Samsung Electronics plans to introduce the world's slimmest LCD TV at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas from Friday through Sunday. The 6.5mm-thick TV equipped with an LED backlight is seven times thinner than Samsung's Bordeaux 850, the slimmest TV available on the world 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 seems that Samsung will be the first tier one handset maker to release an Android phone, pipping Motorola, Huawei and Sony Ericsson to the post with a 2Q launch in the US planned.

Samsung Electronics plans to slash its investment in semiconductor chips by more than 50% this year. The world's biggest computer chip maker is considering reducing its investment in semiconductor chips to two-three trillion won, sources told The Korea Times. Samsung invested 6.2 trillion won in chips in 2008, down from its earlier plan of seven trillion won.

Samsung Electronics has been ordered to pay 50 million yuan (US$7.3 million) to a Chinese company for infringing its dual-mode cellphone patent, Xinhua news agency reported. Samsung was sued by Holley Communications in April last year for violating a patented technology allowing cellphones to operate on both CDMA and GSM networks, Xinhua said.

Samsung says that CDs that shipped with many models of its digital photo frames may have included a malicious Trojan horse program that gives cyber criminals access to the PC. The malicious software, known as W32.Sality.AE lies in the XP version of Samsung's Frame Manager 1.08 software, which ships with many other models of Samsung frames.

The US International Trade Commission agreed to investigate Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics based on a complaint filed by Eastman Kodak. Kodak submitted its complaint in November, charging LG and Samsung with violating patents in their camera phones and other mobile products. The relevant patents cover technology related to image capture, compression and data storage, and a method for previewing certain images.

Samsung Electronics is upgrading its memory technology and manufacturing processes, which could lead to price drops for the solid-state drives that are becoming more widely used in laptops. Samsung will introduce three-bit chips with a capacity of 64Gbit in the first half of 2009, manufactured using a 30nm process technology.

As downward revisions of December quarter guidances flow as steadily as pink slips this month, reports are swirling of company-enacted manufacturing plant shutdowns in what seems to be a heavy trend compared to previous years. Samsung, Spansion, TI, and TSMC are among those reportedly shutting down manufacturing sites at the end of the year for up to three weeks. Such action is nothing new...

Chu Woo-sik, the Korean electronics giant's executive vice president in charge of investor relations, said at an investor conference that capital expenditures will drop from about 10 trillion won (US$6.91 billion) expected this year to a range of 7 trillion won (US$4.84 billion) to 8 trillion won (US$5.53 billion) next year.

Samsung Electronics, the world's largest maker of memory chips and LCD panels and TVs, says the global recession is wiping out profits at those businesses in the fourth quarter.

There are phones with cameras, and then there are cameras with phones, and a new badboy reportedly making its way to T-Mobile seems to be the latter.

“In the area of memory, because of the supply overhang, it will be difficult for us to make a profit,” Executive Vice President Chu Woo Sik, head of Samsung’s investor-relations team, said today at an event in San Francisco. “LCD is struggling very hard to make a profit.”

"As for next year, it is possible that the market could post a single-digit or even negative growth," a Samsung spokesman said.

The decision by Samsung to abandon its six-inch, or 150-millimeter, wafer fabrication lines and focus production on its eight-inch and 12-inch wafer lines reflects a desperate attempt to improve the efficiency of its product lineup.

Rambus shares surged for the second straight day Wednesday after the chip maker received a positive pre-trial ruling in California in its patent case against some of the largest semiconductor companies in the world. According to a court document on Rambus's Web site, on Monday a U.S. District judge issued a summary decision in favor of Rambus, saying the chip makers infringed on certain aspects of Rambus's patents. The chipmakers named in the case are Hynix Semiconductor, Samsung Electronics, Nanya Technology and Micron Technology.

Samsung Electronics, the world's No. 2 handset maker, said on Monday the 2008 global handset market could fall short of its 9 percent growth forecast and did not exclude the possibility the market could shrink in 2009.