Category Archives: Technology

Slightly less than a half-decade ago, Microsoft made one the most memorable announcements in its history: For the first time, it would design and sell its own PCs, in the form of a new line of Windows tablets known as Surface. And then, for the next few years, the company ignored the skepticswho were legionand not only stuck with the Surface, but used it as a tapestry for experimentation.

The company tried different screen sizes until it settled on the current 12.3. It attemptedtwiceto introduce a lower-cost, non-Pro incarnation of the Surface idea. It took signature Surface design elements like the hinged kickstand and svelte keyboard cover and refined them repeatedly in ways that were instantly noticeable. It identified design weaknesses, such as the wimpy magnetic power connector and dinky trackpad, and fixed them.

But the Surface Pro 4, which was introduced in October 2015, has been on the market for a long time by gadget standards. Earlier this month, Surface honcho Panos Panay told Cnets Dan Ackerman that Microsoft would only release a Surface Pro 5 device when its meaningful and the change is right. That led some folks to conclude that no successor to the Surface Pro 4 was imminent.

However, at a Surface event held in Shanghai today, Microsofts big announcement was a new Surface Pro. In fact, thats what the company is calling it: the new Surface Pro, without a model number. (Apple has been known to take a similar branding approach with iPads, including the new $329 model.)

The new Surface Pro doesnt reflect a fundamental rethink of the Surface Pro 4. But neither is it the sort of thing that tech nerds call a speed bumpthe same old model in the same old case with a slightly faster processor. Actually, theres quite a bit thats new:

One thing you might have expected the new Surface Pro to change remains the same: its approach to ports. It still has full-sized USB ones and a proprietary power connector rather than the more versatile USB-C. That design decisionwhich Microsoft also made for its new Surface Laptopreflects caution rather than a bold willingness to dump aging features. But its also defensible. Especially given that a lot of Surface Pro owners use it for pro-caliber purposes such as design worka group that tends to include people who prefer proven technologies over new standards and the need to futz with adapters.

When it comes to holding flashy media eventsand pleasing the Twittersphereincremental improvements of the sort seen in the new Surface Pro may be too subtle to inspire wild applause. But if this new model closely resembles the Surface Pro 4 in most respects that matter, it doesnt strike me as a failure of imagination on Microsofts part. Its just that the decisions the company made over multiple previous upgrades have resulted in a machine that doesnt require reimagining at the moment.

Which is not to suggest that its impossible to substantially improve the experience it offers. Its just that the most obviously fertile ground may be software-based improvements rather than hardware ones. Even after five years, the Surface Pros combination of tablet, detachable keyboard, and pen is a new idea that cries out for software designed with it in mind.

Indeed, Microsoft has been busy on that front. Its previewing a new app called Microsoft Whiteboard designed to let multiple people write and sketch on a shared blank slate. And when I met with Microsoft executives last week to get a sneak peek at the new Surface Pro, they devoted as much time to showing how Office leverages itwith features like a fancy set of drawing tools availabile across Word, Excel, and PowerPointas they did talking about the hardware.

Its entirely possible that the next new Surface Pro after the new Surface Pro will aim for great leaps forward. In his Cnet interview, Panay made reference to a theoretical Surface Pro Next that sounds like it might be such a device. For now, though, the new Surface Pros emphasis on sensible refinements is a sign that Microsoft has come closer to fulfilling the goals that Panay, former CEO Steve Ballmer, and former Windows chief Steven Sinofsky detailed on stage at the original Surfaces June 2012 launch event in Los Angeles than most people would have guessed. Including me.

Harry McCracken is the technology editor for Fast Company, based in San Francisco. In past lives, he was editor at large for Time magazine, founder and editor of Technologizer, and editor of PC World.

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Is Microsoft's New Surface Pro Ho-Hum? Nope, Just Mature Technology - Fast Company

All of which is to say, the line between these two industries is blurring. Now more than ever, it feels like high-tech fashion is on the verge of being more than just a gimmick. In the not-too-distant future, you could even be 3D printing your own shoes or clothes at home. Instead of going to a store, you'll buy designs straight from the designer. And we're quickly heading toward a world in which "wearable" will be more than a fancy word for a smartphone accessory. Think about it: Your Apple Watch is basically a brick if you don't have an iPhone paired with it.

