News
April 8 -- PBR Seminars will launch "Differential Traces and Impedance," a two-hour technical Webinar, on April 27 from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. PDT (1-3 p.m. EDT). Doug Brooks, a signal integrity expert who regularly speaks at the PCB Design Conferences, is the featured speaker.
According to Brooks, differential circuits and differential signaling are becoming more common on today's PCBs. Differential circuits have several advantages over their single-ended counterparts, including a better signal/noise ratio, more precise signal timing and immunity from external noise sources. Brooks will explain the advantages and disadvantages of differential circuits compared to single-ended circuits, and cover the sometimes confusing issue of common-mode noise as it applies to each type of circuit.
For more information or to register, visit www.pbrseminars.com.The Webcast will also be available after the seminar, and additional Webinars will be announced soon.
PBR Seminars is a joint venture between UP Media Group and PCB007.
Eindhoven, The Netherlands, April 8 -- Assembléon, has appointed APS France Equipments to represent its SMT placement line in France. APS is a member of the Propelec S.A. group, which represents Assembléon in Spain and Portugal.
Assembléon's director region Europe, Ton Cornelissen, said, "Propelec has a very positive attitude to the SMT market and to its customers ... We've shared a very satisfying relationship with the Propelec group in Spain, and have every confidence in the company's capability to represent us in France in cooperation with Assembléon France SAS."ROUND ROCK, TX - Dell Computer said PC unit growth would slow to 10% for the first quarter, another sign of slowing IT demand for PCs. Demand in the U.S. has improved slightly, however, Dell told analysts gathered at its annual Analysts Day meeting this week.
Dell said its overall business is a little softer. Investment bank Deutsche Bank forecasts Dell's revenues to grow 16% in fiscal 2006.
OYSTER BAY, NY - Most of the public attention given to RFID has focused on the retail supply chain, especially Wal-Mart's mandate to its top 100 suppliers. But the U.S. Department of Defense is also mandating its use this year - to all of its 43,000-plus suppliers. Add to that the needs of the aerospace industry, particularly the two giant aircraft makers, Boeing and Airbus, and the shape of a massive vertical RFID market emerges.
Boeing and Airbus - which use many of the same components - are working with the US Federal Aviation Administration to formalize UHF RFID certification for systems to track aircraft parts, says Erik Michielsen, ABI Research director of RFID and ubiquitous networks. The hoped-for improvement in ROI is of vital importance to an industry that has been hard-hit by recent economic conditions. Safer planes and fewer procurement overlaps are added incentives.
"The airline industry is obviously profit-based," Michielsen says. "They want efficient manufacturing, supply chain and asset tracking systems to create economical business models. With the DoD, RFID is not about business models: it's about improving military operations efficiency in acquiring materiel from suppliers and making sure it gets to units in the field. These are massive, aggressive and very complex initiatives that will be major factors driving RFID's adoption."
The first beneficiaries are the RFID suppliers who have been granted "Blanket Purchase Agreement" awards, certifying that their systems meet the DoD's requirements, ABI says. The first five companies in this favored position are UHF EPC Class 1 transponder suppliers Alien Technologies, Avery Dennison, CDO Technologies, Lowry Computer Products and Intermec. Other BPA awards are expected soon.
According to the company, wireless handset manufacturing companies are Data I/O's largest customer group and consume significant volumes of high-density flash memory devices. Multi-national customers require speedy, concurrent support in many different geographies. Intel offers such support with its flash memory Programmer Evaluation Labs (PEL) located in Folsom, CA, and Cavite, the Philippines. These labs both use the Data I/O FlashPAK programming system.
"Intel Flash Memory devices are used by virtually all our major customers, and close cooperation with Intel strengthens our programming solutions," said Bruce Rodgers, VP of sales and marketing in Asia/Americas.
Peter Larsen, Intel programmer evaluation lab manager added: "Our [combined] efforts include rapid algorithm development for Intel Flash Memory components, optimized manufacturing programming performance on Data I/O platforms and quickly addressing the needs of our customers."
LOS ALTOS, CA - China's appetite for energy coupled with decisions by leading oil producers not to raise output will inflate energy costs and slow global GDP growth, according to the latest economic report by Henderson Ventures.
The research firm forecasts GDP growth to slow to 3% in 2006, from 4% in 2004, and then rebound to 3.6% in 2007.
Electronics equipment markets are expected to follow suit, Henderson said.
"This year, consumer outlays will be stoked by demand for mobile telephones, flat-screen TVs, low-end PCs and iPods. Increasing per-vehicle content will help automotive electronics manufacturers to achieve respectable growth," Henderson said.
Businesses will spike IT equipment buys, and military electronics will see "muscular gains," largely in the U.S., Henderson said.
Global electronics equipment production is forecast to grow 7.1% percent this year, down from 10.3% in 2004. 2006 and 2007 growth will be 5.6% and 7.7%, respectively, Henderson forecasts.
