Thin-client systems set to boom Tom Foremski Thin-client systems are set for a boom according to US market researchers which predict strong growth for the stripped down computers over the next few years. Thin clients were meant to challenge expensive PCs but falling PC prices caused the thin client market to fizzle. But boom times are ahead says Zona with ...

A new group of companies being formed to compete with Rambus RDRAM devices Tom Foremski A new group of companies is being formed to push ahead with a double data rate -2 (DDR-2) SDRAM memory chip architecture which will compete with Rambus RDRAM devices. According to US sources, the group called Advanced Memory International will consist of memory chip makers ...

National Semiconductor has left the Sematech research consortium Tom Foremski National Semiconductor revealed that it has left the Sematech research consortium due to financial reasons. National was a founding member of Sematech and its departure signals a less important role for Sematech. National said it left Sematech at the end of last year but chose not to reveal the departure ...

Sega to cut 1,000 jobs Tom Foremski Japanese video game console maker Sega says that it is cutting 1,000 jobs or about 25 per cent of its workforce as it struggles with boosting sales of its Dreamcast system. Sega said that the cuts are necessary as part of a restructuring to help it focus on growing sales of Dreamcast. The ...

Internet-factor not working for UK manufacturers Melanie Reynolds The UK manufacturing industry is falling behind its rivals by failing to fully exploit the Internet as a business tool. So claims a report by the Institute for Manufacturing, IBM and the DTI. Whereas 94 per cent of companies have Internet access and 77 per cent have a Web site, only 33 ...

Digital TV manufacturing jobs in Wales Melanie Reynolds The growing market for digital television will bring 120 new jobs to Grundig’s set-top box factory in Llantrisant, south Wales over the next year. Koen van Driel, chairman of Grundig, said Llantrisant would be the company’s base for the manufacture of digital TV products. “Both the exceptional flexibility of the workforce and ...

Want some Japanese technology? – ask the DTI David Manners Anyone wanting to license Japanese technology can do it through a DTI scheme called International Technology Promoters (ITP). Recession in Japan has forced numerous local technology companies to look for revenues by licensing their technology portfolios. The ITP is looking for technologies, products and processes in Japan which the UK ...

DTI fails to reassure Tyneside region over Siemens-fab money David Manners Siemens says it is prepared to pay back the grants it received for its chip factory in North Tyneside, but the Department of Trade and Industry is refusing to make the money exclusively available to the North Tyneside area. “The money will go back into a general pot which ...

Intel pushes further into network market Tom Foremski Intel has continued with its push into network markets by taking a 2.9 per cent stake in Silicon Valley based Proxim which develops home networking products. The deal is valued at about $10.4m and includes an agreement for the two companies to collaborate on developing new home networking products. Market projections call ...

IBM awarded $33m supercomputer contract Tom Foremski IBM says it will use its latest Power 3 microprocessor to build a massive parallel processing supercomputer for the US Department of Energy (DOE) capable of three trillion calculations per second. The $33m supercomputer will be built in several phases and will eventually have 2,048 Power3 microprocessors. It will be used in DOE’s ...