Hynix announced "fastest" mobile DDR
SDRAM
Hynix Semiconductor announced to what it claims to be the industry’s
fastest 185MHz 512-megabit mobile DDR SDRAM with the error correction
code (ECC).
The built-in ECC is used to ensure data integrity and reduce current
consumption by almost 50% as the company said.
At 185MHz clock speed, throughput of up to 1.5GB of data per second
can be attained with a 32-bit I/O. The ECC feature allows the extension
of the refresh interval to be used for reducing the power consumption.
Samsung unveils new ultra mobile PC
Samsung Electronics unveiled an upgraded version of the ultra mobile
personal computer (UMPC).
Together with Intel and Microsoft, Samsung, has launched its first
UMPC, which is a very small portable personal computer at the last
year’s CeBIT technology trade show as a third computer design.
"We targeted 100,000 units, but so far we didn't reach that target
yet," Kyuho Uhm, Samsung's vice president of strategic marketing
told a news conference.
Samsung’s new Q1 Ultra model will start to be available from
May at around1200 euros or dollar and aims to sell 200,000 to 300,000
units till next year.
SanDisk unveils 32Gbyte hard-drive flash for notebooks
SanDisk has introduced a 32GB solid-state flash memory drive that
aims to replace the hard disk drive for the notebooks.
The company has launched a 2.5-inch Serial ATA interface model the
day after Intel has unveiled its first solid state device, with a
maximum capacity of 8GB.
This SanDisk is compatible with most mainstream notebook designs and
is followed by two months company introduction of a 1.8-inch SSD for
ultra-portable notebooks. The drive is available in bulk to the computer
manufacturers at the price $350.
The advantages of the solid state devices over hard disk drives
include less power consumption, less heat and no noise with disadvantages
as higher price per gigabyte and less storage capacity.
Samsung ships 8GB Flash Chip
Samsung Electronics has proclaim that its has started shipping samples
of 8GB memory chip to major mobile electronics manufacturers, which
the company claims to be the highest density, embedded flash memory.
Samsung’s moviNAND memory solution consists of four 16GB NAND
flash chips made on 50nm process node with a MultiMedia Card (MMC)
controller and associate firmware. Samsung’s moviNAND allows
NAND flash to be accessed through a standardized MMC interface.
The manufacturers who use this new memory solution will be able
to develop mobile phone more quickly and at a less cost than with
raw multi-level cell (MLC) NAND components soldered into a handset,
claims Samsung.
Samsung also stated that its 8GB moviNAND is 10-20% smaller in size
than the other flash-based embedded memory card solutions. The corporation
expects that the market for moviNAND would reach at a sales volume
of US $4 billion by 2010. Mass production of the 8GB moviNAND is
scheduled to begin at the end of 2007.
Micron mass produce 8-megapixel sensor
Micron Technology has started to make mass production of 8-megapixel
image sensor that is announced last May as prototype.
The image sensor has been fabricated in a standard 0.13-micron CMOS
process and is built using a 1.75-micron pixel design that fits
into 1/2.5- inch optical format.
This sensor has been targeted for the digital still cameras for
now and the future mobile phones and is capable of bursting more
than 10 pictures a second with full resolution and more than 30
pictures a second at 2 megapixel resolution.
This device also enables a digital camera to capture and playback
HD video which equates shooting video at 30 frames per second (fps)
in 720p (progressive) format.
Dell goes "green"
Dell is the only computer maker that is offering its consumers
free recycling, even if they are not buying a new Dell product.
Anyone can visit the Dell website and print out a prepaid shipping
label to return their Dell desktop, laptop, printer or ink cartridge
free of charge. They will provide the customer service to pick the
equipment up.
"In terms of producer takeback, they have the best policy of
any global electronics company, period," says Robin Schneider,
of the Texas Campaign for the Environment. "They went from
being a laggard to being a leader."
On inquiring what made the Dell turn around. Michael Dell cited
several factors- consumer, demand threat of regulation and recognizing
that electronic waste or e-waste is a major problem.
"If we sell 40 million computers a year, and the industry is
going to sell 200 million computers a year, at some point they are
going to come out of circulation," he says. "Where do
they all go? I want to be in a position where we are doing the right
thing."
Samsung announced power save drives
Samsung announce that it has started shipping the long-awaited
hybrid flash/hard drive to computer and other equipment makers.
The 2.5-inch drive is featured up with 160 Gbytes hard disk and
as much as 256 Mbytes of flash memory. Samsung is said to have work
with work with Microsoft since 2003 to build this hybrid drive that
can save power consumption as well as cut the boot time for the
New Vista operating system.
Samsung’s MH80 Series will be available in 80-Gbyte, 120-Gbyte
and 160-Gbyte capacities. The flash will only be available in capacities
of 128-Mbyte or 256-Mbyte. The drive is combined with OneNAND Flash
cache and Microsoft Ready Drive software.
"The MH80 hybrid hard drive provides the ideal solution for
two major issues that notebook PC users continually face: faster
boot and resume performance and extended battery life," said
Albert Kim, a Samsung national sales manager, in a statement.
According to Samsung the drive consume less power than the traditional
rotating storage drives extending laptop battery life up to 30 minutes.
The NAND flash helps in low power consumption while also providing
higher reliability and faster read/write access.
Dell considers offering Linux
Dell is considering to offer the Linux operating system as an alternative
to Microsoft’s Window on its PCs, said a Dell spokesperson.
The PC maker said that it has received more than a 100,000 customer
requests for opting Linux in its “suggestion box” which
was posted in Dell’s website less than three weeks ago.
"We are listening to what customers are saying about Linux and
taking it into consideration," said Dell spokesman David Lord.
"We are going forward. Let's say, 'Certainly stay tuned.'"
Linux is the open-source operating system that is available for free
and can be run on most of the computers including Dell PCs.
Dell does not break down how much it charges for Windows when it
calculates the cost of a single computer system but considering
a basic upgrade version of the software generally retails for $99.
160GB notebook drive by Fujitsu
Fujitsu has announced a 2.5-inch laptop drive featuring desktop-type
specs of 160 Gbyte and 7200-RPM speeds. The drive is expected to be
shipped to the computer makers in the second quarter of this year.
"Fujitsu has positioned itself well to capitalize on the growing
demand for higher performance with 7200-RPM laptop hard disk drives
that replace the functionality found traditionally on desktop PCs,"
said Joel Hagberg, VP of marketing and business development at the
Fujitsu unit, in a statement.
The firm also said that it is the industry’s first hard drive
with a SATA 3.0 Gbyte/interface that is aimed for intensive video
and audio applications.
Upgraded Xbox memory
Microsoft Corp. has announced it plans to launch 512 MB Memory Unit
for Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system and also an increase
official size limit from 50MB to 150 MB of Xbox LIVE (R) Arcade
games.
This 512MB Memory Unit will start to be available worldwide in
the beginning of April, and is expected to be sold at a retail price
of $49.99 in North America.
This Memory Unit for 512 MB will be pre-loaded with Xbox LIVE Arcade
game “Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved” from developer Bizarre
Creations Ltd. will be available for a limited time. However the
original 64 MB Memory Unit will drop it price simultaneously from
$39.99 to $29.99.
Intel plan to upgrade N.M. fab to 45nm
Intel Corp. announced that it would invest $1-$1.5 billion in its
Rio Rancho, N.M. based site to retool Fab 11X for production on its
45-nm manufacturing process.
This Fab 11X is the company’s fourth factory which is planned
up to use the 45 nm process, while the production in New Mexico is
scheduled to start in the second half of next year.
The initial production on Intel’s 45-nm products is programmed
to be done at the Oregon development fab, dubbed D1D. Intel is currently
planning to build two other factories that will use the 45-nm process.
The $3 billion Fab 32 plant in Chandler, Ariz is scheduled to commence
its production late this year while the $3.5 billion Fab 28 in Kiryat
Gat, Israel, will begin the production in the first half of year 2008.
Fab 11X is currently manufacturing 90-nm computer chips on 300-mm
wafers. The Fab 11X began its production in October 2002 which is
Intel’s first 300-mm, high-volume manufacturing facility.
It is also Intel’s first fully automated, high volume factory
producing 300-mm wafers.
Legacy presents 4GB Low Profile FBDIMM
To meet the changing requirements of the PC design engineers and
the system integrators, Legacy Electronics has developed a 4-Gbyte
DDR2 fully buffered dual in-line memory module (FB-DIMM) in JEDEC-standard
pin-out.
The 4-Gbyte DDR2 FB-DIMM is obtainable in a low profile (1.18inch
or 30mm) PCB height in speeds ranging from PC2-3200 to PC2-5300.
As a result, the Apple- and Intel-platform designers and specifically
the high speed, high-density blade servers and 1U-Chassis designers
can address their application needs without stacking or using the
dual die devices.
"We believe Legacy is first to market with a qualified 4GB
FB-DIMM for both the Apple and Intel platforms. Our design meets
the height restrictions necessary for a 1U server chassis, and the
popular MacPro," said Jason Engle, president of Legacy Electronics,
in a statement.
The 4-Gbyte FB-DIMM supports the Advance Memory Buffer (AMB), that
replaces registers and phase lock loops (PLLs) used on other DIMMs.
This AMB buffers the DRAM devices from the channel, and uses a high
speed, point to point differential interface to correspond with
the controller. This process converts to increased system memory
capacity, reduced memory channel pin count, and higher reliability.
AMD offer energy-efficient chips
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) launched two new single-core desktop
chips that use less power than the preceding models, and a dual-core
processor for high quality graphics and video on Microsoft’s
Windows Vista. The Athlon 64 3500+ and 3800+ are based on 65nm
process technology and run on 45 watts power. The previous version
all consumed up as mush as 89 watts. These single core chips are
made for small form-factor system designs.
