California Senate approves ban on offshoring
Silicon Valley: The California Senate has passed a bill banning state agencies from contracting services to companies that use overseas labour. The bill will now go back to the Assembly for a vote on several Senate amendments.

According to a local paper, the San Jose Mercury, with the Assembly expected to concur, Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger faces a choice between vetoing the measure to please business lobbyists or signing it to appeal to a populist demand for job protection.
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Collier engine beats 2007 emissions standard
Reno, USA: Collier Technologies, Inc. has announced the performance numbers on their new low emissions 11 Liter 'city engine.' The city engine is designed and specifically targeted for transit and heavy duty services, operating on a CTI developed mixture of 30 per cent (by volume) mixture of hydrogen, with the balance of natural gas (HCNG). The engine has documented NOx emission levels well below the .2 gms/hp-hr standard set for heavy-duty engines beginning in 2007, at .08gms/hp-hr across the engine's power range. This is without any exhaust catalytic treatment.

CTI is in partnership with Daewoo Heavy Industries and Hess Microgen to produce the engines in the U.S. The engine will undergo California Air Resources Board (CARB) certification over the next year, while being put in service in several anticipated demonstration platforms. Fueling infrastructure for the buses is available through partner, Trillium USA.

CTI is a 10-year-old technology development and licensing company based in Reno, Nevada, that specializes in low-emission hydrogen applications for internal combustion engines. CTI technology is applied to stationary power and multiple transportation applications. An 8 Liter HCNG engine is under development as well.
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GMI Poll: Undecided voters likely to select Kerry
Seattle, USA: John Kerry continues to gain support from voters who favored George W. Bush in 2000 and is converting a number of undecided people in the upcoming presidential election, according to the latest poll by independent global market research company GMI, Inc.

The GMI World Poll survey, conducted last week, indicates the majority of undecided voters seem to reflect the profile of Kerry's base and will ultimately make their decisions based on candidates' platforms, not their personal values or belief systems.

Among undecided voters:

• 38 percent believed Kerry would be better for the domestic job market.
  
• 22 percent expressed confidence in Bush's U.S. economic strategies.
  
• Almost 60 percent felt Bush was an ineffective global leader due to his foreign policies and stance on the Iraqi War.
  
• More than half believed ongoing government terrorist alerts are a ploy by the Bush Administration for political gain.
  

The survey showed 74 percent of those who supported Bush in 2000 said they would favor the President in this year's election, down 2 percent from the July World Poll. GMI also found more than 41 percent of voters aligned with Kerry claimed they would vote Democratic this November because they disliked Bush and his foreign policies, rather than due to any strong affinity for Kerry.

GMI World Poll questions are designed to solicit opinions on numerous topical issues and critical global events. Complete results of both GMI World Poll surveys are available at www.worldpoll.com.
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OmniPixel generation of sensors launched
Sunnyvale, USA: OmniVision Technologies, Inc. a leading independent supplier of CMOS image sensors for high-volume imaging applications, has announced the introduction of the OV3620, the first product in OmniVision's new OmniPixel generation of image sensors.

The OV3620 is a 3.2-megapixel, 1/2-inch system-on-a-chip that sets new milestones for imaging performance by achieving light sensitivity that is 100 percent better than traditional CMOS image sensors, while virtually eliminating image effects such as fixed pattern noise and dark current. The power of OmniPixel technology enables the OV3620 to take crystal-clear photographs with true, brilliant colors even in low-light conditions and hostile environments. OmniVision has begun delivering production volumes of the OV3620 to leading manufacturers of digital still cameras and video cameras.

The OV3620 is a breakthrough product that combines the performance of high-end CCD sensors with the high efficiency and low cost of CMOS. The OmniPixel-powered OV3620 incorporates a 2040 by 1536-pixel array in a 1/2-inch chip that operates at 30 frames per second in digital video resolution (1024 by 511 pixels), and at up to 78 frames per second in high frame rate resolution (1024 by 190 pixels).

The OV3620 is a complete system-on-a-chip that supports functions such as automatic focus, zooming, panning, mechanical shutter control, automatic exposure control, automatic gain control, automatic white balance, windowing, and black level calibration and is easily programmable through a serial interface. For images that are consistently clear and sharp, it features OmniVision's proprietary embedded algorithms that eliminate effects such as smearing and blooming. The OV3620 requires only 150 milliwatts of power operating at full resolution. It outputs 10-bit raw image data and fits into an image module that is only 14.22 millimeters square and 2.23 millimeters high.

OmniVision Technologies designs and markets high-performance semiconductor image sensors. Its OmniPixel and CameraChip products are highly integrated single-chip CMOS image sensors for mass-market consumer and commercial applications such as mobile phones, digital still cameras, security and surveillance systems, interactive video games, PCs and automotive imaging systems.
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