Tag: newstrack

There’s fowl play in the gaming industry

Posted on October 17, 2014 by - Fun Stuff, News

rooster-71685_640There’s surprise news in the gaming industry after Digital Extremes, the outfit which made Warframe, has been taken over by a Chinese chicken company.

Sumpo Food Holdings, a Chinese agricultural company that describes itself as “one of the well-known chicken meat products suppliers in Fujian” has taken an eggceptional steak in Digital Extremes [ surely eggstremes. Ed].

Sumpo scratched out 58 per cent of the company shares leaving a poultry 3 per cent to Perfect World.

It cost Sumpo the breast part of $73.2m to buy the outfit which is a sign that the games industry has legs and is not clucked as many had suspected.

Analysts have henpecked the company saying that Sumpo is a chick when it comes to the gaming industry. But the company thinks the extra cash will help it rule the roost.

Digital Extremes CEO James Schmalz  said that this partnership will further empower to continue making Warframe bigger and better with full control over its destiny.

Others think that he is just playing chicken with the rest of the industry and could end up stuffed.

 

 

Will.i.am releases new watch phone

Posted on October 17, 2014 by - News

watch will i amPopular beat combo artist, and Intel advisor, Will.i.am has released a new watch gadget which he says can do everything a phone can.

Dubbed the Puls the “smartwatch-type device” is designed to be worn throughout the day and be charged at night. It will run at least a dozen apps, handling everything from Twitter to phone calls to fitness and maps.

Will.i.am unveiled the device onstage at the Salesforce Dreamforce conference in San Francisco.  It has been backed by Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff.

The device will be sold this holiday season through a variety of channels, including physical AT&T stores, fashion stores and online sites. Although there was no word on price it will cost less than a smartphone by a big margin, Will.i.am said.

Unlike the gizmos on the market so far, Will.i.am’s Puls will make phone calls without requiring smartphone tethering. In the U.S., users will need a data plan from AT&T; O2 is required for the U.K. Pricing details for those plans were not disclosed.

The device will also have 1GB of memory, 16GB of storage, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, a pedometer, and accelerometer. The Puls runs a proprietary OS, has a curved screen, and wraps around the wrist like a cuff.

Will.i.am insisted that it was not really a watch but “a new type of communication on your wrist”.

 

Notebook shipments creep up

Posted on October 17, 2014 by - News

notebooksSales of notebooks in the third quarter of this year are only up by 2.6 percent compared to the same quarter last year, despite bullish talk by vendors like Microsoft and Intel.

Digitimes Research said shipments for the calendar third quarter amounted to 45.198 million units, with HP being the top dog worldwide.

HP had a market share of 21 percent, Lenovo 20.9 percent, Dell 12.5 percent, Acer 9.7 percent, Apple 8.5 percent, Asustek 8.3 percent and Toshiba 6.2 percent, the Taiwanese research unit estimated.

These of course are the brand names, but many of the notebooks are made by original design manufacturers (ODMs) based in Taiwan.  These ODMs accounted for a significant 36,958 notebooks in the quarter.

The ODM battle is fought between Compal (34.5%), Wistron (15.7%), Inventec (6.7%) and Pegatron (5.7%).

Digitimes Research also breaks out the shipments in terms of screen sizes with 8.2 percent being sub 12 inch models, 13 percent 12 inch notebooks, 13 percent 13 inch units, 22.7 percent 14 inch units, 47.2 percent 15 inch notebooks and 6.1 percent 16 inches and above.

The market research unit does not, however, appear to have provided figures for touch and non touch screen machines.

There’s hope for better batteries

Posted on October 17, 2014 by - News

David Prendergast, Berkeley LabScientists at Berkeley Lab think there’s light at the end of the tunnel as people quest to develop better alternatives to lithium ion batteries.

The problem with Li-ion batteries is that they sometimes burst into flames but we need rechargeable batteries with better energy density and cost reductions.

After running a series of simulations on supercomputers, David Prendergast and Liwen Wan (pictured) think a battery based on a multivalent ion, like magnesium (Mg), may well be the answer.

They think that an Mg-ion battery can provide twice the electrical current of Li-ions with the same density.  There have been problems with Mg-ion batteries but the scientists think that the problems aren’t insuperable.

“The catch for multivalent ions is that their increased charge draws more attention to them – they become surrounded in the battery’s electrolyte by other oppositely charged ions and solvent molecules – which can slow down their motion and create energetic penalties to exiting the electrolye for the electrodes. However, we found the problem may be less dire than is widely believed,” said Prendergast.

