1/ Qualcomm says it will acquire Nuvia, a chip startup founded by former Apple chip execs, for ~$1.4 billion. Link here: reuters.com/article/us-qua…
2/ This move is much more important for Qualcomm than the dollar figures suggest. First, this gets Qualcomm back into the custom CPU core game in a big way. Qualcomm once made custom cores but in recent years has mostly relied on cores directly licensed from Arm.
3/ Apple has done significant custom core work over the past decade that is showing up in its performance with the M1 chip in Macs but will really become obvious when its next round of chips hit this year.
4/ Arm X1 notwithstanding, it was always hard to see how Qualcomm would hit back performance-wise while being bound to Arm's core roadmap. Nuvia's CPU core design could help Qualcomm get back in the game.
5/ The move also makes it easier - not trivial at all, but easier - for a fuller Qualcomm move away from Arm. Changing ISAs (for RISC-V, etc) is never easy but is less of a lift if you control the core designs tip to tail.
6/ Qualcomm having more autonomy from Arm matters now when Arm is being bought by Nvidia. Nearly everyone I talk to in the industry is nervous about being lashed to Arm's roadmap once it becomes owned by a current or potential competitor.
7/7 Lastly, it's fascinating that Qualcomm says nothing about server here. That's the only class of chip Nuvia has ever talked about publicly, and Qualcomm's efforts there withered amid cost cutting several years ago - much to the consternation of several partners.
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(Thread) The Epic Games/Apple hearing is underway, and we already have a disagreement about how long is needed till trial - Epic says it can be ready in 4-6 months, Apple, after some prodding, says maybe 6-8 months.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers- “I can tell you right now that I am inclined not to grant relieve with respect to the games, but I am inclined to grant relieve with respect to the Unreal Engine,” she said.
In other words, Judge Gonzalez Rogers is not inclined to force Apple to put Fortnite back into the App Store, but she is inclined to stop Apple from cutting off Epic from what it needs to maintain Unreal Engine.
Tweet storm with everything we know right now about the CPU problems. Number 1: If you can read this, you are definitely at risk, and there may be no surefire fix.
One of the vulnerabilities is specific to Intel chips in desktops, laptops and internet servers. Our understanding is that Linux, Apple and Microsoft all have fixes that will resolve the issue. This is the more serious of the flaws. Update your OS ASAP.
Another of the vulnerability affects basically every modern chip: ARM (phones and tablets) AMD, and Intel. It also likely affects other chips like embedded systems processers, etc. Our understanding is there's no 100 percent fix for this issue yet.