It looks like Samsung has been messing around with the Windows Update feature on its own laptops, which is causing quite a stir this week. According to Microsoft's Patrick Barker, Samsung has a program titled ‘Disable_Windowsupdate.exe' as part of its own Samsung branded computer update tool called SW Update. It …
Read More »Google’s self-driving cars are officially on public roads
It has taken a while to get to this point but Google's self-driving cars have finally hit public roads in Mountain View, California, for the first time, cruising around next to traditional cars and drivers. The new prototype cars were announced just last month, along with the public testing. As …
Read More »More details about GlobalFoundries’ 22nm FD-SOI emerge
GlobalFoundries has revealed additional details regarding its 22nm fully-depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI) fabrication technology. The manufacturing process will be ready for tape-outs in early 2016 and will be used for mass production of chips by late next year. While the tech has a number of advantages, the process is designed primarily …
Read More »PCI SIG to finalize OCuLink external PCI Express this fall
The PCI SIG has been developing external PCI Express interconnection for over three years now, but only later this year the organization will finalize the specification of the technology. The new cable will compete against Intel’s Thunderbolt 3. While the tech makes a lot of sense for various devices, it …
Read More »PCIe 4.0 with 16GT/s data-rates and new connector to be finalized by 2017
PCI Express bus has been evolving for over ten years now. So far the technology has tripled its initial data rate, but the next step is taking a longer time. PCI SIG claims that the fourth generation PCI Express specification will be finalized in 2017 and will materialize this decade. The …
Read More »Intel delays ramp of 10nm mass production due to poor yields – report
Intel Corp. has again delayed installation of equipment necessary to produce semiconductors in high volume using 10nm process technology. It is believed that Intel experiences yield ramp issues, just like in case of its 14nm manufacturing tech, which is why it does not make sense for the company to buy …
Read More »Not everyone is convinced of VR’s future
Since Palmer Luckey first unveiled his dodgy virtual reality prototype to John Carmack and a few other industry leaders, VR has been a hot topic for discussion and speculation. As the various versions have been released and we edge ever closer to a commercial iteration of hardware and software, even …
Read More »Gmail now has an ‘undo send’ option
If you are a Gmail user and have ever sent an email that you immediately ended up regretting, then now you can take it back as Google has added in an ‘undo send' option to its email service. The undo send feature is now an official setting, letting users stop a …
Read More »Google brings free ad-supported tier to Play Music
Apple Music is less than a week away at this point and is set to cause a stir in the music streaming business. In order to grab the largest audience, Apple is not limiting its service to iOS either, it is sending the streaming app out to Android as well, …
Read More »Mars had liquid water as recent as 500,000 years ago
Although there is a lot of research and effort going into figuring out Mars' future and how we might fit into that, many people (and a few rovers) are trying to figure out its past as well. Something that's become apparent about it recently, is that it has large deposits …
Read More »UK Space Agency offering prizes for space related video games
In an effort to support the growth of interest in space travel at home, the UK Space Agency is offering prizes of up to £50,000, to anyone that can produce a piece of creative work related to micro-gravity and space flight most notably, video games. However it can also relate to visual …
Read More »Gigabyte Worldwide VP Henry Kao exclusive interview
It's tempting for senior officials at every company to regurgitate the ‘About Us' section of their web site. Henry Kao is different. Prior to the cameras being switched on, Henry assured us that we could ask ‘Anything we want'. And so we did. Henry gave us his full, frank opinion …
Read More »UMC: 14nm FinFET technology will be ready for tape outs by year end
United Microelectronics Corp. said on Tuesday that it has successfully taped out a test chip from ARM using its 14nm FinFET fabrication technology. The company also revealed that the new manufacturing process will be ready for customer tape outs by the end of the year. UMC and ARM recently taped …
Read More »GlobalFoundries is evaluating 22nm FD SOI technology
Modern FinFET process technologies help to reduce power consumption of modern chips while increasing their clock-rate potential. Unfortunately, it is extremely expensive to design FinFET chips, which is why many chip developers cannot afford creation of new solutions. In a bid to help such companies to release new chips, GlobalFoundries …
Read More »AOL is now a part of Verizon
Update: Just over a month ago, Verizon revealed that it was set to acquire AOL. Now the acquisition has been completed with AOL becoming a part of Verizon officially today. The company was bought for $4.4 billion and from the sounds of it, Verizon aims to use the company to …
Read More »Lenovo is launching its own HDMI PC stick
