chips

The Hot Chips conference in Palo Alto, Calif this week is focusing on high-end chips for servers and scientific computers, with IBM's upcoming Power7 as a standout.

On Tuesday, IBM will give a presentation on its next-generation server chip, the Power7. IBM documentation describes the chip as having up to eight cores. A dual-chip module holds two processors for a total of 16 cores, according to IBM.

Each core has a rated performance of 32 gigaflops, providing 256 gigaflops per processor--one of the fastest chips to date based on this scientific-centric performance benchmark.

Power7 will be used in the … Read more

The world of entertainment marketing takes a big step forward today with our announcement of the first "video in print" ad. That's right, CBS will present a video for its new fall programs in the fall review edition of Entertainment Weekly via a revolutionary new video chip. Here is a shortened version of CBS' official announcement:

CBS announced today an exciting new entertainment marketing breakthrough...the first use of video in a print advertisement. The revolutionary VIP (Video-in-Print) technology, to be packaged in a print ad spread in the fall TV preview issue of Entertainment Weekly, is … Read more

Helped by demand for Intel's Atom chip, microprocessor shipments shot up 10.1 percent in the second quarter of the year, according to research released Thursday by market firm IDC.

The second-quarter gain from the first quarter compared with a drop of 10.9 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008 to first quarter of 2009. However, the year-over-year comparison with 2008's second quarter showed a drop of 7 percent.

The growth from the first quarter of 2009 to the second quarter was driven largely by manufacturers replenishing their chip inventory, rather than any boost in consumer demand … Read more

When people think of Saratoga Springs, they normally think of the ponies.

But now this area in upstate New York is going from horses to high-tech. Here in the small town of Malta, just south of Saratoga Springs, a new $4.2 billion semiconductor manufacturing plant has just broken ground.

"I think it's going to have a huge benefit in terms of returning to the region the status that was here long ago in manufacturing," said Doug Grose, the CEO of Global Foundries, which is a collaboration between the chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices and an Abu Dhabi … Read more

The Apple rumor mill kicked into high gear again Monday regarding the much discussed, yet still mythical Apple tablet. But a significant new piece of information emerged.

Tech blog Venture Beat is reporting that PA Semi, the chip company Apple bought last year whose specific function within Apple has thus far been unclear, will be designing the chips for an Apple tablet in house. Dean Takahashi wrote Monday, "PA Semi's team was split into two parts, one designing portable ARM-based processors for iPhones and iPods, and another designing a processor for the tablet device."

The PA Semi … Read more

Apple on Friday upped its stake in U.K. chip company, Imagination Technologies.

The company purchased 2.2 million shares at 1.43 British pounds ($2.36), for a total cost of 3.14 million pounds ($5.19 million). The purchase brings Apple's stake in the company to 9.5 percent, effectively tripling its ownership in Imagination, according to a report on MocoNews.

Apple uses Imagination's SGX GPU in the recently released iPhone 3G S, allowing it to have much better graphics using Apple's OpenGL ES 2.0, according to AppleInsider. Samsung is reportedly integrating Imagination's … Read more

Intel's deal with Nokia is important for the chipmaker as it forges its path into the competitive (and profitable) mobile market. Also in today's podcast: MySpace layoffs hit the company's overseas offices; expedited airport-security service shuts down; and how to tell if you're really buying an American-made car.

Today's stories:

Intel forms pact with Nokia

MySpace slashing two-thirds of international staff

Report: Verizon, T-Mobile to offer Motorola Android smartphones

Flash Player 10 beta coming to most smartphones

Apple updates MacBook Pro firmware

Reports: Steve Jobs returns to Apple

Expedited airport-security service shuts down… Read more

This was originally posted at Between the Lines.

Global chip sales rose to $15.6 billion in April, up 6.4 percent from March. That's the good news. The bad: chip sales are still down 25 percent from April sales of $20.9 billion a year ago, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association.

The SIA provides the following color (statement):

• PC demand is better than expected as inventory is replenished;

• PC sales in 2009 are expected to fall 6 percent better than estimates that expected a decline of 12 percent;

• Cell phone sales also aren't as bad as … Read more

The battle over ultrathin, low-voltage laptops has begun in earnest.

MSI announced Wednesday the availability of the X340, the first notebook to hit the market sporting Intel's new CULV (consumer ultra-low voltage) processor.

The X340 is the first of many ultrathin notebooks that look a lot like the MacBook Air, but bear significantly lower prices. Intel's CULV processor draws 5.5 watts, or one-sixth the power of other mobile processors, which leads to longer battery life. The X340 has a 13.4-inch screen, and is priced at $900. It weighs 2.86 pounds, measures .78 inches thick and … Read more