Just IT Hardware Blog

Intel Corporation, the American multinational technology company based in Santa Clara, California, initially revealed their new chip module in January 2015 at the International CES. This new chip module, which is being referred to as Curie, is about a centimeter across and features a 32-bit microcontroller, a small amount of Flash Drive and RAM, Bluetooth Low Energy for connectivity, as well as a six-axis sensor with an accelerometer and a gyrometer. This chip was designed and built in order to be utilized in wearable devices such as a smart bracelet or a smart pendant. Realistically, this chip can be used in a wide variety of small gadgets that do not require a lot of local processing power, like in a small remote-controlled car.

With Star Wars Battlefront being released on Friday, Advanced Micro Devices is coming out with a Catalyst 15.9 beta driver to fix the memory bug. The memory bug itself was very problematic because the memory leak caused some PCs to allocate all of their available memory when one would resize an active browser window. This got to a point where Chrome and Firefox increased their memory footprint very quickly when the hardware acceleration is turned on.

Xerox has taken a page out of Mission Impossible’s book by creating a self-destructing chip that can protect top secret data.

Epson Corporation is developing a new printer known as EcoTank that nixes the need for ink cartridges.

Qualcomm Inc. has announced that the company is expected to follow through with a strategic review that could result in the division of the company, among other options. The company has been under pressure from hedge fund Jana Partners to break off its chip business from its very profitable patent licensing business. In addition, Qualcomm Inc. may announce that it is considering other options such as giving back more cash to shareholders when the company’s third quarter results are released this Wednesday.

HTC has come out with four new mid-tier Desire smartphones – the HTC Desire 520, Desire 526, Desire 626, and Desire 626s.

The electronics giant Apple Inc. has launched their new contactless payment system in the UK. The system, called Apple Pay, allows consumers to use their iPhones to tap and pay in shops that are supporting the launch. Apple Pay allows for iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and Apple Watch owners to pay for items that cost up to 20 Euros by tapping the device to a payment terminal, similar to a credit card.

A very unlikely partnership occurred in the early ‘90s that many may not know about. More than 20 years ago, Nintendo and Sony decided to partner up to face the immense competition from companies such as Sega with its Genesis console. There had been rumors of Sega planning for a CD-ROM add-on to the Genesis console. Sony Corporation had already developed a significant piece for the Super Nintendo’s internals, which then sparked the two electronics giants to work together on a video game accessory that would add a CD capability system to the famous Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

A Chinese consumer protection group has filed lawsuits against the tech giant Samsung Corporation and the Chinese manufacturer Oppo for their use of bloatware on their smartphone products. The Shanghai Consumer Council’s argument is that the two companies pre-install an overly excessive amount of additional and unnecessary apps on their devices before selling them to consumers. In addition, the council believes the bloatware apps to be too difficult to be removed. The lawsuits were initiated after a significant amount of user complaints. Users of these smartphones are frustrated with the less than expected amount of storage space due to the bloatware apps already taking up a great amount of data space. Another issue occurs when over time, apps and bandwidth become larger which causes the user to continually upgrade providing a monetary advantage to the phone maker.

At the beginning of July 2015, Intel Corporation announced that their President Renee James will be stepping down, ending her 28-year career with the company to take a CEO position elsewhere. This means the company will be losing its highest-ranking female, unfortunately at a time when CEO Brian Krzanich has been advocating for more diversity both in his company and the tech world in general. James’ choice to step down in order to join another tech firm could mark progress in the effort but weaken Intel’s own diversity push in the process.

Cisco announced its intentions to acquire OpenDNS on Tuesday, June 30, 2015. OpenDNS is a privately held security company that provides advanced threat protection for any device. The acquisition will broaden visibility and threat intelligence which will boost Cisco’s Security Everywhere approach.

While speaking with a Kansas City, Missouri television station, the CEO of Sprint, Marcel Claure, said the carrier may do away with current pricing on unlimited data plans later in the year. A $50 per month unlimited data, calling, and messaging service plan is currently offered by Sprint. Unlimited plans have been debated for a while now. The Federal Communication Commission slapped AT&T with a $100 million fine for allegedly throttling internet speeds for unlimited users. It is interesting to note that Sprint has also been accused of throttling data speed for unlimited subscribers. But after the fine placed on AT&T, Sprint immediately reacted and stopped throttling. But the future of an unlimited subscription has been put into question.

All of a sudden the next big thing in the personal computing world is stick computers. Intel, Dell Computers, and Google have all released pocket-sized desktops. In the wake of the news, Lenovo has revealed their computer-on-a-stick offering with the Ideacentre 300 Stick. The extra-tiny Windows PC is much like the stick released by Intel except that it is sleeker and more polished.

Sony tested out their new virtual reality system Project Morpheus to the public this past week at the E3 - Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles.

Samsung has developed a prototype truck that is designed to allow trailing drivers to see what is ahead of them on the road.

In a recent shakeup affecting the executive level, Microsoft Corporation announced that it would be combining its Devices and Windows business units into one under the guidance of Windows chief and Executive Vice President Terry Myerson. This move forces former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, who was head of the Devices segment, out. The new unit will be dubbed “Windows and Devices Group,” or WDG for short.

Samsung’s watches are taking a new shape, as they recently revealed their new watch will be the first one to be round.

In April of 2015, Comcast announced plans to install ultra-high speed internet to private residences in Atlanta, Georgia. Fiber-channel based networks for residential homes will deliver up to 2 Gbps, a record-breaking figure with its closest competitors Google Fiber and AT&T GigaPower at a “mere” 1 Gbps. The service, named Gigabit Pro, will be symmetrical - capable of both uplink and downlink rates at this speed. Comcast’s second highest internet service, of 505 Mbps, costs a whopping $400 per month (compared to Google and AT&T’s 1 Gbps services priced at $70). However, the company has stated that it is still evaluating pricing for the new 2 Gbps service, but will cost less than the 505 Mbps service (whose current customers will be automatically upgraded).

As a large investor in Qualcomm Incorporated, the activist hedge fund Jana Partners is looking to persuade the company to sell or split its CDMA chipset business. With a $2 billion stake in the company, Jana Partners is one of Qualcomm’s largest shareholders. Jana Partners hopes that Qualcomm will commit to the strategic plan and looks to accelerate its recently announced $15 billion stock repurchase. This repurchase would raise the quarterly dividend to 48 cents per share from 42 cents.

Intel Corporation’s Compute Stick is set to make its debut soon, as it is now available for pre-order through a number of online retailers. Intel describes their new product as a PC-on-a-stick device. If you have a mouse and keyboard handy, Intel’s Compute Stick can transform any device with an HDMI port into a desktop to run an operating system of your choice.