Some time ago, Google launched the Chromecast, a little HDMI dongle that brought smart functionality to TVs. Since then, both Qualcomm and Intel have come up with their own HDMI dongles designed to allow users to do basic PC tasks without the need for a full on desktop machine or …
Read More »US to develop hoverbike for military uses
The US military is looking to further develop a hover bike design produced by joint British and American engineers for military and other purposes. It's thought that the piece of futuristic kit will be used in many situations currently occupied by helicopters and could work as a manned alternative to …
Read More »GPs warn that TTIP would destroy NHS
Along with similar trade deals in other parts of the world, the UK is currently working to sign one with the US called the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which proponents say will improve trade between the regions, leading to the creation of billions of pounds of business. However …
Read More »Amazon wants to pay book authors based on how many pages are read
Amazon has been causing a stir in the ebooks scene for years now and it doesn't seem to be slowing down. Now the retailer has plans to introduce a new payment system that will make it so that some authors are paid based on how many pages of a book …
Read More »Google to take down ‘revenge porn’ images from search results
Revenge porn, or the practice of putting nude or sexually suggestive images of people online without their permission, has been a problem for a number of years now. However since the celebrity nude scandal that hit last year sent up red flags of hypocrisy when they seemed to get special …
Read More »China boosts US investment in R&D
While the world may like to use China as a manufacturing hub for all of its products, it is no longer just the country that labour is outsourced to: it's now the one doing much of the outsourcing. In a strange turnaround, it's now investing billions in US based R&D …
Read More »AMD is considering breakup, spin-off graphics business unit – report
Chief executive officer of Advanced Micro Devices has ordered a research to review possibilities of splitting the company in two or spinning off a multimedia chip business unit, a media report claims. The company is mulling different options, as it desperately wants to become competitive against Intel. AMD itself denies …
Read More »Nintendo’s Reggie doesn’t think VR is fun in its current state
If you have been following the news surrounding Oculus and Valve's own virtual reality headset, then you know that this is a pretty exciting time for VR as the tech is finally at a stage where it can be released to the mass market. Right now, Nintendo is the only …
Read More »Is someone going to buy Twitter?
Despite having an active user base of over 300 million people, Twitter has struggled to monetise quite like other social network giants like Facebook and it's shed many millions of users over the years. Despite revenue growth in the short term however, investors and shareholders have not been happy, so CEO …
Read More »Problem with Times’ Snowden story? ‘Tell the government’
The Sunday Times is continuing to paint itself as a propagandist for the British government, after a response to further complaints against its recent exposé, which claimed that British and US spies' lives were put at risk thanks to Edward Snowden's released documents. In a correspondence with a reader, the newspaper's editor, …
Read More »AT&T fined $100 million over throttling on unlimited data plans
The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has gone ahead and served US mobile carrier, AT&T with a $100 million fine for misleading its customers with unlimited data plans. It turns out that the company was heavily throttling user speeds on the unlimited data service without informing any of them. AT&T was …
Read More »Melodysheep celebrates 25 years of Photoshop
Autotune has a bit of a bad rap when it comes to music. While once a behind the scenes tool for tidying up vocals that weren't always stellar, it's become the hallmark of bland, over-produced tracks from unimaginative artists. That is of course, if you don't count John D. Boswell, AKA …
Read More »The FAA reckons Amazon’s delivery drones could be ready next year
Amazon revealed its future vision for 30 minute delivery drones some time ago. Since then, the company has made significant progress with its drones, although due to some setbacks with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Amazon had to take its tests to other countries where the rules gave the company …
Read More »Gawker could be buried by Hulk Hogan lawsuit
Gawker, a website known for its salacious headlines and clickbaiting tactics, has been a mainstay of online blogging for the best part of a decade, but that internet empire may come crashing down in the near future. Despite many attempts by the blogging firm to have it thrown out, the …
Read More »Foxconn to help Japanese firm sell robots around the world
What guise will robots of the future take? Some see as them as faceless automatons, capable of performing basic tasks for us, whilst the Supermatrix predicts a future where they'll be actively concious but subdued through a dream within a dream. SoftBank Mobile however believes robots can be our friends …
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