HTC is going through a spot of financial trouble, Bloomberg reports-- and to solve such woes the company considers either selling or spinning off its Vive virtual reality business.

According to anonymous sources HTC is working with an adviser as it weighs between "bringing in a strategic investor, selling its Vive virtual reality headset business or spinning off the unit." Apparently a number of companies are interested, including Google, but HTC will probably not be sold in full since "it isn’t an obvious fit for a single acquirer."

HTC has been refocusing from smartphones to high-end VR, but while IDC reports Q1 2017 Vive headset shipments total over 190000, these are still not enough. In fact, the company has recently slashed headset prices by $200 in an effort to expand both sales and user base, two factors it believes are more important than earnings.

HP beats Wall Street expectations as it reports Q3 2017 revenues of $13.1 billion, a 10% Y-o-Y increase. However profits are down, slipping from $783 million in Q3 2016 to $696m.

That said, the company remains bullish about the results, particularly since the Personal Systems business sees "incredible" 12% Y-o-Y growth, bringing in revenues of $8.4bn. Commercial revenues are up by 11%, while consumer revenues increase by 14%. In addition, the company reports total shipments are up by 7%, driven by a 12% increase in notebook shipments.

Desktop and workstation shipments are down by -3% Y-o-Y.

The solar eclipse taking place over N. America brings about the launch of the 8th generation Intel Core chips, starting with mobile processors promising a 40% performance boost over the previous generation.

Designed for notebooks and hybrid devices, the "U-series" consists of 4 processors featuring a thermal design power (TDP) of 15W. Intel says the new Core i5 and i7 processors can lead to notebooks and tablets with up to 10 hours of battery life, as well as the aforementioned performance boost.

All the revealed processors are quad-core, with support for 8 threads and updated UHD 620 graphics. This makes them more suited for games, 4K video playback, VR and video editing. The Core i7-8650U and i7-8550U have 1.9 and 1.8GHz base clock speeds respectively (up to 4.2 and 4.0GHz in boost mode) and also include 8mb of L3 cache.

Intel might still have to officially the 8th generation of Core architecture, code named Coffee Lake, but it has already revealed details of the next generation-- Ice Lake.

Described as the "successor the 8th generation Intel Core processor family," Ice Lake processors will be built using a 10nm+ process. This is perhaps an odd move, since Chipzilla is still to officially detail the first 10nm Core architecture, Cannon Lake. It also throws a spanner in what is a confusing naming convention, what with Kaby Lake (14nm+), Coffee Lake (14nm++),  Cannon Lake (10mm) and now Ice Lake (10nm+).

Chipzilla originally hoped to move to a 10nm process by the end of 2016, 2 years after the launch of the 14nm process. However the technology proved more challenging than expected, probably due to a yield rate not high enough for the company. According to Anandtech, the process also depends on die size, with the first products using it being designed for smaller mobile applications (since yields for smaller parts are better than larger parts at the same defect rate).

Nvidia starts a voluntary recall program for Shield tablet and Shield TV AC power adapters in mainland Europe-- the result of a fault in the two-prong European plug head connected to the power brick.

According to the company, the plug head can break, causing a "risk of electric shock." As a result, Nvidia urges customers to immediately stop using the recalled European plug heads and contact NVIDIA for a free replacement."

A press release from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) states the issue affects nearly 7000 units, and so far Nvidia has received 9 reports of European plug heads breaking. The figure includes 6 customers who ended up receiving an electric shock as a result.

Intel announces the date, time and place for the unveiling of the 8th generation Core processor family, known as Coffee Lake-- 21 August 2017, the same date as "the Great American Solar Eclipse."

"Amazing things happen when all things align," the press invitation excitedly states. Attendance is not limited to the press though, as Chipzilla will livestream the event on its Newsroom microsite and Facebook page.

Intel fails the give new information on the upcoming Coffee Lake CPUs, outside of marketing speech. As such, the announcement promises "blazing fast performance," "immersive experience" and "amazing systems designs." Such claims will be verified during the event, as Intel execs, VR creators and imaging pros should take the stage to use Coffee Lake-powered systems.

In addition, the event provides an excuse to view the solar eclipse making its way from Oregon in the West across the US.

Intel reports better than expected (at least by the analysts) revenues and income for Q2 2017, with revenues growing by 9% Y-o-Y to $14.8 billion while net income is up by 23% Y-o-Y to $3.5bn.

“Q2 was an outstanding quarter with revenue and profits growing double digits over last year,” CEO Brian Krzanich says. “We also launched new Intel Core, Xeon and memory products that reset the bar for performance leadership, and we’re gaining customer momentum in areas like AI and autonomous driving. With industry-leading products and strong H1 2017 results, we’re on a clear path to another record year."

However, despite such results the Financial Times says Intel is now the second-biggest chipmaker by revenues, as it has lost the crown to no other than the S. Korean giant, Samsung.

AMD publishes its Q2 2017 financial results-- overall revenues are up by 19% Y-o-Y to $1.22 billion while profit totals $25 million, even if the company remains in the red with losses reaching $16m.

The company is divided in 2 major segments, Computing and Graphics, and Enterprise, Embedded and Semi-Custom. This quarter Computing and Graphics is the star, with revenues growing by 51% Y-o-Y to $659m thanks to demand for graphics and Ryzen desktop processors. The operating income for the segment is $7m, an improvement over the $81m loss of Q2 2016 thanks to what AMD describes as an "improved product mix."

Since Q2 2017 is the first full quarter of Ryzen processor shipments, it also sees an increase in desktop processor ASPs. GPU ASPs are also on the up, the result of a short supply (and growing demand) for desirable gaming-targeted graphics cards.