Some may have already forgotten about Sun Microsystems, the company that introduced the SPARC processor and developed Java. The once mighty workstation maker was bought by Oracle in 2010. It seems that the last of […]
Category: Enterprise
NVIDIA and Indonesia university set up first AI R&D centre in Jakarta
NVIDIA has teamed up with BINUS University and Kinetica to establish the first artificial intelligence (AI) research and development (R&D) centre in Indonesia.
Located at the university’s Anggrek Campus, the centre will support BINUS University’s aim to be the premier R&D hub for Al in Indonesia. Leveraging the power of NVIDIA’s GPUs, it will be a showcase of the commercial potential of GPU-accelerated deep learning applications.
“Today, we stand at the beginning of the AI computing era, ignited by a new computing model, GPU deep learning. This new model — where deep neural networks are trained to recognise patterns from massive amounts of data — has proven to be ‘unreasonably’ effective at solving some of the most complex problems in computer science. In this era, software writes itself and machines learn. Soon, hundreds of billions of devices will be infused with intelligence. AI will revolutionise every industry. NVIDIA provides the products and solutions to power this revolution,” said Raymond Teh, Vice President of APAC Sales and Marketing of NVIDIA.
Security spending to hit US$86.4billion in 2017
With prominent ransomware attacks that affected many organisations, it is unsurprising that many are investing more in security products and services. According to Gartner, worldwide spending on information security products and services is expected to reach US$86.4 billion in 2017, an increase of 7 percent over 2016. This is expected to grow to US$93 billion in 2018.
Within the infrastructure protection segment, Gartner forecasts fast growth in the security testing market (albeit from a small base) due to continued data breaches and growing demands for application security testing as part of DevOps. Spending on emerging application security testing tools, particularly interactive application security testing, will contribute to the growth of this segment through 2021.
Security services will continue to be the fastest growing segment, especially IT outsourcing, consulting and implementation services. However, hardware support services will see growth slowing, due to the adoption of virtual appliances, public cloud and software as a service editions of security solutions, which reduces the need for attached hardware support overall.
NVIDIA invests in Chinese auto startup
NVIDIA is among a group of investors led by Chinese social media company Sina investing more than US$20 million in Chinese startup TuSimple.
Formed in 2015, TuSimple has more than 100 employees in R&D centres in Beijing and San Diego developing technology for autonomous long-distance freight delivery. It uses NVIDIA GPUs, NVIDIA DRIVE PX 2, Jetson TX2, CUDA, TensorRT, and cuDNN to develop its autonomous driving solution.
In June, the company successfully completed a 200-mile Level 4 test drive from San Diego to Yuma, Arizona, using NVIDIA GPUs and cameras as the primary sensor.
China to dominate APAC robotics spending
Spurred by growing interest in artificial intelligence (AI), the Asia-Pacific (APAC) robotics market is expected to growth to US$162 billion in 2021, accounting for 70 percent of the world’s total robotics market in 2021, according to […]
ICML: Gathering of the brightest in AI
“I’m amazed at the quality of the papers presented. The project teams’ line of thinking and breakthrough concepts are refreshing,” exclaimed a leading artificial intelligence (AI) scientist at the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) in Sydney.
International Convention Centre Sydney was a massive hive of activities as 3,000 of the world’s top researchers, developers and students in AI gathered for ICML. The participants moved rapidly from one workshop to another and took great interest in the exhibition booths of top deep learning proponents such as NVIDIA, Google and Facebook.
With so many bright young talents. the event proved to be a good fishing ground for vendors as they held recruitment interviews at their booths, as well as posted openings on the board.
Worldwide semiconductor market to grow 10.2% in 2017
Global semiconductor market is expected to grow 10.2 percent in 2017, to US$77.7 billion, according to Gartner.
This growth rate is up from the previous quarter’s forecast of 1.4 percent, due to continued aggressive investment in memory and leading-edge logic which is driving spending in wafer-level equipment.
