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Introduces the phase change memory. Components of the material; Key features of the memory; Advantages if the non-volatile storage; Application of the technology in real life settings; Development of phase change memory by Ovonyx Inc.

The article presents information that both academics and computer industry can gain from the industrial exploitation of university sourced Intellectual Property (IP). On the industry side, there are gains from access to new innovative ideas and the longer term thinking that academics bring. Academics tend to have good international contacts, and can offer skills that are not available in-house. For academics, the benefits of business partnerships to include the opportunity to apply their knowledge, maintaing the momentum of research and enriching their teaching with real world experience. INSET: TAKING CARE OF IP.

The electronic design automation industry has an amazingly anachronistic approach to database technology, but things are changing. The bulk of the business computing world has been using database management systems for more than 30 years, and the mechanical-CAD world began the crossover in the late 1980s. However, the Electronic Design Automation (EDA) world presents a stark contrast to this steady progression. It has struggled on with data formats that are little more than enormous text files to hold all the information needed to create a chip. EDA vendors tend to describe the files their tools use as databases but, in reality these flat-file systems lack the sophisticated access techniques that the programmers of even simple accounting systems take for granted. To deal with each file, an EDA tool has to read all the way through the file, build its own representation of the data internally and then work with that. When it is finished, it writes out another big text file. With multimillion-transistor chip designs now the norm, these files have grown astronomically.

Profiles Jeff Kodosky, the father of National Instrument Corp.'s (NI) best-selling control instrumentation product LabView. Reputation of Kodosky in the computer and electronics industry; Educational background; Job responsibilities; Role of Kodosky in the success of LabView. INSET: KODOSKY ON KODOSKY.

Introduces several electronic gadgets. Portable memory stick by LG Electronics Inc.; Superior capability of CPU cooler from Asus; Storage capacity of Zen Nano MP3 from Creative.

Reports developments related to technological advancements in the computer and electronics industry. Record set by the tiny methanol-powered fuel cell designed by Toshiba Corp. in the Guinness Book of World Records; Selection of software engineer Rob Milne to be the first climber to use the IM-PACS, a device that enables climbers and explorers to plan expeditions more effectively; Introduction of the PrimeTest 300, a portable appliance test solution which incorporates Bluetooth wireless connectivity from Seaward Electronic Ltd.

Lists a calendar of congresses, seminars, workshops and related events pertaining to or related to electrical engineering, compiled as of December 2004. Communication engineering; Computing and control; Electronic systems and software; Management; Manufacturing; Personal development .

Forecasts a better performance of Taiwan electrical and electronic industries in the second half of 2005. Expected 30 percent surge in sales of laptop computers; Optimistic view of Powertip Technology that it will meet its sales target; Projection of a 4.2 sales growth of Taiwan Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers Association.

The article reports on the movement of research and development of Dell for displays and imaging from Austin, Texas to Singapore. The facility is named Dell Singapore Design Centre. It is a 3250 square meter facility located at the International Business Park in Jurong. The center is expected to develop about 20 new products every year.

Features the new compact desktop personal computers from Apple Computer Inc. Product features; Design and specifications; Price and availability.

Reports on the launch of Autodesk Inc.'s Building Systems 2005 design, documentation and analysis software in Great Britain. Product features; Specifications; Contact information.

Reports on Texas Instruments Inc.'s launch of digital signal processors. Product features; Specifications; Price; Contact information.

Reports on Zilog Inc.'s launch of the ZHX1403 microprocessor. Product features; Specifications; Contact information.

Reports on Mentor Graphics Corp.'s launch of the Catapult C compiler. Product features; Specifications; Price; Contact information.

Reports on Agere Systems Inc.'s launch of two system-on-a-chip devices. Product features; Specifications; Contact information

Reports on Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.'s decision to move its core liquid crystal display operations in South Korea. Construction of a seventh-generation fabrication plant; Reason for bypassing six-generation plant.

Reports Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s' announcement that China-based computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd. will use its chips for a line of desktop personal computers. Terms and conditions of the deal.

