Dhaka, Jan 7 (UNB)- Huawei has announced the industry's highest-performance Advanced RISC Machine (ARM)-based CPU - Kunpeng 920 in an event at Shenzen in China.

William Xu, Director of the Board and Chief Strategy Marketing Officer of Huawei, launched the new CPU.

Kunpeng 920 is designed to boost the development of computing in big data, distributed storage and ARM-native application scenarios. Huawei will join with industry players to advance the ARM industry and create an open, collaborative and win-win ecosystem, taking computing performance to new heights.

Kunpeng 920, the industry's highest-performance ARM-based server CPU was independently designed by Huawei using the cutting-edge 7nm process. It delivers improved processing performance by optimizing branch prediction algorithms, increasing the number of OP units and improving the memory subsystem architecture. 

The Kunpeng 920 CPU will perform 25% higher than the industry benchmark and consumes 30% less power than industry counterparts. It integrates 64 cores at a frequency of 2.6 GHz. Kunpeng 920 provides 640 Gbps total bandwidth.

William Xu, Director of the Board and Chief Strategy Marketing Officer of Huawei said "Huawei has continuously innovated in the computing domain in order to create customer value. Currently, the diversity of applications and data is driving heterogeneous computing requirements. Huawei has long partnered with Intel to make great achievements. Together we have contributed to the development of the ICT industry. Huawei and Intel will continue our long-term strategic partnerships and continue to innovate together."

Huawei has also released its TaiShan series servers powered by Kunpeng 920. TaiShan will deliver 20% higher computing performance and much lower power consumption for enterprises.

"We will work with global partners to drive the development of the ARM ecosystem and expand the computing space and embrace a diversified computing era. Huawei has invested patiently and intensively in computing innovation to continuously make breakthroughs. We will work with our customers and partners to build a fully connected, intelligent world," Xu added.
 

Helsinki, Jan 6 (Xinhua/UNB)- The Finnish Consumer Disputes Board (CDB) has ordered Microsoft to compensate a Finnish man for unauthorized installation of Windows 10, local media reported on Saturday.

In a decision reported by national broadcaster Yle on Saturday, the installation of Windows 10 had started when a computer owner was working with his ‎computer in March 2016. Microsoft had not asked for permission and the person had not given an authorization.

Following the installation, the computer started giving "at fault" messages.

The board concluded that Microsoft had no right to install Windows 10 without permission. There was a mistake in the installation and that created a duty for Microsoft to compensate, it said.

In its response Microsoft held the view that the man had obtained required help from its free customer support. Microsoft stated that it was not responsible for programs the computer owner had installed on his own for remote surveillance of an object.

Noting that Microsoft did not deny that the new operating system could be installed without permission, the CDB stated that Microsoft did not deny the connection between the fault and the damage it cause.

The board then decided that Microsoft must reimburse 1,100 euros (1,253 U.S. dollars) worth of spare parts and maintenance and travel costs. The board dismissed the owner's claims for lost work time, as it had not been specified in the complaint.

The CDB members are appointed by the Ministry of Justice. Although the board decisions cannot be enforced through coercive measures, 80 percent of companies fined comply with its decisions.

New York, Jan 6(AP/UNB) - Disney and Warner Media are each launching their own streaming services in 2019 in a challenge to Netflix's dominance. Netflix viewers will no longer be able to watch hit movies such as "Black Panther" or "Moana," which will soon reside on Disney's subscription service. WarnerMedia, a unit of AT&T, will also soon have its own service to showcase its library of blockbuster films and HBO series.

Families will have to decide between paying more each month or losing access to some of their favorite dramas, comedies, musicals and action flicks.

"There's definitely a lot of change coming," said Paul Verna at eMarketer, a digital research company. "People will have more choices of what to stream, but at the same time the market is already fragmented and intimidating and it is only going to get more so."

Media companies are seeking to capitalize on the popularity and profitability of streaming. But by fragmenting the market, they're also narrowing the once wide selection that fueled the rise of internet-based video. About 55 percent of U.S. households now subscribe to paid streaming video services, up from just 10 percent in 2009, according to research firm Deloitte.

