Santa Clara, California-based Applied Materials, which makes equipment used to produce semiconductors, has announced plans to invest up to $4 billion in a research facility in Silicon Valley. The Equipment and Process Innovation and Commercialization (EPIC) Center, which will be built over seven years, aims to bring chipmakers and universities together to collaborate on innovations that will result in more powerful chips. “For the first time, chipmakers can have dedicated space within an equipment company’s R&D fab, providing early access to next-generation processes and equipment to accelerate product roadmaps,” according to Applied Materials. Continue reading Applied Materials Plans Chip Research Center in Silicon Valley

Nearly 25 years after the first “Men in Black” film became a smash hit, grossing $588 million worldwide, location-based immersive virtual reality company Dreamscape — in conjunction with Sony Pictures Virtual Reality (SPVR) — is rebooting the alien-fighting adventure at its flagship location in Westfield Century City. On Friday, October 1, “Men In Black: First Assignment” will invite thrill-seekers to outfit as agents, swap Will Smith’s Ray-Bans for a VR headset and battle intergalactic invaders. It’s seen as something of a bellwether as to the public’s appetite for location attractions amidst COVID-19’s lingering Delta variant. Continue reading Dreamscape to Debut Its ‘Men In Black’ VR Experience in LA

Twenty-one universities have partnered to create the Public Interest Technology University Network aimed at creating the next generation of software engineers, social justice advocates and leaders to “develop, regulate and use technology for the public good.” Among those schools founding the network are Arizona State University, City University of New York, Harvard University, Howard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley. Continue reading Universities Team Up to Promote Public Interest Technology

Amazon is going full bore promoting its virtual assistant Alexa. In an effort to make it available on more devices, the company has debuted the Alexa Voice Service Device SDK toolset, which lets developers integrate a fully functional version to their devices, offering speech recognition and all the other Alexa capabilities such as notifications, weather reports, streaming media and thousands of voice apps. Amazon is providing additional incentive to developers by paying those whose voice apps demonstrate customer engagement. Continue reading Amazon Promotes Alexa With SDK, Revenue for Developers