Nvidia has launched the third GPU based on its next-generation Kepler graphics architecture, the GeForce GTX 670, which brings improved price-performance, power efficiency and quiet operation, starting at US$399.Engineered from the same DNA as the recently announced GTX 680, the GTX 670 outpaces the closest competitive product in gaming performance by upwards of 45%, while consuming approximately 18% less power, Nvidia claimed.The GTX 670 is built using Nvidia's 28nm Kepler architecture, as are the GTX 680 and dual-GPU GTX 690, which were introduced in March and April, respectively.The Nvidia GeForce GTX 670 GPU is available now from the add-in card suppliers worldwide, including ASL, Asustek Computer, Colorful, Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), EVGA, Gainward, Galaxy, Gigabyte Technology, Innovision 3D, Jetway, Leadtek, Micro-Star International (MSI), Palit, Point of View, PNY, Sparkle and Zotac.Zotac GeForce GTX 670-based graphics cardPhoto: Company

GIGABYTE Technology, a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, is pleased to introduce the world's fastest graphics cards - GV-N690D5-4GD-B. It combines the innovative new GeForce architecture with raw dual-GPU power to provide truly game-changing performance. GV-N690D5-4GD-B utilizes the latest 28nm fabrication process, GDDR5 memory and 3072 CUDA cores, and supports Microsoft DirectX 11, and PCI-Express 3.0. It not only improves the processing ability but provides gamers a faster, smoother and richer gaming experience. Supporting NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround, 3D Vision, PhysX, and 3-way SLI, GV-N690D5-4GD-B guarantees an ultimate extreme experience. Equipped with the innovative Kepler GPU Dynamic Clocking technology, GV-N690D5-4GD-B has different clock rate - Base clock and Boost Clock. Boost clock dynamically adjusts clock speeds to bring out the best performance.GV-N690D5-4GD-B has numerous features:FastestExperience the ultimate combination of dual-GPU power and advanced technologies like GPU Boost and the next-generation Quad SLI, GV-N690D5-4GD-B designed to deliver raw gaming performance. Push the breathtaking performance of the GV-N690D5-4GD-B to new levels with NVIDIA GPU Boost. This technology dynamically maximizes clock speeds to bring out the best performance in every game.SmoothestNVIDIA anti-aliasing FXAA is faster 60% than 4X MSAA. The Performance and quality of TXAA is better than 8X MSAA. Get ultra-smooth gaming with NVIDIA gaming innovations like Adaptive Vertical Sync. GV-N690D5-4GD-B dynamically adjusts vertical sync based on the current frame rates for maximum playability. Gamers can achieve a smoothly gaming performance and to have the best experience with realistic visuals.Richest GV-N690D5-4GD-B supports NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround. Users can experience broader, richer gaming environments with the latest technological advancements. Bring games to life with NVIDIA Surround multi-monitor gaming on a single card, supercharged PhysX and 3D Vision, plus the unbeatable power of SLI.For more details of GIGABYTE GV-N690D5-4GD-B, please visit the GIGABYTE VGA website at: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4205#ovGIGABYTE GV-N690D5-4GD-B graphics cards

Electronic components distributor Digi-Key Corporation, recognized by design engineers as having the industry's largest selection of electronic components available for immediate shipment, recently announced the signing of a global distribution agreement with Infinite Power Solutions, Inc. (IPS), a global leader in manufacturing solid-state, rechargeable, micro-energy storage devices for wireless sensors and other embedded applications.The THINERGY Micro-Energy Cell (MEC) product line of solid-state, rechargeable thin-film batteries from IPS serves to address an ever-increasing need for a maintenance-free, embeddable energy storage solution that lasts the life of the application. With near zero self-discharge, MECs provide extremely efficient storage of intermittent and low charge currents typical of ambient energy harvesting applications. Paper-thin and flexible, THINERGY MECs provide unrivaled cycle life and power performance, delivering a safe, permanent and clean power source for today's electronic devices and systems. Additionally, IPS offers evaluation kits to demonstrate the performance advantages of MECs while reducing development expenditure and speeding time to market."Energy harvesting is the wave of the future. Manufacturers are continually searching for alternative energy solutions as a means of reducing maintenance costs and increasing the useful life of their products," said Mark Zack, vice president for global semiconductor products. "Infinite Power Solutions offers leading-edge, permanently installed energy storage solutions that address the changing needs of the energy harvesting market, and we are pleased to offer their quality products to our customers.""We are very excited to work with Digi-Key to increase the reach of our global distribution network for our unique and award-winning THINERGY MEC products," stated Tim Bradow, VP of Marketing for IPS. "Conventional and often toxic organic wet chemistry batteries are being replaced by longer lasting, eco-friendly, solid-state batteries like our THINERGY MECs. As the industry has seen with other technologies, solid-state solutions always win. It's inevitable and happening now in the battery space."These innovative products from Infinite Power Solutions are currently available for purchase on Digi-Key's global websites: www.digikey.com

