Huang | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Mon, 25 Mar 2013 01:09:29 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png Huang | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Apple buys WiFiSlam for $20m https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/apple/harrison/apple-buys-wifislam-for-20m/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/apple/harrison/apple-buys-wifislam-for-20m/#respond Mon, 25 Mar 2013 01:09:29 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=129293 It's hard to remember anything undermining Apple's position in the market more than the maps debacle that accompanied the ousting of Google from iOS in favour of a self-branded product that struggled to find its butt with both hands. Now Apple has its heart set on a different kind of mapping. KitGuru tracks itself around …

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It's hard to remember anything undermining Apple's position in the market more than the maps debacle that accompanied the ousting of Google from iOS in favour of a self-branded product that struggled to find its butt with both hands. Now Apple has its heart set on a different kind of mapping. KitGuru tracks itself around a late night supermarket for details.

At the end of October 2012, Scott Forstall was shown the door by Apple because, in Tim Cook's opinion, Scott should have shouldered responsibility for Apple's famous mapping issues in the previous month.

Almost exactly one month later at the end of November, Richard Williamson, the executive who was specifically responsible for the ‘improved' mapping project was also sacked.

With the heads of the mapping hydra lying on the floor, Apple decided to take a long hard look at what it wanted to do in this area going forward.

Silicon Valley starts up WiFiSlam seems to be the solution that Cook's cronies have been looking for.

Co-founder of WiFiSlam, Joseph Huang, use to ply his trade over at Google. His take on what WiFiSlam is all about goes something like this, “We are building the next generation of location-based mobile apps that, for the first time, engage with users at the scale that personal interaction actually takes place. Applications range from step-by-step indoor navigation, to product-level retail customer engagement, to proximity-based social networking”.

It will also, “Allow your smartphone to pinpoint its location, and the location of your friends, in real-time to 2.5m accuracy using only ambient WiFi signals that are already present in buildings”.

Moving from market leading Google Maps, to the wonky Apple model, highlighted one of Android's key wins against the Jobs legacy organisation. Not something that Tim Cook will want to spend any time doing when Samsung is eating up Apple customers like they are going out of fashion.

If Tim wants to keep his job, he's going to have to innovate at a much higher level.

If Joseph Huang had been using Apple Maps, he may never have discovered Tim Cook's treasure

KitGuru says: The Big Brother image that Apple's 1984 advert so memorably railed against – is bring brought close and closer by, you guessed it, Apple.

Comment below or in the KitGuru forums.

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Roy Taylor and Never Settle impacts nVidia https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/jules/roy-taylor-and-never-settle-impacts-nvidia/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/jules/roy-taylor-and-never-settle-impacts-nvidia/#respond Wed, 13 Mar 2013 09:14:18 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=127865 The appointment of Roy Taylor, former nVidia VP for global graphics sales, was reported on KitGuru first. At the time, we could see the significance of AMD CSO John Byrne's team selection – but the question would remain, “How long would it take for Roy to begin impacting AMD's business”. Along with a helpful boost …

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The appointment of Roy Taylor, former nVidia VP for global graphics sales, was reported on KitGuru first. At the time, we could see the significance of AMD CSO John Byrne's team selection – but the question would remain, “How long would it take for Roy to begin impacting AMD's business”. Along with a helpful boost from Never Settle (parts 1 and 2), it seems the effect is being felt earlier than expected.

On 29th December, KitGuru reported that the first version of the AMD Never Settle games bundle (which centred on Far Cry 3 and Sleeping Dogs), was the most significant promotion of the quarter leading into Xmas, but that it had arrived too late to impact nVidia too much in 2012.

We've subsequently had this confirmed by AMD insiders.

We had heard that, on the run into Xmas, distributors like Enta were holding up to 80% nVidia product in certain price categories. Given that us consumers buy what's on a shop's shelves – and the shop can only order what its distributors have in their warehouse – that shows you just how strong a strangle hold nVidia had on the market. Some stores were wall-to-wall green, with the GTX 660, Ti and 670 leading the charge.

We also said that the effect of Never Settle and would most certainly be felt in Q1.

And we were right.

Alongside the launch of the 7870 Tahiti LE parts, like the VTX3D Black Edition (first reviewed by KitGuru Labs back in November), the continuing high-end dominance of the Sapphire 7970 Toxic Edition with 6GB of memory has meant a bit of a stall for GeForce.

Both nVidia and AMD do graphics the same way. A chip is designed by the GPU team, then manufactured by a plant owned by someone like TSMC and finally bought by the AIBs (Add In Board partners) to make the graphics cards we purchase in shops.

All of the AMD AIBs we've spoken to recently have reported “It's just like the good old days” with Roy Tailor back in charge. It seems he's injected some enthusiasm into a tired market – and that promises to be more fun for everyone.

Press included.