“Spending momentum is more concentrated in 2017 mainly due to strong manufacturing demand in memory and leading-edge logic. The NAND flash shortage was more pronounced in the first quarter of 2017 than the previous forecast, leading to over 20 percent growth of etch and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) segments in 2017 with a strong capacity ramp-up for 3D NAND,” said Takashi Ogawa, Research Vice President of Gartner.
More graphics power for creative professionals
One of the flaws of notebooks is the lack of upgrading capabilities. This is especially so for creative professionals whose work are increasingly more demanding and complex, requiring more graphics processing power. NVIDIA has solved […]
AI to fuel next wave of cloud growth
The cloud infrastructure services market is continuing to grow strongly, up 47 percent year on year in Q2 to reach US$14 billion, according to Canalys. Growth was driven by demand for primary cloud infrastructure services, such as on-demand computing and storage, across all customer segments and industries.
However, future growth is expected to be fueled by customers using the artificial intelligence (AI) platforms cloud service providers are building to develop new applications, processes, services, and user experiences.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) maintained its leadership position, growing 42 percent on an annual basis and accounting for more than 30 percent of total spend. But its growth rate was lower than those of its main rivals, Microsoft (up 97 percent growth) and Google (up 92 percent), but higher than fourth-placed IBM (up 23 percent). Overall, the top four cloud services providers represented 55 percent of the cloud infrastructure services market, which includes IaaS and PaaS.
Amazon Prime Now makes first SEA stop in Singapore
The online grocery market in Singapore has just gotten hotter with Amazon’s launch of its Prime Now service. It is the e-commerce giant’s first stop in the region. Prime Now offers tens of thousands of […]
Motorola and Neurala to work on intelligent cameras
Motorola Solutions and Neurala will develop intelligent cameras that will enable police officers to more efficiently search for objects or persons of interest, such as missing children and suspects.
The companies will integrate Neurala’s artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities with Motorola Solutions’ software and cameras, including its Si500 body-worn camera. The integration will create intelligent cameras that can learn “at the edge” and automatically search for persons or objects of interest – significantly reducing the time and effort required to find a missing child or suspicious object in environments that are often crowded or chaotic.
“We see powerful potential for AI to improve safety and efficiency for our customers, which in turn helps create safer communities. But applying AI in a public safety setting presents unique challenges. Neurala’s ‘edge learning’ capabilities will help us explore solutions for a variety of public safety workflows such as finding a missing child or investigating an object of interest, such as a bicycle,” said Paul Steinberg, Chief Technology Officer of Motorola Solutions.
NVIDIA Tesla V100 surprise for world’s top AI researchers
Fifteen top AI research institutions of the NVIDIA AI Labs programmes were each presented with the Volta-based NVIDIA Tesla V100 GPU accelerator.
They were participating in Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR) conference in Honolulu.
“AI is the most powerful technology force that we have ever known. I’ve seen everything. I’ve seen the coming and going of the client-server revolution. I’ve seen the coming and going of the PC revolution. Absolutely nothing compares,” said Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA.
AI takes centrestage at ICML in Sydney
NVIDIA is bringing its wealth of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions and expertise to the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) in Sydney.
Held at Sydney International Convention Centre from August 6 to 11, the event is expected to attract up to 3,000 participants, primarily faculty, researchers and PhD students in machine learning, data science, data mining, AI, statistics, and related fields.
The NVIDIA booth (Level 2, The Gallery, Booth #4) will feature many firsts in Australia, such as demos on 4K style transfer, a deep neural network to extract a specific artistic style from a source painting, and then synthesises this information with the content of a separate video; self-driving auto using the Drive PX2 AI car computing platform; Deepstream SDK that simplifies development of high performance video analytics applications powered by deep learning; and NVIDIA Isaac, the AI-based software platform lets developers train virtual robots using detailed and highly realistic test scenarios.
Dell launches 14th gen servers
Dell has announced worldwide availability of the next generation of the Dell PowerEdge server portfolio which forms a scalable, automated and secure compute platform for traditional and cloud-native applications.
