Daily News Briefs

Texas Instruments Inc. announced at the 2004 Photo Marketing Association Convention and Trade Show last week in Las Vegas that it is collaborating with HP to develop an image engine that uses its digital signal processor-based technology for many of HP's new digital cameras, including the HP Photosmart R707. . . . The use of atomic force microscopy (AFM) in conjunction with confocal microscopy to study the effects of AFM stimulus on living cells is described in a free report (Application Note 35) from UK-based Bio-Rad, maker of the Radiance2100 confocal and multiphoton system. For information, visit: www.cellscience.bio-rad.com. . . . Auburn, Mass.-based Physik Instrumente says its 2004 NanoPositioning supplement catalog is "an essential reference book on the fundamentals of nanopositioning and micropositioning technology" that features nanopositioning products such as ultrasonic piezo linear motors, hexapod robots, scanning stages for atomic microscopy, piezo ceramics and motion controllers. It can be downloaded at www.pi.ws. . . . Optonics Inc., a developer of photon emission-based optical diagnostic technology, has announced a strategic marketing agreement with Infrared Laboratories Inc., a provider of design verification and diagnostic technology for semiconductor designs. Optonics will become the exclusive distributor for Infrared Laboratories' infrared emission microscope system. Optonics said the agreement enables it to offer static and dynamic photon emission products for debug and failure analysis of advanced integrated circuits.