GLOBALFOUNDRIES, a leading provider of advanced semiconductor manufacturing technology, today appointed Dr. Thomas Caulfield as senior vice president and general manager of the company's latest leading-edge 300mm semiconductor wafer manufacturing facility (Fab 8), located in Saratoga County, NY. Caulfield, an accomplished industry leader with more than 20 years of technical and global executive experience, will lead the operations, expansion and ramp of semiconductor manufacturing production at Fab 8, where GLOBALFOUNDRIES supports customers on the world's most advanced semiconductor manufacturing technology platforms including 28 nanometer (nm), 20 nm, and the recently announced 14 nm FinFET platform.

"We are expanding our Fab 8 manufacturing campus, strengthening strategic partnerships, and deepening customer relationships so we can offer our customers leading-edge technology and a more flexible and cost-effective way of doing business," said GLOBALFOUNDRIES CEO Sanjay Jha. "Tom is a proven and respected industry leader with more than two decades of semiconductor technology and manufacturing experience and we are excited to have him join our team to drive the next phase of growth at Fab 8."

AMD (NYSE: AMD) announced today that it has commenced a registered exchange offer to exchange any and all of its outstanding 7.50% Senior Notes due 2022, which were issued in a private placement (the "Private Notes,") for an equal principal amount of new 7.50% Senior Notes due 2022 that have been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Registered Notes").

The sole purpose of the exchange offer is to fulfill AMD's obligations with respect to the registration of the Private Notes. Pursuant to a registration rights agreement entered into by AMD in connection with the sale of the Private Notes, AMD agreed to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission a registration statement relating to the exchange offer pursuant to which AMD would offer to exchange any Private Notes tendered by the holders of those notes for Registered Notes containing terms that are substantially identical to the Private Notes.

GLOBALFOUNDRIES today announced plans to build a new global R&D facility at its Fab 8 campus in Saratoga County, N.Y. The new Technology Development Center (TDC) is expected to play a key role in the company's strategy to develop innovative semiconductor solutions allowing customers to compete at the leading edge of technology.

The TDC will feature more than a half million square feet of flexible space to support a range of technology development and manufacturing activities, including cleanroom and laboratory space. Representing an investment of nearly $2 billion, the facility will increase the total capital investment for the Fab 8 campus to more than $8 billion. Construction of the TDC is planned to begin in early 2013 with completion targeted for late 2014. Since breaking ground on Fab 8 in 2009, GLOBALFOUNDRIES has created approximately 2,000 new direct jobs and that number is expected to grow by another 1,000 employees for a total of about 3,000 new jobs by the end of 2014.

Global Foundries could soon howdy-neighbor TSMC in upstate New York, with the Taiwanese semiconductor giant looking to set up a fab there. According to an X-bit Labs report, TSMC began groundwork on its US venture by consulting with Deloitte, to look for viable sites in Rensselaer, Saratoga and Oneida counties, that have abundant water, power, and gas to operate 3.2 million square feet buildings with 1,000 employees, 40 percent of which are college-graduated engineers.

Deloitte also took a look around Luther Forest Technology Campus, where Global Foundries' Fab 8 is located. A little earlier this week, Bill Owens, a Congressman from upstate New York flew to Taiwan, to meet with TSMC CFO Lora Ho to pitch upstate a little more. TSMC is a principal foundry partner of companies such as Qualcomm, NVIDIA, and AMD.

Electronic Arts Inc. and developer Crytek GmbH, today announced that fans who pre-order Crysis 3 will receive a free digital download copy of the original Crysis game for Xbox 360, PS3 or PC*. Lauded by GameSpot as "One of the greatest shooters ever made" and universally hailed upon its release for breaking new ground with jaw-dropping visuals, industry leading technology and sandbox gameplay, Crysis thrusts players into the middle of a global conflict between the U.S. and North Korea over a mysterious artifact that turns out to be extraterrestrial in nature. In Crysis, players are outfitted with the series signature Nanosuit and an arsenal of fully customizable weapons that provide a wide array of options not only for the games story missions but also every single objective and individual encounter. In addition, those that pre-order Crysis 3 will receive the Crysis 3 Hunter Edition, giving fans a head start in multiplayer with immediate access to the powerful new Predator bow and the Hunter Nanosuit module and more**.

Microsoft plans to hold a launch event for its upcoming client operating system, Windows 8, on October 25, 2012. The event will be held in New York. In all likelihood, the event leads up to a midnight launch of the operating system on the 26th. Microsoft's next big launch for the year, the Surface, could be part of the event. Windows 8 is Microsoft's next major update to its flagship product, which radically changes its user-interface for the "post-PC era." It is also the first mainline Windows version since Windows 95 to support a machine architecture apart from x86 and IA-64 (Windows 8 RT, supporting ARM).

