Intel has unveiled 2GHz versions of its Atom processor at this week's Developers Forum in Beijing, China, targeting the parts at handheld Internet notebooks and mini laptops.

With the global automotive market declining, the manufacturers of automotive MEMS also saw their revenues go south. Market researcher iSuppli predicts massive and disruptive changes in the value chain.

WRS Materials LLC has acquired Isonics Semiconductor Products for an undisclosed price.

A new MRAM startup has emerged and entered the race to commercialize spin transfer torque RAM (STT-RAM or STT-MRAM) technology.

Rambus Inc. has acquired a number of undisclosed patents from Inapac Technology Inc., a provider of system-in-package (SiP) technology.

Battery life is not keeping pace with the needs of next-generation cellphones, according to a study released Tuesday.

Critics charge that the current fad for customers of Synopsys to consent to public announcements saying they've selected the No. 1 EDA vendor as their primary supplier of design tools is bad for EDA, stifling innovation and hurting overall tool pricing. But are these complaints about a competitor legitimate, or just sour grapes?

An IBM researcher says Moore's Law is running out of gas.

Memory chip specialist Micron Technology plans to raise $450 million through the sale of common stock and convertible senior notes.

NOR flash vendor Spansion Inc. claimed victory in its patent litigation suits against South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

An automotive industry watcher said it expects the global auto market to bottom out by the end of 2009, with a recovery expected to begin in the first half of 2010.

Raising the bar in photomask inspection, KLA-Tencor Corp. has rolled out a new tool for use in 32-nm mask production.

Amid a major downturn, the silicon foundry industry is expected to see a big and welcomed rally in the second quarter--and perhaps beyond. But the real question is clear: Will the momentum last?

Researchers at the universities of Paris and Stuttgart (Germany) with colleagues from diamond supermaterials specialist Element Six (Ascot, England) have claimed significant progress in the development of synthetic diamond suitable for the realization of quantum computers capable of operating at room temperature.

The Intel-led Server Systems Infrastructure Forum has released a suite of draft specifications for x86-based server blade systems as part of its expanding charter and organization.

Are the electronics and semiconductor markets recovering? Not yet, according to market research firm Gartner, which said recent positive industry events are characteristic of a demand reset.

A few weeks ago, Moshe Gavrielov, president and chief executive officer of FPGA vendor Xilinx Inc. (San Jose, Calif.), said it was all over: Venture capital would not return to the semiconductor industry--not even after the current recession--because of the heady sums required to launch a chip startup and the more than five-year lag before VC investors see a return.