chips

TI to buy National Semiconductor for $6.5 billion

Texas Instruments plans to purchase fellow analog chipmaker National Semiconductor for $6.5 billion, the companies announced today.

TI is paying cash for National Semi. Stockholders will get $25 per share, an $11 per share premium over the $14.07 National Semi shares closed at today. Both boards have already approved the deal. There is a "break-up fee" of $200 million.

TI says the companies' sales force together will be "10 times larger" after the acquisition. Combined, the two could capture a 17 to 18 percent market share, company executives said on a conference call this … Read more

New blood-analysis chip detects disease in minutes

It's inspiring to visit a university laboratory and see fresh-faced college students working on experiments that may some day have huge impacts on our lives. And on our trip to the University of California at Berkeley this week we found just that. In the campus' Stanley Hall, there's a team of researchers working on a new blood-analysis chip or Self-powered Integrated Microfluidic Blood Analysis System (SIMBAS), that can potentially detect hundreds of diseases at once in a matter of minutes.

During my campus visit with cameraman and editor Jared Kohler, we interviewed bioengineering Professor Luke Lee and post-doctoral … Read more

Intel microserver chips dial down the power

Intel is preparing to ship two low-powered Xeon processors for the high-density microserver market, and will deliver similar chips based on its Sandy Bridge and Atom architectures within the next two years.

The additions to the Xeon E3-1200 family, the E3-1260L and E3-1220L, along with the Sandy Bridge and Atom additions, have been designed for microservers, Intel announced at a press event yesterday. A microserver comprises multiple small, one-socket servers sharing the same chassis to provide high-processing density in a relatively small amount of space.

The new Xeons have a thermal design power (TDP) rating of between 20W and 45W … Read more

Rumor: iPhone 5 to feature A5 processor, iPad 2 stays with A4

The oft-quoted DigiTimes, a Taiwanese tech industry favorite publication, has revealed that Apple is outsourcing the production of its A5 processor chip, which many expect will be based on the ARM Cortex A9 design and used in the forthcoming iPhone 5, to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

AppleInsider reports that Apple's A4 chip is currently produced by Samsung Electronics, but the move to Taiwan Semiconductor for production of the A5 chip is because of Samsung's inability to keep up with Apple's supply demands.

This rumor follows many regarding Apple's iPhone lineup, including a larger, 4-inch screen and … Read more

ARM's 2015 plan: Grab PC, server share

ARM Holdings owns the mobile market when it comes to licensing chip architecture, but by 2015 the company expects to have a foothold in the PC and server market.

That's the primary takeaway from ARM Holdings' earnings conference call earlier this week. ARM is basically an intellectual property licensing company. As a result, it's a dominant processing company without actually manufacturing a processor. Instead, companies like Nvidia do the heavy lifting. Nevertheless, the message is clear: ARM Holdings is deadly serious about being a PC and server player, and at CES 2011 some of the pieces fell into … Read more

Chip sales hit record $298 billion in 2010

In 2010, semiconductors brought in record revenue of $298.3 billion worldwide, a jump of 31.8 percent compared with the previous year, according to data out yesterday from the Semiconductor Industry Association.

In addition, chip sales in December hit $25.2 billion, a gain of 12.2 percent compared with 2009's final month. Fourth-quarter revenue grew the same percentage from the year-ago quarter to reach $75.5 billion.

"Semiconductor sales are a bright spot in our current economic picture, delivering a record high in the billions," SIA President Brian Toohey said in a statement. "The … Read more

Intel reveals design flaw in Sandy Bridge chipset

Intel has discovered a design flaw related to its new Sandy Bridge chip, the company said today.

The flaw has forced the chipmaker to stop shipments of a chipset, though Intel also announced that it has a design fix in place. Intel expects the cost of repair and replacement to be around $700 million, forcing it to cut its sales forecast for the first quarter by $300 million.

Prior to the announcement, trading of Intel's stock was halted on the New York Stock Exchange for about 25 minutes. Since trading resumed around 7:20 a.m. PT, investor reaction … Read more

Windows 8 to support x86, ARM 'system on a chip'

Microsoft announced today at the Consumer Electronics Show that the next version of Windows will support system-on-a-chip (SoC) architectures, including ARM-based systems from partners Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments.

Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft said that on the x86 architecture, Intel and AMD will "continue their work on low-power SoC designs that fully support Windows, including support for native x86 applications."

Microsoft made the announcement during the 2011 CES in Las Vegas. Here's more from Microsoft's statement.

Microsoft said it would demonstrate "the next version of Windows running on new SoC platforms from Intel running on … Read more

CES: Texas Instruments trots out tiny new DLP Pico HD chip

LAS VEGAS--The early class of "pocket" pico projectors hasn't taken off as quickly as some people expected, largely because the image quality hasn't been good. Texas Instruments hopes to kick-start the category with a new DLP Pico HD chipset that will make its way into products shipping later this year.

The company says the new chip delivers "stunning" HD (WXGA) video and images on "nearly any surface, with more brightness and greater energy efficiency than ever before," and that it will usher in "a new era for portable high-definition entertainment." … Read more