Shares of OmniVision Technologies tumbled Wednesday after the maker of camera image-sensing chips projected a third-quarter loss, disappointing most analysts who expected a profit.

A growing percentage of cell phones, PDAs, and high-speed microprocessors are assembled with flip chip technology today. If the reliability and cost reduction decades can be shortened to 3-5 years each, then high-volume production using TSVs could happen in 6-10 years, i.e., 2015-2020. If not, then high volume production will start after 2020.

The i6-Goal has been created by local phonemaker QIGI and mobile software developer TechFaith Wireless Communication Technology. The latter is likely to have a key input into China Mobile’s plans to create its own take on Android, and this could, in turn, enhance the influence of Qualcomm, which has come out as a major supporter of the Google system.

Sales of mobile phones are shrinking faster than expected as consumers are cutting spending, the world's top mobile phone maker Nokia said on Thursday in its second warning in three weeks.

The Labor Department said Friday the unemployment rate hit 6.7 percent last month, the highest since 1993, which adds up to 10.3 million Americans out of work, 2 million more than the population of New York City.

"The electronics group Hynix was already rescued once by the South Korean state bank and now has emerged as interested in Qimonda." Asked about the comment, a Hynix spokeswoman in South Korea denied any interest in Infineon or Qimonda assets.

"The joint venture is evaluating plans for operations over the holiday season, including a possible stoppage of some production lines," a SanDisk spokesman said Friday. "We constantly consider manufacturing schedules in light of market requirements and this is particularly true during the holiday season," he added. This follows a Bloomberg report that said Toshiba is considering a "partial stoppage" of flash memory production in Japan over the holidays.

Wafer shipments at the world's top two foundries, TSMC and UMC, are set to plunge further than anticipated in 4Q, but the picture for 1Q is even uglier with "historic lows" looming for utilizations, according to an analyst report.

Smart dust is based on microelectromechanical systems, or MEMs. These tiny computer chips can measure temperatures, vibrations or surface pressures. Smart sensors relay signals back to a command computer, which then compiles the data to give feedback to plant managers. Or the results could trigger an automatic response, such as turning down a building's temperature or reducing the flow of oil.

The world's second-biggest maker of memory chips will eliminate 30 percent of its executives and cut labor costs by more than 15 percent because of the global economic slowdown.

Hynix Semiconductor is facing a cash crisis as losses deepened to over 1.4 trillion won in 2008. The Korean Government support via Korean banks mirrors the potential intervention of the Taiwan Government in facilitating further credit instruments for Taiwan’s struggling DRAM manufacturers.

Cisco Systems doesn't have any layoffs planned at this point, according to chairman and chief executive John Chambers. The networking titan has previously said it would halt hiring new workers as it looks to shave its operating expenses.

Top US phone company AT&T says it will eliminate 12,000 jobs, or about 4% of its workforce, in a fresh wave of cuts to cope with an economic downturn that has exacerbated a decline in traditional phone sales.

Goldman Sachs Group said Thursday it rejected a new offer from Panasonic for its near-30% stake in Sanyo Electric, as the first major attempt at consolidation in Japan's crowded consumer electronics sector turns increasingly sour.

Amazon.com has launched on the Apple App Store an iPhone application that makes it possible to take a picture of a product and then send it to the online retailer, which will try to match it with products in its inventory.

Adobe, one of the largest US software companies, on Wednesday provided the latest indication of how the economic crisis is rolling through the technology industry as it slashed its revenue projections and announced that it had already “taken steps” to cut its workforce by 8%, or 600 people.

Including Qimonda, Infineon posted a net loss of ？763 million for the period ending Sept. 30 compared with a net loss of ？280 million a year earlier and a net loss of ？592 million in the previous quarter.