Toshiba, Sandisk slashing NAND memory production due to poor demand

We are seeing NAND flash memory in all sorts of products these days and the high demand for the cheap memory saw Toshiba and SanDisk enter a joint venture to build an expanded production facility in Japan.  This facility was scheduled to go operational this year to allow the two giant flash memory makers to ramp up to meet demands.

Then came the failing economy and accompanying price freefalls that has many memory makers running in the red.  This climate has worsened to the point that Toshiba and SanDisk are cutting back their production of NAND memory, Toshiba by a tremendous 30%.  Both companies are claiming that demand has fallen dramatically resulting in over-supply which has caused memory prices to tank. 

''Recession in the global economy and the slowdown in consumer spending are having a significant impact on demand for semiconductors,'' according to Toshiba in a statement. ''This is particularly notable in NAND flash memories, where decreased demand for applications such as memory cards and MP3 players has generated excess supply.''

What is unclear is how this global flash memory situation will impact Apple.  Apple is one of the largest consumers of NAND flash memory in iPods and iPhones and it's not clear how they would be impacted if a major consolidation of memory makers were to take place next year as some experts predict.

(eeTimes via engadget)

Palm at CES: super-Nova or white dwarf?

There's quite the buzz over a Business Week story today on Palm and their new Nova operating system. Word is that Palm will uncover Nova in a few short weeks at CES; we've got our invites, so we'll see what the "new-ness" is all about. Based on a couple of excerpts from the BW article, I've got a few insights as to where this is heading but that's speculation on my part. It's far to early to say if the new Palm platform will shine like a super-nova or peter-out like a like a white dwarf.

Ericsson broadband modules work with Intel notebook kill-switch via SMS

Is everyone suddenly losing their notebooks? Last week, we heard about Laptop Cop which can track and access a stolen or misplace laptop. Today, it's Ericsson and their Mobile Broadband Modules that work with Intel's Anti-Theft PC Protection. The modules provide standard wireless broadband for data using HSPA technology so they can also receive an SMS text message in the case of a lost lappy. The message will then trigger the Intel Anti-Theft functionality and can render the hardware pretty much useless by locking it up. It won't get you notebook back, but that priceless data is kept from prying eyes. You did remember to store the data somewhere else for backup purposes, right?

Quanta demonstrates "look ma, no hands!" touch capabilities for Windows 7

Although it's just an early beta, Windows 7 shows much promise and desirable features. One of this is the integrated support for multi-touch control and some hardware manufacturers are wasting no time in taking advantage of touch. Even when there's no smudgy touching at all. Take Quanta, for example.

DigiTimes says that at WinHEC Taipei, the company demonstrated their magical, mystical Optical Touch technology. Instead of using a touchscreen display to accept touch commands, Optical Touch relies on two web-cams to watch your roving palms and then interpret the commands right into the operating system. The cameras are placed on the top corners of a display and support standard cursor movement as well as image rotation and screen zooming. Someone use two fingers to pinch me when I can wave my hand across the screen on a Sunday afternoon and have a pint automatically appear while I watch football.

Curious to get a glimpse of how this might work? Check the Microsoft Research efforts on video that we highlighted in the not-so-distant past for a similar implementation. Still no beer though.

New Super Talent UltraDrive SSDs offer super speeds

We've seen a bevy of Solid State Disk flash modules in the news lately, but Super Talent continues to attack the standard hard drive form-factors and interfaces. Today, the company announced two new UltraDrive products, the LE and ME. Aside from one letter in the product name, there's a few major differences between the two as the LE is targeted for the enterprise while the ME is meant for consumer devices. Here's a run-down to illustrate the difference:

• The UltraDrive LE uses SLC, or Single Level Cell technology, is available in capacities up to 128GB and offers maximum read and write speeds of 230MBps and 170MBps, respectively.
• The UltraDrive ME uses less expensive MLC or Multi Level Cell technology, runs up to 256GB in capacity and offers slightly slower maximum read and write speeds of 200MBps and 160 MBps, respectively.

Both drives appear the same on the outside as they're 2.5-inches SATA-II units. Even with the more volatile MLC technology, Super Talent says that the consumer drive should last for years. They estimate that the 128GB drive will endure 50GB of writing & erasing per day for over 70 years. No word on pricing or availability yet, but we'll update when we hear back from Super Talent.

Update: Super Talent expects availability in next month although they're non-committal on pricing due to the quickly changing flash memory market pricing. They are currently estimating the street price of the 256GB UltraDrive ME at $899.

Firefox 3.1 beta 2 arrives with private browsing

The latest and greatest beta version of Firefox 3.1 hit the web today, although Mozilla hasn't made an official announcement just yet. Without a published change-log, it's early to say what goodies are under the covers, however, BetaNews says that the Private Browsing mode is there as expected. Using this mode, all of your browsing history, cookies, passwords and other cached items stealthily disappear into the ether when you close down your browser. The biggest reason I'm excited for the final version Firefox 3.1 is the faster JavaScript engine, aka: TraceMonkey. It's still there in the beta and when I turned it on in the prior version, I immediately noticed some speed improvements on certain sites. I still like those tab previews too. I liked the tab previews, but they're gone in this version.

