Pandemic Drove Sales of 4G and 5G-Enabled PCs To New Record In 2020

Global sales of cellular-enabled mobile PCs reached more than 10 million units for the first time in 2020 as home workers sought improved connectivity in response to the closure of office facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research firm Strategy Analytics: According to the latest analysis from Strategy Analytics’ Connected Computing Devices program, global shipments increased by 70% to 10.1 million, the…

Dozens of Current and Former Dropbox Employees Allege Gender Discrimination

More than two dozen Dropbox employees say they’ve witnessed or experienced gender discrimination at the company, an investigation by news outlet VentureBeat has found. From a report: In December 2020, a source familiar with the matter sent VentureBeat a document containing anonymous interviews with 16 current and former Dropbox employees who allege gender discrimination at the cloud computing company. The report…

Quantum systems learn joint computing

Today’s quantum computers contain up to several dozen memory and processing units, the so-called qubits. Severin Daiss, Stefan Langenfeld, and colleagues from the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching have successfully interconnected two such qubits located in different labs to a distributed quantum computer by linking the qubits with a 60-meter-long optical fiber. Over such a distance they realized…

Samsung Considers Austin For $17 Billion Chip Plant

Samsung is considering Austin, Texas, as the site for a new $17 billion chip plant that the South Korean firm said could create 1,800 jobs, according to documents filed with Texas state officials. Reuters reports: The documents say the project would involve building out 7 million square feet (650,000 square meters) of new space on a 640-acre (259-hectare) site that the…

The Future of Jobs is Here: 10 Courses to Take in 2021

By Betty Vandenbosch, Chief Content Officer, Coursera  As the new year unfolds, many challenges from 2020 persist: the pandemic continues to affect economies around the world and unemployment rates are still high. As we prepare to take advantage of new opportunities in 2021, professional development is top of mind for many. How can I gain […]
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Amazon’s Next CEO Says He’s Committed To Making Video Games

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: One day before he was named the next chief executive officer ofAmazon.com Inc., Andy Jassy reaffirmed his commitment to making video games while acknowledging the stark challenges the team has faced, according to an email to staff reviewed by Bloomberg. Jassy expressed support for Mike Frazzini, the head of Amazon Game Studios and…

Jeff Bezos To Step Down as Amazon CEO

Amazon announced on Tuesday that AWS CEO Andy Jassy will replace Jeff Bezos as CEO during the third quarter of this year. Bezos will transition to executive chair of Amazon’s board. In a statement, Bezos said: I’m excited to announce that this Q3 I’ll transition to Executive Chair of the Amazon Board and Andy Jassy will become CEO. In the Exec…

Beyond qubits: Team takes next big step to scale up quantum computing

Scientists and engineers at the University of Sydney and Microsoft Corporation have opened the next chapter in quantum technology with the invention of a single chip that can generate control signals for thousands of qubits, the building blocks of quantum computers. …

While Recreating CentOS as ‘Rocky Linux’, Gregory Kurtzer Also Launches a Sponsoring Startup

“Gregory Kurtzer, co-founder of the now-defunct CentOS Linux distribution, has founded a new startup company called Ctrl IQ, which will serve in part as a sponsoring company for the upcoming Rocky Linux distribution,” Ars Technica reports:
Kurtzer co-founded CentOS Linux in 2004 with mentor Rocky McGaugh, and it operated independently for 10 years until being acquired by Red Hat in 2014. When…

Amazon Can Make Just About Anything — Except a Good Video Game

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg, which is “based on interviews with more than 30 current and former Amazon employees, most of whom spoke under the condition of anonymity citing fears of litigation or career repercussions.” From the report: Mike Frazzini had never made a video game when he helped start Amazon Game Studios. Eight years later, he has…