Tag: Intel

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Intel announces an inside-out tracking camera for robotics and AR/VR hardware

Intel is showing off a new RealSense camera with a specific focus on enabling hardware-makers to help their products understand where they are in the world. The RealSense Tracking Camera T265 is designed to easily present robotics and AR/VR hardware with inside-out tracking tech.

The Tracking camera utilizes SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) tech to orient the device while producing a detailed spatial layout of whatever environment it is in traversing. The camera is unsurprisingly powered by the Movidius Myriad 2 computer vision chipset, which handles the data processing for the camera.

Inside-out tracking has been getting less and less compute-intensive, this seems to be the area where Intel is making the most strides with the T265.

The T254 will start shipping at the end of February for $199.

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German court tosses Qualcomm’s latest iPhone patent suit

Qualcomm has had a patent lawsuit against Apple dismissed by a court in Mannheim, Germany, as groundless (via Reuters).

The chipmaker had argued Intel -powered iPhones infringed a transistor switch patent it holds. But in an initial verbal decision the court disagreed. Qualcomm has said it will appeal.

In a statement, Don Rosenberg, Qualcomm’s executive VP and general counsel, said: “Apple has a history of infringing our patents. While we disagree with the Mannheim court’s decision and will appeal, we will continue to enforce our [intellectual property] rights against Apple worldwide.”

We’ve reached out to Apple for comment. Update: The company told us: “We are happy with the decision and thank the court for their time and diligence.  We regret Qualcomm’s use of the court to divert attention from their illegal behavior that is the subject of multiple lawsuits and proceedings around the world.”

The pair have been embroiled in an increasingly bitter and global legal battle in recent years, as Apple has shifted away from using Qualcomm chips in its devices.

Two years ago the FTC also filed charges against the chipmaker accusing it of anticompetitive tactics in an attempt to maintain a monopoly (Apple is officially cited in the complaint). That trial began early this month.

Cupertino has also filed a billion-dollar royalty lawsuit accusing Qualcomm of charging for patents “they have nothing to do with”.

While the latest court decision in Mannheim has gone in Apple’s favor, a separate ruling in Germany late last year went Qualcomm’s way. And earlier this month Apple was forced to withdraw the iPhone 7 and 8 from its retail stores in Germany, after Qualcomm posted €1.34BN in security bonds to enforce the December court decision — which related to a power management patent.

Although the affected iPhone models remain on sale in Germany via resellers. Apple is also appealing.

Qualcomm also recently secured a preliminary injunction banning the import and sales of some older iPhone models in China. Again, Apple is appealing.

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Great Wall Motors look to integrate Mobileye’s L0-L2+ self-driving solutions

Chinese automaker Great Wall Motors is exploring strategic collaboration with Mobileye . Through this deal, GWM hopes to integrate Mobileye’s solutions into its vehicles. Starting with L0-L2+ within the next three to five years, the companies are also exploring opportunities for Mobileye’s Level 3 products.

Automotive at CES 2019 - TechCrunch

The word comes at CES 2019 where Intel-owned Mobileye has a big presence alongside a large number of automotive technology companies.

GWM’s domestic market offers unique challenges for self-driving technology. Mobileye’s L0-L2 feature set focuses on driver safety and includes forward-collision warning, automatic emergency breaking and lane assist. Its L2+ is a bit more complex and features driver assist features that utilize Mobileye’s road mapping data, adaptive cruise control.

Initially the auto maker plans to build-in L0-L2+ technologies within domestic vehicles in the next three to five years. Eventually, though, GWM sees building some of the systems into vehicles headed for international markets.

CES 2019 coverage - TechCrunch

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Mobileye is using its sensors to create detailed maps of the UK

Mobileye, the Israeli-based automotive sensor company acquired by Intel in 2017, is leveraging the huge amounts of data it can collect to help build precise maps of the UK’s roads and infrastructure.

The company announced at CES 2019 that it has reached an agreement with Ordnance Survey to help the UK mapping agency bring high-precision location data to businesses in the country. Under the agreement, Mobileye’s sensors will be retrofitted onto Ordnance’s utility fleets to collect volumes of location data on road networks and roadside infrastructure. The collected data is then cross-referenced with existing geospatial data sets to develop accurate maps of Britain’s roads and surrounding areas.

That kind of information could be useful to utilities to provide precise locations of manhole covers and other assets, Mobileye CEO Amnon Shashua told TechCrunch in recent interview. As a result, companies can better plan and manage maintenance needs.

Mobileye and Ordnance Survey piloted the concept in 2018. A number of Ordnance Survey vehicles have also  been fitted with Mobileye 8 Connect technology to collect data on the roads of Britain. The pilots are delivering a new level of roadside data that, through the partnership, will benefit customers across the many sectors including utilities, infrastructure and telecommunications, according to Mobileye.

At first glance, this looks like a shift for Mobileye. But it’s closely linked to Mobileye CEO Amnon Shashua’s vision for the company and future cities.

“Using maps to improve operations between businesses and cities will help bring us closer to the realization of smart cities and safer roads,” Shashua said. 

The deal demonstrates the utility of mapping innovation beyond future autonomous vehicles, the company said.

“We envisage this new rich data to be key to how vehicles, infrastructure, people and more will communicate in the digital age,” Ordnance Survey CEO Neil Ackroyd said in a statement.

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The good news and bad news of HP’s new AMD Chromebook

Good news: HP made an AMD Chromebook. Bad news: It uses an old chipset.