Three-dimensional printing has come a long way and is no longer just for prototyping. Sportswear giant Adidas, for example, is on the way to making 3D-printed shoes a consumer product as part of an effort known as Futurecraft, which began in 2015. Earlier this year, it teamed up with Silicon Valley startup Carbon 3D on a new manufacturing technique called digital light synthesis, which mixes light and oxygen with programmable liquid resins to create 3D objects in a matter of minutes. Adidas says this technology will allow it to 3D-print sneakers on a large scale; it's planning to ship 100,000 pairs by the end of 2018.

While 3D-printed shoes may at first sound like a gimmick, the reason Adidas is betting on the technology is its customization potential. Imagine being able to walk into a store, hop on a treadmill, have your foot measured to a T and get a pair made based on your results in less than 24 hours. This approach means the shoes would match your footprint elements, including contour details and precise pressure points -- which, in turn, could give you the most amount of comfort.

Sponsored athletes already benefit from this, because brands typically custom-make designs for them, but the idea is to expand the concept to every consumer. That's the future Adidas imagines, one that's also going to depend on the company's Speedfactory, a manufacturing facility staffed by robots that can make products at a rapid pace and in high volumes. It's an automated assembly line that's straight out of a sci-fi film.

Vanessa Friedman, fashion director and chief fashion critic at The New York Times, says 3D printing will have a significant value for fashion companies down the road, especially if it transforms into a print-it-yourself tool for shoppers. "There's real sense that this is not going to happen anytime soon," she says, "but it will happen, and it will create dramatic change in how we think both about intellectual property and how things are in the supply chain." She adds: "Certainly some of the fabrications that brands can use will be dramatically changed by technology."

Nike, on the other hand, has been busy with self-lacing shoes. What started as a project inspired by nostalgia for the Mag -- a prop with power laces worn by Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) in Back to the Future Part II -- has turned into something with larger implications. The HyperAdapt 1.0, which features a self-lacing system dubbed E.A.R.L. (Electro Adaptive Reactive Lacing), is essentially the consumer version of Nike's beloved Mag. The company says one of the reasons it created it is because athletes often complained about their shoes untying during workouts, and HyperAdapt solves that problem because it requires little to no effort when you're putting it on. It's a pricey solution, though -- each pair costs $720.

Still, just like high-definition TVs, they will in time go from being a luxury item to a run-of-the-mill commodity. While Nike isn't pitching HyperAdapt or E.A.R.L specifically to people with disabilities (particularly those unable to tie their own shoes), there's definitely potential there. Nike does have its Ease Challenge, a project that recruits outside designers and engineers to "advance and reinvent footwear design for athletes of all abilities." This year, Nike awarded $50,000 to the designer of a shoe with a heel counter that acts as a small door for your feet, removing the need to tie laces or use a shoehorn. The winner, Brett Drake, will work with the brand to create a prototype of the design and perhaps eventually bring it to market.

"This is the very first baby step toward having a truly adaptable shoe," Matt Powell, a sports-industry analyst at research firm NPD, says about Nike's E.A.R.L. technology. "It isn't just going to tighten or loosen laces; it could increase or decrease cushioning, it could ventilate or warm [the shoe]. This is a very, very small step in a long path of making footwear that is adjusting to our needs on the fly."

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Fashion and technology will inevitably become one - Engadget

Power grids are changing in dramatic ways with the rise of distributed energy resources (DER), storage options, demand management and all sorts of new technology. But existing centralized power generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure was designed over 100 years ago under vastly different economic, market and environmental conditions. Bolting on todays state-of-the-art technology to yesterdays grid infrastructure is a challenging process that is made easier with sophisticated technology like intelligent inverters.

Inverters have been used by the solar power industry for decades to convert DC electricity generated by solar installations into AC power, but they lack bi-directional capability needed to both take power from the grid and feed power back into it (Solar is only uni-directional). Intelligent inverters like the ones being used at the University of St. Thomas Renewable Energy Facility in Minnesota are playing a leading role in grid modernization by packing multiple technologies into a single package.

Under existing standards, if the grid has a problem renewable energy sources must shut down. This is problematic because you have spent a lot of money on your solar arrays, your wind turbines, fuel cells, etc. and by code if the thing you are connected to has a problem, you must shut down even if you dont need to [because the renewable energy assets are performing properly], explained Minnesotas University of St. Thomas Professor Dr. Greg Mowry.