GLOBALFOUNDRIES today announced it is moving forward with the final construction for the extension of Module 1 at the Fab 8 campus in New York. The project will add 90,000 square feet of manufacturing capacity, bringing the total capacity for Fab 8 Module 1 to 300,000 square feet. Construction activities are scheduled to begin in August and work is expected to be completed in December 2013.

"During the construction of Fab 8, we extended the shell of the Module 1 building with the expectation that our business would continue to grow. Today we see increasingly strong demand from our customers, especially at the 28nm node, and we are excited to be moving forward with this next phase in the development of the Fab 8 campus," said Eric Choh, vice president and general manager, Fab 8, GLOBALFOUNDRIES. "By continuing to expand our investment in the project, GLOBALFOUNDRIES is delivering more options to our global customers, while helping to redefine upstate New York as a premier hub of the global semiconductor industry, creating thousands of new advanced manufacturing jobs, and contributing billions of dollars to the regional economy."

Following a juicy debut teaser, EA posted an even more engaging gameplay trailer. The trailer reveals the premise of the single-player campaign, where New York is overrun by the Ceph and vegetation, and is cordoned off from the rest of the world by a giant dome. Prophet lunges on a mission to take back the city. Towards the end of the 2 minute video, the box-art is revealed, with a bitter fact that you'll have to wait another year before being able to play it.The trailer video follows.

Researchers at IBM have developed the smallest carbon nanotubule transistor, that is 9 nanometers (nm) across. In comparison, the smallest transistors possible using silicon is 10 nm across. IBM claims its new transistor consumes less power while being able to carry more current than today's technology.

"The results really highlight the value of nanotubes in the most sophisticated type of transistors," says John Rogers, professor of materials science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "They suggest, very clearly, that nanotubes have the potential for doing something truly competitive with, or complementary to, silicon." Currently, the smallest production-grade transistors are 22 nm across.

Three weeks ago, we brought you news that researchers had apparently found serious vulnerabilities in the firmware of HP printers that can allow hackers to cause the fuser to overheat and almost make the paper inside catch fire. HP dismissed these claims as exaggerated, but said that they would look into it. Three days later, we reported that some enterprising New Yorker called David Goldblatt sued HP, alleging that he would not have bought their printers had he known about this problem beforehand, which seems a bit unlikely when you consider that HP is the number one printer brand by a mile. Now HP have released patches for these vulnerabilities and issued the following press release:

Three days ago, we brought you news of how researchers have made proof-of-concept attacks on HP printers by reprogramming their firmware. Among other things, these attacks could deliberately cause the fuser in a printer to overheat and singe the paper, until shut down by a built-in unoverridable thermal switch, preventing a fire. Now, in light of this, a lawsuit has been filed by David Goldblatt of New York, seeking damages for fraudulent and deceptive business practices and is looking for class action status: "As a result of HP's failure to require the use of digital signatures to authenticate software upgrades, hackers are able to reprogram the HP Printers' software with malicious software without detection," the suit says. "Once the HP printers' software is maliciously reprogrammed, the HP printers can be remotely controlled by computer hackers over the Internet, who can then steal personal information, attack otherwise secure networks, and even cause physical damage to the HP printers, themselves." Note that HP has used digital signatures since 2009 to authenticate the firmware updates, helping to mitigate this potential problem in recent models.

Despite this though, HP still intends to patch the firmware to eliminate threats from this hack, which exploits bugs in the firmware. As these attacks have only actually been demonstrated in the lab and no actual losses have been incurred by Goldblatt, it makes one wonder if he is just using the prevailing American "victim culture" to try and make a quick buck off HP. HP are the top printer brand, mainly because their products are excellent, performing well and lasting a long time, plus other companies' printers and embedded devices have the same problems, so it seems unlikely that he would really not have bought HP printers.

Toshiba's Digital Products Division (DPD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today introduced two 4G WiMAX-ready models of the Portégé R700, the world's lightest 13.3-inch full-performance ultraportable laptop with an integrated DVD drive2. The new Portégé R700 models not only provide business users with unprecedented performance and durability in a highly mobile form factor, but the most comprehensive connectivity options available.

"4G WiMAX coverage continues to rapidly grow and offers millions of people wireless access in many major metropolitan areas across the U.S.," said Carl Pinto, vice president of product development, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division. "Now with a WiMAX-enabled Portégé R700, Toshiba business professionals will be able to enjoy the benefits of having citywide connectivity at their fingertips."

Active Media Products, manufacturer of SSDs and innovative USB drives, today announced a new Ken Elkinson USB flash drive that includes six original Ken Elkinson piano solos in MP3 format. The tiny pivot style drive features a hologram of New York's greatest icon - the Statue of Liberty - on its front, tying into Ken's roots in New York City.

