IDTechEx

The $76bn wearable technology market and the new Timex smart watch

Analysts IDTechEx are unique in having six up-to-date reports with ten year forecasts on the wearable technology market.

Internet of Things: big impediments, big needs

At the heart of the newly popular Internet of Things (IoT) is internet-enabled sensing nodes.

On-board chargers and DC-DC converters

On-board chargers and DC-DC converters use similar components to the inverters that are the main focus of this article and they face the same issues in the main, such as improving space, weight, cost and efficiency.

Graphene may be key to leap in supercapacitor performance

Graphene electrodes are one of the best prospects for enabling supercapacitors and superbatteries to take up to half of the lithium-ion battery market in 15 years - amounting to tens of billions of dollars yearly.

LG Display

LG Display is investing heavily in OLED technology. Having lost the initiative to Samsung in the production of small OLED panels, LGD is eager to stay ahead on large OLEDs, particularly in TV. In 2013, LG commercialized a 55" OLED TVs in several regions, despite the fact that the price was much higher than that of the equivalent LCD model. LG Display is now setting up a new fab for the mass production of OLED TVs.

Cynora

After a complete reorganization in 2008, CYNORA started the development of organic functional materials for OLEDs and OPV. CYNORA wants to increase the efficiency of fluorescence to a level comparable to phosphorescence. The company says that Singlet Harvesting does not require iridium. Instead, the chemistry is based on copper compounds.

IDTechEx reveals multi-billion dollar market for electric motorcycles

Savvy participants in the electric vehicles business see beyond the obvious e-bikes, e-cars and e-buses where little money is made. The other half of the value market is where most of the profits will be made and it is replete with new sub-markets coming from nowhere.

Big strategy decisions ahead for electric cars

Those making or intending to make electric cars or their components have big strategy decisions ahead.

Electric vehicles need magic of graphene

Graphene could radically improve batteries and supercapacitors as explained in the new IDTechEx report Functional Materials for Supercapacitors/Ultracapacitors/EDLC 2015-2025.

Glucose Test Strips: What's Next

IDTechEx assess the market for glucose test strips, discusses key parameters affecting the market including regulatory pressures, and examines the latest innovations from companies such as Abbott Diabetes and Google.

ITO replacements: time to take-off or fizzle out

Over the past five years there have been a large number of companies developing transparent conductive film (TCF) alternatives for ITO. Including material providers and film providers, IDTechEx have covered almost 100 organizations, working across more than 12 types of transparent conductive film technologies.

FlexEl LLC

FlexEl was founded in 2008 and is based in Maryland. It works with partner companies to create, design, develop, license and/or manufacture novel flexible electronics and power management systems.

Progress with Printed Electronics

In this article we focus on the current status of the main printed electronics technologies for components in consumer goods and healthcare applications, providing for each one market drivers, case studies and key suppliers, cost structures and challenges.

IoT, energy harvesting and storage & printed electronics

Powering the internet of things: simple words to type but not necessarily the simplest of tasks to undertake. This article explores synergies between IoT, energy harvesting and storage and printed electronics.

Woven, Smart Skin & Structural Supercapacitors for EVs and Other Uses

Supercapacitors continue to improve faster than lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries, something pointed out by Bombardier and IDTechEx some time ago. There is near consensus that commercial Li-ion batteries will not improve more than a factor of two in cost and energy density in the next decade.

OCSiAl

OCSiAl was formed three years ago but only came out of stealth more in Q1 2014. OCSiAl has raised substantial funds and has also recently acquired Zyvex Nanotechnologies, a USA company that specialized in producing CNT composites and launched many high-profile technology demonstrators. OCSiAl is bringing to the market a carbon nanotube (CNT) offering that contains >75% SWCNT (single-walled carbon nanotubes) and is competitively priced.

Raymor Industries, Inc.

Raymor Nanotech is a division of the Raymor Industries, a Canadian private company located near the Montreal area. It initially started supplying spherical titanium powdres synthesized using a plasma atomisaiton method. In 2010 it started work on single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and the titanium activity has since been acquired (dec 2013) by Arcam for a reported fee of $35 million. Raymor has also acquired NanoIntegris (operating as a subsidiary) which brings value in the post processing steps of CNT production, i.e., purifying and separating metallic and semiconducting ones.

Pyrograf Products

Pyrograf Products is a spin-out manufacturing affiliate of Applied Sciences, Inc, producing and commercializing vapour grown carbon fibers (70-150 nm diameter). Pyrograf has a 30 tonne/year production capacity with approximately 25% capacity utilization.

AU Optronics

AU Optronics (AUO), headquartered in Taiwan, was formed in 2001 during the merger of Unipac and Acer Display. Since 2000, the company has been working intensely on the research and development of OLEDs. The milestones in the evolution of this technology include a 65-inch full-HD television in 2013 (Oxide TFT and FMM OLED patterning), and a 5-inch display with a resolution of 443 pixels per inch (ppi) in 2013.

Ajinomoto Co Inc

Founded in 1909, Ajinomoto Co., Inc. has become a household name in Japan due to the popularity of its seasoning and processed food. The company has a strong expertise in the production of amino acids and continues to invest in new technologies. They have developed a new ink for printed pressure sensors.