Toshiba has announced a cost-effective 32nm CMOS platform technology, which allows to halve the cost per function from 45nm technology. The platform was achieved by application of advanced single exposure lithography and gate-first metal gate/high-K process technology. This technology enables a 0.124m(2) SRAM cell and a gate density of 3,650 gate/mm(2). The platform technology is based on a 32nm process technology developed jointly with NEC Electronics.

Microsoft and Primax Electronics has announced that the patent infringement case brought by Microsoft against Primax in the US District Court in Northern California and before the International Trade Commission (ITC) has been settled, and that Primax has entered into a non-exclusive licensing agreement covering Microsoft's patents for U2 and Tilt Wheel technology. The agreement covers both past and future sales of the relevant products in the US. Terms of the agreement are confidential.

Toshiba says it will debut a 512GB solid state hard drive during the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show.

"This incentive package developed by New York is a clear differentiator in keeping this region competitive in the global technology marketplace. The support from the State of New York at all levels has been critical to the creation of The Foundry Company,” said Hector Ruiz chairman of AMD, who will become chairman of The Foundry Company.

Shares of Micron Technology are on the move today, rising 25%, on word rival Hynix Semiconductor will cut memory chip production by 20%-30% at the end of this month due to weak prices and demand.

A total of 29 countries, mostly developed markets, will experience economic contractions in 2009, according to the latest report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The worst hit economy in Asia will be Taiwan, which will show a 2.9% contraction in real GDP growth next year.

Mentor Graphics has announced the qualification and immediate availability of its Olympus-SoC place-and-route system for chip designs targeting TSMC's 40nm process. These include the efficient 40nm (LP) process for handheld and wireless devices, and the 40nm General Purpose (G) for performance-oriented CPU, GPU, game consoles and networking devices.

"There is a reasonable probability ... of the U.S. economy starting to recover at the end of 2009 or the start of 2010," the IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in a newspaper interview on Thursday.

"My ministry will provide financial assistance amounting to 12 rupees (30 cents) per kilowatt hour in case of solar photovoltaic and 10 rupees per kilowatt hour in case of solar thermal power fed to the electricity grid," Vilas Muttemwar said in a press conference.

FormFactor has announced that it expects revenues and earnings per share for fiscal fourth quarter 2008 to be below the financial guidance previously provided on October 28, 2008. The company now expects revenues to be between US$37 to US$41 million, lower than the previous expectation of US$48 to US$55 million, and earnings per share, operating expenses and gross margins to be below the guidance previously communicated.

"Never before have we witnessed such a sharp and sudden fall-off in lithography system demand, triggered by an unprecedented mix of falling end-demand for semiconductors, weak memory prices and restricted access to capital for our customers," said Eric Meurice, President and Chief Executive Officer of ASML. "This steep decline in our business activity is forcing us to adjust our organization in order to lower our cost base significantly."

Bit-tech has learned from several anonymous tipsters that AMD has culled a large portion of its workforce at its UK headquarters in Frimley. Details are light at the moment, but it is said that the sales team has remained relatively unaffected while engineering, marketing and administration have been hit pretty hard.

"We are taking advantage of the company-wide vacation period starting in late December to achieve the cuts," a Hynix spokeswoman told Reuters. "We will reevaluate our decision early next year depending on the market situation."