NVIDIA Extends Their Datacenter Performance Lead In Neural Network Computing at #GTC16

At NVIDIA NVDA +0.62%’s GPU Technology Conference (GTC) 2016 in San Jose, California the company announced products based on their latest GPU architecture, code-named Pascal. This conference is traditionally attended by some of the leading researchers in GPU-accelerated compute technologies and over the past few years has become increasingly focused on Deep Neural Networks (DNN). DNNs are the latest key to artificial intelligence (AI) and cognitive computing. Incredible strides have been made over the last three years in AI thanks to Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). Companies like Google GOOGL -0.20%, Microsoft MSFT -0.17%, IBM IBM -0.07%, Toyota, Baidu and others are looking at deep neural networks to help solve many of their complex analytical and data-rich problems. NVIDIA is helping these companies  to harness the power of their GPUs to accelerate the deep learning these systems need to do. Thanks to NVIDIA’s early involvement in deep neural networks research and their latest GPU hardware, the company is in the driver’s seat right now when it comes to delivering silicon to accelerate deep neural networks.

Tech Companies, New and Old, Clamor to Entice Cloud Computing Experts

SAN FRANCISCO — Amazon Web Services, a globe-spanning cloud computing network that is part of the online retailing giant Amazon, has rapidly become one of the most powerful forces in technology. It has also become a target for poachers.

Last October, at a conference in Las Vegas with thousands of corporate executives and software developers in attendance, A.W.S.’s chief, Andy Jassy, strode before an intentionally poorly disguised image of Lawrence J. Ellison, founder and chairman of the Oracle Corporation. Foot-tall words like “bullies,” “extorted” and “strong arm” appeared next to Mr. Jassy and the image of Ellision. The logo of Oracle, one of the biggest companies in Silicon Valley, was barely crossed out.

“Our marketing team needs work on redaction,” Mr. Jassy joked.

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Better cloaked was the reason for his enmity: Oracle had been slow to get into the cloud business, but recently made multiple hiring raids on A.W.S. Both Oracle and Amazon declined to comment on Mr. Jassy’s dig.

The hunt for the hard-to-find talent that can build and run the massive data centers behind cloud computing is pitting three generations of companies against one another. Old-guard companies like Oracle, tech’s current giants like Amazon and its peers, as well as Bay Area start-ups are offering big salaries and big perks for cloud computing experts.

On the social media site LinkedIn, for example, there are over 130 engineering positions available at Oracle Seattle. Many of them are the kind of jobs that now pay $300,000 to $1 million a year, according to Shannon Anderson, who has been recruiting engineers in Seattle and the Bay Area for 25 years.

Read More: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/07/technology/tech-companies-new-and-old-clamor-to-entice-cloud-computing-experts.html?_r=0

Super-sharp 3D cameras may come to your smartphone

Many 3D cameras and scanners produce rough images, especially as they get smaller and cheaper. You often need a big laser scanner just to get reasonably accurate results. If MIT researchers have their way, though, even your smartphone could capture 3D images you'd be proud of. They've developed a technique that uses polarized light (like what you see in sunglasses) to increase the resolution of 3D imaging by up to 1,000 times. Their approach combines Microsoft's Kinect (or a similar depth camera), a polarized camera lens and algorithms to create images based on the light intensity from multiple shots. The result is an imager that spots details just hundreds of micrometers across -- you'd be hard-pressed to notice any imperfections.

The concept would need significant tweaking for a smartphone-sized 3D camera, since it revolves around a mechanical filter. You'd likely have to use grids of polarization filters over the sensor, and that would drop the effective resolution. You wouldn't get 23-megapixel cameras for a while, folks. However, it would still be good enough that you could snap a photo of an object from your phone and get a high-quality 3D printout.



Read More: http://www.engadget.com/2015/12/02/polarized-3d-imaging/

5 Massive Trends Firing Up Technology Stocks In 2016

Technology stocks outperformed the stock market this year. Some massive trends should continue firing up the tech sector in 2016 and beyond.

The Technology Select Sector SPDR exchange-traded fund (XLK) and Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) — the two largest tech ETFs — both returned about 3% in this year while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) lost 0.7%, according to Morningstar. The biggest drivers in both ETFs were Microsoft (MSFT), +19% gain year to date; Facebook (FB), +33%; and Alphabet (GOOGL), +43%. Apple (AAPL), the biggest holding in both ETFs, shed 2%.

