Gigabyte Technology has announced the availability of two new variants of GeForce GTX 1070 graphics cards. They are the small form factor GTX 1070 Mini ITX OC Edition (GV-N1070IXOC-8GD) and the dual-fan GTX 1070 Windforce OC Edition (GV-N1070WF2OC-8GD).Measuring 17cm in length, the GTX 1070 Mini ITX OC Edition is designed for building compact gaming PC or HTPC powered by the latest Pascal GPU. Equipped with three pure copper heat pipes that directly sit on GPU and a single 90mm blade fan with semi-passive cooling, the cooling module is able to dissipate heat effectively while keeping the fan operating at a low noise level, according to the vendor.Engineered with the Ultra Durable chokes and capacitors, the graphic card ensures performance and durable system lifespan. Compared to the reference's 4+1 power phase design, the card is built for overclocking with the 5+1 power phases, making the MOSFET working at a lower temperature for more stable voltage output.With a click of the OC Mode button built in the newly developed Xtreme Engine utility software, gamers can overclock the card.Gigabyte also offers a dual-fan solution, the GTX 1070 Windforce OC Edition, which packs the Windforce 2X cooling system, featuring two 90mm fans, two pure copper composite heat pipes, directly touching GPU, and blade fan design, together delivering an effective heat dissipation capacity at lower temperatures. The 3D Active Fan provides semi-passive cooling, as the fans will remain off when the GPU is under a set loading or temperature for low power gaming.The GTX 1070 Windforce OC Edition also uses the Ultra Durable internal components to enhance overall performance and product lifespan. Its 6+2 power phases allow the card to be overclocked with more stable voltage output.Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 Mini ITX OC Edition graphics cardPhoto: CompanyGigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 Windforce OC Edition graphics cardPhoto: Company

The Taiwan International Fisheries and Seafood Show 2016, co-hosted by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) and My Exhibition, will take place on Nov. 9-11 at the Kaohsiung Exhibition Hall on a larger scale this year. With 250 local and international exhibitors on more than 500 booths, it is expected to draw some 7,000 professional visitors to the expo this year.According to TAITRA, the first edition of the show saw 215 exhibitors on 418 booths last year and attracted 6,500 visitors, including 700 professional buyers from abroad. After the expo, international media, such as Intrafish from Norway, the Suisan-Keizai Daily News from Japan, and the Undercurrent News from the U.K., posted stories on the event, giving the industries of the fisheries and seafood of Taiwan more visibility and exposure on the international stage.The second edition of the expo, in addition to sections of the fishing gear and technology, fish farming, processed seafood products, and fishery services, will include a section of fisheries biotechnology for the first time. The new inclusion is aimed at promoting the potential of the development of the local fisheries and showcasing the trend of the local industry. The TAITRA hopes to create a more competitive platform for the exhibitors.Taiwan's fishery industry and its production value have played a vital part on the international market. The technology and innovation skills demonstrated by the local companies have made them stand out from their international counterparts. The expo will see manufacturers, suppliers and retailers from the industry gather at the same venue and will again promote Taiwan's fishery industry successfully on the world stage.For more information and visitor registration, please visit http://www.taiwanfishery.com/en_US/index.html

In order to come together and propose complete and effective solutions in Asia's fine agriculture markets, Sphere Exhibits Pte. Ltd. is collaborating with Taiwan trade show organizer My Exhibition, for the Taiwan International Fruit and Vegetable Show (TFVS). The show will receive joint guidance from Taiwan's Head of Agriculture and the city of Kaohsiung when it opens on Nov. 10 and runs until Nov. 12 for the first time at the Kaohsiung Exhibition Center. Running parallel to the second Taiwan International Fishing Exhibit, the agricultural show is expected to attract over 150 companies from 10 nations, and around 5,000 foreign and domestic buyers in total.The Taiwan International Fruit and Vegetable Show is divided into sections for fresh fruit and vegetables, whole wheat products and nuts, production machinery, transportation machinery and service machinery, as well as seminars on Advantages in Vital Agricultural Technologies, Price Adjustment in Production and Digital Marketing. Covering all aspects of the business, organizers of the show leave no stone unturned as they attempt to display the potential of the Taiwanese market in front of the foreign buyers.In the past, foreign investment in Taiwan's agriculture has played an extremely important role in helping business grow. But as the environmental effects of any big industry begin to become apparent, the government is beginning to look into new and improved ways to revise Taiwan's agricultural and economic strategies.Taiwan's machinery industry has seen much competition in recent years, especially against European