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Qualcomm unveiled a virtual reality (VR) chipset and headset it hopes will make it a player in the fast-growing field and act as a template for manufacturers yet to bring out their own products. |
Unveiled Thursday, Snapdragon VR820 is the name of Qualcomm's new platform which consists of a a chipset and a "reference design" for a wireless headset that other companies can use for their own products. |
Reference designs are often made by companies like Qualcomm in order to show potential customers the capabilities of the technology and how their chipsets could be used. The wireless VR headset is in contrast to competitors' devices like the Oculus Rift, which requires being plugged into a PC. Qualcomm's headset was de... |
Qualcomm's reference design virtual reality headset built on the Snapdragon VR820 platform. |
"We think we are a true and compelling VR experience. It needs to be untethered, this is why we focused on head-mounted standalone devices," Anthony Murray, senior vice president and general manager of Qualcomm's internet of things (IOT) business, told CNBC in a phone interview ahead of the IFA tech conference in Berli... |
Qualcomm is not looking to become a device manufacturer so it does not directly compete with the likes of Samsung, HTC and Facebook-owned Oculus which all have their own VR headsets. Instead, Qualcomm's closest competitor is Intel, which last month unveiled its own wireless VR reference design called "Project Alloy". |
Although it is relatively young, the VR market has tremendous growth potential and therefore already has a large number of players. Sales of dedicated VR headsets such as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive will hit 2 million this year, but increase tenfold to 21 million by 2020, according to CCS Insight. Smartphone VR headse... |
Qualcomm's reference design as a camera inside to track a user's eye movements. On the outside, another camera can track hands so that the user can interact with the virtual reality images a user is seeing. This will also allow the helmet to be used for augmented reality. The company has also integrated the ability for... |
Chipmakers around the world are having to contend with a slowing smartphone and PC market and look to new areas such as cars, 5G internet and virtual reality for future growth. |
The Snapdragon VR820 is Qualcomm's first full headset and chipset reference design, but it currently makes the Snapdragon 820 processor for smartphones which it says supports "immersive VR experiences". It also released a VR software development kit (SDK) earlier this year to allow developers to create apps for devices... |
Qualcomm said that it expected the Snapdragon VR820 to be available in the fourth quarter of 2016 with the first commercial devices based on this platform to come out "shortly" after. |
Fossil Group also announced that its new smartwatches would have Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear 2100 processors powering them. |
The Snapdragon Wear 2100 was announced earlier this year for smartwatches running Google's Android Wear operating system. The Fossil Q Marshal and Fossil Q Wander smartwatches, announced ahead of IFA, are part of the company's plans to introduce more than 100 wearables this year, Greg McKelvey, chief strategy and chief... |
Fossil's previous smartwatches had used Intel's processors but the new wearables have Qualcomm under the hood. It's unclear whether this means that all of Fossil's future smartwatches will have Qualcomm chipsets. |
"Fossil Group works with the best technology companies in the world. We use a variety of technologies based on needs for individual products," a spokesperson for the company told CNBC. |
Still, analysts said it was a big deal for Qualcomm which could now has an in-road with a company that owns watch brands from Marc Jacobs to Burberry. |
"It's a very significant deal with Qualcomm displacing Intel with one of the biggest watch manufacturers in the world," Ben Wood, chief of research at CCS Insight, told CNBC by phone. |
"Qualcomm have taken pole position when it comes to smartwatches." |
Whether you're an advanced user or a novice, it's the perfect time to learn about benchmarking. So many easy-to-use, powerful, and inexpensive programs are out there that you’re bound to find one or more that tickle your fancy. Achieving fluency with these tools takes little time, and playing with them is surprisingly ... |
Benchmarking can be an entertaining way to keep abreast of what's going on in the world of computer hardware, too. Some people enjoy exploring the cutting-edge 3D engines that some gaming benchmarks employ, while others take their custom-painted, liquid-cooled, neon-lit rigs into speed competitions with all the intensi... |
The suites in this roundup are among the most popular you'll see today--you've probably heard of a few. It's a big list, with a little something for everyone. |
