I’m going keep this one short and sweet because I’m busy working on a much big(ger) piece; this week’s trail mix includes headlines from mobile, automotive and EDA.
- Continental to Buy Elektrobit Software Unit for $680 Million by Elisabeth Behrmann, Bloomberg – You might skip this one thinking “So what else is new? Further consolidation in the automotive space.” Think again. As code complexity rapidly increases for the connected car, expect to see Tier 1 and 2 companies happily picking off software-savvy groups. For the non-believers among you, check out this story where we learn a Ford GT is running more critical code than a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. It would also be interesting to understand how much code has been written for the Google self-driving concept car.
- Intel’s $16.7 Billion Altera Deal Is Fueled by Data Centers, by Ian King, Bloomberg – Analysts have been divided over the true value of the deal. Frankly, I’m more interested to see how it impacts the pure-play FPGA market; unfortunately, no one has been making any clear predictions yet on the fate of Xilinx, Microsemi and the like but I will report back when I come across something worth reading. Meanwhile, the Platform has an interesting article about OpenCL on Altera FPGAs here.
- Surprise, surprise: Russian YotaPhone comes with a backdoor for the KGB to spy on you by Victor H., PhoneArena – *Deep sigh* When will government agencies understand that monitoring voice and data traffic from electronic devices is absolutely the most idiotic way to combat terrorism?
- Smartphone maker Xiaomi has grabbed a quarter of the wearables market by Lulu Chang, Digital Trends – I was certainly surprised to find out that Xiaomi has grabbed so much share in such a short period of time. Chinese companies have really been a disruptive force in mobile but I’m curious to see if they can replicate their success in other markets and/or regions.
- How Android Is Becoming the New Windows by Annalee Newitz, Gizmodo – To be honest, I clicked on the link expecting a very different story; instead, the whole piece had this subtle yet very positive vibe that really threw me off. Anyway, the author doesn’t focus on one vital aspect: the operating system is becoming less of a platform for running apps and more of an enabling mechanism for the delivery of services. It would be interesting to compare Microsoft and Google from this perspective (too).
- New Analysis Shows Earth Is Warming Faster Than We Thought by Matthew Francis, Forbes – Another week, another article telling us that global warming is real and it is happening now. The implications are profound – we need to make drastic changes to the way we function as a society if we want to survive.
- IoT Gets Sane Forecast at Event by Rick Merritt, EE Times – Finally, an analyst team that is not afraid to talk facts and provide an accurate description of what IoT means. The rest of you: either come up with a different term for connected devices (actually, what’s wrong with connected devices) or stop lumping everything together into IoT.
- A twofer! I’ve combined these releases together because they are of strategic importance yet I’ve seen no coverage. Past Intel Custom Foundry customers include Achronix, Altera, Microsemi, Netronome, Panasonic LSI, and Tabula. I am keen to see that list grow!
Bonus news: ColbertLateShow.com Becomes #1 Website to do Internet On by Chief Propagandist Alberto Rèalnamè [press release] – The best press release ever written.