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Today’s topics include an update to Bing’s iPhone app, Britecell photo technology will be a part of Samsung’s new smartphones, AMD is launching a new initiative to ease high-performance computing development on GPUs, and Panasonic launches the Toughbook 20.
Sporting a new look and feel, and currently available in the Apple App Store, the latest version of Microsoft’s Bing app for iPhone, version 6, comes a step closer to serving as a search-based hub for mobile experiences.
On the iPhone, the app is aware of other media-handling apps, enabling users to view streaming movies or listen to music on their preferred apps.
For a night on the town, Bing now enables users to find local restaurants, peruse their ratings and reserve a table from within the app.
Samsung has introduced Britecell, photo technology that uses smaller pixels which have more sensitivity to low light levels, a combination that means brighter photographs even in poor lighting situations.
The developing Britecell technology was revealed by the company at the Samsung Electronics 2015 Investors Forum and could appear in Samsung smartphones and other consumer devices sometime in 2016, according to a Nov. 18 story by SamMobile. The announcement followed a patent application for Britecell, which was recently filed.
Advanced Micro Devices is pushing a new initiative designed to expand the presence of its FirePro graphics technology in the high-performance computing space by accelerating application performance through software.
AMD is building on its work around heterogeneous computing to develop tools that officials say will increase the performance and efficiency of high-performance computing systems that can leverage both CPUs and discrete GPUs.
The offerings are part of what company officials are calling the Boltzmann Initiative—after Ludwig Boltzmann, who developed the theory of development of statistical mechanics.
Panasonic expanded its line of rugged devices with the launch of the Toughbook 20, a detachable notebook featuring sixth-generation Intel Core vPro processor technology, a 128-gigabyte solid-state drive, 8 gigabytes of RAM and a choice of Windows 10 Pro or Windows 7 Professional.
The Toughbook 20 offers six usage modes, and the tablet can be detached and used by itself or flipped 180-degrees to show content in presentation mode.
The convertible mode allows users to see the display with the keyboard attached. Using the built-in handle, the device can operate in carry mode or hang on a wall. Its vehicle mode provides functionality and operation of the device when on the move.