Microsoft – Asia Pacific Metalworking Equipment News | Manufacturing | Automation | Quality Control

China Loses Standing After Apple’s iPhone Production Moves To India

Christellee — Fri, 13 Sep 2024 07:19:27 +0000

Apple Inc. has commenced the production of its newly launched iPhone 16 series in India, reflecting a broader trend among tech giants like Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. who are also turning away from China.

Source:benzinga.com

Historically, the California-based tech giant relied on China for manufacturing its high-end smartphones, while Indian suppliers focused on low-end and older models. However, the latest reports indicate that Apple is now mass-producing its new iPhone lineup, including the high-end Pro series, in India alongside China, South China Morning Post reported.

Analysts suggest that this move is part of Apple’s strategy to diversify its supply chain amid worsening relations between Beijing and Washington. It also highlights Apple’s growing confidence in India’s advanced manufacturing capabilities.

“These moves reflect a broader shift unfolding where major tech companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon are moving production away from China, given various security and economic risks,” stated Karthik Nachiappan, research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Institute of South Asian Studies.

Apple’s decision to manufacture the iPhone 16 series in India marks a significant shift in its supply chain strategy. This move comes amid escalating tech tensions between the U.S. and China. Earlier this year, Microsoft Corp. urged its China-based AI team to relocate, highlighting the increasing strain on tech companies operating in China.

However, Apple is not looking at just India, it was toying with the idea of Indonesia in April this year. Last December, Apple is working with China’s BYD, a key iPad assembler, to move new product introduction (NPI) resources to Vietnam. In other words, Apple is spreading its presence across Asia as some form of safety net if China’s relations gets more intense.

Furthermore, OpenAI, backed by Microsoft, announced restrictions on its AI tools in China, reflecting similar concerns. Meanwhile, Amazon has been ramping up recruitment efforts in China to compete with local e-commerce giants, indicating a nuanced approach to its China strategy.

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Nvidia Finds Itself Amongst Defendants Accused Of Copyright Infringements

Christellee — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 02:31:51 +0000

Nvidia has found itself joining the group of enterprises taken to court, like OpenAI, Microsoft, Stability AI, Midjourney, and DeviantArt, making lawsuits over copyright infringements more common.

The world raved about AI last year, even Jensen Huang from Nvidia famously praised the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI). He went as far as to say anyone can be a programmer with AI softwares. This was during the period where ChatGPT got into trouble in various shapes and forms— from data security breach to fabricated content by a high ranking editor.

Now, the chip titan finds itself joining the group of defendants accused of copyright infringements via OpenAI. Three authors reportedly took Nvidia to court over using their copyrighted material without permission to train its NeMo AI platform.

Brian Keene, Abdi Nazemian and Stewart O’Nan said their works were part of a dataset of about 196,640 books that helped train NeMo to simulate ordinary written language, before being taken down in October “due to reported copyright infringement.“ In a proposed class action filed in San Francisco federal court, the authors said the takedown reflects Nvidia’s having “admitted” it trained NeMo on the dataset, and thereby infringed their copyrights.

They are seeking unspecified damages for people in the United States whose copyrighted works helped train NeMo’s so-called large language models in the last three years. Among the works covered by the lawsuit are Keene’s 2008 novel “Ghost Walk,” Nazemian’s 2019 novel “Like a Love Story,” and O’Nan’s 2007 novella “Last Night at the Lobster.”

The lawsuit drags Nvidia into a growing body of litigation by writers, as well as the New York Times, over generative AI, which creates new content based on inputs such as text, images and sounds. Nvidia touts NeMo as a fast and affordable way to adopt generative AI.

Other companies sued over the technology have included OpenAI, which created the AI platform ChatGPT, and its partner Microsoft. AI’s rise has made Nvidia a favourite of investors. The Santa Clara, California-based chipmaker’s stock price has risen almost 600% since the end of 2022, giving Nvidia a market value of nearly US$2.2 trillion.

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Slaughtering Undone, Sam Altman Resumes Chapter

Christellee — Thu, 23 Nov 2023 02:39:02 +0000

Those who have been following the Sam Altman saga must have been screaming “WHY?!” when news about his termination hit the headlines. My overwhelming sense of curiosity had a generous serving of conspiracy theories. Nonetheless, the spotlight was cast on accountability, and could only get juicier.

One glaring thing was its uncanny resemblance to Steve Job’s story; forced out of the company he founded. Being utterly disappointed as he should be, he minded his own business till the successor, Gil Amelio was proven beyond reasonable doubt he was not cut out for the job. Jobs was rehired by Apple after a massive stock plunge under Amelio’s leadership.

