EE Times Current

This week, we talk with author George Leopold, who’s just given us his list of the five best documentaries about space.

The next generation of 5G smartphones, gaming on smartphones, and a proposal to enable everyone to keep their official documents – driver’s license, passport – on their phones. We’ll investigate some Qualcomm’s new products and services, and some of the trends it’s enabling.

Also, since Qualcomm’s products are intrinsic to so many worldwide trends, the company is also intrinsic to worldwide trade. We’ll have a conversation about Qualcomm, the electronics industry, and Qualcomm’s largely unknown role in the global market.

You might think that if an auto maker is developing the technology for autonomous driving, then creating the technology for assisted driving – a seemingly less ambitious goal – would practically be a gimme. Think again.

Also, you’ve heard about Moore’s Law coming to an end. That’s because the industry is in fact getting very close to reaching the physical performance limits of silicon. But there is ample opportunity to keep improving electronics, and one way that will be possible is by using semiconductors other than silicon.

And the role that universities play in new technology development is pretty well established. Or at least it was, until AI came along.

A bunch of chip guys from Apple are planning to challenge Intel in the data center — do they stand a chance? Also, Sony claims it’s been doing just about as much R&D in AI as Google and Facebook, and it recently formalized an approach to spreading that expertise throughout the company. And, China has just set aside another $28 billion to further develop its semiconductor industry. Is that enough to help China catch up — and, what if it does?

EE Times attends the Global CEO Summit in Shenzhen, China and talk with top executives about major trends in electronics today: 5G wireless, advanced chip design and manufacturing, and artificial intelligence.

We’ll hear from executives from companies based in the US, Europe, and China, including one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious industrial and electronics companies — Siemens, and one of the worlds youngest and most intensely scrutinized AI startups — Graphcore.

This week...a report from the Linley Conference, traditionally a gold mine of intelligence about where the processor market is going. Also, after one of the flakiest no-shows in high-tech history, secretive startup Groq finally speaks. And, we have a conversation with MEMS specialist and futurist Peter Hartwell, chief technical officer of TDK InvenSense.

This week, we discuss the film “The Current War,” and the race between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse to light up the world in the 1890s.

Also, video has been captured the same way for more than 125 years. But modern electronics is making it possible to capture and display video in an entirely new way. We’ll talk about the French company that is doing it.

Tesla Motors, automotive features, vehicular gimmicks, and the weird eagerness among some people to be lab rats for Silicon Valley companies.

Also,India has quietly developed world-class expertise in semiconductor design. We talk with Sanjay Gupta, the person leading NXP’s semiconductor operations in India about India’s aspirations for developing a domestic semiconductor industry.

And … researchers have employed machine learning techniques to train an artificial intelligence to figure out for itself how to draw human faces. Of course, it’s artwork, but is it Art?

This week — we attended a conference hosted by Arm Holdings and report on what we learned about the what's next for circuitry technology.

Also, the big data deluge, and how to make sense of it all.

And, we’re reasonably sure that by the time people turn 16 years old, they’re mature enough to begin operating a motor vehicle. Shouldn’t we consider doing something similar for autonomous vehicles to, you know, verify they’re mature enough to drive by themselves?

This week, packaging chips in the most advanced systems. There are no rules anymore and we’re going to sort it all out for you. Also, conducting business in the Trump Era. It’s beginning to look like the Court of the Sun King. And, there’s growing enthusiasm for going to Mars. We’ll be talking about getting there, which is one thing; but, we’ll also be talking about getting back, which is another thing altogether.