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Tag: Qualcomm

  • Google Working to Bring Android Closer to Linux Kernel

    Google Working to Bring Android Closer to Linux Kernel

    Google is working to bring Android closer to the Linux kernel in a move that could significantly speed up development time.

    Android is arguably the biggest Linux-based operating system (OS) in existence, powering billions of devices the world over. Unfortunately, the OS is a far cry from the base Linux kernel, being forked several times before it gets to a user’s device. The first fork occurs when Google takes the Linux kernel to create the base Android kernel, and then again by each chip maker, and yet again by device manufacturers.

    The end result of repeated forking is that it can take a significant amount of time for improvements, features and fixes to make their way from the top all the way to the end user.

    According to Ars Technica, Google is working on an innovative solution to the problem, one that will only require a single fork from the Linux kernel. From that point forward, System on Chip (SoC) venders — Qualcomm, Samsung and others — and device manufactures will be able to use plugins to customize Android, rather than relying on additional kernel forks.

    The end result will be a much shorter path from the original Linux kernel to end user devices. This will allow Google and its Android ecosystem partners to develop and release updates and patches much faster than the current fragmentation allows.

    Fragmentation and delayed update cycles have been a major problem for Android since its inception. Unlike iOS, where the majority of users quickly migrate to the latest version, Android users are far more spread out over multiple versions of the OS. This poses a problem for Google, as well as the many third-party developers. Google’s efforts to address this are good news for developers and users alike.

  • TSMC Set to Raise Prices

    TSMC Set to Raise Prices

    TSMC is preparing to raise prices on its chip production, a move that will have a global impact on the price of electronics.

    TSMC is already the world’s most important semiconductor manufacturer. The company builds chips for Apple, Intel, Samsung, Qualcomm, Nvidia and others. As a result of its size and economy of scale, the company has been slower than its smaller rivals to raise prices, but that appears to be changing.

    According to Nikkei Asia, TSMC is preparing its biggest price hike in a decade, driven largely by the company’s commitment to increased investment over the coming years. TSMC has previously promised to spend $100 billion over the next three years, and is looking to pass some of that expense on to its clients.

    According to Nikkei, response to TSMC’s decision has been mixed.

    “We are glad that TSMC eventually adjusted prices so that it could fend off the practice of double-booking, when industry players race to secure enough chip production capacity during a shortage,” K.S. Pua, chairman and CEO of Phison Electronics, told Nikkei.

    “We are still short of supplies and want more chip capacity to support our growth for the second half of 2021,” Pua said.

    Others were less enthusiastic.

    “We are all in a great shock and all of our account managers need to speak to our customers to see if we can renegotiate some of the contracts,” another chip executive told Nikkei. “We haven’t seen TSMC introduce such a broad rate increase in over a decade.”

    Either way, it’s a safe bet that some of the most popular phones, tablets and computers may be at least a little more expensive over the next couple of years.

  • Samsung Scores Big Win With Google’s Pixel 6

    Samsung may be the big winner with Google’s upcoming Pixel 6, manufacturing both the processor and the modem.

    Google announced the Pixel 6, sporting the company’s Tensor system on a chip (SoC) processors, in early August. Like Apple has done for years, Google designed the Tensor chip in-house to deliver the kind of performance its wants for the new model. It’s a big bet for the search giant, as its Pixel smartphones have never been as popular as those from other companies, or as popular as they should be, given some of the advantages they offer.

    Like Apple, Google is relying on an outside company to manufacture its chips, and Samsung appears to have been tapped for the roll, according to Reuters. In an industry dominated by TSMC, scoring the contract for Google’s flagship smartphone is a major coup for the South Korean company.

    Even more significant, the company will also provide the 5G modem. As one of only three companies that make 5G modems for smartphones, making the modem for the Pixel 6 is a big opportunity for the company, allowing it to show off its latest tech.

    Until recently, Qualcomm’s modems were used in virtually all US smartphones that feature mmWave, the fastest flavor of 5G, due to that company’s technological lead. Samsung’s new modem, however, includes the company’s own, in-house solution. If it performs competitively, it could signal to the industry that there is a viable alternative to Qualcomm.