Now that Sam Altman is back in OpenAI, along with a new board installed, it is clear that the biggest winners are Microsoft and Altman. Microsoft takes the crown for its massive US$13 billion pumped into OpenAI, though this investment does not give Microsoft any control in the firm. Altman’s return is the biggest humiliation / doubt to the board that ousted him — leadership quality.

The Messy Aftermaths

One could not disagree with Microsoft’s move to jump in offering roles to Altman’s supporters. After all, this involves sourcing for another 700 or more new hires for the company. This essentially spells “game over” just for the time frame and resources needed to complete the recruitment.

Another thing to note is the board’s earlier allegations of Altman’s management which the former lost faith in and led to the firing had their strategy backfired. The board’s ambiguous explanation was no explanation given more than 90% were willing to exit OpenAI with Altman cast more doubts on transparency albeit within the board.

Taking it a step further, the team at OpenAI has the right to know why Altman was removed – accountability. Yet, the board’s approach was to be ambiguous which led to almost a mass exodus.

Employees deserve accountability as well, especially if alarm bells are bursting ear drums. The board’s hollow answer just does not cut it, just because the golden word “investigation” was missing. It is glaring the approach to withhold what transpired was preceded by something better left unsaid.

And The Wounded

Ironically, the newly installed board does not have someone who earlier preached about AI safety. This person is none other than Helen Toner, who was a board member and former Director of Strategy for Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology for nearly five years according to CNBC.

Image credit – Daily Mail

Toner famously told the Journal of Political Risk that, “Building AI systems that are safe, reliable, fair, and interpretable is an enormous open problem… Organisations building and deploying AI will also have to recognise that beating their competitors to market— or to the battlefield — is to no avail if the systems they’re fielding are buggy, hackable, or unpredictable.”

It was widely reported Altman spoke to Toner about a paper she co-wrote for Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology, where she is a Director of Strategy, as it seemed to criticise the company’s safety approach and favouring rival Anthropic, according to The New York Times. Deeply ruffled, Toner allegedly set the motion running to get a hurdle out of the way.

Of course, everything listed here are not backed by concrete evidence but from a variety of reports. That said, this will be a hot topic in the next couple of weeks.

Yet, nobody gave any attention to Emmett Shear — former Twitch CEO who was announced to be the interim CEO after Altman’s exit. He enjoyed a few glorious days but nothing has been said about what is next for him after Altman’s return.

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OpenAI Slaughters Its Golden Goose — Sam Altman

Christellee — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 04:31:52 +0000

From intellectual property theft to a parody of Steve Jobs’ experience — being driven out by the company he founded, Sam Altman’s case is making the world hold its breath for what is next for OpenAI, if not Microsoft.

The earth shook when headlines of Altman’s ousting hit the press. Till today, no further information is disclosed on the big “WHY?”. Their communications teams threaded carefully by claiming the board lost confidence in Altman’s management practices; not receiving the transparency it rightfully deserved.

If we look back, OpenAI thrusted several industries into controversy this year alone. From media reporting to chip coding, the chatbot was deemed as something that could either make or break industries by creating a new generation of jobs or eliminating them altogether. Altman is said to be pursuing a new concept, Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), and reportedly hinted on the idea of machines performing tasks better than humans.

When news broke that Altman was shown the door, hordes of staff threatened mass resignation unless the board took him back. One of the petition signatures belonged to Ilya Sutskever, another Co-founder and Chief Scientist of OpenAI. He also happens to be one of the primary brains behind the large language model GPT-4.

Ilya Sutskever, another Co-founder and Chief Scientist of OpenAI

Sutskever had a hand in Altman’s ousting. Now, he joins the petition to have Altman reinstated, expressing full remorse of his prior actions that caused Altman’s exit.

As fate would have it, when over 90% signed the letter demanding his reinstating or they will leave, Microsoft stepped in to hire Altman, along with offering his supporters jobs should they be keen. This is a golden opportunity for Microsoft to strengthen its own AI chatbot after witnessing the the exponential success of OpenAI.

Many conglomerates have gone on the path of creating their own AI chatbots but it was not without suffering from serious blunders. For the metalworking world, even Nvidia’s leader acknowledged the power of AI that he conceded coding can be done by just about anyone who knows programming language.

At the end of it all, many still hold onto the mentality that AI is the technology that will redefine how work is done across several industries. However, giving credit where it is due — considering Microsoft invited Altman onboard after OpenAI’s dumping, the latter totally missed the point they have killed their golden goose.

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Semiconductor Companies Face A Long Road Back To Growth

Christellee — Tue, 16 Aug 2022 01:58:54 +0000

With the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act, semiconductor companies got some much-needed good news after weathering the pressures brought on by chip shortages the past couple of years.

