DisplaySearch

Freescale Semiconductor on Monday announced a new processor that could help make the next generation of e-readers more affordable. Freescale's i.MX508 applications processor relies on ARM Cortex-A8 technology and a hardware-based display controller from E Ink to drive costs down.

With the ARM core running at 800 MHz, the i.MX508 provides twice the rendering speed of Freescale's last round of e-reader processors. That means faster page turns for consumers, more speed for value-added applications, and advanced touch solutions for manufacturers.

Netbooks have been flying off store shelves all year long, driven by consumers looking for ways to save money during economically challenging times. According to the latest figures from DisplaySearch, netbook revenue is poised to rise 72 percent year-over-year to $11.4 billion in 2009, even as sales of portable PCs overall decline 12 percent to $109.4 billion.

Dell Chairman and CEO Michael Dell took some serious swipes at netbooks in a speech Tuesday to the Churchill Club in San Jose, Calif. The question is whether he really doesn't believe in the category, or just doesn't believe in it as it exists today.

In what may be a sign of the economic times, low-cost netbooks continue to gain momentum in a struggling PC market. Nearly 33 million netbooks, also known as mini-notebooks, will ship this year as penetration into the PC market grows to 20 percent worldwide, according to NPD Group subsidiary DisplaySearch's Quarterly Notebook PC Shipment and Forecast Report.

Traditional notebooks -- described as laptops with displays of 12.1 inches and larger -- are expected to see flat year-over-year sales for the first time.

NEC racked up a net loss of 130.8 billion yen (US$1.46 billion) in its third business quarter, versus a far less painful loss of 5.2 billion yen (US$57.9 million) in the year-earlier reporting period. Even worse, the Japan-based company indicated that the rising tide of red ink is far from over.

After winning the format war against rival HD-DVD, Blu-ray high-definition DVDs were left with the question of whether they could win the peace. Recent 2008 sales figures, released at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) last week, show that Blu-ray is beginning to pick up speed.

Overall, Blu-ray Disc sales in the U.S. hit 24 million in 2008, compared with 5.67 million in 2007. In terms of total revenue from Blu-ray, about $750 million was spent last year -- a small but growing figure when compared to the nearly $22 billion for DVDs.

Acer outdueled Asus in the third quarter to become the world's No. 1 seller of mini-notebook PCs, according to DisplaySearch and Gartner.

Though Asus essentially created the mini-notebook segment in late 2007, DisplaySearch reports that Acer was able to capture more than 35 percent of the market globally in the third quarter, stripping market share from its main rival. Gartner confirmed that the rivals have swapped market-share slots.