Microsoft plays duet with Violin
Software colossus, Microsoft, has stuck Violin under its chin to create an all-flash NAS array that boasts 5GB/sec sequential read rates and up to 32TB of capacity. It is the first time Violin, which...
View ArticleApplied Materials builds vertically stacked, 3D transistors
Applied Materials has been showing off its new etching system which it claims can create vertically stacked, three-dimensional transistors. The Centura Avatar process is supposed to fix problems facing...
View ArticleToshiba slashes chip production
Toshiba is slashing its  production of flash memory chips by 30 percent. The company has said that it has been caught by oversupply and falling prices. This even though its other Japanese rival Elpida...
View ArticleApple cuts memory orders with Samsung
Apple has cut the numbers of memory chips that it has ordered through Samsung. South Korea's Samsung is a core Apple supplier, producing microprocessors, flat screens and memory chips and DRAMs and...
View ArticleIntel's 2013 Haswell Ultrabook configurations revealed
Intel's new line of Haswell Ultrabooks which will not see the light of day until 2013, will ship with added features on the basic model in response to a savaging from the tech press this year....
View ArticleWorldwide wafer fab equipment spend drops in 2012
Sales of wafer fab equipment (WFE) spending dropped. According to Gartner, the industry is on pace to total $31.4 billion in revenues this year, a decline of 13.3 percent from 2011 spending of $36.2...
View ArticleSamsung posts record profit
Samsung posted a fourth straight record quarterly profit, of $7.4 billion, earning around a fifth of South Korea's GDP. The company had strong sales of its Galaxy range of phones even though sales of...
View ArticleiFixit pulls apart Microsoft's Surface
iFixit's team of screwdriver-touting enthusiasts got its hands on Microsoft's tablet contender, the Surface, and laid bare the components for the world to see. Delving into the device, iFixit staff...
View ArticleMacronix fixes Flash memory flaw
Researchers working for Macronix have emerged from their smoke-filled labs with a solution for a weakness in flash memory fadeout. There is a problem with flash memory in that it wears out after being...
View ArticleIntel warned not to take Apple's business
Rumours that fashion bag maker Intel might pick up some of Apple's chip making work might not be such good news, according to Goldman Sachs' top beancounter. Barrons reports James Covello dashed off a...
View ArticleMicron and Intel expand in Utah
Deep in the heart of Utah, Intel and Micron have hatched a cunning plan to build more NAND flash memory capacity into their product lines. Dubbed IM Flash, the plan is to expand a factory in Lehi which...
View ArticleSemiconductor revenues decline in 2012
Worldwide semiconductor revenue has declined from this time last year, according to preliminary results from Gartner. According to Gartner, revenue was$298 billion in 2012, compared to $307 billion in...
View ArticleWoz turns into Mystic Meg
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has been shuffling his Tarot cards and looking into his crystal balls to predict what will happen in 2013.Rather than the world ending on Friday, Woz sees an important...
View ArticleSSD prices continue to fall
The prices for SSD drives have continued to fall and are now a third of what they were in 2010. According to iSuppli, in 2010 a gigabyte of SSD would set you back $3 and now you can pick up the same...
View ArticleSemiconductor inventory reaches record levels
Chip inventories reached record highs near the end of 2012, and according to IHS iSuppli, semiconductor revenue will decline in Q1, prompting new concerns about the state of the market. Overall...
View ArticleSamsung fails to outspend Apple in lobbying
Samsung is outselling Apple in the smartphone market, but at the same time Cupertino is outspending Samsung inside the Beltway. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Samsung spent $800,000...
View ArticleIndustry flounders as Apple tanks
The knock on effect of Apple's rapid fall is having a knock on effect on its partners. Fusion-io slashed its fiscal 2013 revenue forecast sending the storage drive maker's shares down 21 per cent....
View ArticleChip sales down 2.7 percent in 2012
Semiconductor sales are down in line with gloomy forecasts, but things might not be as bad as they seem. Chip sales dipped $291.6 billion in 2012, down 2.7 percent from record sales of $299.5 billion...
View ArticleMicron reports net loss for Q2 2013
Micron Technology landed itself in the red for the second quarter, posting a net loss. The company, which makes DRAM and NAND flash memory, chips that provide the storage in mobile devices such as...
View ArticleNAND flash market hits record high
The PC market remains weak and the overheated smartphone and tablet market seems to be slowing down as well, but NAND makers are reporting their best quarter in history. According to IHS iSuppli, NAND...
View Article