Forward Thinking

[http://www.pcmag.com] Reviews News & Opinions Downloads Business Daily Deals Login Register Subscribe Top Categories See all » Trending Tags See all » Follow About Michael J. Miller Michael J. Miller is chief information officer at Ziff Brothers Investments, a private investment firm. Miller, who was editor-in-chief of PC Magazine from 1991 to 2005, authors this blog for PC Magazine to share his thoughts on PC-related products. No investment advice is offered in this blog. All duties are disclaimed. Miller works separately for a private investment firm which may at any time invest in companies whose products are discussed in this blog, and no disclosure of securities transactions will be made. Read full bio » More Blogs AppScout 'Lord of the Rings: Legends' Begins Its Quest on iOS, Android Security Watch Shut Down the Dark Web? Survey Says ...Yes, Please AMD Unveils Kaveri, Focuses on Heterogeneous Computing Nov 12, 2013 3:16 PM EST Comments By Michael J. Miller At its APU 13 conference last night, AMD announced its next generation processor, code-named Kaveri, will be shipping in desktops starting on January 14, and released a lot of new information about the chip. As the name of the conference suggests, AMD is calling this an "accelerated processing unit" (APU), its term for a processor that has both CPU and graphics capabilities built into a single chip. The company has been talking about Kaveri for some time, but now we have a lot more details. Read More » Categories: Computing, Chips Tags: Intel, chips, AMD, core processors What's Next for Server Chips? Aug 28, 2013 11:36 AM EST Comments By Michael J. Miller At this week's Hot Chips conference, the most interesting announcements were about high-end processors. These are designed for big Unix-based systems, but they show just how much power today's high-end chips can deliver. They aren't the kinds of systems that most of us run in our corporate server racks or that you see in big scale-out data centers, but rather are the ones that run mission-critical applications in large enterprises, or perhaps in high-performance computing situations. Read More » Categories: Computing, Chips Tags: IBM, chips, Hot Chips Flash Memory at a Crossroads Aug 19, 2013 4:26 PM EST Comments By Michael J. Miller For makers of flash memory, now may well be the best of times and the worst of times. On one hand, not only are we using more and more flash memory in our phones, tablets, and increasingly in our notebook computers, but flash has become an integral part of most big data center systems, from storage to enterprise servers. At the same time, the technology that has allowed flash memory to become so ubiquitous and to drop in price so rapidly over the past few years seems to be approaching its end. Read More » Categories: Computing Tags: hard drive, SSDs, Flash Memory How Fast Is a Haswell? Aug 14, 2013 2:41 PM EST Comments By Michael J. Miller Every time there's a new generation of processors, I immediately think: how much faster will it run? I'm not talking about games here, but the kind of business and workstation applications that many enterprises rely on to get real work done. So as I've been able to get my hands on some of the new desktops running Intel's 4th-Generation Core processor known as Haswell, I decided to put the new chips to the test. I know the new processors are mostly being talked about because they are more power-efficient but performance matters as well. Read More » Categories: Computing Tags: Intel, core processors, Haswell, benchmarks Remembering Doug Engelbart Jul 08, 2013 8:20 AM EST Comments By Michael J. Miller Doug Engelbart, who passed away last week, wasn't a household name. If anything, he will be remembered as the creator of the mouse, the ubiquitous pointing device that is attached to nearly every desktop machine and a large number of laptops. But his contributions were a lot larger than that; indeed, working at the Standard Research Institute (now SRI International) in the late 1960s and 70s, he invented lots of the little things that help define computing as we know it. Read More » Categories: Computing Tags: Arpanet, Doug Engelbart, obit Remembering Citrix Founder Ed Iacobucci Jun 25, 2013 12:38 PM EST Comments By Michael J. Miller I was saddened this weekend to learn about the death of Ed Iacobucci, one of the nicest entrepreneurs I've had a chance to meet. Read More » Categories: Computing Tags: Citrix, Ed Iacobucci, cloud