Tektronix has expanded its family of waveform monitors with the addition of the portable WFM2300 Series designed for install and maintenance applications. The WFM2300 provides an array of measurement and monitoring features that allow engineers to isolate, diagnose, and resolve system issues.

ARM and TSMC have announced the first tape-out of an ARM Cortex-A57 processor on FinFET process technology. The Cortex-A57 processor is ARM’s highest performing processor, designed to further extend the capabilities of future mobile and enterprise computing, including compute intensive applications such as high-end computer, tablet and server products. This is the first milestone in the collaboration between ARM and TSMC to jointly optimise the 64-bit ARMv8 processor series on TSMC FinFET process technologies.

The steady increase in PC capabilities that has fuelled the long-term growth of the PC market is undergoing a historical deceleration, as evidenced by the slowing increase in dynamic random access memory (DRAM) content in notebooks and desktops since 2007. New research from IHS iSuppli suggest that annual growth in the average DRAM usage per shipped PC has been slowing dramatically since peaking in 2007.

Cliff Electronics extensive range of UK designed and manufactured terminal posts now includes single terminal binding posts and multiple binding post assemblies in a number of different designs and configurations for consumer and professional applications, including those in audio, engineering, instrumentation, medicine, lighting and vending.

TSMC has announced that it has taped out the foundry segment’s first CoWoSTM (Chip on Wafer on Substrate) test vehicle using JEDEC Solid State Technology Association’s Wide I/O mobile DRAM interface. The milestone demonstrates the industry’s system integration trend to achieve increased bandwidth, higher performance and superior energy efficiency.

Has the technology industry entered the post-PC era? New figures from IHS iSuppli suggest it has as they show that during the second quarter of 2012 personal computers accounted for less than half of the market for DRAM, the first time in a generation that they didn’t consume the majority of the leading type of semiconductor memory. PCs in the second quarter accounted for 49.0 of DRAM bit shipments, down from 50.2 percent in the first quarter, according to the latest IHS iSuppli DRAM Dynamics Brief.

AVX"s Solutions for Hope ethical tantalum sourcing scheme in the Congo"s Katanga region has demonstrated its sustainability and the company is now looking at potential expansion into eastern DRC. AVX launched its ‘Solutions for Hope’ project in July 2011 with Motorola Solutions, signing a supply agreement with DRC concession holder MMR and the CDMC mining co-operative in Katanga.

TSMC and ARM have announced a multi-year agreement that will extend their collaboration beyond 20-nanometer (nm) technology to deliver ARM processors on FinFET transistors, enabling the fabless industry to extend its market leadership in application processors.  The collaboration is intended to optimise the next generation of 64-bit ARM processors based on the ARMv8 architecture, ARM Artisan physical intellectual property (IP), and TSMC’s FinFET process technology for use in mobile and enterprise markets that require both high performance and energy efficiency.  

Pricing for dynamic random access memory (DRAM) looks set to increase as a key indicator shows that inventory levels are falling relative to demand, according to new research from IHS iSuppli. The steady upturn of the DRAM market is reflected in the current Weeks of DRAM Inventory Index, which dropped to 11.6 weeks in the first quarter this year, down 4 percent from 12.1 weeks in the fourth quarter of 2011. It was the second consecutive quarter of improvement since the index hit 12.9 weeks in the third quarter last year. The decline also represents a significant turnaround from the major increases in the indices that ruled during most of 2011.

ARM today is expanding the lineup of ARM Processor Optimization Pack (POP) solutions for TSMC 40nm and 28nm process technologies for a range of ARM Cortex processors. At least nine new POP configurations targeting Cortex-A5, Cortex-A7, Cortex-A9 and Cortex-A15 processor cores will be released.