However, with intelligent inverters you have the ability to run a self-sustaining microgrid. One of the things an intelligent inverter helps you to do if the grid has trouble, is disconnect from the grid and run in island mode, said Mowry. The inverter has the intelligence to maintain voltage and frequency and handle load requirements so when the grid comes back an intelligent inverter can easily synchronize and reconnect to the grid. So, one of the things an intelligent inverter brings is the ability to continue supplying load independent of the state of the grid, he said. In other words, instead of just shutting down all renewable energy resources during a time of grid instability, these inverters provide another option.

These particular intelligent inverters supplied by Rhombus Energy Solutions, Inc. are also critical to Professor Mowrys microgrid research because he wants the ability to support and interact with the grid when its functioning, but if the grid has trouble he wants to be able to continue operating his microgrid.

Another powerful attribute of this technology is the ability to have several intelligent inverters interconnected with the grid that can communicate with each other to act as an intelligent autonomous system with or without the grid. Meaning they can essentially take over the utilitys job under certain conditions explained Rhombus Energys CTO & Director Joseph Gottlieb. In the event of a power failure, these devices can continue to supply power even in the absence of the grid and later reconnect to the grid when available, he said. For example, if there is a power outage at the University of St. Thomas, the section of the campus connected to Professor Mowrys microgrid will be able to continue running without grid-supplied power. This capability is often referred to as resilience.

The capabilities that intelligent inverters provide represent another case of technology outpacing regulations and standards. Sophisticated inverters, like the ones Professor Mowry is using, have the technical ability to do much more than standards currently permit. As such, Mowrys research focuses a lot on how inverters interact with the grid.

When you have various things connected to the grid it would be nice to have them function like other generation facilities. For example, DERs should be able to supply to the grid, ride through grid-based power failures and help manage power flow on the grid. They can be active participants in grid operations, but today that is not the situation, said Mowry.

The ways in which intelligent inverters communicate with the grid known as Protocols is actively being researched by Professor Mowry and his team. How do they work with the grid? One exciting thread of this research involves working with the local utility Excel Energy to safely connect to the grid when the Universitys microgrid is in island mode. The University of St. Thomas and Excel Energy will work on this next year, Mowry said.

The devil is in the details regarding what can be accomplished, as with any research and development activity, which is why the universitys microgrid serves as an ideal platform for a partnership between a corporation and an educational institution, Mowry explained. Rhombus Energy has a strong team that focuses on developing products, so if Professor Mowrys research proves something is technically achievable, Rhombus has the capability to commercialize it and bring it to market. The partnership enables future things to occur where the research can be realized in a practical manner that, down the road, does something useful, said Mowry.

Intelligent inverter technology has made a major leap forward by combining multiple capabilities into a single, powerful package. A major challenge in the past has been the need to buy multiple components, like a smart inverter plus a software suite to communicate with other devices and run upper-level control algorithms that help control microgrids or perform demand response functions. The Rhombus Energy inverters that Professor Mowry works with can do all of these things in single package.

These systems must have the ability to take on two critical functions. One is to supply power when no grid is present and the other is to support grid stability and provide cost-saving functions to allow quicker return on investment. The extension of these attributes to multiple interacting intelligent inverters on a microgrid (i.e. distributed control intelligence) is a next step in the evolution of smart inverters for controlling microgrids. These are truly exciting times in that the present generation of intelligent inverters give us impressive options now, with even more capability to follow in the very near future; capabilities which are unprecedented in the history of power.

Top image credit: Professor Greg Mowry at the Steger Wilderness Centers microgrid (credit: John Ratzloff)

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Intelligent inverters: At the cutting edge of grid-edge technology - Utility Dive

New York Times

Apple Pay Violates Patents Held by Security Technology Inventor, Lawsuit Alleges New York Times SAN FRANCISCO A small Boston company, founded by the inventor of a popular corporate encryption technology called RSA SecurID, sued Apple and Visa on Sunday, arguing that the Apple Pay digital payment technology violates its patents. The lawsuit ... Apple and Visa Sued Over Digital Payment and User Authentication Technology Used in Apple PayMac Rumors all 33 news articles »

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Apple Pay Violates Patents Held by Security Technology Inventor, Lawsuit Alleges - New York Times

We are entering the age of ubiquitous sensing. Smart sensors will soon track our health and wellness, enable autonomous cars, and monitor machines, buildings, and bridges. Massive networks of small, inexpensive sensors will enable large-scale global data collection impacting the distribution of agriculture and water, environmental monitoring, disaster recovery, disease-outbreak detection and intervention, and the operation of cities. With this change in mind, MIT is creating a singular hub to unite experts as they develop a new generation of sensors, and sensing and measurement technologies.

