Acer CEO and President Gianfranco Lanci resigns from the company with immediate effect, with chairman J.T. Wang as temporary CEO.

The company says Lanci "held different views" from the board's majority, causing "failure to reach consensus" on the direction Acer should take in the future-- basically whether the company should concentrate on shifting volume (as it does now, and Lanci's preferred direction for the company) or making more profit from its products.

Analysts say the company should shift Continue reading...

National Semiconductor traces its roots back to the history of Silicon Valley, but now will be absorbed (12,000 products and all) into arch-enemy and competitor Texas instruments.

This acquisition drives TI further forward as a powerhouse in the chip industry, crowning it king of analog semiconductors (17% of total market after acquisition) which also represent 50% of TI's sales (pre-acquisition).

Analog integrated circuits are used in everything, from smartphones and communications hardware to Continue reading...

Sources close to AMD tell Digitime of the company's plans to release 6 Llano-series desktop APUs in Q3 2011, with 5 more following in Q4 2011, in its effort to take on Intel's Sandy Bridge.

AMD should be unveiling its 32nm A-series Llano APUs at Computex Taipei 2011, the sources continue.

Llano the code name for AMD's Sandy Bridge rival-- with the A-series chips carrying dual- or quad-core processing units, Radeon HD 6000-series graphics chip and dual-channel DDR3 memory controller. They are also Continue reading...

HP CEO Léo Apotheker outlines the company's strategy for the future, in his first major speech since taking control-- with the announcement of the company's shift towards cloud-based ambitions.

The company is set to open what it calls "the industry's first open cloud marketplace", combining the consumer app store with an enterprise application and services catalog.

It also has data center plans for developers and business customers-- where they build and host internet-based applications within Continue reading...

The Dutch civil court lifts the ban on Playstation 3 imports, following Sony's legal disputes with LG.

Since Sony imports most of its consoles via the Netherlands, the ban hit shipments throughout the continent-- with reports placing the amount of PS3s impounded under the court order at around 300000.

Earlier this month LG filed a complaint claiming it owns the patents for the console's blu-ray drive's streaming technology. The South Korean company now faces damages charges-- although Sony will Continue reading...

The Zune-- Microsoft's ill-fated mp3 player-- will never make it to Europe after all; not after Bloonmberg's report on Microsoft stopping the release of new Zune models.

Bloomberg's source says the company will shift focus to other devices, with the "Zune" name living on as a music shop/streaming service for PC, Windows Phone 7 and XBox 360.

The player never made it officially to Europe, with Steve Ballmer confirming Microsoft's plans (or lack thereof) for not releasing the device on our shores Continue reading...

Western Digital purchases Hitachi's storage unit for a reported $4.3bn-- thus combining the world's no. 1 and no. 3 HDD makers.

The move means Western Digital now climbs to the top a somewhat shrinking hard drive market-- one facing continual competition from flash-based storage such as SSDs.

IHS iSuppli says WW HDD shipments will drop by around 4% in Q1 2011, reaching 160.9m units (down from Q4 2010's 167.5m).

Analysts also say the Hitachi purchase will allow Western Digital to challenge Seagate Continue reading...

Hanvon will show off its full product range at CeBIT 2011-- including e-readers, graphic tablets, tablet PCs and biometric solutions.

First off are Hanvon's WISEreaders-- one with a large 200dpi resolution screen, and another with a colour screen. Both carry a 9.7" e-ink display, wifi/3G support and even business office software. User input comes through pressure sensitive electromagnetic pen, allowing for document modification.

Hanvon's Art Master III is a graphics tablet employing 2048-level Continue reading...