...It's a superficial update, and not a very thorough one. It's an interim product, and a vain attempt to hold onto the thinning ranks people who still choose Windows Mobile despite not being somehow tethered to it until the tardy Windows Mobile 7 comes out, whenever that may be. And it won't work...

The R&D costs for process technology are expected to climb from US$310-to-US$400 million for the 90nm to 65nm nodes, to US$600-to-US$900 million for 45nm to 32nm, to US$1.3 billion for 22nm to 12nm. A fab would run from US$2.5-to-US$3.5 billion for the 90nm to 65nm nodes, to US$3.5-to-US$4 billion for 45nm to 32nm, to US$4.5-to-US$6 billion for 22nm to 12nm.

In recent times, copper has been rapidly gaining a foothold as a substitute material for gold in wire bonding. Some of the advantages include superior electrical and thermal conductivity, less intermetallic compound growth and greater mechanical stability.

"We spend many months developing and then fine-tuning the controller and firmware technology for our SSDs, working very closely with most of the major PC OEMs..."

For the quarter ended Aug. 28, Smart Modular reported a loss of US$289,000 compared with a loss of US$3.53 million a year ago. Gross margin rose to 21.4% from 15.5% on the price gains.

Murata Electronics North America has asked the US International Trade Commission to investigate whether two subsidiaries of Samsung Electronics have been importing electronic components into the country that infringe four of its patents covering ceramic capacitors.

Micron's recent performance was "a really strong signal" that things have been improving in the chip market, which had suffered from an industry-wide glut that drove prices into the ground, according to an analyst.

Fans have been holding their breath since Sony released its new Slim version of the fabled console system. How has the console held up in the market? Has Sony rebounded from the previous years of lagging sales and criticism?

The US solar energy industry hopes to persuade Customs officials to reverse a decision to impose a 2.5% tariff on solar panel imports after more than two decades of duty-free trade in the product, an industry official said on Thursday. In the worst case scenario, US importers of solar panels could face some US$70 million in tariffs and penalties for product already imported this year.

Japan's Toshiba said on Thursday it has taken over Fujitsu's loss-making hard drive business as it seeks to eke out growth in notebook PC hard drives in a market dominated by bigger rivals.