Good news for amd

[denis280]

About time.http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/190026-amd-ceo-just-laid-out-companys-two-year-roadmap

 

[Schmide]

Note to self. Read date of article before reading it!

Spoiler

September 12, 2014

 

[schmuckley]

Sept 2014?

 

[erunion]

That's the former CEO.

Oddly enough, he wasn't actually giving good news. He basically said, "Not much in 2015, wait for 2016."

 

[ninaholic37]

lol you got me denis. I thought Rory Reed was CEO again all the way til page 2

 

[SOFTengCOMPelec]

Good news for AMD

AMD might get lots of Chinese cash

News | tags: amd, cash, China, investment, techeye
February 13, 2015 by Nick Farrell.
Photo of China from satellite - Wikimedia CommonsThe dark satanic rumour mill has manufactured a hell on earth yarn which suggests that AMD might be set to expand thanks to wodges of Chinese cash being thrown at it.

Since Intel paid AMD a billion for its anti-trust doings, AMD’s bottom line has not been that good.

However it is still in a good position to churn out processors and video cards. This would make it a good deal for a buy out. Some have suggested Samsung, but others Qualcomm.

But there is also one name which is cropping up on the rumour mill a lot more — a Chinese company called BLX IC Design Corp.

The sticking point to any buy out is that it would require the renegotiation of the licence with Intel over the x86 architecture, however an investment by a third company would work. Trade restrictions by the US government could prevent an outright purchase by an institution run by the Chinese government, but the US loves Chinese cash.

BLX has collaborated with AMD in the past, and does not need to buy the company to get what it wants.

The rumour, looked at by Tom’s Hardware suggests that BLX IC Design could buy a share of AMD . It controls the manufacturer of microprocessors Loongson Technology (MIPS architecture, family Godson), may make a strategic investment in technologies and products from AMD with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The Chinese chip designer could provide enough money to AMD to increase its capacity for research and development. The budget of AMD in research and development for this quarter will be about $ 200 million, well below the historical spending. As the company’s sales are shrinking, will not increase spending in this area, which could jeopardize its future and the long-term survival.

AMD bosses were in Beijing in late January and early February for meetings related to the possible deal.

Armed with Chinese cash, AMD could damage Intel with projects like Zen and K12 and put the fear of god into Nvidia. Its new partners could help it make inroads into the huge Chinese market and provide the Chinese semiconductor industry with much needed patents and R&D.


- See more at: http://channeleye.co.uk/amd-might-get-lots-of-chinese-cash/#sthash.4zA6Ivld.dpuf

 

[bbhaag]

Hmmmm a Loongson/AMD chip would be interesting. It would certainly give an influx of cash that AMD desperately needs and it could give the Chinese a foothold into some tech that they desperately want.
I would never buy one but I bet there are a billion Chinese that would. It's just a rumor though.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Yeah, if you thought HDDs and SSDs with NSA backdoors were bad, imagine AMD CPUs with Chinese backdoors. No thanks. Big chinese investment == Intel only for me.

 

[monstercameron]

Yeah, if you thought HDDs and SSDs with NSA backdoors were bad, imagine AMD CPUs with Chinese backdoors. No thanks. Big chinese investment == Intel only for me.

severe xenophobia?
intel has design centers in Israel and other parts of the world, do you find objection in that?
http://m.intel.com/us/en/about-intel/jobs/global-locations.html

 

[jhu]

Yeah, if you thought HDDs and SSDs with NSA backdoors were bad, imagine AMD CPUs with Chinese backdoors. No thanks. Big chinese investment == Intel only for me.

Woah there. Your tinfoil hat is showing below your other tinfoil hat. First of all, AMD doesn't have that big of a marketshare, so not as many people affected. Second, AMD's APUs already contain a separate ARM-5 CPU for "security purposes" (aka ARM Trustzone). So, if you're paranoid about the NSA, you would stay away from AMD, Intel (and their "Trusted Execution" tech), cellphones (the baseband processors run a RTOS and has access to main memory, plus they communicate location to towers regardless of on/off state), credit cards (everyone knows your porn-buying preferences now), etc.

 

[VirtualLarry]

severe xenophobia?

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2421574
It's not Xenophobia, when Chinese companies have already been caught spying.

 

[beginner99]

I would never buy one...

Yeah because the spyware would then probably be in hardware...

 

[ninaholic37]

cellphones (the baseband processors run a RTOS and has access to main memory, plus they communicate location to towers regardless of on/off state)

Does this apply to cheap flip phones when they're off too? I need a reason to chuck this thing out the window and that's as good of one as any...

 

[SOFTengCOMPelec]

Yeah, if you thought HDDs and SSDs with NSA backdoors were bad, imagine AMD CPUs with Chinese backdoors. No thanks. Big chinese investment == Intel only for me.

Would you feel safe, buying Lenova, because they are Chinese, now ?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-31533028

Computer maker Lenovo has been forced to remove hidden adware that it was shipping on its laptops and PCs after users expressed anger.

The adware - dubbed Superfish - was potentially compromising their security, said experts.

The hidden software was also injecting adverts on to browsers using techniques more akin to malware, they added.

Lenovo faces questions about why and for how long it was pre-installed on machines - and what data was collected.

The company told the BBC in a statement: "Lenovo removed Superfish from the preloads of new consumer systems in January 2015. At the same time Superfish disabled existing Lenovo machines in the market from activating Superfish.

