So the recession’s over this week and everything’s better. If only it were that simple.

I’ve certainly heard more positives than negatives in the last couple of weeks, the semiconductor industry seems to have shaken itself back in to action, traction has returned even if it’s a little patchy and impressive levels of R&D and collaboration were evident at IMEC’s symposium in Brussels last week, we’re entering the summer season with an air of – dare I say it – optimism?

The interest in the hardware that everyone expects to drive semiconductor developments is still there too – without a doubt. Whether people have the money to pay for the hardware is another matter. The fuss that Apple’s 3G S generated was truly incredible this week, we’re either desperate or very sad, I haven’t decided which.

What gave me most hope was the piece on ITProPortal about the 5 features missing from iPhone 3G S – the good thing here is we’ll never be truly satisfied will we, I still find the basic 3G pretty impressive, and yes the 3.0 software update will be welcome but come-on guys give Apple a break! Actually no, keep it up – give the semiconductor business something to keep striving for