chips

High-speed Internet is the technology that's had the greatest impact on society and the one that people say they can't live without, according to survey results from Zogby Interactive.

Released this week, Zogby's study found that 28 percent of those polled tagged broadband Internet as the one technology they can't live without; e-mail came in second at 18 percent. Facebook was lower on the overall list at only 3 percent, but among the younger crowd (18-24), 15 percent said they can't live without Facebook.

Looking at technologies that have had the greatest impact on society … Read more

Australian researchers are getting ready to conduct human trials next year of a smart chip, which, when implanted in the spinal cord, can measure and stop pain signals from traveling to the brain.

The technology, targeting chronic pain, was developed in Sydney by National ICT Australia (NICTA) over the last two years by experts in biomedical, electrical, and mechanical engineering, as well as textile technology and software applications.

The smart chip is put into a biocompatible device, which is a little smaller than the head of a match. A couple of the devices are sewn into a 1.22mm-wide micro-lead … Read more

IBM has achieved a major milestone in making the dream of silicon photonics, in which computer chips send signals of light rather than electricity, into reality.

At the semiconductor industry conference Semicon in Tokyo today, IBM photonics leader Yurii Vlasov is detailing how IBM has created a chip that integrates many of the necessary elements of optical communication between a processor and other devices. Significantly, the design uses conventional rather than exotic chip manufacturing technology, involves very small components, and essentially permits a fiber-optic communication line to be attached directly to a processor.

And more significantly, it's headed for … Read more

This year's Cleantech Open 2010 Business Competition winner, announced last week, is Puralytics, a company developing photochemical water purification products.

Since 2006, the Cleantech Open has offered a venue for competition among green tech start-up companies looking for funding. Winning alumni of the contest include Cool Earth Solar, Green Volts, and Micromidas.

This year's winner, Puralytics, is an Oregon-based start-up that uses natural sunlight or LED lighting as the catalysts to remove pathogens, petrochemicals, and pharmaceuticals from waste water. Its processes under development have applications for both industrial manufacturing facilities and small rural communities. Puralytics will receive $250,… Read more

Links from Wednesday's episode of Loaded:

Google launches Boutiques.com for highfalutin shoppers

Google creates Hotspot to help you discover your friends' favorite haunts

Hulu Plus is now $2 per month cheaper and available on the Roku set-top box

Yahoo launches Amazon Studios goes live in a quest for the next big thing in movies

Yahoo Clues lets you track trending search topics

The Emergency Broadcast System is coming to your cell phone

Intel wants to put computer chips in football helmets to measure head trauma

A New York University professor is going to live-stream his life from a … Read more

Intel is using its technology know-how to pave the way for safer football helmets with the goal of reducing serious injuries on the field.

Working with football equipment designer Riddell and a host of universities, the chipmaker is tapping into its own supercomputers and workstations to simulate the effects of a football collision on the brain. Data from those simulations will then be used to help design safer football helmets.

Intel recently demoed the simulation at the SC10 conference in New Orleans. Simulated collisions on the football field are processed by groups of Intel Xeon-based workstations linked together. Using real-time … Read more

Intel will launch its next-generation Sandy Bridge chip line on January 5 at the Consumer Electronics Show, the chipmaker confirmed today.

The launch will take place at Venetion Hotel in Las Vegas. Mooly Eden, Intel vice president and general manager for PC Client Group, along with "surprise guests, will showcase the world's fastest processor with many new technologies Intel has built into our chips to enhance the 'visual life,'" Intel said in a statement.

Sandy Bridge will--for the first time in mainstream laptops--put Intel graphics technology directly onto the central processing unit (CPU).

With Intel's current … Read more

Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices has joined the MeeGo open-source Linux project where it will contribute its expertise to drive the adoption of MeeGo in tablets, smartphones, and other mobile devices.

Unveiled earlier this year, MeeGo is an open-source operating system created through a merger of Intel's Moblin OS and Nokia's Maemo software. The MeeGo OS is designed to run on mobile gadgets, including Netbooks, tablets and phones, and on embedded devices, such as connected TVs and in-car systems.

The MeeGo project is run by the Linux Foundation, a nonprofit group whose goal is to push the growth and … Read more

Sluggish demand took a bite out of chip sales and shipments toward the end of the summer, says a new study out today from research firm IDC.

For the third quarter, worldwide microprocessor sales rose only 2.5 percent from the second quarter, while shipments inched up just 2.1 percent from the prior quarter. On a year-over-year basis, results were healthier, with chip sales rising 24.1 percent and shipments 8.6 percent over the third quarter of 2009.

Typically, global chip sales jump around 9 percent from the second to the third quarter, while shipments increase 10.6 … Read more