David Needle

UPDATED: PALO ALTO, CALIF. — HP’s Labs unveiled a tiny, wireless chip today that could make audio and visual information as well as basic text information far more broadly accessible. HP’s “Memory Spot” research team has developed a memory device, based on CMOS   integrated circuit design, that includes a built-in antenna and 10 megabits-per-second […]

Apple’s iPod gets far more buzz, but it’s “boring” wireless connectivity that many computer users find more indispensable. At least that’s one of the results of a survey conducted by Kelton Research and sponsored by the Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA) trade association. About eight of 10 surveyed (of the 551 total nationwide) said they would rather […]

Intel said today it plans to cut about a thousand managers from various offices worldwide in a bid to boost efficiency. No details were forthcoming on where the cuts would be made or in what specific areas. The chip giant has been in the midst of a thorough, 90-day review ordered by CEO Paul Otellini […]

Reporter’s Notebook: SILICON VALLEY, Calif. — When you cover technology for a living, the summer is usually an excellent time to take advantage of a slower news cycle. You can hone your skills by learning new technology, spend more time developing sources and work on longer lead time, bigger impact stories. Sure. But let’s pretend […]

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – For Sun Microsystems , the unveiling of three major products here on Tuesday at the Palace Hotel was a huge relief. Sun’s earlier first effort in the fast-growing blade  server market failed, and the company sat out the second phase of that market’s growth while HP, IBM and others cleaned up. […]

Do you believe good things come in threes? Sun must, because it’s managed to get three major product rollouts into one blockbuster announcement. Tuesday, Sun Microsystems will unveil a blade system, a high-end server and a storage system at a big media event at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. All powered by AMD’s Opteron […]

Freescale Semiconductor is the first company to offer an advanced memory technology for commercial use. The Austin, Texas, chip maker said today that it’s the first to start volume production of 4 megabit Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory (MRAM) . IBM first developed the technology in the 1970s. Although more expensive than more traditional SDRAM and […]

Is Microsoft set to sing a different tune when it comes to music players? Published reports indicate Microsoft is developing a music player of its own to compete directly with Apple’s best-selling iPod. If Microsoft did make such a move, it would be a major shift in direction from its current strategy of only supporting […]

AMD today released estimates of second quarter earnings that included both good and bad news. The feisty chipmaker said it expects sales to be approximately $1.215 billion, or 52 percent higher for the upcoming quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The bad news? Sales are down nine percent from the previous quarter; […]

IT budgets as a percentage of revenue are growing at the fastest rate since the start of the build-up to Y2K  in 1997. That’s one of the findings in a report released this week by the research firm Computer Economics, based in Irvine, Calif. The “IT Spending, Staffing and Technology Trends” study, now in its […]

Flying promises to get more entertaining, or at least tolerable. Panasonic Avionics announced its new eXpress Portable Media Player is being offered to airlines, with Mexicana Airlines the first airline to implement the system and another half dozen airlines expected to begin offering it this year. The Windows-enabled portable devices use Microsoft’s Digital Rights Management […]

The other shoe fell today for Apple in the growing stock options controversy. Last week, Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple  said that its own internal investigation uncovered irregularities in stock options granted to executives between 1997 to 2001. Today, the company said it’s been notified of derivative lawsuits filed against it in the United States District Court […]