Samsung Electronics and Rambus have reached an agreement settling all claims between them and the licensing of Rambus' patent portfolio for all Samsung semiconductor products.

"We are open to any country, not just the UAE, to invest in the company..."

STMicroelectronics has joined the new industry/research multi-partner program IMAGINE, led by CEA-Leti, which includes TSMC, for mask-less lithography for IC manufacturing.

The world's largest maker of semiconductor lithography machines, which map out electronic circuits on silicon wafers, was forecast to report a further rise in bookings from the third quarter, driven by consumer spending on end products.

Vacuum technology firm Edwards is to cut 220 jobs in Sussex as it locates all its manufacturing operations overseas. The move marks a shift in strategy for the Crawley-headquartered company that had previously trumpeted its strong UK manufacturing base, which dates back to 1919.

Toyota Motor aims to double its global output of gas-electric hybrid cars to one million units in 2011, as it fights to stay in the lead in the growing market for low-emission cars.

"Our goal is to pay back a significant amount of debt while at the same time being able to invest in what we require," said company CEO Kim Jong Kap. "2010 will be a good year for the memory chip industry and the possibility of oversupply seems low."

In addition to Intel acquiring an FPGA vendor, other acquisitions could be possible including Analog Devices buying a power management IC company and Microchip Technology buying a company to expand its presence in the microcontroller market.

The recruiting of what will be hundreds of new workers over the next few years marks a striking turnaround from last January, when Chartered announced that it would cut 500 jobs.

Micron Technology has formed a 50:50 joint venture with Australia-based integrated energy company Origin Energy focused on the development of PV (photovoltaic) technology.

Xilinx has completed multiple iterations of 28nm test wafers with TSMC, and could disclose the move to TSMC at its analyst day in March.

Spansion has reported net sales of US$307.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2009, which marked its second consecutive profitable quarter with net income on a US GAAP basis of US$4.3 million.

"Samsung Group will invest 26.5 trillion won (US$23.61 billion) and Samsung Electronics will spend 18.4 trillion won," said the official who declined to be identified.

Eastman Kodak hopes to illuminate a clearer picture about its photo-viewing technology. It has alleged that Apple's iPhones and RIM's camera-enabled BlackBerry devices violate its patent for digital image previewing.

Intel may look to acquire an FPGA supplier such as Xilinx or Altera in 2010 in an effort to expand its presence in the embedded market as well as SoCs, according to a Wall Street analyst.

China was fast with its stimulus program...even though the country has been climbing nicely out of recession, the government still plans to spend the full US$600 billion of stimulus money.

The combined company employs approximately 10,000 people around the world, anchored by headquarters in Silicon Valley and manufacturing operations in Singapore and Germany, and a new fab under construction in New York.

The case in San Francisco County Superior Court centers on allegations by Rambus that Micron Technology, Samsung Electronics and Hynix Semiconductor illegally conspired to boycott technology developed by Rambus and took other actions to block its acceptance.

Carmakers emerging from a savage crisis hope to lure drivers to electric cars in the coming years, but cost, range and safety considerations mean many are still cautious, holding back from predicting an early sales boom.

Kingston has announced it will replace certain secure USB flash drives with new units designed with an improved security architecture. It was notified in December by a third-party security consulting firm that certain models contained a potential security flaw.

Vendors were hit hard by the downturn. 2010 looks better, but fab tool makers still face a number of challenges.

"We didn't buy immersion from Nikon according the filing. We still buy from ASML...

Having recently completed the acquisition of Singapore's Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, Globalfoundries is expected to launch the new, combined entity this week.

Answer: Yes and no.

Kingston Technology is recalling certain models of its DataTraveler secure USB flash drives in order to update firmware on the drives after a security company found a flaw that could allow a hacker to gain access to a user's password.