Intel has announced that it has filed suit against Nvidia over whether or not the GPU and chipset designer has the rights to build solutions for Nehalem-based CPUs.

Global chipmakers, battling slower technology demand, are betting size matters as they pin their hopes for future growth on small and easy to carry mobile devices such as netbooks and smartphones.

Unlike past US recessions, chipmakers can't count on boosting overseas sales this time because the economic slowdown has so quickly gone global. Slowing exports is a challenge for the chipmakers, which do most sales overseas. Three of the largest US chipmakers are taking different tacks to cut manufacturing costs in the face of a steep global recession.

Many chip makers and analysts had predicted, as recently as earlier this month, that improvements in the semiconductor market could begin in the second half of 2009 as the chip inventories throughout the tech supply chain bottom and tech companies look to restock shelves with new products. But recent signs suggest a turnaround remains distant, and investors who have been piling into chip stocks could now be regretting their early advances.

Intel said on Wednesday it would close manufacturing plants in Malaysia and the Philippines and scale back US operations as part of a restructuring that affects as many as 6,000 employees.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), China's top contract chip maker, is discussing the possibility of selling a strategic stake in itself to Intel, sources familiar with the talks said on Tuesday. The possible alliance could help Intel expand its business in China, which it has described as its fastest-growing major market.

Mainstream SSD drives tend to be limited to 80 GB or less for affordability. There are drives that have larger capacities, but the cost is significantly higher than a similar HDD, which is what is keeping SSD drives out of the hands of many at this point. Despite this, capacities are ramping up fast!

It's unclear whether Intel executives intend to follow Mr. Grove's advice. Mr. Otellini declined to comment, but a spokesman said that Intel already has investments in battery-related companies through its Intel Capital unit. "We consider battery technology important and we look at a lot of things. But whether we will do anything more, we can't say at this time," the spokesman said.

Intel researchers have made the next advance in the field of Silicon Photonics by achieving world-record performance using a silicon-based Avalanche Photodetector (APD) that could lower costs and improve performance as compared to commercially available optical devices. The research results were published today in Nature Photonics.