Sky is expected to announce plans for a broadband television service that will allow subscribers to download a selection of movies and sports packages over the internet -- "UK satellite broadcaster BSkyB is apparently planning to offer the service to subscribers of its top-tier packages from the autumn. Industry observers have been expecting a move from Sky to exploit the growing potential of broadband to support its satellite subscription service. An announcement is expected later this week, according to a report in the Sunday Telegraph. Initially the service will require a broadband connection and a computer, but it opens the possibility of Sky offering broadband services and potentially a proposition that is more integrated with its Sky+ personal video recorder at some point in the future. While satellite broadcasting offers significant bandwidth to deliver hundreds of television channels, it is unable to offer true video-on-demand (VOD) services that can be provided with cable television. Satellite broadcasters are widely expected to extend their services using broadband to provide downloadable and on-demand programming."
Few technology sectors sit as close to the center of gravity in today's artificial intelligence (AI) economy as semiconductor manufacturing. Every AI chip that trains a frontier model, every GPU that powers a data center inference workload, and every power management IC that keeps hyperscaler facilities running traces its origins back to the global Foundry ecosystem. IDC's latest market study throws that reality into sharp relief, projecting that the broadly defined Foundry 2.0 market will surpass $360 billion in 2026, a 17 percent year-over-year gain that would have seemed optimistic even two years ago. For anyone advising boards or investment committees on technology and AI infrastructure strategy, this growth trajectory demands careful consideration. Foundry 2.0 Market Development The umbrella term covers four distinct verticals: pure-play foundry, non-memory integrated device manufacturer (IDM) production, outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT), and photomask fab...