Semiconductor equipment orders keep rising, according to Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI).

Microsoft and Intel have announced that they have formed an initiative to develop reference designs for PDAs and smart phones.

In a move which will raise the profile of the Australian printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing industry, the chief executives of Australia's six major PCB companies have launched the Interconnect Technologies Forum (ITF).

Nokia has announced a strategy to drive openness in all critical future product designs across the communications networking industry.

Philips semiconductor division has debuted an advanced mixed-signal audio codec chip for LCD-based handheld applications, such as PDAs, 3G mobile phones and other mobile devices.

Data communications firm Braintree Communications has been officially acknowledged as a Defence Recognised Supplier to the Australian Defence Industry.

In spite of current economic conditions, the market for semiconductor development platforms is forecast to continue positive growth according to Cahners In-Stat/MDR, the high-tech market research firm.

Intel Australia has issued a warning to Australian consumers to be wary of laptops containing processors designed for desktop computers.

The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Richard Alston, has announced the latest information and communication technology company to receive assistance from the commonwealth government’s $40 million Intelligent Island Program.

According to Cahners In-Stat/MDR, global shipments of personal digital assistants (PDAs) grew 17% in 2001 despite a weak global economy and continuing erosion of consumer confidence, however this represents a significant slowdown growth rate from the previous year.

Higher than expected sales of desktop PCs, printers, scanners and digital cameras have prompted Hewlett-Packard to increase its previous earnings estimates for the first fiscal quarter that ended January 31 2002.

Worldwide workstation shipments totalled 1.4 million in 2001, an 11% decline from 2000, according to preliminary results from Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner.

The use of digital signal processors (DSPs) in the design of customer-specific products, or application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), offers a high-growth, high-margin opportunity, according to Cahners In-Stat/MDR.

Students considering tertiary courses in IT are moving towards harder edge degrees in what is a likely reaction to the international downturn in the dotcom industry, according to the Dean of Australia's largest IT faculty at Monash University.

Hewlett-Packard has announced that a shareholder meeting to vote on the company's proposed merger with Compaq will take place on 19 March 2002.