With its scalable business architecture, intelligent automation and integrated security, the new Dell PowerEdge 14th generation server portfolio delivers aims to be the bedrock of the modern data centre, enabling customers to push innovation further and faster to achieve their IT transformation goals.
The scalable business architecture of Dell PowerEdge servers helps customers efficiently meet their changing business needs with enhanced performance capabilities for traditional, virtualised and cloud-native workloads in a software-defined data centre.
Students’ demand drives Aussie IT spending
Australian educational institutions are increasing information technology (IT) spending in response to dramatic changes in student expectations, according to IDC.
Spending by Australian educational institutions is expected to peak at US$1.6 billion by 2020, driven by software and services related investments. Education practices are shifting away from the classroom towards e-learning and virtual instructor-led training approaches as students are demanding anytime-anywhere remote access.
In its recently published Australian education sector report, IDC highlights the need to overhaul existing ICT management models in schools and universities so that a step-change improvement in delivery efficiency can be achieved.
APAC PC market down 5.1% in Q2
PC shipment in the Asia-Pacific region surpassed 21,5 million units, down 5.1 percent in Q2 compared to the same period last year, according to Gartner.
The dip was due to primarily due to market dynamics in India and China. In India, the pent up demand after the demonetisation cooled down after Q1, coupled with the absence of a large tender deal compared to a year ago and higher PC prices, brought about weak market growth. China was hugely impacted by the rise in PC prices due to the component shortage.
Overall, global PC shipment totaled 61.1 million units in Q2, a 4.3 percent decline from the same quarter last year.
Full PC backup with Google
Google has launched the Backup and Sync tool for users to easily back up practically all files on their computer. This new tool will replace the Google Photos desktop app and the Google Drive client applications for […]
NVIDIA invests in Deep Instinct
NVIDIA is investing in Deep Instinct, an Israeli-based startup that uses deep learning to thwart cyber attacks.
Deep Instinct uses a GPU-based neural network and CUDA to achieve 99 percent detection rates, compared with about 80 percent detection from conventional cyber security software. Its software can automatically detect and defeat the most advanced cyber attacks.
“Deep Instinct is an emerging leader in applying GPU-powered AI through deep learning to address cybersecurity, a field ripe for disruption as enterprise customers migrate away from traditional solutions. We’re excited to work together with Deep Instinct to advance this important field,” said Jeff Herbst, Vice President of Business Development of NVIDIA.
Fujitsu announces new Xeon-based servers
Fujitsu has introduced its fully refreshed range of Xeon-based dual- and quad-socket Primergy servers and octo-socket Primequest business critical server systems.
These new servers are powerful and flexible, enabling enterprises to build secure, agile, multi-cloud data centres.
Featuring the new Intel Xeon scalable processors, the Fujitsu Server Primergy and Primequest business model server systems are designed for exceptional workload-specific performance and hardware-enhanced security. Built for trusted data service delivery, the new models represent significant leaps in I/O, memory, storage and network technologies.
Singapore seeks feedback on cybersecurity bill
Singapore’s Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) and the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) are seeking feedback on the proposed Cybersecurity Bill.
The public consultation exercise will run till August 3.
“Cyber-attacks are getting increasingly frequent, sophisticated and impactful. Globally, we have also seen a surge in the number of cybersecurity incidents, such as ransomware, cyber theft, banking fraud, cyber espionage and disruptions to Internet services. In Singapore, the recent Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) attacks targeting two of our universities, and the occurrence of the global WannaCry and Petya/Petna malware attacks which also reached our shores, serve as stark reminders of Singapore’s vulnerability to cyber threats,” noted the joint press release.
NVIDIA and Baidu team up on AI
NVIDIA and Baidu have teamed up to bring artificial intelligence (AI) technology to cloud computing, self-driving vehicles and AI home assistants.
Baidu will deploy NVIDIA HGX architecture with Tesla Volta V100 and Tesla P4 GPU accelerators for AI training and inference in its data centres. Combined with Baidu’s PaddlePaddle deep learning framework and NVIDIA’s TensorRT deep learning inference software, researchers and companies can harness state-of-the-art technology to develop products and services with real-time understanding of images, speech, text and video.
