SiFive gets $50.6M to help companies get their custom chip designs out the door

With the race to next-generation silicon in full swing, the waterfall of venture money flowing into custom silicon startups is already showing an enormous amount of potential for some more flexible hardware for an increasingly changing technology landscape — and Naveed Sherwani hopes to tap that for everyone else. That’s the premise of SiFive, a […] Continue reading SiFive gets $50.6M to help companies get their custom chip designs out the door

Incandescent Luminescence Of Semiconductor Junctions Characterised In The Lab

One of the humbling things about writing for Hackaday comes when we encounter our readership and learn the breadth of our community and the huge variety of skills and professions you represent. Among your number are a significant representation among scientists, and as a result we often receive fascinating previews of and insights into their work. Sometimes they deserve a little bit more attention than one of our normal short daily pieces, and such a moment has come our way this week.

We’ve been fortunate enough to have an early look at a paper which makes detailed observations of a …read more

Continue reading Incandescent Luminescence Of Semiconductor Junctions Characterised In The Lab

Is That Part A Counterfeit? Here Are A Few Pointers

If you order an electronic component, how do you know what it is you are receiving? It has the right package and markings, but have you got the real thing from the original manufacturer or have you got an inferior counterfeit? We hear so much about counterfeit parts, and sometimes the level of effort put in by the fraudsters is so high that from either a visual or electrical standpoint they can be hard to spot.

[Robb Hammond] writes for Aeri, with an extremely interesting guide to some of the cues for spotting a counterfeit semiconductor part. In doing so …read more

Continue reading Is That Part A Counterfeit? Here Are A Few Pointers

Mythic launches a chip to enable computer vision and voice control on any device

 Hardware that responds to voice commands is already out there and probably in your hand or house right now. Whether it’s a smartphone, smart speaker or wearable, it has to connect to the cloud to deliver answers to your questions. Now, a startup called Mythic (formerly known as Isocline) is launching a chip and software that will change all that, putting voice control, computer vision… Read More Continue reading Mythic launches a chip to enable computer vision and voice control on any device

Phononic raises a cool $40 million to make quiet, spacious refrigerators

Image (1) SnowBeech.jpg for post 122912 Refrigeration and air conditioning used to require vapor compressors, chemicals like Freon, fans, water chillers or passive heat sinks. But a North Carolina company called Phononic has developed solid state refrigeration technology instead.
Phononic, which employs about 110 full-time today, just raised an additional $40 million in equity funding to rapidly expand manufacturing of its… Read More Continue reading Phononic raises a cool $40 million to make quiet, spacious refrigerators