Advanced Micro Devices on Thursday said that as a part of the strategy to simplify and sharpen the company’s investment focus, AMD would exist the micro-server systems business, which was formerly known as SeaMicro. The company will retain SeaMicro’s Freedom fabric and other intellectual property, but will cease to invest …
Read More »Samsung, LG have special teams working on displays for Apple’s products
After Apple and Samsung Electronics dropped all lawsuits against each other outside the U.S., business ties between the two companies seem to be getting stronger. The South Korean conglomerate recently formed a standalone team of approximately 200 employees who will work exclusively on displays for Apple’s devices. LG Electronics also …
Read More »Asus unveils ‘military grade’ TUF Trooper Intel B85 mainboard
Asustek Computer has announced a new mainboard that weds extreme durability and reliability with moderate cost. The new TUF Trooper B85 features complete protection against lightning strikes and electrostatic discharge (ESD) as well as uses “military grade” components that will last longer than standard ones. The platform supports virtually all …
Read More »Nokia to buy Alcatel-Lucent, set to become world’s No. 2 telecom equipment maker
Nokia Corp. announced on Wednesday its plan to acquire rival Alcatel-Lucent in an all-share deal. The transaction values Alcatel-Lucent at €15.6 billion. The new company will become the world’s second largest supplier or telecommunication equipment (after Ericsson) and will be headed by the current Nokia top managers. The combined company will …
Read More »Intel in talks to acquire Via Telecom
Intel Corp. reportedly plans to acquire Via Telecom, a designer of system-on-chips and baseband processors for mobile devices. The deal would add several new telecommunications products into Intel’s portfolio, which will strengthen its positions on the market of low-end smartphones eventually. Intel and Via Technologies are in the final stages …
Read More »Intel: We are not discussing our 10nm schedules
Intel Corp. is confident that its 10nm manufacturing process will enable it to build central processing units cost-efficiently. However, the company does not want to reveal when exactly it plans to start making chips using its next-generation 10nm fabrication technology. In accordance with Moore’s law and Intel's tick-tock cadence, the company needs to …
Read More »Intel: 10nm and 7nm technologies have perfect economic feasibility
It is not a secret that transitions to newer chip manufacturing processes are getting more difficult from financial capital standpoint since not only research and development costs more than before, but also production equipment is getting more expensive. In a bid to keep their prices at current levels, semiconductor companies need …
Read More »Intel sees better 14nm yields, ‘Broadwell’ ramp ahead of the plan [UPDATED]
UPDATE: Adding Intel's 14nm vs 22nm cost curve comparison as well as a comment regarding current “Broadwell” costs. Intel Corp.’s 14nm manufacturing process was not a big success for the company because of initial yield issues. However, by now the majority of problems seem to be gone, at least, the …
Read More »CyberLink unveils world’s first hardware-accelerated 4K Ultra-HD player
CyberLink, a leading developer of multimedia software, has introduced the industry’s first media player that can take advantage of hardware acceleration capabilities of ultra-high-definition video decoding found in the latest hardware, such as microprocessors and graphics processing units. The CyberLink PowerDVD 15 is the world’s first software player that supports …
Read More »Intel: We are excited about ‘Skylake’ processors and Windows 10
Slow demand for personal computers in the first half of the year substantially affected Intel Corp.’s business results, but the company remains moderately optimistic and believes that launches of its future microprocessors code-named “Skylake” as well as Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 10 operating system will help its PC business. Intel’s client …
Read More »Asustek and Dell to release laptops, tablets with USB 3.1 type-C connectors
All leading makers of mainboards recently introduced motherboards that support 10Gb/s USB 3.1, but only a few of these platforms actually feature the new reversible USB type-C connectors. Notebook manufacturers appear to be even more conservative and except Apple’s new MacBook, no laptop uses the new interconnection tech. Nonetheless, this …
Read More »TSMC: 16nm yields are approaching mature levels
Although Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has delayed mass production of chips using its 16nm fabrication processes, this did not happen only because of low yields. According to the company, 16nm yields at TSMC are approaching mature levels. This year TSMC will offer two 16nm process technologies for clients: 16nm FinFET …
Read More »HP unveils 31.5-inch 4K UHD display with 10-bit colour spectrum
Hewlett-Packard has unveiled its new professional monitor that combines all the latest display technologies available today. The HP Z32x boasts with ultra-high-definition resolution, accurate colours and rich connectivity options. Pricing of the product was not announced, but do not expect it to be affordable. The HP DreamColor Z32x (M2D46A4) features …
Read More »Apple orders more components to improve Watch supply
Demand for Apple Watch devices greatly exceeds supply these days, according to various market analysts. However, Apple is boosting orders of components, which will help it to significantly improve availability of its smartwatch later this year. Analysts estimate that Apple has already taken pre-orders for one million Watch devices in …
Read More »Intel is quietly delaying 10nm production – report
Intel Corp. delayed mass production of 14nm chips by nearly a year because of insufficient yields. According to a media report, something similar may happen to its 10nm manufacturing technology. Intel is setting up a small pilot line for 10nm production in D1X development fab in Hillsboro, Oregon, reports SemiconductorEngineering. …