To accelerate AI development, the companies will work together to optimise Baidu’s open-source PaddlePaddle deep learning framework on NVIDIA’s Volta GPU architecture.
Petya ransomware cripples networks
Just like a scene out of a Hollywood movie, one computer after computer shut down without notice during a meeting. That’s what happened at one of the organisations hit by the Petya ransomware attack.
The strike is malicious and deadly with many affected organisations struggling to recover lost data — some, if not all, of which may never be restored.
IT security teams are still working to get their networks and computers up and running. Some have turned to Apple computers, which are relatively unscathed, to work on the recovery process.
Bizagi and Fuji Xerox HK in strategic partnership
Digital process automation software provider Bizagi and Fuji Xerox (Hong Kong) have formed a strategic partnership to help organisations in Hong Kong thrive in the digital era.
Bizagi’s Digital Business Platform connects people, applications, devices and information to deliver the foundations of a digital business. It is known for its ease-of-use, short time to deliver value, scalability, and wide integration capabilities.
“We are pleased to form our first strategic partnership in the region. By combining the deep expertise from Fuji Xerox (Hong Kong) in business process services with the wide ranging capabilities of our leading digital business platform, we can offer the region’s most comprehensive solutions and services for digital transformation,” said Gustavo Gomez, CEO of Bizagi.
NVIDIA receives DOE funding for HPC research
NVIDIA is among six technology companies to receive a total of US$258 funding from the US Department of Energy’s Exascale Computing Project (ECP).
The funding is to accelerate the development of next-generation supercomputers with the delivery of at least two exascale computing systems, one of which is targeted by 2021.
Such systems would be about 50 times more powerful than the US’ fastest supercomputer, Titan, located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
OpenSynergy’s virtualisation platform now supports ARMv8-A architecture
OpenSynergy’s COQOS SDK v9.0 virtualisation platform now supports ARMv8-A architectures.
The 64-bit bus width of the ARMv8-A processors makes it possible to meet the high performance requirements of the next generation automotive ECU’s such as cockpit controllers or driver assistance systems.
“With COQOS SDK v9.0, we enable our customers to take full advantage of the newest automotive system-on-chips (SoCs),” said Stefaan Sonck Thiebaut, CEO of OpenSynergy.
Security concern for wearable cameras in enterprises
As the enterprise wearable camera market continues to grow through law enforcement, field services and first responder applications due to their ability to collect evidence and record interactions, so do privacy and data protection concerns, according to ABI Research.
The research firm forecasts enterprise wearable camera shipment to reach nearly 24 million in 2022.
“Despite clear advantages to the usage of this technology, enterprises fear attacks from cybercriminals and data theft. With massive data leaks often reaching mainstream news, public concern is rising over the security of wearable camera recordings, including who has access to such footage and for how long,” said Stephanie Lawrence, Research Analyst of ABI Research.
Singapore and Shanghai among top autonomous vehicle cities
Shanghai and Singapore are among the world’s top four cities that are ready for autonomous vehicles, according to Canalys.
San Francisco is out in front while London is also among the top four. These rise to the top of a group of cities that, due to their size and populations, have some of the most complex transport networks in the world. The top four have a high need for autonomous vehicles to revolutionise their transport systems, combined with the ability to make it happen.
“Naturally, San Francisco leads the way and is the city best able to implement autonomous vehicles. The Bay Area is renowned as the world’s AV testing capital,” said Chris Jones, Chief Analyst of Canalys.
Taiwan: Home of GeForce!
At the keynote of NVIDIA AI Forum, NVIDIA CEO and Founder Jensen Huang called “Taiwan is the home of NVIDIA’s GeForce system”.
Video gaming is a US$100 billion industry and “GeForce PC gaming is the number one platform, nearly 200 million GeForce installed base,” declared Huang.
He announced the new NVIDIA Max-Q platform which lets gaming notebook makers produce faster, slimmer and quieter machines.
Computex starts tomorrow!