Global electronic components distributor Digi-Key Corporation, recognized by design engineers as having the industry's largest selection of electronic components available for immediate shipment, today launched its TechXchange forum on the following international Digi-Key websites: Australia, Austria, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Korean, Mexico, New Zeland, Norway, Portugall, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and United Kingdom.TechXchange is an online community for the electronics industry and initially launched on Digi-Key's US website in April 2011. Design engineers, inventors, students, academics, and professionals use the forum to share ideas and receive free, expert electronics advice as part of the online community.TechXchange is comprised of six online communities segmented by technology category - energy harvesting, lighting, microcontroller, power, sensor, and wireless solutions. TechXchange forum members can find the support and answers they need to create electronics-based products by submitting questions to other users in addition to sharing their own research and findings. Digi-Key Design Specialists in each technology category are available online to provide advice and counsel.For the country-specific websites listed above, the TechXchange forum will have the same format and features as the US version. The only exception being that on the international TechXchange sites, users will have the option to translate content on the page to different languages through Google Translate. This will also apply to future international implementations of TechXchange.To access the international TechXchange forum, visit www.digikey.com/us/en/International/global.html and choose one of the country-specific websites listed above.

May 2012 – GlacialLight, a division of experienced global technology leader, GlacialTech Inc., has launched the GL‐PL0312 LED Panel Light, another outstanding addition to the popular GlacialLight's range of LED lighting products.This high efficiency 58W LED panel is an ideal replacement for older, less‐efficient light sources. Its key advantages are surprisingly low energy and maintenance costs, thanks to LED technology which brings greatly reduced power costs, long life, and low heat. The GL‐PL0312 panel is the simple choice for any location that requires area illumination and could benefit from lower energy costs and more satisfied employees, visitors, customers, and guests.The GL‐PL0312 panels bring area illumination on demand with their broad 120-degree beam angle. Their pleasant natural illumination is great for all interior lighting applications. Typical applications for the 1195mm long by 295mm wide panels include hospitals, airports, offices, supermarkets, stores, and most other commercial, and retail locations. Each compact panel is only 13mm deep, minimizing architectural and interior design impact, and uses sturdy but lightweight materials toachieve a weight of just 4.1kg.The GL‐PL0312's long lifetime LED technology slashes maintenance and replacement costs, with a rated service life of 30,000 hours. Saving money for customers has been a key goal in the design of this product. LEDs are much more energy efficient than traditional light sources, so the GL‐PL0312 panels offer a luminous efficacy of up to 66, even as they reduce power usage. This efficient energy conversion also cuts waste heat, keeping indoor temperatures under control to deliver noticeable reductions in cooling and air conditioning costs.Three color variants are available. The warm white GL‐PL0312‐WW panel fills internal spaces with warm bright illumination with a color temperature of 3000K and a Color Rendering Index (CRI) of 80. The natural white GL‐PL0312‐NW provides balanced natural illumination at 4000K with a Color Rendering Index (CRI) of 80. The cool white GL‐PL0312‐CW achieves maximum luminous efficiencyof 66 lumens per watt with its cool 5700K illumination and a CRI of 70 or higher.The GL‐PL0312 panels accept a wide range of AC voltages – from 100 volts to 240 volts – making them suitable for a variety of operating environments worldwide.This product does not contain mercury or other hazardous chemicals. GlacialLight protects customers and the environment by making the GL‐PL0312 completely RoHS compliant. The GL‐PL0312 does not emit harmful UV or IR radiation, making it far more eco‐friendly than traditional lighting fixtures and technologies. Even product packaging is recyclable.GlacialLight's Pollux Series of Panel Light is a well‐designed for a very wide range of interior lighting applications. GlacialLight supports the GL‐PL0312 with a full two year warranty.Features of GLPL0312 panels�DBright, energy saving and eco‐friendly LEDs�DLuminous Efficacy of up to 66�DEfficiency and thermal design controls indoor temperature�DVery long service life of 30,000 hours�DRoHS compliant, No Mercury, No IR or UV light radiation�DExtremely durable and robust�DHigh compatibility�D2 year warrantyCompact, efficient, long life LED panels for lower cost interior lighting