On May 25-26, SENSE.nano will debut, marking the first center of excellence powered by MIT.nano, the 214,000 square-foot research facility taking shape in the heart of MIT campus. The center will empower people in the MIT community, engage industry leaders, and educate the public.

There is a thing we do extremely well at MIT: We lock arms and make progress that is beyond the scope of any one researcher, says Timothy Swager, the John D. MacArthur Professor in the Department of Chemistry.

If you look at whats happening with sensors, youll see that many different disciplines have to come together. Ubiquitous sensing has so many aspects chemical, biological, physical, radiological, he says. With all this sensing research going on, we need a place to coordinate our synergies.

As part of the kickoff, a full-day symposium will feature experts discussing technical challenges, commercial and humanitarian needs, and the societal impact of ubiquitous sensor and sensing systems. In a nod to the everyday impact of this technology, NPR journalist Tom Ashbrook will lead a broad discussion on Sensing, Society, and Technology.

Novel sensors and sensing systems will provide previously unimaginable insight into the condition of individuals and the built and natural worlds, positively impacting people, machines, and the environment, says Brian W. Anthony, a principal research engineer at MIT and director of the Advanced Manufacturing and Design program, who is coleading the new center.

SENSE.nano will support collaboration between people from a range of specialty areas engineering, business, Earth science, electronics, computation, nanoscience, materials science, neuroscience, chemistry, physics, computer science, biology, and advanced manufacturing.

We want to use this event as an opportunity to strengthen the community and improve our connection to the local innovation and manufacturing ecosystem, adds Anthony. And to accelerate the rate at which our new sensing technologies and innovations are scaled-up and go out and impact the IoT enabled industries, advanced instrumentation, and beyond.

Vince Roche, CEO of Analog Devices, and Gururaj Desh Deshpande, founder of the Deshpande Foundation, will offer morning and afternoon keynotes. Framing the broad impact and opportunity of sensing technologies to the U.S. economy and the worlds societal needs. Analog Devices, a semiconductor company cofounded by Raymond S. Stata, is a cornerstone company in sensor products and advanced manufacturing in Massachusetts.

It is time for people to reach out and find the best ways to collaborate, he says. Were looking for input from the community, sensor and sensing system manufacturers, government, academe, and researchers to help us define the grand challenge focus areas within SENSE.nano.

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The future of sensory technology - MIT News

New York Times

Technology as a Teaching Tool New York Times I have been covering educational technology for more than a decade as the editor of the Tech Tools blog and feel that on balance schools get more than they give up. As far as losing a generation of students to Google's relentless compiling of personal ...

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Technology as a Teaching Tool - New York Times

Hassan Al Thawadi believes that Qatar is very much on track to deliver their promise of Expect Amazing.

The world took notice of the revolutionary cooling technology at Qatars Khalifa Stadiumwhen Al Sadd downed Al Rayyan in the Emir Cup final on Friday evening.

More than 47,000 fans were in attendance at the refurbished venue as they witnessed history in the worlds first air-conditioned open air stadium.

Qatar developing into a knowledge hub

Here is a brief on what the cooling technology is all about and its larger impact on the sport in the Middle-East region:

Dr. Saud Abdul-Aziz Abdul-Ghani, Professor at the College of Engineering at Qatar University: The cooling technology in place at Khalifa International Stadium makes the venue the largest open-air stadium in the world to be cooled. By utilising district cooling, the stadium is cooled in a way which lowers energy consumption and keeps fans and players alike comfortable regardless of the temperatures outside.

District cooling means that the cooling technology is 40 per cent more sustainable than conventional techniques. We have an energy centre located one kilometer away from the stadium, from where chilled water is brought in a pipeline to the venue. Once it arrives here we are pushing cold air on to the field of play and spectator seating areas.

Qatar 2022 World Cup to have a robust security plan

The research on this cooling technology started at Qatar University in 2015.

