New Metrics For The Cloud


Data centers are beginning to adjust their definition of what makes one server better than another. Rather than comparing benchmarked performance of general-purpose servers, they are adding a new level of granularity based upon what kind of chips work best for certain operations or applications. Those decisions increasingly include everything from the level of redundancy in compute operations, ... » read more

How To Prevent Identity Theft


It is a well-known fact: Internet usage is booming. 3.2 billion people are online, while more than 7 billion mobile phones are subscribed worldwide. With the rise of activities such as browsing, shopping and online banking, Internet-based crime is on the rise, too. Cifas, a fraud prevention agency based in London, stated that more than 80% of identity theft was attempted or perpetrated onlin... » read more

The Growing Price Of A Click


I have been staring at computer screens for a long time. I remember when AOL was the biggest thing to come along since 16-bit computing. I have always been an anti-spam/junk advocate. With snail mail, I could just pitch it. With radio and TV ads, I could turn down the volume or switch channels. But it got impractical to walk away from my computer every time an ad popped up on a new page. So ... » read more

Getting Paid More


Consolidation is a regular news item in the semiconductor industry, and has been for years, but most of those deals have been relatively small. What's changing is the amount of consolidation involving big companies, fueled partly by a massive M&A fund in China, partly by an arms race in preparation for the IoE, and partly by the kind of thinking that if other companies are doing it, it's dan... » read more

Software Driving More Hardware Designs


The influence of software engineers is growing inside of chip and systems companies, reversing a decades-old trend of matching the software to the fastest or most power-efficient hardware and raising as-yet unanswered questions about what will change in SoC design. The shift is particularly evident in chips developed for high-volume markets such as mobile phones and tablets. It's also happen... » read more

Taking Stock Of IoT Standards


Trying to make sense of [getkc id="76" comment="Internet of Things"] standards today is like opening a can of worms. Definitions are still shaking out, consortia are popping up quickly, and everyone is in a mad scramble to capture their piece of the much lauded potential of an intimately connected world of devices. With so many points to consider, security is a good place to start. It is ... » read more

USB Connectors Get Smarter


By now, there’s quite a buzz about the new USB Type-C spec given that it provides for a reversible plug connector for USB devices and cabling, aiming to end the endless cable flipping to make sure the orientation is correction. To avoid confusion, while developed at about the same time as the USB 3.1 specification, it is distinct from that one. When it comes to software support for Type-C,... » read more

Molecular Imprints becomes a virtual reality company


Molecular Imprints was the venture funded imprint equipment start up, that was split up last year when the semiconductor applications were acquired by Canon. Sources tell me that the remaining non-semiconductor portion Molecular Imprints has been acquired by Magic Leap, a virtual reality start up that raised $542M last year in a B round led by Google. Magic Leap has developed a proprietary... » read more

More Than Just Plastic


The magnetic strip credit card era is coming to an end. The technology is antiquated, prone to security vulnerabilities, and has no self-destruct capability if lost or stolen. In its place are near-field technologies coupled with smart devices—think Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay, digital wallets, MasterCard's PayPass—and now near-field communication (NFC) chips inside of cards. But... » read more

Mobile Security And The IoE


As we climb that mobility ladder to becoming a mostly mobile society, every rung seems to expose us to more and more layers of security failings. Six billion of the seven billion people on this planet rely on a variety of mobile devices to shop, bank, interface with social media, monitor their health, and monitor their environment. Unless you are on the inside track and know better, one would t... » read more

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