Global electronic components distributor Digi-Key Corporation, recognized by design engineers as having the industry's largest selection of electronic components available for immediate shipment, announced it has entered into a global distribution agreement with Thomas Research Products (TRP).As an industry-leading global supplier of advanced electronic lighting components, TRP designs, manufactures, and supplies advanced drivers and power solutions for solid state lighting. Offerings include a comprehensive line of LED drivers, transient immunity devices, and step-down transformers. TRP designs are optimized for quality, efficiency, longevity, and cost-competitiveness."Thomas Research Products is a company dedicated to producing electronic lighting components of superior quality for its customers, and now for Digi-Key's global customers as well," said Jeff Shafer, Digi-Key's vice president of global interconnect, passive and electromechanical product. "We are pleased to add TRP to Digi-Key's line card and to provide products from another high-quality supplier."TRP also manufactures energy-saving electronic controls, switches, and relays for commercial HID and fluorescent lighting, used in both indoor and outdoor applications."We're pleased to partner with Digi-Key," said Glenn Garbowicz, vice president and general manager of Thomas Research Products. "Their commitment to customer service and their global reach will assist TRP in providing quality products to our customers, both current and new."Electronic lighting components from Thomas Research Products are now available for purchase on Digi-Key's international websites: www.digi-key.com

Samsung Electronics has announced the third generation Galaxy S, the Galaxy S III. With Samsung Galaxy S III, consumers can view content on the device's 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display. An 8-megapixel camera and a 1.9-megapixel front camera offer users a variety of intelligent camera features and face recognition related options.Samsung Galaxy S III is powered by Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich.The Galaxy S III features S Voice, a natural language user interface, to listen and respond to words. In addition to allowing information search and basic device-user communication, S Voice presents powerful functions in regards to device control and commands.In addition to recognizing face and voice, the Galaxy S III understands personal motions. If consumers are messaging someone but decide to call instead, they can simply lift their phone to ear to Direct call the number. With Smart alert, the Galaxy S III will also save consumers from trouble by catching any missed messages or calls; the phone will vibrate to notify missed statuses when picked up after being idle.With the new S Beam, the Galaxy S III expands upon Android Beam, allowing a 1GB movie file to be shared within three minutes and a 10MB music file within two seconds by simply touching another Galaxy S III phone, even without a Wi-Fi or cellular signal. The Buddy photo share function also allows photos to be easily and simultaneously shared with all friends pictured in an image directly from the camera or the photo gallery.With AllShare Cast, users can wirelessly connect their Galaxy S III to their television to immediately transfer smartphone content onto a larger display. AllShare Play can be also used to instantly share any forms of files between Galaxy S III and tablets, PCs, and televisions regardless of the distance between the devices. Under AllShare Play is also the Group Cast feature that allows consumers to share their screen among multiple friends on the same Wi-Fi network; consumers can make comments and draw changes at the same time with co-workers, witnessing real-time sharing on individual devices.The Galaxy S III is available in blue and white at launch, while Samsung will introduce a variety of additional color options at a later time.With a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display, the Galaxy S III offers a large and vivid viewing experience. To ensure faster content sharing and connectivity, the Galaxy S III offers Wi-Fi Channel Bonding which doubles the Wi-Fi bandwidth.The Galaxy S III also sports a range of additional features that boost performance and the overall user experience in entirely new ways. It introduces 'Pop up play,' a feature that allows users to play a video anywhere on the screen while simultaneously running other tasks, eliminating the need to close and restart videos when checking new emails or surfing the Web.Mobile payment is also accessible with the device through advanced Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. The gaming experience is enhanced through Game Hub, providing access to numerous social games, while Video Hub brings users high quality TV and movies. Furthermore, Samsung Music Hub will offer a personal music streaming service. Game Hub, Video Hub and Music Hub will be introduced in select countries initially and soon rolled out to global markets.The Samsung Galaxy S III will be available from the end of May in Europe before rolling out to other markets globally.Samsung Galaxy S III smartphonePhoto: Company

