As a pesky underdog, AMD challenged Intel in chip innovation until the mid-2000s. AMD churned out innovations like dual-core and 64-bit chips, which kept Intel on its toes.But some disastrous technological and management decisions cost AMD dearly, and over time, buyers began to consider its processors inferior to Intel's chips. Intel ran away with PC and server chip market share.AMD now is looking to rally its dwindling fan base with a series of Zen-based chips this year for desktops, servers, and laptops. The hyped-up Zen chips are expected to be good, and even Intel readily acknowledges the stiff competition coming its way.AMD promises that Zen chips will deliver a 40 percent improvement in instructions per cycle, an important metric for chip performance. That number is impressive, considering most chips based on a new architecture have typically boasted CPU improvements of up to 20 percent.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A new version of Samsung's Tizen OS, version 4.0, is now under development for mobile devices, wearables and smart gadgets and is due for release in September.
Tizen is mainly used in Samsung products. The release date of Tizen 4.0 is listed on the OS's developer website, which also states that the first beta of the OS will come out in June.
The Tizen 4.0 release date is listed as part of the Tizen .NET roadmap. The page states that "the first official version of Tizen .NET will be released in September 2017 as a part of Tizen 4.0."
The page went up recently, and an image detailing the roadmap seems to have typographical errors. The chart is supposed to show a timeline for Tizen .NET releases extending into 2017, but the release date of Tizen 4.0 is listed for September 2016, in an apparent mistake.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The Ibex Pro is one supercharged machine that will probably hurt your electric bill.System76's fastest Ibex Pro with Ubuntu Server 16.10 packs some crazy horsepower with Intel's latest 22-core Xeon E5 v4 chips and eight Nvidia Tesla P100 graphics processors.It's got the same number of GPUs as Nvidia's superfast DGX-1, which is being used for deep learning. System76 is targeting the Ibex Pro -- which is a rack server -- at the same market as the DGX-1. The server has fewer, but newer, CPUs, compared to the DGX-1.An entry-level Ibex Pro priced at US $9,575 will run Ubuntu Server 16.10, with a six-core Intel Xeon E5-2603v4 chip, 16GB of memory, a Tesla K40 GPU, and 250GB of storage.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The number of powerful chips coming out of China keeps growing as a war of words on semiconductors with the U.S. escalates.A joint venture between Qualcomm and China's Guizhou province, called Huaxintong Semiconductor Technology, has started the development of a new server chip based on ARM technology.The joint venture is "now busy developing a customized server CPU product based on our technology and designs for the China market," said Derek Aberle, president at Qualcomm, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript of an earnings call last week.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The number of powerful chips coming out of China keeps growing as a war of words on semiconductors with the U.S. escalates.
A joint venture between Qualcomm and China's Guizhou province, called Huaxintong Semiconductor Technology, has started the development of a new server chip based on ARM technology.
