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Book Review – iWoz

Book Review – iWoz
by Daniel Payne on 03-12-2012 at 11:01 am

I bought my first personal computer in 1979, it was a Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I with just 16KB of RAM, a BW monitor and casette tape for storage. The reason that I chose the Radio Shack over the Apple II was that it cost less, so I was always interested in Apple products and the engineers behind them since the early days. It was pure delight… Read More


Elpida and Japan Inc

Elpida and Japan Inc
by Paul McLellan on 03-09-2012 at 2:17 pm

Last week, the Japanese memory company Elpida filed for bankruptcy. There is worldwide overcapacity in DRAM and somebody had to go. Its strength and the weakness was that it was much more outward facing than most of the Japanese semiconductor and electronic industry. So it had to compete globally and wasn’t up to the task.… Read More


Computer Architecture and the Wall

Computer Architecture and the Wall
by Paul McLellan on 02-22-2012 at 1:08 pm

There is a new edition of Hennessy and Patterson’s book Computer Architecture: A Quantative Approach out. The 5th edition.

There is lots of fascinating stuff in it but what is especially interesting to those of us who are not actually computer architects, is the big picture stuff about what they choose to cover. Previous … Read More


Will the last 8051 please turn out the lights?

Will the last 8051 please turn out the lights?
by Don Dingee on 02-21-2012 at 2:38 pm

The words no engineer or supply chain professional wants to hear: end-of-life. It’s a reality of the semiconductor business, however – even the cheapest parts reach the point, eventually, where producing and selling them becomes inefficient. Is it reasonable that a microcontroller architecture outlive the people… Read More


DARPA looking for new base stations in new BYOD game

DARPA looking for new base stations in new BYOD game
by Don Dingee on 02-15-2012 at 1:20 pm

BYOD – bring your own device – has swept enterprises like a firestorm as CEOs wonder why they can’t use their shiny new iPad on the corporate network, and send their IT guys and gals off to make it happen. Under the right conditions and informed use, BYOD can be a productivity boom and not mess security and privacy up too badly for many … Read More


AMD Financials are Puzzling!?!?!?!

AMD Financials are Puzzling!?!?!?!
by Daniel Nenni on 02-12-2012 at 4:00 pm

As I mentioned in my previous blog, AMD and GlobalFoundries,it is rather difficult to interpret AMD’s financial results. At the end of the quarterly earnings conference calls analysts get to ask questions. It is the comedy relief portion of the call usually, so I blog this today to better prepare these so called analysts Read More


The Semiconductor Landscape In A Few Years?

The Semiconductor Landscape In A Few Years?
by Daniel Nenni on 01-25-2012 at 9:48 am

Looking at the huge gap between the revenue of semiconductor design and manufacturing (~$300B) and that of EDA tools, services and silicon IP combined (~6B) inspired me to look more deeply into the overall arena of semiconductors in today’s context and possibly decipher some trends which should emerge in near future. Although… Read More


Apple blows away their numbers

Apple blows away their numbers
by Paul McLellan on 01-24-2012 at 11:38 pm

Well it looks like everyone (including me) was way too conservative about Apple’s iPhone sales last quarter. Analysts were expecting Apple to sell 30M iPhones and 13M iPads. In fact they sold 37M iPhones, almost a quarter more than expected, and over 15M iPads. In fact Apple sold more iPads than HP, the largest PC manufacturer,… Read More


Apple’s Blowout Earnings: Welcome to 2012!

Apple’s Blowout Earnings: Welcome to 2012!
by Ed McKernan on 01-24-2012 at 11:00 pm

Apple’s blowout earnings for the quarter that just ended has huge ramifications for the entire semiconductor industry as suppliers align much closer to them or figure out how to minimize the damage that is to come through the rest of 2012. The immediate implication is that Wall St. will likely toss to the sidelines any semiconductor… Read More