Amazon quantum computer is on its foundation phase.

According to Bloomberg,  Amazon is working on manufacturing its own quantum computer that can process enormous amounts of data in seconds that would take the most powerful supercomputers hours or days.

The company has hired a Quantum Hardware Team within its Amazon Web Services Center for Quantum Computing, according to internal vacancies and information on LinkedIn. So describes Marc Runyan , a former engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, his title on the professional social network as Quantum Research Scientist at the Amazon Center for Quantum Computing, with the role of "helping design and build a quantum computer for Amazon Web Services'.

Amazon's recent hires include research scientists focused on designing a new superconducting quantum device and manufacturing such machines. Developing its own quantum computer should enable the company to better mirror the approach of its main competitors in the cloud world. IBM first made a quantum computer available to the public in 2016 and has made regular upgrades since then.


MacBook Pro with mini LED display will arrive in the first half of 2021

Apple will be partnering with LG Display to provide the new iPad Pros with mini LED displays. The product is expected to hit the market in early 2021. According to a report from DigiTimes, this technology will also be used in a new MacBook Pro, which would be available in the first half of 2021.

The website is based on a few Taiwanese manufacturers who are already making the necessary preparations to produce the new models. Production of the iPad Pros will be split between Foxconn and Compal, while Quanta Computer will mainly be responsible for the MacBook Pros, followed by Foxconn.

The MacBook Pro lineup is rumored to be complemented by a 14.1-inch model, and a version measuring 16.1-inches. Although no official information is known, these models will most likely have an Apple Silicon, such as the M1-soc.


Growth in strong tablet and chromebook within the PC market.

According to Techspot, PC makers have a reason to cheer this week as the latest quarterly report from Canalys shows strong growth for the second successive quarter. The industry analyst said total PC shipments (including tablets) reached 124.5 million units in the third quarter. That’s up 23 percent compared to the same period a year ago.

Lenovo led the way with 23.5 million units shipped, followed closely by Apple at 22.1 million. HP, Dell, and Samsung rounded out the top five with shipments of 18.7 million units, 12 million units, and 10 million units, respectively.

Pure growth aside, it was also a great quarter for tablets. Apple maintained pole position, shipping 15.2 million units during the three-month period, an increase of 47 percent year over year. Samsung placed second with a little over nine million tablet shipments, up 79.8 percent year over year.

In total, manufacturers shipped 44.3 million tablets during the quarter, good for a 43.3 percent year-over-year increase.


Spotlight: The Oceans Cleanup

Every year, millions of tons of plastic and hardware enter the oceans primarily from rivers. The plastic afloat across the oceans – legacy plastic – isn’t going away by itself. Therefore, solving ocean plastic pollution requires a combination of stemming the inflow and cleaning up what has already accumulated.

The Ocean Cleanup is designing and developing cleanup systems to clean up what is already polluting our oceans and to intercept plastic on its way to the ocean via rivers.

A significant percentage of the plastic that enters the oceans from rivers and other sources during a transfer that can take many years, drifts into large systems of circulating ocean currents, also known as gyres. Once trapped in a gyre, the plastic will slowly break down into microplastics and become increasingly easier to mistake for food by sea life.

To read more about this, click the link; https://theoceancleanup.com/about/

 


The Dutch coronavirus app goes nationwide

The Dutch Coronavirus tracing app was introduced across the country on the 10th of October 2020 following the last senate vote of using the alert-based system.

The CoronaMelder app which was first introduced in early April will warn users if they have spent 15 minutes or more in close contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus in so far as the user gives permission for the information to be used.

It is not yet compulsory to use the app, which works by exchanging random codes with other phones via Bluetooth technology. The app has been available for download since mid-August and was already operational in five of the 25 regional health districts.

The app is available in English as well as Dutch and there is information about how it works in a number of other languages online, including German, Polish and Turkish.


Apple likely to announce new Macs with custom silicon on its next scheduled event on November 10

Apple on Monday announced its third media event in as many months, inviting interested parties to tune in for an online presentation next week on November 10. There has been a rumor that during the upcoming event, Apple will be announcing that they will be transitioning to the next wave which is custom silicon.

Back in June during its WWDC keynote, Apple said it would begin the switch from Intel hardware to custom Apple silicon later this year.

With two events already in the books – one in September that focused on new Apple Watches and an updated iPad, and another in October that highlighted the iPhone 12 family – the Mac is really the only major product line that Apple has left to update.