  • UK May Block NVIDIA/Arm Deal

    UK May Block NVIDIA/Arm Deal

    The UK may prevent NVIDIA from buying Arm Holdings, over national security concerns.

    Arm is one of the UK’s biggest tech success stories. Arm creates chip designs which it then licenses to other companies for use in their products. Apple, Qualcomm, Samsung and others use the company’s designs. In Apple’s case, its license is so broad that it can customize the designs, creating truly custom silicon.

    NVIDIA made headlines in September 2020 when it announced it had reached a deal to acquire Arm. Almost immediately the deal was met with scrutiny and condemnation by many in the industry. Arm had a reputation of being neutral, selling its designs to any company wanting to license them. Many critics feared NVIDIA would reserve Arm’s greatest inventions for itself, giving it a major advantage over competitors.

    And even bigger issue has come to the fore, and may ultimately sink the deal: national security. As the COVID-19 pandemic showed, relying on semiconductor makers around the world can be a critical flaw when global supply lines are impacted by a major event. In addition, some British lawmakers are concerned about the implications of having Arm under the control of a US company, one that would be at the mercy of the US surveillance apparatus.

    All of these concerns are combining to potentially scuttle the deal, according to Bloomberg. UK Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden authorized a report on the deal to determine if it was anti-competitive, as well as what national security implications there might be.

    Based on that report, Bloomberg’s sources say UK officials are currently leaning toward rejecting the deal, although nothing final has been decided.

  • Intel Scores Amazon and Qualcomm as Foundry Clients

    Intel Scores Amazon and Qualcomm as Foundry Clients

    Intel has scored a big win in its efforts to rebuild its semiconductor manufacturing, with Qualcomm and Amazon set to use its foundries.

    New CEO Pat Gelsinger is determined to reverse Intel’s recent fortunes, and is betting big on the company doubling down on its own manufacturing. The company made headlines when it announced plans to build two foundries in Arizona, to the tune of $20 billion. Intel has also been rumored to be trying to buy GlobalFoundries.

    According to Reuters, Intel has scored a major win, with Amazon and Qualcomm set to use the company’s new foundries. Qualcomm, in particular, will use Intel’s 20A chipmaking process, ideal for the company’s mobile chips.

    Intel is clearly intent on gaining ground against TSMC, which has long-since eclipsed Intel and poached major customers, such as Apple. The company sees close partnerships with the likes of Amazon and Qualcomm as a key component of that goal.

    “There have been many, many hours of deep and technical engagement with these first two customers, and many others,” Gelsinger said.

  • TSMC Turns in Record Quarter, Warns of Ongoing Shortages

    TSMC Turns in Record Quarter, Warns of Ongoing Shortages

    TSMC reported its quarterly earnings, including record sales and an 11% increase in revenue.

    TSMC is the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturer. The company is the primary chip-maker for Apple, and also makes chips for Intel, Qualcomm, AMD, NVIDIA, Alphabet and others.

    The company has now reported record revenue of $13.29 billion, a 28% increase. Net profit was up 11%, coming in at $4.81 billion.

    “Our second quarter business was mainly driven by continued strength in HPC and Automotive-related demand,” said Wendell Huang, VP and Chief Financial Officer of TSMC. “Moving into third quarter 2021, we expect our business to be supported by strong demand for our industry-leading 5nm and 7nm technologies, driven by all four growth platforms, which are smartphone, HPC, IoT and Automotive-related applications.”

    TSMC is projecting third-quarter revenue to come in somewhere between $14.6 billion and $14.9 billion.

    According to Bloomberg, the company also warned chip shortages could continue into next year, although automakers may see some relief as early as this quarter.

  • Qualcomm Wants to Take on Apple’s M1

    Qualcomm Wants to Take on Apple’s M1

    Qualcomm has its sights set on Apple, with plans to take on the company’s M1 processor.

    Apple rocked the computing industry last year when it announced it was transitioning its Mac platform to its own custom silicon, the M1. The company previously relied on Intel to power its computers, but the M1 offered major advantages.

    Apple’s custom silicon is based on designs from Arm Holdings. As one of the original founders of Arm, however, Apple has the broadest license available, giving the company freedom to create truly custom chips. An evolution of the processors Apple has used in the iPhone and iPad for years, the M1 has unrivaled energy use, combined with stellar performance that rivals and exceeds Intel’s best offerings.