First Trust Dow Jones Internet ETF (FDN) rallied an eye-popping 21% this year. In addition to Facebook (FB) and Alphabet (GOOGL), it has to thank Amazon (AMZN) and Netflix (NFLX) for its outsized pop. The online retailer and video streaming service rocketed a mind-blowing 114% and 142%, respectively, in 2015.

iShares North American Tech-Software (IGV) surged 10% this year. Microsoft (MSFT), +19% year to date; Adobe (ADBE), + 26%; and Salesfore.com (CFM), +30%, led the charge.

Based on fourth-quarter estimates and actual results earlier this year, the technology sector’s sales growth was almost nonexistent at +0.1%, according to FactSet. But it was superior to the S&P 500 (SPY)’s, 3.4% dip. The tech sector is on track to grow earnings by 3.5% for 2015 while S&P 500 (SPY) earnings fall 0.5% .

Read More: http://www.forbes.com/sites/trangho/2015/12/20/5-massive-trends-firing-up-technology-stocks-in-2016/

3D Cameras Give Computers Brains, Much Bigger Brains

When the world shifted away from film-based cameras, digital cameras started to change how we interact with one another. Think selfies and social media, for starters. What if you could capture in 3D and view all angles of an object or person? That is partly what the Google GOOGL +0.00% Cardboard project allows in a virtual reality/augmented reality sort-of-way, with your smartphone. But you don’t need a special viewer with new 3D technology.

This video gives you an idea of what’s coming when you have a 3D camera — this particular scene above was done by Patrick Eleazar from Realidyne, using a GoPro Spherical cam setup (and some post-processing work). If you place your cursor in the video, you can move around in the scene — try it - drag left, right, up or down and you will see a near-360 degree view. Within his YouTube channel, there are several others to give you an idea of what’s possible in 3D.

3D cameras, to date, have not been widely adopted, but as I suggested in Is The 3D Camera Tipping Point Here? Apple, Intel, Google, Microsoft, Sony, we are about to see and experience more change. Partly, I believe we are going to see consumer adoption, thanks to devices like the Kinect, and now, Orbbec with its Astra Pro (which depends on being connected to a computer via USB) and Persee, a 3D camera-computer (which does not need a computer to operate).

Most of the 3D devices, gesture capture and motion tracking types, are receiving and processing only through a more powerful computing device – your laptop or the Xbox gaming console. Persee is different in that it has an onboard computer, charged to process what you are seeing and capturing, in real time. Arguably, this is a shift.

Read More: http://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccue/2015/10/28/3-d-cameras-give-computers-brains-much-bigger-brains/

Windows 10: Enabling BitLocker hardware encryption fails with November update

Windows users seem to be experiencing an issue with enabling BitLocker hardware encryption after updating to their system to November update, which Microsoft is calling its major update to Windows 10 that brings version 1511, build 10586. This happens with the clean installation of the November update.

Windows BitLocker drive encryption is a security feature that Microsoft claims provides better data protection for your PC by encrypting the data stored on your Windows operating system volume. BitLocker uses Trusted Platform Module (TPM) to protect Windows OS and data as well as ensures the computer is not tampered with even when it is lost. The TPM is a microchip built into the computer and used to store information including encryption keys.

You can use BitLocker without a TPM, for which you need to change the default behaviour of the BitLocker setup wizard by using Group Policy, or configure BitLocker. When you are using BitLocker without TPM, the encryption keys are stored on a USB flash drive.

BitLocker encryption issue with November Update

According to a user, nesoi, who has reported this on the Microsoft TechNet forum, the BitLocker encryption worked fine before the update. It even works with Windows 10 build 10240, which is the RTM build, released prior to the November update.


Read More: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/windows-10-enabling-bitlocker-hardware-encryption-fails-november-update-1530069

Apple, Google and Microsoft: weakening encryption lets the bad guys in

Apple, Microsoft, Google, Samsung, Twitter, Facebook and 56 other technology companies have joined together to reject calls for weakening encryption saying it would be “exploited by the bad guys”.

After Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook’s claims that “any backdoor is a backdoor for everyone”, the Information Technology Industry Council, which represents 62 of the largest technology companies worldwide, said: “Encryption is a security tool we rely on everyday to stop criminals from draining our bank accounts, to shield our cars and airplanes from being taken over by malicious hacks, and to otherwise preserve our security and safety.”

The debate over encryption, which has become the bedrock of the internet used by almost every transmission that needs to be secure and increasingly those that don’t, has erupted after the terrorist attacks on Paris.

The Information Technology Industry Council’s chief executive, Dean Garfield, said: “Weakening security with the aim of advancing security simply does not make sense.”


Tech industry groups urge US to avoid policies that would weaken encryption
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End-to-end encrypted communications mean that only the sender and receiver can view the contents of the message, which governments say has put intelligence services at a disadvantage.

Read More : http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/nov/23/apple-google-microsoft-weakening-encryption-back-doors