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| Ambient light sensor help save power |
8/21/2009 |
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The iPhone uses an ALS to reduce power demands and eke out battery life by adjusting the display lighting for ambient-light conditions.
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| DOJ dropped probe on flash anti-trust |
8/20/2009 |
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The two flash market leaders, Samsung with 37% market share, and Toshiba with 34.5% market share, have confirmed that they have been informed by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) that the two-year investigation has been dropped.
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| Smartphones to get better Nand storage |
8/20/2009 |
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Memory chip makers are about to offer more sophisticated flash drives for smartphones similar to the technology that will be comparable to the solid-state drives found in laptops today.
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| Scientist made headway on Polymaer semiconfuctor |
8/20/2009 |
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University of Washington researchers said their plastic circuit was created by solution casting of a newly developed plastic that conducts electricity and holds promise for cheaper, thinner and more flexible electronics.
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| Automobile semiconductor market to grow in Asia |
8/20/2009 |
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"By the end of 2009, Databeans expects the automotive semiconductor total available market to be just over $15 billion, thanks to emerging markets in Asia and recovery in established regions such as the US and Western Europe."
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| PSC to increase DDR2 production on price hike |
8/19/2009 |
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DRAM maker Powerchip Semiconductor Corporation (PSC) has increased production to 80,000 wafers per month, up from 40,000 units in the second quarter, according to industry sources. The chipmaker is moving to scale up monthly production further to 100,000 units later this year.
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| Hints of recovery seen from supply chain |
8/19/2009 |
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One leading indicator that is closely followed by electronics industry analysts is IPC’s PCB book-to-bill ratio. The ratio has been climbing steadily for the past five months and climbed above parity (1.0) in May. In June it jumped to 1.12, a very encouraging sign of expected growth in North American PCB sales for the remainder of 2009.
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| DRAM prices and quantity jumped in Q2 |
8/19/2009 |
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Because of a shortage in DDR3 parts and to buyers' inventory re-stocking efforts, the per megabyte price for DRAM jumped by 18 percent in the second quarter, "an unusual increase for a market that customarily sees its prices decline during each quarter.
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| TSMC to improve yield with new equipment buying |
8/19/2009 |
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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC) is on a buying spree, spending more than $250 million on semiconductor capital equipment in recent weeks, according to regulatory filings made by the silicon foundry giant.
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| PQI to raise money through convertible bond sale |
8/18/2009 |
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PQI had posted a net profit of NT$289 million in the first quarter of 2009, bucking negative trend after a loss of NT$776 million recorded during the previous quarter had hindered prospects.
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| DRAM prices up rapidly |
8/18/2009 |
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The average price for a 128x8 DDR2 chip has risen from $0.85 in March to roughly $1.50 in the second week of August.
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| Advanced Inquiry Systems to prove DRAM wafer test |
8/18/2009 |
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AISI said it plans to use the money it has raised to complete customer validation of its full-wafer data sensing systems for semiconductor memory manufacturing. It said it has received a purchase order for its DRAM (DDR3) products from a large, Asia-based semiconductor memory manufacturer.
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| Harari of SanDisk made predictions |
8/18/2009 |
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Eli Harari, founder, chairman and chief executive of SanDisk Corp., made the predications during a keynote. He also warned that the NAND industry is at the ''crossroads,'' as there is a ''disconnect'' between future capacity requirements and demand.
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| Intel Vietnam opening drags out |
8/17/2009 |
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''We expect construction to be done by end '09 and production in '10. We've not wavered in our commitment to get the facility online,'' according to another spokesman for Intel in Asia-Pacific.
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| Samsung to upgrade Austin Fab |
8/17/2009 |
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Samsung Austin Semiconductor will spend some $500 million to upgrade its 200-mm fab to a 300-mm plant, according to reports. The company will close that fab in October, it added. As a result, 500 employees will lose their jobs.
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| Start up to go at Resistive RAM |
8/17/2009 |
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Resistive switching memories are based on materials whose resistivity can be electrically switched between high and low conductive states. RRAM is becoming of interest for future scaled memories because of their superior intrinsic scaling characteristics compared to the charge-based flash devices.
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| AMD unveils highest-clocked chip |
8/14/2009 |
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Advanced Micro Devices unveils what the chip maker is calling the highest-clocked quad-core processor for desktop PCs.
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| IDT to go fabless, sign deal with TSMC |
8/14/2009 |
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IDT (Integrated Device Technology) has decided to slide from a fab-lite business model to a fabless business model, transferring its internal fabrication processes and related activities currently running in its Hillsboro, Ore, facility to TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co).
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| Zune goes HD, Wi-Fi |
8/13/2009 |
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Microsoft officially made its forthcoming Zune HD digital music player available for purchase through a pre-sale program. The software maker is counting on the latest Zune model, which ships to customers Sept. 15, to boost its flagging fortunes in the MP3 player market.
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| Yale unveils FeDRAM, potentail DRAM alternative |
8/13/2009 |
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Researchers at Yale University and the Semiconductor Research Corp. (SRC) claim that ferroelectrics are more appropriate for replacing DRAM than flash. Current DRAM technology has to be refreshed every few milliseconds; ferroelectric materials could last minutes without freshing.
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| Buy GM vehicles through eBay |
8/12/2009 |
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The new-car sales experiment between General Motors and San Jose e-commerce powerhouse eBay begins yesterday in California, and both companies will be closely watching the results ¡ª particularly GM, which is hoping to increase its market share in the state.
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