TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Intel, Sharp Unveil New Chip Technology: Intel Corp. and Japan’s Sharp Corp. said the technology will open the way for smaller cellular phones, digital cameras and portable computers. The U.S. and Japanese semiconductor makers said they have jointly developed 0.4-micron processing for 8-megabit flash memory chips, which reduces the size of the chips by 44%, compared with current 0.6-micron technology. Unlike their cousin, the dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chip, flash memories can hold data even when the power is off. Sales of flash memory chips are likely to quadruple in the next three years from $1.77 billion, according to industry figures. Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel and Osaka, Japan-based Sharp share nearly 45% of the worldwide flash memory market.