In a possible breakthrough, chip giant Intel claims that it has pushed 193nm immersion lithography down to 15nm—at least in the lab.

"Even if they get just a piece of Nokia'ss business, it's a big deal," said Will Strauss, a Cave Creek, Arizona-based analyst for research firm Forward Concepts. "Nokia is still the biggest cell-phone maker in the world."

The companies will will work together, offering 3M's temporary bonding process as part of the new SUSS 300mm bonder line. The companies said the agreement will expand access to 3M's Wafer Support System (WSS) equipment for temporary wafer bonding of ultrathin wafers required for 3-D packaging. As part of the non-exclusive agreement, SUSS becomes an authorized equipment supplier for the 3M WSS and will manufacture and sell XBC300 and CBC300 wafer bonders configured to use 3M's WSS materials.

Hewlett-Packard (HP) is betting that the humble printer, like the computer and cell phone, can be transformed with the power of the Internet. The company today introduced the HP Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web, the first all-in-one printer to access Internet information. The machine, which also works as a scanner, copier and fax, will connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi or Ethernet.

Eastman Kodak Company has announced that it will retire Kodachrome color film this year, concluding its 74-year run as a photography icon.

Qualcomm officials confirmed that the company is working with Korean mobile operators to launch the Snapdragon-based smartphone and Smartbook. Smartbook will be offered by Taiwanese companies during the fourth quarter; the Snapdragon-based smartphone, made by a Korean handset manufacturer, will be available by the end of this year or the first quarter of next year, said Jordan Lim, marketing director of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies Korea.

At the 2009 Symposium on VLSI Technology in Kyoto, Japan, Globalfoundries reported the first demonstration of a technique that allows the equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) in a high-k metal gate (HKMG) transistor to scale down to well beyond the level required for the 22nm node, while maintaining a combination of low leakage, low threshold voltages, and superior carrier mobility.