If you can't wait for the official Mozilla word on beta 2, you can get the Windows version here or the Mac version here.

Update: From my cursory look at the about:config settings, it appears that TraceMonkey is enabled by default. The whole browser feels extremely zippy. I didn't want to remove Firefox 3 on my Mac, so I simply renamed it from "Firefox" to "Firefox 3" in my Applications folder as the beta install wanted to overwrite the current production build. For ease of use, I then renamed the new, beta instance "Firefox 3.1b2". I can't run both at the same time, but at least I have both installed in my Applications folder. Also, the Release Notes in the browser menu point to: http://en-us.www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/3.1b2/releasenotes/ Nothing there at the moment.

First Qualcomm Snapdragon netbook concept is a tablet

What do we have here? Looks like some of the first pics I've seen of a netbook based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipset have appeared at Silicon.com. While the eight portraits likely represent more concept design rather than actual product, I like what I see. For starters, Snapdragon is an ARM-based processor which lends hope towards near-instant-on, low power consumption and supports both Linux and Windows Mobile.

It's a safe bet that WinMo would likely be paired with Snapdragon for a more pocketable MID device; Linux makes more sense for the netbook type devices. In fact, based on the pics of the netbook user interface design, it sure looks like RedFlag's Midinux to me.

The real question is: when we will see these devices and will they use the newer 45nm Snapdragon chipset that Qualcomm introduced last month? The new QSD8672 offer a dual core CPU with clock speeds up to 1.5GHz. They also offer the following features that are competitive to Intel's Atom, which is currently the netbook CPU of choice:

• Wireless 3G /HSPA+ support for 28Mbps down and 11Mbps up
• Integrated GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi
• 1080p video recording & playback
• MediaFLO, DVB-H, and IDSB-T mobile television
• Display resolutions up to WSXGA or 1440x900

These features would trump the currently existing Snapdragon platform which clocks in at 1GHz and offers less display resolution. Still, that chipset could round out a smaller MID feature-set nicely.

Taking a closer look at the netbook, you can see that it has a full keyboard and doesn't look as deep as other netbooks on the market. This design appears to forgo the space of a trackpad but does have a touchscreen. Even better: it swivels like a convertible tablet. Given that handwriting recognition apps in Linux fall behind those in Windows XP Tablet Edition and Vista, this may be more of a touchscreen solution over a full inking solution.

Qualcomm says that Snapdragon devices like this should run between four and six hours on a single charge and my gut says that's with a standard sized battery. If correct, that means you can get extended battery run-time performance in a standard, lighter package. Here's hoping we see some more details in a few weeks at CES. Thanks for the tip, Allan! 

Windows Vista SP2 beta opens to the public

Earlier in the week, we said that Vista SP2 beta would go public "in the very near-future" and the future is now. Perhaps that's overly-dramatic, but the beta is open to the public and ready for downloading. You can pull down a 388MB file directly from Microsoft's download page or you can get information to let Windows Update do it's thing right here.

If you missed the potential hotfix and update list, you can see all the gory details on TechNet. As I mentioned a few days ago, installation was quick and painless. In my case, the entire process took under 15 minutes. Just remember that this is a beta and therefore pre-release code.

Windows Vista SP2 beta arriving with a slew of fixes

Although the initial release of Microsoft Windows Vista caused headaches for some, I've found that Service Pack 1 has made life much more enjoyable from a computing perspective. That's why I have high hopes for SP2, not to mention Windows 7. We'll have to wait for to-be-determined date to see Windows 7 launch, but SP2 for Vista is in the works now. In fact, the first beta just became available to some folks today and I'm downloading it now. Expect to see a public beta in the very near-future; we'll tell you when.

While I'm downloading, you can read the highlighted points and features in the beta version, which of course, are subject to change...

Update: for my configuration, the installation package was 301MB in size. Vista said that the update could take up to an hour, but on the Lenovo X301, it was completed in around 12 minutes.

Update #2: I've removed the feature list in the build by request and due to what appears to be a misunderstanding in communications.

Your next computer may come in Chrome

Ever wonder how Microsoft vaulted Internet Explorer to numero uno browser market share? There's likely several lesser reasons, but the one of the main ones is working deals with OEMs to prominently display that little blue "e" and make it the default browser. In fact, it was so tightly integrated with Windows at one point, that only the judiciary system could get it "unmerged" from Windows.

Turns out that Google might consider a similar approach says OStatic. The search giant isn't ruling out deals with OEMs to get Google's Chrome browser pre-installed on computers, and knowing how Google has worked in the past, they'd likely pay a pretty penny for the privilege. As it stands today, around 88% of Mozilla's revenue comes from Google payments that ensure Google is the default browser search engine in Firefox. Google can afford to make those payments because the cost is offset, and possibly exceeded, by the advertising revenues created in this situation.

On a related note: I just checked our last 30-day history of browsers used to view the site. I suspected they would have fallen off dramatically and be around 1%. Surprise, surprise: Chrome was used for 4.78% of all visits here in the last month, even more than Opera. Maybe Google should hold off on spending money to spread Chrome?