Just as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime tempted people to "cut the cord" by canceling traditional cable TV packages, the newer services are looking to dismember those more-inclusive options.

Disney Plus is set to launch late next year with new Marvel and Star Wars programming, along with its library of animated and live-action movies and shows. It hasn't announced pricing yet, but Disney CEO Bob Iger said in an August call with analysts that it will likely be less than Netflix, which runs $8 to $14 a month, since its library will be smaller.

AT&T plans a three-tier offering from WarnerMedia, with a slate of new and library content centered around the existing HBO streaming app. No word on pricing yet.

Individual channels, such as Fox, ESPN, CBS and Showtime, are also getting into the act. Research group TDG predicts that every major TV network will launch a direct-to-consumer streaming service in the next five years.

Netflix and others have invested heavily in original movies and TV shows to keep their customers loyal. Netflix, for instance, said Wednesday that 45 million subscriber accounts worldwide watched the Sandra Bullock thriller "Bird Box" during its first seven days on the service, the biggest first-week success of any movie made for the company's nearly 12-year-old streaming service.

That first-week audience means nearly a third of Netflix's 137 million subscribers watched the movie from Dec. 21 through Dec. 27 — a holiday-season stretch when many people aren't working and have more free time.

But Netflix, Hulu and others may soon have to do without programs and movies licensed from their soon-to-be rivals. In December, Netflix paid a reported $100 million to continue licensing "Friends" from WarnerMedia.

Why are media companies looking to get in? Data and dollars. Sure, they get money when they sell their programs to other services like Netflix. But starting their own service allows networks and studios access to valuable data about who is binging on their shows.

For services with ad-based options, that data translates into more dollars from advertisers. And services that rely only on subscription revenues, media companies can use the data to better tailor their offerings for individual tastes, helping to draw in more subscribers.

"I think all media companies are coming to grips with the reality that you better establish a relationship directly with your audiences," said AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson at an analyst conference earlier this month.

The business model that some networks and content companies are currently using, distributing their TV shows and movies only by licensing them to streaming platforms, is getting "disrupted aggressively" as more companies launch their own services, said Stephenson, whose company acquired WarnerMedia in June.

Forrester analyst Jim Nail compares this moment to the "Cambrian explosion," a historic era when plant and animal species rapidly multiplied after Ice Age glaciers receded.

"Big brands like Disney have to evaluate: Are we only going to access this market by licensing our content to Netflix, Hulu and others?" he said. "Or, can we go direct to the consumer with our own service?"

But a multiplicity of streaming services could easily overwhelm or confuse consumers. To get a full slate of programming, TV watchers may soon have to subscribe to several services instead of just one or two.

Among those options will be services like Netflix and Hulu that offer a wide range of video from a variety of sources; cable-like "skinny bundles" such as FuboTV, Sling and YouTube TV that offer a variety of live channels; and channel- or network-specific services like Disney Plus.

Consider just AT&T's plan to launch a three-tiered service this year centered on HBO. An entry-level bundle will offer mostly movies; a second, slightly more expensive tier will include original programming and newer movies. A third and still more expensive offering would add more WarnerMedia entertainment such as "Friends."

The cost of multiple streaming services could quickly approach the average cost of a cable bill — not counting the cost of internet service. That's around $107 per month, according to Leichtman Research Group.

"It's unlikely any of the services individually can charge more than $10 per month," Forrester's Nail said. "The great unknown is how many individual streaming services people are willing to sign up for."

Companies are already trying to tame this chaos by bundling multiple streaming services together. Amazon Prime customers can add-on subscriptions to HBO, Showtime or Starz. Roku and Chromecast viewers can access their different services from a central place; Roku said Wednesday it will start selling in-app access to Showtime, Starz and other channels as well.

How should consumers deal with all the coming change?

"Be patient," said Michael Greeson, president of research group TDG. "We're in a time of dramatic change for the TV and video business. There'll be great benefits, and question marks and consequences."

Beijing, Jan 5 (AP/UNB) — All systems are go as a Chinese spacecraft and rover power up their observation equipment after making a first-ever landing on the far side of the moon, the Chinese National Space Administration said.

