Briefs: ARM signs development deal with IBM, Samsung; Sagentia design wins innovation award
IBM, Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd, Samsung Electronics, Co., Ltd., and ARM Holdings said they will develop a comprehensive 32 nanometer (nm) and 28nm Systems-on-a-Chip (SoCs) design platform based on high-k metal-gate (HKMG) technology from the IBM-led joint-development alliance.
Under the multi-year collaboration, ARM will develop and license a design platform of physical intellectual property including logic, memory and interface products for the Common Platform technology alliance of IBM, Chartered and Samsung for distribution to their customers.
ARM also said its intent to develop customized physical IP targeted at achieving optimal power, performance, and area for their current and future Cortex processor family leveraging the unique attributes of the Common Platform HKMG 32nm/28nm technology. The HKMG technology breaks down the historical barrier of scaling, allowing significant power and performance advantage by utilizing new material science innovations. This technology targets a broad range of embedded segments, including mobile, portable and consumer electronics.
* * * *
International tech consultants Sagentia said it has been the prime development partner behind Prosurgics' FreeHand -- an award-winning medical device which allows assistance for minimally invasive surgery.
Since its launch in Stockholm earlier this year, Prosurgics' FreeHand robotic camera holder has attracted great interest from surgeons worldwide and has been recognized by the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons in the US as a "2008 Innovation of the Year," awarded a fortnight ago.
* * * *
As part of its campaign of strategic growth, Cambridge Consultants has appointed David Blakey as Head of its Drug Delivery campaign, adding strength and a good deal of experience to this strategically important area of its business.
Dr Blakey joins joins during a period of significant transformation and growth in the industry, which is opening up new challenges for the pharmaceutical industry to control and target drug therapies in an increasingly regulated and competitive market, the company said.
Prior to joining Cambridge Consultants, Dr Blakey spent 13 years at TTP, having joined after gaining a PhD at Grenoble, France in 1995 for his research in neutron diffraction.
* * * *
Brady plc, supplier of trading and risk management solutions for metals and commodities, said that the Physical Metal Trading Division of AMC Group, a worldwide supplier of raw, non-ferrous metal and steel materials and intermediate products, has selected Brady for its trading, risk management and operations activities.
The system will provide full STP (straight-through processing) and will be used by front-office traders, back-office operations and accounting departments for handling base and minor metals. Brady will provide pricing, trade capture, intra-day position keeping and reporting as well as processing for derivatives and physical metal. It will interface with AMC's accounting system and provide settlement instructions, confirmations and invoicing.
* * * *
Medical Marketing International Group plc, the life sciences company focused on the development of drugs for cancer, said it had sold its subsidiary, Bioscience Innovation Centre Ltd, to Turnstone Estates Ltd for £1, as part of its cost efficiency programme.
BIC manages The Bioscience Innovation Centre, a 25,000 square foot office and incubator facility in Cambridge. BIC leases The Bioscience Innovation Centre from TEL under a lease deal that expires in 2024.
MMI has entered into a new lease for a minimum of 5 years and has agreed to pay BIC (under its new ownership) a fee of £100,000 on completion and £100,000 by 30 June 2009.
CFO Rob Sprawson said the deal had facilitated the disposal of excess space whilst retaining its laboratory services revenue stream and its fully furnished and equipped laboratories. Recurring costs will be cut by more than £250,000 a year.
* * * *
Screen Technology Group plc said in its half yearly financial report that its previously announced restructuring continues to take time to 'bed down'.
It said that good progress has been made on commercial and manufacturing fronts. The Company now operates with a "lean staff and overhead structure" and has relocated to lower cost premises in Cambridgeshire. Screen Technology's ITrans product is a potentially significant play in world markets and reaction both from intended end users and our technology partners continues to be positive, the company said.
It remains the case however that the "out of home" advertising market, in particular, is conservative when it comes to new technology and has been slow to adopt a novel offering from a young business, however these barriers to entry are gradually being overcome, the firm said in a statement to the Stock Market.
