Macquarie University electronics PhD student Michael Boers has defeated competitors from universities in the US, Canada and Korea by designing and building an ultra-efficient radio frequency (RF) power amplifier. [ + ]

Applied Satellite Technology Australia Pty Ltd (AST Australia) has won a contract from the Australian Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) West Australian Fire Management Services that will supply DEC an Iridium-based satellite communication system, which includes remote asset tracking. [ + ]

Researchers at the University of South Australia have developed a technology that gives crews inside a command control centre a bird’'s-eye view of what’s happening within a fire or search and rescue area, and enables them to communicate directly with people in the field, using visual cues to better manage rescue missions and safely control fires. [ + ]

IDS Microchip and austriamicrosystems have partnered to develop a UHF RFID reader IC targeted at the portable reader market. These readers would be used to interrogate Gen 2 RFID tags allowing contactless identification of goods or materials in a broad range of applications. [ + ]

An engineer from Korea is seeking Australian and international distributors for his solar-powered mobile device rechargers, which he expects will change the way we use mobile devices. [ + ]

IDTechEx will stage the conference Active RFID and RTLS in Dallas, USA. The conference’s title emphasises the fast growing real-time locating systems (RTLS) used from hospitals to dockyards for locating people and assets. [ + ]

Reva Systems, an RFID network infrastructure provider, has announced that Lemmi Fashion, a Fritzlar, Germany-based supplier of children's apparel, is deploying the Tag Acquisition Processor (TAP) products as the cornerstone of its RFID program conversion from high frequency (HF) to ultra high frequency (UHF) passive RFID within its global supply chain. [ + ]

WCDMA has achieved 70% market share of all commercial 3G networks, according to GSA, the Global mobile Suppliers Association. [ + ]

Acceleware Corp has announced a partnership agreement through which Agilent Technologies will resell the Acceleware acceleration products throughout its worldwide sales organisation to Agilent Antenna Modeling Design System (AMDS) users. [ + ]

The WiMAX Forum and Informa Telecoms & Media announced participation commitments from 10 keynote speakers and more than 30 sponsors and exhibitors for their 2008 Events Series. [ + ]

Aeroflex has opened a regional service centre in Singapore that enables the Aeroflex Test Solutions (ATS) division to provide instrument service support to its users within the major growth markets in Asia. [ + ]

IDTechEx has relocated its global headquarters to Boston, Massachusetts. In addition, Susann Reuter, based in Chemnitz, Germany, has joined the board of directors in order to expand the company's activities in Europe. [ + ]

Agilent Technologies and GCT Semiconductor have announced plans to implement a WiMAX manufacturing test system for GCT's WiMAX chipsets, which will accelerate manufacturing throughput and allow mass production deployment. [ + ]

RoamAD has announced that New Zealand network operator Kordia is launching its first two metro Wi-Fi networks in Auckland and Taupo, New Zealand. [ + ]

Electronic component distributor Digi-Key Corporation and Nearson have signed a global distribution agreement. [ + ]