Reports on Seagate Technology Inc.'s launch of the STI hard disc drive. Product features; Specifications; Price. INSET: HARD DRIVES WILL GO MOBILE.

Reports on the British ASPIDA project's development of the DLX processor. Features of the processor; Specifications; Applications.

Reports on Great Britain-based Mentor Corp.'s launch of Catapult C compiler. Product features; Specifications; Benefits to users; Applications.

Reports on Tensilica Inc.'s addition of a combined compiler and synthesis to its Xtensa LX configurable processor. Features of the XPRESS compiler; Benefits to users; System requirements.

Reports on Great Britain-based Celoxica Ltd.'s development of System C compiler for high-level design flows. Features of the System C compiler; Specifications; Benefits to users.

Discusses issues related to computer storage devices. Estimated amount of information that a person can generate in a life time; Predicted increase in the demand disc drive and electronic memories market.

Reports that Hewlett-Packard (HP) has beaten Asian market leader Lenovo in terms of total Asian personal computer (PC) sales in the first quarter of 2004. Number of computers shipped by the two companies; Market shares of other vendors such as IBM Corp., Dell and Samsung Electronics; Lenovo's market share in China; Increase in PC sales in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding Japan.

Points out that a global upsurge in IT spending has produced a raft of positive first quarter earning statements by the technology sector's big hitters, but analysts are urging caution, pointing out that true recovery could be slow. Observation that companies such as IBM, Intel and AMD have released results that exceeded expectations of the world's stock markets.

The article reports that the Legend Group, the Chinese computer company, is changing its diversification strategy to focus on its core computer business. The adoption of this strategy is made because Legend had attempted to broaden its reach into other product segments such as mobile handset manufacturing, e-business and information technology services, but none of these businesses made a profit. Yang Yuanqing, chief executive of the company said that Legend would continue to focus on mobile devices because the product segment shared "natural synergies" with its PC business. Legend has also changed its sales and distribution strategy. introducing direct sales channels to become more customer-oriented.

Reports that Intel Corp. has found a way to control the power consumption and future generations of IC technology. Consequences of the increasing power consumption of chips; Application of unnamed combination of dielectric and gate materials to reduce leakage; Detail of another semiconductor process advance at December's International Electron Devices Meeting. INSET: GLOBAL SEARCH FOR NEW MATERIALS TO CUT LEAKAGE.

Today's spell-checkers are pretty good for everyday writing but they're not designed to cope with the complexities of scientific reports or technical white papers - you just end up with a sea of red underlining. SdProof from Adept Sdentfflc integrates with Word so you won't have to add each queried word to your own custom dictionary as it arises, Best of all, it will verify acronyms, Greek symbols and chemical nomenclature, suggesting the right sub- and superscripts. Toolbar buttons added to Word make it really easy to use. SdProof takes a quarter of a million terms from databases of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Centre for Biotechnology and will add more through updates for registered users. INSET: WHAT JAMES DYSON COULDN'T DO WITHOUT.

The Mini-PC-XX from Worlds Smallest PC is half the size of a laptop in a desktop box and 20 times smaller than a full-sized PC. Standard on this machine are: Pentium 4 processor; 64M video RAM graphics with TV out; 3D stereo sound and SPDIF for digital hi-fi; four USB 2.0 ports; three Firewire ports; and infrared synchronisation for mobile devices.

Introduces the MediSense blood glucose machine. System requirements; Specifications; Usability.

Comments on business losses in the U.S. computer industry. Challenges of companies faced with slowdown in business growth; Increase of the market share of competitors through innovation in product offerings.

Reports on Israel-based Active Cool's revolutionary thermo-electric cooling system to address the processor heat crisis in the computer industry. Use of a solid-state thermoelectric heat pump.

Reports on the decision of Perforce Software, a company that specializes in products to help developers keep track of the evolution of their software, to expand into the hardware, mobile communications and game industries. Reason for the move.