Imagine you have two pieces of a magnetic latch and switch sensor in a three-pin package. What do you get when you combine the two devices into one? Indeed, a dual magnetic latch and switch sensor in a four-pin package. This doesn’t sound very exciting, but what if we tell you that the device we are talking about actually combines two separate silicon dies into one package? Still not impressed? Well, according to the manufacturer of these new devices, you should.

Researchers at the University of California in San Diego have developed a magnetic ink which can be used to make self-healing batteries, electrochemical sensors and wearable fabric-based electrical circuits.

Fitness-tracking smartphone apps, smartwatches, and bands need continuous location data for mapping and recording, and accuracy is critical for wearers who like to monitor their progress and share achievements online. A built-in eCompass helps calculate location when satellite signals are unavailable, such as inside buildings or when running or cycling under tree cover. A new eCompass reduces the heading error to less than 4° instead of the typical 10° of current devices.

In an effort to show that programming and technology is not always difficult and can even be fun, last month the BBC has started to distribute about one million micro:bit microcontroller boards to eleven- and twelve-year old schoolchildren for free. Although simplicity is key, the young programmers will need some guidance to get started. But what to do if the teachers have as little programming experience as their pupils?

Magnetic random-access memory (MRAM) is faster, more efficient and more robust than other data storage media. MRAM stores data by making clever use of electron spin – a sort of gyroscopic property of electrons. Because it used magnetism instead of stored charge, MRAM is nonvolatile, which means that the stored data can survive a power outage.

To help get Elektor readers up and running with this latest NFC technology we have arranged, together with STMicroelectronics, to give away a free ST25TA02K NFC tag with the January & February 2016 edition of Elektor magazine!

Based on a patented Hall effect technology this new sensor enables for the first time true non-contacting through-hole shaft sensing using standard SMD features. The standard model features a 4 mm double D-flat shaft and an 8-pad SMD footprint that is compatible with most reflow soldering systems.

The power wasted by domestic appliances in standby mode can be appreciable. A new off-line power-converter IC from STMicroelectronics promises to staunch the flow of this ‘vampire’ power to just a dribble...

Galvanic isolation ensures data transfer without electrical connections that might create safety hazards otherwise. However, isolation does not come for free. The traditional optocoupler is easy to use but it is bulky, power-hungry and slow. Better performing optocouplers are expensive. What about digital isolators?

Solar cells traditionally use photovoltaic effects to convert sunlight to electrical energy but what if antennae could be made small enough to actually couple with light waves...