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Intel Delays 10nm CPU Production

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Intel Delays 10nm CPU Production

The Intel Q1 2018 financial report bears good news for shareholders, but the news is not so good for customers-- Chipzilla is delaying mass production of 10nm processors from 2018 to 2019.

“We are shipping [10-nm chips] in low volume and yields are improving, but the rate of improvement is slower than we anticipated," CEO Bryan Krzanich says. "As a result, volume production is moving from the second half of 2018 into 2019. We understand the yield issues and have defined improvements for them, but they will take time to implement and qualify.”

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PlayStation Drives Sony Business

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PlayStation Drives Sony Business

The financial year 2017 (ending 31 March 2018) has been a good one for Sony, as the company records profits reaching $6.7 billion from revenues worth $78.1bn-- in good part thanks to the success of the PlayStation 4.

PS4 sales for fiscal 2017 total 19 million units, a decline from the 20m sold in fiscal 2016. However, one has to keep in mind the PS4 is fast approaching its 5th birthday, and such sales still outnumber those of other game consoles. The Nintendo Switch comes closest, with 17.79m units sold since March 2017. As for lifetime sales, the global PS4 install base totals 76m, far beyond the 30-50m lifetime sales estimate of Xbox hardware sales (Microsoft does not detail actual Xbox numbers in its financial reports).

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Intel Gives Up on Wearables

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Intel Gives Up on Wearables

Intel is out of the wearable device game as it shutters the New Devices Group (NDG), the division working on promising hardware such as the Vaunt smart glasses.

The story was first reported by The Information, who says the decision can lead in layoffs of the 200 employees forming the NDG. Further confirmation comes through an Intel statement to CNBC.

"Intel is continuously working on new technologies and experiences," a Chipzilla email to CNBC reads. "Not all of these develop into a product we choose to take to market. The Superlight project is a great example where Intel developed truly differentiated, consumer augmented reality glasses. We are going to take a disciplined approach as we keep inventing and exploring new technologies, which will sometimes require tough choices when market dynamics don't support further investment."

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Meyerson Leaves Microsoft as it Splits Windows and Devices Group

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Meyerson Leaves Microsoft as it Splits Windows and Devices Group

The latest Microsoft corporate shakeup brings an end to a long-standing division-- the Windows and Devices Group (WDG), home of Windows, Surface and HoloLens products, is no more, leading to the departure of head Terry Myerson.

To replace WDG Microsoft formed "Experiences & Devices," a team taking care of Windows client releases, first party apps, Office 365 and Surface hardware. Leading is former Office exec Rajesh Jha. That said, some WDG members are going to the "Cloud + AI" group under Scott Guthrie, which also gets some Microsfot AI + Research group staff.

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Bloomberg: Apple to Make Processors for Future Macs

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Bloomberg: Apple to Make Processors for Future Macs

Apple plans to drop Intel chips from Macs starting from around 2020, Bloomberg reports-- with the replacement being Apple-developed processors, part of an initiative dubbed "Kalamata."

According to anonymous "people familiar with the plans," Kalamata is a strategy to make all Apple devices (such as Macs, iPhones and iPads) work more similarly and seamlessly together, leading to a more tightly integrated Apple ecosystem. The initiative is reportedly already approved, and probably involves a "multi-step transition."

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Foxconn Buys Belkin

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Foxconn Buys Belkin

Taiwan's Foxconn plans to buy into the American CE industry as it pays $866 million for Belkin International, owner of the Linksys, Phyn and Wemo brands, through subsidiary Foxconn Interconnect Technology (FIT).

California-based Belkin is best known as a maker of consumer networking and smart home hardware. Post-acquisition it becomes a Foxconn subsidiary, with all brands preserved. Founder and CEO Chet Pipkin remains head of the subsidiary, and Foxconn says it will increase Belkin R&D spending to help it grow further.

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GoPro Licenses Camera Tech

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GoPro Licenses Camera Tech

Ailing former action camera heavyweight GoPro hopes to solve at least part of its financial woes by licensing its technology to Jabil, a manufacturing and engineering services provider.

The global multi-year deal allows Jabil to put GoPro lenses and sensors in 3rd party, non-GoPro-branded devices, a first for the company. Jabil has been working with GoPro since 2014, when it started manufacturing the Hero4 camera. It is a big manufacturing firm, with 90 facilities across 23 countries.

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IBM Claims "World's Smallest Computer"

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IBM Claims

The IBM Think 2018 conference is all about the latest from Big Blue, and one such project comes in a very small package-- a computer the size of a grain of rock salt packing the power of a 1990 x86 chip.

The extra-tiny (1 x 1mm!) computer is part of the "5 in 5," a collection of inventions and technologies IBM Research says "could change our lives in the next 5 years." It consists of a few hundred thousand transistors, an unspecified amount of RAM, a solar cell and an LED-based communications module. IBM adds it should be very cheap to produce, at around 10c apiece.

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Trump Stops Broadcom's Qualcomm Bid!

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Trump Stops Broadcom's Qualcomm Bid!

The Donald Trump presidency flexes its muscle as it blocks the proposed $140 billion acquisition of Qualcomm by Singapore-based Broadcom following concerns will give China the edge in 5G technology development.

The presidential order cites "credible evidence" the acquisition "might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the US." Thus, as the US government orders "the Purchaser and Qualcomm shall immediately and permanently abandon the proposed takeover."

Should it have gone through, the Broadcomm-Qualcomm merger would have been the largest technology deal in history, and created the 3rd biggest chipmaker in the world, following Intel and Samsung. A united Broadcomm-Qualcomm would also control around 65% of the bill-of-materials going into smartphones. The acquisition was technically not wanted by the Qualcomm board, but Broadcom could have simply bought up the shareholders, leading to what on knows as a "hostile takeover."

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