IBM

Sequoia, an IBM Blue Gene/Q supercomputer at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, reached 16.32 petaflops, while previous leader K Computer trailed with 10.5 petaflops, according to the Top500 list. The list was published today at the International Supercomputing Conference in Hamburg.

The latest edition of the list, which is published twice a year, shows that Intel is slipping and IBM is recapturing lost ground, while the U.S. is back on top after losing its lead three years ago. New technologies reign, from updated IBM chips to a build of Fujitsu's novel interconnect product.

Intel processors … Read more

VMware today announced a new open-source project called Serengeti, which enables enterprises to quickly deploy, manage, and scale Apache Hadoop in virtual and cloud environments.

VMware says it is working with the Apache Hadoop community to contribute extensions that will make Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) and Hadoop MapReduce projects "virtualization-aware" to support elastic scaling and further improve Hadoop performance in virtual environments.

In case you've been living outside the big data vacuum, open source Hadoop has emerged as the de facto standard for big data processing and is packaged up in a few different distributions by … Read more

SK Hynix has formed an alliance with IBM to develop phase-change random access memory (PCRAM), which is considered to be the next generation of memory chips and capable of storing high data volumes.

According to Song Hyeon-jeong, head of the SK Hynix's future strategy office in the Korea Times on Sunday, the collaboration will help the Korean chip manufacturer strengthen its capabilities to better compete with rivals in next-generation chips. PCRAM is a non-volatile memory chip which uses the property of chalcogenide glass to switch between both states, and is touted to be able to store a lot of … Read more

IBM is introducing its own in-store shopping companion app.

Dubbed the "digital shopping assistant," this mobile app allows consumers to scan items they want to purchase at retail stores with their smartphone and then use an IBM self-checkout station to pay.

"Retailers can now deliver a more personalized shopping experience that is less of a chore and more of a convenience for consumers," IBM Retail Store Solutions vice president John Gaydac said in a statement. "By enabling consumers to scan and check-out a wide variety of products at their own pace, retailers can not only … Read more

She's always seemed like a caring, friendly woman to me -- one with a little steel, to be sure, but who doesn't like that? Yet it seems that the bosses at IBM think Siri just can't be trusted.

Indeed, Wired reports that Apple's digital butlerette has been banned from IBM's firmament.

Surely, this must be some exaggeration, you might think. Surely there's no way of preventing an IBMer from whispering to his digital factotum in the restroom.

Well, Wired is relying on the words of Big Blue's CIO, Jeanette Horan. For she told MIT's Technology Review … Read more

Another day, another Apple victory.

At $183 billion, Apple is the world's most valuable brand, according to Millward Brown Optimor's annual BrandZ study. Apple was last year's most valuable brand, as well, though the company's value jumped 19 percent over last year's $153.3 billion tally.

Millward Brown Optimor's findings, which were released today, are based on a company's financial data, market intelligence, and consumer opinions related to brand equity.

Aside from Apple, technology firms fared quite well in the BrandZ study, with IBM taking the second spot with $116 billion in value. … Read more

It seems as if each week, another little tale of Steve Jobs' wise and wicked ways and words emerges.

Just a few days ago, audio was aired in which the Apple co-founder compared his company in the bad times to Jeffrey Dahmer. (I have embedded the evidence.)

The quote, published in Fast Company, was: "Imagine if you're the mother of, you know, some bad kid...You're Jeffrey Dahmer's mother. Or you're the mother of some kid who's turned into a robber ... robbed banks or something, been to jail. I don't equate Apple with … Read more

You might think you can't have a phone conversation with someone who's deaf, but Dimitri Kanevsky would not only disagree, he'd prove you wrong.

Deaf since he was 3, Kanevsky has hardly let his disability get in the way of progress -- or success. Born in the Soviet Union, he eventually emigrated, first to Israel, and then to the United States, and went on to become a research staff member in the speech and language algorithms department at IBM's Thomas Watson Research Center.

On Monday, Kanevsky and 13 others were honored at the White House in … Read more

President Obama today made a campaign stop at a major chip research and manufacturing in hub in New York to reemphasize his made-in-America theme.

Obama visited the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) of the University at Albany, State University of New York. CNSE is an education and research facility centered on nanotechnology.

The visit was intended to highlight "insourcing" and the connection between education, innovation, and manufacturing in supporting investment and bringing jobs back to the U.S.

The region is home to chipmakers IBM and Globalfoundries, the latter is in the final stages of constructing … Read more