The joint venture is "now busy developing a customized server CPU product based on our technology and designs for the China market," said Derek Aberle, president at Qualcomm, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript of an earnings call last week.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Intel may have cut ties with Android on smartphones and tablets, but the company's partnership with Google on Android for the internet of things is growing stronger.Google's Android Things, a slimmed down version of Android for smart devices, will be coming to Intel's Joule 570x computer board.The combination will allow makers to cook up Android-based gadgets or smart devices for use in home, retail, or industrial settings.The Intel board adds a lot of processing and graphics muscle to projects. With 4K graphics capabilities, the 570x is good for devices with screens or computer vision, like robots and drones. Intel demonstrated a bartending robot that used the board at its annual trade show last year.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Apple has joined rivals as it takes a step ahead to advance research and development of artificial intelligence technologies.After months of collaborating, Apple is joining the Partnership on AI, with other founding members including Google, IBM, Microsoft, Facebook, and Amazon.The Partnership of AI was founded in September last year to also steer debate on best practices on AI. The group believes AI could help in the areas of health care, transportation, and automation in factories.Apple's most visible AI technology is Siri, a voice assistant that can answer questions. But a larger AI strategy is still a subject of speculation. Microsoft, Facebook, IBM, Amazon, and Google have well established AI strategies.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Google wants to bring smarts to cool gadgets and devices made using Raspberry Pi 3 or Intel's Edison.The company is chasing makers with open-source tools needed to add artificial intelligence to consumer, industrial, and retail devices made using board computers.The plan may include machine-learning tools, which are central to AI. AI helps Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, and Microsoft's Cortana answer questions, and also helps self-driving cars cruise the streets safely."We don't have any specifics to announce right now, but we're excited to keep sharing open-source machine learning tools with the community -- stay tuned for more this year," a Google spokesman said in an email.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Seagate is getting closer to reaching its goal of making 20TB hard drives by 2020.Over the next 18 months, the company plans to ship 14TB and 16TB hard drives, company executives said on an earnings call this week.Seagate's hard drive capacity today tops out at 10TB. A 12TB drive based on helium technology is being tested, and the feedback is positive, said Stephen Luczo, the company's CEO.The demand for high-capacity drives is mostly in enterprises and for consumers who can afford the drives. The drives are mostly used in NAS configurations and storage arrays.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Senior executives at Qualcomm slammed Apple on Wednesday for lawsuits filed in the last week alleging the smartphone chip-maker significantly overcharged it for licensing fees.The spat saw cases filed last Friday in California and this week in Beijing and were top of mind when Qualcomm conducted an earnings call with analysts on Wednesday.For 15 minutes, Qualcomm executives criticized Apple's moves, calling the two lawsuits "without merit" and accused the iPhone-maker of trying to use them as a way to reduce the royalties the iPhone maker pays to Qualcomm. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Google has cool technology to recognize images and speech, and IBM's hardware can diagnose diseases and beat humans in Jeopardy.Combine the two, and you get a powerful computer with serious brains.IBM is merging Google's artificial intelligence tools with its own cognitive computing technologies, allowing deep-learning systems to more accurately find answers to complex questions or recognize images or voices.+ ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD Artificial intelligence will revolutionize Wi-Fi +Google's open-source TensorFlow machine-learning tools are being packed into IBM's PowerAI, which is a toolkit for computer learning. The two can be combined to improve machine learning on IBM's Power servers.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
ARM tried to break into the PC market but had a disastrous outing starting with Linux-based smartbooks and then tablets with Windows RT.But ARM is launching a comeback in PCs, and the third time could be a charm. ARM chips could emerge as a threat to Intel's x86 as super thin laptops get smartphone-like usability with cellular connectivity and long battery life.The comeback for ARM is starting with Chromebooks, with more models hosting the chip architecture. Lenovo's new N23 Yoga Chromebook -- a 2-in-1 with an 11.6-screen -- has MediaTek's quad-core MT8173c chip, based on ARM.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Some Chromebooks released this year will be able to run Android apps from the Google Play Store. Lenovo has tuned its new N23 Yoga Chromebook 2-in-1 to effectively run Android mobile apps.PC makers are taking a page from smartphones and tablets and adding touchscreens to Chromebooks. Many new models can be interchangeably used as laptops or tablets.More Chromebooks are also getting ARM processors -- which dominate in smartphones and tablets -- to effectively run Android apps. Most Chromebooks today have Intel x86 chips, which dominate in PCs, but Android apps best run on ARM processors.Lenovo, for the first time, is using an ARM chip in the N23 Yoga Chromebook 2-in-1, breaking its long-time reliance on x86 chips. The device has an 11.6-inch touchscreen, and it can be used as a tablet or laptop thanks to a hybrid design.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
HP is expanding its recall of laptop batteries with overheating issues that can cause computer damage and even fire.
