What’s new
Samsung may surpass Intel as world’s biggest chipmaker
A new report by Nomura Securities says that Samsung is about to surpass Intel as the world’s largest semiconductor maker. Intel has been the biggest chip maker by revenue since 1991, but for this past quarter Samsung is projected to hit $15 billion in semiconductor sales, compared with Intel’s $14.4 billion. Samsung, which supplies its own smartphone units but also those of companies such as Apple, is scheduled to report second quarter results on July 28.
You can read more here.
Qualcomm is trying to ban iPhone imports
Qualcomm is asking the US government to ban new iPhones from coming into the country suggesting that Apple was infringing on six patents that have to do with extending a phone’s battery life. “Apple continues to use Qualcomm’s technology while refusing to pay for it,” Don Rosenberg, executive vice president and general counsel of Qualcomm, said in a statement.
More info are available here.
New products
Hydrogen One
Hydrogen One will have a 5.7-inch “hydrogen holographic display” and will run the Android operating system. It will come with a modular camera unit that users can switch out with various camera modules for “higher-quality motion and still images”.
More info here.
Vivo X9s Plus
The phone has a 5.85-inch full-HD AMOLED display, Snapdragon 653 octa-core SoC and a 4015mAh battery. It comes with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage.
More info here.
You might want to know about this
Hackers have been targeting companies that operate nuclear power plants in the U.S.
Among the companies targeted was Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corp., which runs a nuclear power plant in the U.S., according to security consultants and an urgent joint report issued by the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI. The joint report was obtained by the New York Times and confirmed by security specialists who have been responding to the attacks.
You can read more here.
Court rules in favour of Twitter in lawsuit against U.S. government for transparency
A U.S. judge ruled that Twitter could move forward with a lawsuit that aims to free technology companies to speak more openly about surveillance requests they receive from the U.S. government. The U.S. government had failed to show the kind of “clear and present danger” that could possibly justify restraints Twitter’s constitutional right to talk about surveillance requests.
More info can be found here.
Fun stuff
Researcher uses Game Boy Camera to capture 2-bit photos of the moon and Jupiter
Leiden University astronomy student Alexander Pietrow connected the Game Boy Camera, which was designed specifically for Nintendo’s classic portable gaming unit, up to a 179-year-old telescope. The result is what he calls “2bit Astrophotography”.
You can read more here.
