With the claim that the new AV1 video codec much more efficiently compresses video, Netflix plans to introduce it to its Android app. Until now, Netflix has used the VP9 codec but says AV1 is 20 percent more efficient. The AV1 codec is already enabled for “selected titles” — although it didn’t name specifics — when the user activates the Save Data option. The company also stated it plans to introduce AV1 on all its platforms and is working with chip and device manufacturers to increase compatibility. Continue reading Netflix Switching From VP9 Codec to the More Efficient AV1

The five Big Tech companies — Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft — are all getting richer, with three of them (Amazon, Apple and Microsoft) nearing $1 trillion in stock value. Alphabet’s revenue skyrocketed past $161 billion last year, and Facebook is over halfway to a $1 trillion value. This concentration of wealth and power is making it increasingly difficult for smaller companies to compete — with little to indicate that this state of affairs will change. The result is a market of haves and have-nots. Continue reading Dominance of Top Big Tech Companies Continues to Grow

Starting in Q4 2019, chipmakers — including Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing — began enjoying an upswing in demand that led to better sales and earnings. Data centers and personal computers appear to be fueling the increased demand. Intel, for example, reported that “adjusted earnings per share in [that] quarter rose to $1.52 from $1.28 in the year-prior period.” FactSet analysts predicted only $1.25 per share on an adjusted basis and $19.23 billion in sales. In fact, sales rose 8 percent to $20.21 billion. Continue reading Intel Earnings Rise with Increased Data Center, PC Demand

Although many observers would name Microsoft’s Xbox as the tech company’s biggest hardware business, chief executive Satya Nadella instead points to the company’s cloud. In fact, Microsoft is building an entire cloud infrastructure from data centers to servers and network stack. Nadella said that he doesn’t want the company to be defined “by what we achieved.” He pointed to the Internet of Things about to emerge. “We look at if there’s going to be 50 billion endpoints,” he said. “Let’s go … and define a strategy for that.” Continue reading Microsoft Bets on Internet of Things, Ends Xbox TV Feature

AI can enable many important tasks from manufacturing to medicine, but only if the applications are speedy and secure. Communication via the cloud adds latency and risks privacy, which is why Google worked on a solution — dubbed Coral — that avoids centralized data centers. Coral product manager Vikram Tank described Coral as a “platform of [Google] hardware and software components … that help you build devices with local AI — providing hardware acceleration for neural networks … right on the edge device.” Continue reading Google Bypasses Cloud to Offer AI to Enterprise Customers

During CES in Las Vegas last week, companies unveiled prototypes of foldable tablets. Among them, Lenovo launched its ready-to-ship ThinkPad X1 Fold, with pricing, specifications and accessories. Dell, Intel and TCL showed prototypes of a foldable screen, the first two of which run Windows 10 as a stand-in for Microsoft’s dual-screen Windows 10X; TCL’s prototype was shown as an Android device. Lenovo’s laptop will ship before this software launches. Software that takes the best advantage of two screens is the challenge for these device makers. Continue reading Laptop Manufacturers Debut Foldable Tablets at CES 2020

Since 2016, each edition of CES has touted the imminent arrival of “Fully Self-Driving” (SAE Level 5) autonomous vehicles. While some companies working on “mostly self-driving” offered rides around town (like Russian-based Yandex), this year’s show came with a dose of realism as companies focus on clearing the hurdles associated with lower levels of autonomy. Demonstrating these efforts, companies showcased sensor fusion, mapping technologies and new intelligent systems. Meanwhile, some companies are using this calm before the storm to focus on the user experience. Sony even built a car to jumpstart the conversation. Continue reading Latest Progress of Autonomous Driving Showcased at CES

CES is not a computing show, but this year’s edition felt silicon-centric thanks to major announcements from Intel and AMD. Intel revealed more details about its next CPU, Tiger Lake, that boasts improved performance on graphics and AI. The company also offered a glimpse of its first discrete GPU. But the show arguably belonged to AMD, which continued its year-long renaissance with a keynote unveiling mobile CPUs, a new midrange GPU, and the world’s fastest workstation processor. Continue reading AMD vs. Intel: The Computing Wars Ramp Up in Las Vegas

CTA senior vice president, political and industry affairs Tiffany Moore introduced a panel on 5G as the first in a series of CES panels focusing on innovation policy. Pete Hoekstra, the U.S. State Department’s ambassador to the Netherlands introduced a governmental perspective. “We want an open, global competitive market for 5G that functions under the rule of law and is a framework we can trust,” he said. “We need to get government to work collaboratively with industry to update rules and regulations.” Continue reading CES 2020: Innovation Policy and Readiness For 5G Future

As CES continues to expand its footprint and influence as the global stage for technology innovation, exhibitors are spreading themselves out across the multiple venues of CES 2020 in Las Vegas. Visitors to the show, which opens today and fills almost 3 million square feet of space with more than 4,400 exhibiting companies, will find some surprises when they look for returning CES veterans such as Intel and Qualcomm in familiar places and instead find them spread out across show locations, while discovering an unusually large presence from other companies such as IBM and John Deere.  Continue reading CES 2020 Exhibit Spaces Reflect Changing Tech Landscape

Intel acquired Israel-based AI chip manufacturer Habana Labs for about $2 billion, to strengthen its offerings for data centers requiring such chips. The tech giant already stated that it expects to complete more than $3.5 billion in sales related to artificial intelligence, an increase of 20 percent from last year. The Habana purchase is just one of several that Intel has made in recent years in its efforts to grow new markets. Intel expects the AI chip market to grow to $25 billion by 2024, half from selling chips for data centers. Continue reading Intel Doubles Down on AI with $2 Billion Habana Acquisition

On December 10, the Entertainment Technology Center at USC will hold a symposium on “5G: Planning and Piloting First M&E Services.” Digital Town Square producer Rochelle Winters said the event will highlight 5G’s transformative potential, the first tests and trials of 5G-enabled enhancements such as AR overlays and immersive content, the benefits of edge computing, and the build-out of private and site-specific 5G networks. The symposium will also look into the future of 5G capture, content and services. Continue reading ETC Digital Town Square Explores the Impact of 5G on M&E

Amazon debuted a second-generation processor chip for its Web Services data center that relies on technology from Arm Holdings, owned by SoftBank Group, according to sources. The new chip is expected to be 20 percent faster than the first generation Arm-based chip, dubbed Graviton, which was released in 2018 as a less expensive option for lighter computing jobs. If this second-gen chip proves as powerful as sources claim, AWS could rely less on Intel and Advanced Micro Devices for their server chips. Continue reading Amazon Is Developing Faster Arm-Based Data Center Chip

In the wake of the Trump administration’s ban on the sale of U.S. technology to China, smartphone manufacturer Huawei turned to other sources. UBS and Fomalhaut tore apart the Chinese company’s Mate 30, which debuted in September, and determined it did not contact a single U.S. component. U.S. companies Intel and Qualcomm, among others, were prevented from shipping chips and other smartphone technology. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross began granting export licenses for some goods to be shipped to China last month. Continue reading Huawei’s New Flagship Smartphone Contains No U.S. Parts

On December 10, the Entertainment Technology Center at USC will hold a symposium on “5G: Planning and Piloting First M&E Services.” Digital Town Square producer Rochelle Winters said the event will highlight 5G’s transformative potential, the first tests and trials of 5G-enabled enhancements such as AR overlays and immersive content, the benefits of edge computing, and the build-out of private and site-specific 5G networks. The symposium will also look into the future of 5G capture, content and services. Continue reading ETC Digital Town Square Explores the Impact of 5G on M&E