TIRIAScasts are podcasts on the latest high-tech products, technology, news, and trends from the TIRIAS Research experts.
Cloud data centers are a must for continued growth in computing resources. However, faced with limitations in power and space, as well as changes in software architecture and the growing size of many workloads, it's challenging to scale data centers for higher performance and capacity. As a result, there is a need for new processing solutions, such as Ampere's Cloud Native Processors. Join TIRIAS Research's Jim McGregor and Ampere's Chief Product Office Jeff Wittich in another TIRIAScast, as they discuss cloud-native computing and what the future holds for cloud data centers.
The wireless/mobile segment is heating up with new technologies like AI and non-terrestrial networks (NTN), better known as satellite communications, leading to new usage models in mobile devices. Join Principal Analysts Jim McGregor (@TekStrategist) and Francis Sideco (@fsideco) in another TIRIAScast, as they discuss these new technologies, new mobile devices, and the unexpected from the recent Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. Also check out Jim's articles on some of the recent technology announcements at Forbes.com https://www.forbes.com/sites/tiriasresearch/).
This year's Mobile World Congress (MWC) promises to be one of the most exciting in years due to new technologies driving new connectivity, new devices, and new usage models. Join Principal Analysts Steve Leibson (@SteveLeibson) as he interviews Jim McGregor (@TekStrategist) before he leaps over the pond for this exciting event.
Since the birth of the first microcontrollers (MCUs), semiconductors have changed our lives. Join Principal Analysts Jim McGregor (@TekStrategist) and Steve Leibson (@SteveLeibson) in another TIRIAScast, as Steve recaps the history of the first MCU and their contribution to the birth of the modern electronics industry. Also, check out Steve's series of articles on the history of MCUs in the EE Journal (https://www.eejournal.com/?s=Steve+Leibson+Microcontrollers).
FPGAs are more than just development tools and the mid-range of the market is heating up with new parts from Intel, Lattice, and Microchip, but AMD (formerly Xilinx) may also be in the mid-range fray. Join Principal Analysts Jim McGregor (@TekStrategist) and Steve Leibson (@SteveLeibson) in another TIRIAScast, as they discuss the mid-range FPGA products and applications. Also check out Steve's articles on FPGAs in EE Journal.
CES is one of the largest technology trade shows and the best place to understand the trends throughout the tech industry. 2023 also marked the first year that the industry and TIRIAS Research returned in mass to CES after COVID. Join Principal Analysts Jim McGregor (@TekStrategist), Kevin Krewell (@krewell), and Francis Sideco (@fsideco) in another TIRIAScast, as they discuss the exciting new products and industry trends experienced at CES.
As the RISC-V architecture gains interest from microcontrollers to AI processors, the RISC-V Summit is becoming the place to before to hear the latest and greatest efforts to leverage this ISA in current and future processor designs. Join Principal Analysts Jim McGregor (@TekStrategist) and Kevin Krewell (@krewell) in another TIRIAScast, as they discuss the announcements made at the RISC-V Summit and what they might mean for the industry going forward.
Qualcomm changes course with a new augmented reality platform that may finally make AR glasses a reality with a solution that it is as fashionable as it is functional. Join Principal Analysts Jim McGregor (@TekStrategist) and Francis Sideco (@fsideco) in another TIRIAScast, as they discuss the new platform and the outlook for AR.
After more than a year after Congress passed the US CHIPS Act, the funding for the program was finally approved. However, there are different views on the benefit and potential impact of the CHIPS Act. Join Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell), Steve Leibson (@SteveLeibson), and Jim McGregor (@TekStrategist) in this TIRIAScast as they discuss the different views of the US CHIPS Act and the future of the US semiconductor industry.
At Computex 2022, Mediatek announced a number of new mobile and wireless chipsets, including the company's first smartphone SoC with integrated mmWave and its first Wi-Fi chipset. Join TIRIAS Research Principal Analysts Jim McGregor(@tekstrategist) and executives from MediaTek as they discuss the new mobile and wireless products in this TIRIAScast
There has been a flurry of tech announcements over the past few weeks, especially around acquisitions and partnerships. Buried In one of Intel's announcements was support for the RISC-V architecture, which could have significant implications for the tech industry. Join TIRIAS Research Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell), Steve Leibson (@steveleibson), and Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist) as they discuss what this means for Intel, RISC-V, Arm, and the rest of the tech industry in this TIRIAScast
With continued concerns about COVID, chip shortages, and inflation, the outlook for 2022 is hazy at best. However, TIRIAS Research's analyst team takes a shot at providing some predictions on what to expect for the rest of 2022. Join TIRIAS Research Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell), Francis Sideco (@fsideco), Steve Leibson (@steveleibson), and Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist) as they provide predictions on tech topics ranging from the chip shortage to the metaverse in this TIRIAScast.
