At the Custom Electronics Design and Installation Association (CEDIA) Expo in Indianapolis last week, HP demo'd a new technology for its high-definition television sets that will allow consumers to use them to access digital files stored on their PC's. According to HP, the technology, which is slated for distribution next summer, will allow its HDTV sets to communicate with a variety of devices on a home network, and will also allow consumers to access multimedia services over the Internet. The prototype HDTV sets that HP demo'd at CEDIA contain a built-in media receiver that enables them to communicate wired or wirelessly with PC's. HP plans to offer companion software with the TV sets that will allow consumers to create virtual databases of media content on their PC's: once a library of personal media is created and a wired or wireless connection is made, the company says, consumers will be able to use their remote controls to navigate those libraries and access their content. "This is among the world's most advanced television technology," Steve Nigro, HP's SVP and general manager of imaging and printing technology platforms, said in a prepared statement. "By creating even smarter HDTV's, HP will help consumers access digital content over the Internet or content that was previously quarantined on the PC. Now that content will be readily available through the heart of home entertainment--the TV."
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...