embodiments of the present invention are directed toward an integrated circuit ( ic ) chip handling apparatus for removing an ic chip from a device under test ( dut ) board socket in a dut board . one variety of dut board that may be operated on by embodiments of the invention is the systems integration ™, model 4523 - 80002 , 64 / 128m sdram , 54 lead , thin small outline package ( tsop ) board . as shown in fig1 , a dut board 1 is a container for holding a matrix of ic chips 2 while the chips 2 are being tested . each socket 3 in a dut board 1 provides both physical restraint and electrical connection . the physical restraint or locking feature of dut boards is described more fully in the background section above . dut boards and the specifics of testing are well known in the art and are not the subject of the present invention . therefore , the electrical testing process and the testing functions of dut boards are not explained further herein . one type of ic chip that may be handled in embodiments of the present invention is a tsop chip . other types of ic chips might also be handled in accordance with the invention . the chips described below are merely referred to as ic chips and this designation is intended to include ic chips of a wide variety of types as may be handled in embodiments of the invention . as shown in fig1 , an embodiment of the invention includes a body 4 . coupled to the body 4 is a depressor member 5 for depressing at least a portion of the dut board socket 3 to release the ic chip 2 from the dut board socket 3 . additionally , a magnetic force source 6 is coupled to the body 4 . the magnetic force source 6 is for generating a force to remove the ic chip 2 from the dut board socket 3 . another embodiment of the invention is shown in fig2 . a body 104 couples to a depressor member 105 . the depressor member 105 is for depressing at least a portion of the dut board socket 3 ( fig1 ) to release an ic chip 2 . the magnetic force source 106 is coupled to the body 104 for generating a force to remove the ic chip 2 from the dut board socket . as shown in fig2 , a handle may characterize the body 104 . the handle is for grasping by an operator who may use the apparatus to depress a dut board socket to release an ic chip as detailed above . fig3 illustrates an embodiment of the invention in which the body 4 includes a threaded hole 7 . as shown , an actuator 8 is a motor having a threaded shaft 9 . the threaded shaft 9 is coupled to the motor at one end and at the other end engages the threaded hole 7 of the body 4 . when the motor is turned in a first direction , the body 4 , and therefore and ic chip 2 attached to the body 4 through the magnetic force source 6 , moves away from the dut board . when the motor is turned in a second direction , the body 4 is moved toward the dut board . the actuator 8 may be any type of device capable of moving the body 4 linearly . other examples of adequate devices include a linear motor , a hydraulic cylinder , or a cable system . embodiments of the invention may also include one or more slide bearings 10 . the slide bearings 10 couple to the body 4 to guide the movement of the body toward and away from the dut board . such bearings are well known in the art and may be of any operable variety under the invention . fig2 shows the depressor member 105 coupled to the body 104 . the depressor member extends substantially perpendicularly from the body 104 . the coupling between the depressor member 105 and the body 104 may be by any means capable of forming a sufficient structural attachment . as shown in fig2 , the depressor member has two prongs 111 substantially parallel to one another . the two prongs 111 are for depressing at least two sides of the dut board socket 3 ( fig1 ). fig3 illustrates the depressor member 5 coupled to the body 4 and extending substantially perpendicularly from the body 4 . seven prongs 11 are shown that are substantially parallel to one another . the prongs 11 are for depressing portions of at least six dut board sockets 3 to release ic chips 2 from the sockets . a variety of numbers of prongs could be used in embodiments of the invention . for instance , three prongs could be used to depress two sockets , or four prongs could be used to depress four sockets . that is , variable numbers of prongs could possibly depress different numbers of sockets because one prong may depress multiple sockets when , for instance , the sockets are juxtaposed . fig2 shows a magnetic force source 106 coupled to the body 104 . the magnetic force necessary for embodiments of the invention is the amount of force necessary to remove an ic chip 2 from a dut board socket . alternatively , this force may be stated as at least the force necessary to retain the ic chip 2 when the ic chip is urged away from the magnetic force source by the static force of gravity ( i . e . 