By Ed Sperling

IBM-Samsung Development Deal
IBM and Samsung are working together on new technologies for reducing the power in processors, which is hardly surprising considering they’re both part of the inner circle of the Common Platform consortium.

What’s different is that Samsung researchers for the first time will join IBM at the Albany, N.Y., Nanotech Complex, which it just so happens is right down the road from GlobalFoundries’ new fab. GlobalFoundries is another member of the Common Platform. The goal is to develop new process technology for mobile and high-performance computing, which the companies say will be “smarter, connected and more mobile.”

Greener Plugs
Green Plug introduced what it calls a green power processor, which can detect how much voltage and power a device is drawing—both when it’s on and when it’s in standby mode.

This kind of technology is great for really understanding Min Power. Is a TV in standby mode really almost off? Or is it almost on? And how much does that computer draw when it’s up and running, idle, or powered down? As this kind of technology becomes more widespread it should have interesting implications for future system-level power architectures.

Swift Move
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said swift action is necessary to avoid a spectrum crunch caused by widespread wireless adoption. He said spectrum needs to be used more efficiently, which largely means keeping licenses moving from older technologies to new technologies.

The FCC has been sounding the warning bell on this for the better part of a decade. It’s nice to see they’re still at it.