BROWSING: Semiconductors
5G silicon: 3 chips with big ideas
Fabless semiconductor startups are making interesting 5G silicon by converting big ideas into practice
5G is a complex problem: how to create 100x faster networks that can handle 1000x more traffic with low latency using fewer, and sometimes more problematic, resources. Spectrum is a finite...
Qualcomm open to Broadcom offer — if it’s higher
Qualcomm's most recent meeting with Broadcom seems to have somewhat thawed Qualcomm's frosty reception to a Broadcom takeover -- although Qualcomm still wants to see a higher offer from Broadcom and the two companies are sparring over whether the other is engaging in good...
As Broadcom bid looms, Qualcomm extends tender offer on NXP shares
NXP/Qualcomm deal is major premise of recent "best and final" offer from Broadcom
The Qualcomm subsidiary working to acquire NXP extended to Feb. 23 the cash tender offer period afforded NXP shareholders looking to agree to sell their stock in the Dutch semiconductor firm for...
Semiconductor industry stuck in tech limbo, says Arm fellow
Arm fellow speaks about the limits the semiconductor industry is facing
Santa Clara, Cali. – Advances in silicon processing technologies has brought the semiconductor industry into a transitional, intermediate state of limbo. That is at least the view of Arm Fellow Greg Yeric who gave a...
Austin works to recruit tech talent
Austin is one of the bright spots in the national employment picture. While US unemployment ticked up to 8.2% last month and the economy created just 69,000 jobs, Austin's unemployment rate is just 5.9% and the local area economy is expected to create 19,000...
Telecommunication jobs hold steady, demand for developers grows
Job figures in the telecommunications space remained steady in Silicon Valley last month, according to new statistics released by the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Preliminary figures showed telecommunication jobs for the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara area at 5.9 thousand, marginally up from last month’s 5.8....
Semiconductor sales dip in June
The Semiconductor Industry Association said worldwide sales of semiconductors totaled $24.7 billion for June, a 1.5% decrease from May and a 0.5% decrease from a year ago. Sales in the second quarter were down 2% from the previous quarter.
“Despite this month’s modest contraction in...
Apple, Microsoft and RIM group buys Nortel patents for $4.5B
Nortel Networks Corp. (NRTLQ) announced that its subsidiaries including Nortel Networks Limited (NNL), Nortel Networks Inc. and Nortel Networks U.K. Limited have completed a successful and final auction of all of Nortel's remaining patents and patent applications. After an auction that spanned days, a...
Plano firms Interphase Corp. and Diodes Inc. expand products, reach
Texas companies Interphase Corp. (INPH) and Diodes Inc. (DIOD) both made recent announcements concerning expansion. The Plano-based companies are both involved in the wireless market in networking and components, respectively.
Interphase Corp., a developer of hardware networking products, announced that the...
Microelectronics sees spectacular growth thanks to smartphones and data consumption
Microelectronics is still seeing impressive growth according to the latest figures from Strategy Analytics.“The strong revenue reports which Strategy Analytics saw in April show continued compound semiconductor market expansion,” said Eric Higham, director of the Strategy Analytics GaAs and Compound Semiconductor Technologies Service.“Growth in...
Hot rumor: Intel interested in buying Texas Instruments’ OMAP unit?
Intel is considering buying Texas Instruments’ OMAP division according to a highly placed executive at another fabless semiconductor firm.
Semiconductor space continues to ramp up
Telecom jobs nationwide continued to inch down, while jobs in the semiconductor space continued to ramp up in April, a consistency seen throughout 2011.Nationwide, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 244,000 positions in April, but the unemployment rate inched up to 9%, the U.S. Bureau...
Analyst Angle: Israeli start-ups rake in the cash
Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Analyst Angle. We've collected a group of the industry's leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry.2010 was a good year for start-ups seeking money. More than $1.2 billion (13% higher...
Analyst Angle: Israeli venture capital – Plenty of money, not enough exits
Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Analyst Angle. We've collected a group of the industry's leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry.Forget about chutzpah … the tech sector in Israel has two advantages – a skilled...
Texas Instruments buys National Semiconductor
Texas Instruments Inc. (TI) (NYSE: TXN) has announced it will be buying National Semiconductor (NYSE: NSM) for $25 per share in an all-cash transaction of about $6.5 billion. The two firms have signed “a definitive agreement.”The move combines TI with its previously largest...
Japan earthquake suspends supply of raw material used in 25 percent of global chip production—memory segment hit hard
iSupply | March 21, 2011 | Len Jelinek
The Japanese earthquake has resulted in the suspension of one-quarter of the global production of silicon wafers used to make semiconductors. Manufacturing operations have stopped at Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. Ltd.’s Shirakawa facility. MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. also...
IBM, Samsung to license each others’ patent portfolios
Wall Street Journal | February 8, 2011 | Matt Jarzemsky
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and Samsung Electronics Co. (005930.SE, SSNHY) have agreed to license their respective patent portfolios to each other.
The companies said the sharing of their intellectual property "reinforces their ability to provide...
IBM, Samsung to license each others' patent portfolios
Wall Street Journal | February 8, 2011 | Matt Jarzemsky
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and Samsung Electronics Co. (005930.SE, SSNHY) have agreed to license their respective patent portfolios to each other.
The companies said the sharing of their intellectual property "reinforces their ability to provide...
Reader Forum: 21st Century, Silicon Valley's second decade
With the end of 2010, I've been reflecting on the past decade and all that has changed. It seems impossible to me that 2000 was over 10 years ago; not in that “Wow where has the time gone?” sense but rather in a...
Reader Forum: 21st Century Silicon Valley’s second decade
With the end of 2010, I’ve been reflecting on the past decade and all that has changed. It seems impossible to me that 2000 was over 10 years ago; not in that “Wow where has the time gone?” sense but rather in a “I...
Reader Forum: 21st Century Silicon Valley’s second decade
With the end of 2010, I’ve been reflecting on the past decade and all that has changed. It seems impossible to me that 2000 was over 10 years ago; not in that “Wow where has the time gone?” sense but rather in a “I...
Gemalto continues push in NFC space
Gemalto, the world's largest SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card maker, is taking steps to expand the mobile contactless payment space – and get its technology an even broader footprint. The company announced a strategic licensing agreement with NXP Semiconductors N.V., (NXPI) as well as...
@ TWS: VC firms interested in disruptive tech, security functions
AUSTIN, Texas--Venture capitalists speaking at the Texas Wireless Summit held here earlier this week said they would be interested in funding businesses that drive innovation, including technology that can better enable handoffs between different network technologies, mobile security solutions, multi-radio interference and video optimization....
IBM says new chip technology offers huge boost to wireless devices and networks
A whopping 6 trillion text messages were sent by mobile users across the planet last year, but computing powerhouse IBM Corp. believes that's small fry, having just developed chip technology that can purportedly pump out those 6 trillion text messages in just 10 seconds.The...