While they may be selling the “picks and shovels” associated with the internet of things gold rush, the world of connected devices is a rich opportunity for semiconductor companies. Read more »
Sales of semiconductors are expected to fall this year. The only sector that didn’t see a decline year-over-year is the wireless business, and in that sector Qualcomm has seen sales grow by 27.2 percent. More proof of the upheaval occurring in the chip biz. Read more »
There has been a lot of bad news from the chip giants this quarter, but it’s not the decline of the PC or even merely economic worries pressing on the sector. No, there’s a systemic change in the market and the industry giants are reacting. Read more »
Cloud computing is changing the world of microprocessor-chip design. Soon we will see a division between the traditional players (typified by Intel and AMD) and a group of new incumbents (Tilera and others) that offer fresh solutions to make the world’s microprocessor chips as efficient as possible. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
For the last five years we’ve become accustomed to seeing the hottest tech hit our mobile phones, but that may be about to change. The chip industry is betting on our vehicles as the new platform for innovation and are building more speciality silicon for cars. Read more »
Discussions about the cloud now involve more than just the IT department. New developments in hardware architectures, more-energy-efficient data centers, regulatory concerns and simplifying analytics are all discussions currently circling through the industry. Here’s what to consider when thinking about your business in the cloud. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Freescale Semiconductor has succeeded in cramming an entire cellular base station onto a single chip. That’s not only an impressive feat of miniaturization, it could kick off the next-generation of LTE deployments, lower the costs of building mobile networks and cut the energy required to run them. Read more »
Intel’s wireless ambitions go beyond smartphones and tablets. It’s set its sights on the guts of the mobile network as well. By embracing a new network design concept called Cloud-RAN, Intel believes it can reshape wireless networks to make the best use of its chips. Read more »
Notebook makers are reportedly bidding on chip supplies from both Intel and those provided by vendors using the ARM architecture, presumably to compete better on pricing with Apple. The real story is that the next round of chip wars between Intel and ARM licensees is here. Read more »
Freescale Semiconductor and Fuji Electric Systems are forming a new partnership focused on hybrid and electric vehicle tech. The two companies announced plans to collaborate on a type of power semiconductor for electronic powertrains, as well as other products for green cars down the road. Read more »
Smart meters, smart thermostats, smart appliances and other smart grid devices have lots and lots of chips in them. Putting all those functions together in one system-on-a-chip can save lots of money and time spent on integration — if they give device makers the right combo. Read more »
After several years of bleeding money, Motorola’s handset division is finally stemming losses thanks to co-CEO, Dr. Sanjay Jha, betting on Android. Jha will now head up the soon-to-be-spun-off division, to be called Motorola Mobility, in which the carrier will sink $3-$4 billion of cash. Read more »
In the move from gas powered cars to hybrids, plug-in hybrids and battery electric vehicles, our cars will become more like overgrown consumer electronics than ever before. That trend brings with it potential for a new breed of errors. Read more »
Freescale created a list of 10 Smart Mobile Device pundits but they’re looking to double that list. Can you lend a hand and suggest some pundits while I figure out just what a pundit is supposed to do? Read more »
Things are looking dire for dead tree media of all sorts as the consumer electronics industry takes aim at newspapers, magazines, and the humble mass of paper known as a book. But between iPhones, dedicated e-readers and the much anticipated tablet, what does the consumer electronics […] Read more »
Do you know what tablet computers and jetpacks have in common? It’s not a kerosene-burning jet engine strapped to your back, though Adobe Flash on a MacBook can feel like your pants are on fire. The shared problem is that the present reality of future technologies […] Read more »
The survey is now closed. Thanks to all who participated! If you haven’t had a chance yet, we’d greatly appreciate a few minutes of your time spent filling out our NewTeeVee reader survey (embedded below). We heartily thank those of you who have responded already — […] Read more »
Intel today said it plans to acquire Wind River Systems for $884 million — a deal that gives the world’s largest chipmaker control of development software and operating systems for devices that range from cell phones to routers. Intel last year made a big to-do about […] Read more »
The computing world is undergoing a significant shift as consumers and businesses access and store more of their information in web-based applications, get their software delivered as a service or even download music and movies to their PCs on demand. This trend is enabled by better […] Read more »
Intel made a series of announcements last night that push its low-power Atom processor closer to the smartphone side of the mobile computing spectrum. It announced more details of its Moorestown platform aimed at mobile Internet devices. The platform is coming in 2010 and includes an […] Read more »
