Mannerisms
Chips & Humans

More Flights For ARM CEO.

CEOs of publicly quoted companies need many qualities but one of the key ones is the ability to fly.

“Simon’s 44 and Warren’s 51 so he can do a lot more long haul flights,” Sir Robin Saxby, founding CEO of ARM, told me the day after it was…

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Tax The Rich, says Morris Chang

Taiwan must take steps to make itself competitive with South Korea, Morris Chang,CEO of TSMC, told a meeting in Taiwan reported by the Focus Taiwan news channel.

Taiwan should tax the rich more, said Chang, pointing out that the average tax rate for rich people in Taiwan is 7…

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Bye Bye National

You might have said “National Semiconductor” for the last time. On Wednesday, TI’s acquisition of National cleared regulatory review and today the deal completes. If previous practice for TI acquisitions is followed the acquiree’s name will be dropped.

Founded in 1959 by a group of Sperry Rand engineers…

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Chip Restores Sight

One of the most extraordinary potentials of microelectronics is its promise to replicate the human senses – sight, smell, touch and hearing.

 

Earlier this month a totally blind person had an IC implanted in his eye which allowed him to make out objects and even correct the spelling of his name…

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Brain Implants In 10-20 Years, says Imec.

Brain implants? Sounds a bit Sci-Fi. But IMEC’s Wolfgang Eberle, manager of the bioelectronics group, reckons they could be 10-20 years away from reality.

“I believe that one day, 10-20 years from now, we will be able to implant electronics in the brain,” says Eberle, “smart…

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Android BAN

A BAN (body area network) created by an Android phone app can monitor heart, brain and muscle activity and transmit the information to a remote medical centre.

IMEC, which developed the app says: “With this interface, we are the first to demonstrate a complete BAN connected to a mobile phone…

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Good Old Asians

Beautiful Harmony Semiconductor Inc – sounds catchy doesn’t it – but, according to TechEye, this is the name which Marvell will use in China.

 

‘Beautiful Harmony’ is supposed to encapsulate the essence of the win-win business philosophy which Marvell  aspires to espouse.   It makes a change from all those engineerologisms…

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Bloody Chips

Get in car. Turn on ignition. Engine turns over but doesn’t fire. Try a few times. Get out spare charger battery. Same thing.. Call the rescue guy.

Rescue guy baffled. Fails for 40 minutes, Gets out the trailer bar on his van and drags my car to the nearest…

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