computing, VirtualWorks The World's Fastest Supercomputer Now in China Jun 18, 2013 12:26 PM EST Comments By Michael J. Miller Yesterday's news that China's Tianhe-2 supercomputer is now the fastest in the world isn't all that shocking. After all, an earlier version was on top of the supercomputing list back in 2010. Read More » Categories: Computing Tags: supercomputing Intel and AMD Faceoff at Hot Chips '12 Aug 29, 2012 9:16 PM EST Comments By Michael J. Miller This week is the annual Hot Chips symposium on high performance microprocessors and, as usual, it is dominated by news from AMD and Intel on both their existing chips and on future processors. AMD probably had the most to discuss, talking about its upcoming Jaguar and Steamroller core designs. Intel disclosed a bit more about its current Ivy Bridge chips and upcoming Xeon Phi (Knights Corner) many-integrated-core design. Read More » Categories: Computing, Show Reports, Chips Tags: Intel, AMD, microprocessor, Hot Chips, Knights Corner Laptop Processors: Doing More With Less (Power) Jul 26, 2012 4:33 PM EST Comments By Michael J. Miller You might think that processors hardly matter anymore, especially if you're interested in lightweight notebooks. After all, just about any current notebook can handle basic Web surfing and light word processing. When you start to do more complex work, though, it's clear that processors really do matter, as I found out while testing some spreadsheets on new laptops. I tested machines that were either running Intel's third-generation Core processors (known as Ivy Bridge) or AMD's second-generation A-series accelerated processing units (APUs). Read More » Categories: Computing, Desktops Tags: AMD, processors, Ivy Bridge, core processors, Ultrabooks, sleekbooks Vizio Paves the Way for "A Better PC" Jun 15, 2012 1:32 PM EST Comments By Michael J. Miller Two things struck me last night at Vizio's introduction of its initial line of personal computers: First, it's good to have another entrant in the PC market, especially one that is focused on design and performance rather than purely on price. Second, the PC market overall has been getting much better, particularly in terms of design. Read More » Categories: Computing, Laptops Tags: PCs, Vizio, all-in-one, PC market AMD Bets On Heterogeneous System Architecture Feb 03, 2012 11:14 AM EST Comments By Michael J. Miller At its Financial Analyst Day yesterday, AMD made it clear that its long-term bet is on what it calls "heterogeneous system architecture" (HAS). HAS effectively uses graphics cores and other specialized processors as full and interchangeable parts of the design alongside traditional CPU cores in a way that is transparent to programmers. Read More » Categories: Computing Tags: AMD, GPU, core, CPU AMD Sets New Roadmaps for PCs, Tablets, Servers, and Graphics Feb 03, 2012 9:11 AM EST Comments By Michael J. Miller At its Financial Analyst Day, AMD updated its roadmaps for its complete line, highlighting new low-power client and server processor plans for 2012 and 2013 that seem more incremental than previous plans. It seems like the company wants to make sure it actually delivers the chips on time, while stressing its emphases on hetergenous computing and lower-power solutions. Read More » Categories: Computing Tags: AMD, roadmap AMD Readying for CPU & Graphics Inflection Points Feb 02, 2012 4:09 PM EST Comments By Michael J. Miller At AMD's Financial Analyst Day this morning, CEO Rory Reed and CTO Mark Papermaster laid out the company's new strategy, focusing on system-on-chip (SoC) designs, heterogeneous systems, and low-power solutions. Reed said AMD is primed to capture a new "inflection point" in the industry, differentiated by consumerization, cloud, and convergence. The company will spend 2012 and 2013 focusing on execution in more traditional markets while preparing for the new markets that are developing. Read More » Categories: Computing Tags: roadmap Subscribe // Most Popular Articles 17 Secret Gems Inside Facebook Messenger The Eerie World of Abandoned Arcade Games 5 Reasons to Play Quantum Break Everything Coming to Netflix in April Black Markets and Secret Thumb Drives: How Cubans Get Online Tax Tips for Last-Minute E-Filers » See More // Discover... Hotspots and Secret Drives: How Cubans Get Online 12 Things You Can Replace With a $38 Tablet How Close Are Robots to Making Humans Unnecessary? 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