ibm

IBM: Tiny carbon nanotube transistor outshines silicon

IBM researchers say they've made progress in showing how carbon nanotubes could some day replace silicon in the guts of microprocessors.

In a research paper published this month in Nano Letters, IBM researchers found that carbon nanotube transistors smaller than 10 nanometers outperformed silicon devices. These transistors also operate at very low voltage, which means they promise processors that operate with low power consumption.

The experiments researchers performed were designed to test the theoretic performance of carbon nanotube transistors, rather than develop new manufacturing processes. But the finding could be significant in the ongoing pursuit of smaller transistors for … Read more

Antique IBM memory box + math = mind-blowing

This piece of computer history launched 1,500 tweets.

The man in the photo (my husband, Tim) is holding an IBM Type 706 Williams-Kilburn Tube Electrostatic Memory drawer that we found in my grandfather's pole barn. (What's a pole barn? Basically, a really big shed.)

Before I tweeted this photo, Tim and I did some rough, back-of-the-envelope calculations to guess how much memory this circa-1954 hunk of valve and metal contained.

4K of IBM memory found in my grandpa's pole barn, captured in a 692K photo. #mindblown twitter.com/lturrentine/st...

— Lindsey Turrentine (@lturrentine) January 22, 2012

We estimated, based on what my grandfather could remember from his days as an IBM salesman, that the memory drawer stored 4 kilobytes of data.

Meanwhile, the tweet went nuts, going and going, and even making its way to the front page of Gizmodo. I'm not sure whether that counts as viral, but it's as close as I've gotten on Twitter.

So we decided to look for more information on the IBM 706, which IBM built in the mid-'50s to serve as a modular memory component for the IBM 701 computer, otherwise known as "The Defense Calculator" (a creepily Cold War name for a computer intended for scientific calculations).

The IBM 706 contains two so-called Williams Tubes, each handling 1,024 bits of memory adding up to 2,048 bits--roughly one quarter of the 1,024 bytes it takes to add up to a single kilobyte. (There are 8 bits in each byte of memory, bringing the 706 to a mere 256 bytes.) In other words, we were optimistic about the 706's capacity. The crazy machine in the picture held only one-quarter of a kilobyte of memory.… Read more

IBM's Q4 earnings are solid, despite light revenue

IBM's fourth-quarter earnings were solid, although its revenue was lighter than expected. The company's 2012 and 2015 outlooks remain on track.

Big Blue reported fourth quarter earnings of $5.5 billion, or $4.62 a share. Non-GAAP earnings, which excludes charges and other items, were $4.71 a share.

Wall Street was looking for fourth quarter earnings of $4.62 a share on revenue of $29.7 billion.

For the fourth quarter, revenue was up 4 percent. CEO Ginni Rometty, however, said that the company is on track toward delivering 2015 operating earnings of $20 a share. Wall … Read more

IBM: Lithium air battery prototype in 2013, production in 2020

Researchers are working on a lithium air battery that will make electric vehicles as practical as internal combustion cars are today.

For all the leaps and advances electric vehicles have made in the last couple of years, they still have a way to go before they become practical enough or cheap enough to be the typical family car. But IBM is working on a battery that will put an end to range anxiety, able to power a vehicle for 500 miles.

IBM researchers at four of the technology giant's laboratories are testing a lithium air battery. Dubbed the Battery500 Project, … Read more

The future of data storage (infographic)

Data storage has long been a function of Moore's Law. But researchers at IBM say it's time to throw that equation out the window and start from the atomic level rather than waiting for the limits of physics to be halted at the same place.

This infographic, created by IBM, demonstrates the future of information storage.

IBM Research Atomic Scale Magnetic Memory

IBM creates data storage at the atomic level

SAN JOSE, Calif.--With a discovery that could some day fundamentally alter the scale of mass data storage, nanotechnology researchers at IBM say they have found a way to store a bit of information in as little as 12 magnetic atoms.

That's a radical improvement over today's storage devices which, IBM argues, require about a million atoms to hold a bit of information. For those keeping score at home, IBM's discovery could mean storage could one day be possible at 1/83,000th the scale of today's disk drives.

And while the IBM researchers behind the … Read more

Patent grants hit all-time high in 2011; IBM leads the way

Patents were a hot-button issue in 2011, so there's no wonder so many companies were filling their portfolios with new intellectual property throughout the year.

According to IFI Claims Patent Services, a company that maintains global patent databases, nearly 224,505 utility patents were awarded in the U.S. last year, jumping 2 percent over the previous year's record-breaking tally of 219,614 patents. It's worth noting that utility patents are just one type of patent that companies can be awarded, but they are the most common and the typical means by which firms protect their inventions.… Read more

Yahoo finally has a chief again

week in review Yahoo unveiled its new chief executive this week, naming PayPal President Scott Thompson to become its new leader and a board member starting on Monday.

Thompson said in a statement that he wants to "deliver Yahoo's next era of success" by dealing with both Yahoo advertisers and users. Thompson will also have the job of rebuilding Yahoo--potentially with some of its parts sold off.

Thompson previously served as senior vice president and chief technology officer at PayPal, eBay's online payment service. Before that, he was the executive vice president who ran technology development … Read more

Google's acquisition of IBM patents may aid its Oracle case

A latecomer to the patent acquisition game, Google continues to accumulate intellectual property rights, picking up more than 200 patents and patents pending from IBM.

According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Web site, Google acquired 188 patents and another 29 patents pending from IBM in a deal recorded December 30. Terms weren't disclosed and both companies declined to comment on the transaction, other than to acknowledge that it happened. The deal was first reported by the Web site SEO by the Sea.

Patents have been a key tool in the battle for smartphone revenue and leadership. … Read more