Symantec has released the findings of its 2008 state of the data centre report that finds data centre managers caught between two conflicting goals — more demanding user expectations and higher levels of performance, yet reducing costs.

Moore’s Law, which states that the number of transistors on a chip doubles every 18 to 24 months, still holds as true as it has for the last 40 years, but it no longer translates into a linear increase in performance. Previously, chip manufacturers increased processor clock speed to double chip performance — from 100 to 200 MHz and more recently into the multi-gigahertz (GHz) range.

In 2008, the MEMS market saw significant changes in the ranking of the top 30 MEMS companies.

The long-term trend that has persisted in the computer industry since the invention of the integrated circuit in 1958 has been for the hardware to become smaller and smaller. But scientists believe that conventional miniaturisation processes could soon reach their fundamental limits.

Supplier for the solar power industry, Germany’s Roth & Rau AG will set up a silicon solar cell production line at the University of NSW. It will be the first solar research and development facility of its kind in Australia.

A computer grid designed to analyse data that will be generated by the world’s biggest scientific experiment is being used by two high-tech companies to help build the next generation of an internet search engine.

European researchers have developed a solution to ‘mask-less’ semiconductor lithography which claims to reduce the costs and production times associated with low-volume device manufacture and prototyping.

Almost every day, there is an announcement from somewhere in the world that LEDs have become just that much brighter, longer lasting or require even less power than before. As global warming provides the stimulus for faster research, so manufacturers are hotting up their research to be the first with a breakthrough.

National Instruments has identified three trends that will improve the efficiency of test and measurement systems in 2009.

There is little doubt that the future for light-emitting diodes is bright and getting brighter with every jump in its technology.

The attempt to increase the speed of supercomputers by increasing the number of processor cores on individual chips unexpectedly worsens performance for many complex applications, according to simulations by Sandia.

Researchers have developed a technique that could improve the reliability and manufacturability of ICs.

Engineers and a semiconductor manufacturer are developing an energy-harvesting radio that could transmit data without ever needing a change of batteries.

University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers and physicists have developed a method of measuring how strain affects thin films of silicon that could lay the foundation for faster flexible electronics.

Researchers have developed a type of small-scale electric power generator able to produce alternating current through the cyclical stretching and releasing of zinc oxide wires encapsulated in a flexible plastic substrate with two ends bonded.