Samsung unveils faster memory chip

Samsung has introduced a memory chip that will allow digital devices to work faster by saving new data more quickly, says the International Herald Tribune.

The Phase-change Random Access Memory chip is non-volatile and retains data even when an electronic device is turned off, the report says.

The chip, which is said to be 30 times faster than conventional flash memory, will be commercially available in 2008.

T-Mobile USA is preparing to debut a service that will allow users to seamlessly switch between their cellphone and home WiFi networks, says CNET News.

By switching cell calls to their home WiFi network, customers will be able to save airtime allotted in their T-Mobile subscriber plan, the report says.

Phone access to the WiFi network also allows callers to download mobile content faster than they can even from a 3G wireless network.

The 2006 Millennium Technology Prize was awarded to professor Shuji Nakamura, a Japanese scientist who invented environmentally friendly sources of light, says BBC News.

The award recognised his inventions of blue, green and white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and the blue laser diode, the report says. Nakamura`s blue LEDs are used in flat-screen displays, while blue lasers are already being exploited in the next generation of DVD players.

Frontier Silicon and Silicon & Software Systems have teamed up to develop a tuner/receiver reference design for multi-standard mobile TV, reports BBC News.

The aim of the partnership is to support both DVB-H and T-DMB standards with multi-standard digital baseband processor and RF tuner chips and mobile DTV client software.

The mobile TV market is fragmented across many different standards, says Frontier Silicon`s VP of marketing and business development, Matthew Hatch. The ability to address multiple standards in the same handset is increasingly becoming a requirement, he says.