Jeff Burt

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is following Intel in investing in chip-equipment maker ASML, a move that is aimed at accelerating the development of faster, smaller and more energy-efficient chips that leverage such technologies as 450-millimeter tools and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. TSMC executives announced Aug. 5 that their company had invested about $1.4 billion for […]

Passwords or PINs Smartphones and tablets come with the security option of requiring users to enter passwords or PINs before being able to use the device. This is particularly important in case the device is stolen or lost. Enterprises should enforce a policy of using passwords or PINs, according to Bit9. Re-entering Password or PIN […]

Nimble Storage officials are offering hybrid scale-out storage solutions that are flexible and affordable, necessary requirements for enterprises that are adopting virtualization in the data center and trying to get their arms around big data. Other storage vendors are offering their own scale-to-fit solutions, but officials with Nimble said their strategy lets businesses more finely […]

The former head of Intel€™s mobility efforts will now be the top marketing official at Qualcomm, a chip maker whose ARM-based Snapdragon processors are found in smartphones and tablets and could expand into notebooks. Anand Chandrasekher, a 25-year veteran at Intel who until last year was one of the company€™s senior vice presidents and general […]

Hewlett-Packard€™s ill-fated TouchPad tablet may had only a brief shining moment as a webOS device, but Google€™s Android operating system is breathing new life into the system. Since its quick demise as a webOS tablet last year, the TouchPad found new attention from Android users after first Android 2.3 Gingerbread and then Android 4.0 Ice […]

McAfee and parent company Intel are teaming up to create an app that will help Facebook users to better protect photos they put on their pages, ensuring that they can be seen only by specially selected friends. Essentially, the app, called McAfee Social Protection, will act as a digital rights management (DRM) tool for Facebook […]

Cisco Systems not only will not be hurt by the rise of network virtualization and software-defined networks, but it will be a leader in those areas, according to a company executive. Refuting the idea that network virtualization and SDNs lessen the need for the complex and expensive switches and routers that bring in billions of […]

Cisco Systems is augmenting its aggressive cloud strategy with the addition of Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff to the board of directors. The 47-year-old cloud pioneer, who founded Salesforce.com in 1999, was one of two new members announced by Cisco Aug. 2 to the now 14-member board. The other was Kristina Johnson, CEO of Enduring Hydro, […]

Hewlett-Packard executives, fresh off the win in their legal dispute with Oracle over Intel€™s Itanium processor, now must make some decisions about the future of their high-end server platforms and their reliance on the controversial chip. A California judge ruled Aug. 1 that a legal settlement negotiated by the two companies in 2010 was a […]

Embattled Hewlett-Packard scored a victory over Oracle Aug. 1 when a California judge ruled that the software company must continue supporting Intel€™s Itanium processor platform as long as HP continues to sell Itanium-based systems. In his ruling, Judge James P. Kleinberg of the Santa Clara County Superior Court agreed with HP executives who had argued […]

England’s readiness to host the 2012 Olympic Games might not be the only thing being called into question. Security technology vendor McAfee is suggesting that U.K. residents aren€™t taking the threat of cyber-crimes seriously enough. Such major sporting events tend to attract a variety of scams and thefts, from bogus ticket sales to theft of […]

Advanced Micro Devices, which saw one of its own chip designers to Apple earlier in July, now is bringing a former Apple processor expert into the fold. AMD announced Aug. 1 that Jim Keller, who most recently was a director of the platform architecture group at Apple that concentrated on mobile processors for such devices […]