When it comes to the importance (or otherwise) of the nanometer, journalists often don't help.
ENGADGET: Primed: why nanometers matter (and why they often don't)
However, elevated competition among manufacturers of 30-nanometer-class chips will lead to a price decline.
Nanotechnology is the study and manipulation of matter at a very tiny scale, the nanometer scale.
On Thursday, AMD announced the widespread availability of its new 45-nanometer quad-core Opteron processor ahead of schedule.
This let researchers see objects as small as 1 nanometer in size--about five times larger than a single atom.
That will provide key advantages over rivals building quad-core mobile processors using older 40 nanometer technology, such as Nvidia.
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Continued advances in precision engineering at the nanometer scale holds considerable potential for the biotechnology and life sciences markets.
The announcement comes as the Santa Clara, Calif-based processor company detailed its long-anticipated shift to so-called 22 nanometer process technology.
FORBES: Intel Introduces 3-D Transistors; Details New 22nm Process Technology
Similarly, Apple bumped up the specs on its Xserve, slotting a pair of 45-nanometer quad-core Xeon's into its rack-mounted server.
Initial wafer runs on 32-nanometer process node suggest a quick ramp to high yields in 2010 and minimal additional development outlays.
SanDisk is building both new SSDs using its industry-leading 19 nanometer (nm) technology, the world's smallest, most advanced manufacturing process node.
ENGADGET: SanDisk releases Ultra Plus and X110 SSDs with speed on a budget
As for NAND, we will spur growth by expanding the 20-nanometer-class portion.
And while Intel reported strong server processor sales, the company is also counting on its 45-nanometer technology to pay off in notebooks.
Marinkovic's anti-nanometer stance is inherently sensible, and we'd have subscribed to it wholeheartedly were it not for his untimely mention of the iPad.
ENGADGET: Primed: why nanometers matter (and why they often don't)
Intel announced 27 new processors at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Thursday, shifting its new 32-nanometer manufacturing process into the mainstream.
Intel claims that more than 6 million of these 22 nanometer Tri-Gate transistors can fit in the period at the end of this sentence.
Toyota has combined polypropylene and rubber at the nanometer scale to make a bumper that is as rigid as the usual 4-millimeter bumper but almost 60% thinner.
Despite sluggish market conditions, Samsung maintained solid profitability through its differentiated memory solutions and cost leadership based on its migration to 30-nanometer-class DRAM production.
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Intel is already increasing the number of factories that employ the 22 nanometer manufacturing process and is starting the transition to 14 nanometer chips.
Kepler is based on 28-nanometer (nm) process technology and succeeds the 40-nm NVIDIA Fermi architecture, which was first introduced into the market in March 2010.
ENGADGET: Primed: why nanometers matter (and why they often don't)
At a distance of just 1 nanometer, the needle physically attracted the carbon monoxide molecules and pulled them to a precisely specified location on the surface.
The GTX 690 graphics card is designed using GeForce GPUs based on NVIDIA's 28-nanometer Kepler architecture, following the introduction late last month of the GTX 680.
Apple announced a new Mac Pro that pairs two of Intel 's new 45-nanometer quad-core 3.2-gigahertz Xeon processors, putting eight processor cores into Apple's powerful workstations.
Toyota has combined polypropylene and rubber at the nanometer scale to make a bumper that is as rigid as the usual 4-millimeter one but almost 60% thinner.
Her battery-producing viruses cover their entire 880 nanometer-lengths with tiny balls of cobalt oxide and gold, leaving her with nanowires--six nanometers in diameter and 880 nanometers long.
Apparently they've managed to create some supa' fast memory chips by coating 30-nanometer-long bits of tobacco mosaic virus (pictured above in its natural habitat) with itsy-bitsy platinum nanoparticles.
ENGADGET: Platinum-coated virus to be used for speedy memory
If the leak is accurate, Bay Trail for tablets isn't expected until early 2014, by which point 22-nanometer Atoms will be a step behind the cutting edge.
Customers are either dealing with the very complex physics of 20-nanometer design or they are squeezing the last bit of performance and cost from designs at mature, high-value nodes.
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The GTX 660 Ti is built using NVIDIA's 28-nanometer Kepler architecture, as are the GTX 680, GTX 670 and dual-GPU GTX 690, all of which were introduced earlier this year.
ENGADGET: NVIDIA announces $299 GeForce GTX 660 Ti, lets Kepler walk among the people
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