"We expect that our commercial and consumer customers, as well
as end-users, will be pleased with both the low noise and small
form-factor designs possible using this latest generation of energy-efficient
desktop processors," Bob Brewer, corporate VP of AMD's desktop
division, said in a statement.
AMD also launched Athlon 64 X2 6000+ dual processor powering high-quality
graphic, video and security on Window Vista.
These new chips are available in the market. The computer makers
using the new processors include Dell Computer’s subsidiary,
Alienware, Fujitsu Siemens Computer, Systemax and Voodoo PC. The
Athlon 64 3500+, 3800+ that costs $88 and $93 respectively. The
Athlon 64 X2 cost $464.
Intel unveils super-chip technology
Intel recently publicized a diminutive new microprocessor that it
could deliver “supercomputer-like” performance to home
computers and handheld devices.
Intel said that this extraordinary programmable processor is not much
larger than fingernail and use less power than typical home electronic
devices and can perform more than a trillion calculations per second
i.e. a “teraflop.” Such ‘tera-scale computing’
could help in artificial intelligence, real time speech recognition,
more realistic video games, instant online film viewing and other
things related to science fiction, said Intel.
"Our researchers have achieved a wonderful and key milestone
in terms of being able to drive multi-core and parallel computing
performance forward," said Intel chief technology officer Justin
Rattner.
"It points the way to the near future when teraflops-capable
designs will be commonplace and reshape what we can all expect from
our computers and the Internet at home and in the office."
The first computer to run a teraflop speed was an Intel built machine
at Sandia National Laboratories in 1996. The ASCI Red supercomputer
is said to take up more than 2,000 sqft. (185 square meters) and
used up to 500 kilowatts of electricity.
The California based Intel’s ’80-core’research
chip at Santa Clara achieves teraflop performance using just 62
watts
IBM Uncovers fast eDRAM
IBM presented papers at the International Solid State Circuits Conference
(ISSCC), which disclosed an on-chip memory technology that features
what the company claim to be the fastest access times ever recorded
in eDRAM (embedded dynamic random memory).
According to IBM, the new technology that is designed is stress-enabled
65nm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) using deep trench which dramatically
improves on-processor memory performance in about one-third the space
with one-fifth the standby power of conventional SRAM (static random
access memory). The company further added that such advancement will
more than triple the amount of memory on a single high-end chip, and
its prototype eDRAM contains over 12 million bits and high-performance
logic.
IBM expects that this technology would turn to be a key feature in
its 45 nm processor road map and will be available in the year 2008.
According to Dr. Subramanian Iyer, director of 45 nm technology development
at IBM, the breakthrough is effectively doubling its efficiency which
is beyond what classical scaling alone can achieve. He further pointed
out that the semi conductor components have reached the atomic scale
and the design innovation at the chip-level has altered the material
science as a key factor in continuing Moore’s Law.
The company also said that it noticed that eDRAM developments have
improved microprocessor performance in multi-core designs and pace
up the movements of graphic in gaming, networking and other image
intensive, multimedia applications.
IBM is the major supplier of processors in the gaming console market
with Nintendo Wii, Sony PS3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 all featuring IBM
processors.
IBM is also having a partnership in manufacturing with AMD.
Fujitsu reveals data recovery chip
Fujitsu Ltd. has unveiled the industry’s first CMOS C that
performs clock and data recovery (CDR) at 40-44 Gbps that will enable
the implementation of 40 Gbps optical serializer-deserializer modules
in the future.
According to Fujitsu, CMOS CDR dissipates 0.91 Watt of power while
operating at 40-Gbps using a novel 3-over sampling architecture.
The data input is sampled using 24- phase distributed VCO, and the
digital CDR recovers 16 bits and a 2.5 GHz clock by processing the
samples.
The die size is 0.8-1.8mm2 and was fabricated in Fujitsu's 90-nm
CMOS process. ''This research demonstrates the viability of CMOS
for implementing the most difficult circuit blocks in future high-speed
optical modules,'' said William Walker, vice president of the Components
and Devices Integration Group at Fujitsu Laboratories of America
Inc., in a statement.
Micron rolled out new sensors, mobile DRAM
Micron launched a new range of CMOS image sensors and 1-Gbit mobile
DRAM bundled with 1, 2, 4-Gbit NAND in multichip package.
These image sensors have been developed in second iteration of Micron’s
1.75-micron pixel design and will come in different versions where
the resolution will be 5-, 3- or 1.3- megapixels for design in high
ends phones, mainstream versions and entry models respectively.
According to the company, the main benefit of this 1.75 micron pixel
technology is smaller and slimmer phone designs, brighter pictures
and power efficiency.
The 5- and 3- megapixel sensors are scheduled to be sampled in
the second quarter of the year and 1.3- megapixel version in the
first quarter. Its mass production though is expected this summer
2007.
IBM unveils chip with triple data storage
IMB has said to develop new circuitry that can triple the data to
store on a typical microprocessor and resulting in doubling the
performance of the computer as the Wall Street Journal reported.
The paper also said that this computer makers approach is based
on exploiting the most widely used technology in a new way.
It is expected that the IBM researchers will discuss their progress
at a conference held San Francisco this Wedenesday.
New PC market emerging in China
A vast unexploited market is suspended to be opened up in China
this year, as many small businesses (SB) that are working with no
PC at all, are expected to seek to purchase one this year. Small
businesses (having less than 100 employees) comprise of a large
proportion of the overall markets in China which takes 93% of China’s
whole business. So far still 67% of the SBs do not own any computer,
which represents a potential market of US$345 million for the PC
vendors.
According to the latest survey conducted by New York based Access
Markets International (AMI) Partners Inc., and is expected that
around 30% of these non-PC SBs in China will buy PC in the next
12 months. The manufacturing sectors makes up the largest share
for the non –PC market with around 73% do not own a PC. Out
of this, one third of these SBs plan to buy PC in next 12 months.
"With desktop prices lower than those of laptops, 84% of non-PC
SBs planning to buy PCs will buy desktop PCs for which they will
pay an average of US$800," said Cindy Tan, Singapore-based
analyst at AMI-Partners.
"Comparatively the average price they are willing to pay for
a laptop is US$1,150. Popular choices of desktops PC brands they
intend to purchase include Lenovo, Samsung, HP and Dell."
The top three motivators for the PC adoption are the automation
in business processes and improved efficiency, increases in employee
productivity and keeping pace with competitors. SBs main concern
for buying PCs is to build a stronger relationship with customers
and suppliers. Chinese government has setup a special fund from
the Central Government budget to support SMB and to boost technological
adoption.
Price was cited as the main factor in determining IT purchases.
"SBs tend to estimate the total cost of operations before buying
IT products and also factor in other costs such as IT support and
maintenance services, training, software, and others," Tan
said. "PC vendors need to introduce more bundled promotions
and financing/leasing options targeting China SBs. The bundles should
include hardware, software, installation, maintenance and support."
Many SBs don not plan to buy PCs, saying that they do not see any
relevance of using PCs in their line of business. A fax and a telephone
line are sufficient to conduct their business effectively. "Some
SBs also have the perception that PCs are too complex to install
and support," Tan said. "It is thus necessary to educate
SBs about the advantages of computers. They need to know how technology
adoption can help them gain an advantage against their competitors."
Intel to offer Pentium M based embedded processor
Later this year, Intel Corp. is planning to provide a 65-nm processor
for the industrial purpose called Tolapai according to the website
that appears to be operated by Lam Kam Tong Production Co. Ltd.
According to an article at www.hkepc.com, a reference board is set
to be available in the second quarter and its final product is set
to be shipped in late 2007.
The article references “friends in the industrial market”
as its source which includes a set of slides. According to the article
the Tolapai processor is intended to be used in embedded systems and
is used to complete with C7 and Geode processors from Via Technologies
Inc. and Advance Micro Devices Inc. respectively.
The Tolapai processor is based on Pentium M processor with clock frequency
speed grades of 600-MHz, 1.06-GHz and 1.2-GHz. The processor is expected
to support DDR2 memory interface operating at data transfer clock
rates of between 400MHz and 800MHz to 2-Gbytes of off chip memory.
The power consumption is estimated between 13 and 22 watts.
The processor has 256-Kbytes of on chip cache as stated on one slide.
It has not been cleared in the site that Tolapai is a new processor
or an old one being re-characterized or repackaged, for industrial
application and an industrial temperature range. It operating supports
includes Linux, Windows Embedded XP and FreeBSD.
The processor will offer optional hardware support for encryption
and decryption including coverage of such standards as AES, 3DES,
RC4, MD5, SHA-1, SHA-224-256-384-512, HMAC, ESA and DSA up to 1.6Gbps,
the report said. The processor could be suitable for IP telephony,
the report concluded.
A search against Tolapai at the Intel site produces no results.
SanDisk, Toshiba to ship 56nm flash memory
SanDisk Corp. announced the launch of 56-nm multi-level cell (MLC)
flash memory chips this month with the Toshiba Corp. at Fab 3 (300-mm)
wafer fabrication near Nagoya, Japan.
The SanDisk-Toshiba duo was supposed to roll out 52-nm NAND devices
but due to its technological complexities, it has scaled back its
technical targets and devised 56-nm parts.
SanDisk Corp. also plans to introduce new 8-gigabit single-chip, MLC
NAND flash memory on 56-nm process technology in the coming weeks
after qualifying limited engineering samples, with its commercial
shipment expected to be in late of the first quarter.
