Forget Trendy Coffee Beans — Now Seaweed Innovation Gets Techie Money

As they say in Silicon Valley: Move fast and break things — though, in this case, not the chips.

News Byte

Apple Tapped Samsung to Build Its New A7 Chip

Much as it would probably like to, Apple hasn’t yet been able to shift the manufacturing of the A7 processor that powers its new iPhone 5s away from Samsung. The research firm Chipworks confirmed Friday that the chip is indeed being fabricated by Apple’s nemesis. Evidently nothing much came of that rumored deal with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, so Apple must continue to rely on Samsung for important components like these despite the nasty rivalry between the two companies.

Apple Confirms Acquisition of Passif Semiconductor

The company’s low-power communication chips could play a role in the development of future wearable devices like the rumored iWatch.

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Two Views From Samsung About its “Octa” Chip

At the Consumer Electronics Show in January, Samsung described an unusual eight-brained processor as a major step above competing chips. Now that U.S. buyers will be late to get it, the company is playing down the differences.

NFC: What You Need to Know

You’re probably hearing “NFC” more often, as it appears in more mobile phones. Here’s what you need to know about Near Field Communication.

Viral Video: Will Qualcomm’s Paul Jacobs Bring Adorkable “Born Mobile” Toddler to CES?

The massive annual tech gathering truly goes mobile in 2013.

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AMD-SeaMicro Deal Shows Strange Server Bedfellows

Companies that need to catch up to competitors sometimes try what seem like odd ideas. The deal by chip maker Advanced Micro Devices to buy server maker SeaMicro seems to fit the pattern, and it isn’t the only option that was considered.

News Byte

Report: Apple’s A5 Chip Made in Texas

Reuters reports that, according to sources, the A5 processor used in Apple’s iPhone 4S and iPad 2 is made in a sprawling 1.6 million-square-foot Samsung Electronics factory in Austin, Texas. The Korean electronics giant began supplying the A5 processors to Apple this year from the Austin plant, the story says. Both Apple and Samsung spokespersons declined to comment.

Nvidia’s Jen-Hsun Huang on Superman Quad-Core Chip, Microsoft and Apple: The Full AsiaD Interview (Video)

Look, up in the sky, it’s a processor that can leap tall tablets in a single bound.
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Federico Faggin on the First 40 Years of the Microprocessor — And the Next 40 (Video)

Speaking on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Intel 4004 processor he created, Federico Faggin reflects on that first chip, and where technology is heading in the next 40 years.

China Supercomputer Uses Homegrown Chips

Apple Looking at TSMC for A6 Chip

Exclusive: Apple iPad 2 Event Set for March 2

Hello World (iPhone)

Qualcomm to Give FloTV Users Money Back