China announced an ambitious plan Thursday to speed development of science and technology in its industry and military, vowing to double research investment over the next 15 years to increase "overall national strength."

Sony is first among the Blu-ray coalition to announce its pricing model for all of its forthcoming Blu-ray disc releases. Catalog Blu-ray discs will wholesale for $17.95, while new-release discs will wholesale at $23.45.

Prices for the chips used in PCs have surged 38 percent this year and shares of Samsung and Hynix have climbed as well. Further gains may be ahead.

Intel said Korean FTC (Free Trade Commission) visit its office in Seoul earlier this week during normal business hours and Korea began investigating Intel's marketing and rebate practices last August, following similar probes by Japan and the Europea

Micron announced an internal reorganization late Thursday as it pushes forward with its plan to diversify into more profitable, higher-growth markets.

The two companies mutually and amicably elected to terminate those agreements at this time based upon their mutual concern that they could not satisfy all of the approval conditions necessary to close the agreements in a timely fashion.

An industry source said yesterday that LG.Philips LCD is developing a 100-inch LCD TV panel to be unveiled at an international show, CeBIT, next month.

Toshiba will spend $2.4 billion on its semiconductor business and monthly production of 12-inch wafers will reach 70,000 units by March 2007.

The proceeds will enable ATEME to maintain and enhance its technological advance in leading edge video compression.

The STw4810 -- which is designed as an ideal partner for any multimedia Application Processor Engines (APE), including ST's STn881x Nomadik(TM) processors, used in multimedia portable products such as mobile phones and PDAs.

The firm specializes in plasma process technologies required in the manufacturing and packaging of MEMS and advanced electronic devices

The firm agreed to sell its wafer test business to SV Probe PTE Ltd. and its package test assets to Investcorp Technology Ventures II, LP.