and American products, and look to gain the edge in sales and service that will bring it success. As the industry launches a campaign to make strides in improving the safety and health of food, it also begins a revolutionary evolution in tactics to accompany progress in biological technology. Given the diversity of Taiwan's food culture, the innovations in food and technology seen at the show will no doubt increase the strength of and the interest in the Taiwanese market.Food safety has become a universal expectation among global consumers. From green energy to clean cultivation to modern fisheries, Asian countries place the care and quality of food in high demand, and Taiwan has been a driving force in bringing about this revolution. What makes Taiwan's efforts special, however, is the fact that its agricultural sector has the entire world for an audience. If Taiwan's agriculture technology, experienced personnel, booming IT sector and technology establishment can combine to create new leadership in agriculture, Taiwan will not only see increases in sales products and rates, but also an increase in its competitiveness in international markets.The expo has already seen participation from Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, South Africa and the U.S. On the same day, plans have been made for international buyers to meet one-on-one with press to discuss production, international marketing, and other topics.The international discussion will include the International Fruit Marketing Forum, led by Taiwanese economic experts and heavyweight experts from around the world to present talks. Hopes are that the convention will become the "flagship" fruit and vegetable convention. Additionally, the local government agriculture departments of Taichung, Kaohsiung, Hualien, Pingtung and Tainan together eagerly await the event's beginning.For more information and visitor registration, please visit http://www.taiwanfruitshow.com/en_US/index.html

The region's leading security, fire and safety event will take place on 7 – 9 September 2016 at the prestigious Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Malaysia. Alongside the exhibition, the fourth edition is expected to host various seminars and conferences joined by giant international brands.IFSEC Southeast Asia has served as a centre for the industry's professionals to meet and establish connections while doing business. For the 2015 edition, 7,725 trade visitors from 51 countries attended the event to visit more than 350 participating companies exhibiting their latest technology and products on the show floor. Some world-renowned companies that will be present at the event is Dahua, Sony, Panasonic, Merit Lilin, Samsung Techwin, Vivotek, Bluguard, Sharp-Roxy and more.With strong support from Malaysia's Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government, Royal Malaysia Police, British Security Industry Association (BSIA), Asian Professional Security Association (APSA) Malaysia Chapter, ASIS Malaysia Chapter, CyberSecurity Malaysia, Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Malaysia, National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH) United Kingdom, and International Workplace (IW), the IFSEC Southeast Asia 2016 edition is expected to attract more than 10,000 trade visitors.As well as attending the exhibitions that will be filling up 6,000 sqm of the Convention Centre, industry professionals, buyers, specifiers, consultants and end users can attend the free seminars held on the show floors. The annual IFSEC Technology Showcase will have 18 interesting topics and case studies presented by the industry's experts and professionals, who will be covering the whole spectrum of the Security, Fire and Safety industry. NEBOSH, coming on board for the first time, will organise a special seminar for Occupation, Safety and Health professionals in the hope that this would help the industry be aware of the latest issues and solutions. Meanwhile, CyberSecurity Malaysia, the national cyber security specialist operating under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), will organise a full-day seminar on cyber-criminals and cyber-threats to personal, commercial and governmental entities, as well as on how to prevent or minimise cyber-attacks.The fourth edition of IFSEC Southeast Asia is projected to be the largest edition ever organised by United Business Media (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd. With the involvement of supporters coming from governmental bodies, authorities and associations, and by providing global innovations to the Southeast Asian market, this event is set to be the leading event for the Security, Fire and Safety industry.For more information and visitor registration, please visit http://www.ifsecsea.com/.IFSEC Security & Fire PortfolioThe IFSEC Security & Fire Portfolio provides a global offering of face-to-face events, education, news and networking to the global security and fire industry. It is made up of live events that include IFSEC International, FIREX International, IFSEC South Africa, IFSEC Southeast Asia, IFSEC India, IFSEC Istanbul and IFSEC & OSH Arabia. Attendees to these live events are able to engage with the community all-year-round on IFSEC Global.com, which provides the latest news, thought-leadership articles and white papers on the security and fire industry.

