supply

Along with the economy, chip forecasts are heading south.

Following an outlook about weak chip industry capital spending from market researcher Gartner on Wednesday, iSuppli cut its 2008 IC revenue forecast to 3.5 percent from 4 percent on Thursday.

The memory chip industry is the canary in the coal mine. At least two memory chip manufacturers are on life support right now. Hynix, the world's second largest maker of memory, is trying to scare up cash by seeking buyers for a 36 percent stake in the company. The other ailing memory maker is Qimonda AG. Rumors have been … Read more

There is an ungreen revolution taking place in enthusiast game PC circles.

The eye-opening graphics possible on today's game PCs come at a cost: light-dimming power consumption. The trend, rooted in the perennial quest for more speed, bucks the overall greening of the PC industry.

Green PC designs have become more than just practical; they're cool. Power-sipping Netbooks are in, as are small desktops like the Dell Studio Hybrid and Hewlett-Packard Pavilion Slimline.

This is not the case for high-end gaming PCs, where bigger is better. How far this trend can go isn't clear, but a seminal … Read more

"Welcome to the new AT&T, we're currently out of iPhones, how can I help you?"

That's how two AT&T stores--one in Los Angeles, another in Denver--answered their phones Tuesday. But those stores are hardly alone in their lack of 3G iPhones. A CNET News survey on Tuesday and Wednesday showed that during their first week on sale, Apple's latest iPhones are playing extremely hard to get.

In total, we contacted 50 AT&T stores in 21 cities across 11 states, and not one had any of the three models of … Read more

The last five days have been all about breaking down the iPhone 3G--how the big release went, how many phones have sold, how the device lives up to its promise.

Now, some more numbers to toss in the mix: iSuppli has completed its iPhone 3G teardown analysis and estimated that Apple cut more than $50 from manufacturing costs per unit since the first-generation phone made its debut last year. Profit margins for the new gadget, according to the market research firm, are measuring in the range of 55 percent.

Apple spent $174.33 for initial production costs for the … Read more

Updated at 10:04 a.m. PDT to correct the total number of Apple stores there were checked for iPhone availability. The total is 188.

These days, Apple has enlisted a widget to deliver its bad news.

According to a man who checked all 188 Apple stores via the company's iPhone Availability widget, the iPhone 3G is in very short supply, says Fortune's Apple 2.0 blog. In total, it appears the device is sold out in 21 states.

The list of states fresh out of iPhones includes: Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, … Read more

According to a new survey released today, about 60 percent of the Canadian workforce is making personal use of their office printer.

The survey, conducted by Angus Reid Strategies for Samsung Electronics revealed that a large majority of Canadians who work in offices with high volume laser printers aren't using them for memos and work-related e-mails, but rather for personal letters, color photos, and even *gasp* resumes! The study breaks down the percentage of people that print out random documents:

I think it's safe to assume that the reason for all this work-printer abuse is because of the … Read more

These always sell out fast, so I'll cut right to the chase: Buy.com has the Black & Decker Pocket Power on sale for $10 shipped -- no rebates required.

This portable, rechargeable battery pack promises up to four hours of extra power for your mobile electronics: cell phones, iPods, digital cameras, etc. Just plug in your regular USB or AC charger and you've got juice. (On the plus side, that means no "tips" to manage, as with other portable chargers. However, it also means you have to bring along your power/USB cables.)

For 10 … Read more

Apple has cut its 2008 flash memory orders by $200 million, according to iSuppli, setting up a down year for flash vendors.

In February, iSuppli reported that Apple was slashing its orders of flash memory amid a weakening economy, but iSuppli wasn't sure exactly how far the cuts would go. After crunching the numbers, iSuppli now expects Apple to spend $1.4 billion on flash this year for iPods and iPhones, up 12 percent from $1.2 billion last year. But the analyst firm, and the flash memory industry, had been expecting much more purchasing out of Apple, at … Read more

We take it for granted, mostly, that the water that comes into our homes is safe to consume. Sure, we may run the tap for 30 seconds or so to clear out rusty sediment or traces of lead, and every once in a while there's an E. coli scare. Many of us, too, filter the water, either at the tap or in a container for the fridge.

But now there's something new to worry about. After an in-depth, five-month investigation, the Associated Press is reporting that the supply of drinking water in many U.S. metropolitan areas--accessible to … Read more