Agam Shah
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Apple Mac shipments take a beating in Q3 as PC shipments decline
Sales of Windows PCs fared better than Apple Macs during the third quarter this year.Third-quarter PC shipments declined by 3.9 percent compared to the same quarter last year, but Mac shipments dropped by 13 percent. PC shipments totaled 68 million units, according to IDC.The declines weren't as bad as expected, and were roughly 3.2 percent ahead of IDC's initial projections, the research firm said.In the top five PC companies, fourth-placed Apple registered the largest decline, with the 13 percent drop in Mac shipments. Apple's Mac sales totaled 5 million units during the quarter, declining from 5.76 million units in the same quarter a year ago.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Hardware makers unite to challenge Intel with Gen-Z spec
After years of being offered as separate technologies, storage and memory are beginning to merge. It's already happening, for example, with 3D Xpoint, a technology from Intel and Micron that can serve as memory, storage, or both. Now, a new consortium, called Gen-Z, is out to ease the transition to this new class of storage and memory in computers. It's creating a new specification and architecture that will make it easier to add new forms of non-volatile memory to computers. Gen-Z will have a new connector, fabric and data transfer protocol. One goal is to create an open standard so new forms of memory can communicate with processors and accelerators in a coherent manner. Gen-Z will also work with SSDs like QuantX from Micron.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Why Linux pioneer Linus Torvalds prefers x86 over ARM
Linux pioneer Linus Torvalds is a stand-up guy -- he says what he feels. There's no sugarcoating, and he'll admit to faults, like recent issues with the Linux 4.8 kernel.He was full of surprises at last week's Linaro Connect conference, when he was asked about his favorite chip architecture. He didn't blink before saying it was x86, not ARM.It may have been the long history of x86 with PCs that influenced his answer. There's little fragmentation of software and hardware with x86, and things just work.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Intel looks beyond x86, puts 64-bit ARM processor in new FPGA chip
It seems like the chip war between Intel and ARM is slowly winding down, at least for the time being.Intel for decades has doggedly sworn by chips based on its homegrown x86 architecture, but the company is putting a 64-bit ARM processor in its new Stratix 10 FPGA (field-programmable gate array), which was announced on Tuesday.The FPGA -- based on Altera technology -- can be reprogrammed to do a wide variety of server or network tasks. It can also run algorithms for machine learning.In a larger context, the chip points to a long-term strategy of Intel thinking beyond x86 and warming up to other architectures as it looks to shed its reliance on PCs.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Intel looks beyond x86, puts 64-bit ARM processor in new FPGA chip
It seems like the chip war between Intel and ARM is slowly winding down, at least for the time being.Intel for decades has doggedly sworn by chips based on its homegrown x86 architecture, but the company is putting a 64-bit ARM processor in its new Stratix 10 FPGA (field-programmable gate array), which was announced on Tuesday.The FPGA -- based on Altera technology -- can be reprogrammed to do a wide variety of server or network tasks. It can also run algorithms for machine learning.In a larger context, the chip points to a long-term strategy of Intel thinking beyond x86 and warming up to other architectures as it looks to shed its reliance on PCs.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Microsoft points to a transition of Windows 10 Mobile to 64-bit
There's a lot to like in Microsoft's Windows 10 Mobile for smartphones, but it has one glaring weakness: It still is a 32-bit OS.But a transition to 64-bit for the OS was inevitable as memory capacity in smartphones goes up, Microsoft said during a presentation at the Ignite conference last week. Windows 10 Mobile lags behind Apple's iOS and Google's Android, which transitioned to 64 bits a few years ago. Many new Windows phones already have 64-bit ARM-based Qualcomm processors, but the OS still runs as 32 bit.Thirty-two bits is "not really a limitation for us since the devices are all 4GB [of RAM] or less. But that will change over the next couple of years," said Jason Whitehorn, partner software engineer manager of the Windows and Devices Group at Microsoft.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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AMD provides upgrade path to Zen with new business PC chips
AMD's new 7th Generation Pro chips have hooks to let PC users easily upgrade to next-generation Zen chips that could come out next year.The new Pro chips, code-named Bristol Ridge, are for business desktops, and will appear in PCs from HP and Lenovo. The ability to easily upgrade is a big deal because it lets users avoid buying new PCs in order to get the Zen chips when they come out.It'll work like this: users buy a desktop with the new AMD Pro chip, but upgrade to Zen later on by replacing chips in the socket.There's a lot to like in the new AMD Pro chips, but there's even more excitement around Zen, which will provide a 40 percent improvement in CPU performance. The new AMD Pro will be compatible with the AM4 socket, which provides the basis for upgrades to Zen.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Researchers make progress toward computer video recognition