1 g ). the magnetic force source 106 illustrated in fig2 is a ferromagnetic material possessing a residual magnetic charge , or in common terms a “ permanent magnet .” examples of metals that maintain residual magnetic charges are iron , nickel , and cobalt . an electromagnet would work equally well with this or other embodiments . the magnetic force source 106 of fig2 is coupled to the body 104 through a pair of ball connectors 112 and two plates 113 employed to form sockets for the ball connectors . the opposite ends of the ball connectors 112 are connector pins that couple to the magnetic force source 106 and the body 104 respectively . a nut and bolt 114 provide a clamping force to the two plates 113 so that the plates may form sockets for the ball connectors 112 . through this arrangement , the magnetic force source 106 is readily adjustable relative to the depressor member 105 . by readily adjustable , it is meant that adjustment may be accomplished with a minimal amount of effort by an operator . such effort would be characterized by simple urging with a finger or perhaps by prying or turning with a small tool . still referring to fig2 , the magnetic force source 106 is located between two prongs 111 of the depressor member 105 . other embodiments might locate the magnetic force source 106 differently , for instance next to a single prong capable of depressing a dut board socket . fig3 illustrates an embodiment of the invention in which the magnetic force source 6 includes electromagnet 17 connected to a transmission bar 15 that conducts magnetic charge to a number of stubs 16 . transmission bar 15 and the stubs 16 form a part of the magnetic force source 6 , and a magnetic charge at least capable of retaining the ic chip 2 when the ic chip is urged away from each stub 16 by the static force of gravity must be transmitted to each stub 16 . electromagnets and their electrical current requirements for operation are well understood in the art and will not be specifically addressed herein . the magnetic force source 6 shown in fig3 might also be a “ permanent magnet .” the magnetic force source 6 , through the extensions of the stubs 16 , may be positioned above two or more dut board sockets 3 and then used to simultaneously remove two or more chips from the two or more dut board sockets . as is also seen in fig3 , portions of magnetic force source 6 may be located between two of the prongs 11 of the depressor member 5 . additionally , the connection of the magnetic force source 6 may be readily adjustable relative to the depressor member 5 through either adjustable connection provisions in the coupling of the magnetic force source 6 or the depressor member 5 to the body 4 . in embodiments , including embodiments that might be similar to those shown in either fig2 or fig3 , the respective magnetic force sources may be conductively isolated from the body . the purpose of such isolation would be to prevent forces of magnetism from entering the bodies and other parts of the invention where unwanted magnetic forces could be realized . for example , if a magnetically conductive path were provided to the depressor members , there would be a tendency to attract ic chips to the depressor members rather than to the magnetic force source . in one embodiment of the invention , the body 4 is positionable in a first position , as illustrated in fig1 , and a second position , as illustrated in fig3 . a depressor member 5 may be coupled to the body 4 so that when the body 4 is in the first position , the depressor member 5 does not depress the dut board socket 3 . therefore , when the body 4 is in the first position , the ic chip 2 is held in the dut board socket 3 by clamping of the socket 3 . when the body 4 is in the second position , as in fig3 , the depressor member 5 depresses the dut board socket 3 to release the ic chip 2 from clamping of the socket . therefore , in the second position with the ic chip 2 released from the socket 3 , a sufficient magnetic force may be applied by the magnetic force source 6 to the ic chip 2 to lift the chip from the dut board 1 and hold the chip . the magnetic force source may either include a “ permanent magnet ” or an electromagnet . in accordance with fig3 , an embodiment of the invention is for transferring an ic chip 2 between two locations . the embodiment includes a magnetic force source 6 for attaching to a face of the ic chip 2 when a current is applied to the magnetic force source 6 . additionally , the magnetic force source 6 is for releasing from the face of the ic chip 2 when the current is removed from the magnetic force source 6 . the present embodiment also includes a transfer mechanism 18 coupled to the magnetic force source 6 . the transfer mechanism 18 is for moving the ic chip 2 between two locations . the transfer mechanism 18 includes a body 4 , an actuator 8 , and a transfer rail 19 . the body 4 is essentially the same as the body 4 described in detail above . the actuator 