TIRIAS Research is pleased to announce the newest member and principal analyst of our team – Steve Leibson. Steve is an industry expert and technologist extraordinaire. Join TIRIAS Research Principal Analyst Jim McGregor (@TekStrategist) in this meet and greet with Principal Analyst Steve Leibson (@SteveLeibson). Get to know the man, the myth, the legend in this TIRIAScast. 10/16/21
Bloomberg reported that Intel is interested in acquiring SiFive, the leading developer of RISC-V CPU cores. Why would Intel be interested in acquiring another processor architecture? When you dig into the potential reasons, such an acquisition seems practical. Join Tirias Research Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@TekStrategist) as they discuss the potential acquisition in this TIRIAScast. 6/21/21
Nvidia continues to move deeper into new segments like automotive, artificial intelligence (AI), and data centers. As a result, the company is expanding into new products and services. Among the exhausting list of announcements at this year’s GTC were three new Arm-based processors, new AI models, a new server, new partnerships, and the availability of Omniverse, Nvidia’s virtual collaborative design environment. Join Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist) in a review of the announcements from Nvidia’s GTC 2021. 4/16/21
In just the last month, we have seen high-profile CEO changes at three major tech companies – Amazon, Intel, and Qualcomm. Is this a sign of things to come? Join TIRIAS Research principal analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@TekStrategist) in this TIRIAScast as they discuss the recent announcements, what they mean for the industry, and other possible CEO transitions to come.
The first virtual CES (CES 2021) was a success, drawing almost 2,000 exhibitors and over 100,000 participants. While the major trends appeared to be driven by gaming, transportation, and COVID-related products, there were still great new product and technology announcements from many segments. In addition, sustainability was a key part of many announcements. Join TIRIAS research principal analysts Francis Sideco (@fsideco), Kevin Krewell (@krewell), and Jim McGregor (@TekStrategist)as they recap the highlights of CES 2021 in this TIRIAScast.
In its continued march to improved performance and market share, AMD has launched new desktop Ryzen processors based on the Zen 3 architecture and new “Big Navi” GPUs based on the RDNA 2 architecture. Join principal analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@TekStrategist) in this TIRIAScast as they review the latest products from AMD as the company seeks to lead both in CPU and GPU performance.
In a move to leverage high stock valuations and free money to further growth, we are seeing a new wave of semiconductor acquisitions. Join TIRIAS Research Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist) in this TIRIAScast as they discuss the factors driving the acquisitions, the challenges to complete the acquisitions, and the dynamics of the semiconductor acquisitions recently announced. This includes the recent Analog Devices-Maxim, Nvidia-Arm, AMD-Xilinx, and Marvell-Inphi proposed acquisitions.
In what would be a blockbuster deal in the semiconductor industry, Nvidia announced its intention to acquire Arm, the leading provider of semiconductor IP in the industry and the most pervasive processor architecture in the world, from SoftBank. This announcement has set the industry abuzz. However, it still faces regulatory and possibly competitive challenges. Join TIRIAS Research Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell), Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist), and Francis Sideco (@fsideco) in this TIRIAScast as they try to cover all the angles of this proposed acquisition.
With three new semiconductor acquisitions announced in a week, the tech industry may be at the beginning of a new acquisition wave. What segments will see the greatest activity, who will be the lead acquirers, what is driving the acquisitions, and will these pass regulatory scrutiny in the midst of China-US political tensions? Join TIRIAS Research Analysts Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist) and Francis Sideco (@fsideco)in another TIRIAScast as they discuss these issues and the potential impact on the tech industry.
Meet the man behind the legend and the newest member of the TIRIAS Research team - Francis Sideco. Join Principal Analyst Jim McGregor as he introduces a key tech industry expert, thought leader and influencer, and the former VP of IHS Markit’s Technology Business. We are pleased to have another technical expert on our team.
The battle for mobile PCs is brewing again as both the Arm and Intel camps ramp up low-power processors and add cellular modems for Always-Connected PCs (ACPCs). Apple announced that it will be using Apple processors based on the Arm architecture and a number of PC OEMs, including ASUS, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft, and Samsung, have been offering ACPCs based on Qualcomm Snapdragon processors that also use the Arm architecture. But Intel is not standing still with its new Lakefield processor and a partnership with MediaTek for modems. Just when you thought it was over, the mobile PC market is exciting again and the consumers are benefitting from multi-day battery life and connectivity anywhere while still running on Windows 10. Join TIRIAS Research Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist) in another TIRIAScast as they discuss the recent announcements and the potential impact on the PC segment.
