Mems

Better AI Is a Matter of Timing

February 3, 2025
Computer & Information Technology

AI is changing everything in data centers: New AI-specific chips, new cooling techniques, and new storage drives. Now even the method for keeping time is starting to change, with an announcement from SiTime that the company has developed a new clock that is optimized for AI workloads.The company says the…

November 19, 2024
Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Metallurgy & Material Science

A year after introducing the first in-ear, silicon-based earbuds, xMEMS has unveiled a prototype of the latest version of its microspeakers—this time, for use as an open-air speaker, which is a more challenging task.The Silicon Valley-based startup’s previous microspeakers brought microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) to wireless earbuds and boasted excellent sound…

October 30, 2024
Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Metallurgy & Material Science

Volcanic eruptions can be fast, deadly, and destructive. That’s why every bit of data counts when predicting them.Sensing company INFICON, based in Bad Ragaz, Switzerland, has developed the first portable helium sensor that can withstand a harsh volcanic environment. They’ve deployed it to monitor Vulcano and Stromboli, two volcanic islands…

August 20, 2024
Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Metallurgy & Material Science

Most mobile phones and tablets rely on passive cooling, dissipating heat into the body of the device (and, eventually, into your palms). An active cooling fan would help, but conventional fans are too large to fit in smartphones, tablets, and even some laptops.Microspeaker manufacturer xMEMS thinks it has the solution…

25 Mar 24

Inkjets Are for More Than Just Printing

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

In the early 1980s, offices were noisy places, filled with the sound of metal striking inked ribbons to mark characters on paper. IBM Selectric typewriters clacked, daisy wheel printers clattered, and dot-matrix printers made loud ripping sounds. Today, those noises are gone. And though we do spend more time reading…

17 Mar 24

How Ultrasound Became Ultra Small

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

A startling change in medical ultrasound is working its way through hospitals and physicians’ offices. The long-standing, state-of-the-art ultrasound machine that’s pushed around on a cart, with cables and multiple probes dangling, is being wheeled aside permanently in favor of handheld probes that send images to a phone. These devices…

11 Feb 24

Smartphone Screens Are About to Become Speakers

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

Today’s mobile-device speakers and haptic generators have several problems. The first is with the components themselves. The speakers in your smartphone and the system that gives your finger feedback when you touch a virtual button may be relatively small, but they are still big enough to limit how thin our…

30 Dec 23

The 8 Hot Consumer Electronics Stories of 2023

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation

Twenty-twenty-three was a transitional year for consumer electronics. It’s the year Twitter became X; the year Apple teased (but didn’t deliver) the next generation of augmented reality; the year drivers became both more aware and less optimistic of self-driving technology; the year COVID-19’s disruptions finally settled out; the year AI…

29 Nov 23

A Watch That Runs For Over A Decade On A Single Battery

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

Glenn Zorpette: Hello and welcome to Fixing the Future, an IEEE Spectrum podcast where we look at concrete solutions to some big problems. I’m your host, Glenn Zorpette, Editorial Director at Spectrum. And before we start, I just want to tell you that you can get the latest coverage from…

17 Nov 23

New Watch Motor Seeks to Outsmart the Smartwatch

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

Could the analog quartz wristwatch, a mainstay of the timepiece market for more than half a century, be headed finally for a high-tech makeover? A French startup, SilMach, in Besançon, France, is betting big that it is. The company has used silicon microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) to produce an entirely new…

Better AI Is a Matter of Timing

Smartwatch Speakers Slim Down With Silicon

A New Sensor Could Predict Volcanic Eruptions

All-Silicon “Fan-on-a-Chip” Keeps Thin Devices Cool

Inkjets Are for More Than Just Printing

How Ultrasound Became Ultra Small

Smartphone Screens Are About to Become Speakers

The 8 Hot Consumer Electronics Stories of 2023

A Watch That Runs For Over A Decade On A Single Battery

New Watch Motor Seeks to Outsmart the Smartwatch

Google won two major awards at MWC Barcelona 2025.

Expanding AI Overviews and introducing AI Mode

This MRI Can Run on Batteries

The Tiny Star Explosions Powering Moore’s Law