At the IBC show in Amsterdam last week, set-top box manufacturer, Humax, launched its first portable multimedia player (PMP), the Portable PVR HUP-1000. The small-footprint device (20mm thick and weighs less than 300g), which features a 4.3-inch LCD display with 16:9 ratio widescreen, allows end-users to store and watch movies; download and play music and videos; record and play back TV programs, using built-in PVR capabilities; and view digital photos. According to Humax, features of the new box include: a long-life battery, that allows end-users to view two movies or listen to 150 songs back to back and that can be charged via USB, a car adapter or an AC adapter; a mini-B USB device port with USB cable; AV Out to connect it to a TV or set-top; stereo sound; headphones and headphone socket; and 480x272xRGB pixel resolution.
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...