Meet the new HP Chromebook 14. This is one of the first Chromebooks powered by an AMD processor. But don’t get too excited. This isn’t the AMD-powered Chromebook a lot of people were waiting for. This Chromebook is powered by a really old AMD chipset.

Traditionally, Chromebooks use Intel chips. But in the summer of 2018, word spread that Chromebooks would eventually be offered with Qualcomm and AMD chips — both offering unique advantages over their Intel counterparts. The Qualcomm models, in theory, could offer always-on connectivity options with stellar battery life while the AMD could, in theory, bring better graphic render capabilities to Chromebooks.

This HP Chromebook offers neither.

The new HP Chromebook 14 packs a AMD Dual-Core A4-9120. This chip was released in June 2016. Compared to the chips in other Chromebooks announced at CES 2019, this chip is slower and has less power management capabilities. On the upside it packs Radeon R4 graphics, but again, when paired with the older silicon, the net result will not likely be a impressive as it could be.

Hopefully, this model will lead to another AMD Chromebook but one with a modern chipset.

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AR glasses startup North picks up Intel’s Vaunt patents

Intel’s loss, it seems, is North’s game. As first noted by The Verge, the startup has picked up the “technology portfolio” behind Vaunt, the AR glasses shuttered by the chipmaker in April year after a couple of glowing previews.

North (nee Thalmic Labs) debuted its own take on the category around six months after Intel abandoned its efforts. Focals have been positioned as a kind of Warby Parker-esque take on the category. They’re essentially customizable glasses with a built-in head’s up display looking to finally deliver on the unfulfilled promise of Google Glass.

Intel’s own tech works in a similar matter, reflecting a laser projection back into the wearer’s eye. For Intel, however, Vaunt always felt like a pet project from a company that generates most of its revenue supplying components for other brands. Notably, Intel Capital has invested in North, so this deal could finally help some of its own vision finally come to fruition.

North is certainly viewing the application purchase as more a partnership than anything, referring to it as such in a tweet. “So proud to grow our business with such a great partner,” the company writes. “Stay tuned, this is just the beginning.”

Details of the deal haven’t been disclosed, but North notes that it contains “hundreds of patents and patent applications.” Given how closely the two companies appear to be working here, it seems like a pretty safe bet they got a sweetheart deal for the portfolio.

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Intel’s CEO resigns as information about a ‘past consensual relationship’ surfaces

In a press release touting “another record year,” Intel dropped a a bombshell, announcing that CEO Brian Krzanich is resigning, amid revelations of a “past consensual relationship” with an employee.

“Intel was recently informed that Mr. Krzanich had a past consensual relationship with an Intel employee,” the company notes in the release. “An ongoing investigation by internal and external counsel has confirmed a violation of Intel’s non-fraternization policy, which applies to all managers. Given the expectation that all employees will respect Intel’s values and adhere to the company’s code of conduct, the Board has accepted Mr. Krzanich’s resignation.”

Krzanich is stepping down from both the chief executive position and the company’s board of directors half a decade after being appointed to the role. CFO Robert Swan has been named the company’s interim CEO in his stead. Swan has been in the CFO role since late-2016, having previous held the position at both eBay and Electronic Data Systems Corp.

Here’s what he had to say on the matter, “Intel’s transformation to a data-centric company is well under way and our team is producing great products, excellent growth and outstanding financial results. I look forward to Intel continuing to win in the marketplace.”

Meantime, Intel is looking in earnest for a more permanent replacement with both internal and external candidates.

“The Board believes strongly in Intel’s strategy and we are confident in Bob Swan’s ability to lead the company as we conduct a robust search for our next CEO,” Intel Chairman Andy Bryant said in the release. “Bob has been instrumental to the development and execution of Intel’s strategy, and we know the company will continue to smoothly execute. We appreciate Brian’s many contributions to Intel.”

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Intel teases a massive 28-core, single-socket chip that will launch later this year

Intel is feeling increasing pressure from AMD and Qualcomm and the competition will get even more intense if reports that Apple is working on its own chips to replace Intel processors in Macs are true. In an interview with Engadget last week before Computex, Intel’s client computing head Gregory Bryant said that Intel would reveal an even more powerful chip than last year’s showstopper, the 18-core, 36-thread Intel i9-7980XE.

As it turns out, Intel’s Computex keynote today in Taipei, Taiwan focused more on previewing future launches, but Bryant did reveal that later this year, the company will unveil a single-socket processor with a whooping 28-cores that will run at 5 GHz. In comparison, AMD’s Threadripper processor, one of Intel’s closest competitors, has 16-cores and 32 threads.

Bryant said the new chip will debut in the fourth quarter of this year but did not reveal pricing details (for reference, the Intel i9-7980XE is currently priced at $1,999, so it’s reasonable to assume the new chip will cost at least that).

Intel also released a new limited edition chip, the Core i7-8086K, which runs at 5.0 Ghz (a new milestone for its chips), to mark the anniversary of the first x86 processor, and will give away 8,086 of them in a sweepstake.

Other teasers included Intel’s plans for eighth-generation Core processors nicknamed Whiskey Lake, which will be made using Intel’s 14-nanometer technology and are designed for lightweight laptops that have little room for batteries or cooling fans. Another chip series, called Amber Lake, will also be made on the 14-nanometer production process and be intended for the thinnest laptops and tablets.

Intel also showcased a new iteration of the Optane solid-state drive, the 905P, which will offer up to 1.5 TB in a smaller M.2 design.

In non-chip news, Intel announced it will work with Sprint on devices from its hardware partners, including Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP , Lenovo and Microsoft, to run on 5G networks. They are expected to launch next year.