In the second quarter the company expects to introduce monolithic
16-gigabit NAND, which will be the highest density single chip MLC
NAND flash memory in the industry.
Samsung invests 1.9 billion to boost DRAM output
Samsung Electronics has said to invest about $119 billion to boost
its chip output as its expected another strong years for DRAMs brisk
sales and higher margins amid a surge in the demand for personal computers.
Microsoft Vista operating system which has been released out this
month has expected to increase the demand for personal computers with
strong memory chips inside it.
These chip prices could ease in the first few months after a seasonally
strong sale in the fourth quarter, but according to analyst the full
scale impact of the Microsoft Vista is expected in the second half
of the year.
Microsoft to launch Zune in Europe by year end
Microsoft is happy with the result of the early sales of its Zune
music player in the United States and has expected to launch the service
in Europe before the end of the year, the marketing director said.
Microsoft is realistic about the challenges it has faced in trying
to crack into the digital music player market Jason Reindorp told
the Reuters; which is dominated by Apple Computer Inc.’s iPod.
"You couldn't get a more entrenched competitor," he said
at the annual music industry Midem Net conference in France. "But
we feel really good about the first steps that we've taken."
According to Reindorp Microsoft is not yet ready to announce the time
it would launch it service in Europe but shows a possibility to be
out before the end of this year.
Sun to use Intel's Xeon chips
Sun Microsystems Inc. will announce its plans to use Intel’s
Microprocessor according to some sources.
Sun Microsystems will buy Intel Xeon chips to power it servers as
signed under an agreement, according to a source, in addition to AMD
Opteron chips that Sun uses.
Sun has planned to schedule a news conference on Monday (Jan 22) at
a San Francisco Hotel but declined giving further information.
According to analysts Sun has been using Opteron chips over the past
two to three years in its servers due to AMD’s power and performance
over Intel recently. Servers are considered to be workhorses for computers
that carry a high profit margin than the personal computers.
Intel made prototype 45-nm processor
On Tuesday (Jan. 16) Intel Corp. announced that it has completed
its next-generation, 45-nm process technology.
Intel also said that they have produced samples of Penryn, which is
the company first 45-nm processor. In a system, the chip booted up
several operating systems such as Window Vista, Window XP, Mac OS
X and Linux, using first silicon which Intel revealed in its earning
release issued this Tuesday.
This 45-nm processor is scheduled fro production in the second half
of this year and is planning to ramp to three 300-mm factories in
2008. ''These are good indicators of how healthy our 45-nm manufacturing
and future product designs are looking so far,'' according to an Intel
spokeswoman.
Seeking to get a hand on the rivals, Intel has disclosed initial details
of 45-nm process and claims to have built the first chip on the technology.
This 45-nm process will be used in making Penryn and other products,
which are based on the company’s next-generation Core architecture.
''Since late June, we have introduced almost 30 servers, desktop and
laptop processors based on the Core Micro-architecture, with the majority
coming earlier to market than we first forecasted to our customers,''
the spokeswoman said. ''Nine of those are quad-core server and desktop
processors for in just over two months since our first launch.''
PSC and Renesas joint venture to form Embedded Memory Design
Powerchip Semiconductor Corp. and Renesas Technology Corp. are intending
to have a joint venture for the design of memory products as said
by both the companies this week (Jan.16).
Both the companies will focus on embedded memory for system-in-package
(SiP) products that will finally go into consumer and communication
system designs from Renesas.
"In order to provide high-performance, low-cost SiP solutions
quickly to market, we must be able to efficiently design advanced
custom embedded memory. The joint venture company will strengthen
our design capability in reaching out to this important market,"
Shigeru Mori, general manager of Renesas Technology's memory unit,
said in a statement.
These companies will pool their engineering resources to make a
new firm Vantel Co. Ltd. that will be based in Tokyo with Mori as
it president. Powerchip will have a stake of 65 percent and Renesas
will have 35 percent.
Powerchip has a long close relationship with Renesas leading back
to the Mitsubishi roots. At present Renesas remains one of the Powerchip
foundry customers.
China will cover rural areas with low cost handsets
China second largest mobile operators are planning to purchase up
$2 million ultra-low cost CDMA handsets in a proposition to expand
growth in the rural area.
Several foreign and domestic companies will be providing the phones
to the operator China Unicom, including Motorola, LG Electronics,
Nokia, Huawei Technology, Hisense and ZTE Corp. The phones are expected
to be sold around $50.
According to Unicom it’s the company’s largest purchase
of the ultra-low cost handsets and will account for one third of
the purchase this year. The operator however plans to buy another
1-2 million of the phones at the year end.
China is the world’s largest cell phone market with around
400 million subscribers. At present China’s cell phone market
in the top-tier and the second-tier has become saturated. China’s
Telco are now looking to grow in the third-tier cities comprising
poor countryside with an estimated population of nearly 800 million.
China Unicom has spent over more than 1.3 billion to expand their
networks in the rural regions. According to Beijing-based BDA China
Ltd., China Mobile is the largest mobile provider with more than
the half of its new subscribers in the first half of the year 2006
came from small cities, town and villages.
Market research firm iSuppli Corp. has estimated that the ultra-low
cost handset shipment has crossed over 1 million units in the previous
year. The research firm foresees that the market will develop to 14.7
million phones by the year 2010.
Intel to build plant in China
The world’s top chip manufacturer, Intel has planned to invest
in building a major new plant in china to make leading edge chips
according to the sources.
A source wish not to be identified said that the plant will be making
65-nanometer multi-core processors. This will be the Intel’s
first manufacturing facility in Asia.
It is estimated that Intel has invested about $1 billion in China
till date and has major tests and assembly plants in Shanghai and
the interior city of Chengdu.
Another source said that the investment in the new plant will total
a ‘a couple’ billion dollars. Both the sources has declined
to give any further information on the project such as the location,
timing etc; however one said that the investment will be announced
in the coming months.
PS3 sales down
In December Nintendo Co. Ltd. sold about 604,200 of its new Wii
video game consoles alone in the United States beating the Sony Corp.
which sold about 490,700 units of the new PlayStation 3, according
to the market research firm NPD.
Microsoft sold around 1.1 million Xbox 360 video game consoles to
consumers in December. Microsoft console was debuted in November 2005
which was full year ahead of Wii and PS3 that were short in the market
during the holidays, when the video game industry boosts about half
of its annual sales.
Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo are the three major players that are
locked in the battle for the top spot in the $30 million dollars
new console war.
Dell reveals new home media system
During the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Dell has
revealed its latest line on new home media system which will be
powered by Microsoft Vista.
Dell’s Home Media Suite is based on an XPS410 CPU that comes
with 2 gigs memory, 1 terabyte disc drive with a 27 inch monitor.
The system has wireless connectivity, DVD burner and a high definition
cable television tuner. The tuner is able to receive digital cable
signals as well as HD cable. It’s like a built in TiVo that
allow you to play, pause and record the television. “But the
real star of this system is this great new display,” which
Dell said to be really awesome.
Dell chairman’s other announcement also included Dell Datasafe
which provides an online data storage service which will allow its
customers to backup their data, photo, videos or whatever the customers
have on their computers. When a customer buys a new Dell computer,
the Dell staff will transfer all their previous setting and data
on the new system at the factory. The new computer is already preloaded
with old data and previous setting. The customers also have an option
to transfer their own password protected data into the new system.
Intel brought Quad Core Processors to mainstream
Intel has formally launched 3 more quad-core processors that includes
for first time to carry Intel Core 2 Quad processor brand name that
has begun its expansions of Quad-core PC sales to the mainstream buyers.
This Intel Core 2 Quad processor line will be targeting performance
desktops and Gaming PCs and Intel also has highlighted its high
definition video as its key application.
The new Intel Core 2 Quad 6600 processor runs at 2.4 GHz with an 8MB
L2 cache. This new processor is available for US $ 851.
The only Quad-core desktop Intel has offered previously is its 2.6
GHz Core 2 Extreme QX6700, which also has an 8MB L2 cache. This part
is being sold for US $999.
Intel has also announced two quad-core processors for single socket
servers. Intel introduced the quad-core Intel Xeon Processor 3200
series for single-socket servers. Two new processors are available
with clock speeds of 2.4 and 2.13 GHz with a 1066MHz front side bus
and 8MB of L2 cache.
Quad-core Intel Xeon processor pricing includes the X3220 (2.4GHz)
at US$851 and the quad-core Intel Xeon Processor X3210 (2.13GHz) at
US$690.
Intel is now offering a total of nine quad-core processor versions
in the desktop and enterprise market segment.
Hitachi to release 1 Tera Byte Drive this Quarter
Hitachi is said to release and retail 1 Terabyte drive to its customers
in the first quarter of this year. While Deskstar 7K1000 hitting
the retail market, Hitachi has also announced the CinemaStar version
of the 1TB hard drive that optimize it capability specifically designed
for digital video recording (DVR) applications.
"Consumers have come to rely on their DVRs to record and store
their favorite programs, and with the increasing availability of
high-definition (HD) TV programming, 1TB of storage will become
a necessity. High-definition video requires 4 to 5 times more storage
capacity than standard-definition video and a terabyte drive allows
viewers to easily store and retrieve almost 250 hours of HD programming,"
according to Hitachi.
“The industry’s first one-terabyte hard drive represents
a milestone that is 50 years in the making, and it reasserts the
hard drive’s leadership as the highest-capacity, lowest-cost
storage technology,” said Shinjiro Iwata, chief marketing
officer, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. “In the 51st
year, Hitachi is leading a new era for hard drives -- not only providing
large amounts of affordable storage, but also customizing and optimizing
hard drives to deliver products that are smarter, more durable and
more useful to the consumer.”