The Jade Rabbit 2 rover has succeeded in establishing a digital transmission link with a relay satellite that sends data back to the Beijing control center, the space agency said in a posting late Friday on its website.

The rover's radar and panoramic camera have been activated and are working normally, it said. A photo released by the agency showed the rover stopped at a point not far from where the Chang'e 4 spacecraft touched down Thursday.

Chang'e 4, named after a Chinese moon goddess, is the first craft to make a soft landing on the moon's far side, which faces away from Earth. Previous landings, including one by China's Chang'e 3 in 2013, have been on the near side.

After sending the rover off from a ramp, the spacecraft deployed three 5-meter (16-foot) low-frequency radio antennas, the Chinese space agency said. Chang'e 4 also has sent back images taken with a topographical camera.

Researchers hope that low-frequency observations of the cosmos from the far side, where radio signals from Earth are blocked by the moon, will help scientists learn more about the early days of the solar system and even the birth of the universe's first stars.

Harvard University astronomer Avi Loeb noted, however, that the relay satellite needed to send back information from the far side also contaminates the sky.

"As long as we keep it clean of radio interference, the far side of the moon is very good for radio astronomy," he said.

The far side has been observed many times from lunar orbits, but never explored on the surface. It is popularly called the "dark side" because it can't be seen from Earth and is relatively unknown, not because it lacks sunlight.

"It's just the far side, it can be either dark or light," Loeb said, depending on the time of day.

The pioneering landing highlights China's ambitions to rival the U.S., Russia and Europe in space. Both China's space community and public have taken pride in the accomplishment, with some drawing comparisons to the United States.

China's space program lags America's, but has made great strides in the past 15 years, including manned flights and a space laboratory that is seen as a precursor to plans for a space station.

Los Angeles, Jan 5 (AP/UNB) — People relied on the most popular mobile weather app to track forecasts that determined whether they chose jeans over shorts and packed a parka or umbrella, but its owners used it to track their every step and profit off that information, Los Angeles prosecutors said Friday.

The operator of The Weather Channel mobile app misled users who agreed to share their location information in exchange for personalized forecasts and alerts, and they instead unwittingly surrendered personal privacy when the company sold their data to third parties, City Attorney Michael Feuer said.

Feuer sued the app's operator in Los Angeles County Superior Court to stop the practice. He said 80 percent of users agreed to allow access to their locations because disclosures on how the app uses geolocation data were buried within a 10,000-word privacy policy and not revealed when they downloaded the app.

"Think how Orwellian it feels to live in a world where a private company is tracking potentially every place you go, every minute of every day," Feuer said. "If you want to sacrifice to that company that information, you sure ought to be doing it with clear advanced notice of what's at stake."

A spokesman for IBM Corp., which owns the app, said it has always been clear about the use of location data collected from users and will vigorously defend its "fully appropriate" disclosures.

Feuer said the app's operators, TWC Product and Technology LLC, sold data to at least a dozen websites for targeted ads and to hedge funds that used the information to analyze consumer behavior.

The lawsuit seeks to stop the company from the practice it calls "unfair and fraudulent" and seeks penalties of up to $2,500 for each violation. Any court decision would only apply to California.

Marketed as the "world's most downloaded weather app," The Weather Channel app claims approximately 45 million users a month, the lawsuit said.

Users who download the free app are asked whether to allow access to their location to "get personalized local weather data, alerts and forecasts." It does not say how the company benefits from the information.

While disclosures may be included in the privacy policy, state law says "fine print alone can't make good what otherwise has been made obscure," Feuer said.

He said he learned about the sale of the private data from an article in The New York Times.

The lawsuit comes as companies, most notably Facebook and Google, are increasingly under fire for how they use people's personal data. Both companies faced congressional hearings last year on privacy issues, which are likely to remain on lawmakers and regulators' minds both nationally and in California.

In June, California lawmakers approved what experts are calling the country's most far-reaching law to give people more control over their personal data online. That law doesn't take effect until next year.

Feuer said he hopes the case inspires other lawsuits and legislation to curb data-sharing practices.

IBM bought the app along with the digital assets of The Weather Company in 2015 for $2 billion but did not acquire The Weather Channel seen on TV, which is owned by another company.