By Ed Scannell, TechTarget’s News Group

That relief might be short-lived. Pouring cold water on the lukewarm optimism chipmakers have with the CHIPS Act money are the slower PC-buying market following the pandemic and soaring inflation causing IT shops to hit the pause button on purchases.

“The PC industry went through a period of irrational exuberance during the pandemic,” said Glenn O’Donnell, vice president and research director at Forrester Research. “IT now has all the PCs they need, so naturally you see trouble coming for not just chipmakers, but carrying over to OEMs like Dell, HP and Lenovo,” remarked Glenn O’Donnell, Vice president and research director, Forrester Research.

Rising costs caused by inflation are slowing not only PC sales, but servers as well. Companies that typically replace servers every five years might extend the life of their existing servers another year or two as a cost-cutting measure, O’Donnell added.

Inflation’s rippling effect has also reached cloud providers like Microsoft, which is starting to milk its Azure assets longer and slow-walk the expansion of its data centers, O’Donnell said. This has meant that hyperscalers, who as a group buy a significant number of chips, have delayed their purchase of servers, which again contributes to the eroding chip sales of Intel, AMD and Nvidia.

Chip Supply Chain Slows

Top-tier semiconductor companies — most notably, Intel and Nvidia — reported down revenues for the quarter ending in June and/or forecast a continuation of flat to down revenues over the next two or three quarters.

Yet another factor that figures to hold chip sales down in the coming quarters is the slowdown in delivery of components that chipmakers need to deliver finished products — not just shortages on vital items item such as substrates, but other materials stretching from precious earth metals to aluminum. The latter material largely comes from war-torn Ukraine, where the flow of supply has slowed. This slowdown has reportedly caused a significant rise in the cost of that material, which is being passed on to chip manufacturers.

Some analysts see the lack of demand for PCs as one problem that will disappear sooner rather than later. They note that this down period is part of the normal selling cycle.

“Vendors sold more and more PCs, resulting in outsized growth even during the chip shortages, resulting in huge backlogs,” said Dan Newman, analyst at Futurum Research and CEO of Broadsuite Media Group. “You knew the merry-go-round had to stop at some point, but you are starting to see a move back to normalization.”

While falling PC sales affects all the top-tier chipmakers, each company has other problems unique to its situation. In Intel’s case, problems that started before the pandemic included not having the proper manufacturing equipment, which inhibited delivery of innovative technologies. This also caused the company to miss multiple delivery dates on strategically important processors.

The latest pushback occurred two months ago when, for the second time, Intel pushed back delivery of its next Xeon processor, code-named Sapphire Rapids. Intel had previously announced that Nvidia would use Sapphire Rapids, not AMD’s Genoa chip, in its DGX H100 system.

Chip Delays Continue

Intel initially planned to deliver Sapphire Rapids — a chip the company hoped would make it more competitive with Genoa — in the fourth quarter of 2021. Intel told TechTarget Editorial it expects to deliver the chip sometime in the second half of 2023.

With each delay, the company falls further behind the technology curve compared with archrival AMD, which has been steadily eating away at Intel’s market share.

“To fix most of its problems, Intel has to do three things: execute, execute and execute,” said Frank Dzubeck, president of Communications Network Architects. “Every delivery date has to be met, every chip plant opening date has to be met, and research has to be functioning on all cylinders.”

Intel’s move to correct a series of management missteps was to bring back longtime Intel executive Pat Gelsinger in February 2021. Gelsinger has been aggressive on multiple fronts: investing $100 billion to build new chip fabrication plants over the next three years in the U.S. and Europe, acquiring key chip manufacturers, and reorganizing the company to establish new divisions dedicated to data center and AI technologies.

Still, the company has missed delivery dates on critical products and not offered any word on fixes applied to its manufacturing problems. Some analysts believe the manufacturing problems won’t be resolved until the company builds the new fabrication plants starting in 2023 and continuing into 2025.

“The major challenge Gelsinger and crew have is to put better management in place to manage manufacturing,” said Jack Gold, analyst and president of J.Gold Associates. “They have great designers, but you must have the ability to manufacture what you design.”

Arm Momentum Continues

One other challenge Intel has is a competitive one with Arm Holdings. The U.K.-based manufacturer of lower-cost chips has gained impressive momentum over the past few years. Its competitive strength is that its chips require much less power than Intel’s — an attractive asset to owners of larger data centers concerned with energy costs and sustainability issues.

“Arm used to be seen as kind of a toy, looking down on it because it was mostly running mobile phones, not data centers,” O’Donnell said. “That view held up for many years, but it’s not so true anymore. You can crank it up now to outperform Intel at many functions.”