    The move has put tremendous pressure on PC makers to deliver a competitive product. Similarly, Microsoft has been migrating Windows to Arm processors to help pave the way for adoption by the PC industry.

    Qualcomm’s new CEO believes his company may have the answer to Apple. The company already creates Arm-based chips, much like Apple does, but Cristiano Amon told Reuters he believes the company needs its own line of custom silicon to help his customers better compete with Cupertino.

    Amon’s efforts are aided by a number of former Apple engineers, including ones who worked on Apple’s chip, that now work for Qualcomm. The engineers came onboard when Qualcomm purchased chip startup Nuvia, a company that was founded by ex-Apple employees.

    If Qualcomm is able to deliver on Amon’s vision, it could find itself in a strong position in the PC industry, building on its already enviable position in the smartphone market.

  • Qualcomm Wants to Buy a Stake in Arm

    Qualcomm Wants to Buy a Stake in Arm

    Qualcomm has expressed interest in buying a stake in chipmaker Arm Holdings, should the NVIDIA deal fall through.

    Arm Holdings designs semiconductors used in mobile devices, computers and servers. Unlike other chipmakers, which design and manufacture their chips, Arm licenses its designs to other companies, including Apple, Qualcomm, Samsung and others, who are responsible for manufacturing them.

    While Arm chips have traditionally dominated the mobile landscape, thanks to their combination of performance, power consumption and battery life, the chips are gaining popularity in desktop devices. Apple is leading the charge, migrating its Mac platform to its custom, Arm-based silicon.

    NVIDIA announced it had entered an agreement to purchase Arm last September, but the deal is currently being investigated by the UK government over national security concerns. As technology, and especially the semiconductor industry, continues to be impacted by geopolitical factors, the UK government is worried about its main chipmaker coming under US control. NVIDIA rivals are also concerned the company will end Arm’s long tradition of vendor neutrality in favor of keeping Arm’s greatest innovations for itself.

    Qualcomm appears ready to pounce, should the NVIDIA deal fall through, according to The Telegraph, via TheStreet.

    “If Arm has an independent future, I think you will find there is a lot of interest from a lot of the companies within the ecosystem, including Qualcomm, to invest in Arm,” Cristiano Amon, Qualcomm’s incoming chief executive, told The Telegraph.

    Needless to say, NVIDIA was dismissive of such ideas, portraying Arm as needing NVIDIA’s help to succeed.

    “To grow and meet the demands of the AI era, Arm needs much more than an IPO,” Nvidia said in a statement. “Arm needs an infusion new technology that it can provide to Arm licensees everywhere, which is why we stepped up and agreed to buy Arm.”

  • TSMC and MIT Leapfrog IBM, Make 1nm Breakthrough

    TSMC and MIT Leapfrog IBM, Make 1nm Breakthrough

    TSMC and MIT have made a major advancement in semiconductor design, with a 1nm breakthrough.

    TSMC is a global leader in the semiconductor industry. The company makes chips for Apple, Qualcomm, AMD, NVIDIA, Alphabet, Huawei and Intel. Currently, TSMC uses 5nm chips. AMD is working to transition to 5nm and Intel is still struggling to move to 7nm. IBM made headlines when it announced it had made a breakthrough on 2nm chips, although they aren’t expected for another four years.

    MIT and TSMC have now one-upped IBM, according to Taiwan News, making a major breakthrough with 1nm chips. The discovery was initially made by MIT, although MIT’s researchers were using TSMC components.

    The announcement is further bad news for Intel. Once the leader in semiconductor design, Intel has increasingly faced supply and development issues, leading it to turn to TSMC to outsource some production. With TSMC now closing in on 1nm, the gap between the two companies will only continue to widen.

  • Employees Would Forgo $30,000 Raise to Work From Home

    Employees Would Forgo $30,000 Raise to Work From Home

    A new survey has qualified just how much employees want to continue working from home (WFM), to the tune of $30,000.

    As restrictions lift and companies begin opening their doors, many employees are faced with the prospect of going back into the office for the first time in more than a year. While many companies are working on permanent remote or hybrid options, some are insisting on a complete return to in-office normality.

