Week in Review: IoT, Security, Auto


Internet of Things Verizon Communications launched its nationwide narrowband Internet of Things network, saying it covers more than 92% of the U.S. population. “There is a whole universe of smart solutions needing scalable and affordable connections,” Jeffrey Dietel, senior vice president of business marketing and products, said in a statement. “By launching our NB-IoT network, Verizon i... » read more

Week in Review: IoT, Security, Auto


Internet of Things Combining artificial intelligence with unmanned aerial vehicles could provide a quicker and safer alternative to inspecting roadways for cracks, potholes, and other damage, according to a paper posted on arvix.org. “[M]anual visual inspection [is] not only tedious, time-consuming, and costly, but also dangerous for the personnel. Furthermore, the detection results are alwa... » read more

Logic Analyzers Never Die


Logic analyzers, long a mainstay of chip design, are finding new demand for IoT devices—and frequently in different forms than in the past. Once associated with big, bulky benchtop instruments, this technology has evolved significantly over the past 40 years. In some cases it has been moved into software, where the measurement results are more likely to be viewed upon a laptop screen or a ... » read more

The Danger Of Denial


For years now, my diehard Mac-lover friends and this diehard PC fan have bantered back and forth about the superiority of one processor over the other. When Apple switched to the Intel platform in the late 2000s the argument went moot. I was right, they were wrong. PC’s were the best computers. Since then, the arguments about which platform is better have died off. They both do the job, a... » read more

The Week In Review


Applied Materials announced its fiscal Q3 results. Net sales for the quarter were $2.27 billion compared with $1.98 billion in the same period in 2013, a 15% increase. Net income was $301 million for the period, compared with $168 million in 2013. On a non-GAAP basis, net income was $349 million, compared with $222 million in Q3 2013. The company expects fiscal Q4 net sales to be flat, plus or ... » read more

Big Iron Conundrums


Enormous attention is being focused on energy efficiency in mobile devices because time between charges trumps a slight boost in performance. Inside of data centers those benefits are far less clear. While energy costs remain a huge factor—they are a visible part of the bottom line costs for a CIO—how to reduce those costs is anything but a simple equation. Just adding more energy-saving... » read more