Emergence

2013 at a glance - Outlook for 2014

As 2013 comes to an end, IDTechEx analysts summarize the main market trends in some of its core sectors of expertise, giving insight to the events of the past year and how they are expected to influence further developments, market entry for emerging technologies but also the behaviour of incumbents in 2014.

Supercapacitors USA 2013

There are just three weeks left until IDTechEx's Supercapacitors USA event in Santa Clara California, on November 20-21.

Energy Dept partners with EU on electric vehicle, smart grid

The Energy Department has launched a new center that will work to ensure that vehicles, charging stations, communications and networking systems work in unison with the electric grid.

The rise of mobile phone indoor positioning systems

This article shares some of the research in the new IDTechEx report, "Mobile Phone Indoor Positioning Systems (IPS) and Real Time Locating Systems (RTLS) 2013-2023"

Disputed sales of electric cars: the truth behind the confusion

How is it that some analysts put pure-electric car sales at hundreds of thousands in 2012 whereas others report a mere 60-65,000? At analysts IDTechEx, we feel that a lack of rigor is largely to blame because there are cars homologated as such and car-like vehicles that are not homologated as cars.

Major workshop explores how SMEs can get EVs to market quickly

Announcement of a high level workshop in Berlin, including major automotive manufacturer and SMEs demonstrating leading edge electric vehicle technology - registration is FREE

What energy storage will power the iWatch and future smart watches?

With the emerging trend in multifunctional portable devices such as the smartphone, these devices are cannibalising those that previously performed single functions. This has been the case of simple digital cameras and now wrist watches.

Armor invests €14 million in OPV

Armor is investing €14 million in a pilot OPV production line in La Chevrolière in western France in partnership with a French consortium.

Kodak sued over ownership of 18 patents

Global OLED Technology LLC (GOT) has hit Eastman Kodak Co. with a lawsuit in New York bankruptcy court seeking a declaratory judgment that 18 patents Kodak has laid claim to actually belong to GOT, which said it bought the patents in a 2009 deal.

Highlights From second day at Printed Electronics USA 2012

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.

Supercapacitors can take market share from lithium batteries

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"

Graphene: the thickness of it

Graphene has long shown potential for use in electronics, but difficulties in producing the material to a high enough quality has so far prevented the commercialisation of graphene-based devices.

RFID Market in 2012 - up 17% from 2011

The latest RFID market research from IDTechEx finds that in 2012 the value of the entire RFID market will be $7.67 billion, up from $6.51 billion in 2011. This includes tags, readers and software/services for RFID cards, labels, fobs and all other form factors.

Traction batteries beyond Li-ion arriving early

Lithium-ion batteries involve lithium ions being intercalated and de-intercalated at electrodes during cycling. Other batteries involve lithium ions but are not called lithium-ion because they work in another way. There are single use versions but now there are rechargeable versions arriving earlier than most pundits thought possible.

Powercast's chipset and RF energy harvesting reference design

Powercast Corporation has announced its RF-based wireless power chipset and reference design for embedded, low-power, wireless charging applications.

Energy harvesting for wireless sensors:1.6 million units 2011

In 2011 the market for energy harvesters reached US$700 million, with the majority of the value going into consumer electronic applications, where energy harvesters have been used for some time.

Kovio raises $15 million with lead investor Tyco Retail Solutions

Printed silicon electronics platform enables NFC solutions for retailers

Diesel-electric submarines to be tracked by unmanned marine vessels

Diesel-electric submarines are difficult to track as they are virtually silent and can stay submerged for extended periods of time. As the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) attempts to counter this imposing threat through the Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) project, multiple companies have received design contracts for the proposed vessel as the initial phases of the project get underway.

Domestic wind harvesting

NL Architects based in Amsterdam have designed an attractive and effective wind turbine for use in urban areas.