Author Archive

Is This Really the Post-PC Era?

Friday, March 11th, 2011

The latest introduction of iPad2 and the rise of the tablet PCs has prompted once again the proclamation that we are now in the Post-PC Era.  It seems we have been living in a Post-PC Era for about the last 15 years.  Every time there is an innovation in consumer electronics it is hailed as [...]

Read full post...

Intel’s Thunderbolt: Will It Shock The Computing Market?

Monday, February 28th, 2011

Intel has released the Thunderbolt technology (Feb. 24, 2011) with Apple as the first OEM to implement it.  Originally code named Light Peak, this latest technology is designed for faster media transfer and simplified connections between devices.
Thunderbolt combines both optical and electrical technology.  It consists of controllers, one at each end (PC and peripheral device), [...]

Read full post...

New Strategy at AMD?

Thursday, February 10th, 2011

There have been several key changes at the senior level at AMD. On Feb. 8, 2011, two senior employees stepped down. Bob Rivet, vice president and chief operations and administrative officer, and Marty Seyer, senior vice president of corporate strategy, have left the company. One month ago CEO Dirk Meyer was replaced [...]

Read full post...

Intel Cougar Point Chipset Delayed But Not As Bad As It Looks

Monday, January 31st, 2011

Today Intel announced there was a design flaw with its Cougar Point chipset. This is the series 6 chipset for the next generation Sandy Bridge based desktop and notebook PCs. The Sandy Bridge MPUs are not affected at all.
The problem was discovered in an Intel reliability lab. While testing for accelerated life [...]

Read full post...

The Nissan Leaf, Getting Charged Up For The Future!

Thursday, December 9th, 2010

Automotive is an important market for the semiconductor industry.  In turn the semiconductor industry has enabled car manufacturers to make major improvements in safety and performance.  Even though the number of vehicles manufactured grows by low single digits the amount of electronics per vehicle keeps increasing.  In 2008 and 2009 the automotive industry suffered severe [...]

Read full post...

Intel Developers Forum 2010 in Review

Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010

IDF ended last week and the message as always is that Intel has the technology for the future today.  The company continues to deliver ever increasing performance and features at lower price and that it delivers on its promises on time.
Intel is also trying to expand its reach beyond the traditional computing market.  Computing is [...]

Read full post...

The latest news from IDF about Tablet PCs and Netbooks

Tuesday, September 14th, 2010

September 14, 2010
Right now I am sitting in a technical session, “How to Build an Intel Atom Processor Based Tablet PC or Innovative Netbook”.  Looking around the Intel Developer’s Forum it is clear that netbooks are still a strong and viable market for Intel.  I just wrote a Semico Spin challenging the view that tablet [...]

Read full post...

Will Tablet PCs Eat Up The Market?

Tuesday, September 14th, 2010

It has been reported lately that tablet PCs, namely Apple iPads, are having a significant impact on notebooks and netbooks.  Are the tablet PCs cannibalizing netbooks and low-cost notebooks?
It should be noted that what is cited is consumer sales in the US.  Let us keep in mind that the US represents less than half of [...]

Read full post...

Building up the Communications Infrastructure to Keep Pace with Consumer Demand

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

All of the interesting gizmos get the attention of the mainstream media and even the industry press.  The various smart phones, IPTV, iPads and other devices that connect to the internet, especially via wireless, generate a great deal of excitement and sales.
However, these devices need an infrastructure to support them. As more devices come into [...]

Read full post...

Apple iPad in big demand, can Apple keep up?

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

Apple reported in its last financial results that as of June 26, 2010 it has shipped 3.27 million iPads.  This is the first quarter of availability for the iPad.  It is shipping at the rate of about 1 million units per month.  However, keep in mind that there was a large amount of pre-orders prior [...]

Read full post...