Taiwan Pavilion, centered on the theme "Innovative Smart Taiwan," welcomes visitors to MWC Shanghai 2016 taking place at the Shanghai New International Expo Center from June 29 to July 1.Taiwan ICT industry is transitioning from hardware manufacturing to value-oriented software services. To introduce achievements in driving the development of Taiwan ICT industry, Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) gathers businesses and organizations including Far Eastone Telecommunications, Z-Com, Melten, ADTC, VAS Creative, Linker Networks, iStaging and ARPlanet Digital Technology to jointly host exhibitions at the Taiwan Pavilion at MWC Shanghai.Taiwan Pavilion will feature exhibitions that demonstrate the Taiwan ICT supply chain's capabilities, encompassing complete small cell network infrastructure, management platforms for IoT applications and smart city services offered through collaborations by telecom service providers and local governments as well as the combination of system services and innovative applications in fields including smart living, education and entertainment, smart commerce and smart healthcare. The Taiwan Pavilion showcases enriched smart service experiences and advancements that drive valuable technological developments around the world.With the expansion of Big Data technologies and the IoT trend, worldwide industries are actively working on building smart cities with sustainable growth. As a result, smart city applications not only are focused on certain corners of the city but also are extending to the management of the entire city. This has also given rise to more and more demanding requirements on network architecture security and management. At Taiwan Pavilion, Taiwan's leading network communication equipment provider Z-Com will showcase 1.4 and 1.8GHz small cell base stations, in-vehicle LTE-Fi and smart antenna AP solutions meant to satisfy the special wireless network bandwidth needs for control and production operations by business organizations and government units that public safety, city management, emergency response, energy, transportation, healthcare and fire safety. These are essential elements to building a smart city. Also on display at Taiwan Pavilion is a smart city IoT management platform, co-hosted by ITRI and American vendor Linker Networks. Based on OpenDC/OS, the platform effectively integrates and controls the coordination between data centers and Mobile Edge containers and virtual machines to provide a flexible platform environment for deployment, management, operation and maintenance of smart city IoT services. Furthermore, the platform has been optimized for integration of smart city IoT and mobile applications. By incorporating core mobile network functions of IoT applications and Z-com small cell base stations and also utilizing the platform's built-in data analysis tools, smart city IoT services are closely in line with people's diverse needs and therefore enable an immersive environment filled with conveniences. Far Eastone Telecommunications will present Industry 4.0 and innovative mobile platforms for enterprises and will also introduce its smart city achievements with Tainan City government, which include Tainan's smart flood prevention efforts that are enabled by 4G wearable devices and water condition monitoring, smart health community built with the "Health+" mobile healthcare program and 4G IoV.Visitors to Taiwan Pavilion will also see a range of application services that respond to people's daily needs. Leading medical application innovator Melten will present smart integrated solutions for hospital wards that fully apply IoT technologies in healthcare. By synchronously integrating all medical information in the hospital on one single platform through the cloud, medical professionals can have a comprehensive understanding of patients' conditions and patients' information confidentiality and accuracy can be ensured to thereby lower the chance of malpractice and raise the quality of smart healthcare environment. ADTC plans to demonstrate a network identity authentication app jointly introduced with five major telecom service operators. The service enables real-name identity verification utilizing a complete system platform, service and application scenarios as well as a smartphone app that binds a cell phone number to a specific handset. It can effectively simplify the procedures required to use network services and resolve disputes arising from network scams and complicated network service registration, authentication and authorization procedures. VAS Creative, a Taiwan-based mobile phone video platform service provider, will exhibit multiple actual applications of an OTT streaming video service platform. The jointly developed platform by VAS Creative, German company CastLabs DRM and American streaming service provider Wowza featuring compliance with international standard, network security protection and enhanced compatibility as well as automatic adjustment of capacity and flow aggregation will help drive the development of the mobile video market.Augmented reality (AR) technologies are maturing in recent years and the diverse and creative AR experiences are another highlight at Taiwan Pavilion this year. iStaging, having received multiple international awards, will showcase the promising AR/VR shopping guide platform, a breakthrough from past AR/VR applications in gaming. iStaging helps shorten the gap between consumers' imagination and the actual space and environment by optimizing the immersive and realistic experiences, in conditions such as home purchase, interior design, furniture arrangement and tourism. Virtual reality (VR) simulates a real environment for consumers to personally experience and marketing through AR/VR experiences will help traditional businesses instantly upgrade. ARPlanet Digital Technology will inspire additional AR creativity and imagination with diverse application scenarios of interactions between virtual world and real life including an AR cafe with AR interactions enabled through smartphones, an AR dynamic classroom combining aesthetics and education and a debut 4D picture book interactive game – iLandAR, a leap from traditional picture books with one-way and passive communication to versatile interactive teaching with tremendously fun games combined with multiple education solutions.Visitors are invited to Taiwan Pavilion to experience exhibitions that combine smart city and IoT applications and demonstrate the Taiwan ICT industry's R&D capabilities in smart city innovations and total solutions. It is hoped the event will introduce more business and partnership opportunities for companies in Asia and the rest of the world as well as promote the sharing of smart city concept and vision.