He said the simulations show that performance bottlenecks in Mg-ion batteries are related to what happens at the interface between the electrolyte and electrodes.

Essentially, Mg-ion based batteries are not as tricky as manufacturers might think as a result of the Berkeley Lab findings.

AMD Cuts Workforce – Sea Change 101 for Sailors?…,

Posted on October 17, 2014 by - News

AMD LayoffsJust one week and a day after assuming her new roll as AMD’s CEO Dr. Lisa Su announced a reduction in force amounting to seven percent of the AMD’s current workforce of 10,149 employees.

The fallowing of ~700 people follows two rounds of layoffs under Rory Read’s three year tenure.

AMD did not provide any information about where the cuts would be made – the company recently split into two divisions “Computing and Graphics”, and “Enterprise, Embedded and Semi-Custom”. Contacts indicate that “Computing and Graphics” will receive a majority of the “hits”.

Last Thursday’s warning by Microchip Chief Executive Steve Sanghi that a correction will spread more broadly across the industry in the near future sent shares of chipmakers lower last Friday.

Microchip is a broad spectrum supplier into the Chinese and Asian marketplace, booking revenue only after it is shipped by distributors – a closely coupled supply chain that quickly indicates impending sea changes. AMD shares a similar situation in China, the company’s biggest market, substantiating Microchip’s warning. Whether this is the beginning of a prolonged downturn or is merely another “noise blip” on the radar is entwined in controversy.

Strangely enough, AMD’s arch nemesis Intel, reported rather glowing results on Tuesday indicating that AMD might be suffering from Intel’s competitive resurgence in Asia. The fact that Intel is devoting resources to system level integration at the SoC level may now be having an effect on both competitors.

AMD’s experienced a 65% drop in quarterly profits and is expecting the current quarter to be 13% lower than the period ended in September. The company’s share price fell 6% to $2.49 in after-hours trading. The share price has dropped 43% in three months as of close Thursday.

Su went on to assure analysts that the company was moving toward customized chips for applications beyond videogames hinting at two customers that had the potential of bringing in $3 Billion in additional revenue over the next three years.

TechEye Take

The first time I saw Rory Read perform in front of analysts was somewhat of an embarrassment. He became so animated on stage that an additional two flaps of his arms per minute would have gotten him airborne (I heard that he fired his stage coach soon thereafter). His resignation came as no surprise, only late by three years. Lisa Su was the only stand-up with credibility and has remained so since.

Can we expect Dr. Su to right the AMD ship? She’s very smart and well experienced in the land of semiconductors and if anyone can accomplish the miracle required to make AMD a player she’d be my pick…,

New mirror invented

Posted on October 16, 2014 by - News

mirrorzScientists claim to have invented a mirror that uses nanoscale technology to create new effects.

According to the Optical Society’s journal Optica, the boffins demonstrated a mirror that abandons a shiny surface but reflects infrared light by using a magnetic property of a non metallic “metamaterial”.

The scientis place nanoscale antennae at the surface of the magnetic mirrors and that allows the capture of electromagnetic radiation that will open up new types of chemical sensors, solar cells, lasers and other devices.

Michael Sinclair, a scientist at Sandia National Labs said: “Our breakthrough comes from using a specially engineered, non metallic surface studded with nanoscale resonators.”

The scientists are developing metamaterials whic are substances engineered with certain properties.

The magnetic mirror uses a two dimensonal array of dioelectric resonators using tellurium.  That means the design is more reflective at infrared wavelengths.

Google wants us to lick its lollipop

Posted on October 16, 2014 by - News, Products

lollipopGoogle has released a major update of Android, dubbed “Lollipop”.

According to Google, this is its thirteenth and most ambitious release of Android.

It has over 5,000 new application program interfaces (APIs) and to work on all devices.

Lollipop, it says, has a consistent design across different devices.  It also has features that lets you filter notifications so that if you’re doing something and you don’t want to be disturbed, you’ll see only the people you decide to let through.

It also includes a new battery saver feature which it claims will extend the life of a gadget by up to 90 minutes.  Android 5.0 Lollipop  also now includes multiple user accounts, guest user mode, and PIN passwords.

Use Facebook to talk to your heating

Posted on October 16, 2014 by - News

washingmachineA report suggests that pretty soon now we’ll be friending our washing machines, heating, lights and cars and telling them what we’ve had for breakfast. If we didn’t already know.

Scientists from the Federal University of Bahia in Brazil suggest that interfaces of social networking sites are likely to change to allow us to interact with things connected to the internet.

