Intel demonstrated the first version of its Project Alloy headset, a “wearable” computer that enables a combination of virtual and augmented realities, or “merged reality.” At CES 2017, Intel chief executive Brian Krzanich announced Project Alloy will ship in Q4 this year, a fairly quick turnaround for a headset/project only first made public in August 2016. Project Alloy is evidence of Intel’s effort to position itself as a leader in wearable computing, in which the device contains all its essential computing components. Continue reading Intel Demos Merged Reality Headset, Compute Card, 5G Modem

If you look hard enough, CES is often the place to discover smaller, less publicized technologies and products that could become the seeds for something practical and useful to the ETC member companies. This year I came across several that fit this description, including a technology called SynTouch that could prove beneficial to haptic feedback R&D and physical product quality control, a simple and elegant method from ManoMotion to use hand gestures as a user interface, an OLED necklace that could lead to the launch of a social e-collectible marketplace, and a tiny chip from Chirp Microsystems that could provide a compelling motion capture solution. Continue reading Beyond the Headlines: This Year’s Outliers of Interest at CES

Nvidia introduced Titan X, a new chip that is a successor to a current chip with the same name, targeted at the high-end gaming and artificial intelligence communities. Priced at $1,200 and available beginning August 2, the new Pascal-based Titan X chip offers 12 billion transistors, compared to seven billion on a high-end Intel chip. The new Titan X will be available as an add-on card for PCs. Nvidia’s closest competitor, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) offers a similar chip for PCs and game consoles. Continue reading Nvidia Rolls Out Titan X Chip for Games, Artificial Intelligence

Google has just built its own chip as part of its efforts to speed up artificial intelligence developments. The company revealed that this is just the first of many chips it plans to develop and build. At the same time, an increasing number of businesses are migrating to the cloud, lessening the need for servers that rely on chips to function. That’s led some to believe that Google and other Internet titans that follow its lead will impact the future of the chip industry, particularly such stalwarts as Intel and Nvidia. Continue reading Google Develops its Own Chip to Speed Up Machine Learning

Google Cardboard is no longer the only inexpensive VR headset around. From Oakland, CA-based hardware collective Next Thing Co. comes Pockulus, a $49 portable game console that consists of a palm-sized computer and 3D-printed facemask. The tiny computer that runs Pockulus is CHIP, which was the company’s successful seller at $9 per unit. The idea to repurpose CHIP as a VR controller was an April Fool’s Day joke that is now a real product. It requires some DIY, mainly 3D printing the bezel that fits the display on the face. Continue reading What Began as April Fool’s Day Joke is Now $49 VR Headset

Nvidia has entered the field of artificial intelligence with the debut of its Tesla P100 chip, which contains 15 billion transistors — about twice as many as its previous high-end graphics processor and, says Nvidia chief executive Jen-Hsun Huang, the largest chip ever made. Nvidia is creating the DGX-1 computer with eight Tesla P100 chips and AI software; computers from third parties integrating the chip are expected to be on the market by next year. Huang hints its first use is likely to be for cloud computing services. Continue reading Nvidia’s Tesla P100 Chip Enables Speedy Machine Learning

During the IFA trade show in Berlin yesterday, Panasonic unveiled its 65CZ950, a curved 4K OLED TV featuring the company’s Studio Master Drive processor. Panasonic claims the 65-inch OLED, slated for an October release in Europe, is the most color-accurate display it has ever produced. It is also the first to achieve THX certification. Panasonic says the CZ950 series brings home entertainment closer to a cinema experience since it is fully HDR compatible and covers more than 90 percent of the DCI color space. Continue reading Panasonic Joins LG in OLED Market with Curved 4K Offering

ARM Holdings has unveiled a new chip that is expected to drastically improve graphics, finally making smartphones fit for high-definition games and videos. The company says that its Cortex-A72 will boost memory performance by 30 percent and graphics speed by 80 percent. With a more powerful chip, ARM is hoping to continue fostering growth in the smartphone industry. The company is also working on technology for the Internet of Things, including smart home devices and smart street lights. Continue reading ARM’s New Chip for Smartphones Increases Processing Power

IBM recently unveiled the second generation of a new type of computer chip that consumes less power and performs faster than traditional chips based on Von Neumann architecture. The SyNAPSE chip, which is still in development, was designed to function like the human brain, using more than a million “neurons” communicating through electrical spikes. This new technology requires a new type of programming language as well, but the performance gains are massive. Continue reading IBM’s SyNAPSE Chip Mimics the Workings of a Human Brain

Last week, wireless startup Nitero unveiled its first WiGig radio silicon. The low-power WiGig chip is targeted at smartphones, tablets and TVs, specifically to transfer large files in a short range at extremely fast speeds. For example, the WiGig chip can stream 4K video from a TV to a smartphone using high frequency 60GHz waves. Nitero’s 28-nanometer WiGig chip reportedly consumes 10 times less power than competing chips from Wilocity. Continue reading Nitero WiGig Chip Brings Multi-Gigabit Speeds to Smartphones

Last week, chipmaker Intel introduced its own mobile app called “Pocket Avatars.” Unlike most of Intel’s functional software, Pocket Avatars is purely recreational. The app uses a smartphone’s camera and microphone to record the user’s voice and facial movements. Then the app translates those signals into a talking, animated avatar message that users can send to their friends. The free app is available for iPhones and Android smartphones. Continue reading Intel Enters the Mobile App Business with Avatar Messages

For the past nine years, Ostendo Technologies has been developing miniature projectors. The Carlsbad, California-based startup is particularly interested in projecting glasses-free 3D images for smartphones. Ostendo’s projectors are about the size of a Tic Tac, and are powered by a computer chip estimated to cost about $30. The startup expects the first 2D projectors to be sold to consumers in the summer of 2015, with the 3D projectors following in the second half of 2015. Continue reading Startup Introduces Chip to Bring Holograms to Smartphones

At the Computex trade show in Taiwan, Intel is showing prototypes of convertible, “2-in-1” devices that have elements of both tablets and PCs. One design is an extremely thin PC-tablet with a 12.5-inch display that works both with or without a keyboard. The 7.2-millimeter thick device runs on Windows 8.1 software, and it is expected to go to market in time for this year’s holiday season. The compact design of the ultrathin PC-tablet is made possible by the small circuits in Intel’s Broadwell processing chips. Continue reading Intel’s PC-Tablet Hybrid is Powered by New Innovative Chips

Energous and Witricity have developed new ways to charge smartphones, tablets and other small devices without needing wires to plug them into an outlet. Energous’ WattUp technology allows users to recharge phones in special cases or receivers that can pick up signals from a transmitter that is plugged in more than 10 feet away. Toyota and TDK are already planning to utilize Witricity’s wireless charging technology in upcoming hybrid and electric cars, and car batteries. Continue reading Startups Use New Technologies to Wirelessly Charge Phones

Retail and cloud giant Amazon has joined Google and Facebook in investing in development its own server chips. The company recently brought together a team of CPU architects and hardware development engineers, four of whom come from Calxeda, the defunct ARM-based server startup in Austin, Texas. Despite the high initial costs of custom server chips, these specialized products would allow Amazon to optimize costs and improve performance. Continue reading Amazon Hires Engineering Team to Design Its Own Server Chips