If you use a computer, you’ve probably seen that little “Intel Inside” sticker on it somewhere, letting you know that your Facebook posts and cat videos are happening due to Intel’s dominance in the computer chip business. But there’s another computer chip maker, Advanced Micro Devices, or AMD, that we don’t hear about very much, although that may be about to change.
Here at DT, Matt Smith has been putting AMD’s new Ryzen 7 1800X chip through its paces, and he’s here to report that the CPU has what it takes to compete against Intel, and at a price that puts it in reach of most people who like to build their own computer systems. The Ryzen 7 packs eight cores against the 10 in Intel’s top Core i7 model, and while it isn’t quite as fast as Intel’s fastest chip, it’s still pretty damn fast and at a price far below Intel’s premium offerings.
Is it a viable non-Intel option for computer builders and OEMs to drop into their machines? Depends somewhat on what the computer will be doing, so check out Matt’s review for a full technical and performance breakdown of the new AMD Ryzen series of silicon CPUs.
Snapping up billions
Today is the big day for Snap Inc., maker of the super-popular Snapchat photo app and those funky fresh Spectacle video glasses, as the company’s IPO got off to a healthy start, opening at $24 a share, which is a good seven dollars a share above what analysts thought it might start at. The makes Snap worth about $30 billion, which makes it one of the strongest tech IPOs since Facebook – and one of the most overvalued, according to some analysts.
Like a lot of tech companies hoping to leverage a big IPO into becoming a profitable business, Snap is still a money loser, something 26-year-old founder Evan Spiegel is certainly aware of, despite just becoming a billionaire on paper that’s about to marry Victoria Secret super-angel Miranda Kerr, who is seven years his senior. Can Spiegel guide Snap to the calm seas of positive cash flow?
There are rumors that a Snap drone and other products are under consideration and Snapchat is used by what seems like every teenager and 20-something on the planet, so maybe we should buy a few shares.
Google’s A.I. Assistant tastes like Marshmallow Nougat
Remember when artificial intelligence was just a sci-fi movie plot device and not running everything in your house and your life in general? Memories, eh?
Well, get ready for more AI everywhere as Google has announced that its Google Assistant AI is coming today to any device running Android 6.0 Marshmallow and above. That’s a whole lot of devices. Google Assistant was only available on Google’s Pixel phones, Google home devices, and some other tech via the Allo app, but starting today, a 6.0 update will replace Search with Assistant.
This is either the start of a tech Nirvana brought to you by Google, or the beginning of a descent into Skynet dystopia. OK Google, open the pod bay doors…
Be sure to check out the Trends with Benefits podcast today (or later on YouTube) as our panel of techie tech folks debate the Nintendo Switch and other hot topics. TwB airs live at 2 p.m. PST.