The Internet of Things (IoT) inspired numerous application concepts, but very few were put into effective practice. The main culprit of this is due to the vast amount of different protocol standards scattered across the industry, creating communication barriers that greatly delay the development of IoT. Only by adopting an attitude towards open innovation can the protocol barriers be overcome.Early IoT applications were developed in silos. Businesses across different industries worked towards their own interest and goals; even businesses within the same industry operated within their own circle with their own preference of the type of industrial protocols and architecture to employ for IoT solutions. The lack of a horizontal collaboration platform gave rise to obstacles against technology exchange.Alex Perng, General Manager of NEXCOM's IoT Business Unit, points out that to push growth of IoT application development, developers need to collaborate with other field experts and proceed collectively, rather than individually. The ability to overcome industry barriers and share disparate resources horizontally from different sectors such as energy, petrochemical, transportation, lighting and building management, will enable the birth of more application possibilities.In order to unify disparate systems and communication standards, a complete system overhaul is required. But without a collaboration platform where hands-on experience and knowledge can be stored, copied and shared among different field experts, a great amount of effort is needed for the redesign. This creates higher barriers to entry for IoT application development. As such, many potential innovations have been buried away. In addition, since most current devices have yet to provide the connectivity envisioned by IoT, the development of IoT applications has been slow to come.Cross-Platform and Cross-Protocol Technology in IoT: Not Exactly Rocket SciencePerng believes that the key to clearing the obstacle for IoT application development is open innovation. Open innovation provides a pool of technology platforms, hardware components and software tools readily at disposal, allowing developers to quickly gather the resources required to bring their creative designs into fruition with the least amount of effort. More importantly, these resource tools are based on a unified standard as opposed to being industry-specific, and therefore are not bound to any proprietary protocol. Developers can rest assured that their products will not become orphaned.Fortunately, a few disruptive technology trends beneficial to the open innovation are on the rise, and the first of which is cross-platform IoT technology.As mentioned previously, due to the silo mentality and exclusive nature of early industry development, many industry-specific technologies were introduced. As a result, to overcome integration barriers and synchronize the different technologies across different fields, extra programming, such as using C, Java, PHP and SQL, was required. However, this was often a time-consuming process. In contrast, new open source tools such as Node-RED allow developers to develop applications in a browser with simple drag-and-drop actions and flowchart-like visuals. Additional programming is no longer needed to connect edge devices with cloud service platforms, effectively bridging the last mile connection of IoT applications.As cross-platform and cross-protocol technology gradually replace early proprietary solutions, not only this will accelerate cross-industry knowledge exchange, but also bring in new technology and perspective from different industries, instigating a new wave of disruptive innovation.Unified Standard and Open Source Tools: Creative Fuels to InnovationsThe second trend is the technological breakthrough of open platforms. Currently, there are hundred thousands of network protocols contending for the position as the mainstream IoT protocol. Any protocol incompatibility will prevent cross-industry knowledge exchange. As a result, protocol integration is inevitable. Furthermore, through open source code and emerging open innovation communities like GitHub, Intel Developer Zone and even NEXCOM's All IoT Cloud (www.alliotcloud.com), developers can quickly acquire IoT-relevant tools and resources, interact and exchange knowledge with experts across different fields, and leverage collective wisdom to overcome any IoT development obstacle previously encountered.Another trend worth noting is the IoT progression to a unified standard. An example of this is the formation of the Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF). The OCF has created a unified and open standard to provide innovators and entrepreneurs infinite business opportunities, and to attract more people to join the ranks of IoT application development. In addition, with a unified standard and open source tools being made publicly available, the open innovation platform can enable more makers, system integrators and startups alike to swiftly enter the world of IoT.Take NEXCOM's All IoT Cloud for example, which is based on the creative ideas of open innovation. It aims to serve as an online IoT marketplace that provides various kinds of open source tools free to download, offering participants an easy way to acquire the needed tool kits for development, and ultimately becoming a B2B and O2O marketplace for IoT supply chain.To fast track IoT application development, developers need to collaborate with other field experts and proceed collectively rather than individually.