The Ken Elkinson USB drive is a tiny general purpose mobile storage device that comes preloaded with a six pack of original Ken Elkinson compositions in MP3 format. The drive itself is waterproof, supports up to 200X transfer speeds. The folding drive is offered in 2GB, 4GB, 8GB and 16GB capacities. "I'm thrilled to be partnering with AMP on this product," stated Ken Elkinson. "These six songs are an excellent cross-section of my music that I picked myself."

GLOBALFOUNDRIES today announced it officially broke ground on the construction of Fab 2, a new semiconductor manufacturing facility located at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Saratoga County, New York. Once completed, Fab 2 will stand as the most technologically advanced semiconductor manufacturing facility, or fab, in the world and the largest leading-edge semiconductor foundry in the United States. The construction and ramp-up phases for the new $4.2 billion facility are expected to take approximately three years to complete, with volume production expected in 2012.

"Semiconductors are the building blocks of technology innovation and are present in everything from mobile phones to kitchen appliances and solar panels," said Hector Ruiz, chairman of GLOBALFOUNDRIES. "As today's chip designers push the boundaries on the next generation of products, there is a growing need for a new approach to design and manufacturing rooted in collaboration and innovation. With Fab 2, GLOBALFOUNDRIES moves the semiconductor industry away from the traditional model of isolated regional development and into an era of global hubs of manufacturing and technology expertise."

In its effort to meet the ever-increasing demands of consumer technology, the semiconductor industry has long been preoccupied with smaller transistors and larger silicon wafers. While these are important tactics, opportunities for increasing efficiency, becoming more agile, and minimizing waste are often overlooked in manufacturing processes, according to Thomas Sonderman, vice president of manufacturing systems and technology at GLOBALFOUNDRIES.

At SEMICON West 2009, Sonderman is calling for a renewed focus on operational agility in the semiconductor manufacturing industry, particularly in light of increased pressure to move to processes based on 450 millimeter (mm) wafers.

GLOBALFOUNDRIES today announced the appointment of Ron Dickinson as vice president of enterprise quality. The appointment marks the completion of the senior management team, cementing a strong leadership base to support the long-term growth and success of GLOBALFOUNDRIES as it aims to reshape the foundry landscape. In his role, Dickinson will enhance the customer experience by driving maximum levels of quality assurance and reliability for internal and external areas across the business.

"To become the industry's premier global foundry company, we need to execute on an uncompromised standard of excellence when it comes to quality management," said GLOBALFOUNDRIES CEO Doug Grose. "Ron brings nearly three decades of world-class experience to help us achieve this goal by implementing a program that consistently meets and exceeds industry-leading benchmarks in efficiency, yields, quality, and cost."

GLOBALFOUNDRIES today announced the appointment of Norm Armour as vice president and general manager and Eric Choh as vice president of operations to lead an expanding team dedicated to developing Fab 2, the company's next semiconductor fabrication facility, or "fab," at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Saratoga County, New York. Once constructed, Fab 2 is expected to be the world's most advanced semiconductor foundry, creating more than 1,200 new direct jobs plus an additional 5,000 spin-off jobs in the region.

"Norm and Eric bring a wealth of semiconductor manufacturing experience to GLOBALFOUNDRIES and will play critical leadership roles as we build and operate the most sophisticated semiconductor manufacturing facility in the world," said Douglas Grose, chief executive officer, GLOBALFOUNDRIES. "With a wealth of industry expertise in fab build-out and global operations, we now have the leadership team in place to create a cluster of semiconductor manufacturing and technology innovation in upstate New York that will bring the next wave of chip innovation to the marketplace."

The Empire State Development Corporation, New York's economic development authority has approved $1.2 billion in state incentives for a foundry fab plant in Malta, NY by the AMD (eventually The Foundry Company). The incentives are tied to a $4.6 billion fab plant that will make computer chips for semiconductor companies, employing an estimated 1,465 people once completed. The plant will be located in the Luther Forest Technology Campus about 10 miles north of Saratoga Springs.

The $1.2 billion incentive comprises of tax-breaks and cash to AMD, toward building the plant. The development authority's five-member board of directors met in Manhattan for the vote, which was unanimously in favor of it. A public hearing regarding the incentives will be held Dec. 10 at 1 p.m. at the Luther Forest site.

New York state launched a formal investigation of Intel Corp on Thursday, to determine if the world's No. 1 chipmaker broke state and U.S. antitrust laws to squeeze out its main rival, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). New York state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said his office issued a broad subpoena seeking information about whether Intel coerced customers to exclude AMD from the worldwide market for microprocessors. "Our investigation is focused on determining whether Intel has improperly used monopoly power to exclude competitors or stifle innovation," Cuomo said in a statement. Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy confirmed the company had received the subpoena and would "work very hard" to comply with the subpoena, in keeping with its normal practice. "We believe our business practices are lawful and that the microprocessor market is competitive and is functioning as one would expect a competitive market to function," Mulloy said. AMD said it had been contacted by Cuomo's office. "I can confirm that we have received a subpoena, too," said spokesman Drew Prairie.