    According to a new survey by Blind, an anonymous network of professionals, a Goldman Sachs professional posed the question: “Would you rather make $30k more switching to a new job that requires you to work in the office, or would you rather keep your current salary but WFH anywhere after covid?”

    An average of 64% of professionals indicated they would prefer WFM, although the number for some specific companies was much higher. For example, 100% of Zillow, 70% of T-Mobile, 89% of Twitter, 71% of Walmart, 69% of Apple, 76% of Salesforce and 73% of Oracle employees would all choose WFM. In fact, Cisco, JPMorgan Chase and Qualcomm were the only companies that fell below the 50% mark.

    The survey is just the latest, and most striking, indication of just how popular WFH really is.

  • Qualcomm Demonstrates mmWave 5G 16x Faster Than Sub-6 GHz

    Qualcomm Demonstrates mmWave 5G 16x Faster Than Sub-6 GHz

    Qualcomm has announced a major milestone for 5G, demonstrating how fast mmWave 5G is compared with slower varieties.

    There are several flavors of 5G being rolled out. All three major carriers in the US have rolled out nationwide 5G networks, using low-band spectrum. Low-band provides the best range, coverage and building penetration, but is only marginally faster than 4G LTE. Mid-band spectrum provides a good mix of speed, range and coverage, and can deliver speed in excess of 1 Gbps.

    The fastest flavor of 5G is mmWave. Unlike low and mid-band, mmWave uses spectrum in the 6 GHz and above range. It is also the fastest flavor of 5G, clocking in at several gigabits per second. Unfortunately, because mmWave uses high-band spectrum, its range and penetration are extremely limited. Nonetheless, its speed makes it ideal for a wide range of applications, such as secure private networks, and carriers are racing to roll out it.

    Qualcomm has announced real-world tests showing mmWave 5G is up to 16 times faster than 5G in the sub-6 GHz frequencies, such as low and mid-band. The data was based on user-initiated Ookla Speedtests on commercial devices.

    “Our end-to-end modem to antenna solution brings together all the key 5G breakthroughs to optimize 5G connectivity using the massive bandwidth of mmWave,” said Durga Malladi, senior vice president and general manager, 4G/5G, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “With almost every major OEM offering 5G commercial devices globally, we’re playing a critical role in enabling 5G to live up to its promise of speed and power. This not only redefines the smartphone experience, but also paves the road for endless possibilities, including the further expansion of 5G into fixed wireless access, 5G private networks, compute, XR, and Industrial IoT.”

  • UK Probing NVIDIA/Arm Deal Over National Security Concerns

    UK Probing NVIDIA/Arm Deal Over National Security Concerns

    The UK is probing NVIDIA’s purchase of Arm Holding, citing concerns over national security.

    NVIDIA announced last September it had entered an agreement to purchase Arm. Arm’s chip designs are used by companies around the world, including Apple, Qualcomm, Samsung and more. Almost immediately, critics decried the deal as an effort by NVIDIA to reduce competition, with concerns the company would save Arm’s best work for itself. In contrast, Arm has built its business by being strictly neutral, licensing its designs to anyone that wanted them.

    There have also been major concerns regarding the UK semiconductor industry, with Arm being the most successful example. Given the increasing nationalization of the semiconductor industry, many critics worried about the UK losing its most prominent chipmaker to acquisition by a US firm.

    It appears the UK government shares those concerns, and has filed an “intervention notice” to investigate the deal based on national security concerns, according to Reuters.

    “As a next step and to help me gather the relevant information, the UK’s independent competition authority will now prepare a report on the implications of the transaction, which will help inform any further decisions,” said digital minister Oliver Dowden.

    NVIDIA has downplayed the issues, saying its deal does not pose a threat.

    “We will continue to work closely with the British authorities, as we have done since the announcement of this deal,” said NVIDIA.

  • TSMC: Chip Shortages Won’t Ease Until 2023

    TSMC: Chip Shortages Won’t Ease Until 2023

    TSMC has delivered further bad news on the semiconductor shortage, predicting supplies chain tightness won’t completely ease until 2023.

