Clemmer: NXP debt under control, focusing on design wins
NEW YORK—When NXP Semiconductor went public two years ago, the company was debt-ridden with $4.5 billion on its books and faced with the arduous task of streamlining its product portfolio to emerge as ...
Auto IC gains breath new life into car market
GENEVA, Switzerland -- The demise of the automobile has been greatly exaggerated thanks in large part to engineering innovations by automotive electronics companies.The auto market has been revived th ...
UMC set to beat TSMC to FinFET process
LONDON – Taiwan's United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), which has been a struggling number two behind foundry leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC), could get one over on its lo ...
More than a third of Android apps host malware
MIAMI – More than a third of all Google Android applications contain some form of malware, according to tests conducted by BT. A security expert for the U.K. telecom service provider said it expects t ...
What Intel's 'Me The Musical' leaves out
NEW YORK – Wow. Talk about alternative reality… or, should I say, revisionist history?I am talking about Intel’s recently launched ‘Me The Musical’ campaign, which piggy- backs on Facebook. ...
Reports: Fujitsu is trying to sell its main fab
LONDON – Japan's Fujitsu Ltd. has attempted to open up talks about the sale of its main wafer fab to foundry chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd., according to reports. The wafer ...
FinFETs-on-SOI can double battery life, says GSS
LONDON – Fully depleted FinFET style transistors made on SOI wafers are likely to allow between half and one-third the leakage current of FinFETs made on bulk silicon according to TCAD simulations per ...
Researchers claim smallest semiconductor laser
SAN FRANCISCO—Physicists at the University of Texas-Austin say they have developed the world's smallest semiconductor laser in collaboration with colleagues in Taiwan and China. The researchers sa ...
Ethernet group crafting cloud, SDN specs
MIAMI – The Metro Ethernet Forum has started technical work on standards to support cloud computing and software-defined networking over carrier-grade Ethernet. First fruits from the work that started ...
IEEE forecasts ten-fold data growth by 2015
SAN JOSE – Data traffic is expected to grow ten-fold from 2010 to 2015 and up to 100-fold by 2020, according to a new report from the IEEE’s Ethernet standards group. The assessment aimed to lay a fou ...
ARM adds weight to IoT debate
LONDON – Processor intellectual property licensor ARM Holdings plc (Cambridge, England) has invited four U.K. companies to help it form an industry forum to help shape the Internet of Things. The work ...
Global CO2 emissions up 3% in 2011
PARIS – After a 1-percent decline in 2009 and an unprecedented 5-percent surge in 2010, global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) increased by 3 percent in 2011, to 34 billion tons, according to the an ...
European TSV summit planned
2012-07-26 22:01:56European TSV summit planned
LONDON – SEMI, the international trade association that represents the interests of semiconductor equipment and materials companies, is planning for a 3-D packaging and through silicon via (TSV) meeti ...
ARM, TSMC lead Intel in SoC, says CEO East
LONDON – ARM CEO Warren East is not concerned that Intel Corp. is developing a lead in process technology of the foundries that ARM licensees usually deal with. This is despite the fact that FinFET te ...
HiWave tips glasses frames that provide audio
LONDON – Next generation headsets and glasses frames will be able to deliver audio in compact way without having to use ear buds or stick things in the ear canal, according to HiWave Technologies plc ...
PV inverter market to resume growth in 2012
PARIS – The global photovoltaic (PV) inverter market shrank in terms of revenues in 2011 but will return to growth in 2012, exceeding $7 billion, according to IMS Research.In its annual report, titled ...
Cadence CEO sees design activity keeping pace
SAN FRANCISCO—Cadence Design Systems Inc. President and CEO Lip-Bu Tan said Wednesday (July 25) he expects to see design activity remain at a good pace in the second half of the year, despite macroeco ...
NASA preps spacecraft for risky Mars landing attempt
NASA preps spacecraft for risky Mars landing attempt
Rambus loses ITC case against chip makers
SAN FRANCISCO—The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) Wednesday (July 25) finding that a group of chip makers did not violate several patents held by technology licensor Rambus Inc.Wednesday' ...
Brazil tees up billion dollar telecom bonanza
MIAMI – A ruling by Brazil’s telecom officials is expected to tee up a multi-billion bonanza in capital spending on telecom networks.Anatel, Brazil’s equivalent of the U.S. Federal Communications Comm ...
Apple coming to dominate electronics supply chain, says IHS
Apple coming to dominate electronics supply chain, says IHS
TI makes good on NS buy to lead industrial sector
MANHASSET, NY -- Market research firm IHS iSuppli, in its latest report, has confirmed Texas Instruments’ purchase of National Semiconductor has boosted TI’s market share, reinforcing its dominance in ...
Black Hat: Impersonating Microsoft Exchange servers to manipulate mobile devices
Black Hat: Impersonating Microsoft Exchange servers to manipulate mobile devices
Debating Olympic technology
2012-07-25 23:09:12Debating Olympic technology
A competitor at the 2012 London Summer Olympics will be running on carbon fiber blades attached to his amputated legs. Double amputee Oscar Pistorius of South Africa is expected to compete in the Olym ...
TSMC says single-customer fabs make sense
LONDON – The world's leading foundry chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. is considering operating single-customer wafers, according to chairman and CEO Morris Chang.Chang, speak ...