The suggested retail price is US $399 i.e. 40 cents per gigabyte.
DRAM to outperform Flash memory, A-Data said
According to the company chairman Simon Chen, A-Data Technology
foresees that its DRAM business will be outperforming sales of NAND
flash products in the year 2007.
Chen expects a revenue breakdown between DRAM and NAND flash products
as 2:1 for the company in 2007 which at present is 7:3. He projects
that the DRAM prices would remain stable at the contract market through
February, and the market outlook seems to be uncertain with the start
of March. At the present spot market, DRAM prices should stay strong
in January, Chen said. As far as the Vista impact is concerned, Chen
noted that its meaningful impact will likely be seen after the first
quarter of 2007.
On the contrary the NAND flash prices are still subjected to drop
down further due to the pressure from major consumers such as Apple
Computer which will decrease its orders in the first quarter of 2007.
According to Chen, the prices will drop down within the reasonable
limits that would still promise gross margins for the memory module
houses. He furthermore emphasized that the price plummeting that happened
in the first quarter of 2006 will be not likely to occur this year.
TSMC to add five more 12-inch Taiwan Fab
According to a Taiwanese newspaper, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Co. Ltd. has intended to construct five advanced 12- inch wafer plants
in Taiwan within few years time.
Reports have said that the building of five fabs can cost TSMC as
much as $15 billion. Over this plants completion TSMC will have a
total of seven 12-inch wafer plant factories in Taiwan.
The decision to continue development in the home country is a tough
statement to make because of the loyalties here as the company is
now able to expand in neighboring country China. In the midst of
the frequent political tension, between these countries, Taiwan’s
government officially announced permission to three of the Taiwan-based
companies to invest a combined $825 million in China. Taiwan’s
government also approved a plan to allow Taiwanese chipmakers to
use advanced 0.18-micron technology in the China factories. At present
TSMC has only one wafer plant in Shanghai.
Siemens set record on network speed
Germany Siemens AG has set up anew record over the electrical processing
of the data through a fiber optic cable, opening up a new possibility
of a cheaper Internet and data networks.
In a statement said by Siemens, it has processed up the data by using
up this exclusive electrical means at 107 gigabits per second that
can roughly fill up two full DVDs in a second and sending it over
single optic fiber channel on 100 mile long (161 kms.) US networks
for the first time outside laboratory.
Online games, music and video download are breeding an increase amount
of web traffic creating a dire need of faster and affordable transmission.
The test was conducted in cooperation with Germany’s Micram
Microelectronic and, the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications
and Eindhoven Technical University of the Netherlands and the result
was 2.5 faster than the previous maximum transmission performance
per channel.
Sharp on mass production of Blue Laser Diodes
Sharp announced that it has started the commercial production of
blue laser diodes aiming that it has a very strong growth potential
in the market. In November Sharp began the volume production of blue
laser diodes which is used to read and write the data on high-definition
optical discs. According to Sharp spokesman Hiroshi Takenami Sharp
has been producing 150,000 units a month in its plant in western Japan.
These diodes are used in DVD players on Blu-ray format which has been
championed by Sony Corporation, as well as competing HD DVD technology
promoted by Toshiba Corp.
Sharp entering this market has been currently dominated by Sony
and unlisted Nichia Corp., and has been planning to bring a monthly
capacity of 500,000 units at the end of 2007 by spending several
billion yen.
New material found for non-volatile memory
At the International Electron Devices Meetings (IEDM) IBM, Macronix
and Qimonda will claim that they have developed a phase-change memory
prototype that boasts switching speeds 500 times faster than the traditional
flash-memories technologies.
The device is a cross-section measuring 3-x20-nm in size and is also
said to use less than one-half the power to write data into a cell.
The technology enables devices of 22-nm mode and beyond. The heart
of this technology is a “tiny chunk” of semiconductor
alloy that can be changed rapidly between an ordered, crystalline
phase.
The material used in this technology is germanium-antimony (GeSb)
alloy to which the elements have been added to enhance properties.
More details are expected to be described in the IEDM conference
in the paper entitled as ''Ultra-Thin Phase-Change Bridge Memory
Devices Using GeSb.''
Intel bringing cheap PC to poor children worldwide
According to Intel the diminutive low-cost laptop will be evaluated
next year in Brazil besides a cheaper alternative from a non profit
organization that is working to bring computers to the poor children
worldwide.
The company has said that it will donate around 700 to 800 of the
“Classmate PCs” costing about $400 US to governments for
a massive evaluation in schools. Intel has tested these computers
on a smaller scale with the teachers and students of a poor school
near Sao Paulo.
Elber Mazaro who is the Marketing Director for Intel in Brazil said
that this is the first time that Intel has made such an agreement
with any government for such kind of testing.
This deal for the Classmate PC has come after the Brazilian President
Mr. Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva has received a model of a $150 laptop
which developed by a United States non profit group One Laptop Per
Child at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab.
The non profit group One Laptop Per Child expects to sell millions
of PCs to the government in the developing countries beginning with
Brazil, Libya, Nigeria, Thailand and Argentina.
Brazil has 187 million citizens but tens of millions out of them
do not have an excess with computer or internet. The public schools
offer on a little or no computer training while some of the schools
are running without electricity.
Elpida to build Fabs in Taiwan
Elpida Memory Inc. and Powerchip Semiconductor are linking to build
up a DRAM fab in Taiwan. Elpida will announce its decision today that
could involve a long term commitment of $ 7 billion.
Elpida has spent several months searching for a site for 300-mm wafer
fab and Taiwan proved an attractive place having compelling combination
of tax breaks and advance manufacturing of semiconductor infrastructure.
Elpida is planning to invest about 800 billion yen (about $7 million)
in the project, which will yield a capacity of 100,000-150,000 wafers.
If Powerchip agrees on a joint venture, the scale of these fabs
is expected to be double competing with the current capacity of
Samsung Electronics.
AMD launched new 65nm CPU
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has rolled out its first 65-nm x86
CPUs, the new Athlon 64 x2 has cut the die size by half and power
by one third of the existing 130-nm desktop processors. AMD is maintaining
itself as a fast follower of Intel with plans to ramp its 65-nm
process fast and to ship its 45-nm devices by mid-2008.
The new dual-core desktop processors have the maximum power consumption
down to 65W from 89W. These dual processors are available in speed
grades of 2.1 to 2.6 GHz with its cost ranges from $169 to $ 301.
According to AMD the dual-core processors they produced have lower
consumption than the rival parts from Intel when both are working
on low-power states. In the idle mode the 90-nm AMD CPUs dispel
about 3.8W compared to about 14.3 W for similar Core 2 Duo parts
in Intel.
In the early next year AMD will apply its 65-nm process to other
desktop and notebook CPUs. Some of these will be used to cut power
consumption maintaining the data rates while others will help to
keep power consumption steady and raise the data rates 30% more
than the current levels.
The 65-nm process will also act as enabler for AMD’s Barcelona
products, server CPUs that will be AMD’s first combine four
x86 core on a single die.
Toshiba release 100GB drive for iPod
Toshiba has declared a new range of 100GB models for a small hard
drive that can lead to a larger capacity of iPods for next year. Products
using these new drives are expected to be sold in the first quarter
of 2007.
Like the previous ones these drives have two platters for stacking
up data and use perpendicular recording technology that can hold an
amount of data in a given surface area. They can spin at 4,200 revolutions
per minute and have the ability to transfer 100 megabyte of data per
second.
According to Apples measurement moving from 80GB to 100GB would give
an iPod an increased capacity from 20,000 to 25,000 songs.
Apple dominates the digital media player industry and Toshiba dominates
the hard drives that these gadgets often use. According to the industry
analysis IDC, Toshiba holds 80 percent of the market share in the
third quarter of 2006 and has shipped about 40 million 1.8 inch
drives since the launch in first quarter of 2007.
Microsoft believe 200 million users to use its new
software
According to Microsoft Corp. more than 200 million users will be
using one of its products which may include Windows Vista, Office
2007 suite, and Exchange server by the end of year 2007.
In the news release Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer labeled
its 3 products that are targeted for the large business customers
as “game changing” products.
"We expect that more than 200 million people will be using
at least one of these products by the end of 2007," Ballmer
said.
Many of businesses, consumers and IT resellers are waiting for Microsoft’s
next-generation products. Windows XP was released five years ago
during which Microsoft invested roughly around $9 billion in Vista
and Office 2007 application suite, which has experienced some delays.
Now the industry observes are watching how Microsoft changes its
products by placing new ones or whether a critical mass of customers
should rely on what they have.
Sending music through Body by Sony
It is believed now that a music player that sends signal through
human body without wires Bluetooth or other conventional means could
be a new horizon.
Sony has found a way that could transmit signals through the wearer’s
body to the earphone that transmits the signals back to sound. Sony
has already applied for a patent for “human body communication
system and communication device.”
The system will use the body as a capacitor that would become part
of field carrying electrostatic charge from a transmitter to a receiver.
Conductive clothes or fabrics would be able to charge up the user’s
bodies. Earphones will contain electrodes that would receive and
translate the signals into sound.
While signing for the patent the company said the sound will be
mild that will not cause any tingling. The communication device
will be placed secretive so that it could operate without any interference
from other radio devices in the surroundings which according to
Sony is the current problem faced with Bluetooth.
This body system will be able to carry 48 kilobytes of data per
second as said by Sony Corp. and repeatedly calls it an “excellent”
setup for body communication system.