In an agreement with the U.S. Government, TSMC announced plans to build a new 5nm fab in Arizona. The announcement was made close to the decision of the U.S. government to prohibit the sale of chips and equipment to Chinese telecom equipment companies Huawei and ZTE, which led to speculation about the TSMC announcement. Join TIRIAS Research Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist) in another TIRIAScast as they discuss the announcements, the factors leading up to and influencing the TSMC agreement going forward, and the potential impact of a TSMC fab in the U.S.
With shelter-in-place restrictions forcing everyone to live and work remotely, communications to and through the virtual world have become critical. If this becomes part of the “new normal,” should broadband be considered a necessity? And if yes, how should it be provided? Join TIRIAS Research Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist) as they debate the topic and what it means to the industry and 5G in this TIRIAScast.
Due to COVID-19, Nvidia delayed its GTC conference keynote by 2 months, but they didn’t disappoint as the company unleashed a dizzying list of new product and technology announcements, including the new Ampere GPU architecture. Join TIRIAS Research Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist) as they try to condense 2 hours of announcements a few minutes in this TIRIAScast.
With the COVID-19 outbreak, everything in the tech industry is going virtual. One of the largest and most comprehensive events thus far has been IBM Think. Join TIRIAS Research Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist) as they discuss the announcements, topics, and format of IBM Think in this TIRIAScast.
For several years, TIRIAS Research has speculated the Apple would eventually use its Arm-based A-series SoCs in Macs. A recent Bloomberg report indicates that Apple is working on a version of the A14 for MacBooks to be released in 2021. Join TIRIAS Research principal analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist) in this TIRIAScast as they discuss the announcement, the challenges, and likely strategy to introduce Apple powered Macs.
With the COVID-19 outbreak, everything from schools and work to conferences and social events are leveraging video conferencing platforms. However, not all platforms and experiences are equal. Join TIRIAS Research principal analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist) in this TIRIAScast as they discuss the good and bad of video conferencing and the potential for more realistic virtual solutions.
Just in time for Spring and the COVID-19 quarantine, AMD, Intel, and Nvidia launch new technologies that are powering a wave of new thin-and-light laptops ideal for even the most demanding applications, including gaming and content creation. Join TIRIAS Research principal analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist) in this TIRIAScast as they introduce the new technologies and what to expect from this new generation of mobile PCs.
In our second TIRIAScast on the Coronavirus (officially named COVID-19), we explore some of the potential winners and losers from the outbreak as a result of long-term changes in society and business. Join TIRIAS Research principal analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist) in this TIRIAScast as they address the potential impact of the outbreak on the electronics industry.
The Coronavirus (officially named COVID-19) is having a dramatic effect worldwide. There were concerns about the potential impact on the electronics industry when the outbreak first surfaced in China, but inventory buildups minimized the initial impact. Now, the spread of the outbreak and changes in consumer spending pose a much greater threat to the industry and global economy. Join TIRIAS Research principal analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist) in this TIRIAScast as they address the potential impact of the outbreak on the electronics industry.
While there were no breakout trends at CES 2020, the conference did point to some trends for the coming year. Join TIRIAS Research principal analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist) in this TIRIAScast as they review the announcements and trends of CES and the coming year.
2019 was a busy year for technology with the launch of 5G, huge investments in AI and autonomous vehicles, and new advancements in semiconductor technology, just to name a few of the major topics. Join TIRIAS Research principal analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist) in this TIRIAScast as they review some of the major news of 2019 and provide a glimpse of what to expect in 2020.
Throughout 2019, over 100 5G devices have been announced and 5G networks have begun rolling out around the world. By the end of 2020 several countries will have complete 5G coverage and just about every region will have some 5G coverage or at least a plan for 5G. As with every cellular technology generation before it, however, there are still misconceptions about 5G fueling the naysayers. Join TIRIAS Research principal analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist) in this TIRIAScast as they address many of the misconceptions about 5G and give a realistic view of the technology and future of 5G.
Starting with HotChips in late-August, fall 2019 has been an extremely busy season filled with new technology and product announcements. Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist) cover the impact of some of these announcements with a look to what’s coming in the next few months leading up to CES.
The semiconductor is getting exciting again as reflected by the record attendance at this year’s Hot Chips Conference at Stanford University. And much of this excitement is driven by artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML). Join TIRIAS Research principal analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist) as review the presentations and announcements from the 2019 Hot Chips conference, including the new wafer-scale AI platform from Cerebras, in this TIRIAScast.
