April 28, 2026

The dangers of cellphones in schools far worse than previously thought Schools increasingly recognize smartphones as harmful to students, prompting statutory bans. However, enforcing rules strains staff and resources, while research shows limited mental health benefits. Experts argue solutions must involve families, government, and social media companies, not schools alone. Taipei Times

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Amazon’s bet on satellites is expensive and faces fierce competition. It also just might work Amazon is making a major, costly push into space to advance its ambitions, directly challenging an established incumbent. The move could reshape competition and potentially deliver significant long-term gains for the e-commerce and cloud giant. CNBC

PCB Rework Evolves, With X-ray a Constant Support Mini Micro Stencil, a contract manufacturer focused on PCB rework, has relied on real-time X-ray inspection to verify its precision rework as the industry has evolved over 30 years. Technical Paper

For the First Time, Microsoft Is Offering Voluntary Retirement to 7% of Its Workforce — Here’s Why Microsoft offers a voluntary retirement program to about 7% of employees whose age and service total 70+, as it invests $37.5 billion in AI infrastructure and joins a wave of AI-driven layoffs across Meta, Amazon, Block, with shares down 4%. Entrepreneur

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Iran War: PCB Manufacturing Faces Supply Shortages The US and Israel’s attack on Iran disrupts shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and damages regional energy infrastructure, while tightening helium, aluminium and PPE resin supplies, driving sharp PCB price rises and worsening global electronics shipment forecasts. Manufacturing Digital

Panel Level Package (PLP) – Scaling up Fan-Out Packaging The persistent push for electronics miniaturization calls for a different approach to make packages smaller, higher performance and lower cost. Fan-out (FO) packages are well suited to serve this market trend. Via interconnects between the chip and package RDL (redistribution layers) provide higher interconnect density and lower inductance. Technical Paper

Technical Papers ■ Scaling SMT Traceability ■ The Drawbacks of Internal Recycling Systems for Solder Dross ■ Engineering ESD-Safe PCB Assembly for High-Reliability IoT and Industrial Electronics ■ The Analysis of Variance: Drawing Conclusions from Data That Are Correct, Unambiguous, and Defensible ■ PCB Rework Evolves, With X-ray a Constant Support ■ How pH Cleaning Agents Affect Production Performance ■ A Universal AI-Powered Segmentation Model for PCBA & Semiconductor ■ RAIG Minimizes Corrosion, Allows Higher Gold on ENEPIG ■ High Reliability Lead-Free Solder Paste with Rosin and Anti-Crack Resin ■ Understanding Solder Dross: Causes and Control Strategies MORE TECHNICAL PAPERS

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Is Copper Sintering the Key to Advancing Wide Band Gap Semiconductors? Wide bandgap semiconductors like GaN and SiC increasingly replace silicon in high-power applications. Copper sintering technologies now challenge silver by delivering comparable thermal performance, improved reliability, lower costs, and sustainable manufacturing for next-generation power electronics and SiC modules. EE Times

Apple set to overtake Dell as MacBook shipments rise against market decline Apple will ship about 28 million MacBooks in 2026, surpassing Dell as global demand falls. Its unified memory architecture, supply chain control, and steady pricing amid rising DRAM costs drive growth while competitors raise prices and shipments decline. TechSpot

Low Temperature Solder-SMT Manufacturability and Quality Considerations This paper focuses on establishing package warpage boundary conditions and identifying key process parameters for a successful LTS assembly. Technical Paper

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Engineering Collisions: How NYU Is Remaking Health Research NYU’s Institute for Engineering Health organizes research around diseases rather than disciplines, assembling cross-field teams to solve medical problems. It drives innovations like inverse vaccines and sensors while training hybrid engineer-scientists through immersive collaboration that replaces traditional academic silos. IEEE Spectrum

Qualcomm up 7% on report it’s partnering with OpenAI on smartphone AI chip Qualcomm shares surged after reports that it will partner with OpenAI, MediaTek, and Luxshare to develop AI smartphone chips and devices The project targets mass production by 2028 as OpenAI expands its hardware ambitions rapidly. CNBC

Minimizing Printed Circuit Board Warpage in Assembly Process The purpose of this paper is to present a cleaning process for difficult no-clean, lead-free and high temperature flux residues on reflowed PCBs. Technical Paper

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The iPhone Fold Could Cut Short the Motorola Razr Fold's Big Moment Motorola will unveil new Razr foldables and its first book-style Razr Fold, challenging Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7. Strong specs boost its market push, but Apple’s rumored iPhone Fold launch later in 2026 could quickly overshadow Motorola’s momentum. CNET

ASML plans to build at least 60 EUV machines this year as AI chip demand surges ASML is rapidly scaling EUV lithography production to meet surging AI-driven semiconductor demand, targeting at least 60 systems this year and 80 annually ahead. It is expanding facilities, boosting investment, and coordinating suppliers while tackling complexity, labor shortages, and cautious adoption of next-generation tools. TechSpot

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China blocks Meta’s $2 billion takeover of AI startup Manus China’s state planner ordered Meta to abandon its $2 billion acquisition of AI startup Manus, citing regulatory compliance. The move reflects rising scrutiny from Beijing and Washington, unsettling investors and complicating cross-border AI deals amid tightening tech and investment controls. CNBC

Why Uneven Conformal Coating? We are experiencing an issue with our conformal coating. On matte finish boards the coating is vibrating away from some others and building up in others. Board Talk

CPO revolution: Capitalizing on paradigm shift in AI data center connectivity As AI clusters scale, copper interconnects and pluggable transceivers hit limits at 3.2T speeds. Co-Packaged Optics integrates optics with silicon, boosting efficiency and bandwidth. With adoption by major vendors, CPO is set to dominate scale-up networking before 2030. Digitimes

Why Data Centers Must Become System‑Aware Cloud computing and AI are transforming data centers into adaptive, network-integrated systems amid rising energy demand and decarbonization pressures. Driven by AI workloads and 5G growth, operators adopt distributed architectures, balancing latency, bandwidth, and energy while increasingly optimizing infrastructure and power systems together. EE Times

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China industrial profits jump 15.8% in March, fueled by AI and chip boom despite oil shock risks China’s industrial profits surged in March, posting their fastest growth in six months, driven by strong exports and booming high-tech sectors. However, rising oil prices and global demand risks from the Middle East conflict threaten to squeeze margins and slow momentum. CNBC