3DMark has had its ups and downs over the years, but it remains the go-to source for synthetic gaming benchmarks. You can find a separate version for each flavor of DirectX from version 9 onward (3DMark 06, 3DMark Vantage, and 3DMark 11), and each version has its own section in vendor Futuremark's online database. Adva... |
3DMark 11 looks ahead performance-wise, kneecapping most modern computers (resulting in frame rates in the teens), but I prefer 3DMark 06 from a stylistic standpoint. The older suite feels better crafted than its successors, although its days as a mainstream tool are drawing to close. The three separate sizable install... |
For a more reasonably sized, if less complete, set of gaming and DirectX numbers, try Unigine Heaven. Heaven's sandbox nature is a revelation in synthetic benchmarks. It’s a hoot to click out of the preset paths and explore the environment, moving the camera with gaming-standard WASD keyboard controls. On top of that, ... |
On the opposite end of the spectrum is the dowdy, bespectacled Prime95 (available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions), which is disguised as an innocent mathematical research program. Don't be fooled: It's nothing less than a cattle prod for your CPU. The free utility is well known in the performance-computing community, as... |
In addition to catering to gamers, Futuremark is appealing to mainstream users with PCMark. Though the previous version had some issues with Windows Vista, PCMark 7 manages to be a credible, modern re-creation of the desktop-performance benchmarks so popular in the '90s. It skirts some of the criticisms leveled at synt... |
Among system-wide benchmarks, Passmark's Performance Test 7 (for 32-bit and 64-bit systems) is the respectable child of the family--it went to school and got good grades, and it wears a neatly tailored suit. The 3D tests in this tool show you sober models of jets and evergreens, which is something of a relief after all... |
On the other hand, SiSoftware's Sandra does have a free version, and it includes all benchmarking features. Although the tool is occasionally obscure, Sandra's long and winding history has led to a pretty useful comprehensive benchmarking and system-information package. If you like your benchmarks with an extra helping... |
Reminiscent of Sandra but with a more accessible interface, AIDA64 doesn't do quite as much overall, but it does feature an excellent set of focused CPU/memory benchmarks. Take your pick of either package, the $40 AIDA 64 Extreme Edition (for personal use) or the $80 AIDA64 Business Edition (for commercial use)--you wo... |
After dealing with the bloat of some of the larger packages, you have to love a benchmark as quick, simple, and tiny as the free CrystalDiskMark. It's the smallest program here. You'll know how to use it the second you set eyes on the interface. No need to wade through menus or 25-minute processing queues, either--a fe... |
Fraps was created with the same philosophy. It sits atop any game and displays the frame rate in the upper-right corner of your screen. The free demo is perfectly functional, though the $37 professional version can also take screenshots, record gameplay video, and more. It may sound simple, but Fraps doesn't get half t... |
If you decide to give some of these suites a try, remember a couple of basics: Don't run any background applications while you're using a benchmark, and try to keep the computing environment consistent between runs. For example, if you're using Fraps to determine your frame rate in a game, stick with the same saved gam... |
Still curious about what a benchmark will tell you about your system? Time to take a crack at it. Pick a few apps, and get the ball rolling. You'll be surprised at what you learn. |
We dig into the Seattle P-I archive for these throwback Thursday photos of one of Seattle's favorite parks. The photos include people protesting allowing bikes on the path there, an ice rescue, the old mini-railroad at the park and of course people walking and sunbathing. |
Original caption: George Lindberg, a young 77, walks his bike through the new obstacles at the Green Lake path designed to stop high-speed bikers. Photo by Bob Miller. May 6, 1980. |
Original caption: Robin Holsington, at microphone with sign, voices opposition to bicycles on the path around Green Lake. Photo by Cary Tolman. November 20, 1986. |
Original caption: A mid-day haze gives walk, trees at Green Lake an eerie look. Photo by Cary Tolman. February 25, 1977. |
Original caption: Crowd at West Green Lake Beach during P-I swim classes. Photo by Bob Miller. July 13, 1965. |
This view looks southeast from Green Lake Drive North and Wallingford Avenue North, Jan. 4, 1913. |
Green Lake is shown in this undated photo. |
Original caption: Clifford Duncan on the Green Lake Railroad. July 24, 1947. |
Original caption: Seattle Park Dept. sailing classes have their graduation race on Greenlake. Photo by Bob Miller. June 15, 1975. |
Original caption: Mayor Wes Uhlman and County Executive John Spellman ride bikes at Greenlake. Photo by Cary Tolman. September 5, 1971. |
