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| Europe to use cellphone app to track movement of virus carriers |
3/25/2020 |
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The tools in question are apps that would use real-time phone-location data to track the movements of virus carriers and the people they come in contact with. The aim would be to develop a better sense of where infections are flaring up, how they are spreading and when health authorities need to order quarantines and related measures to limit the spread of COVID-19.
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| UMC and Faraday Technology jointly announced 28nm, 28Gbps SerDes PHY |
3/25/2020 |
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The CEI-25G-LR compliant SerDes solution comes with a programmable architecture that supports data rates of up to 25Gbps across long-reach channels. Additionally, it supports multiple protocol standards, including 25G/100G Ethernet, PCIe Gen1-4, and JESD204B/C. The IP is also the only 28G SerDes solution to support xPON applications in the industry.
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| Foundrys reported 30% increase in business during Q1 |
3/25/2020 |
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Regarding the major foundries’ performances in 1Q20, TSMC ranks first in terms of revenue. Some of its 7nm process node capacities have been booked in advance by its clients, providing a steady influx of orders for TSMC. Even with adjustments to some of its wafer starts, the demand from TSMC’s subsequent client orders is projected to fill the gaps in wafer starts, meaning the foundry will continue to maintain the maximum level of 7nm process node capacity utilization.
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| Micron to offer Multichip package solution for 5G phones |
3/25/2020 |
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Micron recently began sampling a universal flash storage (UFS) multichip package (uMCP) with low-power DDR5 (LPDDR5) DRAM. Designed to fit on slim and compact midrange smartphone designs, the company’s uMCP provides the high-density and low-power storage that will allow users to benefit from the applications and capabilities that come with 5G,
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| IBM offers super computer to virus research |
3/24/2020 |
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IBM today announced that it will help coordinate an effort to provide over 330 petaflops of computing power to scientists researching COVID-19, which has sickened over 300,000 people. The company anticipates that the capacity will be used to develop algorithms that assess how COVID-19 is progressing and to model potential therapies in pursuit of a possible vaccine.
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| Qualcomm is optimistic on chip rebound |
3/24/2020 |
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The chip maker will benefit from the long-term 5G investment cycle, according to Canaccord Genuity, as Apple re-enters the model for shipments and global demand for smartphones improves.
Electronics content in smartphones has been increasingly steadily, and 5G will only extend that trend.
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| Intel and Cornell University developed an “electronic nose” |
3/23/2020 |
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The experiment shows that electronic nose systems could take advantage of neuromorphic computing’s easy/quick training (‘self-learning’) and low power operation, and allows some interesting insight into one potential use case of neuromorphic technology.
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| SK hynix to work on reducing semiconductor production costs |
3/23/2020 |
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Sharing this year's business plan with investors, CEO Lee Seok-hee said the company, which mainly sells DRAM and NAND flash memory chips, will concentrate on "building up muscle" by pursuing low production costs and raising asset efficiency.
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| Ford suspending dividend and secured addition line of credit |
3/23/2020 |
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Ford Motor Co. withdrew its financial guidance for the year Thursday. The cash Ford saves will be used to offset the impact on working capital due to factory shutdowns. On Wednesday Ford and other automakers announced that they will close all of their North American factories in the coming days.
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| Apple is moving its tablet towards a latop computer |
3/20/2020 |
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Apple’s new iPad brings PC-like trackpad capabilities for the first time, as the company seeks to make its tablet even more like a laptop computer. Apple says the trackpad will offer more precision than fingers in selecting text and switching between apps.
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| Chinese factories to run short of advanced semiconductor parts |
3/20/2020 |
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Chinese manufacturers assemble more than 80% of smartphones for Apple, Samsung and other brands, half of the world’s personal computers and a big share of home appliances and other goods. But they need U.S. processor chips and other high-value components.
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| Auto manufacturers to close plants and idle 150,000 |
3/20/2020 |
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Detroit's three automakers said their closures would begin this week, while Honda and Toyota will start next week. Nissan will close U.S. plants starting Friday. Closings will run from a few days to over two weeks,
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| Samsung see memory prices recovering while smartphone slumps |
3/19/2020 |
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“The global smartphone market was expected to turn to growth this year, but with virus showing signs of being prolonged, the smartphone market is contracting. But 5G smartphone demand is expected to rise,” Koh Dong-jin, president of Samsung’s mobile and network business, told the annual general meeting in Seoul.
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| Memory prices jumped last week |
3/19/2020 |
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Q2 server DRAM ASPs will rise 20% q-o-q and Q2 SSD prices will rise 10-15% q-o-q, says DRAMeXchange as a result of increased demand for cloud services used for teleworking caused by coronavirus-driven home-working.
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| People start losing jobs to the virus |
3/19/2020 |
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Furloughs and job cuts, from dog walkers, to oilfield workers, have begun. Governments around the world are pushing drastic countermeasures to help workers, particularly those who live paycheck to paycheck.
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| Amazon to hire 100,000 to keep up with more people shopping online. |
3/18/2020 |
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Amazon said this weekend that a surge of orders is putting its operations under pressure. It warned shoppers that it could take longer than the usual two days to get packages. It also said it was sold out of many household cleaning supplies and is working to get more in stock.
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| SMIC is on new 14nm moving towards 7nm |
3/18/2020 |
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During SMIC’s recent fiscal year report conference, the company’s co-CEO Liang Mong Song revealed a new version of the 14nm process the company calls N+1. A SMIC spokesman told EE Times China that N+1 was expected to go into limited production in the fourth quarter.
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| Samsung to mass produce 5th Generation NAND |
3/18/2020 |
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The fifth-generation V-NAND stacks more than 90 layers of 3-dimensional charge trap flash (CTF) cells in a pyramid structure, with microscopic channel holes drilled vertically throughout. It reduces the height of each cell layer, minimizes crosstalk between cells and improves data storage capacity,
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| Gasoline prices continue to dip |
3/17/2020 |
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Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey said Sunday that gas prices could continue to fall as demand shrinks amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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