Tag: techeye

Notebook players change their focus

Posted on October 10, 2014 by - News

server-racksA few weeks back we reported that the lucrative datacentre market could well be the target for new vendors to enter the fray.

Now there’s some hard evidence for that. Taiwanese firm Quanta Computer, which previously played in the original design manufacturer (ODM) game, and made notebooks for the major brands, has branched out into the server market.

Digitimes reports that Quanta has completely re-invented itself and is positioning itself to sell into the European datacentre market.

It is offering servers and services to European datacentres and has hired a sales team specifically for the territory.

It faces stiff competition from the likes of HP and Dell. But the advantage it has is that it has its own manufacturing and further has played the very slim margin game when it made notebooks for multinational brands like HP and Dell.

The move is likely to be good value for the datacentre buyers because there’s no doubt such moves will prompt something of a price war in the sector.

Assassins bemoan poor console chip performance

Posted on October 10, 2014 by - News

assassins-creedAssassin’s Creed Unity senior producer Vincent Pontbriand has waded into AMD’s console performance saying that his new game’s 900p frame rate and 30 fps target on consoles is a result of weak CPU performance.

He said that while the GPUs on the machines are really powerful and the graphics look good, the game was technically CPU-bound and the CPU has to process the AI, the number of NPCs we have on screen. All these systems running in parallel.

Speaking to Hot Hardware, Pontbriand  said game designers were quickly bottlenecked and it was a bit frustrating.

“We thought that this was going to be a tenfold improvement over everything AI-wise, and we realised it was going to be pretty hard. It’s not the number of polygons that affect the framerate. We could be running at 100fps if it was just graphics, but because of AI, we’re still limited to 30 frames per second,” he said.

The comments are being seen as damning AMD’s APU. The Jaguar CPU inside both the Sony PS4 and Xbox One has a relatively low clock speed and, while both consoles may offer eight threads on paper, but it appears that games can’t access them.

Pontbriand said that one thread is reserved for the OS and several more cores will be used for processing the 3D pipeline. Between the two, Ubisoft may have only had 4-5 cores for AI and other calculations. This means that the performance is about the same as the last generation of Xbox 360 and PS3 CPUs.  In fact these were clocked much faster than the 1.6 / 1.73GHz frequencies of their replacements.

To be fair it is hardly AMD’s fault. Microsoft or Sony could’ve specced out a variant of the core clocked at 2-2.4GHz and boosted total CPU throughput, but they didn’t. The programmable nature of the GCN architecture inside the Xbone and PS4 is meant to compensate for the relatively lightweight core, but AI calculations may simply be beyond this.  GPU calculations tend to be high latency, and AI typically requires fast response times.

Apple could be worth double

Posted on October 10, 2014 by - News

two-applesA man who owns rather a lot of shares in the fruity cargo cult Apple, claims that they are undervalued and wants them to go up a bit.

Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn said Apple) shares could double in value if it used its $133 billion cash pile in a buy back scheme.

In an open letter to Apple’s board, Icahn said Apple was dramatically undervalued in today’s market, and the more shares repurchased now, the more each remaining shareholder will benefit.

Icahn who said he would be hanging on to his own stock out of any repurchase claimed that Apple stock should be trading at $203.

“At today’s price, Apple is one of the best investments we have ever seen from a risk reward perspective, and the size of our position is a testament to this. This investment represents the largest position in our investment history,” Icahn wrote.

Icahn urged Apple to buy back as much as $100 billion in stock and said he hoped other investors would also press for a buyback.

In June Apple split, its stock seven for one and in April it raised its share repurchase authorisation to $90 billion from the $60 billion announced a year earlier.

Shareholders did not seem that impressed. Apple shares rose less than one percent in early trading to $101.49 but slipped to $100.84 later. The stock has gained 25 percent since January.

Icahn owns 53 million shares and is one of the iPhone maker’s top 10 investors so he will get back a huge amount if the share price doubles. Needless to say he has been urging the company to buy back more shares and raise its dividend.

We would take all this with a pinch of salt. In his letter, he said he expects the Apple Watch, the company’s first new product category since the iPad in 2010, to boost the company’s growth and suggested that television is another large opportunity for the company, which is more than anyone else believes.

Apple has long signaled it will not be pressured into making hasty decisions. On Thursday, spokeswoman Kristin Huguet declined to comment directly on Icahn’s letter but said “We always appreciate hearing from our shareholders.”  We are sure she does.

Inventor of LEDs cross at Nobel snub

Posted on October 10, 2014 by - News

NobelNick Holonyak, who invented the first visible-light LEDs is a little miffed that he never got a Nobel Prize for his work.