PS3 problems reported
According to the market sources the users of PS3 has reported to
have encountered problems with the console which includes overheating
lower display resolution from its Blu-ray Risk (BD) player and the
inability to start the console.
There were problems since the first launch of the PS3 in the mid-November
like over heating and incapability to start the machine. Such reports
have been circulated in the market saying that PS3 when used with
an older high-definition (HD) TVs that supports only a 1080i resolution
and also displays 720 resolution games at only 480p. According to
Sony this trouble has been caused by a firmware problem and the company
is trying to get its hands on it earliest.
Some of the PS3 users in Taiwan complained that the new PS3 is not
compatible with PS2 game titles and the machine shuts down as soon
as it gets overheated.
According to the sources at SCEH, the first batch of SP3 has been
a complete sold out while the second batch is expected to be in the
market in December.
Japanese developed chip to block PC virus
Researchers in Japan have developed a microchip that can block computer
viruses before they can enter PCs. According to researcher Mr. Eiichi
Takahashi at government funded National Institute of Advanced Industrial
Science and Technology, the chips in the routers can stop viruses
from entering a PC without slowing the program running on the computer,
unlike the way antivirus does.
The chips are needed to be rewritable for this concern so that they
easily get updated with the online information regarding new viruses
which may create some problems as the rewritable can only be able
to recognize only a few hundred viruses each.
Thus for an effective antivirus chip system it becomes expensive,
while open source software recognize roughly around 70,000 viruses.
An analyst from Nikko Citigroup Kengo Nagahashi said “To translate
the technology into profits, you would need global sales channels
to cut prices and make the technology affordable for consumers”.
The technology however does not pose any threats to security software
companies such as Symantec Corp. or Trend Micro Inc. etc. This chip
can also be used to block viruses from entering mobile phones, personal
digital assistants and other appliances said Takahashi.
$100 laptops ready to be rolled off
The first 1000 laptops has been developed by the One Laptop Per
Child (OLPC) organization and are ready to be rolled off the assembly
line in China, with the kids ready to get their hands on the keyboard.
Last Tuesday in an announcement, the OLPC said that the first XO
machines were been produced at the Quanta Computer’s manufacturing
facility in Shanghai.
“We have answered the question of whether or not we can build
a low-cost laptop,” said a triumphant Walter Bender, OLPC's
president of software and content, in a statement. He further added,
“The challenge now is to fine-tune it to the needs of children's
learning.”
Moreover to test them by children, the laptops would be in different
heights and casings and insured to be made dirt and dust resistant.
The open source operating system as well as software applications
will be debugged by software developers.
It is also said that the initial production models are being planned
to deliver in the early next year to the school children in Brazil,
Argentina, Nigeria, Libya and Thailand. The mass production however
is supposed to get underway by next summer.
According to the OLPC’s timetable the early productions of
the machines would be priced nearly about $135 to $140 and will
move along to a $100 price tag in the year 2008.
These XO laptops will be composed of a 500-MHz processor, 128-Mbytes
DRAM, 500-Mbytes flash memory with four USB ports. These laptops
are not expected to have hard drives.
This non-profit OLPC has been formed by the faculty members from
MIT’s Media Lab which is led by Professor Nicholas Negroponte.
It was also announced that Quanta Computers who claim to be the
world’s largest manufacturers of laptops has devoted the major
engineering and manufacturing resources to the OLPC efforts.
Sony didn’t deliver what promised on PS3
Sony Corp. has delivered less than half of the 400,000 PlayStation
3 units which it has planned to offer in United States alone last
weekend said by the analyst.
Speaking over the retail channel checks, Collin Sebastian who is an
analyst with Lazard Capital Markets LLC told the EE Times that Sony
has distributed between 150,000 to 200,000 PS3 units which was probably
on the lower end of the scale.
Sony dropped its initial PS3 units which hit the headlines on November
17 which got sold out in the matter of hours. The firm has promised
they would deliver 400,000 units in U.S. alone which in original estimated
to be less than half of it.
According to Sebastian Sony has not acknowledged the shortfall and
appears that it will not. Launch day for a new gaming console is important
to create a buzz. He said that a true next generation gaming console
war will start next year, after Sony overcome the blue laser diode
manufacturing problem that has plague its full fledge launch.
HP launched new slim PC with AMD processor
Hewlett Packard (HP) has started it sales of a dual-processor server
using the Advance Micro Devices’ Opteron processors. This system
combines itself with a slim design featuring reliability with business
computing task.
The ProLiant DL365 is about 1.75 inches thick as like DL 145 that
Hewlett Packard has started been selling in 2004. The new DL365
includes integrated remote- management abilities with backup fans
and power supply to assist system weather hardware failures.
Advance orders are already been made for this system as soon as HP
has placed it on its website. A version of it with a single 2.6 GHz
processor and 1 GB of memory costs $4,311 and is expected to begin
shipping on November 23. With a 1.8 GHz Opteron and 1GB of memory
cost $2,319 the product will start to be shipped on December 4.
HP is one of the top sellers of servers using x86 processors such
as Intel’s Xeon and AMD’s Opteron. HP has also presented
a Xeon-based DL365 equivalent and the DL360 for years.
IBM to build Supercomputers
IBM is currently working with the U.S. Department of energy for
building a supercomputer which is 30 times powerful and faster than
the machines running today.
The office of Science and the National Nuclear Security Administration
(NNSA) are both working under the Energy Department. According to
IBM both these department will distribute a cost of $58 million with
IBM for the research and development for a period of five years. The
project is to be building on the capabilities of IBM BlueGene/L system
which is the most powerful supercomputer in the world today. A BlueGene/L
system has been installed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
in Livermore California and has a linpack performance of 280.06 teraflops.
A second BlueGene system is installed at IBM’s Thomas Watson
Research Center and is running at speed of 91.20 teraflops. This
system is the third most powerful supercomputer in the world.
According to IBM the researchers they hope that with building the
new supercomputer would help them in monitoring the aging process
of nuclear stockpile, speed genome sequencing and model climatic change.
The company is hoping to work on this development with scientist from
Argonne National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore.
It is also said that NNSA and the office of Science will be contributing
$17.5 millions each while IBM alone will contribute up to $23 millions.
Sony PS3 on shelves
Sony which is the largest maker of video games player has started
selling the PlayStation 3 in US. The debut though was marred with
delays in production and software glitches.
Sony ability to increase its production will determine if it can
sell up the machines at the Christmas time to maintain the lead
in the $20 million market. Nintendo Co. has released the Wii in
U.S. and Microsoft released Xbox 360 which started it sale last
year.
Sony believes that the PS3 will go with a slow start and will account
for 12% of new game console sale with lagging Xbox 360 on 74 percent
and Nintendo on Wii 14%. The company believes that by the year 2011
PlayStation 3 will capture 44% of the market with 40% for Xbox 360
and 16% for the Wii.
“It's more a marathon than a sprint,” said Kaz Hirai,
chief executive officer of Sony Computer Entertainment America.
“The most important thing is to have great software, compelling
entertainment content that's really immersive and fresh.”
Samsung Introduced 1GB Multimedia SIM Card
Samsung Electronics have introduced a new 1GB subscriber identity
card solution called S-SIM TM that expands the customer experience
in the multimedia intensive services.
This new subscriber identity module (SIM) card is a smart card that
is IC based which is used to identify the users in the GSM mobile
setup. These days the multimedia feature is on the increase in the
cell phones, such as high data capacity and high speed transmission
has been added up in the encrypted SIM solutions.
The new 1 GB S-SIM has System-in-Package (SiP) technology to bear
up a high gigabit-density NAND Flash memory without increasing the
area size of the SIM card. The small form factor is the main element
that supports the compact size of these multimedia phones.
The new SIM solutions have offered added advantages that are convenient
to the users end like high storage data capacity and tighter security
features which insure faster and secured transfer personal information
and other datas.
Samsung’s S-SIM is based on SIM interface which guarantee
compatibility with conventional systems and support high speed Multimedia
cards and USB interface for a faster transfer.
Samsung predicts strong demand for DRAM in 2007
Samsung Electronics forecast “very strong” demand in
the first quarter of 2007 for its computer memory chips. The main
reason for this forecast is the launch of Microsoft’s new
Vista operating system.
Samsung is considered to be one of the top memory chip maker. According
to Chu Woo-Sik, senior vice president of investor relations, the
DRAM (dynamic random access memory) orders for Q1 are very strong,
considering the seasonality aspect. We have most of the orders for
Q1 as PC OEMs (original equipment makers) are ordering to be Vista-ready,"
at the Tech Forum 2006 in Singapore.
The demand of the DRAM chips is strong in the fourth quarter. These
chips are used mostly in the personal computers and the company
also expects stability in the market due to the NAND flash memory
chips which are popular among digital cameras.
Broadcom unveiled chip for both HD-DVD formats
Broadcom introduced for the first time a single chip solution
to support both the Blu-ray Disk and HD-DVD standards.
In January the company devised a high definition (HD) audio/video
decoder chip that supported both the formats in January. But this
latest device BCM7440 has got significant functions that’s
includes a pair of MIPS cores, graphic engines, multi-stream HD
video decoder, DSP- based audio processor , security processor,
DDR2 interface, integrated video and audio output and array of system
and network connectivity interfaces.
According to Broadcom, this device supports all the decoding, processing
and memory functions of both specifications. It also presents a
universal optical disk software stack that is acquiescent with both
the blu-ray and HD-DVD. The chip also serves to support profiles
of both the specifications and includes application programming
interface support and full navigation suites.
The main purpose of this new BCM7440 is to present system designers
a complete platform that would include things that other people
may be missing, as said by the company vice president of business
development Mr. Don Shulsinger.
