123707478
submission
Lucas123 writes:
The former chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) under Presidents Obama and Trump is working with Accenture and others to promote the creation of a cash-backed cryptocurrency as a clearance and settlement tool for central banks. A cryptocurrency based on a blockchain ledger would be a cheaper, faster and more inclusive global financial system than today's analog-based reserve currency that can take two or more days to clear, according to the Digital Dollar Project. The race to integrate cryptocurrency into global banking is speeding up as public sector projects are already driving interest in fiat-backed digital tokens by central and regional banks around the globe but primarily in Europe and Asia.
122497880
submission
Lucas123 writes:
There is a growing movement among fintech companies, banks, healthcare services, universities and others toward disintermediating the control of online user identities in favor of supporting end-user controlled decentralized digital wallets based on P2P blockchain. Self-sovereign identity (SSI) is a term used to describe the digital movement that recognizes an individual should own and control their identity without intervening administrative authorities. The wallets would carry encryption keys provided by third parties and could be used to digitally sign transactions or provide access to verifying information, everything from bank issued credit lines to diplomas — all of which are controlled by the user through PKI. The blockchain ledger and PKI technology is hidden behind user friendly mobile applications. Currently, there are more proof-of-concept projects than production systems involving a small number of organizations. The pilots, being trialed in government, financial services, insurance, healthcare, energy and manufacturing, don't yet amount to an entire ecosystem, but they will grow over the next few years, according to Gartner.
116362992
submission
Lucas123 writes:
Like Apple and Intel, Amazon is piloting an in-house program for employees that in addition to healthcare insurance affords workers access to telemedicine and at-home visits from a contracted provider. While growing in popularity, in-house healthcare programs, which even include corporate clinics, are seen by some as an example of the growth in fragmented care or mimicking corporate care during the industrial era when factories had worksite clinics to get employees back to work faster.
99308381
submission
Lucas123 writes:
GPU prices have more than doubled in some cases as miners of cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, have purchased mass quantities of the high-speed cards in order to build mining rigs that are used to perform "Proof of Work" processing. Some of the most popular GPUs can't even be found anymore as they've sold out due to demand. Meanwhile, some retailers are pushing back against bitcoin miners by showing favoritism to their traditional gamer customers, allowing them to purchase GPUs at MSRP. Earlier this year, NVIDIA asked retailers of its hardware to prioritize sales to gamers over cryptocurrency miners.
89782155
submission
Lucas123 writes:
Laptop manufacturers aren't likely to offer higher capacity standard SSDs in their machines this year as a shortage of NAND flash is pusing prices higher this year. At the same time, nearly half of all laptops shipped this year will have SSDs versus HDDs, according to a new report from DRAMeXchange. The contract prices for multi-level cell (MLC) SSDs supplied to the PC manufacturing industry for those laptops are projected to go up by 12% to 16% compared with the final quarter of 2016; prices of triple-level cell (TLC) SSDs are expected to rise by 10% to 16% sequentially. "The tight NAND flash supply and sharp price hikes for SSDs will likely discourage PC-[manufacturers] from raising storage capacity," said Alan Chen, a senior research manager of DRAMeXchange. "Therefore, the storage specifications for mainstream PC...SSDs are expected to remain in the 128GB and 256GB [range]."
89433625
submission
Lucas123 writes:
Toshiba has begun shipping samples of its third-generation 3D NAND memory product, a chip with 64 stacked flash cells that it said will enable a 1TB chip it will ship this spring. The new flash memory product has 65% greater capacity than the previous generation technology, which used 48 layers of NAND flash cells. The chip will be used in data center and consumer SSD products. The technology announcement comes even as suitors are eyeing buying a majority share of the company's memory business. Along with a previous report about WD, Foxxcon, SK Hynix and Micron have now also thrown their hats in the ring to purchase a majority share in Toshiba's memory spin-off, according to a new report in the Nikkei's Asian Review.
89138307
submission
Lucas123 writes:
Ford plans to invest $1 billion over the next five years in Argo AI, an artificial intelligence startup that will help develop a virtual driver system for the carmaker's autonomous vehicle coming in 2021. Ford said its relationship with Argo AI, which was founded last year in Pittsburgh, will combine its existing autonomous vehicle development program with Argo AI's robotics and "startup speed" on artificial intelligence software. Argo AI founders CEO Bryan Salesky, and COO Peter Rander are alumni of Carnegie Mellon National Robotics Engineering Center and former leaders on the self-driving car teams of Google and Uber, respectively. Argo AI's team will include roboticists and engineers from inside and outside of Ford working to develop a new software platform for Ford's fully autonomous vehicle, expected in 2021. Ford said it could also license the software to other carmakers.
88834217
submission
Lucas123 writes:
Toshiba, which invented NAND flash, plans to sell off an as of yet undisclosed portion of its memory business, including its solid-state drive unit, to Western Digital. Toshiba is spinning the business off to WD, a business ally, because it hopes in the long run the Toshiba-WD alliance will enable an expansion in NAND flash production capacity and increased efficiency in storage product development. Toshiba's solvency and fundraising ability are also in trouble because of a $1.9 billion accounting scandal and a multi-billion dollar loss related to a nuclear plant purchase. Last week, Toshiba announced its share price had tumbled 13% after reports that its nuclear power business had lost $4.4 billion. Currently, Toshiba and WD together represent 35% of global NAND flash production; Samsung leads that market with 36% of production. "Toshiba wants to put its memory business in a more stable financial position," said Sean Yang, research director of DRAMeXchange. "Facing mounting operational and competitive pressure, the spun-off entity will be more effective in raising cash to stay afloat or expand."
