TechEye |  |
- Hi-Tech cars rejected by users
- Virgin Media uses customers’ routers to provide free wi-fi
- Parents sue school over wi-fi
- Hynix to splash $26 billion on new fabs
- Intel buys into big data
| Hi-Tech cars rejected by users Posted: 26 Aug 2015 01:47 AM PDT
While carmakers are adding everything from remote car unlocking to self-parking systems in their newest models as they try to make vehicles more connected to the internet and more automated, users are not interested. The 2015 Drive Report from market research company JD Power found that 20 percent of new car owners had still not used approximately half of the technology features available in their vehicles after three months of purchase – the period after which drivers are less likely to adopt new features. The most underused feature was in-vehicle concierge systems that can recommend nearby restaurants or gas stations. It was not used by 43 percent of respondents and followed by mobile routers that turn a car into a wi-fi hot spot, unused by 38 percent. Automatic parking systems were unused by 35 percent of those surveyed, the report found. That means car makers are spending more and drivers are paying more for potentially unwanted technology bundled into cars. Drivers, especially those ages 21-38 use their smartphones rather than their cars to connect to their favourite apps or search for nearby services. The survey found that even though Google testing a self-driving car and Apple working on its own version, 35 percent of new car owners never used their automatic parking systems.        |
| Virgin Media uses customers’ routers to provide free wi-fi Posted: 26 Aug 2015 01:46 AM PDT
Neil Berkett, chief executive of Virgin Media said he was in "quite advanced negotiations" with London councils over the plans and said he was optimistic the rollout would begin "in the not too distant future". Virgin Media's wi-fi network will be freely available to anyone at 0.5Mbps, and to its home broadband subscribers at up to 10Mbps. The approach contrasts with BT's extensive Openzone network, which although free to BT broadband customers, is charged at as much as £5.99 for 90 minutes' browsing. Berkett described the plans as "a punt" that will cost Virgin Media "a few million pounds" and will keep BT honest. 3G mobile broadband networks were not satisfying consumers' demands for data on the move and suggested that the few years' delay expected before 4G networks and devices are widely available left a gap in them market, he said. The gap that is increasingly occurring between consumers' need for data outside the home and what they can get on 3G. Virgin Media plans to install wi-fi routers in its existing infrastructure, including the street-side cabinets that distribute its cable network into home. The talks with councils are focused on gaining permission for the necessary works. Virgin, not really. They’ve promised that any outsider who connects to one of the router will be given a completely separate connection so it won’t affect a customer's wi-fi performance or the speed of the internet. If customers are uncomfortable about sharing wi-fi with others, Virgin says you can easily opt-out, but it does mean you then won’t have access to anyone else’s WiFi.     |
| Posted: 26 Aug 2015 01:45 AM PDT
Fay School in Southborough has been sued by the parents claiming their child suffers from electromagnetic hypersensitivity syndrome. The radio waves emitted by the school's Wi-Fi routers cause the kid serious discomfort and physical harm. The school has had wi-fi for a while, but it was at 2.5GHz. When the school moved to 5GHz routers the child apparently suffered from nausea and rashes to headaches and even chest pain. We got that on our last PC upgrade too. The parents want an injunction that would force the school to accommodate their child, either by replacing the network with Ethernet or "turning down" the Wi-Fi whenever the kid walks into a room. This will make sure that everyone in the school knows how important their precious snowflake is and that his parents actually had sex once to create him or her. It will also mean that a whole school will have to accept their view that their child's illnesses are not a psychosomatic reaction to parents who keep embarrassing him at school. The head of the Fay School, Rob Gustavson, said that Fay has completed exhaustive studies of its local airwaves, and that the campus is entirely compliant with safety regulations. EHS is pretty much a made up illness. Studies have consistently showed that sufferers don't directly react to the presence of electromagnetic fields but get sick anyway. The kid was diagnosed with EHS by Dr. Jeanne Hubbuch but the syndrome isn't recognized among the broader medical community. On her website Hubbuch describes herself as practising "integrative medicine" which in the UK we call a Holistic approach. She thinks wi-fi is the only thing that can be responsible for the kid’s illness. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman has scheduled a hearing for September 4, ahead of Fay's classes resuming on September 9. The family's lawyer, John Markham II, told the paper that the goal is to get a preliminary injunction that would allow the child to attend school without discomfort.     |
| Hynix to splash $26 billion on new fabs Posted: 25 Aug 2015 08:48 AM PDT
SK Hynix is the second biggest manufacturer of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) in the world, ranking second behind the other big Korean memory manufacturer, Hynix. US DRAM company Micron and Japanese giant Toshiba are also in the memory game. According to a report at Reuters, SK Hynix will complete the fabs by 2024. This type of spending on state of the art semiconductor fab plants is not unusual. Companies making these large capital investments cost them out over a period of years. SK Hynix is essentially playing catch up with Samsung, which is likely to hold the lead until at least the beginning of next year.     |
| Posted: 25 Aug 2015 06:13 AM PDT
BlueData makes infrastructure software for big data, using datacentre architecture using Intel Xeon server chips. Intel has already struck deals with Cloudera for Apache Hadoop. Intel CEO Brian Krzanich was made to say: "BlueData's software delivers the simplicity, agility and efficiency of big data as a service in an on premises model." What this means is that BluData will optimise and develop big data infrastructure based on Intel Xeon chips. The two firms will work on selling stuff together in coordinated product, channel and sales programmes. Intel did not say specifically how much money it has plunged into BlueData but did say it's part of a $20 million funding round as part o a strategic investment. A senior VP from Intel, Doug Fisher, will take a seat on BlueData's board of directors.     |
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