    The world is experiencing a significant shortage of semiconductors, with multiple industries currently being impacted. Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has warned the shortage could last a couple of years, and now TSMC has issued a similar assessment.

    TSMC specializes in manufacturing semiconductors for partner companies, and is the premier chipmaker for Apple. The company also makes chips for Qualcomm, Alphabet, AMD, NVIDIA and Huawei, and will make the i3 for Intel.

    According to Bloomberg, TSMC believes shortages will begin to ease for the auto industry next quarter, but the overall industry will continue to experience shortages throughout the rest of the year and into next.

    “We see the demand continue to be high,” CEO C.C. Wei said. “In 2023, I hope we can offer more capacity to support our customers. At that time, we’ll start to see the supply chain tightness release a little bit.”

  • FTC Abandons Qualcomm Antitrust Case

    FTC Abandons Qualcomm Antitrust Case

    The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has abandoned its antitrust case against Qualcomm, despite believing the company is guilty.

    Qualcomm has faced long-standing accusations of antitrust behavior, leading to multiple lawsuits. Apple famously engaged in a years-long court battle, before ultimately settling with the company. IBM similarly tried to enter the cellular modem market, before ultimately selling its modem business to Apple, citing what it believed was unfair competition from Qualcomm.

    In the initial court ruling, the FTC prevailed in its case, only to have that decision reversed on appeal. The FTC was originally planning on pursuing the case before the Supreme Court, but has now dropped it.

    “Given the significant headwinds facing the Commission in this matter, the FTC will not petition the Supreme Court to review the decision of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in FTC v. Qualcomm,” said Acting Chairwoman Rebecca Kelly Slaughter. “The FTC’s staff did an exceptional job presenting the case, and I continue to believe that the district court’s conclusion that Qualcomm violated the antitrust laws was entirely correct and that the court of appeals erred in concluding otherwise. Now more than ever, the FTC and other law enforcement agencies need to boldly enforce the antitrust laws to guard against abusive behavior by dominant firms, including in high-technology markets and those that involve intellectual property. I am particularly concerned about the potential for anticompetitive or unfair behavior in the context of standard setting and the FTC will closely monitor conduct in this arena.”

    The announcement is good news for Qualcomm and bad news for its competitors, many of whose will face an uphill battle competing against it.

  • Intel CEO Wants Apple Back As a Customer

    Intel CEO Wants Apple Back As a Customer

    Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has his sights set on regaining Apple as a customer, thanks to Intel’s planned factories in Arizona.

    Apple made headlines when it announced it would be transitioning its Mac platform to its own custom silicon, based on Arm designs. Previously, Apple used its own custom silicon in iPhone and iPads, but relied on Intel’s chips for its Mac computers.

    Unfortunately for Intel, the company was no longer able to meet Apple’s needs. Intel’s chips increasingly started falling behind rival AMD’s semiconductors, and failed to keep up with the power savings and performance Apple was able to achieve with its custom silicon.

    To make matters worse, Intel had some high-profile issues with quality control. In fact, according to former Intel engineer François Piednoël, at one point Apple was finding almost as many bugs in Intel’s chips as Intel’s own team — not a good way to convince a company to stay with your products.

    “The quality assurance of Skylake was more than a problem … It was abnormally bad,” said Piednoël. “We were getting way too much citing for little things inside Skylake. Basically our buddies at Apple became the number one filer of problems in the architecture. And that went really, really bad. When your customer starts finding almost as much bugs as you found yourself, you’re not leading into the right place.”

    Despite losing Apple, Gelsinger is intent on getting them back, if not as a customer of Intel’s in-house chips, then as a manufacturing customer.

    Intel’s new factories are being built in Arizona with the goal of challenging TSMC, the company Apple currently uses to manufacture its chips, and bring more semiconductor manufacturing to the US. As a result, Intel is positioning itself as an alternative manufacturing partner, giving companies like Apple, Qualcomm, Nokia and Microsoft another option and a way to diversify their supply chain.

    In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Gelsinger laid out his hope.

    Apple is a customer, and I hope to make them a big foundry customer because today they’re wholly dependent on Taiwan Semiconductor. We want to present great options for them to leverage our foundry services, as well, just like we’re working with Qualcomm and Microsoft to leverage our foundry. We’re going to be delivering great technology, some things that can’t be done anywhere else in the world.

