Oracle to halt development of Sun virtualization technologies
Summary: Oracle will soon be announcing that it's discontinuing development of its Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, Sun Ray software and hardware, and Oracle Virtual Desktop Client product lines.
Oraclehas decided to stop development on its Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), Sun Ray Software and Hardware, and Oracle Virtual Desktop Client product lines. Some Oracle partners, which received the news over the weekend, are not happy with this change.
These products enable customers to manage, deploy, and provide users with access to server-hosted desktop operating systems on nearly any client device. They were picked up by Oracle as part of its 2009 acquisition of Sun.
In the same document, Oracle said, "Going forward, Oracle's desktop portfolio investments will be focused on continued development and new enhancements to both Oracle Secure Global Desktop and Oracle VM VirtualBox software." Secure Global Desktop is another server-based VDI program, and VirtualBox is a popular desktop virtualization program.
Oracle partners don't care for this move. According to one disgruntled partner, Oracle could have handled this change better. "Announcing the death of yet another product via a hard-to-find support document ... I would have appreciated a more honest and open approach."
In addition, the partner expressed unhappiness about how Oracle had handled this virtualization line since Oracle's takeover of Sun. "Despite being the owner of Oracle VDI, Sun Ray, and Oracle VM, Oracle refused to integrate those three. So up to this day you cannot use Oracle VM as a hypervisor. You can use Hyper-V, you can use VMware, you can use that special version of VirtualBox that shipped with Oracle VDI ... but Oracle VM? Nope. How ridiculous is that??"
Still, he added, "The idea behind Oracle VDI and Sun Ray is excellent: You have a device on your desk without any mechanical parts and MBTF [mean time between failure] is around 22 years ... All you need now is plenty of servers with enough CPU cores, RAM, enough disks for IOPS [input/output operations per second] and storage space ... and all your desktops live there, centrally in the server room."
Another Oracle partner said, "This is very disappointing and troubling for the healthcare and banking verticals, which has heavily invested and integrated Sun Ray desktops for its security and mobility."For the time being, Oracle will continue to support the existing software and hardware and renew licenses.
"We would like to assure new and existing customers that technical support for these products will continue uninterrupted as they are today. Customers may also continue to renew existing support contracts or purchase new licenses. Exact time-frames for a last order date for Oracle Sun Ray client devices will be announced shortly."
Still, this is a blow for Oracle system integrators, value-added resellers (VARs), and any enterprise that had committed to this VDI stack.
Apple awarded new Liquidmetal patent
Summary: A new patent awarded to Apple could pave the way for a whole host of devices -- iPhones, iPads, iPods, iWatches -- made from the high-tech, super-touch amorphous metal alloy.
Liquid Metal Rock
Interest in the high-tech, super-touch amorphous metal alloy
called Liquidmetal spiked back in August of 2010 when Apple gained an exclusive licensed to the product. Was this going to herald in a new era of Liquidmetal iPhones, iPads, Macs, and iPods?
Well, short of making the SIM eject tool for the iPhone out of this wonder material, Apple has done nothing with Liquidmetal. Part of the problem with Liquidmetal is making it in significant enough volumes for mass market devices.But this could change.
United States patent 8485245, titled "Bulk amorphous alloy sheet forming processes," which was awarded to Apple on July 16, outlines a process that could operate non-stop for 10 to 15 years and output 6000 kilometers of Liquidmetal a year in thicknesses between 0.1 to 25 millimeters and widths up to 3 meters. The process outlined to output Liquidmetal is similar to the "float glass" process used for making window glass.
This, according to the patent, could "be valuable in the fabrication of electronic devices" such as iPhones, iPads, iPods, laptops, and even "a device such as a watch or a clock".
(Source: Apple)
I've come into contact with Liquidmetal in the past, as part of the casing for a super-strong Sandisk Cruzer Titanium USB flash drive. The casing of this drive took an insane amount of punishment and survived. I stamped on it, ran my office chair over it, drove over it, threw bricks at it, hit it with a baseball bat and it just wouldn't break. In fact, I could barely put a scratch in it.
There's no doubt in my mind that Liquidmetal is tough stuff. Now that it seems that Apple has cracked the problem of making it in large volumes, we could see some interesting things done with it.
Microsoft's Roslyn 'compiler as a service' inches forward Summary: Microsoft is now compiling internally its daily Visual Studio builds using its 'Roslyn' compiler technology. Could a new preview and/or final release be happening soon?Lets wait and see. Microsoft is internally dogfooding its "Roslyn" compiler as a service technology, and is compiling internal daily builds of Visual Studio using "Roslyn." That update, courtesy of a Microsoft December 16 blog post , is the first Microsoft has shared about its Roslyn technology in more than a year. Microsoft's Roslyn effort is about re-architecting the C# and VB compilers to support "compiler as a service" (CaaS) scenarios. Currently, a compiler is a black box; with Roslyn, Microsoft is working on opening it up so that all of the information processed via a compiler is available in application programming interface (API) form. Microsoft's most recent Roslyn desc...
Biometric smartphones to become mainstream in 2014, Ericsson says Summary: Following the release of the fingerprint sensor-enabled iPhone 5s, more smartphone makers could soon jump on the bandwagon, if Ericsson's predictions prove true. By the end of 2014, a wealth of new smartphones could come with biometric technology, such as fingerprint recognition hardware. In September, Apple released the iPhone 5s, which included a fingerprint reader , in the hope of bolstering security and improving usability. And other mobile makers, keen to jump on the biometric bandwagon, could soon embed the technology in their own devices. According to new research by mobile network maker Ericsson, which polled 100,000 people over 40 countries, about 74 percent of respondents said they believe biometric smartphones "will become mainstream" during 2014. More than half at 52 percent want to use their fingerprints instead of a complex alphanumeric combination of letters...
Summary: Intel outlines its plans to be the brains of the autonomous vehicle, but it'll have to duel with Qualcomm and NXP among others. Intel, best known for the processors behind PCs, servers and data center gear, now wants to be the brains behind autonomous vehicles. The chip giant at CES 2017 launched a new brand, Intel GO, that's designed for autonomous driving and aim to link cloud computing, connectivity and the car. To back up its efforts, Intel is launching t wo development kits to connect GO with Atom and Xeon processor s. Intel said its GO effort will provide the first 5G-ready development platform. The company also launched its 5G modem at CES. CNET's Stephen Shankland has the deep dive and the strategy details. As for partnerships, Intel is teaming up with BMW and Mobileye to have 40 autonomous vehicles on the roads by the second half of the year. Intel announced a partnership with BMW and Mobileye in July. The Intel moves come as the company boug...
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