Microsoft brings Windows Phone to an end as it stops support of Windows Phone 8.1, more than three years after the company introduced the update back in April 2014.

A victim of the Android-iOS duopoly controlling the mobile OS arena, Windows Phone 8.1 and its 8/7 predecessors power around 80% of the millions of devices running on the Microsoft software, according to AdDuplex. As a result such devices are now unsupported, and only 20% of Windows phones run on the latest version, Windows 10 Mobile OS.

Currently Microsoft sells a limited number of budget Windows 10 Mobile smartphones, and in any case the OS appears to be receiving little support from the Windows maker. The company has stopped making own Lumia-brand devices, and rumours suggest Windows 10 Mobile will only be maintained until support ends in 2019.

Logitech acquires the means of producing another piece of gaming hardware with Astro Gaming, maker of the highly rated A-Series headsets and Mixamp console peripherals.

The deal cost Logitech $85 million in cash and is the second acquisition for the company in little more than a year, following the September 2016 purchase of British joystick maker Saitek from Mad Catz. Post-acquisition Astro Gaming will be folded into the Logitech G gaming peripheral brand.

"Astro is the leading player for premium console headsets and is the preferred headset for console esports athletes," Logitech says. "It's a perfect complement to Logitech G's focus on PC gaming and we couldn't be more excited; we love the team, the brand and the products. Together, we want to make game play even more fun for gamers everywhere."

Colourful antivirus pioneer John McAfee decides to settle with Intel, following the dismissal of his September 2016 lawsuit (and Intel countersuit) over the right to use his name on other projects.

As Reuters reports, McAfee sued Chipzilla after a warning that renaming his latest venture, MGT Capital Investments, as "John McAfee Global Technologies Inc." would infringe its trademarks. In turn, Intel countered with accusations of trademark infringement and unfair competition.

The reportedly amicable settlement has McAfee agree to not use his name, trademark his name or the phrase "John McAfee Privacy Phone" or use "John McAfee Global Technologies" in connection with security-related products or services. He retains the right to use his name in advertising, promotions and presentations, including in regard to his former role at McAfee the company, which he sold to Intel for $7.7 billion back in 2010.

The sale of the Toshiba memory unit gains another wrinkle, as Toshiba declares it has had enough of Western Digital interference-- the former is suing the latter for $1 billion (or 120 billion yen).

The litigation seeks to stop WD from claiming it has any ownership over the memory unit, which Toshiba is desperate to sell in order to gain some much needed cash. It comes a day after WD resubmitted a bid for the unit, just as Toshiba was set to finalise the sale to a consortium lead by the Japanese government, American private equity firm Bain Capital and S. Korean manufacturing giant SK Hynix.

In the meantime, WD continues to insist the sale represents a breach of the two companies' joint venture agreement, and as such it should be treated as a preferred bidder. However, sources tell the Financial Times that the resubmitted WD bid was "similar" to the one previously considered as "underpriced" by Toshiba.

Memory maker Micron announces it is closing down the Lexar removable storage business, the result of company efforts to "focus its increasing opportunities in higher value markets and channels."

The Lexar unit is best known for memory cards, but it also sells USB flash drives, readers and storage drives to retail and OEM customers. Micron adds it will continue supporting existing customers through the transition period and, in case of specific requirements, customers should contact their Lexar sales representative.

Toshiba names a preferred bidder for the sale of its much wanted memory chip business-- a consortium bringing together the Japanese government and interests from the US and S. Korea.

The group consists of the state-backed Innovation Network Corp of Japan (INCJ) fund, the Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) and US private equity firm Bain Capital. Also involved in financing are S. Korean chipmaker SK Hynix and the core banking unit of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. It promises to offer at least $18 billion, the minimum Toshiba is asking for the unit, and should automatically receive the Japanese government's seal of approval.

“Toshiba has determined that the consortium has presented the best proposal, not only in terms of valuation, but also in respect to certainty of closing, retention of employees, and maintenance of sensitive technology within Japan,” a company statement reads.

British firm Imagination Technologies puts itself on sale, the result of losing 70% of its value after Apple decided to start designing own GPUs instead of using PowerVR technology.

Back in May Imagination put two units, MIPS and Ensigma, for sale, but now it is looking for buyer for the entire company. The announcement states it already has "received interest from a number of parties," which analysts suggest can include the likes of Intel, Qualcomm, Mediatek, CEVA and various Chinese entities. Even Apple might be interested.

A collaboration between IBM, Samsung and Global Foundries brings about an industry firsts-- silicon nanosheet transistors allowing the production of 5 nanometer (nm) chips.

Presented at the 2017 Symposia on VLSI Technology and Circuits conference in Kyoto, Japan, the process arrives just 2 years after the development of a 7nm test node chip with 20 billion transistors, paving the way for 30 billion switches on a "fingernail-sized" chip.

As Big Blue puts it, the breakthrough uses "stacks of silicon nanosheets" to build the transistor instead of FinFET architecture, the current blueprint for the semiconductor industry. It promises a 40% performance enhancement at fixed power, or 75% power savings at matched performance, bringing about a "significant" boost in the performance of anything from AI systems to VR and mobile devices.