Motorola showcased three new smartphones. Each of the devices is a potential game changer, not necessarily because they're the latest and greatest in smartphones but more because the company seems to have listened to consumers about what the features, the tools and the specs they're looking for.

Skype suffered a serious server outage Dec. 22 that left swaths of its 560 million or so worldwide users without PC calling capabilities for most of the day.

Warren East, chief executive of ARM, said the market for tablet PCs could grow to as much as 60m unit sales in 2011 as he brushed aside concerns that Intel would pose a major competitive threat to the UK chip company in the fast-growing market.

New suggested pricing for the Intel X25-M Mainstream SATA SSD is now US$199 for an 80GB drive. Users can double the storage capacity with a 160GB X25-M drive for US$415. The company has also added a new 120GB version of the Intel X25-M for US$249.

The new operating system is a refreshing and complete break from the Windows Mobile OS of the past - Microsoft's failed attempt to transpose key elements of its PC operating system on to a smaller screen.

Elpida Memory president and CEO Yukio Sakamoto said in an interview that the company is delaying plans to boost production capacity at its Taiwanese unit. "Through the summer, demand for PC memory didn't rise as much I had expected," Sakamoto said. "If there's no demand, there's no point in adding capacity."

LG Electronics said that it had scrapped a plan to launch a tablet computer based on Google Inc's Android 2.2 operation system known as "Froyo," a decision that may delay the rollout of its first tablet PC slated for next quarter.

The so-called BlackPad could be unveiled as early next week at a developer's conference in San Francisco.

"Memory fundamentals have slipped more rapidly than we had anticipated due to weak PC and consumer electronics demand," Auriga USA told clients, adding later: "It now seems highly likely that MU's gross margin will dip over the next several quarters as DRAM and NAND pricing continues to weaken."

It looks like we should expect frequencies introduced at 2,133MHz and it will scale to over 4.2GHz with DDR4.

Display manufacturer ViewSonic has announced that all of its PC displays will feature Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology by early 2011.

Battery Ventures, Flybridge Capital Partners and Highland Capital Partners represent the traditional venture capitalists behind Smooth-Stone. They have been joined by ARM, Texas Instruments and Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC).

Silicon Integrated System (SiS) has adopted Cadence solutions for its PC peripheral and multimedia system on chip (SoC) designs, according to Cadence.

Prices of DRAM fell for the first time in over a year in June, as companies increased production and PC vendors toughened their stance on further price increases. Analysts now say prices will slide for the rest of the year.

The Commission has adopted a decision settling a cartel investigation and imposing a fine totalling about 331 million euros (US$409 million) on Samsung, Hynix, Infineon, NEC, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Elpida and Nanya.

STMicroelectronics, Europe's largest semiconductor company, swung to profits of US$57 million in the first quarter of 2010 from losses of US$541 million a year ago. First-quarter revenues rose 40% to US$2.32 billion, led particularly by demand for chips used in cars and computers.

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies is poised to secure net profits for the fiscal year ended December 21, 2010, according to company president and CEO Steve Milligan. Brisk demand for PC hard drives and fixed-cost reductions will contribute to its profit outlook.

For some time, there has been shortages of DRAMs, causing prices to increase for both DDR2 and DDR3. Now, PC OEMs have reached the boiling point amid the price hikes.

No Tech Day is a time to set aside the luxury gadgets for 24 hours "to raise awareness of how much we all rely on and use gadgets in our everyday life, and think what life is like for people in the developing world who do not have the same access to technology and energy."

"Although netbooks are small today - maybe 10% of the PC market at most - we believe over the next several years that could completely change around and that could be 90% of the PC market...," according to company CEO Warren East.

Samsung Electronics has overtaken Hewlett-Packard as the world's biggest technology company by sales, a sign of how strongly some South Korean companies have bounced back from the economic downturn.