PC Sales in 2009

354,000,000 portable computers and desktop pc’s were sold in 2009

32/28Nm Design Platform For Embedded Announced

A new design platform has been announced that will enable the design and manufacture of advanced mobile and embedded devices.

This platform has come about through technology collaboration between the following 5 industry giants: ARM, IBM, Samsung, GLOBAL FOUNDRIES and Synopsys. The new platform builds upon a manufacturing collaboration that was already in place between IBM, Samsung and GLOBAL FOUNDRIES, and they called it the “Common Platform”. The Common Platform model features 28nm, 32nm, 45nm, 65nm and 90nm process technologies in domains of high-k metal gating, 193nm immersion lithography and ultra-low-k dielectrics.

The idea behind the Common Platform model was to enable customers of chips to source their designs to multiple 300mm foundries without having to make major changes in their design work. To the same Common Platform, the other companies have contributed with their unique expertise.

ARM has contributed low-power processor architecture and optimized suite of physical IP, including standard cells, power management kit, memory compilers and interface IP. Synopsys has contributed Lynx Design System and DesignWare portfolio of interface IP, which reduce risk and overall design costs.

The collaboration has already come out with 10 test chips in 32 and 28nm HKMG process technology, validating the platform in all its dimensions.

The new platform is expected to be a standard for manufacturing 28nm low-powered HKMG semiconductors for the next generation of mobile devices and embedded machines.

Read more about the latest disruptive technology developed through collaboration, here.

iPhone 4 From Apple

Cupertino, California-headquartered Apple Inc has released the next version of its revolutionary phone-cum-camera-cum-internet device, the iPhone. iPhone 4 will be available for sale from June 24 at USD 199 for a 16GB model and USD 299 for a 32GB model in the countries of US, UK, France, Germany and Japan.

The new device can be purchased online and offline from AT&T and Apple web and retail stores, as well as from Best Buy and Wal-Mart stores. Connectivity will be provided by AT&T through a new two-year contract.

The phone comes with new features. The first is “FaceTime”, which is Apple’s version of video calling, so the iPhone user can talk with and also see people at the other end of the conversation. The second feature is called “Retina display”, which gives the content on the phone’s display screen a sharper look and feel at 960X640 pixels.

Aside of this, the phone comes with 5 megapixel autofocus camera, facility to record and edit HD video.

On the software front, iPhone 4 is loaded with iOS4, the latest version of Apple’s operating system that supports multitasking, so that a user can run multiple apps simultaneously and at the same time preserve battery life.

The device is touted as the slimmest smartphone at 9.3 millimeter thickness.

Read more about the latest introduction of a revolutionary new phone-cum-camera device, here.

Netflix To Deploy Microsoft PlayReady Technology In Operations

Los Gatos, California-headquartered Netflix Inc has announced that it will deploy two of Microsoft’s technologies – PlayReady and PIFF (protected interoperable file format) in new Netflix-ready devices and applications. These devices will be launched in the market in the coming few months of 2010.

The advantage of this deployment is that subscribers of Netflix can watch Netflix streams over a still wider range of devices such as Internet TVs, Blu-ray disc players, home theater systems, video game consoles and the like.

PlayReady is Microsoft’s content protection technology that is flexible, reliable and scalable. Netflix has already been using this technology since 2007 when it had launched its ready-device program. Netflix has incorporated the DRM into its architecture from the very beginning, and the latest announcement apparently is another step that tightens the coupling.

PlayReady is especially useful for service providers, mobile and network operators and device manufacturers who are engaged in the business of providing digital entertainment services across devices and software applications, such as videos, games and images.

Read more about how the world’s largest subscription service for DVDs is making use of the world’s largest IT company’s technologies to further its marketing reach.

iPad Sells Faster Than Hot Cakes

It was very obviously an idea whose time had come. The iPhone was proving to be too small to do any serious work other than reading mails and chatting, and the netbook was still a tad bulky. There was a definite niche between the two form factors. And that is where the iPad came in.

And boy! Has this new gadget taken the geek world by storm! Across the spectrum, almost everybody is going for the device. Since its launch on April 3, it is slightly over 60 days, and the sale of iPad has topped 2 million already. The purchase is not happening within a particular domain or culture, but is very universal and has touched every level of society everywhere. The company has been working very hard to fulfill customer orders pouring in from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. Come July, and the company will open new sales fronts in a lot more countries.

Very soon, the 1.5 pound thin-plate-like-device will become as ubiquitous as the cellular phone. Perhaps the netbook’s run has come to an end?

Read more about how this new device has captured people’s hearts and minds in all the countries across the continents in so short a time, here.

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