If memory serves, Roy loves going toe-to-toe with the opposition and, no doubt, there will be a reaction from the nVidia PR & Marketing teams, being directed by Fiona Faulkner from the nVidia bunker.

With so many launches coming up in 2013, it will be interesting to see what kind of dent AMD can make in the traditionally well-oiled nVidia marketing machine.

One advantage for Roy is that the majority of nVidia's focus, globally, is clearly on achieving a stake in the much larger mobile markets – be that handset or tablet. Good time for a bust up in the GPU markets then.

Servo-assisted gauntlets have been thrown down - it's time to get in the ring

.

KitGuru says: We promise to stay ringside and bring you each and every bloody blow, as it's landed, in real time. We believe that nVidia will be on ‘roids by the time the 700 series is ready to get in the ring and you can expect Roy in a Mech Warrior style suit for the Radeon 8000 launches. Ding Ding.

Commet below, in the KitGuru forums or join us on Facebook.

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Nvidia CEO says that future laptops will mimic Apple design https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/carl/nvidia-ceo-says-that-future-laptops-will-mimic-apple-design/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/carl/nvidia-ceo-says-that-future-laptops-will-mimic-apple-design/#comments Thu, 17 Feb 2011 09:16:15 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=34384 Nvidia's outspoken CEO has said that he feels that future laptops will borrow the design of the Macbook Air. Brooke Crothers at Cnet, spoke to Jen Hsun Huang in a phone interview and he said “You'll have trouble finding one that doesn't look like the MacBook Air, I think the Macbook Air is a good …

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Nvidia's outspoken CEO has said that he feels that future laptops will borrow the design of the Macbook Air.

Brooke Crothers at Cnet, spoke to Jen Hsun Huang in a phone interview and he said “You'll have trouble finding one that doesn't look like the MacBook Air, I think the Macbook Air is a good mental image of what a clamshell laptop will look like. They'll be thin because you won't need any heat pipes, the fan, and extra batteries to lug around.”

Apple have worked a lot in the past with Nvidia and they have been an integral part of the Macbook Air design. They replaced Intel in the 2010 MBA (third generation). The Nvidia 320M graphics processor is the only major logic chip to see a significant upgrade in the Air.

Toshiba AC110, based on an Nvidia Tegra 2 processor - more designs like this to follow

Huang also believes that the future laptop design will be based around low power drain ARM processors, and if upcoming designs from ARM are anything to go by, he could very well have a point.

KitGuru says: With designs like the Toshiba AC110 based around nVidia Tegra 2 due for release, he may be right.

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nVidia CEO denies Globalfoundries move – sticks with TSMC https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/yong-lei/nvidia-ceo-reaffirms-loyalty-to-tsmc-we-are-not-moving-to-globalfoundries/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/yong-lei/nvidia-ceo-reaffirms-loyalty-to-tsmc-we-are-not-moving-to-globalfoundries/#comments Wed, 06 Oct 2010 14:33:33 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=19195 We attended a press event for Taiwan press where nVidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang strongly denied recent rumors that nVidia may be moving its foundry orders for Tegra from TSMC to Globalfoundries. He also said that nVidia still has a very strong relationship with TSMC. Huang stated that nVidia's decreasing market share is due to the …

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We attended a press event for Taiwan press where nVidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang strongly denied recent rumors that nVidia may be moving its foundry orders for Tegra from TSMC to Globalfoundries. He also said that nVidia still has a very strong relationship with TSMC.

Huang stated that nVidia's decreasing market share is due to the late market release of new hardware in the second quarter, which has given AMD a chance to pull ahead in the mainstream sector.

He said that nvidia is in a much stronger position now that the Fermi lineup is almost completely out in full force – boosted by very strong sales for its GTX460 products.

The success of the latest parts should, in effect, increase market share over the coming months as more manufacturers adopt notebook and desktop solutions.

nVidia CEO Jen Hsun Huang - not one for hiding his opinions.

With the GT430 launching on Monday, nVidia now has an almost complete range of DX11 cards available. The entry level 420 part, dubbed the ‘50w Fermi‘ by Kitguru back in May, still has not appeared and we're missing the dual GPU GTX490 part (that KitGuru saw on roadmaps back in April), should have been on the shelves already.

With teh GTX480 as the world's fastest GPU and the newer GTX470 designs looking better and better as the prices drop, nVidia now has the GTX 460 and GTS450 comfortably in the mid-range.

The significant problem for Jen Hsun is that as his company completes deployment of its full DX11 range, AMD is about to launch a complete set of second generation products and, once again, nVidia could be playing catch-up.

When questioned, Jen Hsun also addressed the APU marketplace by saying that the calculation methods used by Fusion are complicated and that if problems occur, it will seriously delay the launch of AMD's new chips to market.

KitGuru says: nVidia is finally in a strong position, will AMD be able to do enough to regain the momentum?

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