Let us take a small break from the massive amount of projectors unleashed onto the market and see what other industries are doing, shall we? Well, it seems that unbeknown to us, there is a huge race taking place, in which companies making processors try to be first to mass produce the new 28nm next-generation processors. And from the look of things, it is going to be IBM that does it first.

After making a few alliances with companies such as Samsung, STMicroelectronics, or Globalfoundries (AMD chipmakers), IBM has secured the services of two other big players in the semiconductor world. NEC (you have read a lot about it lately) and Toshiba have just joined the good fight.

Gary Patton, vice president for IBM's Semiconductor Research and Development Center, declared the following, “NEC Electronics and Toshiba bring significant skills and resources that will help ensure development of an industry-leading 28nm technology offering. […] Together, the alliance partners will deliver a high-performance, energy efficient technology to enable a full range of multifunction, power-sensitive mobile and consumer electronics.”

The 28nm alliance seems stronger than ever and I wonder whether Frodo... I mean IBM is going to succeed in beating Intel to the 28nm finish line. 28Nm technology is going to offer higher processing speed and battery life to future mobile devices, as well as lowering build costs and time-frames.

Masao Fukuma, senior vice president of NEC Electronics, stated that “The advanced 28nm low-power process technology will dramatically enhance the product's density, performance, as well as power consumption compared to the former 40nm node, providing highly competitive solutions, especially in the fields of consumer electronics and automotive. […] Utilizing this process technology with NEC Electronics' proprietary eDRAM, high-reliability, and low-power consumption technologies, we will focus on being the first to market with the SoC products that can meet our customers' expectations with added value.”

Since the race seams to be nearing its final laps, I am curios who will come out as the victor. One thing is sure, though, folks: we'll see a photo finish.


We are just a few, but there are many of you, Softpedia users, out there. That's why we thought it would be a good idea to create an email address for you to help us a little in finding gadgets we missed. Interesting links are bound to be posted with recognition going mainly to those who submit. The address is .