The cooling nozzles are specially designed in Qatar, with plastic moveable parts which are more durable and allow air to be pushed to the area we want it to reach.

We have designed the cooling technology at Khalifa International Stadium to be energy efficient, and fully compliant to the Supreme Committee standards in terms of field of play and spectator seating area temperatures to reach 26 degrees centigrade. On match day at the Emir Cup final on Friday, we were actually able to reduce the temperature to 20 degrees on the field of play, and a comfortable 23 degrees in the spectator areas.

The cooling system is intelligent and can be controlled to temperatures to the optimal conditions for the amount of spectators in the venue.

HE Hassan Al Thawadi, Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) Secretary General:People thought the cooling technology was only a dream. The reality is it was in Al Sadd Club, and today it is in Khalifa International Stadium. It is continuing, becoming something normal and deliverable, and the delivery is on the ground. It showcased the capabilities and the quality that we have. Everybody worked very hard, and delivered a stadium that is according to the standards that we promised for the World Cup. Operationally the team has done a fantastic job, and its just the start. Theres more to come, expect amazing, were delivering amazing. Today is the first milestone, but theres more to come.

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2022 World Cup: Cooling technology All you need to know - Goal.com

May 22, 2017 by Robin Mcdowell

The same technology that keeps kids glued to their smart phones is being used by some schools as protection against sexual assaults . Using apps, victims and bystanders can alert school officials, police or parents to trouble. While the systems can be used by kids pranking each other, app developers and school officials say most claims end up being credible. Reporting happens as events unfold and administrators can respond immediately.

The real challenge is money. Not all schools can afford the apps, some of which base their cost on the number of users or size of a student population. However, school insurance companies increasingly are picking up the tab, seeing the apps as a tool to mitigate risk.

Experts also warn that these apps should never be considered the sole way for a school to address the issue of student sexual assault.

Here are a few of them:

___

STOPit : New Jersey-based creator Todd Schobel launched this app in 2013. His inspiration was Amanda Todd, a 15-year-old who committed suicide after posting a video on YouTube in which she held up flashcards describing how her topless image ended up on the Internet, triggering a relentless barrage of bullying. The appchampioned by Amanda's momallows victims and bystanders to report anonymously to administrators, teachers and virtually anyone the school deems appropriate. There are no parental controls. Users can send either a single text or have a two-way chat, and can attach pictures, screenshots and video. The person who receives the alert can forward the information to law enforcement or suicide response teams, depending on the risk. The app stores all evidence and notes regarding incidents in a secure cloud-based server so school administrators can collect and analyze it over time.

Number of users: More than 2.5 million in K-12, according to the company.

What it costs: Schools pay $1 to $5 per head for the app, depending on the size of the student body. Some school insurers also have begun paying for the software for their clients' use because they see it as a way to mitigate risk.

Available for download: Apple's App Store or Google Play.

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ANONYMOUS ALERTS: The name pretty much says it. Students can overcome the social pressures associated with "ratting out" peers by sending in anonymous tips. This app has dropdown menus, asking users what type of school they attend and where the incident took place, where it be a bus, hallway or gym. Students can either send school administrators a single text or have back-and-forth conversations. They also can attach pictures, social media screenshots or video. The president of the company, Gregory Bender, created his first emergency messaging system after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The computer software for his latest applaunched in 2013 to address all kinds of bullyingalso collects alerts from students over time so schools can monitor trends.

Number of users: Around 5 million in K-12 schools, according to the company. It is available only to participating schools with a license.

What it costs: 50 cents to $2 per head.

Available for download: Apple's App Store or Google Play and Chromebook Store.

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CIRCLE of 6: Created by sexual assault survivors, this one was born out of the White House's "Apps Against Abuse" challenge in 2011. Though the company Tech 4 Good initially developed the app for colleges, it now has been customized for use by younger students. After downloading the app, students pick six trusted friends to join a "circle." If they are in a precarious situation, users click an icon that sends a prewritten text message telling their friends they may need help and what kind. The app also includes informative links about sexual abuse and national hot lines. Prince William County Public Schools, the second-largest school district in Virginia with some 90,000 students, signed up its K-12 schools in 2016. The district says it doesn't know how many students have downloaded the app, but developers say it's the first grade school in the U.S. to sign on. Circle of 6 was customized and designed to provide an extra layer of protection for younger kids, with parental permission required for those under 13 to download the app.

