Initially expected to be ready by the end of 2009, the PCI Express 3.0 specification has been officially delayed and will not see the light of day until second-quarter 2010, according to PCI-SIG.

Acer will expand into televisions and electronic books within five years as the PC industry slows, founder Stan Shih has said.

As part of the recent Microhoo deal, Microsoft will hire 400 Yahoo employees and pay the Web giant $50 million annually for three years. Also, If Microsoft cannot deliver to a certain percentage of Google's success, Yahoo can back out of the deal.

GaAs epiwafer foundry Kopin is investing an additional US$6.3 million in its Asian foundry venture, Kopin Taiwan.

Goldman Sachs, which earns more money trading equities than any other US bank, sent a letter to clients explaining its high-frequency trading as regulators and politicians step up scrutiny of the practice.

Seagate Technology said it will close its Singapore hard-disk-drive manufacturing plant by the end of 2010 and lay off 2,000 workers as a result.

The Chinese authorities in July predicted 8% growth for 2009, thanks to a four trillion yuan (US$585 billion) economic stimulus plan. But the global downturn has still put millions of Chinese out of work.

GT Solar International's fiscal first-quarter profits jumped 51% on surging margins and higher revenues. The company said it was "on track" to meet its fiscal-year targets. But revenues grew at its slowest pace in roughly a year and sales came in far short analysts' expectations.

OCZ Technology has confirmed it will release its Colossus solid-state drive (SSD) in the next couple of weeks, delivering the first 3.5-inch form factor SSD with 1TB of capacity.

Chipmaker Altera has cut about 3% of its 2,700 person work force, according to a filing Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Toshiba has slashed a forecast for operating profit and sales next fiscal year made before the global recession drove the company to post its first net loss in seven years. It will also cut capital spending to 1.1 trillion yen for 2009 to 2011, from 1.64 trillion yen in the preceding three-year period.

First Solar has announced 2Q09 profits that exceeded industry expectations, but its share price fell on news that it would offer rebates in Germany and maintain, rather than raise, its full-year outlook.

Recession times have proved a harsh reality check for Japan's ongoing love affair with robots.

Japan's Elpida Memory has said that it plans to more than double its output of advanced DRAM chips for high-speed computers and servers next month, pushing its shares higher on August 3.

GlobalFoundries spokesperson Jon Carvill responded to Chang's questionable analogy by reiterating GF's "total" commitment to fair competition.

"I don't think the memory companies are going to learn their lesson until the next cycle," said a Gartner analyst, conjuring up the vision of the memory companies as a room full of bad boys sitting in the principal's office

Taiwan plans to allow local flat panel makers and chipmakers to invest their advanced process technologies in China, the Economic Daily said on Wednesday, in the latest indication of warming business ties on both sides.

Japan's Elpida Memory has said that it was in talks about taking over German chipmaker Qimonda's high-end graphics DRAM operations to bolster its product lineup.

Spruce Pine, a modest, charmingly low-key town in the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina, is at the heart of a global billion-dollar industry.