...Motorola's ability to gain share is being hampered as rivals including Apple (AAPL) and Research in Motion (RIMM) step up their attack on the market for smartphones, multifeatured handsets that deliver e-mail, productivity applications, and other advanced services. Motorola has yet to deliver AT&T an update to its smartphone, the Q, which debuted in 2007. In roughly the same time frame, Apple has delivered two versions of its popular iPhone....

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have found a way to develop 25nm chip structures with a common lithography process, indicating that chip manufacturers will be able to push out the adoption of an expensive Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography manufacturing process by another chip generation.

For its networks in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Chicago, the first three markets for its WiMax service, Sprint will use equipment from DragonWave, an Ottawa company that makes wireless Ethernet nodes that can be arranged in a mesh.

Japan's Tokyo Electron (TEL) said orders for its tools to make semiconductors and flat panel display equipment fell a quarterly 35% to a five-year low in April-June on weak demand from memory makers. But the world's No.2 chip equipment maker expects orders to pick up in the current quarter as makers of computer memory chips spend more on production lines to meet year-end demand for faster computers and mobile phones.

Wafer processing equipment maker Aviza Technology has received its largest ever order from a GaAs manufacturer, supplying multiple tools to Taiwan foundry WIN Semiconductor, and says that the deal reflects under-provision of capacity elsewhere. Aviza's Delta fxP CVD tool “We have received multiple system orders in the past from WIN and other III-V customers, but not of this magnitude,” said Kevin Crofton, the senior vice-president of Aviza's product business units.

Applied Materials announced its Applied E3 advanced equipment and process control solution, a comprehensive factory automation (FA) software package for improving the productivity and reducing the costs of semiconductor, flat panel display and photovoltaic solar cell manufacturing. Utilizing proprietary algorithms, the Applied E3 system can boost process capability by more than 30%, reduce unscheduled down time, and shorten cycle time to achieve up to a 20% increase in overall equipment effectiveness.

Rohm and Haas said Thursday it inked a deal to be bought by Dow Chemical for U$78 a share, a premium of US$33.17, or 74% over its closing price of US$44.83 a share in the previous session. The merger values the materials industrial firm at about US$15.3 billion. The transaction was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies. The merger remains subject to approval by the shareholders of Rohm and Haas, as well as regulatory approvals.

"...Paint-on solar panels could boost current energy efficiency by 50%...Using dyes to transport light across a solar panel's surface has been tried before using polymers... The MIT technique represents the first time it has been applied to glass..."

"...Samsung Everland will aim for the construction of a solar-cell plant that will have the potential to produce 20 megawatts of energy...The project would leap ahead of rival LG Solar Energy in production capacity...LG Solar Energy last week completed a solar facility will have a 14-megawatt total output capacity..." "

The Japanese government is backing Sony, Toshiba, Sharp and some other companies in joint research of new display technology called organic light-emitting diodes, or OLED.