Original caption: Standing with bowed heads, old friends of Lt. Col. E. Raymond Attobery, beloved Seattle pastor-chaplain, bear the Rev. May 31, 1944. |
Original caption: Green Lake lifeguards. Photo by Grant Haller. July 8, 1976. |
Original caption: One of the two milfoil harvesters that began plying the waters of Greenlake Monday morning heads for shore with a load of the pesky weed. July 31, 1992. |
An undated photo of a frozen Green Lake. |
Original caption: Green Lake beach, recreation for all, young and old. June 30, 1948. |
Original caption: The painted outlines of about 20 bodies as well as slogans protesting El Salvador death squads showed up on the paths around Green Lake yesterday. Photo by Phil Webber. April 18, 1990. |
Original caption: With steam up and a full crew and passenger load aboard, Train No. 1 of the S. B. B., and O. Railroad took off for a test run yesterday on its new route near Green Lake. July 24, 1947. |
A large crack opened near the south end of Green Lake during Seattle's April 13, 1949 earthquake. |
Construction of the Green Lake Aqua Theater, June 12, 1950. |
Original caption: Arrow shows object of rescuers' efforts on a frozen Green Lake. Photo by Phil Webber. January 4, 1979. |
An undated aerial photo of Green Lake. |
Original caption: On a blustery day, fisherman Brian Henaby found solitude down the long dock at Green Lake. November 29, 1993. |
Original caption: A bike rider ignores the signs on the path cyclists share with pedestrians and others on wheels at Green Lake. Photo by Cary Tolman. June 17, 1987. |
Original caption: Rules already in force would solve many of Green Lake's traffic problems but very few people pay any attention to them. Photo by Cary Tolman. May 6, 1986. |
Kim Heil-Smith lives in some seriously wild country in Minnesota, which is probably why she ran into a bear when she opened the door from her house to her garage a week ago. |
The bear was a mom and she had her cub along, which is why she took offense at the invasion and went after Heil-Smith, about 25 or 26 stitches worth. |
Now, "Bear Bites Woman'' isn't scintillating enough, so the $100 haircuts came across with questions like "did you think this was your last moment?" and "what were your last thoughts?" |
A bear is on you, and you take time for introspection? |
Heil-Smith tells the Duluth News-Tribune that her answer was "no, I just wanted to get her the hell off of me." |
Only afterward did it probably occurred to her that she faced difficulty as a Realtor, trying to sell homes in a neighborhood where you might get eaten by a bear. |
Shaquille O'Neal tells Fox Sports Net's Carolyn Hughes, "I think what makes me me is that I'm humble." |
When a man says he's humble, can he be humble? |
And when a man seeks his place in the NBA pantheon by saying he wants to win at least five titles with the Lakers "so I can be remembered in the same breathera as Magic and Kareem. Right now I'm not in that breathera," is humility possible? |
When he makes up words like "breathera," is modesty involved? |
And when he says in Stuff magazine that Orlando, Fla., is his favorite city "because my house there is 65,000 square feet," can he be self-effacing? |
Northern Illinois begins the season with a win over then-No. 15 Maryland, and last week handled then-No. 20 Alabama and went into the top 25 for the first time in the school's history. |
Between the two wins, Northern Illinois beat Tennessee Tech 42-17, and, coach Joe Novak tells the Associated Press, "I had a lot of people grumbling to me, 'Boy, you guys didn't play very good.' I knew then we'd arrived because we're grumbling and mumbling about a 25-point win." |
Ugueth Urbina has been a reliever for the Marlins since July, but manager Jack McKeon still has problems with his first name. He tells the Philadelphia Inquirer, "Yoo-bee, Yogi, I don't know. I call him Yogi. That's a hell of a lot easier." |
IRL driver Sam Hornish Jr. was apparently in a hurry Sunday at Fontana International Speedway, because he won the Toyota Indy 400 at an average speed of 207.151 mph, the first time a race has been completed at an average of over 200. |
The U.S. women play Nigeria tonight in a World Cup game in Philadelphia, but nobody will be surprised it the game is more like the Eagles against the Redskins. Nigeria is that rough. |
"Joy is like, 'Are you serious?' " |
Faucett, a U.S. co-captain, has three children. |
Blasting critics in tweets and press releases might not go over well with the mainstream buyers Tesla CEO Elon Musk seeks for the new Model 3 sedan. |
SAN FRANCISCO — Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, don't take criticism lightly, a stance that has helped rally customers and investors alike during a tumultuous 15-year run. |
But while it's one thing to fire back at critical auto reviewers or skeptical financial analysts, that strident defense can come off as cold when it follows the death of a customer using Autopilot or reports of injury and harassment at a factory. |
