Sharp Corp exhibited a prototype of a 26-inch LCD TV whose power consumption is drastically low at the "Environment Showcase" set by Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the G8 Hokkaido-Toyako Summit.

Cree says it’s already working with the largely luminaire-level specifications, while the US government squabbles over energy-efficiency programs that use the standards.

here is trouble in Nvidialand. AMD's new graphics cards apparently have surprised Nvidia, forcing the company to cut the prices of its new cards. Nvidia is adjusting its marketing strategy to GeForce 8800 cards to avoid what has all the signs for a big sales decline on the high end. Of course, that means that it is a good time for graphics cards shoppers.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is mulling to use energy-efficient and durable LED to replace bulbs in Metro Manila's traffic light system.

Nokia Siemens Networks said on July 11 that it had won network expansion orders worth 550 million euros (US$865 million) from the world's top mobile operator China Mobile in the first half of the year.

Epson recently contracted chipmaker Hejian Technology to make its 0.15-micorn LCD drive ICs, making it the first contract buyer to order from the mainland Chinese chipmaker sub-0.18-micron chips. Banned by Taiwan authorities to export manufacturing processes better than 0.18-micron to the mainland, mainland`s factories run by TSMC and ProMOS Technologies are still unable to offer processes below 0.18-micron node. Industry watchers fear such ban will only help mainland`s homegrown chipmakers...

vote on July 11 to confirm a proposal from the HomePlug Alliance and the Panasonic-led HD-PLC group for a powerline home networking standard failed to get the required number of backers. The two players have one more chance to get their proposal approved by the IEEE P1901 group in a vote that may come up at a meeting in Madrid in late September.

Trai has also accused the Department of Telecom (DoT) of keeping it in the dark, both on the availability of WiMAX spectrum as well as on the government’s efforts to get other users such as the department of space to vacate these radio frequencies.The regulator has also demanded that the government put in place a transparent and efficient spectrum management regime.

Shares of AMD fell to their lowest level in nearly 16 yearsafter the company disclosed that it will take US$948 million in charges against earnings when it reports its second-quarter financial performance next week...The size of the writedown was a surprise to investors, who sent the share price down 2.4% to close at US$4.84 a share, the lowest price since August 1992.

...Yang`s company has been Taiwan`s No.1 and the world`s No.5 supplier of cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) for liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs since its founding in 1994. Now it is the only local manufacturer in Taiwan of T5 lamps since branching out into CCFL and LED segments last year, with CCFLs being the mainstream light source in Europe for its very high energy-efficiency-to-dimension ratio among all fluorescent lamps. Yang`s CCFLs measure only five-eighth inch...

...And then came July. First, AUO reported lower-than-expected revenues for June. Then LG Display warned that LCD "demand will be soft in July and August and panel prices will continue to fall." Third in line came Sony, which announced that demand for large-screen LCD TVs is so much less than expected that it's been forced to cut production at one of its US plants. Contradicting Weeks' assertion of "reasonable" inventory levels among Corning customers, Sony warned that it has to work down some of its "accumulated inventory."..

...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.