Gigabyte Technology has released the GeForce GTX 1070 G1 Gaming graphics card (GV-N1070G1 GAMING-8GD), featuring overclocked GPU, WindForce cooling module and RGB illumination. The Pascal-based card is also equipped with 8GB of GDDR5 memory.The WindForce 3X cooling system incorporates two composite copper heat-pipes with direct touch to GPU, special fin architecture, and unique blade fan design, together delivering an effective heat dissipation capacity for performance at a lower temperature. The 3D Active Fan provides semi-passive cooling, which allows gamers to enjoy gameplay in complete silence when the system is running light or idle. An LED fan indicator provides a user-friendly, instant display of the fan status.The GTX 1070 G1 Gaming features 6+2 power phase technology on the card, allowing the MOSFET to work at a lower temperature to provide more stable voltage output. The card also comes with one-click overclocking via the Xtreme Engine.The smart power LED indicator helps to ensure the system stability at all times. In case of any power abnormality, the flashing LED adjacent to the power connector could immediately bring the issue to the gamer's attention.Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 G1 Gaming graphics cardPhoto: Company

According to a Gartner report, the global communication market growth rate increased from 0.5% in 2013 to 2.9% in 2015 but is expected to gradually decline from 2016 to 2018. As such, how to discover a new "blue ocean" market, boost competiveness and lead industrial transformation and upgrade has become a new challenge for the Taiwan industry.The booming worldwide IoT trend has been driving the global communication industry to transition from hardware oriented development toward integrated systems combining hardware and software advancements. By 2020 the global IoT market value is expected to reach 30 times the present network industry value, resulting in US$1.9 trillion in economic value added. The world will see 30 to 50 billion connected devices or components, including a wide range of mobile devices and tablets as well as appliances, lamps and even robots.To help domestic businesses capture worldwide opportunities, with support from the Industrial Development Bureau under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Institute for Information Industry (III) and the Committee of Communications Industry Development under the Ministry of Economic Affairs jointly hosted the event, " Driving a Global Standard for IoT Interoperability," on May 31, featuring representatives from the Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF) who shared views on issues related to IoT standards and platforms with Taiwan-based vendors. One-on-one discussion sessions were also arranged between OCF representatives and Taiwan-based vendors to promote international collaboration and expand global business opportunities.A number of international organizations have been established to promote IoT standards, including Allseen led by Qualcomm, OIC headed by Intel, Thread guided by Google and Homekit introduced by Apple. Allseen was founded the earliest in 2013 and also had the most members. However, this year its founding members Qualcomm and Microsoft have simultaneously joining OIC, which has also changed its objectives and been renamed as Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF). Now OCF has a member base comparable to that of Allseen and is also the international IoT standards organization with the most Taiwan-based members.The Taiwan industry has been playing a critical role in the global IoT market thanks to its strong hardware manufacturing capabilities. At the event, representatives from OCF members including Intel, Microsoft, VIA and Allion elucidated the OCF core technology, Iotivity, by introducing platform architectures, tools and modules, product certifications and supply chain partnerships. In addition, through platform demonstrations, it was hoped more Taiwan vendors would participate in the collaboration to jointly pioneer a universal IoT standard. In the opening of the event, Dr. Hsien-Tang Ko, Director General of the Industry Development Augmentation Division (IDAD), III – one of the hosts of the event and also a main force driving cooperation between Taiwan-based businesses and international industrial organizations in recent years – pointed out the development of IoT in Taiwan has to be in line with international standards so that the industry can continue to grow and Taiwan's smart IoT R&D capabilities can maximize benefits.It should be noted this is the first OCF public event in Taiwan since its inauguration and also its first co-hosted official event in Asia. The fact that Dr. Matthew Perry, a member of the OCF board, made a special trip to participate in the event indicates OCF's determination to ally with Taiwan-based vendors and incorporate additional technical specs to expand itself to become the most dominant IoT standard in the world. Of course, Taiwan-based vendors have to get well prepared in order to grab a share of the booming yet highly competitive IoT market.Dr. Hsien-Tang Ko, director general of the industry development augmentation division, III, gives a welcome speech.Dr. Matthew Perry, an OCF board member, expresses OCF's intent to partner with Taiwan-based vendors to jointly lead a universal IoT standard.III poses for a picture with OCF representatives: (from left to right) David Tung from Allion, Dr. Shao-Wen Yang from Intel Lab, Lewis Kim from OCF, Dr. Hsien-Tang Ko from III, Dr. Matthew Perry from OCF, Dave Brenner from Intel, Richard Brown from VIA Technologies and Martin Hsu from Intel (China).

