Recent progress in renewables has bordered on the surreal. At ICREN Barcelona recently we were invited to consider those giant wind turbines sweeping 200 meters of sky. Up there the wind is stronger and more consistent and that size of turbine is more efficient.

Single crystal silicon photovoltaics will now be very affordable, obsoleting polycrystalline Si PV by having efficiency much higher. Laminating it onto supercapacitor sheeting will form a load bearing material that both makes and stores electricity, delivering it exceptionally fast when needed.

Agriculture is facing major long-term challenges. Some forecasts suggest that world population is set to grow by 2.3 billion by 2050. This, together with rising global income levels that typically increase food demand per capital, would require raising food production in 2050 by 70% compared to 2005 levels.

The market for transparent conductive films and materials has been rapidly changing.

Metal Matrix Composites (MMCs) have been known and explored for a very long time, but new innovations and an increased demand for high-performance lightweight materials means that they are finally ready to make it beyond their previous false starts.

Sensel creates next-generation touch technology. Multi-touch, highly sensitive, low power, and mobile, Sensel's PressureGrid™ makes computing more comfortable and creative.

In the past five years or so several major research groups have demonstrated that robots can learn to grasp novel varied objects with accuracy levels around 80-85%. Still performance levels, even in the labs, are sub-human but this is changing fast.

Trucking is a big business. In this article we will demonstrate how and why trucking driving is going autonomous.

This article covers a number of topics to highlight how robotic technology within agriculture is altering the landscape.

Raghu Das introduced the technologies covered and an introduction to the IDTechEx Show! USA 2017

Winners of the IDTechEx Show! USA Awards - Energy Harvesting, Energy Storage and Electric Vehicles. The annual IDTechEx Show! USA awards were presented in Santa Clara last week during the drinks reception at the end of day one.

Each year at the IDTechEx Show!, two companies are honoured for their achievements in developing and commercialising different aspects of wearable technology. This year the awards were judged by Dr Akira Sakaigawa (Huawei), Chris Chin (HTC Vive) and Heidi Dohse (Google) with support from the independent analyst team with IDTechEx Research.

Raghu Das, CEO and Chris Clare, Event Director, IDTechEx tells you what to expect at the upcoming IDTechEx Show! held at the Santa Clara Convention Center, November 15-16 2017.

The idea of drone delivery sharply divides commentator opinion: some dismiss it as a mere publicity stunt whilst others consider it a game changer that will bring near instant product fulfilment to e-commerce, stripping traditional shops of their last major differentiator.

Excitement is building in the printed and organic electronics sector as demand grows and investors focus in on the opportunities.

Exploring the commercialization of flexible electronics, one of the key focus points of this year's Printed Electronics USA event on November 15-16 in Santa Clara, CA.

In this article, we provide an overview explaining the major technology changes and market trends that underpin this growing interest. We will also consider how the future will look like, discussing the rapid rise and fall of multiple technologies.

Trucking is a big business. In the US, trucking industry revenues are in excess of $726bn. No wonder then that autonomous trucking is a hot topic.

Connected healthcare is a transformative socio-technological model for healthcare management and delivery that leverages a range of technology innovations available today in order to provide optimized, flexible, targeted healthcare services.

Last mile delivery remains an expensive affair in the parcel delivery business, often representing more than half of the total cost. Its importance is also growing thanks to a change in the composition of total deliveries with B2C deliveries rapidly taking on a bigger share.