Number of users: 350,000 (mostly colleges)

What it costs: $1 to $3 per head.

Available for download: Apple's App Store or Google Play.

___

KNOWBullying: This mobile app is for parents, aimed at helping initiate difficult conversations about bullying and harassment with kids. It also helps parents look out for different warning signsnot only to help identify if their kids may have been bullied, but also if they might be doing the bullying. It initially was created for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Number of users: Around 30,000

What it costs: Free.

Available for download: Apple's App Store or Google Play.

Explore further: Anonymous app Yik Yak shuts down

2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Yik Yak, a mobile application which gained popularity for allowing users to make anonymous comments and which sparked debate on cyber bullying, has shut down.

Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Bench has launched a new cellphone app aimed at combatting bullying in schools nationwide.

Children who are bystanders to a bullying incident are more likely to intervene if their parents have given them advice to intervene and less likely to intervene if their parents tell them to "stay out of it," according to ...

The recent suicide of Brandy Vela, a teen in Texas City, Texas, was a potent reminder of the sometimes tragic consequences of bullying. According to Vela's parents, the teen fatally shot herself Nov. 29 following months of ...

Google will no longer try to sell ads based on personal information collected about students using a suite of products tailored for schools.

It's back-to-school time for many kids across the countrybut for students who are subject to bullying, school can be a daunting place to spend eight hours a day. One UT expert suggests empowering bystanders to help put ...

The massive global cyber attack that wreaked havoc in computer systems earlier this month caused plenty of visible disruption, not least in Britain's National Health Service.

It's man vs machine this week as Google's artificial intelligence programme AlphaGo faces the world's top-ranked Go player in a contest expected to end in another victory for rapid advances in AI.

Numerous studies have raised critical concerns about the promise of corn ethanol's ability to mitigate climate change and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Some of the studies have suggested that after a full life cycle ...

French researchers have released software tools that they claim can restore some of the computers locked up by a global cyberattack that held users' files for ransom.

A Dubai firm's dream of towing icebergs from the Antarctic to the Arabian Peninsula could face some titanic obstacles.

Another large-scale, stealthy cyberattack is underway on a scale that could dwarf last week's assault on computers worldwide, a global cybersecurity firm told AFP on Wednesday.

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Schools using smart phone technology against sex assaults - Phys.Org

One of the more intriguing (and if were being honest, slightly weird) rumors from last year was that AMD and Intel might cooperate on a GPU patent-sharing deal, or possibly a direct design agreement in which AMD would build GPUs for its largest competitor in the CPU space. The only reason we gave the idea any consideration at all was because AMD had reorganized its graphics unit into the Radeon Technology Group (RTG) specifically so that it could have more freedom to pursue ideas and potential revenue sources. A custom agreement with Intel would definitely qualify.

One issue that we hadnt grappled with (and shouldve), however, was the nature of Intels agreement with Nvidia. While its true that this agreement ended earlier this year, with the final revenue payment from Chipzilla to Team Green, Mark Hibben of SeekingAlpha has correctly pointed out that the actual patent license that Intel struck with Nvidia is perpetual. Intel hasnt lost access to any NV patents as a result of completing its license payments, and therefore doesnt need to sign an agreement with AMD to replace them. We regret not catching that properly the first time around, and possibly giving more life to a rumor in the process. The idea that Intel needed a deal with AMD or Nvidia is false (or, at the least, its false until such time as one or more parties start flinging around lawsuit threats).

The idea of Intel building a GPU with AMD had legs, because it also seemed as if it might address the only real weakness Intel CPUs possess. AMDs Ryzen may be better positioned as far as performance per watt, but Intel continues to build an extremely capable CPU core, and could easily trim its pricing to bring its cores more in-line with AMDs Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7 families. But as far as GPU performance is concerned, outside its models with EDRAM, AMD is still considered to have an overall edge. Certainly it has an edge in terms of overall IP and expertise, and that could have been enough to spark a deal with Intelat least in theory. Of course, it didnt hurt that AMDs GPU market share had fallen to an all-time low around the same time, which could have left the smaller manufacturer more interested in any agreement it might make to expand its own market access.

AMDs graphics sales have begun to rebound, but the company has fallen hard the past five years. Figures like these made a deal with Intel easier to imagine.

