Intel could cut jobs as the PC market declines, NASA’s experimental tech could improve charging times for EVs, and Microsoft’s goggles created for the U.S. military fail recent tests.
 |
 |
 |
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now, welcome to Hashtag Trending. It’s Thursday, October 13, and I’m your host, Tom Li.
Intel is getting ready to make employee cuts to reduce costs amid the declining sales of PCs. According to a report by Bloomberg U.K, the speculated layoffs could affect thousands of people across multiple divisions. As PC sales decline, the company is reportedly looking to reduce its staff by approximately 11 per cent. Last quarter, Intel’s Client Computing Group responsible for PCs generated about half of the company’s revenue. However, in July, the company reported its first loss in decades and said its revenue for this year would be up to $11 billion lower than expected.
Source: Tom’s Hardware
NASA’s experimental technology used to cool equipment in space could cut the charging times of electric vehicles to five minutes or less. In partnership with Purdue University, the research for future space missions could also be used to charge an electric car in minutes rather than hours. NASA’s technique is called “subcooled flow boiling,” and the technology could boost the electrical current of EV chargers by roughly 1,400 amps, nearly five times the rate of up to 520 amps currently supplied to EVs, NASA said. According to a NASA blog post, subcooled flow boiling can cool cables carrying high charges, allowing for a faster flow of electricity without risking components overheating.
Source: USA Today
Microsoft’s smart goggles created for the U.S. military failed several elements of a recent Army test. According to Insider, Microsoft won a contract that could be worth as much as $22 billion to build the device. However, due to performance issues, the contract has been behind schedule. One tester even said the device would be dangerous for soldiers to wear. This tester was referring to the light generated by the goggles when they’re active, which could alert enemy fighters and expose the soldiers’ locations. The device failed four out of six evaluation events in the “operational demo.” The testers also found that the soldier’s field of view including peripheral vision is limited when wearing the headset. Additionally, the weight and bulkiness of the devices restrict movement.
Source: Business Insider
Last week, Greece was entirely powered by renewables for the first time in its history. On October 7th, for about five hours, Greece ran off entirely renewable power, reaching a record high of 3,100MWh. Solar, wind and hydro represented 46 per cent of the country’s power mix in the eight months to August this year, up from 42 per cent in the same period last year.
Source: PV-Tech
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash briefings or your Google Home daily briefing. Make sure to sign up for our Daily IT Wire newsletter to get all the news that matters directly in your inbox every day. Also, catch the next episode of Hashtag Tendances, our weekly Hashtag Trending episode in French, which drops every Thursday morning. If you have a suggestion or a tip, drop us a line in the comments or via email. Thank you for listening, I’m Tom Li.
