New blog from South Africa
In the past I've questioned why blogs appear to have had so little influence on the electronics media to date. Perhaps this is going to change in 2009 - this month I've already highlighted that Electronics Weekly has relaunched their startup blog, and launched a new open source blog. Now EE Publishers in South Africa have launched "The best from EE Publishers..." blog. Several of the posts link to audio content, making it a true multi-media platform. The broad portfolio of magazines (EngineerIT, Energize, Vector and PositionIT) mean that the blog is pretty broad-based, but perhaps we are seeing signs of blogs taking off in our industry.
The Engineer awards open for nominations
The Engineer has opened its 2009 awards for nominations. These awards are aimed specifically to reward excellence in collaboration between universities and industry, and include a wide range of categories, and rather strangely bundles consumer and electronics into a single category. The awards will be presented on Friday 4th December at The Royal Society, London, and you can enter by visiting the Engineer awards website.
Call for papers - International Automotive Electronics Congress
Reed Electronics Group has issued a call for papers for the 6th annual International Automotive Electronics Congress to be held in Paris, France on 17th and 18th November 2009. Key topic areas are Electric and Hybrid vehicles; Telematics/Infotainment; Energy Saving; Active Safety/ADAS/MEMS; and Embedded systems and Standardisation. Submissions need to be made to visinoni.monica@wanadoo.fr by 2nd March 2009.
DATE joins with ARTEMISIA to boost attendance
This year Design, Automation & Test in Europe (DATE) will join with the ARTEMISIA Association to stage a joint conference to be held in Nice, France on 20th to 24th April 2009. , with the aim of achieving more than 5,000 attendees. This makes a lot of sense. Although focused conferences like DATE continue to attract high-quality delegates, the trade show industry remains fragile. Although there is by no means complete overlap, I'm sure that the synergies between DATE and ARTEMISIA will ensure the success of this joint venture.
New Italian T&M site
Although it has been running quietly since September 2008, Vertigo s.r.l. has only just formally launched www.StrumentazioneElettronica.it, the only dedicated electronics test and measurement website in Italy. The site has a clean, clear look, and is built on Joomla, the popular CMS system. With Stefano Cazzani editing the site, I'm also confident that www.StrumentazioneElettronica.it will have compelling editorial. The site features some reader interaction through comments on stories, and promises more social media features soon. It's great to see new launches, particularly when the Internet allows a focused vertical title to be launched that probably wouldn't be viable as a print publication.
National chip week
I was really excited to hear that this week is National Chip Week in the UK. Finally: recognition for the electronics industry. Sadly it turns out that the Potato Council (yes we really have a Potato Council) is promoting what most of the world calls fries.....
Ray Ridley announces new power supply workshops
The well-known Dr. Ray Ridley will be running his four-day power supply workshops from 30th March to 2nd April at the Mercure Meriadeck Hotel, Bordeaux, France. Anyone in the power industry will know about this high-quality training that offers both theoretical study and practical experiments. Attendees will also receive a copy of POWER 4-5-6 software.
Future Horizons launch seminar to explain the economics of the IC industry
Future Horizons is going to run the Integrated Circuit Economics Seminar that they have already conducted as in-house training for several clients as a public seminar on 17th March 2009 at the Hilton London Olympia, London, UK. The seminar promises to tell you "everything you ever wanted to know about the IC industry economic fundamentals" and will also offer "strategies for success"!
Napier Review of 2008
Every year I pull together a review of what has happend in the European electronics media by collating the posts on Napier News. The Napier News Review of 2008 has just been completed, simply click here to collect your copy.
Editor interview - Maurizio Del Corso, Firmware
What do you most enjoy about your job?
I manage the contents of a magazine dedicated to the programmable electronic devices, which means I'm constantly updated and in touch with both the key suppliers and also with the designers and engineers that use these technologies in devices. This is what I enjoy in my job: to be active part in the spreading technologies and to see them applied in the most varied applications.
Which areas of electronics interest you the most?
Personally I’m interested in all of things that are electronics, but for sure, the area that I prefer is microcontrollers. Lately with the coming of the multi-Core systems this topic is even more interesting!
Readers have to pay for their copies of Firmware. Why would a reader pay for a magazine when there are a number of free ones available?
The articles published on Firmware magazine are written by designers skilled the electronics. Due this, the contents are very different from controlled circulation magazines that usually take contributions supplied from vendors. However we also have a mailing so lots of engineers receive Firmware every month, free of charge.
How do you cater for both people who work in electronics and people for whom electronics is a hobby?