88769249
submission
Lucas123 writes:
In 2016, the solar workforce in the U.S. increased by 25% to 374,000 employees, compared to 187,117 electrical generation jobs in the coal, gas and oil industries. Solar employment, which includes both photovoltaic electricity and concentrated solar steam generators, accounts for 43% of the electric power generation workforce — the largest share of workers in that sector. Fossil fuel generation employment now accounts for 22%. In addition to losing ground in employment, net power generation from coal sources declined by 53% between 2006 and September 2016; electricity generation from natural gas increased by 33%; and solar grew by over 5,000% —from 508,000 megawatt hours (MWh) to just over 28 million MWh.
86834897
submission
Lucas123 writes:
The German firearms manufacturer whose .22 caliber iP1 smart pistol caused a backlash from gun advocacy groups who protested stores that planned to sell it, will introduce a 9mm semi-automatic smart pistol. Armatix LLC's new iP9 smart gun will go on sale in the U.S. in mid-2017 and differs from its predecessor in that it will not use an RFID-equipped watch to unlock the gun but instead will have a fingerprint reader that can store multiple scans like a smartphone. The iP9 is expected to retail for about the same suggested retail price as the iP1 — $1,365, which is more than twice the price of many conventional 9mm semi-automatic pistols. Several large U.S. retail stores have already met with Armatix and "not one of them" expressed any concern about the weapon's price, according to Wolfgang Tweraser, CEO of Amratix, who compared the smart guns to Tesla cars. "Always the latest technology comes with a higher price tag. As you make hundreds and thousands of units, then the price will change also," he said. The company also plans to re-introduce its iP1, but this time it will target sales to gun ranges.
86697977
submission
Lucas123 writes:
A class-action lawsuit against Ford and its MyFord Touch in-vehicle infotainment system — originally based on a Microsoft platform — has brought to light corporate documents that show engineers at the Dearborn carmaker referred to the problematic technology as a "polished turd" that they feared would be "unsaleable." The documents even reveal Henry Ford's great grandson experienced significant problems with MyFord Touch. In one incident, Edsel Ford was forced to wait on a roadside for the system to reset and could not continue to drive because he was unable to use the IVI's navigation system. The lawsuit describes an IVI screen that would freeze or go blank; generate error messages that wouldn't go away; voice recognition and navigation systems that failed to work, problems wirelessly pairing with smartphones, and a generally slow system. Ford's CEO Mark Fields even described his own travails with the SYNC IVI, referring to it as having crashed on several occasions, and that he was so frustrated with the system he may have damaged his car's screen out of aggravation. The civil suit is expected to go to trial in 2017.
84135747
submission
Lucas123 writes:
Renewable energy, including solar, wind and hydroelectric, will overtake natural gas as an energy source by 2027; Ten years later, those same renewables will surpassed the largest electricity-generating fossil fuel: coal, according to a new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Solar and wind will account for almost 60% of the $11.4 trillion invested in energy over the next 25 years, according to Bloomberg's New Energy Outlook 2016 report. One conclusion that may surprise, Bloomberg noted, is that the forecast shows no golden age for natural gas, except in North America. As a global generation source, gas will be overtaken by renewables in 2027. The electric vehicle boom will increase electricity demand by 2,701TWh (terawatt hours), or 8% of global electricity demand in 2040. The rise of EVs will drive down the cost of lithium-ion batteries, making them increasingly attractive to be deployed alongside residential and commercial solar systems.
83112107
submission
Lucas123 writes:
A report commissioned by the White House and involving the Defense, Justice and Homeland Security Departments has begun a process to define, for the first time, the requirements that manufacturers would need to meet for federal, state, and municipal law enforcement agencies to consider purchasing firearms with "smart" safety technology. They've committed to completing that process by October, and will also identify agencies interested in taking part in a pilot program to develop the smart gun technology. The DOD will help manufacturers test smart guns under "real-world conditions" at the U.S. Army Aberdeen Test Center in Maryland. Manufacturers would be eligible to win cash prizes through that program as well. In addition to spurring the adoption of smart gun technology, the report stated that the Social Security Administration has published a proposed rule that would require individuals prohibited from buying a gun due to mental health issues to be included in a background check system.
82182281
submission
Lucas123 writes:
An MIT study based on mathematical modeling demonstrated a likely scenario in which high-tech vehicles using sensors to remain at a safe distance from each other as they move through a four-way intersection can eliminate the need for traffic lights in the future. By removing the waits caused by traffic lights, these so-called Slot-based Intersections speed up traffic flow.The study claims this kind of traffic-light-free transportation design, if it ever arrives, could allow twice as much traffic to use existing roads.
82131969
submission
Lucas123 writes:
By 2022, using a thumb drive or taking your vehicle to the location you bought it for a software update will seem as strange as it would be for a smartphone or laptop today. By 2022, there will be 203 million vehicles on the road that can receive software over-the-air (SOTA) upgrades; among those vehicles, at least 22 million will also be able to get firmware upgrades, according to a new report by ABI Research. Today, there are about 253 million cars and trucks on the road, according to IHS Automotive. The main reasons automakers are moving quickly to enable OTA upgrades: recall costs, autonomous driving and security risks based on software complexities, according to Susan Beardslee, a senior analyst at ABI Research. "It is a welcome transformation, as OTA is the only way to accomplish secure management of all of a connected car's software in a seamless, comprehensive, and fully integrated manner," Beardslee said.
