Investors relieved despite chip maker's big loss
New York Times Jan 18, 08 11:48 AM CST
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Advanced Micro Devices pleased investors with its fourth-quarter financial report yesterday, as it neared profitability despite a big loss that included its acquisition of graphics chip maker ATI Technologies. AMD execs said they expect to break even early in the second half of 2008, reports the New York Times . AMD shares jumped 35 cents to $6.69 on the news in after-hours trading, and to $6.97 by midday today.
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Chipmaker cautious
on 2008 as global PC market cools
Wall Street Journal Jan 16, 08 8:12 AM CST
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Intel's net income leaped 51% in the fourth quarter—the No. 1 chipmaker's largest increase in 14 quarters—to $2.27 billion. But the glow was dimmed by what looks to be a cooling PC market, leading to lower projections for 2008, and sending Intel’s share price down 14% in after-hours trading, reports the Wall Street Journal.
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Chip-maker's effort to squeeze competition is focus of probes
Reuters Jan 10, 08 2:09 PM CST
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With proceedings already underway against Intel Corp. in Europe and Asia, New York's attorney general today began formally investigating whether the world's largest computer chip-maker has broken state and federal antitrust laws, Reuters reports. “Our investigation is focused on determining whether Intel has improperly used monopoly power to exclude competitors”—chiefly rival AMD—“or stifle innovation,” Andrew Cuomo said.
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Chip maker requests hearing
Ars Technica Jan 9, 08 7:36 AM CST
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Intel has filed a response to the European Union antitrust objections, reports Ars Technica . While the contents have been kept under wraps, Intel did confirm that it is seeking a hearing before the European Commission. Intel has been under investigation since 2005 for practices including offering heavy discounts to retailers that only sell Intel chips.
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MARKETS
Dow off 256.54, zooms past 13K on sluggish growth report
Wall Street Journal Jan 4, 08 3:37 PM CST
(Newser)
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The worst employment-growth report since August 2003 sent the markets into a nosedive today, with the Dow ending the day off 256.54 to 12,800.18. Only 18,000 non-farm jobs were added in December, the Wall Street Journal reports, and the unemployment rate rose to 5.0%, its highest level in 2 years. The Nasdaq plummeted 98.03 to 2,504.65; the S&P lost 35.53 to 1,411.63.
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Feud over rival computer sales
Wall Street Journal Jan 4, 08 7:51 AM CST
(Newser)
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Intel has dropped out of its uneasy partnership with the "One Laptop Per Child" global nonprofit program, designed to put inexpensive computers in the hands of millions of children in developing countries. Intel has been feuding with project founder Nicholas Negroponte, an MIT professor on leave who developed the inexpensive XO computer that's the program's first machine, reports the Wall Street Journal.
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4 gig chip weighs less than a drop of water
MIT Technology Review Dec 18, 07 10:30 AM CST
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Intel has unveiled a new flash-memory hard drive smaller than a fingertip and lighter than a drop of water; the 2- or 4-gig Z-P140 is a play to compete with Samsung in storage technology for handheld devices. Conventional magnetic hard drives aren’t small, rugged, or efficient enough to power smartphones, but the new drive could eventually bring the power of a desktop to a handheld.
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The transistor revolutionized the world,
but it's starting to show its age
Associated Press Dec 16, 07 10:23 AM CST
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It’s been 60 years since three Bell Lab scientists invented the transistor, launching an electronics revolution that changed the way we live. Engineers have miniaturized the powerful on-off switches—eventually integrated onto silicon chips—about as far as they can. Now, companies are pouring billions of dollars into research aimed at finding other ways to speed up the devices, reports the AP.
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Hardware getting smaller as software tries to catch up
BusinessWeek Dec 13, 07 8:17 AM CST
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Leaps forward in chip design are bringing supercomputing technology to personal computers and corporate data centers , Business Week writes. Hardware makers are coming up with more ways to cram colossal amounts of computing power into small spaces, but software is lagging a bit behind. Microsoft is building a brain trust in a bid to develop new applications.
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MARKETS
Sunny economic stats and hope for a rate cut give stocks a boost
Wall Street Journal Dec 5, 07 3:32 PM CST
(Newser)
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Stocks took off today in response to cheerful economic data and rising hopes for a Dec. 11 rate cut from the Fed. Government reports showed an increase in productivity and an unexpected jump in hiring, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow was up 196.23 to 13,444.96, the Nasdaq up 46.53 to 2,666.36, and the S&P up 22.22 to 1,485.01.
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Some people miss them... for a little while
San Jose Mercury News Dec 4, 07 5:32 PM CST
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Silicon Valley giants like Intel, Cisco, and Sun, are experimenting with ditching cubicles to improve productivity. Execs at the companies say that the typical office gray maze isn't ideal anymore for the modern, connected workplace. "Collaboration has been shown to spark innovation and speed product to market," says a designer at an office architectural firm.
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Visionary project lowering expectations as for-profit competitors muscle in
Wall Street Journal Nov 25, 07 2:38 PM CST
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One Laptop Per Child started with a monstrously ambitious goal – build laptops for $100 each, sell them by the millions to the developing world. But since then, cost overruns and attacks from for-profit competitors have ravaged demand, the Wall Street Journal reports. A mere 300,000 are being produced in this month’s inaugural manufacturing run, as developing countries withdraw informal commitments.
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It can't match Intel, but it's a vast improvement, and aimed at a broader market
Wall Street Journal Nov 19, 07 8:18 AM CST
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Advanced Micro Devices introduces its long-anticipated Spider desktop chip set today, including a new microprocessor, a graphics processor and chips to link system components that will give gamers access to ultrarealistic images and increase computing performance. But it still can’t match Intel’s latest chip offering, reports the Wall Street Journal. One gamer says AMD chips are "worlds away" from matching Intel's performance.
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Simple error might
give hackers private data, expert warns
New York Times Nov 17, 07 11:57 AM CST
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A small glitch in a computer chip—hypothetical so far—could allow hackers to steal private information from millions of PCs, a renowned cryptographer warns colleagues. Adi Shamir, an Israeli professor who helped design software guarding e-commerce transactions, wrote that a simple math mistake could cause a computer’s security software to be “trivially broken,” the New York Times reports.
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Abu Dhabi buys 8.1% stake in Intel rival for $622 million
Wall Street Journal Nov 16, 07 4:39 PM CST
(Newser)
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The government of Abu Dhabi, through its investment arm, bought an 8.1% stake in Advanced Micro Devices for $622 million. It will receive 49 million newly-issued AMD shares, but won't get any board representation. The computer chip maker desperately needs the cash after a $396 million loss during the third quarter, reports the Wall Street Journal .
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