Research Articles

More and more consumer electronics devices feature a touch screen, which is already considered a must have for new devices. The next big topic will be haptic feedback solutions outperforming the poor vibration-based feedback that is the standard today. Adding haptic and sound feedback to touch screens using electro active polymers (EAPs) will be a featured topic at TCF LIVE Europe 2013 .

IDTechEx is delighted to host the first INTRASME Electric Vehicle Opportunity Workshop 2013 which will now be a free session for a full day.

Electric aircraft are an idea whose time has come. Electrically propelled manned aircraft are selling profitably today in small numbers. They take the form of pure electric fixed wing microlights and motorised hang gliders. At the other extreme, airliners that have electric nosewheels have arrived making them electric vehicles when on the ground, hugely reducing noise and air pollution and making them independent of tugs. Yet that is only the beginning and the story is now rapidly unfolding across the whole industry.

The once rising price of indium generated an emerging TCF (Transparent Conductive Film) industry offering alternatives to ITO (indium tin oxide). The same is now happening with silver.

IDTechEx have recently strengthened their research capabilities by appointing a new Senior Technology Analyst, Dr Wendy Kneissl.

Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) are coming in three waves.

It has been a slow path to commercialize smart packaging. Despite strong needs such as the aging population, tougher legislation, huge waste, more demanding consumers and concerns about safety and crime; commercial success has been mixed.

Energy harvesting - harvesting abundant energy from the environment to power small devices or assist larger devices - has secured a sure foot-hold in building and industrial markets, powering wireless sensors to improve efficiency, reduce costs and increase automation.

Supercapacitors (ultracapacitors) are now center stage for designers of electronics and particularly power circuits. This is because they are improving faster than the batteries and electrolytic capacitors they increasingly replace. More subtly, they reduce the need for and danger from lithium-ion batteries. For example, when placed across a rechargeable battery, they protect it from fast charging and discharging and allow more of the energy in the battery to be utilised. Learn more ...

IDTechEx are pleased to launch TCF LIVE! - a new conference and tradeshow covering the latest technologies and application of transparent conductive films (TCF) - covering raw materials through to the full range of applications.

In this article, we look at other aspects of what will and will not happen with electric vehicles land, water and air in 2013, whether they are hybrid or pure electric.

The hybrid and pure electric vehicle business will continue to prosper in 2013, with profits and growth the norm in most sectors. Laws will proliferate that make electric vehicles the only way to go.

The days when piezoelectric energy harvesting was considered unreliable and had low power output are long gone. Hand in hand with the development of ultra low power electronics, energy harvesters have been drastically improving also.

This article shares some of the research in the newly updated IDTechEx report, "Stretchable Electronics Comes to Market."

More than 1500 people attended the world leading Printed Electronics USA 2012 event in Santa Clara, CA earlier this month. The event featured 116 exhibitors, up more than 32% on the previous year.

The annual printed electronics award winners were announced at the IDTechEx Printed Electronics event this week in Santa Clara, California - the World's largest event on the topic.

The second and final day of Printed Electronics USA in Santa Clara really illustrated how far the technologies had progressed and the huge variety of players in the field. The event, organized by IDTechEx, was the best and biggest edition of the series so far. Amongst the attendees were company founders, directors, engineers, academics, but also students and patent attorneys. In particular, there were a large number of end users attending the show.

Printed electronics has reached its tipping point as evidenced by the world's largest event on the topic, Printed Electronics USA, now taking place in Santa Clara California, staged by the leading analysts on the subject, IDTechEx.

New drivers are opening up new frontiers in the display industry, resulting in technological innovation and the expansion and diversification of the market. This article summaries some of these recent developments and research from IDTechEx's brand new report "Metal Oxide TFT Backplanes for Displays 2013-2018: Analysis, Trends, Markets."

The market for electric vehicle inverters, including converters, for both hybrid and pure electric vehicles land, water and air, will grow to $18 billion in 2023 as forecasted in the new IDTechEx report Inverters for Electric Vehicles 2013-2023.

Leading designers of printed electronics collaborate on printed electronic demonstration give-a-way

The IDTechEx report The Market for Gold Inks 2013-2019 is looking to identify and assess the opportunities for a printable nano-gold ink, excluding its use in graphic arts applications (where it could be used for both its graphic arts benefits in addition to being used as a functional component in a circuit, such as printed touch switches, are taken into account).

On Dec 5-6, the Printed Electronics USA conference and exhibition in Santa Clara, CA, will feature "Manufacturing Street" - its first live, multi-technology, printed electronics demonstration.

This article shares some of the research in the new IDTechEx report, "Supercapacitor/Ultracapacitor Strategies and Emerging Applications 2013-2025" (www.IDTechEx.com/SuperApps). We establish what is needed to create a billion dollar supercapacitor manufacturer: someone will. A prediction is provided of the coming shakeout in the industry including the number of manufacturers involved.

On Dec 5 Printed Electronics USA 2012 will open in Santa Clara, CA. More than 100 exhibitors have already confirmed their involvement in what will be the largest event on the topic. Here are a few of the key show highlights.

Ultracapacitors, otherwise known as supercapacitors, have recently become an essential part of the toolkit of designers of aircraft, trains, road vehicles, renewable energy, office equipment and the host of small electronic devices where it all began.

The supercapacitor market continues to power up at 30% yearly with some little-known names taking some of the biggest orders at well over $10 million dollars each.

This article shares some of the research carried out for the new IDTechEx report, "Batteries and Supercapacitors for Smart Portable Devices 2013-2023: Markets, Technologies, Companies"

Recently there has been consolidation in the RTLS and WSN market, with acquisitions of companies such as Aeroscout, MicroStrain and Dust Networks.

Working on developing prototypes and innovative products incorporating wireless sensor and energy harvesting technologies, presentations from electronics giant Intel and innovative start-up NovioTech will excite attendees with their proposed solutions to achieve optimized power consumption performance characteristics.

The Internet of Things was conceived in Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1998.

IDTechEx's Printed Electronics Asia conference and exhibition returns to Tokyo, Japan next week.

Supercapacitors, otherwise known as ultracapacitors or Electrochemical Double Layer Capacitors (EDLC), have leapt to market growth of 30% yearly due to rapidly broadening applications from mobile phones to trains, cars and battle tanks.

As Asia has dominated in displays, photovoltaics, semiconductor manufacture and other technology sectors, so too will it dominate in making and integrating better components and consumer electronics using the new materials that are enabling devices to be lighter, more robust, flexible, more power efficient and higher performance. Some of these most exciting material developments and their uses are covered at Printed Electronics Asia 2012.

Graphene promises to offer excellent material properties in almost all applications. Its extraordinary performance has led many to call it the 'superlative' or 'wonder' material. However, the reality is different.

For the first time in this year's event in Washington DC on the 7th and 8th of November, a third event, focusing on supercapacitor technologies will be co-located, highlighting the advances, applications and adoption trends in this closely related field.