Intel, however, has reached out to put the kibosh on such rumors. In a statement sent to Barrons, Intel stated, The recent rumors that Intel has licensed AMDs graphics technology are untrue. The company has said that further information will not be provided.

AMD has said that its upcoming APUs based on Ryzen will also use the companys Vega graphics architecture (we had expected Polaris to be tapped for this), and will appear in-market in the back half of this year. Overall GPU performance is expected to increase by 40 percent compared with Carrizo, with significant reductions in power consumption and a 50 percent gain in CPU performance. If the company succeeds in hitting these goals it should be quite competitive with Intel in its lower-watt power envelopes, and more able to compete against the company in both desktops and laptops.

It wouldve been cool to see an Intel CPU with an AMD GPU alongside it on the same piece of silicon. But AMD GPU fans shouldnt have to feel like theyre picking between decent graphics and acceptable CPU performance once Ryzen APUs debut later this year. At least, thats the goal but were a lot more optimistic about AMDs chances of hitting its targets, now that weve seen what Ryzen can do.

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Intel Puts the Kibosh on Reports It Will License AMD GPU Technology - ExtremeTech

Salesforce is testing a version of its Einstein artificial intelligence service internally to help project sales and give guidance. CEO Marc Benioff said an internal spin of this Einstein Guidance feature has made the artificial intelligence technology another member of the management team.

It's not clear when this Einstein Guidance feature will roll out broadly, but it was one of the big takeaways on Salesforce's first quarter earnings conference call. Here's a look at the three takeaways:

How to Implement AI and Machine Learning

The next wave of IT innovation will be powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning. We look at the ways companies can take advantage of it and how to get started.

Benioff said artificial intelligence is being adopted in the enterprise as part of digital transformation. Benioff also portrayed its Einstein AI platform as a person. We'll just give you the passage from the earnings conference call in full:

We then have a piece of Einstein now that we've not yet rolled out to our customers called Einstein [Guidance]. So this is a capability that I use with my staff meeting, when I do my forecast and when I do my analysis of the quarter, which happens every Monday at my staff meeting like a lot of CEOs do, it's a very typical process, of course, we have our top 20 or 30 executives around the table. We talk about different regions, different products, different opportunities.

And then I ask one other executive their opinion and that executive is Einstein. And I will literally turn to Einstein in the meeting and say, "Okay, Einstein, you've heard all of this. Now what do you think?" And Einstein will give me the over and under on the quarter and show me where we're strong and where we're weak and sometimes will even point out a specific executive, which it's done in the last 3 quarters and said that this executive is somebody who needs specific attention during the quarter. And I can tell you that I do believe that Salesforce's enhanced performance has been greatly attributable to our ability to have Einstein on board and as part of our team. Because that ability to consult with Einstein has made me a better CEO. I have the ability to talk to Einstein and ask Einstein everything from product areas that I should be focusing on, geographies that I should be focusing on, the linearity of bookings during the quarter.

Every question that I possibly could have, I'm able to ask Einstein. And I think for a CEO, typically the way it works is, of course, you have various people, mostly politicians and bureaucrats, in your staff meeting who are telling you what they want to tell you to kind of get you to believe what they want you to believe. Einstein comes without bias. So because it's just based on the data, and it's a very exciting next-generation tool. And to have Einstein guidance has transformed me as a CEO.

Now that take is a bit new age, but I don't have any doubt that AI will be in more boardrooms. Also: Salesforce's Einstein: One smart way to upsell AI

Salesforce and AWS will be marketing together more. Benioff also noted that the AWS partnership is about giving customers what they want, but also hitting Oracle in the chops. Benioff said:

As you probably know, AWS and Oracle are in a dogfight for database workloads and infrastructure as a service.

Following the earnings report, Benioff said on CNBC that Salesforce was crushing Oracle on CRM. Guess the bromance is over with Oracle CTO Larry Ellison and Benioff.

Benioff said that Salesforce is increasingly in high-level discussions about digital transformation. Salesforce also mentioned that retail was a key area for the company since brick-and-mortar players are looking for more 1:1 engagement.

Salesforce has eight of the top 10 US retailers in the fold. It's an interesting vertical, but it's also worth noting that retail is also struggling.

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Salesforce preps guidance feature for its Einstein AI technology - ZDNet