SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) forecast revenue below expectations as it struggles with a weak global economy, tepid PC sales and relentless pressure from top chipmaker Intel.

Like others in the PC industry, AMD has been hit by a shaky global economy and consumers’ growing preference for tablets and smartphones, but analysts also believe AMD may be losing market share to processors made by rivals Intel (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Nvidia (NVDA.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The shares of Intel Corp (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and other technology stocks surged after the top chipmaker trimmed its outlook and signaled that the PC industry might be down but is not out.

Intel’s recently punished stock jumped on Wednesday after the company reported second-quarter earnings late the day before. The shares of Hewlett Packard Co (HPQ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Dell Inc (DELL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and other technology heavyweights also rose.

SAN FRANCISCO, July 17 (Reuters) – Top chipmaker Intel Corp forecast weak current-quarter revenues, reinforcing
fears that a wavering global economy and a lack of consumer
interest are dampening personal computer sales.

Shaky economies in Europe and the United States and a
growing consumer preference for Apple Inc’s iPad
tablets have been taking a toll on the PC industry.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp unveiled on Monday a new version of its Office suite tailored for touchscreen devices, in the company’s largest-ever overhaul of the aging workplace software it relies on for most of its profit.

The revamped Office, touted by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer as the most ambitious version so far, comes with a sleeker, slimmed-down interface designed for use with the upcoming Windows 8 operating system.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Tablets with paper-thin screens that can be folded and tucked into your back pocket, artificial intelligence and augmented reality — the stuff of science fiction may be coming to a store near you.

It’s been two years since Apple Inc launched the iPad and spawned rival tablets from the likes of Samsung Electronics Co, Amazon.com Inc, Sony Corp, and now Google Inc and Microsoft Corp.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Chip manufacturing equipment maker Lam Research’s (LRCX.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) chief executive said he has not seen any major deterioration in demand from customers concerned about a downturn in global technology spending.

“There’s a little bit of an appearance of neutral to slightly negative in commentary from customers in the last couple of weeks, but frankly it changes every day and everybody has a different baseline,” LAM Research CEO Martin Anstice told Reuters in an interview.

SAN FRANCISCO, July 2 (Reuters) – When Google Inc
decided to build its Nexus Q home entertainment device in
Silicon Valley rather than in China, it was not fretting about
the bottom line. It was fretting about speed.

“We wanted to innovate fast. This is the first end-to-end
hardware product that Google has ever put out,” said John
Lagerling, Google’s senior director of Android global
partnerships.

By Noel Randewich and Sinead Carew

(Reuters) – Micron Technology Inc will buy failed Japanese chipmaker Elpida Memory Inc for about $750 million in cash, pushing Micron into second place behind market leader Samsung Electronics in the market for DRAM memory chips.

Micron shares rose 5 percent in premarket trading after news of the deal, which will give it chip manufacturing assets at a heavily discounted price and boost its cashflow.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook Inc may be having trouble connecting with Wall Street.

The financial houses behind Silicon Valley’s largest-ever coming-out party kicked off formal coverage of the company on Wednesday by warning about an uncertain business model, margin pressures and a difficult transition to mobile technology.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook Inc drew tepid assessments from Wall Street’s top analysts a month after its rocky stock market debut, as warnings about an uncertain business model and a difficult transition to mobile helped send its shares down 2.6 percent.

In more than a dozen highly anticipated reports, Morgan Stanley and other major brokerages that handled the blockbuster IPO said it remains unclear how Facebook plans to make money from a growing number of users logging onto the No. 1 social network via smartphones and tablets.