French nuclear giant Areva, hinted last week during a meeting in Forbes offices that Areva is developing a hybrid solar power plant concept that combines a solar thermal system with solar photovoltaic (PV) panels.

Epic 4G will also be the first smartphone to support simultaneous voice and data delivery. That means a user can surf the Internet and do other things while talking.

China has come under increasing international pressure to allow the yuan to appreciate. The US in particular has argued that the weak yuan gives Chinese exporters an unfair competitive advantage.

But the opposition certainly has reason to be suspicious. While Taiwanese negotiators did not get everything they asked for - PVC and polyethylene, important Taiwanese exports, were left out after months of wrangling.

This could be an indication of Samsung giving more priority to their mobile phones such as the ?？alaxy S' over HTC and Google.

Tesla will be the first automaker to go public since the Ford Motor Company held its initial public offering in 1956. It expects the stock sale to raise up to $185 million, The Associated Press reports.

Hyundai Heavy Industries said it doubles its annual solar module and solar cell production capacity from current 320MW and 370MW to 600MW respectively by early 2011.

The Goldman Sachs Global Clean Energy team bases its installation forecast on supply forecast of 20GW and 28GW in 2010 and 2011 respectively.

Freescale Semiconductor has introduced its Xtrinsic sensing solutions, which are designed with the combination of high-performance sensing capability, processing capacity and customizable software to help deliver differentiated sensing applications.

Enabling "hot" electrons to carry that wasted energy could be a step towards solar cells with double the efficiency of current technology. Solar cells could see a boost in their theoretical maximum efficiency from 31% to 66%, thanks to a novel way of harnessing electrons whose energy is normally lost as heat.

Here's a selection of factoids and predictions from the reports, Morgan Stanley's "Internet Trends" and Bernstein Research's "The Computer in Your Pocket: Industry and Investment Implications."

The Linux-based operating system will power Nokia's flagship smartphones, while lower-end phones will still run on Symbian.

Google's Chrome has now integrated Adobe's Flash directly into the browser.

Intel's x86 architecture reigns supreme on PCs and millions of servers. Anywhere else, the ARM processors have won

IBM, Samsung and Globalfoundries are working with STMicroelectronics to develop and standardize advanced, 28nm process technology to ensure consistent production worldwide for electronics and device manufacturers.

"We are targeting segments within the semiconductor market that are growing faster," said Infineon CEO Peter Bauer. "The wireless market is bigger than before the crisis, driven by smartphones and emerging market phones."

The latest estimate is up from a previous figure of $2billion. It includes $126 million already paid out in claims to those affected by the disaster, mainly workers in the fishing industry. So far, nearly 74,000 claims have been filed and more than 39,000 payments have been made.

Germany's LFoundry, an analog and mixed-signal foundry, has completed its previously-announced acquisition of Atmel's wafer fabrication operation in Rousset, France.

Toshiba plans to expand manufacturing capacity at its plant in Houston, Texas for production of high-performance drive motors for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs).

Thirty-three states, including California, have reached a US$173 million settlement with six DRAM makers alleged to have fixed prices for their products between 1998 and 2002. The companies named in the lawsuit are Micron Technology and NEC Electronics America as well as Infineon Technologies, Hynix Semiconductor, Elpida Memory and Mosel Vitelic.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion on Thursday posted a 20% increase in first-quarter profit, but sales and handset shipments fell below Wall Street's forecast.

Apple has finally acknowledged that the way you hold the iPhone 4 can hinder the device's cellular reception.

Exporters have eyed Europe cautiously, with the safe-haven yen soaring in recent months on European debt worries, which if sustained will dent exporters' repatriated profits and make their goods more expensive overseas.

China Unicom and China Mobile both added around 1 million 3G subscribers in May, bringing the total number of 3G subscribers among the country's three largest telecom operators to more than 20 million.