Expert, lawmakers at odds over GPS security
SAN JOSE – After testifying before Congress about security vulnerabilities in civil GPS systems last week, Todd Humphreys is convinced the industry needs a new approach to plugging holes in what he ca ...
Processor IP firms sue Amazon, Samsung, Huawei, ZTE, others
Processor IP firm sues Amazon, Samsung, Huawei, ZTE, others
Losses up at NXP on increased sales
LONDON – Mixed-signal chip company NXP Semiconductor NV (Eindhoven, The Netherlands) has posted an increased loss on sales that climbed sequentially in the second quarter but were down year-on-year.NX ...
ARM Q2 continues climb in sales and profits
LONDON – Processor IP licensor ARM Holdings plc (Cambridge, England) has posted yet another quarter with increased sales and profits. As it announced its 2Q12 financial results ARM highlighted that it ...
Broadcom not threatened by Samsung's CSR buy
SAN FRANCISCO—Broadcom Corp. President and CEO Scott McGregor Tuesday (July 24) downplayed speculation that Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.'s acquisition of CSR plc's mobile business posed a thre ...
Toshiba cuts NAND production by 30%
SAN FRANCISCO—Japan's Toshiba Corp. said Tuesday (July 24) it would cut its production of flash memory chips by about 30 percent, effective immediately, due to market oversupply and price declines ...
Globalfoundries to expand N.Y. fab
SAN FRANCISCO—Globalfoundries Inc. said Tuesday (July 24) it would move forward with the final construction of Module 1 at its Fab 8 campus in upstate New York, a move that will bring the total manufa ...
Micron's Elpida buy carries risks, says IHS
SAN FRANCISCO—Micron Technology Inc.'s move to acquire bankrupt Japanese DRAM vendor Elpida Memory Inc. is a bold move that carries risk, particularly if the integration and technology transfer do ...
RS Components signs global distribution agreement for HiWave Technologies audio and haptic devices
RS Components signs global distribution agreement for HiWave Technologies audio and haptic devices
Despite record iPad sales, Apple's revenue comes up short
Despite record iPad sales, Apple's revenue comes up short
SMIC says Q2 sales better than expected
SAN FRANCISCO—Chinese chip foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) Monday (July 23) increased its second quarter sales and gross margin forecast, citing improved business.SMIC ( ...
Qualcomm drops Mirasol display, seeks licensees
LONDON – Qualcomm Inc. (San Diego, Calif.) has said it will focus its manufacturing of Mirasol sunlight-readable displays on a limited set of products and try and license the technology out to other c ...
The Feature Phone Rises (Again?)
NEW YORK -- We all feel like we’ve already seen the movie: “Downfall of the Feature Phones.” Our heroes are Apple and Samsung. They take over the world with their smartphones, while Nokia — the ste ...
Higher gas prices drives car, automotive IC sales
LONDON – The market for automotive ICs is set to grow 8 percent in 2012 to an annual value of $19.6 billion, according to market research company IC Insights Inc. (Scottsdale, Ariz.).The crash of 2008 ...
Chip set shortage, weak economy mars Fairchild’s sales growth
Chip set shortage, weak economy mars Fairchild’s sales growth
Slideshow: A blacksmith shop in the heart of high tech
Slideshow: A blacksmith shop in the heart of high tech
Qualcomm, Renault team on wireless electric vehicle charging
Qualcomm, Renault team on wireless electric vehicle charging
Chinese safety requirement may be de facto global standard
Chinese safety requirement may be de facto global standard
ST trims losses, cuts capex
2012-07-24 20:02:12ST trims losses, cuts capex
LONDON – A combination of continued losses and renewed market softness for Europe's leading chip company STMicroelectronics NV has led the company to make a 25 percent cut in its capital expenditu ...
Ramtron extends Fram agreement with Rohm
MANHASSET, NY -- Ferroelectric random access memory supplier Ramtron has entered into a new manufacturing and license partnering agreement with Rohm Co., Ltd. to manufacture Fram-based semiconductor p ...
Is an emphasis on games a sign of decadence?
Here in the U.K. we are about to stage the London Olympic Games. It will be hard to do better than the amazing ceremony that opened the Beijing Olympics four years before, so I am expecting that we wo ...
ARM introduces engineer exam scheme
LONDON – Processor intellectual property licensor ARM Holdings plc (Cambridge, England) has signed up Prometric Inc. (Baltimore, Md.) to design and deliver the ARM Accredited Engineer certification pr ...
Chipset shortage, weak economy mars Fairchild’s sales growth
Chipset shortage, weak economy mars Fairchild’s sales growth
Sally Ride: 1951-2012
2012-07-24 09:01:13Sally Ride: 1951-2012
Astronaut Sally Ride’s battle with cancer ended today (July 23). The California physicist and first U.S. woman to fly in space was 61.Ride was part of the first astronaut class to include woman in 197 ...
Mindspeed cuts 15% of workforce
SAN FRANCISCO—Network infrastructure chip vendor Mindspeed Technologies Inc. Monday (July 23) announced plans to cut more than 80 jobs as part of a restructuring plan to reduce costs.Mindspeed (Newpor ...