| Editor's Note |
| For those who make their living performing teardown analyses, the Easter Bunny brought something extra special over the weekend. Apple's iPad was the most hotly anticipated product in recent memory—probably since the iPhone was introduced in 2007. (It would be interesting to know how many of the first iPads off the shelf were sacrificed in the name of teardowns).
It's no shock that chips from Broadcom and Samsung were found inside iPad, given these companies' known role as a supplier for other Apple products. The biggest surprise found in the teardown conducted by David Carey of UBM TechInsights was the 64-bit path to main memory found in Apple's homegrown A4 processor, which Carey describes as "indicative of the need for richer graphics." Carey also found that the iPad uses three touch-screen chips instead of one typically found in an iPhone or iPod Touch.
No matter how you break it down, the good news for EE Times readers is this: rather than break open your own iPad to find out what components are inside, you can read coverage of Carey's teardown written by editor at large Rick Merritt.
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| Top Story |
Inside the iPad: Samsung, Broadcom snag multiple wins
Samsung and Broadcom are among the major silicon suppliers for the Apple iPad which sports an unusually high processor-to-memory channel, an abundance of touch-screen silicon, a novel case design, according to a teardown performed by UBM TechInsights, a sister division of EE Times.
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| iPad Release |
Inside the iPad: An iPod on steroids
Apple Inc.'s iPad features a small motherboard, making it a large iPod rather than a small PC, according to a teardown from Chipworks (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada).
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Another tech firm says iPad infringes patent
EMG Technology said it would move to add Apple's iPad tablet to a patent infringement suit filed by EMG against Applie in 2008.
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Reviews for iPad are mixed
The iPad from Apple Inc. is finally out.
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Will iPad be a success or failure?
Will Apple Inc.'s iPad be a success or failure?
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| Semiconductor News |
EUV camp drops ball on metrology
During a presentation at the recent SPIE Advanced Microlithography conference here, Bryan Rice, director of lithography at chip making consortium Sematech, literally passed a hat along the front row of the audience.
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Viewpoint: Is semiconductor industry consolidation inevitable?
The inevitability of semiconductor industry consolidation seems to be widely accepted, but data shows that the semiconductor industry has been slowly "deconsolidating" since the 1960s.
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February's global averaged chip sales up 56%, says SIA
The three-month average of global sales of semiconductors in February was $22.04 billion down 1.3 percent from the equivalent figure in January 2009 and up 56.2 percent from February 2009, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association.
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Lithography's generation gap
Lithography is at a crossroads, and it could be headed in the wrong direction.
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| Business News |
Ten mobile devices set to drive the processor market
The market for eBooks, tablets, smartphones and other mobile consumer products is exploding, according to Jon Peddie Research (Tiburon, Calif.), which creates an increasing market for multimedia and application processors.
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ESC: Is the smart grid a little too smart for your own good?
The smart grid promises worthwhile energy savings as well as market opportunity for our industry, but it has some potential privacy and compulsive issues, as well.
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Rumor mill: Apple to buy Intrinsity?
There are reports that Apple Inc. has acquired another IC design house: Intrinsity Inc.
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ITC to investigate Apple's claim against HTC
The U.S. International Trade Commission said it would institute an investigation based on a complaint filed last month by Apple against Taiwan's HTC--maker of the so-called Google phone.
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ARM boosted startup with Belgian DSP
Cognovo Ltd. (Melbourn, England), a 2009 startup focused on developing software-defined modems for 4G communications, has benefited from a disposal at processor IP licensor ARM Holdings plc that turned into an equity and technology investment.
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| ESC Silicon Valley |
ESC: The results are in for embedded engineering survey
The 2010 Embedded Market Study is complete and tallied. Big surprises? Yes and no.
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| ESC Silicon Valley 2010 |
| ESC Silicon Valley, the largest most complete technical conference/exhibition in North America where you can see, learn and get hands-on training on emerging embedded products and technologies. Attend and be part of the most valuable and efficient professional development you will experience all year.
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Dylan McGrath is editor of the EE Times Newsletter, which brings you the latest semiconductor and design news.
