Embedded News Roundup: STMicroelectronics Debuts First NFC‑Enabled Perfume Bottle

This week’s embedded technology briefing highlights the latest product launches, funding milestones, industry events, and key personnel moves.

STMicroelectronics, a leading global semiconductor manufacturer, announced the perfume industry’s first connected bottle, embedding an NFC contactless chip into Paco Rabanne’s Phantom Universe fragrance cap. This innovation offers users instant access to the fragrance’s digital ecosystem, unlocking exclusive content and personalized experiences.

Sensors were also front and center at the San Jose, CA event, Sensors Converge. Vice President of AI and Sensors at View, Aditya Dayal, highlighted how sensors and AI can improve human health and combat climate change, focusing on smart buildings. His company’s smart windows now power NTT’s new innovation headquarters in Sunnyvale, which opened this week.

During the Best of Sensors Awards, TDK celebrated two triumphs. Milena Vujosevic was honored as Woman of the Year, while TDK’s SmartBug—a compact, wireless multi‑sensor platform—topped the IoT and Wireless category. Vujosevic leads MEMS sensor packaging at InvenSense, a TDK group company. SmartBug merges high‑performance MEMS sensors with precision algorithms into a single, all‑in‑one wireless solution.

News & Products

Xilinx and NEC Corporation announced a partnership to deliver NEC’s next‑generation 5G radio units (RUs) for global deployment in 2022. The NEC 5G massive MIMO RUs use digital beamforming to increase efficiency and bandwidth across a wide frequency range, including C‑Band. Embedded within the RUs are Xilinx’s 7 nm Versal AI core series devices, providing advanced signal processing, beamforming, and native O‑RAN support. O‑RAN interfaces foster open, flexible 5G RAN deployments and enhance interoperability across vendors.

Embedded edge‑AI pioneer MicroAI announced that its AtomML technology now runs on Renesas RA microcontrollers, enabling on‑chip machine learning training—an industry first. Manufacturers can embed AI directly into devices, reducing cloud reliance, lowering operational costs, and shortening time to market.

Truphone, in partnership with Sony Semiconductor Israel and Kigen, will launch its IoT platform on Sony’s Altair cellular IoT chipsets powered by Kigen iSIM OS. The pre‑integrated, secure connectivity solution is poised to support massive IoT deployments, connecting millions of devices such as wearables, vehicle telematics, logistics trackers, home appliances, and smart utility meters.

NeoCortec, known for ultra‑low‑power bi‑directional wireless mesh modules, introduced breakout prototyping boards that simplify development of NeoMesh networks. The FWNCxxxx boards support 2.4 GHz, 868 MHz, and 915 MHz bands and can operate as standalone or in Adafruit Feather wing mode.

NevadaNano unveiled the MPS Mini, a compact version of its acclaimed molecular property spectrometer (MPS) flammable‑gas sensor. Marketed as the world’s most accurate hydrocarbon sensor, the MPS Mini measures thermodynamic properties to report 0–100 % LEL across 19 flammable gases without field calibration, ensuring a 10+‑year maintenance‑free life. Its versatility makes it ideal for residential, commercial, and IoT applications such as smart meters.

Deep Vision raised $35 million in a Series B round to advance its ARA‑1 AI processor and software suite for edge computing. The chip delivers high performance, low power, and competitive pricing for camera‑based applications—smart retail, driver monitoring, smart cities, drones, and factory automation—while also supporting NLP for voice control. The investment backs development tools that translate neural networks into optimized computation graphs.

Sternum secured $27 million in a Series B round led by Spark Capital, bringing total funding to $37 million. The female‑founded, code‑free IoT security platform embeds patented sensors inside devices, enabling instant self‑securing and real‑time data harvesting. The company plans to allocate capital to R&D and global market expansion.

Rome‑based cybersecurity startup Exein closed a $6 million Series A. Its open‑source IoT security framework, focused on developer‑first tools, protects more than 600,000 devices daily. By identifying, blocking, and resolving firmware vulnerabilities, Exein serves critical infrastructure, automotive, and network industries.

Upcoming AI Everywhere Forum (28‑29 Sep 2021) will feature three tracks—AI in data centers, at the edge, and in devices—with keynotes from Ron Martino (NXP), Zach Shelby (Edge Impulse), and Mukesh Khare (IBM Research).

The 58th Design Automation Conference (5‑10 Dec 2021) will be held in San Francisco and online, with keynotes from Jeff Dean (Google), Bill Dally (Nvidia), and Missy Cummings (Duke). Attendees will also have access to SEMICON West and the RISC‑V Summit.