Computex, Asia’s biggest technology show and one of the largest in the world, will kick off in Taipei tomorrow and end on June 3. Spread across Taipei World Trade Centre halls in Xinyi District and […]
Softbank invests US$4b in NVIDIA
SoftBank Group has taken a US$4 billion stake in NVIDIA, according to Bloomberg. This dovetails nicely with SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son’s aim to become the biggest investor in technology over the next decade. NVIDIA’s stocks tripled last […]
Singapore to focus on 4 technology areas
Singapore will be focusing on four technology areas to build the foundation for its digital transformation. These are artificial intelligence (AI) and data science, cybersecurity, immersive media, and Internet of Things and future communications infrastructure.
At the opening of Infocomm Media Business Exchange at Marina Bay Sands Singapore Convention Centre, Minister for Communications and Information Dr Yaacob Ibrahim noted that “they are exciting fields with bright prospects in their own right, and they have great potential to transform other industries and enhance people’s lives”.
Artificial Intelligence and Data Science
The nation has established AI.SG, a national programme with funding of up to S$150 million to boost Singapore’s AI capabilities.
Keeping drivers safe
With all that rage of artificial intelligence (AI) powering driverless cars, the same technology can also be used to keep drivers safe. It can acts like a guardian angel and look our for danger (watch […]
Enhancing public safety
Motorola Solutions has unveiled highly advanced technology solutions to enhance the capabilities of nation-wide public safety networks at Critical Communications World 2017 in Hong Kong. These include mission-critical radio technologies, specialised software, mission critical broadband, command […]
From professional skills to utilities
Robots driven by artificial intelligence (AI) are replacing workers in various labour-intensive and service sectors but doctors, lawyers and even IT professionals are at risk of being made redundant. Or at least, certain aspects of each of these practices.
According to Gartner, smart machines and robots may replace highly trained professionals in tasks within medicine, law and IT by 2022 — that’s just five years more!
“The economics of AI and machine learning will lead to many tasks performed by professionals today becoming low-cost utilities. AI’s effects on different industries will force the enterprise to adjust its business strategy. Many competitive, high-margin industries will become more like utilities as AI turns complex work into a metered service that the enterprise pays for, like electricity,” said Stephen Prentice, Vice President and Gartner Fellow.
Battle for the cloud
The battle for cloud dominance has intensified with key players all growing significantly in Q1. The worldwide cloud infrastructure services market grew 42 percent year on year to reach US$11.4 billion, according to Canalys.
Amazon’s AWS maintained its leadership, holding a stable global market share of 31 percent. It was followed by Microsoft, Google and IBM.
In terms of growth, Microsoft led with 93 percent while Google was up 74 percent, AWS 43 percent, and IBM 38 percent.
Deep Instinct is Most Disruptive Startup
Hundreds of thousands of computers in 150 countries have been hit by the WannaCry ransomware. While users are scampering around trying to fix their computers, the top of mind question is whether this could have […]
GTC draws the big guns!
As a sign of its coming of age, the GPU Technology Conference (GTC) held annually in San Jose, California since 2009, is no longer a niche event but one that is drawing the who’s who […]
Toyota cruises with NVIDIA Drive PX2
Toyota, one of the world’s largest automakers and renowned for its high standards and priority on safety, has picked NVIDIA Drive PX for its autonomous vehicles. It will use the AI car computer platform to power advanced autonomous driving systems planned for market introduction within the next few years
Engineering teams from the two companies are already developing sophisticated software that will enhance the capabilities of Toyota vehicles, enabling them to better understand the massive volume of data generated by sensors on the car, and to handle the broad spectrum of autonomous driving situations.
“Toyota has worked on autonomous driving technologies for over 20 years with the aim of reducing traffic fatalities to zero as an ultimate goal, achieving smoother traffic, and providing mobility for all. Through this collaboration, we intend to accelerate the development of autonomous driving systems that are even more safe and capable,” said Ken Koibuchi, Executive General Manager of Toyota.
Finally, the Big Bang for AI!
