Texas Instruments today unveiled what it claims is the industry's first high-temperature, nonvolatile Flash memory device for harsh environments. The SM28VLT32-HT has an operational capacity of 4MB and has been qualified to work in extreme situations ranging in temperature from -55C to +210C. At either end of the spectrum, TI says its 4MB part is good for at least 1,000 hours of operating life.

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) have fallen below $2, dropping more than 3 percent to $1.86 by the end of the trading day on Thursday. That's not only a 52-week low for the Sunnyvale chip designer, but it's the first time the company's stock has dipped below $2 since 2008. A recent report indicating AMD had hired J.P. Morgan Chase to "explore options," including an outright sale of the company, sparked the downward spiral, and though AMD has denied claims it's shopping itself around, investors are understandably skittish.

OCZ Technology recently appointed a new chief to address a credibility problem and save what looked like a sinking ship, and in order to that, company CEO Ralph Schmitt has had to make some tough, "aggressive" decisions. Among them is the reduction of 28 percent of OCZ's global workforce and a discontinuation of 150 product variations, both of which were described as "initial steps to make its business more efficient and profitable."

A survey by Wakefield Research reveals that most American consumers are still in the dark about LEDs, so Ikea has made it the company's mission to enlighten them by selling lighting products that are LED-only. The bold initiative is being rolled out over time. Ikea's goal is to switch its full lighting range to 100 percent LEDs by 2016, which means the furniture store will sell only LED bulbs and LED lamps.