WebProNews

Tag: Texas Instruments

  • Amazon Could Buy Texas Instruments’ Mobile Chip Division

    Amazon in reportedly in talks with Texas Instruments to buy its OMAP (Open Multimedia Applications Platform) mobile chip manufacturing business. According to the Israeli website calcalist.co.il, Amazon is looking to compete with other chip manufacturers such as Qualcomm and Samsung.

    Texas Instruments announced earlier this month that it would be shifting its business away from wireless technologies to focus more on enterprise and industrial customers. The company makes the chips that power Amazon’s lineup of Kindle Fire products.

    With its Kindle Fire mini-tablets, Amazon has found a niche in which it can compete with large hardware manufacturers, such as Apple. The tablets provide customers with a direct feed to many Amazon products and currently dominates the 7-inch tablet market, which Apple is set to enter soon with the upcoming iPad Mini. It makes perfect sense that Amazon would want to control the business that makes an important component of what has become its most important product. Especially if Texas Instruments was intent on shutting that business down.

    Assaf Gilad, the reporter who wrote the calcalist.co.il story, points out that Texas Instruments also supplies Barnes & Noble with chips for some of its Nook tablets. It’s unclear whether Amazon, were it to actually buy the chip division from Texas Instruments, would allow a competitor to continue a lucrative contract for chips, or whether it would make Barnes & Noble shop around for a new supplier.

    (via The Verge)

  • Texas Instruments Begins Work On iPhone 5 Chips

    With a new iPad and a new Apple TV just released and the long-rumored iTV still taking its first steps out of the land of the hypothetical, the Apple rumor mill is turning its attention to the upcoming iPhone. While details are still a little thin on the ground at this point, some information is starting to emerge about Apple’s next flagship device.

    One of the things that’s been most in doubt about the new iPhone is its release date. Will Apple revert to the summer release schedule that they stuck with for four generations of iPhone and release in June? Or will they preserve the twelve-month window between releases and launch the next iPhone in the fall? Some information is starting to emerge that suggests the later date. Yesterday we brought you news that Foxconn was beginning a recruiting push in order to build up its workforce ahead of the next iPhone’s production. Considering that it’s already March, that sort of a recruiting effort suggests that the iPhone has not begun production yet, which argues against a release in just three months.

    Now there are new reports that seem to confirm an autumn release. According to a report from RepairLabs, Texas Instruments has begun producing power management chips for the next iPhone. Historically, TI’s chip production has begun a few months ahead of the debut of a new iPhone. As corroboration, RepairLabs also cites reports from their sources in China say that the next iPhone will debut in September, and will sport a larger screen than the traditional 3.5-inch version that has appeared on the first five iPhones.

    Interestingly, according to their source the next iPhone is being called the “iPhone 5” within Texas Instruments. While this has been the rumored name for months, it is appearing increasingly less likely. For one thing, the next iPhone is actually Apple’s sixth iPhone, which would suggest “iPhone 6” as the name. The launch of the latest iPad, however, changes expectations about the next iPhone completely, though. With the newest iPad, Apple dropped the numbering scheme altogether, simply calling the device “the new iPad.” Given that, it is highly unlikely that they will continue the numbering scheme the iPhone. Thus, in all likelihood, the next iPhone (and every iPhone after it) will simply be “the new iPhone.”

    At any rate, it’s looking increasingly likely that the next iPhone will be coming in the fall, like the last iPhone. No doubt more information will emerge in the coming months. We’ll be sure to keep you updated as it happens.

  • Texas Instruments Among “World’s Most Ethical Companies”

    Texas Instruments Among “World’s Most Ethical Companies”

    Apple’s new New iPad has been set loose upon the world today, giving consumers to think about something other than Apple’s dubious labor practices. Meanwhile, in the world of companies that have a high standard for the quality of life of employees, Texas Instruments, makers of amazing toys of my youth but now mostly a manufacturer of notable graphing calculators, has been named one of the world’s most ethical companies by the Ethisphere Institute for the sixth year in a row.

    “Ethical behavior and decisions are about how we expect one another to behave in this world — about being competitive and accountable and making sure our values are at the heart of the culture we want to have. This culture has served TI well for more than 80 years and has the ability to be the longest term competitive advantage we have. It’s the way we do business,” said Rich Templeton, Texas Instrument President and CEO. “TI is just as good as all of us behave as individuals.”

    This is the sixth year Ethisphere has published the “World’s Most Ethical Companies” rankings. The Ethisphere Institute reviewed hundreds of companies and evaluated a record number of applications using its propriety methodology through in-depth research and multi-step analysis, naming the companies that surpassed their industry peers to this year’s list. The 2012 list features companies in more than three dozen industries, including 40 companies headquartered outside the United States. The full list will appear in Ethisphere Magazine’s first-quarter issue.

    “We take ethical leadership and corporate citizenship seriously at TI, and we’re honored to be included again on this year’s list,” said David Reid, Texas Instrument Vice President and Director of Ethics. “TI understands that ethical practices not only support a stronger and more solid business overall, but they benefit the community and raise the bar for ethics and integrity within the industry.”

    The full list won’t be available until May so we’ll have to wait till then to find out how less scrupulous tech companies that manufacture our most revered gadgets are busily destroying the lives of their workers.

  • Intel Increases Cable Presence with Purchase of Texas Instruments’ Cable Modem Unit

    Intel just announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Texas Instruments’ cable modem unit. Intel says this will enhance its focus on in the cable industry and related markets.

    Intel will combine TI’s Puma product lines with the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) standard and Intel’s SoCs for a set top box, and other model products for the cable industry. "The objective is to provide cable OEMs with an open and powerful platform for delivering innovative and differentiated products to service providers that improve the video, voice and data content experience at home," Intel says.

    Puma 5 from TI – Puma on Vimeo.

    "Adding the talents of the Texas Instruments’ cable team to Intel’s efforts to bring its advanced technology to consumer electronics makes for a compelling combination," said Bob Ferreira, general manager, Cable Segment, Intel’s Digital Home Group. "Intel is focused on delivering SoCs that provide the foundation for consumer electronics devices such as set top boxes, digital TVs, Blu-ray disc players, companion boxes and related devices. This acquisition specifically strengthens Intel’s product offerings for the continuum of cable gateway products and reinforces Intel’s continued commitment to the cable industry."

    Intel says it has offered all TI employees with the cable modem team the chance to keep their jobs in at Intel sites in their respective countries (mostly Israel). They would become part of the company’s Digital Home Group.

    Financial terms of the acquisition weren’t revealed. The deal is subject to regulatory review, and is expected to close in the fourth quarter.