Read More »Samsung to make 14nm graphics processors for Nvidia
Nvidia Corp. will use Samsung Electronics’ manufacturing capacities to produce graphics processing units, according to a media report. The move will help Nvidia to increase performance of its GPUs without boosting their power consumption. When Nvidia revealed earlier this year that it will use Samsung’s services to build its chips, …
Read More »Concept of AMD APU for HPC leaks: 16 x86 cores, next-gen GPU, HBM memory
Advanced Micro Devices has been mulling accelerated processing unit for high-performance computing applications for many years, but software and hardware limitations have prevented the company from creating such chip. Recently AMD finally unveiled plans to release an APU for HPC market in 2017 and this week the first concept of …
Read More »Microsoft Xbox chief: VR is not a ‘now thing’
At least two dedicated virtual reality headsets are heading to the market in late 2015 – early 2016 timeframe and a number of game developers are working on titles that will take advantage of these VR devices. However, many doubt that virtual reality technology in its current form will become …
Read More »HDMI forum adds HDR support to HDMI 2.0a specification
HDMI Forum, an organization that manages the HDMI standard development, this week release HDMI 2.0a specification, which adds support for high-dynamic range video medatada flags to the standard. Members of the organization can start to add HDMI 2.0a into their products now. The specification has been updated to enable transmission …
Read More »Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 Ti is ready, launch may be advanced – rumour
Nvidia Corp. has finished development of the rumoured GeForce GTX 980 Ti reference design, media reports claim. Moreover, the company may advance its launch in a bid to steal media attention from AMD’s forthcoming Radeon R9 390-series graphics adapters. General specifications of Nvidia’s upcoming graphics card currently known as the …
Read More »Samsung’s own CPU core took years to develop – report
Samsung Electronics has developed and built its Exynos application processors for years, but its chips are always powered by off-the-shelf general-purpose and graphics processing cores from ARM, which limits their advantages over competing system-on-chips. Everything is going to change next year, when Samsung finally rolls-out its new SoCs featuring its …
Read More »TSMC’s 10nm goals: higher density and performance at lower power
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. this week unveiled first details about its 10nm fabrication process at the TSMC Technology Symposium in the U.S. The official goals are slightly less ambitious than those discussed last year, but the general focus of TSMC’s 10nm manufacturing technology is clear: considerable increase of transistor density compared to …
Read More »Google: We are happy that Microsoft is working on $150 PCs
In a bid to ensure that its Windows operating system can address all segments of the personal computer market, Microsoft Corp. in the recent quarters has worked hard with various hardware manufacturers to drive down prices of PCs to $200 and even $150 per unit. While hardware makers are hardly …
Read More »Intel and Altera acquisition talks end due to price disagreement
Negotiations between Intel Corp. and Altera have ended because the companies could not agree on price. The world’s largest maker of microprocessors did not want to pay a hefty premium for the company, which is more profitable than Intel itself. If the chipmaker really wants to get Altera, the talks will …
Read More »First images of alleged XFX AMD Radeon R9 380 hit the web
A web-site has published what it claims to be the first photos of the upcoming AMD Radeon R9 380-series graphics card. If the images depict what they claim to, then it confirms that AMD’s upcoming Radeon R9 300-series lineup will at least partly consist of rebranded current-generation products. The XFX …
Read More »Price drops of AMD Radeon R9 290-series are over, price-tags freeze
Prices of AMD Radeon R9 290-series graphics cards seem to have stabilized both in the U.S. and in Europe. Apparently, supply and demand of such graphics adapters are now balanced and there is no need to further cut the prices. At present the most affordable AMD Radeon R9 290X boards …
Read More »4K Ultra HD TVs could reach 20% market share in 2015
Adoption of ultra-high-definition televisions is gradually increasing as prices are getting lower in well-developed countries and China. As a result, market share of UHD TV-sets could hit around 20 per cent globally already this year, according to optimistic predictions of makers of TV components. The production cost of a 4K …
Read More »Intel: Moore’s law will last for another 10 years
Intel Corp. predicts that Moore’s law will last for at least another decade and the number of transistors per chip will keep doubling every two years. While there are challenges ahead, Intel’s engineers are going to solve them. Later this month Moore’s law will hit 50 years, an unprecedented date for the …
Read More »End of planar NAND flash nears as Samsung to focus on 3D V-NAND
Samsung Electronics plans to concentrate on expansion of production capacities used to make its 3D V-NAND memory going forward. A media report claims that the South Korean conglomerate no longer plans to build new manufacturing facilities for production of traditional planar NAND flash. NAND flash was invented by Toshiba Corp. …
Read More »Asustek unveils 27-inch WQHD IPS 120Hz/144Hz display with FreeSync
Asustek Computer has quietly added support of AMD FreeSync technology to its MG279Q gaming display introduced earlier this year. The new monitor, which is already a dream display for gamers, is going to face massive demand when it finally shows up in retail. The Asus MG279Q 27” monitor is based …
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