I’ve always wanted to steal a street sign but they’re always bigger than you think. Where would I put it? How annoying is it for the city to fix? Wait, how are street signs even made? This video shows the street sign magic factory of New York City and reveals the true anatomy and process of those signs. If you’re a fiend for cutting metal and silkscreening and anything in a manufacturing process, this video shows it all. More »
Intense semiconductor competition has already forced numerous Japanese companies to work together, and now Fujitsu has announced that it’ll merge its LSI chip design and R&D divisions with Panasonic. The two companies are looking to the state-run Development Bank of Japan to fund the new venture, which comes in the wake of expected Fujitsu losses of over $1 billion this year — forcing the company to cut 5,000 jobs and transfer 4,500 to other divisions by March 31st. Fujitsu said it’s also looking to transfer a state-of-the-art LSI fabrication line in central Japan to a new foundry venture with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the world’s largest chip maker. That carries on a trend in declining Japanese chip dominance, exemplified by Elpida’s bankruptcy and the recent government bailout of Renesas, which itself is a merger of NEC, Hitachi and Mitsubishi’s semiconductor operations.
[Image credits: Wikimedia commons]
Filed under: Misc
Via: WSJ
Source: Fujitsu
A maintenance contractor called out to fix a hydrofluoric acid leak at a Samsung plant has died after being taken to a hospital, according to Korean media. Four others were injured by the lethal gas but have reportedly been discharged by doctors. The factory in question is located within South Korea, which isn’t known for the sort of lax safety standards that plague workers in China, but AsiaE reports the accident will nevertheless be investigated to find out if any laws were breached in the way the leak was handled, and if the killed contractor was wearing the right protective gear. For the sake of context, it’s worth remembering that even state-of-the-art installations can be prone to accidents — in 2011, for example, seven American workers were injured in an explosion at Intel’s semiconductor fab in Arizona.
Filed under: Samsung
Via: The Verge, The Next Web
Source: AsiaE, Yonhap News, CriEnglish
If you were following Sony’s CES press event in detail, you might recall it launched with a quick video of a new Sony product made by hand. We now know that was to be the Xperia Z, and now the company’s released a curiously relaxing video of a (largely) off-camera tinkerer crafting the aforementioned phone, a Cybershot RX1 and one of its HD camcorders. All within five minutes. We doubt this is how the electronics-maker’s real production line works, but at least you get a glimpse into how Sony ensures its new flagship phone is kept ‘omnibalanced‘. (Hint: there’s not much space left beneath that glossy back panel.)
Filed under: Cellphones, Cameras, Mobile, Sony
Source: Sony (YouTube)
Tim Cook laid some pretty exciting news on us today, saying that an entire Mac line would be manufactured in the US starting next year (some iMacs are already assembled here). But time was, that was just ho-hum standard for all Macs, when they were made in Fremont, California. More »
Tim Cook has confirmed that production of one of the existing Mac lines will move to the US, wholesale, in 2013. The news has made it on to Bloomberg Business week, and will be confirmed in a TV interview with Tim Cook which will be aired on NBC tonight. More »
Just about every device that Apple sells these days is made in China by Foxconn and other major manufacturers. Though it looks like some of Apple’s items are no longer being manufactured in China. A recent teardown performed by iFixit on the new 21.5-inch iMac revealed that the machine was made in the USA.
I say the teardown revealed this fact, but it was actually etched on the back of the iMac’s case, in plain sight. The little laser its stamp on the back says “Assembled in USA.” Exactly how much the machine is actually assembled in the US remains unclear – though the machine’s large IPS display is definitely still assembled in China by LG.
Products can be called “Assembled in the USA” without all components actually being produced within the US. The only qualification is that “substantial” assembly must take place in the US. According to the FTC having all components assembled in foreign countries and merely screwed together in the US wouldn’t qualify product to be labeled as “Assembled in the USA,” so Apple must have a manufacturing facility or partner somewhere in the US once again.
Regardless of where the new iMac is made, the iFixit teardown also revealed that the slim new model is almost impossible to repair or upgrade, so if you want an iMac that you can tinker with, then grab a 2011 model.
[via Mashable]
Despite the recent uptick in its profits and the fact that it has already deleted 36,000 names from its payroll, Panasonic says it’ll have to cut another 10,000 jobs by March of next year. The maker of the Lumix GH3, huge 8K plasmas and much else that is desirable, is steadily facing up to the reality that a fifth of its 100 business units are bleeding cash. But depressingly, even with this major restructuring and continuing efforts to sell off unwanted units, the Japanese old-timer still expects to lose $10 billion during this accounting year and fail in its goal to achieve a five percent profit margin within the next three years.
Panasonic will cut another 10,000 jobs by March, won’t dodge a $10 billion annual loss originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Nov 2012 03:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Foxconn, the often-maligned manufacturing giant that produces iDevices, Nokias, and probably the gadget in your pocket, employs over 1 million people in manufacturing in China. I know at least one country that would love to have a million new manufacturing jobs. Taiwanese reports say that Terry Gou, the chairman of Foxconn, told a business meeting that he didn’t think that production lines could be moved back the United States (agreeing with Steve Jobs) but he offered an olive branch: he invited dozens of American engineers to China so Americans can learn how a modern precision factory is operated. Presumably so they can come back here and set up little Foxconns of their own–staffed with millions of robots. Here’s hoping they don’t also teach factory honchos how to keep wages down. Clearly, Chinese manufacturing is pretty confident in their own abilities, even if they can’t keep up with the demands of cutting-edge American design.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Foxconn reportedly struggling to meet huge iPhone demand, Foxconn says the iPhone 5 is the “most difficult device” it’s ever manufactured ,
Mario’s alma mater may be looking at its next big console to bolster its stumbling net income, but it won’t be raising its bottom line on hardware alone: Nintendo says the Wii U is going to be sold at a loss. While this is par for the course for most game consoles, loss leader products are somewhat of a new trend for Nintendo, which only started selling hardware at a loss recently. On the upside, company CEO Satoru Iwata says the 3DS is back in the black, finally selling for a tidy (though unspecified) profit after dropping its price late last year. Nintendo expects business to pick up down the road, but says circumstances will keep it from attaining “Nintendo-like” profits in this fiscal year.
Filed under: Gaming
Nintendo Wii U to be sold at a loss, 3DS starts to turn a profit originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Oct 2012 02:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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