Computers can already recognize you in an image, but can they see a video or real-world objects and tell exactly what's going on? Researchers are trying to make computer video recognition a reality, and they are using some image recognition techniques to make that happen. Researchers in and outside of Google are making progress in video recognition, but there are also challenges to overcome, Rajat Monga, engineering director of TensorFlow for Google's Brain team, said during a question-and-answer session on Quora this week. The benefits of video recognition are enormous. For example, a computer will be able to identify a person's activities, an event, or a location. Video recognition will also make self-driving cars more viable.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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AMD has its eyes on Las Vegas with Polaris GPUs
AMD wants its new Polaris GPUs to dazzle gamblers in Las Vegas using electronic devices.Qualcomm, meanwhile, wants its embedded Snapdragon chips to be installed in robots, drones, and smart devices used in homes and for commercial applications.For both chipmakers, the internet of things market is becoming too big to ignore. The companies this week announced CPUs and GPUs adapted from PCs and mobile devices for use in IoT devices.AMD adapted its Polaris GPU architecture, which is used in discrete GPUs and PC chips, for the IoT sector. Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 600E and 410E are compact chips originating from the company's mobile processor designs.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Make a Wi-Fi gadget with a $9.99 Orange Pi development board
If you want to fashion a smart gadget, robot, or drone with wireless capabilities on the cheap, a US$9.99 development board from Orange Pi will help you reach that goal.The Orange Pi i96 shouldn't be confused with the $35 Raspberry Pi 3, which is much more powerful and can be a full-fledged Linux PC. The smaller Orange Pi has limited horsepower and is targeted at smart gadgets, drones, and internet of things devices.If you want to create a gadget to show off at a Maker Faire event, the Orange Pi i96 is the kind of board you'll rely on. The board was first announced at the Linaro Connect conference, happening this week in Las Vegas.For its price and target market, the Orange Pi has features not found on competitive boards. It includes Wi-Fi, 4GB of flash storage, and 2GB of RAM. It also has a micro-SD slot, a micro-USB connection, and includes the Linux-based Ubuntu OS.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Mediatek’s developer board features a 10-core chip and Android 6.0
Like PCs, developer boards like Raspberry Pi are getting more horsepower to run faster applications and 4K graphics.Take the Mediatek X20 Development Board, which started shipping for US$199 this week. It is crammed with the latest mobile chips that give the developer board PC-like computing power.It has a 10-core Mediatek X20 chip, which is being used in new mobile devices from companies like Meizu and LeEco. The board comes with Android 6.0, and it's not yet known if it will be upgraded to Android 7.0.There still isn't much need for 10 CPU cores in smartphones or tablets, but the developer board could put the chip to good use. Quad core chips are considered powerful enough for handsets.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Dell plans to move VR content creation to the cloud
Dell wants to prove that you don't need a high-end GPU in your computer to create content for virtual reality headsets. Instead, the company wants to move VR content creation into the cloud with new computing products it plans to release. The goal is to add more mobility and security to VR content creation. Among the new products planned are thin clients that run applications stored in remote servers or appliances. The servers will have GPUs that power VR content creation on virtual desktops. Virtual reality is an interesting market, and Dell will have products to talk about in the future, said Jeff McNaught, executive director of cloud client computing at Dell.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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IBM shows how fast its brain-like chip can learn
Developing a computer that can be as decisive and intelligent as humans is on IBM's mind, and it's making progress toward achieving that goal.IBM's computer chip called TrueNorth is designed to emulate the functions of a human brain. The company is now running tests and benchmarking TrueNorth to demonstrate how fast and power efficient the chips can be compared to today's computers.The results of the head-to-head contest are impressive. IBM says TrueNorth can engage in deep learning and make decisions based on associations and probabilities, much like human brains. It can do so while consuming a fraction of the power used by chips in other computers for the same purpose.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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This $139 computer can be a PC or robot and will run Windows 10 desktop
Many Raspberry Pi-like developer boards are available, but most can't run Microsoft's Windows 10 desktop operating system. OS versatility is a strong suit of the new SolidRun Q4 board.SolidRun can run multiple versions of Windows 10. It has the flexibility to be a PC or a board to use to create cool gadgets.The SolidPC Q4 is packed with fast processors, memory, storage, and ports that make it a viable Windows 10 PC. It's cheap at US$139, but here's the bad news: You'll need to buy the Windows 10 desktop OS separately, and its price starts at $119.99.The board computer will need to be configured to meet the minimum requirements of Windows 10, which is 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage for a 64-bit version of the OS. SolidRun Q4 supports up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM and has up to 128GB of internal flash storage.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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D-Wave will ship a 2,000-qubit quantum computer next year
