Paul McClellan and I are at the SEMI Industry Strategy Symposium this week in Half Moon Bay. Honestly there is too much to blog about here so I will have to pick the topics most interesting to me. The full capacity audience is also impressive. SEMI provides a list of attendees on their website which reads like “Who’s Who” of the semiconductor… Read More
Intel’s Diversity Goals Explained!
One of the more interesting announcements by Intel at CES was surprisingly not about technology, it was about a $300M Investing in Diversity and Inclusion initiative. According to Intel CEO Brian Krzanich “A fully diverse and inclusive workplace is fundamental to our ability to innovate and deliver business results.” After … Read More
Curie to Bring New Dimensions in Wearables!
In the past year, seeing the kinds of wearables doing what Smartphones can do, I wasn’t much excited about wearables; however after looking at what Intelhas demonstrated in CES 2015, a button sized SoC called Curie, I get to believe that it will be a game changer in wearables and would let Intel do what it couldn’t do with Smartphone… Read More
Makers get access to Intel RealSense
One of the great devices in maker lore is the Polaroid 6500 Series Sonar Ranging Module. It was originally part of the autofocus system for their SX-70 cameras circa 1978, long before through-the-lens optical autofocus sensors were perfected. Back then, people couldn’t focus. Dr. Land thought he was teaching people to compose… Read More
Tizen to connect Samsung’s world – Can it set new equations?
The USA has very good culture of demonstrating new innovations in every industry by way of conferences, exhibitions, workshops, large meetings and so on. The Consumer Electronic Show (CES) is one of its kinds which exhibit new electronic products that tell about which way the industry is heading. Electronic products are final… Read More
Ion Implant – Its Not Just for Doping Anymore
At the heart of fabricating integrated circuits is the ability to selectively change the electrical properties of the semiconductor substrate. This key to fabrication is accomplished by doping – introducing atoms locally into the semiconductor substrate.
In the early days of the semiconductor industry doping was accomplished… Read More
Intel: 2015 and Beyond?
Russ Fischer of Seeking Alpha fame just posted another article on Intel which, for a change, I agree wholeheartedly with except of course the part where he comments on the fabless semiconductor ecosystem, something he knows nothing about. But other than that it is definitely worth a read because as investments go Intel is certainly… Read More
Apples Versus Zebras
I have seen a couple of posts comparing the density of the Apple A8 to the Intel Core M and concluding that the TSMC 20nm process is denser than the Intel 14nm process. In one of the threads one of the posters likened this to comparing apples to oranges, I agree except I think it is even worse than that, I think it is more like comparing apples… Read More
Update: Who will manufacture the Apple A9?
Last August I presented possible scenarios for the manufacturing of the Apple A9 processor. Quite a bit has changed since then so I think it is worth revisiting. There has also been quite a lot of misinformation in the press which is now pretty much a daily thing. Attending the IEDM conference last month really was a stark difference… Read More
Is the Internet of Things just a toy?
The Internet of Things (IoT) is arguably the most hyped concept since the pre-crash dot-com euphoria. You may recall some of the phrases from back then such as “the new economy,” “new paradigm,” “get large or get lost,” “consumer-driven navigation,” “tailored web experience,” “it’s different now,” among countless other media… Read More
Rapidus, IBM, and the Billion-Dollar Silicon Sovereignty Bet