Sales of Microsoft Corp.’s Lumia smartphones in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 (ended on the 30th of September, 2014) set up a new all-time record for the brand. Unfortunately, shipments of Windows Phone-based Lumia are still well below not only direct rivals, but Nokia’s own smartphones several years ago. …

Soft Machines, a startup that develops microprocessor technologies, has unveiled its own VISC processor architecture. The developer claims that VISC can increase processor’s average number of instructions executed per each clock cycle (instructions per cycle, IPC) by three or four times, thus increasing performance performance-per-watt by two or four times …

The number of independent flash controller developers decreased in the recent years as large makers of solid-state drives as well as products featuring NAND flash memory acquired designers of controllers to improve their products. As it appears, there is a new kid on the block, Tidal Systems, which is formed …

Google plans to build a special online store that will sell components for modular smartphones that belong to the Project Ara initiative. The intention means that Google will certify modules for smartphones and ensure their quality, which is a rather hard task. Besides, small-volume manufacturing of custom modules will mean …

Microsoft Corp. on Friday published the first images of Lumia smartphones that lack Nokia brand. As it appears, the future handsets from the world’s largest software developer will carry Microsoft trademark. The company also said Friday that the first Microsoft Lumia smartphones will be released shortly. Microsoft does not plan …

Sony Corp. is expected to stop making entry-level and mid-range smartphones in the future, a news-agency reported on Thursday. The company is projected to cut its annual sales target for smartphones for the second time this year. Originally Sony planned to sell 50 million smartphones this fiscal year (which ends …

Historically, Nintendo developed key technologies and processors for its video game consoles at its research and development facilities in Japan. However, it looks like for its next-generation game systems the development of key system-on-chips will be carried out at Nintendo Technology Development, a subsidiary of Nintendo based in the U.S. …

Asustek Computer has quietly begun to sell the world’s lightest tablet that runs Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 8.1 operating system. Asus VivoTab 8, which weighs only 330 grams, is now available in Japan, but shortly it will make to other markets as well. Surprisingly, the slate is not very expensive. Asus …

Intel Corp. plans to release two new generations of Xeon central processing units for uniprocessor (UP) servers and workstations next year. The chips will be based on the code-named “Broadwell” and “Skylake” micro-architectures and are expected to feature improved performance, integrated graphics, power efficiency as well as memory controllers. Intel Xeon …

Advanced Micro Devices this week quietly updated its official price-list and published the new prices of its A-series accelerated processing units. In addition to updating its official price-list, AMD also notified several web-sites about price-cuts on low-end models not listed at the company’s web-site. For the first time since the …

Valve Software’s inability to ship SteamOS and Steam Controller this year has upset many gaming PC makers, who hoped to boost their sales with new systems designed specifically for living rooms. Apparently, many companies now launch what was supposed to be Steam Machines as console-like gaming PCs with Microsoft Corp.’s …

A lot of market analysts are eager to see how many Apple Watch timepieces will be sold in the first quarter of availability and onwards. In a surprising move, Apple announced it is not going to reveal exact sales numbers of its Watch devices, at least early in their lifecycle. …

Although the release of the code-named “Skylake-S” microprocessors in the second quarter of 2015 could please some users and generate additional demand for personal computers, for makers of mainboards as well as some other computer components it will create a rather huge mess. As reported earlier, Intel Corp.’s “Skylake-S” microprocessors …

Although Apple has offered smartphones and tablets with 64-bit application processors for well over a year now, many programs remained 32-bit and could not take advantage of the new system-on-chips. This is going to change in the coming months, as Apple wants all software developers to include 64-bit support in …

Overclockers UK has announced that it had begun sales of In-Win’s latest 703 and 707 PC cases. Both cases are designed for enthusiasts and overclockers who demand quality and style. They are made of steel and have acrylic windows on the sides in order to demonstrate the beauty of high-performance …