    In an interview with BBC News, Gelsinger emphasized it wouldn’t be an easy sell, and Intel would have to demonstrate that it could successfully meet customers’ needs.

    Everybody wants multiple suppliers. So we think there’s very real potential. But I have to earn that business. I have to be able to go to my competitors and be able to say: “I want you to become my customer.”

    And that also includes Nvidia, Qualcomm and Broadcom, in addition to Microsoft and IBM. I want all of them to say: “I need more technology… and I trust that Intel is going to become one of my key suppliers.”

    And that includes Apple as one of the biggest users of advanced semiconductor capabilities.

    Gelsinger certainly doesn’t lack for ambition in his efforts to turn Intel’s fortunes around. It remains to be seen if he and Intel can deliver the goods.

  • Qualcomm Taking on Nintendo Switch With Android Device

    Qualcomm is looking to enter the consumer market with an Android-powered Nintendo Switch-like device.

    Qualcomm is primarily known for creating semiconductors and modems, products that are used by smartphone makers around the world. As such, the company’s products power some of the most popular devices in the world, but the company has yet to venture into consumer territory.

    According to Android Police, that’s about to change, with the company preparing to unveil a Nintendo Switch knockoff, running Android. Since the device will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors, it will help the company showcase its processors outside of traditional phones.

    Android Police says the device’s form factor will specifically allow Qualcomm to show off Snapdragon’s performance.

    The device, which we were able to view non-final images of but cannot share, is immediately familiar to anyone who owns a Switch. Detachable “joycon” style controllers are on the left and right sides of the core console, which resembles a thicker, bulkier smartphone. There’s a good reason for that: the company believes that the added thermal headroom a thicker design affords will make its processor run faster and significantly more efficiently than a modern ultra-thin smartphone. Qualcomm is also using that space to pack in a large 6000mAh battery that will be equipped with its Quick Charge technology. According to our source, Qualcomm is using a premium supplier in the controller space to design and manufacture the gamepads, though we were unable to verify the name of that supplier.

    Qualcomm’s Snapdragon consistently plays second fiddle to Apple’s custom silicon, in terms of performance, although both are based on Arm designs. Showcasing the Snapdragon in a form factor that will allow it to achieve its full potential could be a good move for Qualcomm.

  • Qualcomm Finalizes Acquisition of NUVIA

    Qualcomm Finalizes Acquisition of NUVIA

    Qualcomm has completed its acquisition of NUVIA, in a bid to challenge Apple’s custom silicon.

    Arm-based processors power the majority of smartphones and tablets, with Apple and Qualcomm both making their own line of chips. Unfortunately for Qualcomm, Apple’s custom silicon continues to be the fastest in the industry — often by a wide margin.

    Qualcomm is looking to close that gap with its acquisition of NUVIA, a CPU and technology design firm. One of its founders, Gerard Williams III, was lead architect at Apple for over a decade, working on all of Apple’s in-house chips up to the A13.

    “The world-class NUVIA team enhances our CPU roadmap, extending Qualcomm’s leading technology position with the Windows, Android and Chrome ecosystems,” said Cristiano Amon, President and CEO-Elect, Qualcomm Incorporated. “The broad support of this acquisition from across industries validates the opportunity we have to provide differentiated products with leading CPU performance and power efficiency, as on-demand computing increases in the 5G era.”

    The addition of NUVIA should provide a major boost to Qualcomm’s efforts at a time when mobile computing and 5G technologies are more important than ever.

  • Qualcomm Struggles to Meet Android Demand Amid Semiconductor Shortage

    Qualcomm Struggles to Meet Android Demand Amid Semiconductor Shortage

    Qualcomm is the latest to be impacted by the global semiconductor shortage, as the company struggles to meet Android chip demand.

    Android devices run on Arm-based chips, much like Apple’s iPhone and iPad. Qualcomm is one of the leading manufactures of Arm-based chips, with their Snapdragon line widely used across the Android ecosystem.

    The semiconductor shortage has already began impacting various industries, with companies as large as GM being forced to halt production as a result. Now the shortage appears to be impacting Qualcomm as well, according to AppleInsider.

