Freescale Semiconductor cut more jobs in Austin and elsewhere Wednesday as part of a yearlong campaign to reduce costs in the face of weak market demand. Through the end of January, Freescale had disclosed 228 job cuts in Austin. The company employed about 5,000 people in Austin and 23,000 worldwide before this week's job actions.

If you want to feel good about the economy, do not read any of the trade publications. They're predicting a continued downward slide in every imaginable aspect of the industry except for MEMS. If you pick up anyone's iPhone nowadays you'll find perhaps 50 or more of these applications, all of which are essentially useless but kind of interesting in a very nerdy way.

President Barack Obama has launched a bid to transform the US political landscape, with a 3.55-trillion-dollar budget mapping out the sweeping scale of his administration's ambitions. The document handed to Congress bristled with spending on healthcare, climate change, the military and education, included a rosy prediction of a return to growth next year and raised taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

Wacker Chemie AG, a German chemical company, announced Thursday that it will build a $1 billion plant with 500 jobs in southeastern Tennessee to produce hyperpure polycrystalline silicon, a product used to make solar panels and semiconductors.

While Spansion Inc. was cutting 3,000 jobs on Monday, the company's board was restoring full pay to its top executives. The company had imposed a 10% pay cut in October for top executives. But in a securities filing Tuesday, Spansion said it was returning the executives and other key employees to full pay as part of an "employee retention program."

In the six weeks since Carol Bartz took over as Yahoo chief executive, she's interviewed employees and executives, learned the company's businesses, assessed what's good, diagnosed what's wrong, and now reorganized Yahoo management to set it on a new course.

The involuntary furlough, once a staple of boom-and-bust blue-collar industries like mining or automaking, is making its way into white-collar workplaces across the United States as employers try to cut costs quickly amid a deepening recession. With some 2.5 million jobs lost in the past six months, few furloughed workers are complaining about the unpaid time off.

The US housing market slump is nowhere near over and home prices will probably keep falling well into next year, one of the property market's best-known economists said.

Japan's exports plunged 45.7% in January compared with a year ago to hit the lowest figure in 10 years, official figures have shown. Imports exceeded exports by 952.6 billion yen (US$9.9 billion). It is the largest gap since records began in 1980. Demand for Japanese cars in particular dropped by 69%. Trade in electronics and other goods has also slumped as global economies and consumer spending contract, pushing Japan deeper into recession.

Google has added its voice to the case against Microsoft as the European Commission probes antitrust charges related to the software giant's Internet Explorer browser. In January, European regulators brought formal charges against Microsoft for abusing its dominant market position by bundling its Internet Explorer Web browser with its Windows operating system, which is used in 95% of the world's personal computers.

ARC International, a specialty semiconductor manufacturer, said Wednesday posted a larger-than-forecast GBP7.3 million net loss for 2008, and said it remains cautious for 2009. Analysts cautioned that the company is unlikely to reach break-even this year.

In congressional testimony, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke depicted an economy undergoing a "severe contraction." But Bernanke said the recession could end in 2009, paving the way for a "year of recovery" in 2010.

Not since Franklin Roosevelt delivered his first fireside chat, eight days into his presidency, have Americans been more hungry -- and more desperate -- for economic leadership. And not since FDR has there been an economic agenda as bold or ambitious, or as likely to reshape American capitalism. Just a month in office, Obama has already pushed through additional fiscal stimulus equal to 5% of the country's economic output.

The Top-10 advanced packaging companies garnering market share on Gartner's just-released preliminary list for 2008 include Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE, Kaohsiung, Taiwan), Amkor Technology (Chandler, Ariz.), Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL, Taichung, Taiwan), STATS ChipPAC (Singapore), Powertech Technology (Taipei, Taiwan), UTAC (Singapore), ChipMOS Technologies (Hsinchu, Taiwan); King Yuan Electronics (Hsinchu, Taiwan); Carsem (Ipoh, Malaysia); and Unisem (Ipoh, Malaysia).

Amid mounting environmental concerns, TV manufacturers are racing to make energy-efficient sets, with some now launching "eco" branded TVs.

Some media reported that Sharp Corp is in talks with SVA (Group) of China on forming an alliance to produce LCD TV panels in China.

An LED design company specializing in architectural indoor lighting adds to Philips' portfolio of solid-state lighting capabilities.

The purchase includes the x7 Color System and technology, Paletta and Lustr products, and the new Vivid LED fixture series.

Philips Lumileds' announced today that test data for its LUXEON Rebel LEDs shows performance that exceeds ENERGY STAR guidelines intended to ensure quality solid-state luminaire development.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and Tela Innovations has recently announced a strategic partnership to develop co-optimized design solutions using Tela's innovative and patented lithography-optimized design technology and TSMC's processes.

China Unicom has reportedly reached an agreement with Apple on iPhone's entry into China and the 3G iPhone may appear in the Chinese market in May 2009.