5. Interesting Tech Reads
“Who wants an 18-core, 36-thread desktop processor? Well, this could be on the cards in the near future as the latest rumor points at Intel not stopping at just a measly 12-cores with its imminent launch of its X299 platform and Skylake-X processors. Instead, there could be 14-core, 16-core and even 18-core processors that sit above what we’ve already seen in unofficial data. This summer was already heating up at the high end of the desktop processor market with AMD and Intel already doing battle with Ryzen versus Intel’s X99 platform. Then we had the announcement of AMD’s Threadripper processors – a range of 10,12, 14 and 16-core desktop processors and next month I expect Intel to release its anticipated X299 platform with up to 12-core processors. Now, it seems, Intel is planning a far more potent line-up of processors, and that 18-core part obviously pips AMD to the top spot in terms of cores and threads, with Threadripper slated to max-out at 16-cores.”
(Forbes)
“Since many phone companies started making smartphones with non-removable batteries, finding the 7 best Android phones with removable batteries in 2017 wasn’t easy. But, we hope we will ease your research with our list and maybe help you decide which one to purchase. We are spending many hours on our smartphone chatting, playing games or searching on the internet, and that’s why it is very important that the battery on our phone has a long duration. Since one of the biggest smartphone giants started producing smartphones with non-removable batteries, the smaller ones didn’t have any other choice but to follow their steps which is the main reason why almost every new smartphone is with a non-removable battery. “
“Google has launched a new feature that could make its search box even more popular than it already is. The company has added a new Personal tab to its search page, which is designed to make it easier for you to track down your own content. Personal is only available when you’re logged in to your Google account, and results are taken from other Google services, like Gmail and Google Photos. If you search for “London”, for instance, Google will show you its regular list of relevant links. At the top of the results page, you can select Maps, News, Images or Video results too. Immediately to the right of these options is More, which is where the Personal tab lives.”
“My heart skips a beat as I watch $3,500 worth of tech hit the ground with a bang. I’m inside the test labs at Osterhout Design Group (ODG) in San Francisco, California, watching how engineers torture test the company’s R-7 HazLoc smart glasses. ODG’s glasses are used in dangerous workplaces like oil rigs, manufacturing facilities and even government. Think those three-letter agencies and you’re on the right track. The R-7HL is a wearable pair of smart glasses built to survive the toughest treatment. Apart from offering regular eye protection, the glasses meet many of the Military Standard 810G specifications.”
(CNET)
“Up to 36.5 million Android users may have been hit by malware that produced fake ad clicks and lined the pockets of its developers. As outlined by security firm Check Point, 41 apps developed by Korea-based Kiniwini and published under the moniker ENISTUDIO Corp., “infected devices to generate large amounts of fraudulent clicks on advertisements, generating revenues for the perpetrators behind it.” It’s “possibly the largest malware campaign found on Google Play,” according to Check Point.”
(PC Mag)
“After the UK Prime Minister Theresa May secured a joint statement from the G7 on Friday, backing a call for social media firms to do more to combat online extremism, a Conservative minister has suggested the party is open to bringing in financial penalties or otherwise changing the law in order to encourage more action on problem content from tech companies if it’s returned to government at the UK general election on June 8. The Guardian reports the comments by security minister, Ben Wallace, speaking to BBC Radio 4 on Sunday. Wallace’s words follow an exposé by the newspaper of Facebook’s moderation guidelines — which the minister dubbed “totally unacceptable”, citing an example of Facebook’s moderator guidance saying it’s “OK to publish abuse of under-seven-year-old children from bullying as long as it doesn’t have captions alongside”. Facebook’s rules have also been criticized by child safety charities.”
“Several iPhone 8 related leaks surfaced over the weekend, backing up a radical new chassis design first seen in April. The new schematics include the various characteristics we’ve seen reported for the OLED iPhone in the past including the elongated power button, vertical dual camera and lack of a physical home button. Most notably, an orange outline traces the purported screen area of the iPhone 8. Based on this schematic, the screen will be effectively bezel-less on left, right and bottom sides whilst the top edge will cut inwards to accommodate the front camera, earpiece and sensors. More pictures after the jump … A cut-out of this fashion would breakaway from the typical rectangular screen panels we’ve seen in smartphones to date. If this design is accurate, Apple is maximizing the screen canvas area as much as possible apart from the lip in which the 3D depth-sensing front camera and earpiece are located.”
(9To5Mac)
“ARM has unveiled a set of new processors to provide the brainpower for our mobile devices to cope with advanced artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR) technologies. On Monday, the British semiconductor giant said the new Cortex-A75 and Cortex-A55 processors, alongside the new Mali-G72 graphics processor, have been designed to “address the changing nature of computers driven by AI and other more human-like experiences.” “Distributed intelligence” is at the heart of this trend, which includes connecting AI and the cloud, on-device learning, enhanced security and privacy, and the use of 4K, HDR, and 5G for more “human-like” interfaces.”
(ZDNet)
“There is a hotly-contested, fast-paced race to roll out new car technologies, and the 6 car brands that will capture the future are in the lead in that race. Nowadays, it seems like there’s no industry that Silicon Valley can’t disrupt, and that trend extends prominently to the automobile industry. Among the new technologies being developed for the cars of the future are artificial intelligence (AI), internet connections for vehicles, and anti-crash safety systems. However, the pinnacle of automotive technology, and the end goal of almost every major car maker is the development of a self-driving car. And that’s where Detroit (and Tokyo, and other global hubs of car making) and the Valley are in collaboration or competition (sometimes simultaneously) as they race to be the first to offer a top-quality autonomous vehicle.”
“Last week in Shanghai, away from the very scrutinizing eyes of Western media, Microsoft unveiled the New Surface Pro, a.k.a. not the Surface Pro 5. Reception has been mixed, ranging from “this should have been called the Surface Pro 5” to “meh”. Fortunately, Microsoft’s “tablet that can replace your laptop” is no longer the only game in town. In fact, there’s quite a few of them right now. We take a long at some of the most recent and most enticing 2-in-1 options so far this year to see which one might be the best for your mobile Windows 10 needs.”
“Few people on earth are as successful as Mark Zuckerberg. The Facebook CEO has grown his social network from a Harvard dorm room to nearly 2 billion users over a period of 13 years. With a stated mission to connect the world, Facebook is now working on drones and other methods of bringing internet access to unreached parts of the globe. Zuckerberg has complete control over Facebook’s future, thanks to his majority voting rights. And with a net worth of roughly $63 billion, 33-year-0ld. Zuckerberg has joined the ranks of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffet as one of the richest people on earth.”
“It’s tricky to test self-driving cars. Even if you have hundreds of thousands of miles under your belt, it’s still difficult to account for every possible real-world peril. Researchers think they can fast-track that experience, however. They’ve developed a sped-up testing process that should accomplish a lot in just a small amount of time. Instead of a holistic approach that gauges everything at once (and often goes for miles without a meaningful event), the new method breaks things down into individual components you can test frequently and repeatedly in simulations.”
(Engadget)