Next week, we might see several other devices crack attention, not outside the realm of possibility, but if equipment such as the rumored AirPods Studio headphones or AirTags materializes, they would probably be in addition to news about Arm-based Macs. Neither seems effective enough to involve an event to expose their own product. Meanwhile, Arm is in the process of being acquired by Nvidia, the GPU manufacturer.

The "One More Thing" event for Apple is expected to be streamed over the Internet on November 10 at 10 a.m. pacific


Facebook plans to implement algorithms that limits the virality of political posts

Why it matters?

Facebook is set to deploy more rigid algorithmic tools to limit the spread of viral content on its platform. This is according to a new report by the Wall Street Journal that highlights measures that have been tested in recent elections, including in Sri Lanka and Myanmar, to mitigate disinformation campaigns.

The move is in preparation for the November U.S. presidential election, which is set to pose some unique challenges. The company believes that there’s tremendous potential for upheaval spurred on by the spread of disinformation during election season.

According to a recent blog post by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the country is deeply divided along political lines. Zuckerberg has raised concerns about the recent surge in politically-motivated acts of violence as well as misinformed statements by public figures. He has alluded to these as indicators that democracy could be undermined if information is not regulated.

The following is the statement issued by Andy Stone, the company’s Policy Communications Director, in relation to this. “While I will intentionally not link to the New York Post, I want be clear that this story is eligible to be fact checked by Facebook’s third-party fact checking partners. In the meantime, we are reducing its distribution on our platform.” Facebook currently relies on a network of third-party fact-checking organizations to authenticate such information. They include the Associated Press, the Daily Caller, and France-Presse.


Samsung Galaxy Tab S& Review

Summary

The Galaxy Tab S7 + has a 12.4 "OLED screen. That is very large for an Android tablet and it is simply the nicest screen on an Android or Apple tablet. It also has the fastest soc available for Android at the time. The software runs smoothly and is suitable for demanding tasks. However, few will want or be able to replace their laptop with it, even though the Book Cover Keyboard itself is a nice - albeit pricey - accessory and you get It comes with a handy stylus, but it's ideal for traveling and as a tablet next to a PC or laptop, but expensive, making it by far the best Android tablet you can get.

Pros
  1. Very nice 120Hz OLED screen
  2. Very Smooth user experience
  3. Four fine speakers
  4. Stylus included
  5. DeX mode has added value with a pointer

Negatives
  1. Pricey, especially with Book Cover Keyboard
  2. Slow changer included with a cable that is too short
  3. Not a laptop replacement for most
  4. More flexible than desired
  5. Moderate battery life


Dutch Coronavirus contact apphas been pushed backed until at least mid-October

The Dutch government-backed app which warns people if they come in contact with possible coronavirus patients will not be launched nationwide until mid-October at the earliest, broadcaster NOS said on Thursday.

This is because the legislation needed to anchor the app has not yet completed its passage through parliament, the broadcaster said.

The upper house of parliament will not vote on the legislation until October 6 at the earliest, but this could be delayed if senators have a lot of questions. Even if senators can pass the law on October 6, it will still take a week to finalize the legal paperwork and roll out a publicity campaign, a health ministry spokesman said. The app has been available for download since mid-August and is currently supported by five regional health boards.


Google is creating a microscope with AI and AR to help detect cancer

Google has won a contract with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to use recent technological advancements to improve the accuracy of a cancer diagnosis. About five percent of diagnoses are made incorrectly, and in half of those cases, the incorrect diagnosis causes problems further down the road.

Google plans to train an AI using the open-source platform TensorFlow to detect cancerous cells in photos taken from a microscope. They’ve already started developing the neural networks by using the Google Cloud Healthcare API to de-identify and segment existing datasets. Once the AI is fully trained, they’ll design their own microscope with an integrated AR (augmented reality) overlay that shows physicians' information about the likelihood of cells being cancerous.

To effectively treat cancer, speed and accuracy are critical,” said Mike Daniels, vice president of Google Cloud’s department for the Global Public Sector. “We are partnering with the DIU to provide our machine learning and artificial intelligence technology to help frontline healthcare practitioners learn about capabilities that can improve the lives of our military men and women and their families.

Google hopes that their method will reduce the “overwhelming volume of data” physicians face and will make the diagnoses faster and cheaper, as well as being more accurate. But widespread use of AI in medical practices is still a while away. The first shipment of microscopes will be to select the Defense Health Agency treatment facilities for research only. Afterward, the technology will roll out to the broader US Military Health System and Veteran’s Affairs hospitals for real-world trialing.