Samsung gets closer to launching its first foldable smartphone
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As we continue to see breakthroughs in materials electronics are starting to move to the next stage of their evolution. As smartphone fans await a trio of new phones from Samsung next week, eyes will soon be turning to what could be the Korean company’s...
Revolutionary AI chip that replaces GPU’s hailed as the “future” by ARM’s founder
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The future will be powered by AI and Machine Learning, and it could also be powered by a new type of chip, an “Intelligence Processing Unit,” which is the next evolutionary step after the GPU. What comes after the CPU and the GPU? The...
It’s raining cash, US startup edges closer to creating solid state “Jesus” battery
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Solid state batteries charge faster, , don’t catch fire, last longer and and are cheaper to make than their liquid Lithium Ion cousins, making them a game changer. Recently technology giants like Dyson, Samsung and Total have collectively invested $65 million in Ionic Materials, a company...
Tomorrow’s computer chips will have new challenges and new architectures
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Standardised processors that run multiple workloads, but that have to be especially optimised to run specific workloads made sense, but tomorrow’s processors will have new challenges and need a new architectural approach. It’s over 10 years since Apple unveiled the first iPhone and since...
Ethereum falls after rumours of new powerful ASIC emerge
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The more centralised the mining of an individual cryptocurrency becomes, especially if it leverages new, more powerful technology, the greater the impact on a cryptocurrencies value. Rumors of a new ASIC mining rig from Bitmain have driven Ethereum prices well below their one week high of...
Samsung unveils their new ultra fast charging, energy dense battery
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF When asked what irritates them most about their smartphones most people reply battery life, but Samsung’s latest breakthrough might mean we have to moan about something else. All our mobile devices have been hamstrung for ages by their reliance on traditional Lithium-Ion (LiOn) batteries...
Samsung to unveil new 11k TV’s with natural 3D effect in 2018
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Future screen resolutions will pack so many “invisible” pixels into the screens that they will have a natural 3D effect. Samsung has announced that it is developing a display crammed so full of pixels that it produces a 3D effect, without the need for...
Brace yourselves AI is about to make the “Fake News!” problem a whole lot worse
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF We are approaching a dangerous threshold where one day, in the next few years, you won’t be able to trust what you see, or easily distinguish fake news from real news, and it could have big consequences on democracy and society. Over the past...
Hackers have found a new way to hack Samsung’s iris security system
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Biometric security systems are awesome, until they’re hacked, and increasingly companies and individuals are finding that their latest and greatest biometric security systems are easier to hack than the password systems they replaced Criminals know you love taking selfies, and they love your selfies...
IBM unveils a new 5nm chip process, but 1nm looms on the horizon
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As physical chip design starts to near its limits it is getting harder for companies to keep up with Moore’s Law but IBM’s latest announcement gives it a new shot in the arm – until that is Quantum Computing arrives. IBM, in partnership with...
IBM announces plans to sell a commercial ‘universal’ quantum computer by 2020
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Quantum computers are hailed as the next evolution of computing that promise immense performance increases over today’s systems and by 2020 they may be ready for prime time. Having laid the groundwork for offerings in other emerging technology categories such as artificial intelligence (AI),...
SRI unveils Minority Report like touchless biometric technologies
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Big brother biometric technologies that can ID individuals remotely arrives. You are used to being tracked everywhere you go online but offline? Prepare for a world where there is no hiding place. Iris recognition has been used as a biometric for access control applications for...
Intel cosies up to ARM and stalks Apple
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Intel wants to dominate the next generation of “Things” and it’s joined forces with ARM the industrys’ dominant player. In a move that would have been jaw dropping a few years ago, Intel’s factories are soon going to be churning out chips based on ARM’s open sourced architectures...
Samsung uses IBM’s brain chip to build a digital eye
IBM’s TrueNorth, a cognitive “neuromorphic” computing chip whose architecture resembles that of the human brain – although it switches neurons for transistors, is being trialled by Samsung to improve the Dynamic Vision Sensors (DVS) in their next generation gadgets, essentially helping them to build the equivalent of a digital eye that is far...
The death and rebirth of Moore’s Law
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Moore’s Law redefines itself for the next decade of computing. Early in 2016 the worldwide semiconductor industry acknowledged what has become increasingly obvious to everyone involved: Moore’s law, the principle that has powered the information technology revolution since the 1960s, is nearing its end....
Apples new trojan horse
Love it or loathe it the Apple Watch is superbly positioned to help Apple capture three new mass markets Even Apple can’t escape the gravity of centuries of tradition and the Apple Watch is a great case in point. Sure enough it sits on the wrist like a regular watch, looks like a...
Google is being disrupted
Alphabets new structure is a response to Googles falling ad revenues and increased competitive pressure An Exercise Thank you for reading my article but be warned that I’m going to ask you to take part in a quick exercise and to incentivise you to do so I’m going to...