This is particularly so now that the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in Physics to three inventors of the blue light-emitting diode.

While Holonyak is not exactly complaining that he isn’t among them, he is a little cross that they got the prize while his 1962 invention has never been singled out for recognition by the academy.

He told the Associated Press that he was an old guy now, but found it insulting.

The Nobel Foundation highlighted the great potential social impact of blue LEDs, which made LED bulbs possible and could help dramatically reduce the amount of energy the world expends on lighting.

However you have to wonder why blue LEDs get the prize while  Holonyak never got much recognition.

Before Holonyak’s red LED, there was the infrared LED, along with even earlier discoveries, and there is a host of other researchers who could share credit in the device’s development.

Holonyak, who won the IEEE Medal of Honor (sic) in 2003 , originally set out to develop a red diode laser. In the process, he also succeeded in creating a red LED. Holonyak and several of his colleagues later went on to use compound semiconductors similar to those used to create the first LED to develop a transistor laser, a device capable of emitting both electrical and optical signals.

Microsoft CEO faces karma from foot in mouth

Posted on October 10, 2014 by - News

foot and mouthThe Microsoft boss has said sorry to his women employees after making a huge howler on the subject of equal pay.

In answer to a question from the floor, “What do you advise women who are interested in advancing their careers, but not comfortable … with asking for a raise?” Multiple studies have suggested that women in the workplace earn roughly three quarters of the salary, on average, compared to male counterparts doing the same job.

Satya Nadella said that women who don’t ask for raises have “good karma” and that not asking for equal pay with men is a “superpower”,

His exact words were: “women who don’t ask for raises have a “superpower … because that’s good karma, that’ll come back … that’s the kind of person that I want to trust.”

It is not as if he said the comment in private either. He said it on a stage at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing conference, held in Phoenix, where no one is likely to take offence.

“It’s not really about asking for the raise,” Nadella told the audience, “but knowing and having faith that the system will actually give you the right raises as you go along”.

We guess that at that point the conversion was drowned out by the cries of a thousand PR bunnies throwing themselves into Nadella’s mouth to stop him speaking.

Needless to say when he got back to the office there was a very cross representative from the PR department with an apology all written for him to send to all female employees who are being advised not to apply for raises.

Nadella wrote that he answered that question completely wrongly.

“I believe men and women should get equal pay for equal work. And when it comes to career advice on getting a raise when you think it’s deserved, Maria’s advice was the right advice. If you think you deserve a raise, you should just ask.”

We suspect that Nadella will have to spend a little more time on the Wheel of Birth and Death to escape his karma on that one.

SMEs held back by poor networks

Posted on October 9, 2014 by - News

whiffyA survey said that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are worried about poor networking and security.

The survey, commissioned by Netgear which has something of an axe to grind, chose 500 companies with between one and 250 employees showed the SMEs’ concerns.

Three quarters of the firms said having a wireless network is essential to their business.  That figure rises to 84 percent for firms hiring more than 100 people.

A large number rely on wireless networks with 74 percent saying it makes the company more productive, and 75 percent saying it improves customer services.

But one in three firms surveyed said they had struggled to install an effective and secure wireless service.

And 31 percent thought about dropping all their IT wireless plans after they’d had bad experience with quality and reliability. A third worried about data security while a quarter weren’t sure how to introduce wi-fi into existing IT infrastructure.

HP faces problems in its two way split

Posted on October 9, 2014 by - News

Tenniel's illustration of Tweedledum and Tweedledee - Wikimedia CommonsThe decision by HP to split itself into two will have implications for its business in Europe.

That’s according to a number of analysts at the International Data Corporation (IDC).

Earlier this week HP said it would divide itself into HP Enterprise, focusing on the corporate market, and HP Inc, selling PCs and printers.  Both companies will generate revenues of around $57 billion each.

The changes in Europe will impact the two HPs in between six to 18 months and affect channel, volumes, and SME (small to medium enterprises) sectors.

Giorgi Nebuloni, manager of Datacentres at IDC said: “HP will have extra work to do to align its massive customer base between client/printing devices and low end server and storage to keep a coherent approach on discounting and pricing, especially for SME customers.”

Competitors Lenovo and Dell are likely to take advantage of the changes to drag smaller resellers and distributors away from HP products to their own. IDC thinks that in the mid term the split could end up being costly for HP and both HPs will need to keep their eyes peeled in brand new markets like 3D printing and Big Data analytics.

Nobel Prize given to LED men

Posted on October 9, 2014 by - News

wallwashThe Noble Prize for physics has been awarded to the three inventors of LEDs (light emitting diodes)..

