Intel buys an AI processing powerhouse

Source: https://www.engadget.com/2016/08/09/intel-acquires-nervana/

Intel isn't the biggest player in the artificial intelligence world, but it might change that very shortly. The chip giant just bought Nervana, a startup specializing in processor-based "deep learning as a service" through technology like its upcoming Nervana Engine, a dedicated AI hardware accelerator due in early 2017. The Intel crew isn't shy about its intentions. It wants Nervana's expertise to help boost the AI performance of its Xeon and Xeon Phi processors on top of broadening its AI know-how -- it's a fast track to the future.

The buyout may well be a hedge against NVIDIA. The graphics firm has been big on accelerating AI in both self-driving car systems and its high-powered graphics cards. It could face serious challenges if Intel offers similar power, especially if it's in a run-of-the-mill server that doesn't need pricey extras to handle machine learning tasks. Whether or not Intel is targeting NVIDIA, there's no question that it's getting serious about one of the hottest fields in tech.

Source: Intel, Playground

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Change up your space with robotic furniture from Ori

Source: https://www.engadget.com/2016/07/11/ori-robotic-furniture/

Need a way to dramatically improve your living space? How about robotic furniture? No, it's not some far-off dream for the future. It's a collaboration between MIT Media Lab spin-off Ori with designer Yves Béhar.

Ori is introducing a line of architectural robotics, as they're described, which are meant to transform the way we arrange and decorate our bedrooms. Using these special pieces of furniture, you could theoretically take a studio apartment and transform it into a much larger space with plenty more functionality.

The line of connected products is set to offer innovation for those in urban areas, where simply pressing a button can change a living room into a bedroom, walk-in closet or even an office connected via "smart-home ecosystem." In fact, the Ori line gets its name from "origami," which makes sense when you consider The first residential versions of the furniture will be rolled out by developers in Boston, Washington DC and Seattle this summer and the program will be accepting pilot program partners in early 2017.

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Bitcoin mining just became more difficult, on purpose

Source: https://www.engadget.com/2016/07/09/bitcoin-mining-value-cut-in-half/

If you have computers chugging away as bitcoin mining machines, don't be surprised if your output just fell through the floor. Reuters notes that code built into the digital currency system has cut the mining reward in half as of July 9th. Where there were previously 25 bitcoins (roughly $16,000) to be mined every 10 minutes, you now have to fight over 12.5. The measure automatically kicks in every four years as part of an attempt to curb inflation that would come from both a growing number of miners and ever-faster computers.

To no one's surprise, reducing the reward could have serious consequences for dedicated miners. As you have to work twice as hard to get the same money, companies with not-so-efficient operations may have no choice but to restructure or even close shop entirely. KnCMiner, for instance, declared bankruptcy in May after warning about the impending profit loss. Those miners most likely to survive are the ones that keep costs to a minimum through lower-power computers and minimal staff.

You'd think that the industry would have anticipated the halving given that it will happen every four years like clockwork, but that's not necessarily the case. Although bitcoin isn't quite as celebrated as it was a while back, it's still far more mainstream than it was in 2012. There are many more people mining than there were four years ago, and not all of them realize that they'll have to factor in those reward cuts. The bigger question is whether or not the bitcoin business will be better-prepared when 2020 rolls around. Miners will either have to trim costs yet again or hope that they can make money from transaction fees.

Source: Reuters

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Facebook reveals open-source wireless platform, OpenCellular

Source: https://www.engadget.com/2016/07/06/facebook-opencellular-internet-access-remote/

OpenCellular is Facebook's open-source wireless access platform designed to provide internet to remote areas around the world. OpenCellular is roughly the size of a shoe box and it can support up to 1,500 people as far as 10 kilometers away with a range of connectivity options, including wireless services and everything from 2G to LTE. By the end of 2015, more than 4 billion people across the globe didn't have access to basic internet services and 700 million people lived outside the range of cellular connectivity -- making it difficult to log into Facebook, of course.

The initial version of OpenCellular's software platform will be available in the summer, and Facebook is testing out the boxes at its headquarters right now.

OpenCellular will eventually be open source, allowing researchers, telecom operators, tinkerers and anyone else to build on its design. Facebook will work with other Telecom Infra Project members to build and support an active community around OpenCellular.

"With OpenCellular, we want to develop affordable new technology that can expand capacity and make it more cost-effective for operators to deploy networks in places where coverage is scarce," Facebook engineer Kashif Ali writes. "By open-sourcing the hardware and software designs for this technology, we expect costs to decrease for operators and to make it accessible to new participants."

OpenCellular joins Facebook's other global connectivity initiatives, including its internet lasers and Aquila, the company's unmanned, solar-powered, internet-distributing plane.

This month, the United Nations reaffirmed internet access as a human right in a resolution that stated, in part, "The same rights that people have offline must also be protected online, in particular freedom of expression." The non-binding resolution condemned governments that disrupted their citizens' internet connections, and it noted disparities in access among certain nations and between women and men across the globe.

Via: Mark Zuckerberg

Source: Facebook

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Samsung's world-first UFS memory cards are blazing fast

Source: https://www.engadget.com/2016/07/06/samsung-ufs-removable-storage/

We've heard arguments for and against removable storage on smartphones, but we can all agree on the fact that the more the merrier. And we're not just talking about memory space here, as the speed becomes more crucial when it comes to capturing higher video resolutions on our smartphones and drones. To satisfy our need for speed, Samsung is the first to announce a series of UFS (Universal Flash Storage) removable memory cards, with its 256GB flavor boasting an SSD-like sequential read speed of 530MB/s -- that's about half a gigabyte per second and almost five times faster than the top microSD cards these days. It can also do 170MB/s sequential writing, which is almost two to three times faster.

More importantly, Samsung claims that its upcoming 256GB card is rated with a random read rate of 40,000 IOPS, which is 20 times higher than that of a typical microSD card; and likewise, it has a random write rate of 35,000 IOPS, which is a whopping 350 times higher. But of course, we'll believe it when we see it, which may be a while since we've yet to come across devices that support this new standard. It's also worth noting that even though UFS cards closely resemble their microSD counterpart, you can see that the new pin layout means the two aren't cross-compatible. We'll just have to keep an eye out for future announcements -- here's hoping that the upcoming Galaxy Note 7 will be one of the first devices to support these awesome memory cards.

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