Hello, EDN readers!

As a former design engineer at Texas Instruments and, as a reader of this magazine, I can't tell you how excited and proud I am to join the team here at EDN as the new editorial director. From the enduringly popular Design Ideas and deep technical articles to new online offerings such as Video Design Ideas and blogs including Senior Technical Editor Brian Dipert's Brian's Brain and Technical Editor Paul Rako's Anablog, it's clear that EDN's editors are committed to delivering the most compelling, useful, and unique content for design engineers. I love that about EDN.

In the future, you can expect to continue to get all the things that you love from EDN—and more. In my new role, I'll be working with the editorial team to develop innovative content that you won't be able to find anywhere else. Currently, we're exploring different ways to create and present content that's highly relevant and useful to design engineers, including video, flash animation, photo galleries, and searchable databases. We're also committed to in-depth coverage of the topics that you tell us are of highest interest and importance, such as development kits and tools.

In a recent survey of EDN readers, 95% of the respondents reported that they bought at least one development kit in the past year. Most bought more than one, with some 10% reporting that they'd purchased five or more kits last year. Development-kit sales in general are up, with some vendors noting increases of 50 to 100% over the past three years. You may wonder why a flurry of interest in development kits has suddenly occurred. With never-ending pressure to quickly get their designs out the door—and you know this better than I—design engineers increasingly use development kits and boards to prove a concept, learn about software tools, quickly build a prototype, avoid building a PCB (printed-circuit board), and test and evaluate their designs.

In turn, manufacturers and third-party makers have increased their kit offerings, focusing on ease of use, better documentation, and greater performance. And it's no wonder that they're taking these steps: The stakes are huge. They know that there's a high probability that, when engineers have a good experience with a development kit, they'll spec the component into the final design.

The same survey revealed that you not only use a lot of these kits, but also want more information on them, including reviews of kits by engineers who have used them, and an easier way to find information on them. So, I'm pleased to announce that, in response to your wish list, EDN has created the Devmonkey Web site. We launched it on Feb 1, 2008, and it is the first Web site to focus exclusively on the latest news and information on development tools for design engineers. Here, you will find the most up-to-date articles on new kits and tools, as well as hands-on reviews of some of the latest kits from our Senior Reviews Editor Jon Titus. A former editor at EDN, he's been reviewing kits for years and has unique access to the companies and application engineers who develop them. He also writes the Devmonkey blog for the Web site, in which he previews new goodies coming down the pipeline and tips and tricks based on his own experiences with development kits and tools.

A new form of content on the site is our two-minute demo videos, in which Titus reviews kits and describes their key features and capabilities. He also talks about what he's done with a kit that goes beyond the basic documentation. This year, we'll add even more content to the site, including kit reviews from readers and gadgets our readers have designed using a kit. If you have a moment, please check out the Devmonkey site. I'd love to get your feedback on the site and on the sorts of features you find most valuable. Please drop me a line at kfield@reedbusiness.com. You can also sign up for the EDN e-newsletter on development tools, which brings you the latest Devmonkey content each month. To subscribe, click on the "Free e-mail newsletters" button in the upper right corner on our home page.

And stay tuned. We have a slew of new ideas in the pipeline that we expect to introduce in the coming year that we hope you're going to like a lot.