And that could be a problem for a company hoping to shift gears this year from a niche provider of $100,000 techie status symbols to a mainstream manufacturer of $35,000 autos, the Model 3, for average Americans. |
Its progress on that front will become more clear late Wednesday when it reports financial results, which will be scrutinized for the production of its new Model 3 cars and signs it has enough cash to survive. |
"You need to show empathy when there’s a consumer-facing product involved,” says Michael Meath, crisis communications expert and visiting professor at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School. |
A down-to-earth Musk 2.0 may play better with heartland buyers who increasingly will have electric car options from automakers ranging from General Motors to Volvo, says Karl Brauer, executive publisher of Cox Automotive. |
“Elon doesn’t just do his own thing, he revels in throwing it in everyone’s face,” he says. That doesn't work as well for a large, mature automaker. Musk’s style and his mainstream mission could be on a “collision course,” Brauer says. |
Tesla declined to provide Musk for an interview and said it stands by its statements in the wake of past incidents. |
There are constituents who would likely celebrate Tesla's demise, namely investors short-selling the stock and established automakers eager for one less competitor. |
Tesla's (TSLA) market value $48 billion — just under General Motors' value of $53 billion despite Tesla's relatively low car production — helps generate media scrutiny of its every move. |
But even allowing for some understandable defensiveness, Tesla's responses to criticism contrast with the more contrite public comments many consumer companies take after a fatality or serious problem, whether or not the blame is immediately clear. |
— A crash in Florida in May 2016 that killed the Tesla driver when his Model S in Autopilot mode failed to slow as a tractor-trailer cut across its path. |
Tesla's "A Tragic Loss" blog post led with a full-throated defense of Autopilot, noting "this is the first known fatality in just over 130 million miles where Autopilot was activated." In the last paragraph, it extended sympathies to the family. Musk later tweeted: "Our condolences for the tragic loss." |
The National Transportation Safety Board later concluded Tesla shared the blame for the crash for allowing the use of Autopilot on a road with frequent intersections. It also faulted the driver for relying on it too much. |
— A crash in March 2018 in Mountain View, Calif., that killed driver Walter Huang when his Model X in Autopilot mode slammed into a highway divider. |
Tesla's first blog post on the matter opened with a statement about how the company was "deeply saddened" by the death, then continued with a 500-word explanation of the technology, including Autopilot's safety record. |
After Huang's family hired lawyers to look into a lawsuit, the company issued a statement saying Huang “was not paying attention to the road, despite the car providing multiple warnings to do so." |
Tesla also issued a second blog post revealing details from the Model X's computer logs indicating Huang had ignored warnings to resume control of the car. The National Transportation Safety Board scolded Tesla for sharing such details during an ongoing investigation. But Musk tweeted that "to do otherwise would be uns... |
— Accusations by some workers and reports by media outlets that its factory in Fremont, Calif., has seen incidents of racism, sexism and, most recently, underreported worker injuries. The factory is at the center of Tesla's output goals and recently announced 24/7 shifts aimed at spurring Model 3 production to 6,000 ca... |
Three African-American former workers sued Tesla last year claiming they suffered daily harassment, including being called a racial slur. Tesla deflected the claims, noting that the former employees hadn't brought any claims before and worked there only a short time. |
The complaint included comments from Musk in a May 2017 memo to factory employees after previous harassment and discrimination complaints where he advised, "In fairness, if someone is a jerk to you, but sincerely apologizes, it is important to be thick-skinned and accept that apology." |
A lengthy investigation by the Center for Investigative Reporting's Reveal team, anchored to interviews with former Tesla safety engineers, said the company's injury numbers were improving due to underreporting. Tesla slammed the report as an "ideologically motivated attack by an extremist organization." |
What's on Musk's mind is usually only a check of Twitter away, where he is known for missives that range from arch to tart when Tesla's stumbles are raised. |
There was a smackdown of a transportation consultant who suggested Musk's views were elitist ("You're an idiot," Musk tweeted) and a dismissal of critics questioning the company’s valuation (“Telsa is absurdly overvalued if based on the past, but that’s irrelevant,” Musk tweeted). |
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