To accommodate the trend of thinner and lighter consumer electronics products, Ultrabook standards clearly define the specifications and requirements, such as short boot time, all-time access to the Internet, thickness below 0.8-inch, retail price below US$1,000 per unit, and longer usage and standby time. Intel hopes to push notebook sales to another peak through the introduction of Ultrabook. At the DTF 2012 Ultra Mobile & Ecosystem Forum that took place on April 25, representatives of industry leading firms - including Intel; Samson Hu, vice president and general manager of Asustek; Dr. TK Wu, vice president and general manager of AU Optronics (AUO); Allen Yu, Ph.D., director of Product Marketing at Kingston Technology; and Todd Yeh, Ph.D., CTO of TeamChem Company – were invited to give speeches or presentations on topics such as the trend of ultra mobile architecture, evolution of thinner and lighter portable products, 0.1mm-thin touch panels, the latest development in heat dissipation materials for tablet PCs, etc.ACF replaces connectors to make mobile devices lighter, thinner and more flexibleThe anisotropic conductive film (ACF) has great potential to replace miniature connectors that are found in large numbers in ultra mobile devices. The almost height-less ACF enables the production of devices that are super light and thin in a more user-friendly way. The latest development has allowed ACF to be compressed on PET film in low temperature, opening the door for developing bendable and rollable ultra mobile devices. Compared to ordinary conductive film, ACF shows the biggest difference in the fact that it is simple to handle and less likely to be affected by pressure, temperature and bloating factors. Also, ACF has low electricity resistance, high stability, and high tolerance of heat and humidity. The product can form the heat-seal connection between the flexible flat cables and various substrate materials, such as PET film, ITO glass, and others found in digital cameras, e-papers and so forth. On AC42's engineering characteristics, Todd Yeh, Ph.D., CTO, TeamChem Company, explained that TeamChem ACF AC42 is particularly suitable for use on materials whose surfaces are microscopically uneven. When the conductive particles of AC42 are pressed by heat seal equipment, they will effectively fill the cavities of the uneven surfaces to effectively increase conductivity and lower electrical resistance.

Being ubiquitous is the ultimate fantasy of mobile networking as it is the goal for users to be connected anywhere at anytime. One of the keys to achieve this is definitely the "ultra mobile" networking devices. To actualize the dream of being ubiquitous, IT hardware firms have been competing to make devices lighter and demanding components to be thinner and smaller to reduce the size of PCBs. It has been a great challenge for component makers to find ways to reduce the surface area while improving the functionality and durability of the products. Taiwan-based inductor maker Chilisin, in response to the trend of commercialization of mobile networking products, made an early start to develop thin and small-size inductors and improving yields. Now Chilisin has a full range of light and thin solutions to satisfy multiple needs of the light and slim mobile devices.The smartphone, ultrabook and tablet markets are Chilisin'smajor focuses. The winning factor of Chilisin's inductorsin the ultra mobile device markets is their ability to provide higherperformance in a thinner and smaller form factor. For specific segments in the smartphone, ultrabook and tablet markets, Chilisin has introduced corresponding miniaturized components. These product lines can be divided into two major categories: miniaturized high frequency inductor components and miniaturized power inductorcomponents.Slim form factors spurring demand for miniaturized inductorsChilisin has a range of products to suit the demand for high-frequency chip inductors such as 0402 and 0201 ferrite beads, 0201 ceramic chip inductors and 0201 thin-film inductors. As for miniaturized power inductors, Chilisin offers 0603 magnetic high-current beads, multilayer power inductors, molding power inductors and magnetic epoxy sealedwire-wound power inductors.Chilisin emphasizes that there are certain technological barriers to shrink inductor components that need to be overcome. Take the printing of high SRF ferritebeadsfor example. Originally they had a surface area of 1.0x0.5mmbut now the printing must be done on a surface area of 0.5x0.5mm. Printing on such a small area requires more layers to keep the original DC resistance. Chilisin indicates that the dry process plays an important role in miniaturizing and thinning inductors. Chilisin began installation of dry process equipment in 2010, and therefore has taken the leadership role in the progress towards miniaturization.With precise photo mask exposure during the thin-film process and superior circuit designs, Chilisin has been able to develop thin-film high-frequency inductors as small as size 0201. While their size is drastically smaller, the productsoffer multiple inductance values, tolerance of +/-0.1nH, high Q factor and low power loss at high frequency, which make them suitable for high-end smartphones, ultrabooks and tablets.Product size shrinking raises the technological barriersFor power inductors, Chilisin's 0603 products have achieved highcurrent and lowDC resistance (DCR) requirements that previously only size 0805 was able to meet. Reducing the product's size by half while keeping the original rated current (IDC) and DCR value means putting the same amount of wiring into a smaller space. This requires superior designs and stable production processes to achieve. In addition, Chilisin has introduced multilayer power inductors made using internally developed powder materials that have allowed the company to shrink them to as small as 1.6x0.8mmwith a height as low as 0.5mm. To meet demand for high-current power applications, Chilisin supplies not only magnetic epoxy sealed power inductors with a height as low as 0.8mm, but also molding power inductors with a height as low as 1.0mm to satisfy the demand for thinner smartphones, ultrabooks and tablets.The successful handset design-win strategyWith the life cycles of smartphones becoming shorter, Chilisin began to actively take part in high-end handsets' "design-win" process last year. This allows the firm to participate in handset chip designers' R&D process and modify products according to the designers' needs. This also allows the firm to avoid second-source price competition while pursuing technological improvements along with chip designers and in line with market trends. This type of transition relies on timely and superior R&D strength. Chilisin has already achieved significant results in the design-in market. It also has been receiving good reviews and trust from major handset makers and handset chip suppliers.To better serve the need of US-based customers, Chilisin has set up a branch office in Silicon Valley, California to seamlessly cooperate with clients as early as the design stage without delay. This strategy has achieved huge success. Chilisin indicates that as of the end of March, the firm hadachieved on-year revenue growths for six months in a row. The first-quarter 2012 consolidated revenues showed an on-year growth of 16%. If the firm continues to perform stably in the second quarter, revenues are likely to grow steadily in the third quarter and even in the second half of 2012. Significant revenues can be expected for the entire year.As for expansion in the market, Chilisin will actively participate in exhibitions to tap into new markets such as Russia and Japan. Chilisin looks to maintain its leadership in the inductor industry by extending its presence to more markets.Chilisin's inductors satisfy the needs of ultra mobile smartphones

