Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC) reported its 12th straight losing quarter on Tuesday, despite a dramatic rebound in the global chip industry.

China’s largest chip maker said the contract chip manufacturing business was solid in the first quarter and that an uptrend in the industry has continued in the second quarter.

Still, the company reported a wider loss than the same time last year. China’s chip makers have struggled not only due to the global recession but because incumbents in the contract chip-making business have vigorously defended their turf.

Despite the unrelenting hype around cloud computing, it’s just one aspect of several that will shape the next generation of enterprise IT, according to Barry Briggs, CTO of Microsoft IT.

Increased government regulation, the complexities introduced by globalization and explosive growth in data are major issues, Briggs said at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Monday evening.

Microsoft recently completed a project that encapsulates those three factors — a master customer database, containing records for 100 million corporate customers and some 2 billion identities, Briggs said. “That’s a big deal.”

Aruba Networks Inc. announced today that it will buy a start-up in outdoor mesh wireless technology, Azalea Networks Inc., in a cash and stock deal valued at $40.5 million.

Adding Azalea’s technology will allow Aruba to provide wireless LAN networks to businesses that stretch from inside corporate offices to the farthest oil rigs or other industrial operation, said Mike Tennefoss, Aruba’s head of strategic marketing.

Time will tell if Samsung can attract developers to its own smartphone operating system now that it has released the beta of its Bada software development kit.

Bada is a software platform that Samsung announced last year that will allow developers to build applications for phones running Samsung’s proprietary operating system.

Can you say “Jibbigo” in Arabic? Now you can.

Jibbigo, a voice-to-voice translation app for the iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch 3G, is arguably the hottest app today, appearing in the latest Apple television ads. It’s also one of the smartest apps in the App Store.

Recently, Mobile Technologies, makers of Jibbigo, launched a fourth version: an Iraqi dialect of Arabic.

Fujitsu Laboratories will unveil next week a new version of its color electronic paper display that’s easier on the eyes, the company said Friday.

The new screen, which will be on show at the company’s Fujitsu Forum exhibition in central Tokyo, features several improvements over previous prototypes.