Nvidia has suffered a major blow to its patent infringement campaign against tech giants Samsung and Qualcomm, after in a preliminary hearing it was ruled that neither company had used two particular pieces of Nvidia technology without permission. While it received a glimmer of hope when a third patent was …
Read More »Apple downplays iPhone 6s A9 chip power draw concerns
Yesterday news spread that one version of the iPhone 6s seemingly greatly outperforms the other. The A9 chip inside of the new iPhone could be manufactured by either TSMC or Samsung, with the former's version expanding battery life by as much as 20 per cent. This news has since reached …
Read More »Samsung’s own mobile GPU coming in 2017/2018
It has been reported in the past that Samsung is working on its own graphics chip for smart devices and now it looks like we may finally see it in 2017/2018. Current reports claim that Samsung wants to unite its well-performing Exynos CPUs with its own graphics unit in order to …
Read More »The iPhone 6s may have much better performance depending on chip manufacturer
Last year, when Apple launched the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the company had a bit of a PR nightmare when ‘bendgate' began making headlines. Now this year, Apple faces a new problem, which is currently being dubbed ‘chipgate'. To put it simply, the A9 processor inside of the …
Read More »Chinese hackers may have stolen technology behind Samsung Pay
Samsung recently launched its own mobile payments service, Samsung Pay, which does the same thing as Apple Pay and Android Pay, allowing users to use their smartphones to pay for items rather than pulling out their credit card. However, it now looks like some Chinese hackers may have stolen the …
Read More »Chinese hackers may have stolen technology behind Samsung Pay
Samsung recently launched its own mobile payments service, Samsung Pay, which does the same thing as Apple Pay and Android Pay, allowing users to use their smartphones to pay for items rather than pulling out their credit card. However, it now looks like some Chinese hackers may have stolen the …
Read More »Micron Technology acquires Tidal Systems, gets SSD controllers
Micron Technology on Friday acquired Tidal Systems, a promising startup, which develops controllers for solid-state drives. With the acquisition of Tidal Systems, Micron will no longer have to rely on SSD system-on-chips developed by other companies. Besides, it will be able to tailor controllers for its memory, something that is …
Read More »Micron to start sales of SSDs based on TLC NAND this quarter
Micron Technology plans to finally start shipments of consumer solid-state drives based on triple-level cell (TLC) NAND flash in the ongoing quarter, the company revealed this week. SSDs featuring TLC NAND memory will be generally more affordable than non-volatile storage solutions powered by multi-level cell (MLC) flash. “We will begin shipping …
Read More »Prices of DDR3 and DDR4 continue to drop, set to decline further
Contract prices of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) modules dropped in August and September, despite peak season and anticipated stock-up demand on China, according to DRAMeXchange. Analysts believe that the launch of Microsoft Windows 10 this summer did not catalyse rise of demand, whereas the free Windows 10 upgrade program …
Read More »Samsung: NAND flash industry will triple output to 253EB by 2020
Samsung Electronics predicts that the NAND flash industry will triple output of non-volatile memory over the next five years and will produce whopping 253 exabytes of NAND in 2020. Although the increase is impressive, total output of flash memory will account for less than 10 per cent of storage capacity …
Read More »Samsung denies using software to cheat TV power efficiency tests
An independent research group recently levied some pretty hefty accusations at Samsung recently, claiming that the company was using software on its TVs to cheat energy efficiency tests. This isn't the first time that Samsung has been accused of this, it was discovered that past Galaxy smartphones were capable of …
Read More »HP unveils entry-level workstation with Xeon Skylake, DDR4, fast SSDs
Hewlett-Packard has introduced its new-generation entry-level Z-series workstations that use a variety of new technologies, including Intel Corp.’s latest microprocessors. The new machines can run serious tasks, yet they feature compact sizes and relatively affordable price-points. The HP Z240 Tower and Z240 SFF [small form-factor] workstations are based on Intel’s …
Read More »Apple double-sources its A9 chips from Samsung and TSMC
In a bid to ensure steady supply of its latest system-on-chips for its new iPhone smartphones, Apple decided to source the SoCs from two contract makers of semiconductors: Samsung Foundry and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Apple’s new iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus smartphones use A9 processors made by Samsung …
Read More »GlobalFoundries: We started to tape-out chips using second-gen 14nm process technology
GlobalFoundries on Friday confirmed that the first products to be made using the company’s advanced 14nm LPP [low-power plus] manufacturing technology had been taped out. The contract maker of chips did not reveal any details, but indicated that prototype chips had demonstrated “excellent” performance and yields. One of the customers, …
Read More »GlobalFoundries: 14nm yields are exceeding our plans
GlobalFoundries, which started to manufacture chips using 14nm low-power early (14LPE) manufacturing technology several months ago, said on Friday that its yields exceed its original expectations. One of the world’s largest contract makers of semiconductors does not reveal its actual 14nm volumes, but since the chips are made for customers, …
