Executive Vice President

The semiconductor industry has long been a game for titans.

The going rate for a chip factory is about $3 billion. The facilities typically take years to build. And the microscopic size of chip circuitry requires engineering that nearly defies the laws of physics.

Over the decades, legions of companies have found themselves reeling, even wiped out financially, after trying to produce some of the most complex objects made by man for the lowest possible prices.

Nokia unveiled a free version of its Ovi Maps navigation software Thursday that provides turn-by-turn navigation on the company's smartphones. Analysts expect the move will have a major impact on the mobile-communications and personal-navigation industries, and could potentially be more disruptive than Google's navigation offering.

Seagate introduced a new solid-state drive (SSD) Monday that is destined for deployment in enterprise blade and general server applications. Based on single-level cell flash memory technology, the company's new Pulsar device features a 2.5-inch small form factor and capacities ranging between 50GB and 200GB.

However, the Pulsar is merely the first offering in a new product portfolio that the company intends to expand over time, noted Seagate Executive Vice President Dave Mosley.

Sony's new online service connecting the whole range of its gadgets to downloadable content like movies and games should help build brand loyalty, a top executive said Friday.

Executive Vice President Kazuo Hirai said the service, set for launch next year, highlights an advantage that Sony has over rivals like Samsung Electronics Co. and other manufacturers that don't produce their own content. Sony's business empire spans gaming, electronics, movies and music.

Intel's antitrust troubles haven't ended with the European Union's record-breaking $1.45 billion fine. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed suit Wednesday against the company, alleging bribery, coercion and other anticompetitive activities.

Dr. James E. Sanders is a big believer of switching patient records from old paper files to sophisticated computer databases.

The electronic medical records system at the Department of Veterans Affairs' Kansas City Medical Center gives Sanders and his staff almost immediate access to medical histories, allowing them to seamlessly treat veterans from other states. But when patients aren't in the VA's system, it could mean hours or days before doctors have crucial information to properly care for patients.

By many measures, it has been a tough year for employees of Electronic Data Systems. After Hewlett-Packard bought the computer services company in August for $13.9 billion, it immediately began hacking the work force.

Led by a master cost-cutter, Mark V. Hurd, HP laid off 25,000 EDS workers, and cut the salaries of some by more than 20 percent. Mr. Hurd even stripped the EDS brass of their plush offices and corralled them in cubicles.

In what appears to be a clear response to price cuts by Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo is slashing the price of its popular Wii video-game console. Nintendo announced a $50 price cut that will go into effect on Sept. 27.

Nintendo introduced the Wii to millions of consumers at $250, making it the least expensive next-generation console on the market when it debuted in 2006. Sony launched late with its PlayStation 3 at twice the price of the Wii. Sony has never regained momentum.

Competition will be heating up between Intel and its rival chipmakers, Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia. Intel has introduced a high-end graphics processor based on its Larrabee architecture that will go head-to-head with Nvidia GeForce and AMD Radeon video cards.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker demonstrated early silicon based on the Larrabee architecture during Intel's Developer Forum in San Francisco on Tuesday, showing the world that it will now integrate graphics into future chip products.

Hewlett-Packard is trying to stay ahead of the Web printing curve. On Tuesday, the computer and printer giant announced "new relationships and solutions" to make printing from the Web easier, including a "printer app" store.

"With the explosion of digital content on the Web," said Executive Vice President Vyomesh Joshi, "our goal is to enable consumers to print anywhere, anytime." HP is describing its announcements as a continuing part of a Print 2.0 strategy, responding to a trend of so much -- up to 50 percent of all printing -- coming from the Web.

HP App Studio