The internet of things, say the authors, could hook up with weather feeds so that your heating turns on when snow is expected.

And as things get ever more connected, you might even find that your gadgets defriend you because you’re not really needed at all.

The scientists at Bahia say that we will soon find ourselves waking up to what they dub a “social web of things”.  Think, for example, that in the future you can send a text message to your house to fiddle about with the heating. You will not be necessary in the future, and, says the team: “The archicture could be extended to remove the intermediate, us, from the equation and so give us domestic bliss with minimal intervention.”

Fitness spurs sensor market

Posted on October 16, 2014 by - News

fitnessWith a flood of gadgets aimed at people who like to be fit as well as machines used by medicos, shipment of the sensors used in the devices is set to increase sevenfold from 2013 to 2019.

The types of sensors used in these devices can be broken down into motion sensors, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and sensor for health, environment and user interfaces, according to IHS.

But out of these categories, motion sensors will be the dominant technology and under this umbrella are accelerometers, gyroscopes, proximity sensors and MEMS displays.

The top dog in the sensor market is ST Microelectronics – it sells sensors as bundles along with microprocessors and wirless chips.

IHS said that the worldwide market for sensors in wearables will reach 466 million units in 2019, up from 67 million in 2013.

Semi spending set to soar

Posted on October 16, 2014 by - News

Samsung rules the roostSemiconductor capital spending will be worth $64.5 billion this year, up 11.4 percent from 2013.  And capital equipment spending will increase 17.1 percent in 2014.

So says market research firm Gartner in a report that indicates that the increases are driven by strong memory average selling prices (ASPs) as well as higher consumer demand for gizmos and gadgets.

The report said that there’s undersupply on  DRAM and that will continue next year, but then we’ll see one of the characteristics of semiconductor swings and roundabouts.  Companies build extra capacity in times of drought only to find they’ve built too much.  Gartner said we’ll see oversupply in 2016.

Samsung, and SK Hynix are both ready to ramp up DRAM manufacturing in order to meet the pent up demand.

Memory capital spending will increase by 4.5 percent this year, but in the long time demand will be flat, said Gartner.

EU programmers are rubbish

Posted on October 16, 2014 by - News

euTop technology companies including Microsoft, Facebook and SAP have written a stiffly worded missive to the EU to complain that the blocs’ programmers are rubbish.

The open letter said that kids of today are not being given the skills to flourish in tomorrow’s digital economy and society and are not learning to code.

“It is undeniable that Europe needs more computer scientists and engineers if it is to prosper and compete – the number of unfilled ICT vacancies in Europe is expected to reach 900,000 by 2020,” the letters said.

Coding was not just for “geeks” or those destined for a career in ICT. A plethora of interesting, creative jobs all depend on a degree of coding ability. Whether analysing healthcare data, designing security software or creating special effects for movies, coding is the red thread that runs through Europe’s future professions, the letter said.

“The spread and sophistication of coding teaching in Europe remains too limited. Code is easy to learn but not widely taught in schools. Only 20 per cent of Europe’s school children are in schools which have adopted over-arching formal policies covering the use of ICT across all subjects.”

Part of the problem is that ICT and computer science skills are seen as niche, with little relevance to other fundamental academic pursuits. In Europe, fewer than 15 per cent of students have the opportunity to use the kind of higher level ICT in school that would help them develop ’21st century skills’ such as collaboration, self-regulation and problem-solving.

Teachers have the power to awaken passions and inspire ideas. And they are enthusiastic adopters of technology, keen to implement digital skills in their classroom. However, they receive little to no structured ICT training, it said.

Apple’s reality distortion shield fights the law

Posted on October 16, 2014 by - News


courtroom_1_lgApple’s famous reality distortion field and obsessive demands for secrecy have suddenly hit the reality of US law courts.

The judge overseeing the mysterious bankruptcy of an Apple sapphire supplier dared to actually question why it should be demanding secrecy in the case.

Jobs’ Mob has managed to keep the entire case locked up with its NDAs and hardly any information has emerged since GT Advanced Technologies filed for bankruptcy.

Key court filings reveal that GT Advanced is terrified of the confidentiality requirements in its Apple contracts which carry fines of $50 million.

However at a hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Springfield, Massachusetts, Judge Henry Boroff told a lawyer for Apple that the documents do not seem to contain much proprietary information. Boroff instructed Apple to provide him a list by Monday of exactly which elements of the filings are sensitive.

He said that he had a foot high stack of documents, and it could not be all kept secret. This of course runs counter to the Apple view that everything should be very secret and might be a move by the company to prevent information getting out which might make it look bad.

