Microsoft Plans to Cut 7,800 Jobs From Phone Business
The acquisition of the Nokia devices and services business initiated by Steve Ballmer before he left Microsoft has not turned out as planned, and the company is planning to take several steps to address the under performance. Up to 7,800 jobs will be cut from Microsoft's phone business in addition to a $7.6 billion impairment charge and a restructuring cost between $750 and $850 million. Restructuring costs will go towards the layoffs while the impairment charge "has to do with how the company accounts for the worth of Nokia from an accounting perspective and does not mean that Microsoft will lose $7.6 million from its balance sheet." The July 21 10K filing will reveal more details about the moves while a company issued statement said "Based on the new plans, the future prospects for the Phone Hardware segment are below original expectations. Accordingly, the company concluded that an impairment adjustment of its Phone Hardware segment assets and goodwill of approximately $7.6 billion is required."
Source: Fortune
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Logitech Plans to Rebrand as Logi
The decision makers at Logitech have been working "behind the scenes to reinvent the company, shaking things up culturally and through its product innovation" since 2013. The most apparent change initially will be the new name of the company, switching from Logitech to Logi, a move to signify "a shift to a more design-centric attitude." The current name and logo will remain in use for a while before new and existing products will get the new logo. Logi will begin "crafting a portfolio of products that go beyond PC peripherals, to products that have a place in every aspect of your daily life," though it remains unclear what those products might be. As long as the company continues to put out quality products and doesn't abandon its gaming mouse line, I don't care what the name is and I'm sure most others feel the same.
Source: CNET
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Intel Pushes Back Launch of Kaby Lake Processors
Intel is planning to push back the release of its 14nm Kaby Lake processors from early 2016 to September 2016 due to the delays associated with the upcoming Skylake series of processors. Kaby Lake has been inserted as a "buffer" between Skylake and the 10nm Cannonlake processors, "which were originally planned to directly succeed Skylake in 2016." Other details about the chips are non-existent to sparse at best and we will have to wait until release gets closer to hear more.
Source: Digi Times
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Hardware Roundup: Wednesday, July 8, 2015, Edition
The middle of the week is upon us, with several items to help get you through the day. We have a review of the Intel Core i7-5775C Broadwell processor, the company's tick in its tick-tock release pattern, with Broadwell being a die shrink instead of a new microarchitecture. There is a look at the Lian Li PC-T80 Test Bench, an open air model that can support XL-ATX motherboards and 360mm radiators. For storage needs, we have the ASUSTOR AS-5102T 2-Bay NAS that can be connected to a PC or used remotely over HDMI. If you want a new way to control your PC, maybe the Azio MGK1 mechanical keyboard is for you. The Logitech G230 and G35 headsets get put through a battery of tests to see if they should be your new way to get audio. Lastly the ASRock Beebox N3000 gets tested to see how the low-budget mini PC can perform daily tasks.
CPUs
Intel Core i7-5775C Broadwell @ ThinkComputers
Cases
Lian Li PC-T80 Test Bench @ ThinkComputers
Storage/Hard Drives
ASUSTOR AS-5102T 2-Bay NAS @ Madshrimps
Keyboards/Mice
Azio MGK1 Mechanical Keyboard @ Benchmark Reviews
Speakers/Headphones
Logitech G230 and G35 Headsets @ PC Perspective
Prebuilts
ASRock Beebox N3000 @ TechSpot
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Rockstar Editor Contest Winner Announced
Back in May, Rockstar launched a contest for people to create the official music video for "Leave" by Wavves, which is featured on The Lab radio station in Grand Theft Auto V. As the title suggests, the song is about leaving a bad situation, so the winning video, by Social Club member TeahMAP, features an action-packed, daytime prison break.
All entries had to be made completely within the Rockstar Editor and without any third-party tools. You can check out the two runner-up entries, by Dorian92 and Vergessene at the source link.
Source: Rockstar Newswire
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Nanowire Yarns Could Make Useful Supercapacitors
Currently batteries dominate for energy storage, but they are not always the ideal choice. Batteries work well for storing large amount of energy, but are not able to deliver powerful bursts of energy on demand, without being larger than desirable. One solution is to add supercapacitors to the mix, and researchers at MIT have discovered a new approach to making these supercapacitors that may be viable.
This new approach is to use yarns of niobium nanowires to make the supercapacitors. Similar supercapacitors of carbon materials, such as nanotubes, have been made before, but these niobium yarns are stronger, far more conductive, and can also store more power. As niobium is abundant and already used a lot, these yarns could be cheaply and easily made, completing a fairly promising picture. It is not quite the ideal combination of high power density, high energy density, and low cost, but it is pretty close.
The next step, which work has already begun on, is to bring production up from lab-scale on a version useable for electronics. Once it hits commercial production levels, we could see these yarns used in mobile and wearable electronics to deliver the bursts needed for sending wireless signals, and subsequently shrink the devices' sizes. As the niobium yarns are flexible, it could also be woven into fabrics, opening up new technological possibilities.
Source: MIT
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AMD Lowers Q2 Guidance Due to Poor Sales Performance
AMD just can’t seem to catch a break when it comes to its own financial wellbeing. According to a press release recently published, AMD noted that investors should expect revenue to be down eight percent sequentially, which is two percent lower than its worst case scenario financial situation the chipmaker described in a conference call with financial analysts last April. As of right now, it is expected that AMD’s Q2 revenue will be roughly 34 percent lower than the same quarter last year. Additionally, AMD is now expecting its gross margin to be 28 percent, down from its 32 percent expectation that it previously set this year. Most of the blame regarding AMD’s poor results come from "weaker than expected consumer PC demand." While its enterprise, embedded, and semi-custom segment met company expectations, the computing and graphics reporting segment will take the largest losses. The Intel rival will also take a on a onetime charge of $33 million to transition some of its chip designs from the 20nm process to the latest FinFET node.
The lowered Q2 guidance announced by AMD pushed investors to sell a wealth of shares, and as a result, AMD’s share price dropped over 15 percent. AMD is expected to announce its Q2 2015 results on July 16.
Source: NASDAQ.com and The Register
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