AZZURRO has proven a good correlation and consistency between previous published market superior results (June/2011) and his new reactor cluster. Technical parameters: vertical breakdown voltage, Leakage current, sheet resistance and wafer physical characteristics such as bow on large wafer diameters have shown repeatable good results. The fundamental excellent research done to achieve superior crystal quality and being able to thick overgrow the wafer substrates were pivotal to these achievement.Moving from a single wafer reactor to a multi-wafer system has proven in the Epitaxial world not an easy task, temperature profiling for larger chambers, gas-flow management and ultimately a non-stop operation are 'know-how' assets to assure wafers of equal quality over larger lot sizes can be continuously made available to the market and our customers. AZZURRO has collected enough data to prove his concept is complying with these requirements. Single digit deviations wafer to wafer, and on-wafer homogeneity are measureable results of this migration exercise.Having understood the fundamentals for the GaN-on-Si. Production process we would like to demonstrate the achievements on technical parameters: breakdown voltage and relationship to the leakage current.AZZURRO Wafers today are targeting the 600 Volt application markets, such as SMPS (Switched Mode Power Supply) for computers, servers, and laptop. 3-Phase bridge applications for instance Motor Inverters for white good: washing machines, air conditioning and other kind of micro inverters for private, low and medium power use. This is by far the largest market and may count for 65-70% of the overall market in dollar size; typical devices may be in the 5-20 Amp. range. The developments have shown potential beyond 600 V for hybrid automotive applications and other systems requiring a higher breakdown up to 1200/1700 V.The breakdown voltage is intrinsically coupled with leakage current, increasing as voltage (Vds) increases. A typical leakage current of devices need to target of around 1 uA at switched off state. The picture below shows the value achieved by AZZURRO 2nd. generation product fulfilling this requirement and a numerical proof of the technology and capabilities. Looking into the details, our initial target of 1 µA is exceeded by 10 fold and assures that other leakage currents on device level, separate from the epitaxial vertical current can offer the design engineer large, additional, margins.AZZURRO Strain management technology has proven repeatable and practical to implement. Several tests done have resulted in BOW figures equal to an experimental, single wafer reactor previously used. These results show that the manufactured wafers can be processed in standard CMOS processing lines adding to the attractiveness of the technology not only for technical performance but as well validating it as a unique business chance for existing power device players and new comers in the market.AZZURRO sees traction for his products increasing on a worldwide scale and is pleased to give you further details. A full presentation will be available during the occasion of the PCIM (Power Control and Intelligent Motion) in Nurnberg Germany from 08-10 May 2012 where you can find the AZZURRO booth at HALL 12 Stand 664.Vertical Leakage current (I Leak) versus Breakdown Voltage (Vbr)Wafer Bow Improvement Progress by Units Produced