Much as been written of how much was left out of the iPad introduced last week. Why would anybody want to get something less than what it could be?

iBored, iSuckered by the iPad

Steve Jobs must be hallucinating. The iPad, he said, is the “most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price."

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Print on steroids

Reports have been ricocheting against computer screens speculating about the technology and the content of Apple's "Kindle breaker", its version of the Amazon.com tablet PC.

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A nano education

Education in nanotechnologies at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering of the University at Albany is more than on a nano scale.

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Not easy going green

Like Kermit the Frog said, it's not easy being green. The U.S. Department of Energy is on the warpath for green fakers—and they are finding them.

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War on the back of the snail

There used to be a time when snails were known for what they are -- a rich man's slugs.

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Microchip's acquisition of ZeroG is a smart move

I've been critical in the past towards Microchip and some of their business moves (Atmel, MIPS, etc.). But this time, with the acquisition of ZeroG Wireless, I believe they've made a great move. ZeroG is a provider of embedded WiFi, and where better to embed that WiFi but inside one of Microchip's microcontrollers (MCUs). Over time, and I'm guessing it'll be a very short time, that WiFi will show up in many of the MCUs that span the popular 8-, 16-, and 32-bit families that Microchip is known for.

I know there's been a lot of collaboration between the two companies in the recent past, so integrating ZeroG into Microchip should not be that difficult. The hardware side of that integration is pretty straightforward. In the first phase, it's a matter of fitting all the appropriate blocks onto the die. The second phase will be to optimize that die for power and cost.

The part that's a little tougher is to integrate the software between the two companies. It's not as easy as running Company's A's stack on top of Company B's firmware, although that could work in the short term. To really give customers a solution that makes sense, a complete software integration is needed. And I have no doubt that Microchip can provide that. Continue reading "Microchip's acquisition of ZeroG is a smart move"

Broadcom drives to Detroit

I predict Broadcom will start an automotive electronics group in 2010. It likely already has one operating underneath the public's radar.

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Cool hybrid computer at CES

Lenovo has come up with what it claims is the industry’s first hybrid PC notebook with a detachable screen.

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DRAM maker fights drug traffic

Rexchip Electronics Corp., a DRAM manufacturer in Taiwan, has gone to the dogs. Or, is it battling drug traffic and selling DRAM at the same time? Rexchip was established in 2006, as a 300-mm DRAM manufacturing joint venture between Taiwan's Powerchip Semiconductor Corp. and Japan's Elpida Memory Inc. Today, Rexchip is a subsidiary of Elpida.

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