IT Buoy

Intel Kirk Skaugen Intel loves to talk about Moore’s Law, its co-founder’s famed maxim about how rapidly miniaturization improves semiconductors. The company also prides itself on setting the pace, underscoring the strategy recently by deploying its most tiny circuitry in microprocessors for mainstream PCs. Then there’s Itanium. The high-end microprocessor line, originally developed with help from Hewlett-Packard, uses an entirely different technology than the x86 chips that Intel popularized in desktop and laptop PCs and low-end servers. Itanium models have tended to lag the production processes used to manufacture other Intel chips, but the disparity seems particularly stark with the latest version. Tukwila, the code name for a long-delayed Itanium model introduced Monday, is being built using manufacturing technology that creates lines of circuitry with features rated at 65 nanometers, or billionths of meter. That’s two technology generations behind the 32-nanometer process used in Intel’s latest x86 chips; the company earlier this year announced a $7 billion plan to accelerate the conversion of its U.S. factories to 32-nanometer technology

Apple’s worldwide iPhone shipments grew by 98% in the fourth quarter on a year-over-year basis, giving its market share a nice bump, according to new data from IDC . The iPhone’s marketshare went to 16% last quarter from 11% in the year-ago quarter, while rivals Research In Motion and Nokia were basically flat. Notably, smartphone pioneer Palm is absent from IDC’s data. Maybe the addition of Verizon will give it a boost this quarter. Read the rest of this story

Memjet Len Lauer It was a bit of a mystery when Len Lauer resigned as chief operating officer of Qualcomm last month. It was equally puzzling when he surfaced a couple of weeks later at Memjet, a closely held company most people have never heard of. Lauer has a reputation as a communications-industry heavyweight. After more than 10 years at IBM, he took jobs like chief executive of Bell Atlantic-New Jersey and COO of Sprint Nextel before joining Qualcomm in late 2006. In becoming CEO of Memjet, he is changing industries to lead an ambitious effort to shake up the printer market. What’s so different about Memjet’s approach? For starters, conventional inkjet printers have a print head that moves back and forth across the page. Consequently, they tend to be slow, noisy and shake your desk.

Since the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti Tuesday afternoon, big names from musician Wyclef Jean to the American Red Cross have been encouraging people to donate to relief efforts via text message. Associated Press A passerby donates a twenty dollar bill to the Haitian earthquake relief donation drive held by the University of Florida club. By texting a key phrase to a specific number, people can opt to have donations—typically of $5 or $10—tacked on to their cell phone bills, allowing them donate without having to write a check or pull out a credit card. Thousands of Americans have keyed in donations. The Red Cross, for example, reported that the mobile efforts had raised more than $3 million by Thursday morning, thanks to contributions from several hundred thousand people. But while the method of donating is convenient, donors should still do their research before putting down cash, warns the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance. They haven’t received complaints about texting donation scams yet, but the BBB says consumers should still do their due diligence. “We know that whenever something new comes up there will be people of ill will out there thinking of ways to take advantage of human generosity,” says H.

Pity NBC’s local news stations . Their 11 p.m. newscasts lost 19.7% of their overall viewers between November 2009 and November 2008, according to an analysis of Nielsen data by the Pew Research Center’s Project of Excellence in Journalism. These are the numbers affiliates were looking at before they protested against NBC’s late night experiment ( and won ). Jay Leno’s low audience ratings weren’t nudging enough viewers into their broadcasts. Read the rest of this story