There is an alarming trend of device and systems companies developing custom chips, especially for AI and autonomous vehicles. Join TIRIAS Research Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist) as they discuss why companies are developing custom chips, the industry trends and technologies that are enabling custom chips, and what it means to the traditional semiconductor segment in this TIRIAScast.
After Apple settled with Qualcomm and agreed to switch to Qualcomm modems for 5G, Intel was left without a major handset customer. It was a matter of time before Apple or someone else purchased the modem assets from Intel, but there is a little more to the story. Join TIRIAS Research Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist) as they discuss the deal and what it means to the parties and the industry in this TIRIAScast.
Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) have struggled to gain widespread traction with consumers, but are finding new homes in industrial applications. At the same time, the technology continues to advance while prices decline. Join Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist) in another TIRIAScast, where they discuss the status and outlook for AR and VR.
After months of waiting, Judge Lucy Koh ruled on the case of the U.S. FTC vs Qualcomm, in which the FTC accused Qualcomm of abusing its position in the market. TIRIAS Research has covered this case in detail because of its implications for the wireless segment and overall IP protection. While TIRIAS Research found the FTC’s case lacking any form of credibility, Judge Koh ruled in favor of the FTC. Join Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist) as they discuss the decision and its potential impact in this TIRIAScast.
The tech industry was initially spared any harm from the China-U.S. trade dispute, but as the dispute drags on, the tech industry is increasingly being impacted. Will political goals bring an end to the dispute or will the global economy pay the price through 2019 and going into 2020? Join Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@tekstrategist) as they discuss the increasing impact of the trade dispute in this TIRIAScast.
After completing opening arguments to a case that appeared to be an epic battle between to tech powerhouses, Apple and Qualcomm abruptly settled all legal disputes. Apple even acquired a license and agreed to by chipsets from Qualcomm. TIRIAS Research believes that this was a win for the entire tech community and the U.S. patent system. Join Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@TekStrategist) as they discuss the settlement and ramifications in this TIRIAScast.
This week Apple and Qualcomm will square off in court in a legal battle that could determine the strength of the U.S. patent system and the value of patents not just for technology companies, but all intellectual property holders. As a result, TIRIAS Research will be paying close attention to the case and even attending some of the proceedings. In this TIRIAScast Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@TekStrategist) outline the case, what’s at stake, and the recent history between these two companies that has resulted in this epic battle.
There have been some major announcements around servers, especially accelerator interconnects with the announcement of CXL by Intel and the acquisition of Mellanox by NVIDIA. These announcements have sent shock waves through the industry as companies struggle to determine what interconnects to use in next-generation platforms. Join Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@TekStrategist) as they discuss the developing interconnect dilemma and other announcements around servers and the OCP conference.
Technology is changing the economy from being purchase centric to shared. Consumers are now sharing or renting items they’ve purchased through services like Uber and Airbnb. Even companies are evolving their business models to rent everything from equipment to transportation, housing, even chickens (yes, chickens). Join Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@TekStrategist) as they discuss the impact of this shift to a shared economy and what it means for the future.
The FTC case against Qualcomm is really against the licensing model of the entire wireless industry and the outcome could have significant consequences for everyone in the mobile value chain. Join Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@TekStrategist) in this TIRIAScast as they discuss the FTC’s case against Qualcomm and how well it meets the burden of proof.
While the industry has adopted the moniker of “smart” things, most are still just connected with all the intelligence in the cloud. With the latest technology we can now bring the intelligence from the cloud to the devices, but the industry does not appear to be moving that direction for various reasons. Join Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@TekStrategist) in a unique TIRIAScast as they debate (yes, debate) having intelligence locally vs. in the cloud. Which is better and why? Should we be required to share data? Should consumers be concerned? They address these questions and more.
After an exhaustive week, our analysts have their final views of CES 2019. This CES was more subdued than previous events, but there were plenty of new technologies and devices promising to make 2019 an exciting year. Join Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@TekStrategist) in another TIRIAScast discussing their final views of CES 2019.
As the industry descends on Las Vegas for the annual Consumer Electronics (CES) tradeshow, the analysts from TIRIAS Research scour the event and meet with companies to identify the promising new products and technology and the trends for the upcoming year. Join Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@TekStrategist) in another TIRIAScast discussing their initial views of CES 2019.
There are over 300 companies, universities, and other research organizations working on AI chips. TIRIAS Research attended the first AI Hardware Summit and has insights on some the chipsets and companies. Join Principal Analysts Kevin Krewell (@krewell) and Jim McGregor (@TekStrategist) in another TIRIAScast discussing the status of AI chipsets.