The USB Type-C specification was published by USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) in August 2014, and less than 18 months later, sleek new products have arrived on the market including smartphones, slim notebook PCs, tablets and more. This new cable and connector scheme is generating significant buzz and excitement from the expansive, global consumer market and is expected to make its way into high-volume shipments of mobile devices, laptops, 2-in-1 notebooks and other multimedia devices.USB-IF is a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement and adoption of Universal Serial Bus (USB) technology. There are currently more than 800 member companies involved, 49 percent of which are from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. DigiTimes had the opportunity to interview USB-IF's President and Chief Operating Officer (COO), Mr. Jeff Ravencraft, as well as USB-IF's Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Mr. Rahman Ismail, to discuss the overall development of USB technology. DigiTimes also had the opportunity to view member demonstrations of USB technology at the USB Community pavilion booth at Computex 2016.USB Type-C cables and connectors fulfill the strong demands to upgrade video, audio, data transfer and power charging featuresTo address the demand of digital video, audio, data transfer and power charging requirements, USB-IF saw the need for a new, robust cable and connector. And so, this new specification was prepared by a panel of international experts and contributed on four main advantages:First, there is the performance jump. The USB Type-C cable is capable of supplying fast data transfer speeds of up to 10 Gbps. There are two types of data transfer speeds: one up to 5 Gbps known as "SuperSpeed USB" and the other up to 10 Gbps called "SuperSpeed USB 10 Gbps." The performance level is designed to scale upwards of 20Gpbs or 40Gbps in the future, but as Mr. Ravencraft highlighted, the 5Gbps speed is already more than enough to fulfill consumer demands for current multimedia applications.The second, is the single USB Type-C connector designed to connect all USB devices. The physical dimension of the USB-C connector is 8.4 mm x 2.6 mm, slightly bigger than the previous micro-USB connector. It is more robust and designed to handle at least 10,000 receptacle uses within its lifetime. Many of the newer platforms and devices are reaching a point where existing USB receptacles and plugs are inhibiting innovation, especially given the relatively large size and internal volume constraints of the USB Type-A and USB Type-B standard connectors. As a result, the USB Type-C slim and sleek connector was tailored to fit the thinner form factors and platforms used in mobile device product designs.The USB Type-C cable and connector is also reversible in nature. The pins are arranged in a mirrored configuration, with six different pairs in a full-featured cable assembly. There are four extra pins that serve functions of new USB features. The two sets of USB 2.0 differential pairs in the connector only connect to a single differential pair in standard USB 2.0 or full featured USB Type-C cables.The third advantage is the battery charging features. The USB Type-C connector introduces two new native charging options, but is also compatible with legacy charging options. USB Power Delivery (PD) is supported, but optional. With combined USB PD chipsets, it could supply up to 100W of continuous power flow, enough to power a refrigerator according to Mr. Ravencraft.The forth benefit is USB Type-C Alternate Modes. USB Type-C Alt Modes enable the multi-purposing of designated pins in the connector for alternate protocols such as DisplayPort, MHL, Thunderbolt or SATA. The beauty of Alt Modes is that it enables a USB Type-C host or device to support optional display or power charging capabilities. This benefits consumers and systems designers, as it only requires a single connector, thereby reducing costs and increasing system functionality.Ultra-high bandwidth video capabilities can be reached using USB Type-C Alt Modes. This is a great benefit for end users using a single USB Type-C to HDMI, DVI or VGA adapter or dock to connect their mobile devices to other displays.USB-IF promoting authentication to clear up the confuse of USB Type-CAlthough the reversible USB Type-C connectors and faster SuperSpeed USB 10 Gbps technology are providing ease of use and performance benefits for consumers, there is confusion regarding what capabilities are included in each cable. For instance, some system makers have