Forget PCs and servers: D-Wave Systems is looking into the future with its quantum computer, up to 1,000 times faster than an earlier model.The company will start shipping a quantum computer with 2,000 qubits, twice the size of its current 1,000-qubit D-Wave 2X. The D-Wave 2X is considered one of the most advanced computers in the world today.The 2,000-qubit quantum computer will be 500 to 1000 times faster than its predecessor, said Jeremy Hilton, senior vice president of systems at D-Wave.An even larger quantum computer based on a whole new processor design will come out two to three years after that, Hilton said.Today's PCs and servers could ultimately be replaced by a quantum computer, which has been researched for decades. Beyond D-Wave, companies like IBM are also building quantum computers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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IBM targets x86 server territory with new Power servers
IBM sold off its x86 server business two years ago to Lenovo, thinking it was exiting a cut-throat, low-margin business. But the cloud has only intensified x86 server chip sales, and IBM is paying attention.The company is adapting a new range of Power servers -- which typically run powerful systems -- for the cloud. The Power E870C and E880C servers, announced Monday, are flexible in handling many tasks and can scale for distributed computing and cloud integration.The new servers, which support Ubuntu Linux and Unix, sound similar to x86 servers powering internal and external clouds at companies like Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon. But IBM is packing in an extra set of features to make these systems reliable and flexible for public and private clouds.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Intel’s new PC, IoT chief brings fresh ideas to the veteran chip maker
Intel is now more than just a PC company. At industry events, the company's keynotes feature drones flying around, robots walking on stage and musicians creating tunes from wearables. The chip maker is helping BMW build an autonomous car, will sell modems to Apple, and is leading the development of next-generation 5G cellular networks. For all these new markets, it will provide chip and data-center technologies. The transformation is happening partly under the leadership of Venkata Renduchintala, president of the Client and Internet of Things (IoT) Businesses and Systems Architecture Group at Intel. As Intel's second-in-command, he helped cut struggling products like mobile CPUs and sharpened the company's focus on IoT, servers, and connectivity.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Windows 10 haters: Try Linux on Kaby Lake chips with Dell’s new XPS 13
Rejoice Linux fans; the OS will work on laptops with Intel's Kaby Lake chips.Three new models of Dell's slick XPS 13 Developer Edition will be available with Ubuntu OS and 7th Generation Core processors in the U.S. and Canada starting on Oct. 10.Prices for XPS 13 DE will start at US $949. Dell also announced the XPS 13 model with Kaby Lake and Windows 10, which will ship on Oct. 4 starting at $799.Dell didn't share details on what version of Ubuntu desktop OS will be preloaded. It officially supports Ubuntu 14.04 in existing laptops, but could pre-load version 16.04 on the new XPS 13 DE.Dell has remained committed to Linux while major PC vendors shift to Windows 10 on PCs. Intel made a major commitment to supporting Windows 10 with its new Kaby Lake chips but hasn't talked much about Linux support.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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As Dell and HPE revamp, Lenovo sets sights on enterprise cloud servers
The cloud -- both on-premise and off-premise -- is transforming servers and data centers, and many companies are getting vendors to customize hardware for specific cloud-based workloads.Lenovo wants a bigger chunk of that market and is working toward offering custom-built converged servers targeted at specific tasks. The company is also looking for a larger opportunity with custom hardware for large-scale customers.Companies like Facebook, Google, and Amazon are designing their own servers for mega-data centers. These servers are designed to handle workloads specific to the company's requirements, like responding to search requests, or recognizing people in uploaded images.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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War between Windows 10 and Linux coming to Intel’s Joule board
Microsoft is challenging Linux's domination in Raspberry Pi-type computers by bringing support for Windows 10 OS to more developer boards.The newest computer to get a version of Windows 10 will be Intel's Joule, which has cutting-edge hardware compared to Raspberry Pi 3.To be specific, Joule will get support for Windows 10 IoT Core -- a slimmed down version of Windows 10 -- by year-end, Microsoft said in a blog post last week. Joule currently supports only the Linux OS.With Windows 10 IoT Core, Joule can be used to develop gadgets, robots, drones, wearables, medical devices, and smart industrial devices. The OS is supported by four other mini-computers -- Raspberry Pi 2 and 3, Qualcomm's DragonBoard 410c, and Intel's MinnowMax.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here