Microsoft has introduced a new version of its .Net Speech Software development kit intended to get more programmers writing speech apps that use Microsoft tools and servers.

Microsoft wants to encourage them to write apps that allow access to customer-service data by both phone and the Web. The apps would also be able to deliver text and graphics to computer and cell-phone screens, in addition to voice feedback.

Japanese researcher Tadahiro Ohmi is developing three-dimensional systems-on-chip VLSI chips he claims have ten times better performance than today’s chips and squeeze design and production time to 1/40, clean room space to 1/5 and production cost to 1/10 of what’s now required.

“As one of the target systems-on-chip, Ohmi described a 3-D SoC that integrates everything but the kitchen sink: all of the silicon processors, silicon memories, polysilicon functional… read more

STMicroelectronics researchers have succeeded in increasing the efficiency of light-emitting silicon 100-fold, allowing for timing circuits to be built into silicon chips to reduce delays.