8 is coupled to the body 4 for moving the body substantially perpendicularly toward and away from the face of the ic chip 3 . for the purposes of description of the movement toward and away for the chip 3 , it is assumed that the ic chip is not being held by the magnetic force source 6 at the time of the movement . the actuator 8 is essentially the same as the actuator 8 described in detail above . the transfer rail 19 is coupled to the body 4 . the transfer rail 19 is for moving the body 4 between one of the two locations and the other of the two locations . the structure of the transfer rail 19 may be of any of a number of varieties known in the art . for instance , it may contain a pulley system for transferring force to a chassis that bears on an elongated channel . alternatively , it may be a rack and pinion gear driven system . this and other varieties of transfer rail are contemplated by the invention . an embodiment of the invention is a method of handling an ic chip 2 performed to remove the ic chip from a dut board 1 . a first act of the method is to depress at least a portion of a dut board socket 3 to release the chip 2 from the dut board 1 . the position of the body 4 and the magnetic force source 6 illustrated in fig3 is consistent with the state of an apparatus after performing the first act of the present method . an additional act of the method is to apply a magnetic force to the ic chip 2 to remove the chip from the dut board socket 3 . completion of this act is illustrated by the location of the chips 2 that have been removed from the dut board socket 3 in fig3 . the embodiment of fig2 and others may also be used to perform the method of handling an ic chip . another embodiment of the invention is a method of transferring an ic chip from a dut board to a second location . referring to fig3 , an act of the method is to move a body 4 that is coupled to a depressor member 5 into contact with at least a portion of a socket 3 of the dut board 1 to depress the socket 3 . an additional act is to energize an electromagnet 17 that is coupled to the body 4 to generate enough electromagnetic force in the electromagnet 17 to remove the ic chip 2 from the dut board socket 3 . the body 4 , along with the ic chip 2 , may then be moved substantially perpendicularly away from the dut board to a position consistent with the position illustrated in fig1 . by use of a component exemplified by the transfer rail 19 , the body 4 may be translated to a second location . the second location could be another testing board such as a dut board , a packaging area , or any other desired location within physical reach of the apparatus . another act of the method may be to move the body 4 substantially perpendicularly toward the second location . a final act of the method is to remove the energizing current from the electromagnet 17 to release the ic chip 2 to the second location . an embodiment of the invention is a method of manually removing an ic chip 2 from a dut board 1 ( fig1 ). the method may be performed with the apparatus illustrate in fig2 . a first act of an operator is to grasp an ic chip handling apparatus such as the apparatus illustrate in fig2 . another act is to press a depressor member 105 of the ic chip handling apparatus onto at least a portion of a dut board socket to release the ic chip 2 from the dut board socket . a magnetic force source 106 may then be used to attract the ic chip 2 to the magnetic force source 106 . another act is to move the ic chip handling apparatus to a second location . finally , the ic chip 2 may be removed from the ic chip handling apparatus . removal may be through automatic means such as by removal of current from an electromagnet when the magnetic force source 106 includes an electromagnet . alternatively , the removal may simply be manually by means such as grasping and removing the ic chip with tweezers or fingers . from the foregoing it will be appreciated that , although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration , various modifications may be made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention . accordingly , the invention is not limited except as by the claims . the invention provides both an apparatus and method enabling quick attachment to an ic chip by use of magnetic force . in addition , the invention is capable of depressing a dut board socket to release an ic chip from the socket . embodiments of the invention combine these functions into a single , reliable , and maintainable device offering significant enhancements in overall performance . by avoiding the use of vacuum lines and suction cups that are delicate and susceptible to turns and pinching , longevity and ease of use are gained and simplicity is added to the fabrication of the ic chip handling apparatus . methods of use employing the apparatus lead to faster and more accurate handling of ic chips throughout the testing process .