EETimes.com | Electronics Industry News for EEs & Engineering Managers

43rd DAC : The week that was EE Times editors on the ground at the 43rd Design Automation Conference filed more than 45 reports. Here are the five most heavily trafficked. NEC Electronics' recovery linked to its game chip With the goal of restoring profits this year, NEC Electronics started its first quarter with 13 percent increase in sales and halved its operating loss year on year. Is the Intel-backed ATE group losing steam? Sergio Perez, vice president of business development at Advantest Corp.'s U.S. subsidiary, has quietly resigned -- a move that raises more questions about the future of an Intel-backed automatic test equipment (ATE) consortium. Former Scipher CEO appointed to VC post Quester, a U.K. venture capital company, has appointed Rudolph Burger as director of U.S. business development. Burger is set to open an office for Quester at 2420 Sand Hill Road, San Francisco, California. Microsoft tips iPod rival Zune and strategy Microsoft plans to go head-to-head with Apple for a piece of the portable music device market, but it doesn't expect to be an overnight sensation in the field. Sony recovers in first quarter Sony Corp. managed a big recovery in its first quarter, powered by consumers electronics. Canon's tool sales soar despite shortfall Despite falling short of its lithography shipments, Canon Inc.'s chip-equipment unit posted an operating profit of 8.7 billion yen ($75.4 million), up 3.7 percent over the like period a year ago. Researchers claim to have perfected a method for brewing exactly the right molecular arrangement for the doping of magnetic atoms needed for spintronics. TEL sees Q1 profits, sales blossom Production equipment company Tokyo Electron Ltd. has said it made a net income of 16.3 billion yen (about $140 million) on sales of 179 billion yen (about $1.55 billion) in the first fiscal quarter