The readers of Firmware are mostly engineers because the contents are technically complex and beyond the capacity of those for whom electronics is a hobby. For the hobbyists we have other magazines like Fare Elettronica (www.farelettronica.com) and “L’elettronica di Mr A.keer” (www.akeer.it) - a series of video DVDs that help people learn about electronics.
Do you have any plans to enhance the magazine or website over the next year?
We will improve the web site with many more extra articles that are not published in the printed magazine. Moreover we are working in order to publish Firmware in other European languages.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time, when you’re not editing Firmware?
About 4 months ago my son was born, so all my spare time is dedicated to the child. At the moment he gives me many things to do!!
Will the Internet kill printed magazines?
This is a good question. The Internet has already killed many printed magazines due the costs of printing and the the very low cost of electronic distribution: in fact thousands of readers can be reached in few minutes by sending a simple newsletter! The Italians readers still prefer the printed magazine and I think that this will be the case for some time. The magazines can be collected and can be browsed through without the aid of a computer.
Hmm… thinking, if we post a good article on net, the majority of the people prefer to print it and to read it rather than to read it on the PC’s monitor.
Do you personally prefer to get information in print or online?
It depends from the type of information that I’m looking for. If I need a tips or an information “to the flight” I prefer the online version, but if I have to read a complex argument the printed version version for me is essential. However I don’t hide to you that I often print documents before reading them!
What is your favourite gadget?
As I have already said, I’m attracted by anything that works with voltage and current, therefore my favourite gadget has to be electronic! Lately I am amusing myself with a multimedia hard disk that I’m using in order to store and show AVI video recorded using my camcorder. Obviously the subject of the videos is always my son, the little Del Corso!
E&E Week - the first two issues
Last November I talked about E&E's ambitious plans to relaunch the magazine and begin publishing E&E Week, an electronic-only news title. We've now seen the first couple of issues, and I wanted to say that I was really impressed with E&E Week. The publication looks great, and is really easy to skim through, whether on screen or in print. There is a good collection of news stories, covering four pages, and it is so much more pleasant than navigating through a news website or trawling an RSS feed. It is a great mix of industry news, new products and events listings. If you read Napier News, you'll know I strongly believe that electronic magazines are going to be enormously important for our industry in the next few years, and E&E Week is one of the titles I like the most. Of course cynics will point to the lack of advertising in E&E Week, but I'm not surprised, given the seismic changes at E&E over the past three months: it will be interesting to see if the magazine can generate a good revenue stream from E&E Week by the middle of the year: check back on Napier News to find out how it is doing!
Italian portal relaunched
Fiera Milano Editore S.p.A. have redesigned the www.ilb2b.it portal. The new site provides easy access to content from Elettronica Oggi, EO Embedded and EO News, as well as automation, mechanical and environmental titles. It's great to see that the site hasn't just been launched - Fiera Milano Editore have asked people to give them feedback on the new design in an online survey.
ESC and IP/SOC 09 to join in Grenoble
This year Embedded Systems Conference and IP/SoC 09 (IP-Based System Design) will be held together in Grenoble, on 1st to 3rd December 2009. This makes sense as both events are reletively small and ESC needs to find an alternative venue because electronica is only held on alternate years. The link is even less surprising, as TechInsights own a 19% stake in Design Reuse, the organisers of IP/SoC. The organisers hope that the attendees with overlap significantly, although I'm not convinced of a huge overlap, although the joint event will definitely benefit many exhibitors who would want to reach both audiences.
German courts review Google Adwords
I was pleased to see the German courts taking a reasonable line over the use of trademarks and company names as Google Adwords keywords, and interested to see some of the cases reported were from our industry. In Germany trademarks typically receive strong legal protection. As I'm not a lawyer, I'd strongly recommend you check out the report on the Marketing Law site.
EPD hires technical editor
Electronic Product Design has appointed Dr. Kriteshwar Kaur Kohli to the role of technical editor, hopefully giving some respite to the overworked Tim Fryer, who has been covering at the publication since Caroline Hayes departed. It's good to see IML investing in its editorial team and putting paid to rumours that the company was trying to cut costs by reducing the number of editors they employ. In fact the whisper we hear is that IML wanted to make this appointment some time ago, and it was other factors that delayed Dr. Kohli starting.
Embedded Masterclass enters 10th year
The Embedded Masterclass, the UK event that covers embedded tools and technologies will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year. The dual-location event will be held on 7th May in Cambridge and 12th May in Bristol, and will include in-depth workshops on Embedded Linux, Developing Graphical user Interfaces for Embedded Systems and Improving Real-Time Behaviour for Reliable Systems, as well as a comprehensive presentation programme. I'm really pleased to see a successful event running in the UK, and the Embedded Masterclass proves that engineers in the UK really do attend events!