Artificial intelligence (AI) is not new. In fact, it has so many false starts over the past 60 years. The term went into hibernation for a long time.
Research into AI began way back in Dartmouth College in 1956 and was constantly associated with being the next frontier in the 1980s when mainframe computers ruled and supercomputers were a ginormous investment that very few could afford.
Despite the research put in over the years, the technology never quite took off and fell flat in many instances.
Voila, Volta!
NVIDIA has pulled yet another trick out of its always-filled hat of technology goodies with the launch of Volta, the world’s most powerful GPU computing architecture. At his keynote address at GTC in San Jose, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang dubbed it “the next level of computer projects”.
Volta is created to drive the next wave of advancement in artificial intelligence (AI) and high performance computing.
The first Volta-based processor is the NVIDIA Tesla V100 data centre GPU, which brings extraordinary speed and scalability for AI inferencing and training, as well as for accelerating HPC and graphics workloads.
The making of GTC
By Edward Lim I am attending the GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in San Jose, California this week. It’s a massive conference with more than 7,000 participants from all around the world. After decades of covering and […]
NVIDIA to train 100,000 deep learning developers this year
Interest in deep learning is growing so strongly that NVIDIA expects to train 100,000 developers this year — that’s 10 times more than last year —through its Deep Learning Institute (DLI).
According to research firm IDC, 80 percent of all applications will have an artificial intelligence (AI) component by 2020.
Greg Estes, Vice President of Developer Programs at NVIDIA, noted that there is a hunger for deep learning training. He cited the example of a DLI training at India Institute of Technology (IIT) in India where people came at 7.30am to try to sign up for a fully subscribed course.
Singapore goes big on AI
Singapore is banking big on artificial intelligence to provide solutions in finance, city management and healthcare. The National Research Foundation (NRF) will be investing up to S$150 million over the next five years in AI.SG, […]
Caffe2, anyone?
Facebook is developing new artificial intelligent (AI) systems to help manage the vast amount of information — such as text, images and videos — generated daily so people can better understand the world and communicate more effectively, even as the volume of information increases.
It has worked with NVIDIA on Caffe2, a new AI deep learning framework that allows developers and researchers to create large-scale distributed training scenarios and build machine learning applications for edge devices.
Providing AI-powered services on mobile is a complex data processing task that must happen within the blink of an eye. Increasingly, the processing of lightning-fast AI services requires GPU-accelerated computing, such as that offered by Facebook’s Big Basin servers, as well as highly optimised deep learning software that can leverage the full capability of the accelerated hardware.
No more IDF
After nearly two decades, Intel has decided to bring the curtains down on its annual Intel Developer Forum(IDF). Even the China edition has been canned. A highly anticipated and popular event, IDF was the platform […]
Rise of accelerated computing in data centres
Can’t say this was unexpected as NVIDIA retorts Google’s claim that its custom ASIC Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) was up to 30 times faster than CPUs and NVIDIA’s K80 G for inferencing workloads.
NVIDIA pointed out that Google’s TPU paper has drawn a clear conclusion – without accelerated computing, the scale-out of AI is simply not practical.
The role of data centres has changed considerably in today’s economy. Instead of just serving web pages, advertising and video content, data centres are now recognising voices, detecting images in video streams and connecting users with information they need when they need it.
Massive shift to hybrid infrastructure services underway
The growth of cloud and industrialised services and the decline of traditional data centre outsourcing (DCO) indicate a massive shift toward hybrid infrastructure services, according to Gartner.
In a report containing a series of predictions about IT infrastructure services, Gartner analysts said that by 2020, cloud, hosting and traditional infrastructure services will come in more or less at par in terms of spending.
“As the demand for agility and flexibility grows, organizations will shift toward more industrialised, less-tailored options. Organisations that adopt hybrid infrastructure will optimise costs and increase efficiency. However, it increases the complexity of selecting the right toolset to deliver end-to-end services in a multisourced environment,” said DD Mishra, Research Director of Gartner.