The BCM7440 supports all mandatory audio and video compression standards
that are required for blu-ray and HD DVD optical disc formats, including
H.264 VC-1, MPEG-1, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Tru-HD and DTS-HD
according to Broadcom. This will also provide full backward compatibility
for current DVD video titles as well as DVD-VR and audio CDs.
Corels Office bundled with Mozilla Firefox
Corel announced last week that Mozila’s Firefox Web browser
will now accompany with the Corel’s WordPerfect Office X-3
Home Edition 2007. In addition to this free open-source web browser,
this $79 home edition consists of word processing, spreadsheets,
CD/DVD burning, video applications and photos with Norton security
features.
Corel also announced on Thursday that a standard edition of Corel
WordPerfect Office X3 is available that includes WordPerfect X-3,
spreadsheet client Quattro Pro X-3 and a WordPerfect mail with a
new searchable e-mail client.
Nvidia releases advance chip GeForce 8800.
Nvidia Corp. has revealed a new computer graphic processor which
is more than the double power of all the previous ones to improve
the quality of the video games and to push the company forward for
heavy duty computing.
This new Microchip is called as GeForce 8800 with a retail price
of $599 for high end version. Nvidia expects to sell around tens
of thousand in November alone.
This chip is made of around 681 million transistors that is twice
the amount of previous chips made by Nvidia and is more than the
double of all the top computer processor made by Intel.
Microsoft Vista to be released on 30th November
The new operating system by Microsoft named as Windows Vista will
be released on 30th November 2006 as announced by Microsoft. For
now, this operating system will be only made available for businesses
only. However the consumer version is expected to be made public
in January 2007.
This is the first new release of Windows operating system which
was launched in 2001. The new Windows Vista has been dubbed as worldwide
release which will also launch New Office 2007 and Exchange Server
2007 software.
The Exchange Server 2007 will serves to businesses as Microsoft
latest email server and e-mail client, Outlook 2007.
Siemens investment in China’s R & D
By the year 2008 Siemens is planning to hire additional 100 engineers
and is likely to spend an amount of $100 million in the next three
to five years to boost research and development in China.
Siemens R&D operations in China are the biggest in the Asia
Pacific region. The expansion activity will be responsible for covering
different area that will include software engineering, wireless
access, interactive design techniques, data networking and OLEDs
(organic light-emitting diode).
The reason for the expansion is said get close to the local producers
and customers as well to the Chinese universities. Siemens also
plans on building ties with small and medium enterprises to improve
the quality and development of the local market products.
Samsung reach 16GB NAND MCP chip
Samsung Electronics announced that the company has managed to pack
16 NAND die into a multi-chip package that can maximum reach a density
of 16 gigabyte which will be ideal for memory hungry electronic
devices.
Samsung has been able to achieve the goal to thin it wafers to 30
microns or has used about 65% of the thickness of the wafers in
its current offerings of 10 die in a MCP. Samsung engineers have
used lasers to cut the fragile wafers as it was impossible to cut
them with the traditional wafer saws.
The traditional manner of wafer bonding has also been changed by
Samsung. Instead running the wires from both the end of the chip,
it has used only one side for connections with the die stacked up
at the center in the crisscross pattern. This has saved space and
has cut down the long wire connections.
The adhesive has also been thinned to 20 microns, which resulted
in the height of 16-die stack to just 1.4 mm. Samsung 10-chip MCP
use up to 60 micron adhesive layer and has height of 1.6 mm.
The details of the launch of this MCP chip have not been announced
yet by Samsung Electronics Company.
Samsung unveils 3D display
Samsung Electronics with the help of the research team has developed
a high resolution dual display that allows 3-D image on a flat panel
display without the use of the special glass filter as announced
by the Korean government. The team involved making the 3 D display
were from the local firm and research institutes and worked both
on 3D and regular 2D modes. According to the ministry the new 3
Display will be commercialized by the year 2009.
There is no loss of resolution in this newly developed 3D display
even if it is switched off from the 2D mode to the 3D mode like
the other conventional 3D displays.
According to the Ministry the new 3D display will hit the market
in the year 2009 when there will be a new demand for a wide range
of IT related products such as online games, e-shopping and 3D contents
ready in the markets.
AMD/ATI acquisition officially completed
AMD has completed its acquisition estimating to be around US $5.4
billion with ATI Technologies Inc. With the merger of these two
technological companies, the new AMD opens up for business as a
processing “powerhouse”.
The new AMD with approximately 15,000 employees maintain its position
in microprocessors together with ATI’s products as graphics,
chipsets and consumer electronics.
It is believed that the customers will be benefited from the merger
which will provide a combined platform for development and technical
support teams that which co-locate in Taipei and Shanghai. The existing
platforms in Austin and Toronto are already offering research, development
and support for its customers with complete solution for optimized
platform development.
AMD is planning to provide a range of incorporated platforms in
the year 2007 to serve up the key markets which would include, commercial
clients, gaming, mobile and media computing. The PC users will enjoy
from extended battery life on next generation AMD Turion 64 mobile
technology based platform and upgrading in the AMD LIVE. The digital
media PC platform is intended to facilitate the users end to get
more of their music, videos and photographs.
AMD also sees opportunities for the growing consumer markets. With
now having the ATI’s strength AMD is intending to go for new
platforms and invest in the consumer electronics and high-end discrete
graphic markets.
ThinkPad batteries recalled
Lenovo are trying to recall more than half a million
notebooks batteries made by Sony when a notebook caught fire at
the Los Angeles Airport on 16th September.
Sony itself will initiate a global replacement program for the lithium-ion
batteries for the notebook PC companies. The company said that short
circuit might occur on rare occasions when the tiny metal particles
contact with the other parts of the battery.
Lenovo and IBM are on the move to recall the ThinkPad batteries
which may bring the number of recalled batteries to 6 million since
in August Dell announced to recall 4.1 notebook batteries made by
Sony.
According to the Lenovo spokesman Ray Gorman said that the company
expects the financial impact to be ‘minimal’ as Sony
is supporting financially in this recall. This recall is expected
to affect 168,500 batter pack sole in United States and about 357,500
internationally according to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Lenovo is the third largest PC makers after Dell and Hewlett Packard
and has bought IBM PC division in the year 2005 and continues to
sell the machine with IBM’s ThinkPad brand.
Hynix to resume new Fab plan in Korea
Hynix semiconductor planned to build a 12-inch fab
in South Korea’s Icheon got rejected by the Korean government
due to the environmental concerns. According to the company’s
chairman Woo Eui-jei the plan however will resume after the laws
have been revised. The project may be approved at the end of this
year or at the beginning of 2007.
Icheon is located on a conservative zone in Korea and till date
the Korean government has rejected the plan as under the current
laws it is off-limits to factories.
Hynix and ST Microelectronics have formally inaugurated a joint
memory plant in Wuxi, China. This plant was built in the line with
Hynix global operation and has nothing to do with the rejection
of it Icheon project by the Korean government.
Samsung soon to replace NOR with PRAM
Samsung introduced PRAM to challenge NOR flash memory
in mobile phone market. Samsung have introduced a new type of memory
product for the mobile. The latest memory product launched is named
as PRAM (phase-change RAM) which claims to provide an alternative
for the popular NOR flash memory used in mobiles.
This new RAM will be available in the market by 2008. This RAM has
the combine ability of faster data transfer speed as well as retaining
the data in the device after the power is off. The capability of
this RAM is similar to Flash memory but claims that PRAM is 30-times
faster and have a life span 10 times longer.
Samsung is expected to lead on companies like Intel and Spansion
which dominated the NOR memory manufacturing market with its new
PRAM.
Intel to ship Santa Rosa by 2007
Intel has been enjoying heavy sales with Centrino,
as they combine a wireless, low-wattage processor with an efficient
chipset. The company is now planning to upgrade the system for a
more competent version of ‘Merom’ Core 2 Duo chip and
‘Crestline’ ICH8M chipset, code named as Santa Rosa.
It is expected that Santa Rosa would hit the market in the first
half next year with more improvements in processing power, wireless
connectivity over existing Centrino structural design and battery
life. According to Intel, the company is trying to start up the
Santa Rosa notebooks faster by supplementing it with the current
memory technology and NAND flash-based disk cache.
Intel unveil $400 Laptop at IDF
Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini introduced
a sub-US$400 new notebook model “Classmate PC” for the
company’s “Intel World Ahead Program” that targets
the emerging markets. The notebooks volume production is scheduled
from the start of the first quarter next year according to the CEO.
The CEO further also added that the first batch has been placed
by the governments in Nigeria, Mexico, India and Brazil.
These low cost Classmate PC series are codenamed ‘Eduwise’
that features Intel Celeron M CPUs that is paired with 915 GMS chipsets
and a seven inch WVXGA (800x480) LCD display. This model features
256 MB DDR2 SO-DIMM memories, 1 GB NAND falsh memory and a 6 cell
standard Lithium Ion battery. It will adopt Window XP system and
embedded OS.
The production of these Classmate PCs will be done by Taiwan’s
Uniwill Computer which is currently at the final stage to be acquired
by Elitegroup Computer Systems.
AMD to launch three new Athlon CPU
The Advanced Devices are planning to launch three
90nm Anthlon64 FX Processors intended for its 4x4 platform in the
middle of November.
These three 64 FX processors will market under the
names as FX-70, FX 72 and FX 74 and have 2.6GHz, 2.8GHz and 3.0GHz
respectively. All models have 2MB (2x1 MB) L2 cache and TDP (thermal
design point) of 125 W.
