ConsumerIT - For Europe's High Volume PC Retailers, Distributors & Builders

Losing money on every chip they make, DRAM makers in the $28.8 billion highly cyclical computer-memory chip industry must scramble for cover to survive in 2009.

The German government of Saxony may rescue Qimonda with an offer a €150 million loan if Infineon matches it. Taiwan expects to help the country's five major chip makers. Nanya is talking to USA partner Micron, to Taiwan government and to Powerchip. TSMC might buy ProMOS' fabs and shed the company's memory business.

Japan’s Elpida asks Taiwan's Powerchip (Taiwan’s largest DRAM maker) and ProMOS (Taiwan’s most unprofitable maker) to bring all together under a single group company. (including Rexchip, Elpida’s JV with Powerchi). If you add all these makers together, they had 23.9% of global DRAM revenue in Q3-- about equal to market leader Samsung.

Go Elpida Talks About Merger

Go Nanya and Micron

You may miss Bill Gates as the star of the CES but Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will keynote address on Jan. 7th He's expected to show Microsoft's Windows 7 and maybe the future of Microsoft Office.

Attendance at CES 2009 may drop to 130,000 or lower and hotels (previously packed months before the show) now offer discounted rates. It’s a great year for European buyers to attend a CES: not only will it cost much less, but you’ll also get more attention as US domestic sales slip further and America’s littlest dealers stay home.

More 2700 companies will be present at various locations but it’s the innovation that makes CES the world’s leading show for consumer IT products. Lenovo will show a first: its laptop with two screens. Palm , fresh from a new capital injection, will announce its Nova (Linux-based OS code) and its come-back new devices. Silicon Image will show Allio HD LCD TV with a built-in PC for simultaneous TV and Internet viewing on a split screen. Intel has prototypes running mini-apps to complement TV with Internet. Tzero will demonstrate wireless HDMI streaming between devices using UWB. Tune Bug will bring the ultimate audio product for any Tour de France wanna-be and other helmet sports enthusiasts.

We promise CES will be more relaxing and intimate with the floors less crowded. But no less productive.

Go CES’ 30 Days of Innovation

Shown for the first time at CES 2009, the new “TuneBug” solves a problem for any Tour de France wanna-be and anyone who has a hobby with a helmet. (OK, hockey players and other contact sports excluded…)

How do you get real sound while racing around on a bike, skateboard, skis? TuneBug's licensed technology provides an answer. Activities that require helmets don’t easily allow headphones (and if not dangerous, it’s certainly illegal in some places to use headphones on a motorcycle, bike, skateboard, snowboard or skis.)

Bypassing traditional stereo speaker technology, the TuneBug uses “exciter” technology that projects sound waves through the surfaces it rests on. When placed on a helmet, the TuneBug creates a type of surround-sound that lets the sound of the surroundings slip through. The diminutive 40 oz. TuneBug attaches to helmets and functions as an independent unit (MP3 Player + Speaker), or can be connected to an iPod (or Zen or Zune) and used as a speaker. The helmet-friendly device with a Micro SD slot can store 2GB (about 400 music files), and approximately 5 hours play time.

One of Europe’s largest online retailers of electrical and technology products will join the YouTube era and  launch a new monthly video podcast. Misco will use the regular video podcast to reach customers with technology updates and product news, thereby  leveraging site traffic, providing a more compelling user experience, encouraging “more informed” buying choices, and directly adding value to its products through a modern, in-your-face communications channel.