malta

Obama to take made-in-America tour to N.Y. chipmaking hub

President Obama will visit a chipmaking region in New York that includes a just-completed Globalfoundries manufacturing facility, one of the most advanced in the world.

Globalfoundries (GF) announced that it will take part in hosting a visit by President Obama on May 8 at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering's (CNSE) NanoTech Complex at the State University of New York in Albany. The President's visit was originally planned to be held at Globalfoundries new Fab 8 facility but was moved to CNSE for logistical reasons, according to the chipmaker.

Fab 8 -- located in Malta, N.Y. … Read more

Blogging vs. print: Some journalists don't get it

A couple of weeks ago I was in Malta at an international conference of technology journalists. Along with other Americans, CNET Executive Editor Tom Merritt and I participated on a panel at the event where we talked about the future of the news business in the age of blogging.

The event was a bit of a culture clash between the Americans and the mostly European and Asian journalists in the audience. To a person, the Americans were pessimistic about the future of print and at least somewhat optimistic about blogging and online journalism.

While none of us predicted that print … Read more

Podcast: Some European journalists skeptical of blogging

It's hard to find an American print journalist who doesn't also publish online, and most seem to now accept that blogging is here to stay. After witnessing the folding of the of the Rocky Mountain News and the print editions of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer along with struggles at other papers, it seems as if just about everyone realizes that the economics of print are--to say the least--challenging.

But at an international technology conference on the island of Malta (in the Mediterranean, roughly halfway between Europe and Africa), CBS News and CNET technology analyst Larry Magid and CNET Executive … Read more

AMD finds 'fabless' alternative

Advanced Micro Devices appears to have found an alternative to going fabless.

The dramatic announcement by AMD Tuesday, which focuses on a new entity known for now as The Foundry Company, shows that there is another way to restructure that doesn't entail completely jettisoning manufacturing operations--referred to in the semiconductor industry as fabs or fabrication facilities.

"Real men have fabs." This quote attributed to former AMD CEO and Chairman Jerry Sanders has some import here. Though fabless concerns, such as Nvidia, have been held up as lean, mean chip-supplying machines that don't have the burden of … Read more

Timing rumors surface for AMD plant spin-off

Advanced Micro Devices chip plant spin-off rumors won't die. Probably because they may be partially--or more than partially--true.

But the timing is the big unknown. AMD claims the launch of its so-called Asset Smart strategy is not imminent.

The latest rumor was triggered by a blog at the Austin American Statesman that said AMD may "spin-off of its manufacturing operations within two weeks." The blog cites a Wall Street securities analyst, John Lau with Jefferies & Co.

AMD said that's not so. "We hope to get it done by the end of the year. There'… Read more

AMD walks fine line with $3 billion NY plant

Update at 2:15 p.m. PDT: Adds comments from AMD spokesperson.

Advanced Micro Devices is in a bind. The chipmaker is caught between the dire need to reduce manufacturing capacity on its books with pressure to build a $3 billion plant in New York state.

AMD's chairman Hector Ruiz is touring the Malta, New York site this week-- referred to as the Luther Forest Technology Campus--as Saratoga County installs a $79 million water pipeline that will service the facility. Moreover, this week, the town of Malta voted unanimously to approve plans for the plant, according to the … Read more