The major specification for these processors FX-70, FX 72 and FX
74 are similar to those as AMD’s Athlon 64 FX-60, FX-62 and
FX 64. The new Athlon 64 FX CPUs will use the socket 1207 connector
being used in AMD’s server processor instead of Socket AM2
or Socket 939.
The adoption of Socket 1207 connector however, would
require more designed work for motherboard makers which will eventually
increase up the board prices as stated by Taiwan motherboard makers.
It is believed that Intel’s Core 2 Extreme QX6700 will have
a hold on its cost advantage over the new Athlon 64 FX line up.
70nm DRAM process more difficult than expected
The DRAM makers either using stack or trench technology
are seemed to be having difficulty on migrating to 70nm from 90nm
processors and are been put out to 80nm products as a transitional
process in the mean time. With the current running production at
90nm level, all DRAM makers are stepping out for 70 nm processors
to cut the manufacturing cost and to transfer to DDR3 according
to the sources.
Some of the people working for the trench technology pointed that
they might produce 80nm node first before entering the 70nm process
and insisting that their timetable for adopting 70nm process would
remain unchanged.
The sources also revealed that the adoption by trench DRAM makers
of 80nm process might make it difficult to convert into 70 nm process.
Some of them are using stack technology and reportedly have plans
to covert 80 nm processes to 70 nm, though there might be some delay
in this.
PC sales expected to grow double digit
PC sales worldwide are expected to improve to double
digit growth for the remaining of the year according to IDC quarterly
survey on PC growth.
Growth however fell below the double digit mark to 9.8 percent to
a total of 52 million units shipped in the second quarters as said
by the market research firms. The major reason was the slow sale
in Western Europe and Japan in the second quarter.
IDC predict the sales to remain stable despite the late release
of Microsoft’s Vista operating system. The firm predicts that
the consumer may wait awhile for Vista. The coupons will also be
available which can be traded for Vista by the customers who buy
before the Vista operating system is released. Microsoft said it
plans to release Vista in January.
"We believe consumer notebooks will continue to drive strong
overall PC sales through the rest of this year despite the presence
of many potential competitors for discretionary income this holiday
season, such as flat-panel TVs," the firm said. "Looking
forward, we expect desktop shipments will begin to stabilize, particularly
in the enterprise segment. However, consumer notebook adoption will
fuel industry growth and move us closer to the day when notebooks
will out-ship desktop PCs."
Microsoft unveils new mouse and keyboard
Microsoft Corp. unveiled up a new line of computer
peripherals which includes a $250 wireless keyboard and a mouse
which is compatible for the soon to be released Vista operating
system.
This product features a one-touch button for the Windows Start menu
and has features that would be able to navigate Windows Vista more
easily. It is due out to the consumers in early 2007 and took around
five years of development.
"As we promote Vista, this will be a key component," said
Matt Barlow, director of marketing at Microsoft.
Microsoft released near-final IE 7 Browser
On Thursday Microsoft released the almost final version
of the Internet Explorer browser on Thursday; also free web surfing
software is on it way to completion by the end of the year.
The Internet Explorer Release Candidate 1 contains
all features that Microsoft thinks to hold as final product. This
is its first major update in many years. The new version may have
the ability to open multiple tabs in the same browser window which
is a popular function in rival Mozilla’s Firefox browser with
added security options.
This near final version is intended for industry professionals and
technical experts who may help the largest software company Microsoft
to spot the last minute errors and problems. However the numbers
of people who have downloaded the test versions have not been disclosed.
Tony Chor, a group program manager with Internet
Explorer said that t is not yet certain whether the company put
one more test version before its final launch. He said that Microsoft
is currently planning to make the final version of Internet Explorer
7 to be readily available in the last three months of this year.
This final version of Explorer will be available
for people using Windows XP also will be included in the upcoming
version of Windows known as Vista. However this latest version is
expected to hit the market for business users in November and for
the consumer market in January.
Intel Conroe Processors under Xeon Branding
Intel plans to launch versions of Core 2 desktop
processor that is intended at server markets next month and the
chip maker will brand the part as Xeon 3000.
According to the system builders the Xeon 3000 series will be comprised
of the Core 2 Duo chips which is designed for one socket, as Intel
names it Uni-processor, servers. Another system builder reported
that the Xeon 3000 processor will be paired with Mukilteo-2 chipset
which is expected to bring some entry level reliability and manageable
features that are not available in the desktop chipset.
The announcement is expected during Intel’s Developers Conference
in late September this year. It is the first time Intel will brand
all its processors aimed at servers under the name Xeon. However
Pentium D is currently powering some server and the companion chipsets
under the branding of desktop lines.
Infineon supplying chips for Electronic Passport
A deal was made by Infineon Technologies AG to supply security chips
for the electronic passport to the US government. Though the value
of the deal has not been known but the company quoted that US government
estimate up to 15 million new passports to be issued up in the first
year of its program.
Each e-passport contains a chip which is covered by a shielding material
that holds an encrypted copy of the printed information on the passport
which includes bearer, name, date of birth, validity period and digital
photograph of the individual.
This Infineon clip performs more than fifty (50) individual safety
mechanisms which include highly sophisticated computing methods for
encrypting the data to ensure that the private information is kept
safe. This chip also has a Basic Access Control (BAC) that lets immigration
controller pass the passport over the scanner for checks.
The US government started issuing these passports to diplomats and
other workers at the end of 2005 and is now expanding this program
to its private citizens. By the end of this year it is expected that
the US government will issue the passports as electronic ones.
IBM Agrees to Acquire FileNet
IBM has agreed on acquiring the content-management software maker FileNet
for about $1.6 billion in cash, the company said on Thursday.
FileNet is one of the top specialists in content and document management
software that are sold to large firms and corporations based in
Costa Mesa in Southern California and with sales nearly up to $422
million last year.
IBM said that it will be integrating the FileNet products into
its own content management software developed in it own Information
Management division led by the general manager Mr. Ambui Goyal.
They also said that IBM will be planning to combine FileNet content-management
software with its business management tool for automating complex
business workflows.
NAND see sharp decline
At the end of the week on 4th August the NAND flash memories saw the
sharp decline in the prices during the past eight (8) consecutive
weeks. The prices of NAND have fallen by an average of $0.12 during
this period compared to the previous week, standing at $2.17 on a
1-gigabit (G-bit) equivalent basis according to market analysis. The
prices for 512-Mbit and 1-Gbit have fallen 8.5 and 12 percent respectively
during the period. According to the resources the decline in the prices
is the result of the “purged inventory,” however the demand
is expected to “firm up” according to the researchers.
Qimonda IPO cut in half
Qimonda AG, the DRAM spin-off of Germany Infineon Technologies AG
has raised an amount of $546 million in the initial phase of the public
offering (IPO) on Tuesday August 8th cutting its planned sale by half
shedding clouds on the firm’s future.
Qimonda (Munich) announced the long awaited IPO at $13 per share
which is lower than expected. The DRAM producer issued 42 million
American Depository Shares in the market with an aggregate of $546
million. Moreover Infineon (Munich) is providing an over-allotment
option of 6.3 million ADSs that may be placed in the offerings.
According to the official announcement on Tuesday the asking price
of Qimonda shares was lowered to $18 with earlier plans for $16
per share, the investment bank running the IPO are facing tough
time selling the Qimonda deal to the investor as revealed by the
report.
Samsung to Introduce High-Density & High-Performance
MMC Cards for Portable Application
The highest density MMC card has been developed by Samsung Electronics.
This MMC card is detachable multimedia card which is used for portable
electronics and is based on advanced multi level cell (MLC) NAND Flash
memory.
A high performing MMC card is based on single level cell (SLC)
NAND Flash that rounds the large portfolio of MMC memories. The
new MMC plus are designed to increase users convenience for different
applications of mobile.
This MMC plus card is based on 8 GB NAND Flash memory made by the
company and will be introduced with 8GB density that would allow
to store 2,000 MP3 music files or 8 hours of DVD movies. This 8GB
card will be a component of the full lineup of MLC based MMC plus
cards that contain 1GB, 2GB and 4 GB offerings.
Samsung Electronics is also launching separate card advancement;
it’s a MMC that gives more than triple the performance of
the conventional small-form-factory memory cards.
The higher performance versions use SLC NAND Flash memory, providing
a write-speed of 25 MB/s and a read-speed of 40 MB/s. This advanced
MMC plus card can save six MP3 songs in one second and two hours
DVD quality movie in less than one minute. This memory card will
be available in 1 GB and 2 GB density and is expected to be readily
available in the second half of this year.
Fujitsu commands new materials for FeRAMs
Fujitsu Ltd. Has said to have developed a new material for the next
generation ferroelectric random access memory (FeRAM) devices.
This material is made of a modified composition of bismuth ferrite
(BIFeO3 or BFO), that allows the data storage to 5 times greater than
the materials presently used in its production.
These new FeRAM can be created with the 65nm process technology by
means of BFO based material in a device whish is similar to the one
used in building 180 nm technology. According to the company this
material in FeRAM can enable a memory cell capacity to 256 MB. The
engineered samples shipments for the FeRAMs will be expected in the
year 2009.
Google doubles its net income
Google Inc. has doubled its second quarter profits influencing major
profit share through internet advertising and searching which was
against the prediction of the analysts.
Google confirmed that it has earned $721.1 million during the second
quarters and made a giant leap of $378.3 millions for the same period
last year. The net income for the first quarter was totaled to $592
million this year. Last year the second quarter revenue totaled $2.46
billion, which is a 77 percent increase than the previous year.
The company is said to be expecting that the total expenditure would
be “substantially greater" than its annual growth rate.
