Today’s topics include the release of the BlackBerry Classic smartphone on the T-Mobile service, a new cloud database from Google, AMD moving back into the high-performance PC and data center server markets and new commercial partnerships for IBM.
The BlackBerry Classic smartphone, which features enterprise-grade security and key business productivity tools, will be available to T-Mobile customers starting on May 13.
The Classic, which debuted in December 2014 from BlackBerry, is already available from AT&T and Verizon Wireless, but until now was not offered to T-Mobile’s 56.8 million customers.
The BlackBerry Classic includes the company’s well-known QWERTY keyboard, trackpad and navigation keys, as well as a 3.5-inch square touch-screen HD display that is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for strength.
Google has launched a new cloud database service based on the same technology that powers most of the company’s largest applications, including Gmail and Google Analytics.
Google Cloud Bigtable, currently available in beta, is being marketed to companies looking to process massive data sets without having to go through the hassle of building and managing their own technology stacks to do it.
The company describes it as a fully managed, highly scalable NoSQL database service accessible through the open-source Apache Hbase application programming interface.
Advanced Micro Devices is moving back into the high-performance PC and data center server markets, focusing on emerging markets like immersive computing.
Speaking at a May 6 financial analyst meeting—the company’s first in three years—CEO Lisa Su and other AMD executives outlined a roadmap that includes a new high-end PC chip based on the upcoming “Zen” architecture, and new Radeon graphics products.
IBM announced new commercial partnerships and cognitive computing applications and services to promote the adoption of Watson technologies. IBM also announced new partner-led client engagements to apply the power of Watson to transform industries and professions.
The IBM event, known as the World of Watson, highlighted a number of new partnerships, in-market apps, partner-led client engagements and cognitive computing apps and services. IBM has welcomed more than 270 new commercial partners to the Watson Ecosystem.