    Another factor impacting demand is Huawei being crippled by sanctions and bans, opening the door for other Android manufacturers to fill the void. Whereas Huawei designed its own chips, like Apple and Samsung, most other Android manufacturers rely on a third-party, such as Qualcomm.

    It remains to be seen when the shortage will let up, but it has become a top priority for the current administration.

  • Apple Selects Munich For New 5G and Wireless Facility

    Apple Selects Munich For New 5G and Wireless Facility

    Apple has announced it is investing 1 billion euros to make Munich its European Silicon Design Center for 5G and future wireless technology research.

    Apple has been working to create its own 5G modems and end its dependence on Qualcomm for some time. The company purchased Intel’s 5G modem business after the latter failed to make headway against Qualcomm.

    Munich is already Apple’s largest European engineering hub, with nearly 1,500 engineers.

    “I couldn’t be more excited for everything our Munich engineering teams will discover — from exploring the new frontiers of 5G technology, to a new generation of technologies that bring power, speed, and connectivity to the world,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Munich has been a home to Apple for four decades, and we’re grateful to this community and to Germany for being a part of our journey.”

    Apple says the new facility will house the company’s cellular unit, with a focus on 5G and future wireless technology. The facility will be 30,000 square meters, located in central Munich’s Karlstrasse.

    The Munich investment will no doubt play a significant role in Apple’s future developments, especially as the company moves more and more of its component tech in-house.

  • Qualcomm Taps Sophos to Protect 5G Snapdragon PCs

    Qualcomm Taps Sophos to Protect 5G Snapdragon PCs

    Qualcomm is turning to Sophos to help protect 5G-enabled Snapdragon PCs, with its Intercept X endpoint protection.

    With the speeds 5G promises, 5G-enabled PCs stand to play a major role in the industry. A PC with built-in 5G would have enterprise-grade internet access, allowing individuals to work from anywhere they have coverage. In the age of the pandemic, this could open a world of possibilities, and remove slow internet access as one of the biggest challenges to remote work.

    Unlike Intel or AMD processors, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon is based on Arm designs, much like the chips Apple uses in the iPhone, iPad and M1 Macs. As a result, traditional PC software won’t run on the Snapdragon unless it’s compiled specifically for Arm-based processors. This leaves Snapdragon-powered PCs potentially vulnerable, as many of the traditional security options are not available.

    Snapdragon compute platforms mark a major step forward because they provide all the utility and performance of a PC, but with many of the benefits associated with modern mobile computing devices. Security loves predictability, and Sophos is excited to be a part of securing this next-generation computing platform. — Joe Levy, chief technology officer, Sophos.

    Qualcomm’s deal with Snapdragon is a major step toward helping Arm-based computers go mainstream.

  • Apple Already Working On 6G Tech

    Apple Already Working On 6G Tech

    5G may just be ramping up, but Apple already has its sights set on the future and 6G.

    6G is still years away, with no specification or concrete guidelines. Nonetheless, Apple seems intent on getting started sooner rather than later. The company has long been reliant on Qualcomm for its modems, no doubt a sore point given their history of litigation.

    Apple has already taken steps to end its dependence on Qualcomm, buying Intel’s failed modem business. Early reportssuggested the company may be planning to begin using its own modems as early as 2022.

    According to job postings on Apple’s site, using its own 5G modems is just the beginning. In a posting entitled “Wireless Research Systems Engineer – 5G/6G”, Apple outlines its vision for the job:

    We are looking for expert and highly self-motivated communication systems engineers who have a deep understanding of wireless technology used in state of the art indoor and outdoor wireless networks. In this role you will be at the center of a cutting-edge research group responsible for creating next generation disruptive radio access technologies over the next decade. You will work on defining system level concepts, proposing and researching innovative ideas & algorithms, performing complex system simulations, defining rapid prototyping platforms to help prove your ideas and specifying RAN protocols and for next generation (5G/6G) cellular systems.

    Similarly, another posting, “RAN1/RAN4 Standards Engineer”, has the following line:

    You will be part of a team defining and doing research of next generation standards like 6G.

    Apple clearly wants to be at the forefront of 6G development and is wasting no time getting started.