APAC govt increasing investment in IoT technologies
Governments in Asia Pacific are notably vested in the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies because it enables a broad new range of citizen services, according to IDC’s 2016 Global IoT Decision Maker Survey.
Based on the survey, 40 percent of Asia-Pacific government organisations are investing on IoT solutions in the next 12 months while 50 percent of them are investing in an IoT solution in next 12 to 24 months.
“Improving productivity, improving time to market for products/services and improving energy efficiency reducing costs are the top benefits of an IoT solution. IoT enables access to new and granular data sources, empowered by swift connectivity and quick data gathering capability giving access to a wider range of information that enhances the quality of government services at a scale, which previously has been thought to be unattainable,” said Shreyashi Pal, Market Analyst, IDC Asia/Pacific Government and Education Insights.
Singapore universities deploy deep learning supercomputers
First, it was Singapore Management University (SMU). Now two other Singapore universities — Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) — have also deployed the NVIDIA DGX-1 deep learning supercomputer for their research projects on artificial intelligence (AI).
SUTD will use the DGX-1 at the SUTD Brain Lab to further research into machine reasoning and distributed learning. Under a memorandum of understanding signed earlier this month, NVIDIA and SUTD will also set up the NVIDIA-SUTD AI Lab to leverage the power of GPU-accelerated neural networks for researching new theories and algorithms for AI. The agreement also provides for internship opportunities to selected students of the lab.
“Computational power is a game changer for AI research, especially in the areas of big data analytics, robotics, machine reasoning and distributed intelligence. The DGX-1 will enable us to perform significantly more experiments in the same period of time, quickening the discovery of new theories and the design of new applications,” said Professors Shaowei Lin and Georgios Piliouras, Engineering Systems and Design, SUTD.
NVIDIA and Microsoft to accelerate AI cloud computing
NVIDIA and Microsoft are working on a new hyperscale GPU accelerator that will provide hyperscale data centres with a fast, flexible path for artificial intelligence (AI).
The new HGX-1 hyperscale GPU accelerator is an open-source design released in conjunction with Microsoft’s Project Olympus.
HGX-1 does for cloud-based AI workloads what ATX — Advanced Technology eXtended — did for PC motherboards when it was introduced more than two decades ago. It establishes an industry standard that can be rapidly and efficiently embraced to help meet surging market demand.
New Jetson doubles performance
The newly-announced NVIDIA Jetson TX2, a credit card-sized platform that delivers artificial intelligence (AI) computing at the edge, opens the door to powerfully intelligent factory robots, commercial drones and smart cameras for AI cities. Jetson […]
RIKEN turns to NVIDIA supercomputer for deep learning research
RIKEN, Japan’s largest comprehensive research institution, will have a new supercomputer for deep learning research in April. Built by Fujitsu using 24 NVIDIA DGX-1 AI systems, the new machine will accelerate the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to […]
A typo error causes 4-hour outage
It’s amazing how a typo error can wreak havoc to a massive network. On Tuesday, thousands of websites using Amazon’s AWS cloud computing service were disrupted with broken links and partial functionality. And the cause is […]
Fuji Xerox HK to accelerate IoT growth
Fuji Xerox (Hong Kong) aims to ride the Internet of Things (IoT) wave with the introduction of Smart Device 2.0, which comprises three key IoT components — cloud application, big data analytics and integrated business workflow.
The new-generation mobile document management smart device consisting of hardware, software and cloud applications is designed particularly for enterprises that handle and manage excessive documents, such as financial and banking, construction and legal industries.
Smart Device 2.0 also works for enterprises and small-to-medium businesses with staff who always work on their mobile devices, because it enables the same working environment regardless of where they are. This smart device is becoming a workplace necessity that streamline workflow; employees are no longer bound by geographical restrictions and can stay connected to their office all the time, helping enterprises save time and costs, and better use their resources.
Gunning for supercomputing supremacy in Japan
Tokyo Institute of Technology plans to create Japan’s fastest AI supercomputer, which is will deliver more than twice the performance of its predecessor to slide into the world’s top 10 fastest systems.
