IBM announced on May 12 that their research lab has designed and tested a fully integrated wavelength multiplexed photonics chip. This chip will allow 100 Gb/s optical transceivers to be manufactured.
Data centers will be able to provide larger data rates and bandwidth in the future through this technology. In turn, this could expand the potential performance of cloud computing and Big Data applications.
Silicon photonics technology allows silicon chips to rely on pulses of light, rather than electrical signals. This enables data transfer at rapid speeds, even over long distances.
“Making silicon photonics technology ready for widespread commercial use will help the semiconductor industry keep pace with ever-growing demands in computing power driven by Big Data and cloud services,” said Arvind Krishna, senior vice president and director of IBM Research.
IT systems and cloud computing typically have to process large volumes of Big Data, and this isn’t always a fast process. Data needs to be able to be moved quickly between all of the system components in order for it to be efficient. Through silicon photonics, response times can be reduced, and data can be delivered faster.
“Just as fiber optics revolutionized the telecommunications industry by speeding up the flow of data — bringing enormous benefits to consumers — we’re excited about the potential of replacing electric signals with pulses of light,” Krishna continued.
IBM’s silicon photonics chip uses four different colors of light traveling with an optical fiber. Within one second, it can share six million images, and it can download an entire high-definition movie within two seconds. The technology allows for the integration of various optical components side-by-side on a single chip.
In the future, this technology may allow computer hardware to communicate faster and more efficiently. Data centers might also be able to reduce the cost of space and energy while increasing performance for customers. For now though, it’s just a first step towards light speed computing.
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.