The invention of the LED  was awarded to Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura and has led to a market worth billions of dollars.

IHS, a market research company, said the invention of the technology in the early 1990s was worth $17.7 billion in 2013, leading to 250,000 jobs. And that’s not counting all the LED markets including lighting, signage, and consumer electronics.

IHS research manager for LEDs and lighting at IHS, William Rhodes, said the invention changed all the rules.

The market before LEDs mostly used indicator lights in toys, industrial and car applications, said Rhodes. This year over 90 percent of all displays were backlit by LEDs while LEDs will represent a third of all lightbulb sales in 2014.

Microsoft may dump Surface tabs

Posted on October 9, 2014 by - News, Products

Microsoft Surface ProA report suggested that Microsoft may decide to give up the ghost on its Surface Pro 3 tablet.

According to Digitimes, sales for the product have been weak and Microsoft is disappointed with its performance.  That’s according to unnamed sources from the supply chain.

Microsoft has also failed to set up an adequate distribution chain and at the same time high prices for the products have put many people off.

Digitimes estimates that Microsoft has lost around $1.7 billion on the first two generations of its tablet.

Microsoft has another problem too. Competitors have introduced smartphones with large screens and that has affected peoples’ buying choices.

Microsoft hasn’t had much luck with hardware, with one notable exception.

That’s the Microsoft mouse.

Philips shows off 3D printed luminaries

Posted on October 9, 2014 by - News, Products

lightsonDutch firm Royal Philips has shown off what it says are the world’s first 3D printed “smart” luminaries.

The luminaries are part of its “Hue” range, and Philips said that a finger swipe on smartphone or tablet allows you to create any number of personal light effects from a palette of 16 million hues, shades of white and programmable scenes.

Philips lets you create table and pendant luminaries to order at www.meethue.com while you can also order them from London store Selfridges.

Philips also showed off a bright white LED bulb which you can control from your tablet or smartphone. The Hue “lux” retrofits into existing A19 luminaries.

ConvoLightBecause your gizmo controls them you can turn your lights on and off from anywhere in the world you can get connected.  Applications include linking the app to alert you to stormy weather, link to stock tickers, link to sportsfeed, or to your Facebook page.

Philips also showed off Convo Lights, which can notify deaf people when there are other audible signals they might miss.

US thinks it is legal to invade foreign servers

Posted on October 9, 2014 by - News

Battle_erieThe US government claims it has a constitutional right to hack the servers of foreign companies based overseas.

Apparently when the French-backed terrorists usurped their legitimate King it was with the sole aim of ruling the world and committing illegal acts in other countries.

The Justice Department made the announcement in the ongoing prosecution of Ross Ulbricht. The government believes that Ulbricht is the operator of the Silk Road illicit drug website.

The case involves how the US government found the Silk Road servers in Iceland. Ulbricht said government claims that a leaky CAPTCHA on the site’s login led them to the IP address was “implausible” and that the government may have unlawfully hacked into the site. His view is backed by Nicholas Weaver, a Berkeley computer scientist who said the story is full of holes.

Assistant US Attorney Serrin Turner countered (PDF) said that even if it were a lie such an investigative measure would not have run afoul of the Fourth Amendment.

The SR Server was located outside the United States, the Fourth Amendment would not have required a warrant to search the server, whether for its IP address or otherwise so it is acceptable.

Turner added, “Given that the SR Server was hosting a blatantly criminal website, it would have been reasonable for the FBI to ‘hack’ into it in order to search it, as any such ‘hack’ would simply have constituted a search of foreign property known to contain criminal evidence, for which a warrant was not necessary.”

The FBI denied using wiretaps in the FBI’s investigation. Ulbricht did not even become a suspect in the FBI’s investigation until well after the SR Server was searched. No information collected from Ulbricht, through a wiretap, was ever used to locate the SR Server.

Still it must be a little worrying for US citizens to know that their constitutional protection from US spooks stops at the border.

 

EMC needs to spin off VMware

Posted on October 9, 2014 by - News

ElderlyspinneraActivist investor Elliott Management is trying to get data storage products outfit EMC to spin off its VMware virtualization software unit or merge with someone else.

The outfit penned a 13-page letter to the company’s board which was signed by portfolio manager Jesse Cohn and warned that EMC’s structure of combining several businesses obscured its enormous value.

Elliott, which has $25 billion under management, owns a 2.2 percent stake in EMC and said it was writing a letter to help inform EMC’s board on its “current review process” of how to maximize long-term value at EMC.

EMC’s “federation strategy” comprises a core data-storage unit, a virtualization software unit VMware, enterprise security business RSA and cloud-computing software maker Pivotal.