As semiconductors try to get faster without breaking the laws of physics (not that researchers aren’t trying that, too) multicore processors have become all the rage. Quad-core chips are commonplace in servers nowadays, and six-core chips have been launched this year. But after a certain point […] Read more »
Today Intel detailed its plans to stop focusing on horsepower and think about the whole car. The chipmaker has decided to stop pushing Gigahertz (basically, how fast your computer can think), and start integrating radios in one package, or on a single chip — a form […] Read more »
Marble Interface To Be The New Face of OS X? – According to MacRumors, Snow Leopard could bring a facelift to OS X, one which bring a more consistent look across the operating system. They don’t name their source, but they do cite John Gruber as […] Read more »
Freescale said Monday it would offer an ARM-based chip that could lead to a $200 Linux-based netbook, offering about twice the amount of usage on a single battery charge as Intel’s Atom processor allows. Freescale’s efforts are nothing new (only AMD has so far stayed above […] Read more »
Samsung Electronics is making its own WiMAX and LTE baseband chips for wireless handsets, according to an article in EETimes. The move by the Korean electronics maker shows how much opportunity it sees as the wireless industry transitions to 4G, and the fortunes of the biggest […] Read more »
Felicia Day, the creator of The Guild and star of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, talked today about how different the world of Hollywood and the web are. Speaking at the NewTeeVee Live conference she said there’s a complete disconnect between the two worlds and told aspiring […] Read more »
Freescale Semiconductor said today that it is teaming up with McLaren Electronic Systems to build regenerative braking systems for Formula 1 race cars. The energy would be released with a special “boost button.” Think Knight Rider meets Prius. Read more »
Cisco today announced a new edge router capable of moving 6.4 terabytes of data — the equivalent of 200 full length movies — per second. Om anticipated the product last week, pointing out that the influx of data traveling over the Web requires better and faster […] Read more »
Nokia Siemens Networks plans to cut an additional 1,300 employees as part of an overall restructuring. The telecommunications equipment maker has cut about 6,000 workers and plans to lay off a total of about 9,000 before its restructuring is complete. Read more »
Sun Microsystems plans to lay off about 350 employees in January. The computer systems maker said in a WARN letter that it would lay off 352 people between January 5 and January 25 across the U.S. citing a “need to reduce overall spending in its fiscal year 2009.” Read more »
GreenVolts Wins Grant for Low-Cost Solar: GreenVolts has won a $250,000 grant from the California Energy Commission’s Public Interest Energy Research Program for its proposal on low-cost concentrating photovoltaics. This is the second grant GreenVolts has won from PIER – Press Release. Novomer Gets new CEO […] Read more »
Texas Instruments said today on its earnings call that it plans to sell its merchant baseband processor business — the division that makes off-the-shelf wireless chips for handsets. The company plans to keeps its OMAP applications processor business and will continue to make custom-radios for certain clients. Read more »
Alcoa, the world’s largest aluminum company, this week slashed its growth forecast and suspended its stock repurchasing program, battening down the hatches as the global credit crunch continues to hurt demand. My feeling is that aluminum is the canary in the coal mine and is foretelling tough times ahead for both the consumer electronics and computer hardware sectors. Read more »
Freescale Semiconductor said this afternoon that it will consider strategic options for its wireless chip business, including its possible sale. Anyone looking at the varied business units of the former in-house chip division of Motorola would have seen this coming. Read more »
A study out today from research firm iSuppli shows that operating margins in the chip industry have declined from the upper teens to the single digits, making the industry more cutthroat than ever. The numbers paint a grim picture for AMD, Freescale and NXP, all of […] Read more »
An unlikley partnership between an Austin-based semiconductor maker, a Michigan-based engineering firm and a Chinese motorcycle maker is working together to reduce the air pollution coming from Beijing’s many motorcycles. Electrojet is using Freescale’s advanced microcontroller technology in a new fuel injection system that will be […] Read more »
Dr. Sanjay Jha has left his position as COO of Qualcomm and president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT) to become the Co-CEO of Motorola Inc. and the CEO of Motorola Mobile Devices, the new handset division. The handset division, which has struggled over the last few […] Read more »
The iPhones have been unboxed and torn down, so now it’s the Wall Street watchers’ turn to tally up who won and who lost among the companies that provide chips for the envy-inducing device. The big winner is Infineon with four chips, including GPS and 3G […] Read more »
The move to 4G will not be cheap. Carriers must consider network upgrade costs and a refresh of their handsets, not to mention the issue of backhaul. Will they attempt wireless backhaul? Wait for fiber? One way or another, by 2013 carriers worldwide will invest some […] Read more »