Call for papers - SAME 2009
The organisers of SAME 2009, which will be held on 22nd and 23rd September 2009 in beautiful Sophia Antipolis, France have issued a call for papers. The main topic of the forum is "Wireless Technology in daily life". Submissions are due by 24th April 2009.
For the first time, SAME will be co-located with FDL (Forum on specification & Design Languages) and DASIP (Conference on Design and Architectures for Signal and Image Processing), giving you even more reasons to visit one of the most wonderful parts of Europe in September!.
Call for presentations - IAE 2009
Reed, the organisers of the International Automotive Electronics Congress has issued a call for papers. Papers are due by 2nd March, and should be sent to Monica Visinoni, Event Manager (visinoni.monica@wanadoo.fr).
Riccardo Busetto looks at cables
Riccardo Busetto has been appointed editor-in-chief of Connessioni & Cablaggi - the Italian cables and connections magazine. He will also remain editor-in-chief of PCB Magazine, as well as being a senior editor for Selezione di Elettronica and contributing to the websites B2B24.it and Elettronicanews.it.
Happy birthday Apple Mac!
We do quite a lot of design work for print, online and video, so I couldn't let today go past without wishing the Apple Mac a happy 25th Birthday. Happy Birthday Mac!
New Electronics adds video to email newsletter
The New Electronics weekly email newsletter has added additional "commercial opportunities" - i.e. they've created new advertising slots. In addition to conventional banners and skyscrapers, advertisers can now buy advertorial promotion in the form of Sponsors News and Video of the Week. This follows the trend I've seen where email newsletters are increasing the text-based advertising, because text drives more clicks, although the idea of video of the week is a creative idea. The newsletter has relatively small circulation of 11,200, but I'm told that the subscribers are 100% opt-ins, which should mean a decent open rate. I also understand that the New Electronics Website will be significantly revamped during this quarter - keep checking Napier News for more information.
Did I miss something?
I must have missed a release at some point. I got a release telling me that "National Electronics Week delivers ‘best value’ for UK electronics professionals" and despite the uninspiring title I began to read. Now I'm really hoping that National Electronics Week is a success - and definitely believe that the partnership with Electronics Weekly to launch EW Live! is a great move to try to attract semiconductor companies to the event. But you have to be realistic that attracting visitors is tough in the UK. Then, however, I saw that Richard Noble will be at the event. How had I missed that he would be there?
If you're not an engineer, you might not know who I'm talking about. But if you are you'll know. And he will be at the show! Richard "my car did 763mph" Noble. Richard "my JCB diesel car did 350mph, and that was because the tyres weren't rated to go any faster" Noble! Richard "I'm now working on a project to design a car that does 0-1000mph in 40 seconds" Noble!!!!
What other reasons do you need to attend?
Pro-Talk asks how much they can charge
I wasn't convinced that charging for images was a good idea, when Electronics Talk and the other Pro-Talk sites redesigned. Agencies have now been asked to complete a survey from Pro-Talk to fine a fair price for publishing images, videos and slide shows. Although I'd be the first to say that media owners have to make a profit, I am really not sure that Pro-Talk is taking the right approach. The undoubted success of sites like Electronics Talk has primarily been driven by two factors: SEO and email [newsletters]. Unless paying the fixed monthly charge includes a package to drive additional traffic, I'm not convinced that companies will see a significant benefit in posting images and videos. This doesn't mean I can see no value in paying for online videos or slide shows. If videos were charged on a pay-per-view basis, incentivising the website to drive relevant traffic, the situation would be very different. Sadly I suspect this isn't going to happen in the near future.
Call for Papers DSNOC'09 at DATE
The organisers of DATE 09, which will be held in Nice, France, on 24th April 2009, have issued a call for papers for DSNOC'09, the Friday workshop on Diagnostic Services in Network-on-Chips Test, Debug, and On-Line Monitoring. Papers must be submitted by 10th February to Axel Jantsch, the Program Chair (axel@kth.se)
Google drops print advertising programme
Google has given up trying to act as an advertising agency for certain print publications: maybe online really is a good idea! What initially appeared as a logical idea - Google could sell an print advert by splitting it up and selling to several advertisers - didn't work. Personally I'm glad that they've stopped: I felt it was creating a page of classified adverts, rather than a completely new model for print advertising. An approach that works online doesn't necessarily work in print, a fact that Google and its advertising customers have recognised.