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handy_vandal writes "STMicroelectronics has announced a new generation of photocells made from organic plastics. Over a typical 20-year life span of a solar cell, a single produced watt should cost as little as $0.20, compared with the current $4. See also article @ cnn.com. On a related note, this article @ IEEE discusses new improved LED technology by the same team."

PoisonousPhat writes "STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments, Nokia and ARM have formed the Mobile Industry Processor Interface Alliance (MIPI), who seek to define open standards for cell phone components. Forget that expensive camera phone, just plug in a third-party device." Update: 07/30 18:13 GMT by T : Thanks to Alain Mellan for the link to STMicroelectronics.

Rise is hoping to deliver its mP6 socket 7, PII-level clones by Christmas. Given that their first silicon worked (not usual) they may be well on track. In related news, Cyrix and IBM will no longer work together. There will be no more Cyrix chips manufactured by IBM. Instead IBM will use ST's Metaflow design. ST (previously SGS Thomson) is another ex-Cyrix licensee.

In a move confirming the reasons it purchased Metaflow, SGS-Thomson has announced that it will be cloning Slot 1. This will be SGS's first recent x86 chip not based on a Cyrix designed CPU. In a similar deal to IBM's, SGS has had the option of manufacturing Cyrix processors under its own brand name to give Cyrix Fab capacity. However it did not exercise this option. Metaflow is interesting in that it pioneered out of order execution and uses other novel techniques. While SGS does not intend to sell its chips on the open market, it does increase the competition in the x86 market.