Apple and GT Advanced appeared to have made a complex series of agreements. The two made a deal in November for GT to set up a factory in Mesa, Arizona, to make scratch-resistant sapphire glass exclusively for Apple.

Boroff said that what he was looking at appeared like a construction suit, where a homeowner says to the contractor, ‘It didn’t come out the way I wanted to,’ and the contractor says: ‘Well, it would have come out that way if you didn’t continue to change the specifications.'”

Boroff’s comments came during a hearing that was meant to consider a motion by GT Advanced to keep certain documents sealed and begin the process of winding down its operations. But those issues were postponed until next Tuesday, in light of the recent appointment of GT Advanced’s official creditors’ committee.

However, other than Apple the other creditors involved in the case want to know what happened. The US Department of Justice’s bankruptcy watchdog in court papers said sealing information about GT Advanced’s downfall would “thwart” the objectives of bankruptcy laws and “unjustifiably undermine” the system’s fairness.

Christmas cancelled at eBay

Posted on October 16, 2014 by - News

santa-naughty-listIt seems that eBay has been naughty and is worried that Santa will not visit it this Christmas.

The online auctioneer trimmed its full year revenue forecast because it expects a weaker than expected holiday shopping season.

EBay cut its full-year revenue outlook to between $17.85 billion and $17.95 billion from its previous range of $18 billion to $18.3 billion.

The company also forecast fourth quarter revenues of less than $5 billion, falling short of the $5.2 billion expected by Wall Street.

Weak economic data from the United States and China is fanning fears of another global slowdown, forcing investors to re-examine the world economy that is only just emerging from one of the worst recessions in history.

The fact is that analysts are not certain what will happen this Christmas, but signs from the luxury retailers indicate that things might be tight.

US retail sales, which account for about one-third of consumer spending, recorded their first fall since January last month.

eBay’s marketplaces division, which grew less than some forecast and the fear is that the company’s dependence on Europe might have also played a role in depressing its outlook.

Marketing firms scan online snaps

Posted on October 16, 2014 by - News

19th-century-photographerMarketing firms are scanning the 1.8 billion photos posted every day to social media sites such as Instagram and Facebook looking for clues about what to peddle you.

US company Ditto Labs has created a program which ‘reads’ digital photos Software scans photos for brands and analyses the facial expression with it.

This data then builds profiles of people to help targeted advertising. Apparently, this is being used by Coca-Cola, Budweiser, Procter & Gamble and Adidas.

The software, created by Ditto Labs in Massachusetts, also ‘reads’ the background, the person’s clothing and even the location of the photo in a bid to glean as much information as possible as the customer and how they view the product or brand.

The wealth of information is then used to set up a profile which spells out exactly how that customer should be targeted by advertisers.

Liberty rights campaigners have warned the process goes ‘far beyond’ what most users should expect and that companies should seek permission before passing on the information to third parties.

Emma Carr, director of Big Brother Watch, a campaign group set up to challenge policies which it believes threatens privacy, said  scanning our photos for logos and certain backdrops will go far beyond what many would expect companies to do with the photos we post.

“If companies want to use our data in this way, explicit permission should be sought. It is also only right that users ask for complete transparency about what data will be collected, analysed and who it will be sold on to,” she said.

Computer scientists began creating the program more than a decade ago. Other brands include Adidas, which, through the program, discovered that 13 percent of its ‘Adidas population’ are also interested in Justin Bieber. Of course, 87 percent want him killed on sight. Budweiser has found that beer drinking generally peaks at 11PM, presumably because its customers are returning their rented product.

 

Hard drives may become CPUs

Posted on October 15, 2014 by - News

tornadoUniversity of Sheffield scientists believe that hard drives used for storage on computers could act as CPUs as well.

Dr Tom Hayward, from the university’s Faculty of Engineering, said: “Magnetic materials are useful for data storage because they can retain information without consuming energy.  A computer built around a CPU made of magnetic materials should be much more power efficient than existing technologies, as it should be able to function with minimal energy consumption.”

How can it be done?

The team said it is possible to create logic gates from magnetic materials.  “In wires of magnetic material, magnetism can form into swirling ‘tornadoes’, known as magnetic vortex domain walls,” said Dr Hayward.

The team used vortices where the magnetism turns clockwise to represent 0 and anticlockwise vortices to represent 1.

While the work so far has focused on simulations, the team is now ready to build experimental prototypes of logic gates and see whether they can be made smaller and run faster.