developed USB Type-C connectors using the USB 2.0 specification with slower data transfer speeds. Moreover, there are some OEMs producing non-compliant cables that do not follow the design instructions outlined in the USB Type-C Specification. As a result, they pose a risk to the functionality and interoperability of USB products.To address these issues, USB-IF has an active campaign to educate end users to "look for the logo" and to only purchase compliant products from trusted sources. Further, USB-IF released the USB Type-C Authentication Specification using a cryptographic-based authentication protocol for USB Type-C chargers and devices. Using this protocol, host systems can confirm the authenticity of a USB device, including capabilities and certification status. This verification process occurs simultaneously when a USB Type-C cable is plugged in the port and before compromising power or data can be transferred. This new authentication protocol empowers host systems to protect against non-compliant USB devices and to mitigate risks from maliciously embedded hardware or software in USB devices attempting to exploit a USB connection. According to Mr. Ravencraft, it will take about 8 to 12 months to see authentication taking place, but it is a big move for the USB technology ecosystem.USB-IF and IEC expanding cooperation to support USB Type-C connector in European market for power delivery and device charging applicationsUSB Power Delivery was developed with the vision of delivering universal power charging for consumers, as well as reducing electronic waste by offering a standardized alternative to proprietary chargers. Mr. Ravencraft mentioned this was another big move for USB-IF and the technology industry. Collectively working with the International Electro-technical Commission (IEC), USB-IF intends to expand international standards cooperation to include the USB Type-C specifications. This will be considered for inclusion in the newly approved IEC International Standard IEC 62680 series. This approach for ongoing standardization work is driven by the ultimate IEC's goals of increasing external power supply reusability, supporting consumer convenience, maintaining product reliability and safety. In addition, widespread adoption of the resulting international standards will help to reduce the poorly designed or manufactured aftermarket substitutes which may affect the operation of electronic devices in compliance with regulatory requirements."It is no surprise that Taiwan is the home of so many electronic device manufacturers and advanced technology providers, especially consider that 22 percent of USB-IF members are from this region," Mr. Ravencraft highlighted. "We truly appreciate all of the support and contributions that our Taiwanese members and technical experts have made to the development of USB applications over the years. It is exciting to see to see the growth and continued adoption of USB Type-C technology spawning in this region and we look forward to what future product generations bring."Jeff Ravencraft, USB-IF president and COO, and Rahman Ismail, USB-IF CTO at Computex 2016USB-IF promoting USB authentication that including Hi-Speed USB, SuperSpeed USB and SuperSpeed USB 10 Gbps logos

SCHURTER, a provider of fuseholders, expands its CSO heavy duty fuse clip family with a cost-effective tin-plated version. The CSO clip, designed for 10.3 mm diameter fuses, is suitable for applications with voltages up to 1500 VAC / VDC and currents to 32 A. These unique characteristics are SCHURTER's response to the increasing photovoltaic system voltage requirements.The CSO clip is available in solder and screw/rivet versions. The solder version allows direct mounting on a printed circuit board by means of through-hole technology. The screw/rivet version provides additional flexibility for basic designs. Due to the special copper alloy all versions are characterized by a strong clamping force resulting in minimal power loss.The CSO fuse clip is ideal for a wide range of PV and other DC applications including inverters, battery charge controllers, and string fuse holders. Furthermore, the CSO is well suited for applications in the e-mobility and industrial electronics sectors. The fuse clip conforms to RoHS specifications and is currently the only photovoltaic clip on the market with cURus approval.SCHURTER also offers the ASO 10.3x38 PV fuse to fit the new CSO fuse clip. The fuse clip also supports other fuses with a 10.3 mm diameter of any length. This includes, for instance, 10.3x85 mm fuses for higher voltages.Schurter CSO fuse clip