EMC held merger talks with HP recently that broke down. Elliott said the acquisition interest in EMC’s assets on the part of several large companies that make strategic sense.

So far, EMC has publicly said it plans to keep its company together. But pressure is building as other technology companies recently have been spinning off operations in an attempt to become more agile and capitalize on faster-growing businesses.

HTC back on track

Posted on October 9, 2014 by - News

damsel-in-distress-4HTC has said that it is back on track and will not have to go to the markets to ask to lend a tenner until next Friday.

Taiwanese smartphone maker’s chief financial officer Chialin Chang told Reuters that the outfit had a  lack of debt, $1.7 billion in cash and the ability to fund itself.

Chang said in an interview that HTC can self-fund itself very sufficiently.

The company last week reported better-than-forecast third-quarter profit, but mainly thanks to cost cuts rather than improved sales.

Chang said the company now had a strong portfolio of phones at prices that will attract buyers in both developed markets and emerging ones.

“I think with a more robust portfolio we’re going to be able to show that we can grow again,” he said. “Hopefully people will feel in the next earnings call with the guidance, we can get the momentum back.”

Chang said that his company was working on other “smart devices” which means it is probably coming up with a watch like everyone else in the industry.

Meanwhile the outfit has created a “Re” camera, which can be controlled remotely from an Android or Apple phone, represents one effort to branch out beyond phones. Given that the cylinder-shaped device is waterproof and is highly portable, it could be seen as a potential competitor to GoPro Inc (GPRO.O) cameras.

Chang said that was the wrong comparison since GoPro cameras are specifically aimed at “extreme” sports while the Re, which will sell for $199 in the United States, is aimed at everyday use.

It is a Luddite world, claims PayPal co-founder

Posted on October 9, 2014 by - News

LudditePeter Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal, said that we live in a world where science is hated and real technological progress has stalled.

Thiel told the Gartner Symposium/IT this week that there is little innovation out there and he blames the fact that we are living in a financial, capitalistic age.

He said that this is a period in history when  people generally dislike science and technology. Movies “all show technology that doesn’t work, that … kills people, that it is bad for the world.”

Terminator, The Matrix, Avatar, Elysium and Gravity. The message of Gravity is that “you never want to go into outer space”. The movie industry is reflecting and feeding a public bias against science, he said.

Thiel added that technology has a much different meaning today than it did in the 1950s or 1960s. During that period, it meant computers and rockets, underwater cities, new forms of energy and all sorts of supersonic airplanes. Since then, there “has been this narrowing” view that technology is mostly information technology, he said.

While advances today may be enough to dramatically improve business efficiencies and create great new companies, “it’s not clear it’s always enough to take our civilization to the next level,” said Thiel.

Thiel thinks that there is a lack of any conviction. If you have conviction around getting certain things done, a very short list of things, that’s how you really push for progress,” whether in a corporation or government.

He said that the Manhattan project, which built a nuclear bomb in 3.5 years, and led to the moon landing in the 1960s was a complex coordination around a well-defined plan, which is very out of fashion.

Su in, Read out at AMD

Posted on October 9, 2014 by - News

readChipmaker AMD has announced that its Chief Operating Officer Lisa Su will replace Rory Read as chief executive officer.

Read has been doing the job for three years and analysts do not seem sad to see him go, they are only concerned about the timing. Earnings announcements are next week and an exit like this would suggest that the news is bad.

AMD has seen its market value nearly halved since Read took over in 2011 as the company lost market share to Intel. The outfit has been expanding into new markets such as game consoles and low-power servers and it aims to obtain half of its revenue from those additional businesses by the end of 2015, but progress has been too slow for the cocaine fuelled of Wall Street.

Su however is a popular choice amongst investors and customers.

It is not clear how Read was pushed out. Asked repeatedly on a conference call about the unexpected timing of AMD’s leadership change, Read said it was the result of a long-term succession strategy.

He said that the changeover was well planned, well understood.

Read’s response to the slump in PCs was to slashed the company’s workforce, hire a new senior management team, including Su, and launched AMD’s move into new markets, including ARM-based servers, digital signs and medical devices.

Su, who is 44, said her top focus would be on product development and that she would also simplify AMD and sharpen its focus. She joined AMD in 2012 and is widely seen as one of AMD’s most valuable executives.

AMD promoted Su to chief operating officer in June, increasing expectations among investors that she might eventually replace Read.

AMD said its board was discussing with Su the terms of her employment. She is currently paid an annual base salary of $650,000, the company said.

Read will remain with the company as an advisor until the end of the year.