At the core of every computer is a microprocessor, a device that has been called the greatest invention of the century. The dictionary defines the microprocessor as "a semiconductor central processing unit usually contained on a single integrated...

In 1969, after the integrated circuit had become widely available, a Japanese calculator company, Busicom, approached Robert Noyce 's newly formed Intel Corporation. Busicom wanted Intel to produce a set of 12 interconnected integrated circuits for a...

In the last few decades, microprocessors have gone from being expensive and marginally useful to being the foundation of technological civilization. The importance of computers was highlighted by concerns surrounding the much anticipated "Y2K...

A microprocessor is a programmable digital electronic component that incorporates the functions of a central processing unit (CPU) on a single semiconducting integrated circuit (IC). The microprocessor was born by reducing the word size of the CPU from...

Advanced Micro Devices is taking aim at a new market, chip sets, in hopes of lifting its falling sales.The move has been in the works since October, when AMD AMD bought ATI Technologies. ATI makes graphics chips and chip sets.Chip sets are groups of chips...

Via Technologies Inc., the often-overlooked third player in the microprocessor arena, said Friday that Hewlett-Packard Co. has decided to use its low-cost, low-power chips in new energy-efficient business PCs in the booming China market.HP's decision to use Via processors in a new Compaq desktop computer...

Intel Corp. announced Monday it will build a $2.5 billion chip factory in China, giving the U.S. company a bigger presence in the booming Chinese market and boosting Beijing's efforts to attract high-tech investment.The factory will supply chipsets to customers in China, which Intel expects...

Intel Corp. has received approval to build a $2.5 billion chip plant in China amid booming Chinese demand for chips used in personal computers and mobile phones, the government said Tuesday.The factory is planned for the northeastern city of Dalian, the cabinet's National Development and...