Month: September 2015

Posted on

Samsung is building chips that will give smartphones 6GB of memory

Your next smartphone or tablet could have double the memory and run much faster thanks to new chips from Samsung. The company just revealed that it’s mass-producing 12Gb (1.5GB) DDR4 RAM modules for mobile devices from its 20nm fab plant. The chips take up the same space as the company’s 6Gb modules, meaning that companies can double a device’s memory in the same space — or make smaller phones that still have 3GB of RAM.

The modules are also 30 percent quicker than Samsung’s 8Gb chips (used in many 4GB devices), which will result in better-performing smartphones and tablets. Samsung added that they’re twice as fast as the (new) DDR4 RAM in PCs. Most critically, they use 20 percent less energy, which should have a notable impact on device battery life. Samsung’s now building and stocking the chips, so your next handheld device may actually have more RAM than your laptop.

Filed under:
,

Comments

Source: Samsung

Tags: 12Gb, 6GB, chips, memory, RAM, samsung, Smartphone

from Engadget http://ift.tt/1QnC3eS
via IFTTT

Posted on

$2 billion rocket company merger could create giant SpaceX rival

NASA Launches Craft To Study Earth's Magnetic Fields

United Launch Alliance is a joint-venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing that launches spy and navigation satellites for the Pentagon and Air Force. Now, the firm is the subject of a $2 billion bid from engine business Aerojet Rocketdyne, a company that’s been snubbed in its attempts to power the Atlas V. If the government’s shadowy army of intelligence analysts and accountants approve the deal, it could create a new aerospace behemoth that could leave Elon Musk shivering out in the cold.

As Reuters explains, ULA has one of the best reliability records in the industry but charges a high price for each launch. The firm’s been using cheap, Russian-made rocket engines, but that’s now gone out of the window since the US imposed a trade ban on the country following the occupation of Crimea. The business is believed to be looking at Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin as a supplier of US-made engines, something that might have prompted Aerojet’s bid.

Another problem for ULA is that Elon Musk’s SpaceX is doing its best to break what’s seen as an old boy’s club in the aerospace business. Musk himself has complained publicly that ULA was handed plum Air Force contracts at a time when SpaceX has been bringing the cost of rocketry down. There’s also been political pressure to use wholly-American components, something else that SpaceX can be smug about when it goes looking for deals. If, however, the deal goes through, and the early signs are positive, then these smaller private spaceflight companies might find themselves left on the doorstep.

[Image Credit: Getty]

Filed under:
,

Comments

Source: Reuters

Tags: AerojetRocketdyne, AirForce, Boeing, NASA, Pentagon, PrivateSpaceflight, SpaceX, ULA, UnitedLaunchAlliance

from Engadget http://ift.tt/1IYeqU7
via IFTTT

Posted on

Why Google Is Going All In On Diabetes

Google made a name for itself with search technology, but it has dabbled in moonshot projects like self-driving cars. Now the company’s life science unit is looking for better diabetes treatments.

from News : NPR http://ift.tt/1NbhFOb
via IFTTT