The company is recalling an additional 101,000 batteries in some laptops sold between March 2013 through October 2016. This is an expansion of the recall initiated in June 2016, which involved HP recalling 41,000 batteries.
The batteries are in laptop brands including HP, Compaq, ProBook, Envy, Compaq Presario, and Pavilion laptops. Battery packs sold separately are also affected.
Batteries are being recalled in the U.S, Canada and Mexico. Most are in the U.S., while 3,000 are being recalled in Canada, and 4,000 in Mexico. The laptops were sold through big-box retailers and online.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
For D-Wave, the path to quantum computers being widely accepted is similar to the history of today's computers. The first chips came more than 30 years ago, and Microsoft's Basic expanded the software infrastructure around PCs.
Quantum computers are a new type of computer that can be significantly faster than today's PCs. They are still decades away from replacing PCs and going mainstream, but more advanced hardware and use models are still emerging.
"A lot of that is unfolding and will have a similar dramatic change in the computing landscape," Vern Brownell, D-Wave's CEO, said in an interview.
D-Wave is the only company selling a quantum computer. It sold its first system in 2011 and is now pushing the speed limits with a new quantum computer called the D-Wave 2000Q, which has 2,000 qubits.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Google has hinted that it is interested in bringing "smart tools" to users of board computers like Raspberry Pi 3 and Intel's Edison.The company has launched a market research survey of the maker community, and the front page of the site states: "We at Google are interested in creating smart tools for makers, and want to hear from you about what would be most helpful."The survey includes queries on preferred maker boards, proficiency in hardware and software, and projects users may want to pursue.Google did not respond to request for comment.But in a blog entry, Raspberry Pi noted that the smart tools will be available sometime this year.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Intel is getting proficient at developing small computers. First, came its Compute Sticks and then its credit-card-shaped Compute Cards.But nothing's quite like the mysterious Euclid, which is a self-contained computer the size of a thumb designed to be the brains and eyes of a robot.More details have emerged about the computer, which was announced in August and has yet to be released.The Euclid is so small and light that's possible to hold like a pen. It has a built-in 3D RealSense camera, making it like a PC fused into a Microsoft Kinect.The design makes it possible to install the Euclid where the eyes of a human-like robot would be typically placed. The 3D RealSense camera will act as the eyes of a robot, capturing images in real-time and helping with movement.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Viewers may soon see a big change coming in the way they experience the chills and thrills of live sports broadcasts. It'll be customizable, interactive, and it will put them at the center of the experience.If it goes as envisioned, Intel's multi-year plan will allow viewers to tailor their own live sports broadcasts, and watch events as if they were on the field.The live sports broadcasts will be available for VR headsets, PCs, and even TVs. The experience will be unlike live sports today, in which the views and angles are selected by the broadcasters.Instead, viewers in real-time will be able to create their own 3D broadcast of a sports event. Viewers will be able to select any type of view or camera angle they want for the live broadcast.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The Raspberry Pi 3 is a great product, but it can't be customized. People may desire more storage or a faster processor, but have to settle for features on the board computer.The lack of customization with board computers is driven by their low prices. Buyers get features commensurate with the low price of boards like the US$35 Raspberry Pi and $15 Pine64.No one's complaining about the low prices, but the one-size-fits-all nature may not be for everyone. Taking a page from PC makers, Via Technology is now making it possible to configure board computers to specific needs through its website.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Raspberry Pi's new Compute Module 3 has serious competition coming its way from the maker of the Pine64 board computer.The new SOPINE A64 64-bit computing module is a smaller version of the popular US$15 Pine64 computer.It was announced the same week as the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3, which is a smaller version of the popular namesake board, was released.At $29, the SOPINE A64 roughly matches the price of the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3, which ranges from $25 to $30. The new SOPINE will ship in February, according to the website.The SOPINE A64 can't operate as a standalone computer like the Pine64. It needs to be plugged in as a memory slot inside a computer.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Agam Shah