Called Tsubame 3.0, it will use Pascal-based NVIDIA P100 GPUs that are nearly three times as efficient as their predecessors, to reach an expected 12.2 petaflops of double precision performance.
Tsubame 3.0 will excel in AI computation with more than 47 PFLOPS of AI horsepower. When operated with Tsubame 2.5, it is expected to deliver 64.3 PFLOPS, making it Japan’s highest performing AI supercomputer.
Enter Pascal-based Quadro cards
NVIDIA has introduced a range of Pascal-based Quadro products that transforms desktop workstations into supercomputers with breakthrough capabilities for professional workflows across many industries.
Workflows in design, engineering and other areas are evolving rapidly to meet the exponential growth in data size and complexity that comes with photorealism, virtual reality and deep learning technologies.
To tap into these opportunities, the new NVIDIA Quadro Pascal-based lineup – the GP100, P4000, P2000, P1000, P600, and P400 – provides an enterprise-grade visual computing platform that streamlines design and simulation workflows with up to twice the performance of the previous generation, and ultra-fast memory.
Public cloud service in mature APAC region to hit US$10b in 2017
The public cloud services market in the mature Asia-Pacific (APAC) region — Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea — is forecast to grow 17.7 percent in 2017 to total US$10 billion, up from US$8.5 billion in 2016, according to Gartner.
By 2019, Gartner predicts that total public cloud services spending in these countries will rise to US$13.6 billion.
Public cloud services are shared, meterable, elastic and scalable multi-tenanted IT offerings delivered as a subscription-based service to external customers using internet technologies.
1 in 5 user interaction with smartphone will be via VPAs in 2019
Advances in various technologies will drive users to interact with their smartphones in more intuitive ways, said Gartner. It expect that, by 2019, 20 percent of all user interactions with the smartphone will take place via virtual personal assistants (VPAs).
“The role of interactions will intensify through the growing popularity of VPAs among smartphone users and conversations made with smart machines,” said Annette Zimmermann, Research Director of Gartner.
Gartner’s annual mobile apps survey conducted in Q4 among 3,021 consumers across three countries (US, UK and China) found that 42 percent of respondents in the US and 32 percent in the UK used VPAs on their smartphones in the last three months. More than 37 percent of respondents (average across US and UK) used a VPA at least one or more times a day.
SMU uses NVIDIA DGX-1 supercomputer for food recognition project
Singapore is renowned as a food paradise. And with so many mouth-watering dishes to pick from, sometimes even locals have difficulty identifying a specific dish.
Singapore Management University (SMU) is working on a food artificial intelligence (AI) application that is calling on a supercomputer to help with recognising the local dishes to achieve smart food consumption and healthy lifestyle.
The project, developed as part of Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative, requires the analysis of a large number of food photos.
Fuji Xerox Hong Kong announces Smart Device 2.0
Fuji Xerox (Hong Kong) has launched Smart Device 2.0, a new document management smart device that lets businesses achieve smoother workflow as well as higher operational efficiency and productivity by 25 percent. It also helps companies address information technology challenges in a comprehensive manner.
Smart Work Gateway is a brand-new concept that swiftly interconnects cloud network, Smart Device 2.0 and user’s personal mobile device. Office employees can enjoy unprecedented convenience of connecting to their workplace anytime, anywhere. Work is no longer bounded by time or place.
“The all-new Smart Device 2.0, empowered by Smart Work Gateway, truly redefines the ‘smart workplace’ with user-centric and intuitive features, enabling enterprises to not only work smarter, but also build competitive edge and sustainable growth,” said Herbert Hui, Managing Director, Fuji Xerox (Hong Kong) (above).
As the next generation of Smart Device, the Smart Device 2.0 is analytics enabled, cloud enabled and business process enabled – all without the need for server support. Along with high scanning and printing speed, the redesigned multi-functional smart device features a brand-new Super EA-Eco Toner that delivers unrivaled print quality across large printing volumes, ensuring collateral produced will simultaneously achieve consistent quality, higher productivity and cost optimisation.
Entelechy Asia 