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Automotive MEMS sensors to return to healthy growth in 2012

The automotive MEMS sensor market will reach new heights in 2012, leaving behind the ups and downs of the last two years, including the impact of the recent Japan earthquake, according to IHS iSuppli.  Global automotive MEMS sensor revenue will jump a solid 16 percent in 2012 to $2.31 billion on its way to $2.93 billion in 2015.  The years ahead also will see expansion continuing at a healthy clip, with the overall five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2010 to 2015 projected at 9 percent.

Firefly BioWorks receives $2 million NIH grant for cancer diagnostics

Firefly BioWorks, a manufacturer of cancer diagnostic assays based on microfluidics, announced this week that it was awarded a $2 million grant from the National Cancer Institute for microRNA profiling.  MicroRNAs are an emerging class of biomarkers that are proving to be important indicators for early diagnosis of cancer and other diseases.  The company will use the award to expand production capacity and validate its microRNA assay against the current state of the art.  The goal of the Phase II SBIR grant studies is to develop a product providing a combination of performance, throughput and cost not available from existing solutions.

Comparative tablet teardowns reveal iPad design advantages

In the 15 months since the introduction of the iPad, competitive tablet manufacturers still cannot match the design efficiency of Apple's groundbreaking product, according to an IHS iSuppli teardown analysis of eight tablet models.  "Since Apple controls both the operating system and hardware design of the iPad, it is able to attain design efficiencies that other tablet manufacturers cannot," said Wayne Lam, Senior Analyst at IHS.  "These efficiencies become obvious in areas like the memory and the battery, where Apple maintains advantages in cost, space savings and performance compared with every competitor in the business."