Samsung drops $6 billion hostile bid for Sandisk

Samsung drops $6 billion hostile bid for Sandisk

A year ago, South Korean disk drive and flash memory chip maker Samsung gave up on months of negotiations to buy rival SanDisk, and made an unsolicited, hostile bid for the company valued at just short of six billion dollars. Observers suggested motives ranging from… Continue Reading

Samsung I7500 has iPhone-like keyboard, Android software

Samsung I7500 has iPhone-like keyboard, Android software

An Android phone without a hardware keyboard, Samsung’s I75500 also sports a five megapixel camera. Yet its winning feature may not be the keyboard, but Android’s live folders, which let phone apps fill your phone with data in the background so you can access it… Continue Reading

LED TVs hit the market, but will they sell?

LED TVs hit the market, but will they sell?

With Samsung leading the charge, several television makers are turning to light-emitting diode technology to build thinner, crisper and more energy efficient products, VentureWire points out today. The catch is that the LEDs take price tags up a few notches — so will consumers go… Continue Reading

Roundup: Facebook’s election, Google’s new toolbar, and more

Roundup: Facebook’s election, Google’s new toolbar, and more

Facebook users vote on site’s governing documents — An overwhelming majority of votes supported the new terms of use (which were rather controversial) over the old ones.

Google adds new features to Toolbar — New features include a search using your current location and a simplified Chinese toolbar.

Amazon… Continue Reading

WiMax chip provider Beceem raises $20M

Beceem Communications, one of the top providers of WiMax chipsets, announced that it’s brought in $20 million in a fifth round of funding to scale its manufacturing operations.

The round was led by Motorola and included Global Catalyst Partners, Khosla Ventures, KTB Ventures, Walden International, Intel… Continue Reading

Samsung starts making new kind of indoor displays

Samsung starts making new kind of indoor displays

Samsung Electronics said today it has begun producing a more economical breed of digital displays for indoor applications where round-the-clock use isn’t needed.

The so-called Basic Digital Information Displays, (B-DID), will widen the market for digital displays, the South Korean company said. The displays can be… Continue Reading

Samsung to use Sandbridge Technologies wireless chips

Samsung to use Sandbridge Technologies wireless chips

Moving ahead on its next-generation wireless chips, Sandbridge Technologies said today that it has cut a deal with Samsung Electronics, which plans to use Sandbridge’s chips in next-generation cell phones featuring high-speed data connectivity.

Tarrytown, N.Y.-based Sandbridge has pioneered a series of SB3500 baseband processors that… Continue Reading

Samsung builds a super-dense memory chip

Samsung builds a super-dense memory chip

These chips don’t look like much. The black things are individual dynamic random access memory chips that are attached to modules that snap into the main circuit board of a computer.

But these chips from Samsung Electronics are made with one of the most advanced manufacturing… Continue Reading

Roundup: The Jobs saga continues, Circuit City razed, Hulu apologizes and more

Roundup: The Jobs saga continues, Circuit City razed, Hulu apologizes and more

Here’s the latest action:

The Steve Jobs saga continues — Talk about the Apple chief executive and his health issues remain everywhere you look. Newsweek columnist Dan Lyons says the media’s coverage of Apple “bites.” As you might expect after their heated exchange the other day, Lyons… Continue Reading

CES: Are 3-D glasses moving beyond the gimmick stage? Nah

CES: Are 3-D glasses moving beyond the gimmick stage? Nah

Before my trip to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, I predicted that TV and computer makers would be hawking 3-D options in order to differentiate themselves. Hollywood’s been trying to use 3-D glasses in theaters in an effort to make an… Continue Reading

Samsung and Chumby team up to create better chips and services for connected digital photo frames

Samsung and Chumby team up to create better chips and services for connected digital photo frames

Digital photo frame makers are a dime a dozen, with prices for many low-end frames falling under $100. But this fast-growing category is getting an upgrade with the advent of internet-connected frames, which are harder to do right and can come with services that consumers… Continue Reading

Samsung launches a new chip to liven up digital photo frames

Samsung launches a new chip to liven up digital photo frames

At the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show in January, there will be lots of new digital photo frame models capable of receiving updated photos via Wi-Fi wireless network connections.

Some of these smart picture frames will be powered by a new chip from Samsung Electronics. The… Continue Reading

Samsung promises more power efficient big-screen TVs

Samsung promises more power efficient big-screen TVs

Flat-panel TVs are the power hogs of electronics. A 52-inch liquid crystal display consumes about 300 watts of power today. A 32-inch display consumes about 150 watts. Samsung said today that it will cut that number by 50 percent on its newest TVs next year.

HyunSuk… Continue Reading

Samsung paints bleak picture for tech sales

Samsung paints bleak picture for tech sales

Samsung Electronics offered a bleak sales outlook today for the fourth quarter and 2009 for a variety of electronics products. The Korean electronics giant said demand was weak for a wide range of memory chip products, TVs, computer monitors, and other goods.

Overall demand for tech… Continue Reading

Panasonic and Samsung invest in SiBEAM to promote WirelessHD

Panasonic and Samsung invest in SiBEAM to promote WirelessHD

In an endorsement for wireless video networking, Panasonic and Samsung said today they have invested an undisclosed amount into SiBEAM, the maker of high-speed networking chips.

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based SiBEAM makes WirelessHD chips that can wirelessly transfer video from one device to another in a living room…. Continue Reading

Updated: SanDisk may escape Samsung hostile takeover through a deal with Toshiba

Updated: SanDisk may escape Samsung hostile takeover through a deal with Toshiba

Looks like SanDisk has figured out a way to avoid Samsung’s hostile takeover offer. Toshiba and SanDisk said today that Toshiba will pay $1 billion to gain a larger stake in their joint venture in flash memory chip manufacturing.

Under the deal, Milpitas, Calif.-based SanDisk has… Continue Reading

Roundup: First signs of a credit thaw, Google’s search share down, Jive Software layoffs and more

Roundup: First signs of a credit thaw, Google’s search share down, Jive Software layoffs and more

Here’s the latest action:

Credit beginning to thaw? — Bank borrowing costs fell slightly on Tuesday, a possible first sign that credit is beginning to flow between institutions again. Analysis at Calculated Risk.

Google’s search market share dips — The latest ComScore numbers show that Google gained more users… Continue Reading

Samsung makes a hostile $5.8 billion offer for SanDisk

Samsung makes a hostile $5.8 billion offer for SanDisk

If I got a $5.8 billion acquisition offer, I’d take it. But some people think that’s small beans. Samsung Electronics said today it was going public with a hostile bid for SanDisk after four months of talks failed to result in an agreement.

Samsung said in… Continue Reading

Verizon shows you Visual Voice Mail — if you show them the money

Verizon shows you Visual Voice Mail — if you show them the money

Talk of Apple’s iPhone forcing competitors in the mobile industry to adapt has largely been focused on its large multi-touch display and more recently, the App Store. But there’s another, small feature that never ceases to wow new iPhone owners: Visual Voice Mail.

It’s been around… Continue Reading

Roundup: AOL shutting businesses, First Solar building factory, and Microsoft’s robot receptionist

Roundup: AOL shutting businesses, First Solar building factory, and Microsoft’s robot receptionist

AOL plans to shutter a bunch of businesses: Among the businesses on the chopping block are Bluestring, Xdrive, and AOL Pictures.

Apple is testing update for iPhone software: Apple is testing version 2.1 of its iPhone firmware. It includes improved location features.

Vonage getting new CEO?… Continue Reading