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Started by S Goldstein; Last updated Feb 28, 08 9:42 PM CST by D Lim | View history

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Hardware

From microchips to laptops to game consoles to massively parallel supercomputers, it's the silicon, plastic, metal, and more that makes up technology

Stories

Stories 61 - 80 of 84

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December 2007
- New Plexi-Like DVDs to Hold 1TB of Data
  
  ComputerWorld | Dec 21, 07 11:58 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - An Israeli company will unveil, at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, a DVD made of a plexiglass-like polymer that can hold half a terabyte of data. Mempile adds that within a few years its DVDs will be up to one terabyte—enough to hold 250,000 high-resolution photos or MP3s, or about 40 HD movies or 115 DVD movies, reports ComputerWorld . Current HD DVDs hold 50GB maximum. More »
- Intel Rolls Out Minuscule Flash Drive
  
  MIT Technology Review | Dec 18, 07 10:30 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - 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. More »
- Programmers Can't Keep Up With Ever-Faster Chips
  
  New York Times | Dec 17, 07 3:15 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Fast new microprocessor chips are outstripping the computer industry's ability to build software to take advantage of them. Some industry planners believe that software designed for new chips with many processors could make certain computing tasks 100 times faster. The problem: computer scientists haven't found an easy way to program such chips, reports the New York Times . More »
- Could the Silicon Chip Max Out?
  
  Associated Press | Dec 16, 07 10:23 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - 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. More »
- Supercomputing Technology Landing in Your Lap(top)
  
  BusinessWeek | Dec 13, 07 8:17 AM CST
  
  (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 in a bid to develop new applications. More »
- Toshiba to Make Solid-State PC Disks
  
  Reuters | Dec 10, 07 3:05 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Toshiba will start making flash-based solid-state drives for laptops, the company said Monday. The Japanese memory chip maker is trying to create more demand for flash chips, reports Reuters . Solid-state drives, which offer a faster boot-up than hard disk drives, are used in portable devices, but aren't mainstream yet in PCs due to their high cost. More »
- CompUSA to Close After Xmas
  
  Associated Press | Dec 8, 07 6:28 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - CompUSA has been sold to a restructuring company and will be ending retail operations after the holidays, AP reports. The troubled electronics retailer, bought by Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim in 1999, closed more than half its outlets in the spring after repeated turnaround efforts failed. Gordon Brothers Group will close the remaining 103 stores after holiday closing sales. More »
- Breakthrough Speeds Up, Shrinks Chips
  
  Wall Street Journal | Dec 6, 07 4:11 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - IBM scientists have reached a “significant milestone” in chip technology, using optical signals to speed up and shrink the largest multicore processors. The breakthrough controls light pulses with a device called a wave-guide, a wire-like structure on the chip that communicates among processors; hybrid electronic-optic chips could reduce refrigerator-sized supercomputers to the size of laptops within five years, the Journal reports. More »
- Semiconductor Sales Rise While Prices Fall
  
  Wall Street Journal | Dec 3, 07 1:52 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Semiconductor sales in October went up 5% worldwide from last year, thanks to strong growth in the Asian-Pacific region and Japan, and an industry association forecasts 3.8% growth for the year, reports the Wall Street Journal . Meanwhile prices have dropped rapidly -- "Consumers are reaping huge benefits from continued rapid price attrition," said the association president. More »
November 2007
- Investors Worry Dell's Road to Recovery is Too Rocky
  
  Austin American-Statesman | Nov 30, 07 11:50 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Computer-maker Dell’s rollercoaster ride isn’t over and it’s left investors woozy. Despite increasing net income 27% in third quarter earnings released yesterday, Dell shares slipped nearly 10% in after hours trading, giving back nearly everything the stock gained leading up to the report and underlining CEO Michael Dell’s statement: “There’s more work to be done,” reports the Austin American-Statesman. More »
- Trapping the Colors of the Fiber Rainbow
  
  Economist | Nov 18, 07 10:41 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - One of the immutable laws of physics is that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, about 186,000 miles per second. But The Economist reports new research shows it may be possible to slow down light to a virtual halt, and even store it. If that could be achieved, the stored light could revolutionize data transfers in computer systems and networks. More »
- China Still World's eWaste Dump
  
  Associated Press | Nov 18, 07 1:13 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Discarded electronic have to go somewhere, and usually somewhere means China. For years environmentalists have decried China’s officially illegal but unofficially flourishing e-waste trade, but thousands of Chinese peasants are still melting wires and motherboards for metal, making scant spending money from greedy entrepreneurs. The results are undrinkable groundwater, lead-filled rivers and rampant air pollution, the AP found. More »
- Chip Maker AMD Gets Emirate Cash
  
  Wall Street Journal | Nov 16, 07 4:39 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - 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 . More »
- Intel: Honey, I Shrunk the Processor
  
  San Jose Mercury News | Nov 12, 07 5:07 AM CST
  
  (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 Micro Devices, which just last month released 65nm chips. More »
October 2007
- Intel Opens Huge Plant for Tiny Chips
  
  Reuters | Oct 25, 07 9:00 AM CDT
  
  (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. The new production facility should help to expand the already yawning gap between Intel and its nearest competitor, AMD. More »
- Microchips Earning Maxi Profits
  
  Wall Street Journal | Oct 17, 07 4:25 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Silicon Valley giant Intel, whose microchips are an integral part of most computers, reported a 43% jump in net income to $1.86 billion for the third quarter—and forecast another increase in the current quarter. The company is firing on all cylinders, with investors driving up the stock 26% so far this year, the Wall Street Journal reports. More »
- Nobel Hard Drive Tech Revived
  
  Wall Street Journal | Oct 15, 07 12:29 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Hard disk space is about to quadruple, says Hitachi, thanks to this year’s Nobel Prize-winning physicists. The company today announced it had developed a new technology for passing data between the disk and the disk-reading heads which shrinks the heads and allow for disk storage of up to 4 terabytes of data. It marks a return to tech pioneered by the Nobel winners. More »
- Researchers Seek a Mind-Reading Computer
  
  ComputerWorld | Oct 10, 07 5:51 PM CDT