Which material will lead the post-silicon computing future? Graphene steps forward as likely candidate, as researchers find a means of making the "miracle material" fulfill its promise in electronics. 

Discovered in 2004 by two University of Manchester scientists (winning them the 2010 Nobel prize in physics), graphene consists of one-atom-thick sheets of carbon. It can carry electric charges faster than any other material, making it theoretically perfect for use in electronics... but it makes a terrible semiconductor (essential for making transistors) Read more...

OK, maybe we should count the iPad as the top product that caught Intel by surprise. But the next biggest surprise, and this one more positive for Intel, is the come-back of the All-in-One.

Who would have guessed that All-in-One would have a resurgence?

The All-in-One essentially replaces a desktop, so Kirk Skaugen, VP and GM of the PC client business group has responsibility for the Intel All-in-One market.

He says OEMs already have 18 Thin Mini-ITX motherboards in development. Many of these will be available at the end of the quarter,  opening u Read more...

Gartner reports Q2 2012 EMEA PC shipments total 25.1 million units-- a 1.9% Y-o-Y increase, with "very weak" demand across both W. and S. Europe as the eurozone crisis continues growing.

As a result, distributors might end up with greater inventory levels while retailers take the (perhaps wise) risk adverse approach. This can hinder future growth before Windows 8 and new Ultrabook models hit the market sometime around H2 2012.

The global situation is not any better-- according to Gartner, the Q2 2012 WW PC market is virtually flat. Shipments Read more...

Proposals from 192 ITU member states will be up for discussion at the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) in Dubai this December.

In this WCIT agenda is a proposal by European Telecommunications Network Operators (ETNO) to impose a sender tax on large-volume, over-the-top content providers. Yes, the telecom lobbying group craves usage-linked fees from content providers.

That means anyone sending a lot of video or offering video downloads…like YouTube or even rAVe Publications (more videos from InfoComm, ISE, DSE than anyone).

Under this proposal, operators would also be allowed to charge “enhanced” fees for "value-added network services" such as “specified quality” (guaranteeing you get the bandwidth as advertised) and “reliability” (guaranteeing the broadband actually works).

ETNO argues major content deliverers owe operators the costs of maintaining and building the networks that allow their content-heavy sites to reach international markets.

Many of the largest data-moving websites affected by this senders' tax are USA-based, such as Google, Facebook, Apple, and Netflix. That makes voting for this tax popular among the 192 countries in ITU, the majority who do not host any big content providers. (One wonders how will dear Tuvalu vote as a Polynesian island that owns the .tv domains it sells to large content developers, all foreigners?)