Read More »Samsung is launching a new, cheaper GearVR this November
Samsung is betting bigger on virtual reality this year, as it plans to release another version of its GearVR headset. This year's latest model will launch in November with a slight re-design and a much lower price. Oculus is once again in charge of developing the headset, which will rely …
Read More »Samsung plans to release 4TB SSDs in early 2016
Samsung Electronics is working on a new solid-state drive with 4TB capacity. The SSD will be available in early 2016, but its performance and pricing are yet unknown. Samsung 850 Pro solid-state drive with 4TB capacity will be based on the company’s third-generation 48-layer 3D V-NAND memory, reports AnandTech. While …
Read More »Samsung unveils 950 Pro SSDs with up to 2.5GB/s read speeds
Samsung Electronics has introduced its new family of solid-state drives that offer extreme performance and moderate pricing. The new SSDs come in M.2 form-factor, fully support NVMe protocol and use the company’s second-generation 3D V-NAND flash memory. The Samsung 950 Pro-series solid-state drives are based on the second generation MLC …
Read More »Nvidia to fetch second-gen HBM memory from Samsung and SK Hynix – Report
As developers of graphics processing units start to use high-bandwidth memory (HBM), manufacturers of graphics cards cease their ability to buy memory directly from DRAM makers. A good news is that Nvidia Corp. intends to buy second-gen HBM from two suppliers, which potentially means flexible pricing. Nowadays manufacturers of graphics …
Read More »GlobalFoundries develops 7nm and 10nm technologies in-house
GlobalFoundries is working on its own 7nm and 10nm fabrication processes and it does not look like the company has plans to license technologies from the outside. The contract maker of semiconductors hopes that specialists from IBM’s microelectronics unit will help it to design world-class leading-edge manufacturing processes. GlobalFoundries, which …
Read More »Apple wins appeal in patent case against Samsung
Apple has won an appeal in its never-ending lawsuit against Samsung. The latest victory on Apple's part could mean that Samsung will either have to make changes to or stop selling some of its older Galaxy smartphones and tablets. A US court of appeals made the ruling on Thursday and …
Read More »OcUK ‘8Pack Approved’ kit includes Intel Core [email protected], other hardware
Overclockers UK has unveiled its new “Elite Tier Skylake” “8Pack Approved” hardware bundle that not only lets to build a high-end system at a discount price, but also includes Intel Core i7-6700K “Skylake” processors that are guaranteed to run at increased clock-rates. A lot of people enjoy overclocking. Modern central …
Read More »Samsung unveils the first 4.26GHz LPDDR4 chip with 12Gb capacity
Samsung Electronics has announced that it had begun mass production of LPDDR4 memory chips with 12Gb capacity. The new memory devices were designed for high-performance smartphones and tablets that require a lot of ultra-fast dynamic random access memory. Samsung’s 12Gb LPDDR4 memory chip not only features unprecedented capacity – 12Gb, …
Read More »DDR4 memory gets 25% cheaper in three months
Slow demand for personal computers drives prices of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) down. Thanks to that, DDR4 memory is getting considerably cheaper than it was a year ago. In fact, DDR4 got 25 per cent less expensive in less than three months. According to DRAMeXchange, the world’s leading computer …
Read More »Samsung: Post-DDR4 memory to hit 6.40GHz, to arrive after 2020
The development of DDR4 began several years before DDR3 was commercialized and it took DDR4 about nine years to get from the drawing board into actual computers. Right now key industry players are already working on the standard, which will succeed DDR4. According to Samsung Electronics, prototypes of the new …
Read More »AMD: We are actively promoting HBM and do not collect royalties
Advanced Micro Devices is currently the only company to use high-bandwidth memory it co-developed with SK Hynix and other partners. While usage of HBM is clearly a competitive advantage that AMD has over its rivals, the company is encouraging others to use the new memory type and does not intend …
Read More »Samsung wants to turn your home smart for £200
Smart homes with connected features and digital controls are something we've all been promised for decades, but it always seemed like something that needed to be built into the house during construction. Of course in a world of wireless internet and applications, that's no longer the case and Samsung wants …
Read More »Sales of SSDs increase by 3% in the second quarter
Despite of the fact that sales of personal computers are decreasing, shipments of solid-state drives are rising, according to analysts from TrendFocus. Samsung continues to be the world’s largest supplier of NAND flash memory as well as solid-state drives and it is unlikely that this will change any time soon. Sales …
Read More »Chinese investors eye GlobalFoundries to get new process technologies
China's National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund has reportedly approached GlobalFoundries about possible acquisition or cooperation. Chinese investors intend to take over GlobalFoundries in order to significantly improve Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) and make it one of the world’s largest contract makers of semiconductors. China-based Hua Capital Management, which …
Read More »Samsung announces the Gear S2 smart watch
Samsung is bringing Tizen to smart-watches with its new circular Gear S2. Samsung announced its latest device at the IFA press conference and as we can see, the watch has clearly taken some design tips from the Moto 360, which was the first circular Android Wear smart watch. On top …
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