News

The race to 28nm is going to be an interesting one. Both AMD and nVidia already have working silicon models but neither are ready to start shipping parts to the market. The biggest reason for this is the fact that TSMC (Taiwanese Silicon Manufacturing Company) is having problems with the transition to full scale 28nm production. This is despite the fact that they began the move more than three years ago. Back in 2008 TSMC announced they would begin the move to 28nm and start full scale production on 28nm High-K Metal Gate (HKMG) and Silicon Oxynitride (SiON) materials by 2010. We are now moving into the end of 2011 and we are still hearing about issues with yields on these parts.

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has launched a new exhibit with the help of Invent Now, Inc. The Exhibit is features the Patents of Steve Jobs; and has been designed to look like a long string of iPhones. According to the USPTO the exhibit will feature over 300 patents that were awarded for Steve Jobs along with some of Apple’s trademarks.

There are times when you have to wonder what people are thinking. With the SOPA act we wondered that ourselves; especially after a rash of articles came out linking the BSA (Business Software Alliance) to SOPA and by proxy to any member of that group. Now we have never been one to make leaps like that unless we have additional confirmation, but it was enough for use to try and find out what was going on.

Despite a good deal of negative criticism for Windows 8 Microsoft is still trying to promote it to new users. In their “Building Windows 8” Blog they are now covering the issue of installation time. This little issue is something that is near and dear to the DIY crowd, but not nearly as much to the average consumer that buys their hardware all packaged up in a box from Dell, HP or another PC maker. So why the push on Windows 8 Installation when it will only interest about 30% of the PC buyers?