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With the infamous naked, yet painted, booth babes of electronica 2006 replaced by a foosball table, electronica 2008 seemed to have had a little less flash (or was that flesh?) and sizzle than some previous shows. Maybe this was a concession to the tough global economic times. But despite the steady stream of news about global recession, the mood at electronica was one of “business as usual” with a look to the future. The show was a big success.

According to the show organizers, electronica 2008 attracted 2,800 exhibitors, 58% of them from abroad. There were 73,000 show visitors. These figures included increased numbers of visitors from Central and Eastern European, Taiwan, Brazil, South Africa and Russia—while there were comparatively fewer visitors from the USA, the United Kingdom, France, and Israel—owing to the current economic picture.

The unique thing about electronica is that every conceivable electronics category is represented in the 15 huge halls of exhibitions. An engineer could walk through the show and create a bill of materials for just about any electronic product imaginable: from packaging and materials to processors and programming tools. It’s an opportunity for the materials and components suppliers who are often in the background to share the spotlight with the highest-speed 45-nm multi-core processors, and for all these products to take their place in the amazing global marketplace that is the world of electronic design.

Covering such an event is a huge challenge, particularly for a publication group like Electronic Design, where arguably 100% of these products are of interest to some part of our engineering audience. Working the show floor with two video crews, the Electronic Design team captured many of these innovations, which are now posted on our special electronica show coverage site. As an example of some of the latest videos, here’s a rundown of the latest installments to the page:

Switches in the Spotlight
David Webber, director of product management at C&K, highlighted some of the new products in the C&K portfolio of switches:

• Detect switches for blade servers allow data protection and easy mezzanine card change out in ATCA (Advanced Telecommunications Computing Arhitecture) blade servers
• Switches for off-road transportation includes sealed switches that are designed for more than 1 million activations. The AR-3 is a new analog switch that allows for linear output using Reed or Hall effect.
• Also popular at the C&K booth was the SensoNav, providing 14-way actualization combining discrete detect and tactile switches.

Evolution of Analog
Intersil CEO David Bell shared some of the company’s newest technologies:

• D2Audio intelligent Class D Audio amps with digital input allow for equalization and deep-bass response.
• High-speed, low-power analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) use only 20% of the power of traditional converters, allowing new applications in software defined radio (SDR), battery powered devices and in designs that pack multiple ADCs into a small space.
• Also, a dc-dc module in a 15-mm square package, the ISL8201M is a high efficiency, low noise, integrated dc-dc power solution in a thermally enhanced QFN package.

Though the video isn’t on the site yet, you can check back with our electronica 2008 page for some perspective from the other side of the globe. Zooming all the way out from the component level and looking at the global market, I had an opportunity to talk to the managing director of Electronica India, Manmeet Sabarwal. Electronica India reflects the growth and success of electronics and engineering in India. In the interview, Sabarwal touches on contract manufacturing in India; growth drivers such as the automotive market in the region; and the repatriation of engineers returning to India from the U.S. and elsewhere. In times like these, it is good to keep thinking about the future and getting back to growth!