Merely hours after a substantial blackout halted six chip production lines in a complex operated by the world's largest flash memory producer, Samsung is now expected to "get insurance payments from a local insurer for the damage received during Friday's power outage." Reportedly, the firm's contract with Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance will cover the damage, which is currently estimated to be somewhere near $40 million. Of note, the exact cause of the outage is still unknown, and it was stated that it would take "considerable amounts of time" to look into before the losses are finally calculated. Furthermore, some analysts have speculated that it "would take weeks for the plants to reach full capacity," and if this does indeed prove true, supplies to electronic-product makers "will likely remain constrained and prices will stay high."

Read - Samsung Gets Insurance Payout for Power Outage Damage
Read - Samsung Restarts Plants, Damage Resulting [Subscription required]

Merely hours after Samsung was staring at "at least" $54 million in losses from an unexpected power outage at its Giheung complex, the firm is now reporting that the half dozen production lines are "fully operational." Moreover, the outfit is now projecting losses to peak at around $43 million, which actually doesn't sound too horrific compared to prior estimates. It was noted, however, that the disruption could extend a shortage of NAND flash memory through "at least the first half of August," and reports are already claiming that prices of select NAND chips have risen "6.3-percent to a record $19.02."

Samsung, the worldwide leader in flash memory production, has been forced to "shut down six of its chip production lines after a power outage occurred at a plant near Seoul," and while recent reports suggest that "operations should be restored within a day," the lasting effects could linger on for quite some time. Reportedly, the outage occurred at Samsung's Giheung complex and disrupted production of flash memory, DRAM, and logic chips, and while this may not sound too significant to the average outsider, estimates are already pegging losses at around $54 million. Notably, Samsung wouldn't say whether or not the hiccup will affect supplies of memory chips to Apple (one of its top customers), but analysts are already purporting that we could see "a severe shortage of NAND chips" and increased prices in the coming weeks.

[Thanks, Patrick M.]

Read - Samsung Electronics chip output hit by power cut
Read - Samsung operations should be restored within a day

Hearing that a cellphone saved someone's life isn't exactly surprising these days, but it was the manner in which a bundle of handsets enabled doctors to continue on in a recent operation that differentiated this one from the rest. Reportedly, the backup generators at the Policlinico Juan D. Peron hospital in Argentina failed to activate after the power went out whilst an appendix surgery was ongoing, but rather than panicking, a family member gathered up a number of phones in order to provide enough light for the surgeons and anesthetists to keep on keepin' on. According to the hospital director, the operation went on without proper lighting for no more than 20 minutes, but thanks to the beaming LCDs, the fellow under the knife came through just fine.

[Via Switched, image courtesy of foto8]

Lately, the power grid appears to have gone to hell. An Uninterruptible Power Supply(UPS) just isn't an optional piece of equipment anymore -- it's not for nothing that very decent UPS has a computer interface port. If your computer is connected to the port, and the software is set up, the UPS can tell your computer to safely shut down before the battery runs out.

Got a couple of machines sharing a UPS? In today's How-To, we'll show you how to use your network to shut down all of the computers plugged into it and keep your precious data safe.