News Flash

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and Toshiba Corp. announced they will develop and propose a high-speed NAND flash memory interface, the toggle DDR (double data rate) 2.0, which will support a maximum 400 megabit-per-second (Mbps) data transmission, as an industry standard.

Sony Corp. and Tohoku University have jointly developed a combination of a blue-violet semiconductor laser and a semiconductor amplifier and succeeded in emitting 405nm pulsed laser with the peak output of 100W, which is more than a hundred times the highest peak output of any conventional blue-violet semiconductor laser.

Toshiba Corp. and SanDisk have jointly announced that SanDisk will participate in the operation of Toshiba's new NAND fab, whose construction has just started, just as SanDisk has been partnering Toshiba for the NAND fabs currently in operation.

Targeting China, which is expected to become the world's largest TV market this year, Toshiba Corp. announced the establishment of a joint venture sales company, Toshiba Visual Products (China) Co., Ltd., with TCL Corp., one of China's leading consumer electronics manufacturers.

ST Microelectronics' insufficient supply of custom chips to Hitachi, Ltd. has triggered the halting of production at four car plants of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. in Japan, media reported. Hitachi has been assembling engine control units (ECUs) for Nissan using ST Micro's chip but supply of the chip fell short of the contracted amount, according to reports.

Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. and Toppan Printing Co., Ltd., the two largest printing companies in Japan, have proposed establishing the Association for E-publishing Business Solution, taking the initiative in preparing e-book production and distribution infrastructure. The two companies are organizing the association's inaugural meeting scheduled for July 27.

Aiming to launch a home-use energy storage systems business, Panasonic Corp. has started field testing a combination of solar panel modules and storage battery systems, employing 18650 lithium-ion battery cells, at its offices.

Olympus Corp. has acquired Innov-X systems, Inc. headquartered in Massachusetts, making the manufacturer of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzers a wholly owned subsidiary. This move is in line with the five-year strategic plan of Olympus to strengthen its hand in industrial equipment by offering analyzers in addition to test and measurement equipment.

Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. is negotiating with On Semiconductor and has almost reached agreement on selling its semiconductor unit to the Phoenix, Arizona-based company, various media reported. According to Sanyo, the reports are not based on any announcement it has made. However, the sale of Sanyo Semiconductor Co., Ltd., Sanyo's wholly owned subsidiary, has been widely anticipated as its largely analog business offers no opportunities for synergy with new parent company Panasonic's businesses.

Aiming to promote and prepare the social environment for electric vehicles, 35 companies and organizations founded on Tuesday the Association for the Promotion of Electric Vehicles (APEV). Fukutake Soichiro, chairman of Benesse Corp., is the president of APEV.