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Start-up Caustic targets ray tracing for graphics

A start-up called Caustic Graphics aims to etch a place for itself in PC graphics, using a technique more common in Hollywood than in Silicon Valley.

Tantalizingly for those in the high-tech industry, the company was founded by a trio of engineers from Apple, including James McCombe, a twentysomething who worked on graphics used in the iPhone and iPod, according to a write-up on Caustic posted late Sunday in the online version of The Wall Street Journal.

Caustic Graphics is focusing on ray tracing, a method for rendering computer-generated graphics that promises more realistic--even photorealistic--images than those that come out … Read more

Cisco using the Internet to help turn cities green

Cisco Systems is trying to help cities around the world go green.

On Monday the company announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Metropolis, an organization of 106 large cities mostly outside the United States, to help these cities use technology that is more efficient and less polluting.

The goal is to help build "intelligent" city infrastructure based on Internet Protocol technology. Cisco's philosophy is that helping cities get networked to use the Internet will also help them cut back on power consumption and pollution. As part of the two-year collaboration, Cisco will help cities … Read more

Gates foundation sells off Buffett shares

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has sold just over 36,000 shares of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, according to a regulatory filing.

The organization sold the stock for $99.7 million from January 5 through Thursday.

Buffett, the famed investor, gave $30 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway stock to the foundation in 2006.

The Gates foundation focuses on health care, poverty reduction, and technology access.

(Via MarketWatch)

Tech jobs hold up as unemployment rate rises

This was originally posted on ZDNet's Between the Lines.

As expected, the Department of Labor's February jobs report Friday was a train wreck. The economy lost 651,000 jobs in February, the unemployment rate ticked up to 8.1 percent, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics revised December and January job counts sharply. But the information technology industry's job picture looks decidedly better in some areas.

It's hard to find a few bright spots when 651,000, 681,000, and 655,000 jobs were lost in February, January, and December, respectively. However, the data indicates that … Read more

Week in review: Apple's hardware harvest

Apple announced updates to its desktop offering this week in hopes of jump-starting sales in a category that has stagnated.

Three Mac desktop categories were updated, but only one really matters: the Mac Mini and Mac Pro aren't nearly as popular as the all-in-one iMac. Apple did improve the specifications of the iMac at the same price points, lowering the cost of acquiring a 24-inch version to $1,499. But it made few significant changes to a design that hasn't been updated since September 2007 and resisted calls to reduce the price of the iMac below $1,000, … Read more

Apple analyst lowers estimates, shares fall

Correction, 11:06 a.m. PST: This story initially misstated the day the report was released. It was Friday.

Update at 10:31 a.m. PST, with more information from the analyst report and a chart.

A J.P. Morgan analyst cut his financial estimates for Apple's fiscal second quarter and fiscal 2009 on Friday, pointing to expectations that its iPhone and Mac sales may be weaker than previously anticipated.

Apple fell as low as 7.3 percent in early morning trading Friday to $82.33 a share.

"We are lowering our estimates for the March quarter and … Read more

TSMC deal offers glimpse of Intel future

Intel is making a bid to become a force in smartphones. This will test its ability to compete in arguably the most important chip market outside of PCs.

The deal struck this week with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. will put the Intel architecture into the same factories that churn out chips for companies like Qualcomm and Texas Instruments, which use an alternative architecture called ARM--the choice for many small devices, cell phones, and most smartphones, including the Apple iPhone, BlackBerry Storm, and Google-based Android phones.

ARM has always been a thorn in Intel's side. So much so that Intel … Read more

Report: Taiwan to overhaul memory chip industry

Taiwan named a chip industry veteran to head a state-backed company that will merge six memory chipmakers, following pleas from domestic companies desperate for financial aid.

Previous reports had cited an approval for loans, but on Thursday the economic affairs ministry took this a step further and named former United Microelectronics Corp. executive John Hsuan to head a state-backed company, according to Bloomberg. Taiwan's government will hold less than a 50 percent stake.

Taiwan Memory Co. will be established within six months. It has not been decided yet what role Japan's Elpida Memory or U.S.-based Micron … Read more

A few bright spots in tech stock gloom

Red ink flowed throughout the broader markets Thursday following unsettling news that General Motors auditors are casting doubt on the company's ability to survive..

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 281.40 points, or 4 percent, to 6,594.44, a low it hasn't seen since 1997.

The Dow's decline has been rapid. Just four trading days ago it was in the 7,000 range. And just 13 trading days before that it was in the 8,000s, where it languished for months.

The Nasdaq closed down 54.15 points, or down 4 percent, to 1,… Read more

Recession demands vertical industry approach

It seems like the headlines are more and more depressing each day. Layoffs, stock market drops, budget deficits, etc. Heck, even my friends in the ever-optimistic Silicon Valley are bummed out.

Yeah, it's looks pretty gloomy, but it's important to remember that the economy isn't binary-- different industries are feeling the pain in different ways. ESG Research recently compared internal data on 2009 IT budget changes by industry with external data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation Summary from February 2009. This comparison uncovers some interesting trends:

Three industry sectors will experience employment … Read more