microchips

16 Stories

'Made in China' May Have High-Tech Spying Implications

Bloomberg reports Beijing implants tiny devices in electronics destined for US

(Newser) - Beijing seems to have figured out a relatively simple way to spy on government contractors and some of the biggest businesses in the US: Implant tiny microchips in the tons of electronic equipment being assembled in China and destined for America. A story by Bloomberg Businessweek reports that the US...

Very Bad News for Almost All Computers

Meltdown, Spectre will be hard to fix, researchers say

(Newser) - Security experts worldwide are melting down over Meltdown and feeling haunted by Spectre. Those are the names security researchers have given two massive, newly discovered security flaws that affect central processing units at the chip level, meaning nearly all computers are at risk no matter what kind of operating system...

Tech Company Is First in US to Chip Employees
Company Is Implanting
Chips in Employees' Hands
in case you missed it
Jul 29, 2017 3:14 PM CDT

Company Is Implanting Chips in Employees' Hands

Opt-in chip program lets workers pay for food, breeze past security

(Newser) - In a move that seems straight out of a sci-fi novel, a Wisconsin tech company is offering to implant tiny smart chips into the hands of its employees. The rice-sized microchips will take care of menial tasks with the wave of a hand at the micro market company Three Square...

Owner Reunited With Dog That Vanished 7 Years Ago

'She's my heart...That's why I never gave up'

(Newser) - A Tennessee resident reunited with her dog that disappeared seven years ago from her old home in Ohio says she can't even describe how happy she was to see her pet. Mishka was 3 years old when she vanished from the backyard of owner Paula Graff's home. But...

IBM Makes Smallest Microchip Yet

It has four times the capacity of today's chips

(Newser) - IBM says it has achieved a breakthrough in making computer chips even smaller, creating a test version of the world's first semiconductor that shrinks down the circuitry by overcoming "one of the grand challenges" of the tech industry. Today's servers are powered by microprocessors that use 22-nanometer...

Office Inserting Chips in Workers' Skin

Swedish office block offers employees high-tech access

(Newser) - Some Swedish workers can now enter their building without a key and make purchases at the office cafe sans card—with a chip implanted in their hand, the BBC reports. Epicenter, a new Swedish office block, is offering employees a miniscule RFID (radio-frequency identification) chip to provide various kinds of...

Scientists Create Super-Strong Micro 'Muscle'

Vanadium dioxide-based device is super fast, and the size of a microchip

(Newser) - A team of government scientists has created a microchip-sized robotic muscle capable of throwing objects 50 times heavier than itself a distance five times longer than its length in less than 60 milliseconds. The key to this wonder device is a material called vanadium dioxide, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory...

Wal-Mart Will Track Your Undies
 Wal-Mart Will Track Your Undies 
Jul 23, 2010 5:57 AM CDT

Wal-Mart Will Track Your Undies

Privacy advocates slam garment chips

(Newser) - Wal-Mart's plans to insert a tracking chip inside individual pairs of jeans and underwear has privacy advocates worried. The retail giant says the RFID chips will make inventory control much more efficient, but privacy groups warn that the chips—which can be removed, but not turned off—could be misused...

Computers Will Stop Getting Faster —in 75 Years

(Newser) - Even Moore's Law has its limit. That's the much-cited dictum from Intel co-founder Gordon Moore that computer speed doubles every two years with ever-smaller and more powerful transistors. Two physicists crunched some numbers and found that the theory—which has held true for 40 years now—must eventually reach a...

Chill Chips May Take Heat Off Computers

Tiny cooling system could eliminate bulkier fans, enable new leaps

(Newser) - Researchers have developed a tiny refrigeration system to keep computers cool, an invention that will do away with the clunky fan currently used—and potentially lead to much smaller and faster devices, Computerworld reports. The team at Purdue University expects the technology to be ready for installation within 2 years.

Chip Makers Tussle for Gadget Niche
Chip Makers Tussle for Gadget Niche
Jun 2, 2008 10:16 AM CDT

Chip Makers Tussle for Gadget Niche

Intel, competitors stake out mobile internet device market

(Newser) - Following the lead of Intel, builders of high-tech microchips are shifting their focus to portable gadgets dubbed MIDs—mobile internet devices that are bigger than cell phones but smaller than computers. industry leaders like Samsung and Nvidia are dashing to release the more powerful chips that boost battery life and...

Intel Trims Q1 Profit Projections
Intel Trims
Q1 Profit Projections
Mar 4, 2008 7:12 AM CST

Intel Trims Q1 Profit Projections

An oversupply of flash memory chips is continuing to drive down prices

(Newser) - Falling prices for flash memory prompted chipmaker Intel Corp to trim its first quarter gross-profit projection slightly yesterday, driving share prices down nearly 3% in after-hours trading, reports Bloomberg. Analysts said oversupply for NAND flash chips—used in cameras, music devices, and mini-storage devices—would likely persist into the third...

Chip Trades Precision for Power Usage

Sometimes, argues one engineer, close really is good enough

(Newser) - Smaller, faster and more precise are the goals of engineers who design microchips, those tiny, power-hungry processors at the core of modern electronics. But a Rice University professor is going against the grain, trading a little bit of precision for a major savings in power, and potentially leading a revolution...

Supercomputing Technology Landing in Your Lap(top)

Hardware getting smaller as software tries to catch up

(Newser) - 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...

Intel: Honey, I Shrunk the Processor

Chip shrinks nearly a third to minuscule 45 nanometer process

(Newser) - Intel is rolling out a line of processors today that breaks brave new ground in micro-sizing —the chips are the first ever to be mass-produced with a  45 nanometer process, nearly a third smaller than today's 65 nanometer technology. The development gives the company an edge over rival Advanced...

Intel Opens Huge Plant for Tiny Chips

$3 billion Arizona facility produces miniscule processors

(Newser) - Production begins today at Intel's new $3-billion plant in Arizona, where the tech giant will produce new chips only 45 nanometers wide—a third smaller than current versions. The design of the new Penryn chip incorporates a transistor that scientists celebrated as the most significant breakthrough in microchips in decades....

16 Stories