ARM Holdings has announced that it had licensed its next-generation 64-bit code-named “Maya” general-purpose processing cores to three more companies. This means that the first system-on-chips based on ARM’s second-generation 64-bit architecture could hit the market sometimes in 2016 or even earlier. “We have signed three licenses for Maya, our …

Apple on Tuesday revealed that sales of its Mac personal computers set all time record in the fiscal 2014 fourth quarter ended September 27, 2014. The company noted that the most popular Macintosh personal computers were the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro laptops. “We established an all-time quarterly record …

Microsoft Corp. this week officially started to phase out the Nokia brand-name from its smartphones. A post on Nokia France’s Facebook page claims that shortly the page will be renamed to Microsoft Lumia. The software giant yet has to show the visual of the new name as well as new …

Intel Corp. has decided to delay mass production of its next-generation code-named “Broadwell-E” microprocessor to the first quarter of 2016. Exact reasons for the decision are unclear, but probably the issues with the company's 14nm process technology as well as the lack of competition on the market of ultra-high-end desktop platforms …

Samsung Electronics has begun to produce 8Gb DDR4 memory chips. The new memory devices will power 32GB DDR4 modules and open the doors to 128GB DDR4 memory modules for high-end enterprise-class servers. The 8Gb DDR4 ICs are produced using 20nm fabrication process. Samsung’s 8Gb DDR4 memory chip can operate at …

Toshiba Corp. and SanDisk Corp. will initiate volume production of 3D V-NAND flash memory only in 2016, three years after Samsung Electronics. The first samples of 3D V-NAND from the two companies will become available sometimes in the second half of next year. “Our 3D NAND technology development continues to …

It looks like the price of Nvidia’s GeForce GTX Titan Z graphics card could drop not only at Overclockers.co.uk, but at other stores too. A U.S.-based store recently offered Nvidia’s dual-chip flagship graphics card for $1500, which represents a 50 per cent price drop. Newegg, a leading online store from …

SanDisk Corp. said that it is on-track to ship NAND flash memory produced using 15nm fabrication process this quarter. The company will expand production using 15nm process technology in 2015. SanDisk believes that such memory will be considerably cheaper compared to NAND produced by other makers. “We are on track …

Intel Corp. has begun to send samples of its Skylake-S microprocessors to partners. The engineering samples of the next-generation desktop chips feature rather high thermal design power as well as rather low frequencies. Still, a good news is that the new central processing units seem to be on-track for introduction …

IBM and GlobalFoundries on Monday said that they have reached a definitive agreement under which the latter will acquire semiconductor manufacturing business of the former. GlobalFoundries will get intellectual property, world-class technologists and technologies related to IBM Microelectronics. It will also become IBM's exclusive server processor maker for 22nm, 14nm …

Nvidia Corp.’s GeForce GTX Titan Z was hardly ever supposed to become a popular solution on the market because of its unprecedented price. However, five months after the release, this price seems to go down, at least in select cases. When the dual-chip triple-slot GeForce GTX Titan Z hit the …

Many analysts expect the market of wearable computing devices to grow significantly next year after Apple launches its Watch. The stylish timepiece will allow the company to grab a significant share on the market of wearables. Still, the Android operating system (in different forms) will continue to almost dominate the …

In an attempt to remain on top positions on the market of PC components, Asustek Computer recently started to cut prices on certain mainboards and plans promotions to sell bundles containing mainboards and graphics cards. In addition, the company plans to spend rather whopping amount of money to strengthen its …

Five years ago Sergei Brin, a co-founder of Google, said that over time the Android and the Chrome OS operating systems would become one. Since then the company has made a number of steps towards this goal and recently it made yet another one. The vice president of Android engineering …

Lisa Su, the new chief executive officer of Advanced Micro Devices, has reiterated plans to introduce all-new server class processors based on the new high-performance x86 micro-architecture within the “next couple of years”. “From where we are today, our [server] product portfolio in x86 is several years old, and we …