INDEPENDENT SPECIALITY chip firm, Tower Semiconductor, announced it has signed a contract with low-powered chip firm Quicklogic to produce new chips at Tower's Fab Two.

Tower noted that the agreement sealed a manufacturing volume production deal for Quicklogic’s ArcticLink II VX platforms, to begin in the third quarter of 2008.

Financial details weren’t disclosed, but Israeli media is citing sources who claim the contract could be worth several million dollars a year. It is also not the first time Quicklogic has invested in Tower, having coughed up $21 million in the past for a manufacturing contract which lasts until 2010.

Quicklogic designs semiconductor chips for portable electronics OEMs and ODMs. Tower’s fab two, situated in Israel’s Migdal Haemek is thought to be ideal because it uses standard as well as specialised process technologies ranging from 1.0- to 0.13-micron.

Quicklogic's ArcticLink II platforms apparently include a visual enhancement engine (VEE) technology, which allows for fiddling around with screen contrast and supposedly gives users more control over their LCD backlight power.

The company reckons it is doing its bit to give customers TV-quality viewing experiences with lower power consumption, thus extending battery life for longer viewing. µ