These investments will be focused on IT infrastructure which includes
servers, data centers and networking equipments.
Sony to sell HD Camcorders
Sony Corporation has launched high- definition camcorders in two models.
These camcorders can record it image on DVD discs as well as on hard
disk drives. According to Sony they are the first to offer such products.
The demand is expected to go up of these high-definition camcorders
as the consumer side is getting more inclined to get finer images
on digital broadcasting and advanced optical discs based on HD DVD
format and Blu-ray technology. The random access function of these
DVD and hard disk drives make it easier for users to watch and edit
the footage.
It is expected that Sony will be releasing a model that uses 80-mm
disc on September 10 in Japan. The estimated price of this model is
expected to be sold for 170,000 yen ($1,450).
HP developed minute wireless chips
HP has developed a miniature wireless data chip that is capable to broaden
the access to digital content. This chip measures 2-4 mm. square which
is equal to the size of the grain of rice and can be stuck almost
anywhere and make the information available on different electronic
devices or internet.
This data chip is developed by the Memory Spot research team at
the Hewlett Packard labs and has a CMOS device with a built in antenna.
According to the manufacturers this memory chi can be embedded on
a sheet of paper or can be easily stuck on a surface. The chip will
be available in a booklet as self-adhesive dots.
The chip has potential applications in storing medical records
on a patient wrist band; help in identifying counterfeit in pharmaceutical
industry, provides audio-visual supplements to postcards and photos.
Provide more security in identifying ID cards and passports.
This memory chip will free the digital content from the electronic
world of internet and PC and can be arranged anywhere in this physical
environment, said by Memory Spot project manager Mr. Ed McDonnell
at HP labs.
Nextest introduce high-speed flash tester
Nextest System Corporation has rolled out its most up-to-date line of
automatic test equipments (ATE) intended for the use of high-speed
flash-memory testing.
This Magnum Grande is integrated with TechWing TW-380 test handler
is a parallel test solution which is capable to test 720 NAND flash
devices at a time. It has up to 7,680 I/O pins and 960 sites, the
twelve-chassis system is said to have 25% less cost for test than
last year 320-site configuration.
Each site assembly holds error processing, data generation, timings
and DC resources for different machine including NAND and NOR flash
memories. These sites are also embedded with 1.2-GHz PC for higher
efficiency and having local control for test. These Magnum Grande
Systems are available at a price of less than $400.
Samsung Develops 2 GB Fastest Flash Memory
A faster and a higher capacity version has been has been successfully
made by Samsung Electronic who claim it to be world’s fastest
memory chip that is OneNAND. A 60 nm technology has been used in the
production process that is responsible for a greater efficiency.
This 2 GB OneNAND doubles the capacity of the memory device than
the previous 1 GB one and has a faster speed of 17Mbps from 9.3Mbps.
This OneNAND memory has both fast read and fast write speed. It
holds a large market potential and has enormous range applications
from multimedia phones, PCs, TVs, digital cameras etc.
These chips can be interleaved to get higher capacity. More the
chips are interconnected the more data can be processed e.g., the
'OneNAND chip's write capacity can be increased up to 136Mbps when
eight of the 2 GB memory chips are combined. This memory also serves
as buffer for read operations.
It is said that this chip acts as a catalyst in the development
of new products. This can be seen as the application creating role
as how OneNAND is being specified as a buffer memory inside a hybrid
hard-disk
Collaboration of Nanosys, Intel and Micron on Flash
technology
Nanosys Inc. has announced to join and expand its work on memory
with Intel Corp. as well as Micron Technology Inc. has joined the
collaboration.
In January 2004, Nanosys at Palo Alto, CA announced that it has
started working with Intel and are performing research in chemically
and biologically sensitive semiconductor material which are arranged
in nanometer-scale structures containing nano-rods, nano-wires,
nano-dots, and nano-tetrapods to measure potential to make memory
devices.
Nanosys now has declared that it has developed proprietary nanostructures
to address high density NAND flash memory opportunities in areas
as portable storage, consumer electronics and personal communication.
The company had more than 450 patents application on nanotechnology
and has not yet disclosed the nature of the nanostructures but confirmed
that Micron Technology has joined the collaboration. The new joint
venture named by Intel and Micron is IM Flash Technologies Inc.
to manufacture NAND flash memories for the two companies. According
to the release IM Flash will be 51 percent owned by Micron and 49
percent owned by Intel.
According to Nanosys the nanotechnology-enabled memory is designed
to be compatible with the current manufacturing processes and equipments,
allowing the higher densities, lower costs and better reliability.
Samsung speedier flash memory
Samsung Electronics has claimed to have made the
world’s fastest memory device which includes a 2-gigabite
and OneNAND flash memory based on 60-nm process technology. This
new memory chip has a double capacity of the existing OneNAND chip
featuring a writing speed of 17 Mb/s.
According to Samsung the potential applications varies from multimedia
phone to digital camera, PCs, memory cards (removable) and digital
TVs.
OneNAND chip can be interleaved to reach a higher capacity of while
permitting each chip to independently work together with a system.
The more it is interconnected, the more the data can be processed.
Like Samsung said for example that write capacity can be raised
to 36 Mb/s when eight of the 2-Gbyte memory chips are combined.
These memories can also be used as buffer memories, like OneNAND
memory has now being specified as a buffer memory inside a hybrid
disk.
Qimonda offers DDR2 memory modules for Intel server platforms
For Intel’s Bensley server platforms in 533 MHz and 667 MHz
with densities ranging from 512 Mbytes to 4GBytes Qimonda AG is manufacturing
its DDR2 fully buffered Dual-in-line memory modules (FB-DIMMs) in
high volumes. This FB-DIMM is based on Advanced Memory Buffer (AMB)
chip DDR2 DRAM chips and a proprietary heat sink.
This FB-DIMM technology is a new technology which is essential for
increasing memory storage capacity and speed as said by Jimm Pappas
who is the director of initiative marketing for Intel’s Digital
Enterprise Group. FB-DIMMs have changed the parallel architecture
into a serial point-to-point connection which eliminates blockage
of increased densities and speed grades of server memory.
The AMB is a complex logic chip that presents a data rate of 4.8 Gbps
a high speed link directly interfacing with DDR2 and DRAMs with speed
of 800 Mbps. Qimonda using this for its own memory module will deliver
the AMB chip to other FB-DIMM manufacturers, thus penetrating the
market.
Intel to launch dual-core Itanium 2
Intel will be launching a dual-core Itanium 2 processor named as “Montecito”
in the week of Computex, taking place in Taipei from 6th - 10th June,
2006 according to the sources. It is looking forward to a mass production
of these new dual-core CPUs to be scheduled in July and will report
for half of its server-use Itanium CPU shipment at the end of third
quarter, the source cited.
During the fall 2004 IDF (Intel Developer Forum) CEO Paul Otellini
said that Montecito which is Intel’s first dual core processor
for Itanium 2-based server would be available in the third quarter
of 2005. However, this next generation Itanium CPU line was postponed
till 2006 due to some integrated power management problems.
Inventec to become largest notebook supplier for Toshiba in 2006
According to the sources Iventec might replace Compal Electronics
to turn out to be the biggest contract notebook maker for Toshiba
in 2006. Inventec monthly shipment to its Japanese vendor may rise
up to 300,000 units this year, which are 100,000 units more than the
previous year.
In the year 2006, Toshiba worldwide notebooks shipments are estimated
to reach 9-10 million units, out of which half of them will be manufactured
by Inventec. Inventec is expected to ship a record of 6-7 million
units this year as sources indicated.
Toshiba is looking forward to outsource 70-80% of its notebook production
to Taiwanese manufacturers this year compared to 60% last year, the
sources estimated. Compal was the biggest supplier among the Toshiba’s
contract manufacturer in year 2005, shipping 2.5-3 million notebooks
to Toshiba. Inventec followed with shipments of one million units
as the sources noted.
Powerchip low prices on memory
According to the prices of DDR and DDR2 memory has been lowered by
the Powerchip Semiconductor Corporations (PSC) though they are not
under any pressure to do so.
According to the latest quotes by PSC, the price of 256 Mbit effectively
tested (eTT) DDR chips has been dropped about 8%, from US $2.45 to
US $2.25. For the non branded ones, 512 Mbit DDR2 chips the prices
has been lowered by 6%, from US $4.8 to US $4.5 while the branded
declined more than 11% to US $4.0 from US $4.5 as said by the sources.
The PCS has failed to lower its prices in its last two quotes are
not under any pressure to cut up the prices, having its inventory
levels low. The company has lowered its quotes as a good will gesture
for its clients.
Samsung to sell laptop with flash drive
Samsung will start selling its first PC 32GB hard disk drive based
on NAND flash semiconductors from next month. A major move has been
made for the semi conductor NAND flash memory into the commercial
application, as the traditional magnetic disk drives have been replaces
with smaller NAND flash memories that are more cost effective.
According to Samsung, the SSD reads 300% (53MBytes/sec.) faster and
write 150% quicker (28MBytes/sec.) than the normal hard drives. The
company also said that the Microsoft window XP operating system will
boot the system 25%-50% faster on SSD than the local hard drives.
“PC models based on solid state disks have numerous advantages
over traditional hard disk-based models. These include faster booting,
greater durability, quieter operation, and increased battery life,”
said Kim Hounsoz who is the executive VP of the computing division
at Samsung Electronics.
The Samsung Q1, an ultra-mobile computing device and the Q30, a 12.1-inch
screen notebook PC, will be available for sale in the Korean market
from early June. The retail price for Q1-SSD will be $2,430, while
the Q30-SSD will sell for $3,700.
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