UMC goes solo on 65-nm process development

Samsung´s Syncmasters propagate: two new models

Intel´s 3D memory production threatened

Photo of the day: 128 MB Inno3D Tornado GeForce FX 5900 in our videolab

BB-G500DXL — Matsushita´s server on Turbolinux

UMC goes solo on 65-nm process development

After the premature conclusion of an R&D arrangement with Infineon, foundry United Microelectronics Corp plans to go it alone in process development for the 65-nanometer process node.

Now the Infineon process development pact has ended at 90nm, instead of continuing onward to 65nm, as the two companies agreed to do in July, 2002. Infineon said it will also team up with its old partner IBM, which is working with Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd to develop 90nm, 65nm and possibly 45nm processes.

In the case of the IBM partnership, for 130-nm development, the foundry is still hurting from time lost on exploring the more tricky spin-on SiLK low-k dielectric instead of a more conservative CVD-based approach.

It will still take some time to determine if UMC can make up the ground it lost during 130-nm development. The foundry says it is ahead of rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. in 90-nm development, and reinforced this assertion with an announcement this week that it had wrapped up 90-nm R&D with Infineon, producing chips with "functional complex circuitry." But analysts who watch UMC closely are skeptical.

Samsung´s Syncmasters propagate: two new models

Here are some specs:

Intel´s 3D memory production threatened

As they report at Silicon Strategies, Norwegian company Opticom ASA, developing polymer 3D memory chips for Intel says it still can’t resolve technological problems resulted 9 months shipment schedule shift.

Problems with thin polymer film were discovered last quarter. Nowadays company is in talks with Intel on changing of manufacturing and license agreement. Meantime there are some more unpleasant news for Intel: Coatue carrying similar development now belongs to AMD.

Photo of the day: 128 MB Inno3D Tornado GeForce FX 5900 in our videolab

Guys at our videolab told me they’re playing with 128 MB Inno3D Tornado GeForce FX 5900 by InnoVISION Multimedia. The card is equipped with analogue and digital videoouts, supports UltraShadow, nView technologies.

The other features of the card are: 256-bit memory interface, integrated NTSC/PAL TV-coder, hardware MPEG-2-decoder, 400 MHz RAMDAC supporting resolution 2048 õ 1536 @ 75 Hz.

Bundled software includes Comanche 4, commercial version of FutureMark 3DMark03, software player InterVideo WinDVD and several game demos: Delta Force-Black Hawk Down, Ghost Recon, Red Faction, Vietcong, Serious Sam-The Second Encounter.

BB-G500DXL — Matsushita´s server on Turbolinux

Japanese Matsushita announced new server BB-G500DXL, powered by Turbolinux 8 Server. The device will come into the market on August, 25.

It is equipped with 533 MHz VIA Eden ESP 5000 (128 KB L1 cache, 64 KB L2 cache), 128 MB DDR 266 SDRAM, 20 GB HDD. Other interfaces are 10/100BAWE-TX x 1, 10/100BASE-TX x 4, USB 2.0 x 4, D-Sub, RS232C.

Dimensions – 274 x 207 x 75 mm, weight is about 1,7 kg.

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