Complaining
"Superfish was preloaded on to a select number of consumer models only. Lenovo is thoroughly investigating all and any new concerns raised regarding Superfish."

Users began complaining about Superfish in Lenovo's forums in the autumn, and the firm told the BBC that it was shipped "in a short window from October to December to help customers potentially discover interesting products while shopping".

User feedback, it acknowledged, "was not positive".

Last month, forum administrator Mark Hopkins told users that "due to some issues (browser pop up behaviour, for example)", the company had "temporarily removed Superfish from our consumer systems until such time as Superfish is able to provide a software build that addresses these issues".

He added it had requested that Superfish issue an auto-update for "units already in market".

 

[ShintaiDK]

Malware on factory installs is nothing new. IBM, Lenovo, Dell, HP, Asus, Acer etc all does it. Just look at Oracle and Java. Boom, ask.com hijacker.

Its all for the pennies. Always reinstall if you buy one with a factory install.

But anyway, why the half year old article in OP?

 

[Tuna-Fish]

Malware on factory installs is nothing new.

What was new here was that the malware MITMed TLS, and did it so shoddily that it allowed literally anyone else do the same over the internet. Every single Lenovo laptop sold with the SuperFish adware tool could have all it's SSL/TLS connections hijacked by any hacker.

 

[ShintaiDK]

What was new here was that the malware MITMed TLS, and did it so shoddily that it allowed literally anyone else do the same over the internet. Every single Lenovo laptop sold with the SuperFish adware tool could have all it's SSL/TLS connections hijacked by any hacker.

Its new yes, but really nothing worse than normally seen unfortunately. Maybe its time to use the law against OEMs so their PCs/devices only ship with what they should.

 

[jhu]

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2421574
It's not Xenophobia, when Chinese companies have already been caught spying.

That's nothing. At least the end user can get rid of that crap. This is scarier.

AMERICAN AND BRITISH spies hacked into the internal computer network of the largest manufacturer of SIM cards in the world, stealing encryption keys used to protect the privacy of cellphone communications across the globe, according to top-secret documents provided to The Intercept by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The hack was perpetrated by a joint unit consisting of operatives from the NSA and its British counterpart Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ. The breach, detailed in a secret 2010 GCHQ document, gave the surveillance agencies the potential to secretly monitor a large portion of the world’s cellular communications, including both voice and data.

The company targeted by the intelligence agencies, Gemalto, is a multinational firm incorporated in the Netherlands that makes the chips used in mobile phones and next-generation credit cards. Among its clients are AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint and some 450 wireless network providers around the world. The company operates in 85 countries and has more than 40 manufacturing facilities. One of its three global headquarters is in Austin, Texas and it has a large factory in Pennsylvania.

So's this.

A document included in the trove of National Security Agency files released with Glenn Greenwald’s book No Place to Hide details how the agency’s Tailored Access Operations (TAO) unit and other NSA employees intercept servers, routers, and other network gear being shipped to organizations targeted for surveillance and install covert implant firmware onto them before they’re delivered.

So, basically, it's back to carrier pigeons with encrypted papyrus scrolls.

 

[SOFTengCOMPelec]

So, basically, it's back to carrier pigeons with encrypted papyrus scrolls.

NO

Since this is the cpu section, it would be handled by a cpu.

C.P.U. = Carrier Pigeon Un-Encryption, by overclocked interception drones.

EDIT: This thread is heading in the direction of being more suitable for off-topic.
I.e. AMD/Cpus and the original title ("Good news ..."), seem to be completely absent now.

 

[Erenhardt]

severe xenophobia?
intel has design centers in Israel and other parts of the world, do you find objection in that?
http://m.intel.com/us/en/about-intel/jobs/global-locations.html

You are not trying to imply that INTEL would gather INTELligence with a backdoor in their CPUs, do you?

It's not like intel didn't provide milions of dollars in CPUs for NSA to use in their machines, crunching centers, they did.

 

[denis280]

Note to self. Read date of article before reading it!

Spoiler

September 12, 2014

I know,but really is amd going to win over intel.this is getting like vhs and beta vcr.

 

[ninaholic37]

Does this apply to cheap flip phones when they're off too? I need a reason to chuck this thing out the window and that's as good of one as any...

Well I just read the entire manual for my LG-C440 flip phone and all it talks about is RF frequency and you're supposed to turn the phone Off near pacemakers, on airplanes, etc. which shuts Off the RF. This is of course just the manual though so maybe it is lying or hiding something... next stop I search the interwebs :sneaky:

 

[podspi]

Cell phone does not communicate with anything when it is off. How do I know?

100% battery when I turn it off.
100% battery when I turn it on.

I've had cell phones turned off for over a month and the level of charge they have after that month is inconsistent with anything running in the background during that time. Not to mention it would be so easy to prove the mass media would be forced to pick it up.

 

[soccerballtux]

plus they communicate location to towers regardless of on/off state

what?

 

[soccerballtux]

Cell phone does not communicate with anything when it is off. How do I know?

100% battery when I turn it off.
100% battery when I turn it on.

I've had cell phones turned off for over a month and the level of charge they have after that month is inconsistent with anything running in the background during that time. Not to mention it would be so easy to prove the mass media would be forced to pick it up.

agree. not to mention FCC violation and plane safety