Secure Boot technologies on system. And the most significant value, the application software could benefit from these features without changing source code.Ecosystem partners boost market shares with near-term product deploymentsVersatile smart solutions and use cases are driving success for AMD's new embedded processors, said Stephen Turnbull, Director, Product Marketing, Datacenter and Embedded Solutions Business Group, AMD. In examining 2018 market trends, he finds smart healthcare and smart manufacturing as two major areas expected to maintain strong growth.For example, AMD Ryzen Embedded V1000 customer Esaote, based in Italy, announced the MyLab 9 eXP ultrasound system for medical imaging, women's healthcare and cardiovascular diagnostics. The AMD processors use an artificial intelligence algorithm to execute sophisticated Noise Cancellation features. With these unique visualization tools, Esaote can display ultrasound image results with clarity and sensitivity to help doctors make more informed clinical decisions. Furthermore, the small footprint and low power consumption of Esaote's medical system enables medical organizations and healthcare centers to increase productivity and explore more portable medical system options.With more than 20 years providing processors for the embedded market, AMD has a strong presence in digital signage, thin client, casino and arcade gaming, networking, smart healthcare and smart manufacturing markets. Several Taiwan ecosystem partners are deploying 23 various AMD Ryzen Embedded V1000 and AMD EPYC Embedded 3000 solutions. With near-term product deployments and highly integrated solutions, AMD is ushering in a new age for embedded processors and looking to increase market share and business opportunities.Steve Longoria (left), CVP Sales, and Stephen Turnbull (right), Director of Product Marketing, AMD Datacenter and Embedded Solutions Business Group

Leading semiconductor test equipment supplier Advantest Corporation will exhibit its innovative test solution for semiconductor-based pressure sensors used in advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and moderate a panel discussion on the evolving appearance and operation of automobiles at SAE's WCX World Congress, coming April 10-12 to Cobo Center in Detroit, Michigan.Rugged, on-board sensors are in high demand for automotive applications, where their usage ranges from reducing carbon-dioxide emissions to enabling ADAS-enabled vehicles. Ensuring the reliable performance of these sensors and shortening the development time for new automotive systems requires highly efficient test solutions.In booth S4000 throughout the WCX World Congress, Advantest will exhibit its HA7200 system, capable of precisely controlling the temperature and pressure in testing automotive pressure sensors. Designed for evaluating up to four sensors simultaneously, the HA7200 can be coupled with a handler and the EVA100 measurement system to create a high-productivity test cell that optimizes a user's engineering, prototyping and manufacturing processes. This test cell is already in use at multiple customer companies.In addition, Advantest's vice president of global marketing communications, Judy Davies, will moderate a roundtable discussion with seven automotive industry executives sharing their insights and opinions regarding how new generations of electronics, hardware, software, system architectures and manufacturing processes are changing the automobile industry. The 90-minute event will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 12, in the Ambassador Ballroom, Room #360 of the Cobo Center.

With smart medical care and health care becoming hot topics in the industry, medical electronics are igniting the growth momentum of the information communication technology market. The demand for software and hardware of medical equipment has become the focus of development in the industry. APD Group, which shines in the field of medical power supplies in recent years, will participate in the China International Medical Equipment Fair 2018 (CMEF) and International Component Manufacturing & Design Show 2018 (ICMD) from April 11 to April 14, and will present a full range of medical power solutions. (National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai), Hall 6.1, Booth No.: F26)Backed by the industry's highest level of "UL Safety Laboratory" and "Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Laboratory," APD has a solid R&D team and technical strength accumulated over the years. Whether it is in product safety, EMC, study of the standard for energy efficiency, or certification testing, APD is in full compliance the newest industry standards, such as IEC/EN/UL 62368, IEC/EN/UL60950-1, and IEC/EN/UL60065, providing professional, efficient and competitive certification services to help customers quickly push their products to the global market.APD also passed ISO13485 certification for medical device quality management system and IEC60601 medical safety standards compliance certification in 2015, and meets the stringent requirements of "high quality, high stability, high safety standards" demanded by the medical care market.In addition, the extensive cooperation experience with many world-renowned brand customers, including European, Australian and Japanese international manufacturers, has also become the key to the success of APD Group. Mr. Chia-Ming Tsai, General Manager, said, "APD Group can provide highly customized power supply design based on the needs of medical customers, and fully meet the requirements of medical power diversification and stringent safety standards. This is the biggest advantage that APD Group enjoy and that is what separates us apart from other power supply manufacturers."For more information, please visit APD Group power solution.APD Group's customized power supply design

Innodisk, a leading provider of storage, memory and expansion cards for the embedded and industrial market, is using an innovative method to counter frame loss for surveillance systems using flash storage.The solid state drive (SSD) is increasingly finding its rightful place in the surveillance world. New surveillance features such as facial recognition, data analytics, and smart city solutions, all require large data amounts to be handled on-the-spot. As an example, picture a busy intersection that does not just run on timed signals, but rather changes dynamically according to traffic. Cameras follow the ebb and flow of vehicles and people while simultaneously calculating the most efficient flow of traffic. While this requires a lot of computational power, even incremental improvements will lead to significant cost savings for society. Modern surveillance features such as this are what gives the better performing SSD a leg up on the legacy hard disk drive (HDD).Innodisk was approached by one of its partners that had run into some issues with SSDs used in surveillance equipment. The equipment recorded high-resolution video where consistent quality was vital to the application. However, when testing this new setup, the recordings would all exhibit re-occurring frame loss; leaving the equipment manufacturer at a loss as to the reason behind it.The crux of the problem lay in the execution of background processes (garbage collection and wear leveling), which handle the deletion of SSD data. These processes usually kick in when the SSD workload is lighter, as to minimize the impact on performance. This obviously introduces some problems to surveillance recording, which is constantly running, as any background process will cause a drop in video quality when it starts up.Innodisk's investigation into this issue led to the development of RECLine. RECLine alters the firmware of the SSD; dispersing and lowering the frequency of background processes. This allows the SSD to continuously write data with minimal interference and frame loss.RECLine, and the associated InnoREC Surveillance SSD series, remove the last stumbling block for the SSD in the surveillance market and help pave the road towards the promised features of smart cities and IoT.For more information about Innodisk and the newest surveillance solutions, visit https://www.innodisk.com/en/applications/surveillanceDrops in write performance causing frame loss for standard SSDStable write performance for InnoREC SSD