The good news for Intel regarding its competition with Arm is that it’s difficult to switch a large data center over from Intel chips to Arm chips. The process can be time-consuming and potentially expensive because it introduces compatibility issues with a data center’s existing server-based applications.

“Enterprise data centers have had applications optimized for x86 hardware for years,” Gold said. “To change over to Arm is not easy because the compatibility issues are not very transparent. Are busy IT people going to take the time to see if their mission-critical applications run efficiently on Arm? Probably not.”

Nvidia’s business has also been affected by the plummeting sales of PCs, particularly in the gaming market, where users heavily depend on the company’s GPUs to drive performance. In the recent quarter, the company reported sales to that market had dropped by 33 percent year over year. Revenues of its data center products were up 61 percent year over year, but those sales dramatically slowed to 1% from this year’s first quarter to the second, led by a decline in sales of its GPUs.

“Nvidia has had blowout numbers for so many quarters in a row, so there is no reason for people to lose their minds over this downturn,” Newman said. “You will see this pullback among consumers and businesses for a period of time before we kick into the next cycle — likely next year.”

One advantage Nvidia has over Intel for a quicker recovery is the advances it has made by aggressively investing in AI-based technologies, which can be seen in its Omniverse offering, and tying those technologies to its GPUs. The company is also the first to incorporate its GPUs with its own CPU, which results in much faster performance.

AMD had a decidedly more upbeat quarter, reporting its eighth straight quarter of revenue gains, led by strong gains in its data center and embedded product businesses. The company expects to see continued growth in its data center business through the end of the year with the arrival of its 5 nanometer chip technology, according to AMD CEO Lisa Su.

Intel said it expects to deliver its first 7 nanometer processor, code-named Meteor Lake, in 2023.

Su also said at the most recent financial analyst meeting that she holds a “more conservative outlook on the PC business in the coming quarter,” which could negatively affect overall revenues.

Microsoft underlined Su’s comments last month in its quarterly revenue report, saying production slowdowns and a deteriorating PC market caused a $300 million hit to its Windows OEM business, which supplies Windows to all PC manufacturers.

“AMD had decent growth in its PC business, but that was from a much smaller number than Intel’s,” Newman said.

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AWS, Alibaba And Microsoft Lead The APAC Cloud Market

Ashwini Balan — Mon, 18 Apr 2022 08:00:59 +0000

Tencent, Google and Baidu are in the Chasing Pack

New Q4 data from Synergy Research Group shows that Amazon (AWS), Alibaba and Microsoft are clear leaders in the APAC region cloud market, based on quarterly revenues. Amazon is the frontrunner in four of the five APAC sub-regions, which puts it well ahead of its regional rivals, while Alibaba has a strong lead in China and is also well placed in the rest of East Asia, South & Southeast Asia and Oceania. Microsoft is now ranked second in four of the sub-regions and is placed third in the overall APAC region.

The rest of the top-ranked cloud providers are either global players with a position in multiple markets – Google, NTT and IBM – or companies with a strong position in their home markets. Beyond Alibaba the next eight cloud providers in China are all local companies, with Tencent, Baidu, China Telecom, Huawei and China Unicom being the next biggest.

Meanwhile Fujitsu is well placed in Japan, Naver and KT feature heavily in South Korea, and Telstra is a challenger in the Australian market. Other cloud providers in the APAC top 20 include JD Cloud, Kingsoft, Oracle, Salesforce, Sinnet and Singtel.

APAC revenues from cloud infrastructure services reached almost $17 billion in Q4 and are growing at over 40% per year. Public IaaS is by far the largest segment in the region, followed by public PaaS and managed private cloud services. Public PaaS has the highest growth rate in the quarter, thanks to the particularly strong growth in database and IoT-oriented services.

The APAC region now accounts for a third of the worldwide market and continues to grow much more rapidly than either the North American or EMEA regional markets. While all APAC sub-regions are growing strongly, it is South & Southeast Asia that has the highest growth rate, thanks in large part to India. China is by far the largest country market in the region followed by Japan, India, South Korea, Australia and Hong Kong.

“China remains a unique market that is dominated by local companies, while in the rest of the APAC region there is strong competition between the global cloud providers, with some local companies also challenging for business in their home countries,” said John Dinsdale, a Chief Analyst at Synergy Research Group.

“The challenge for local players is that in most respects cloud is a truly global market, requiring global presence, leading edge technology, strong brand name and credibility, extremely deep pockets and a long-term focus. While local cloud companies or smaller regional players can continue to grow revenues by maintaining a tight focus on their home markets or on well-defined user groups or use applications, the leading global cloud providers will continue to aggressively grow both their geographic footprint and their international revenues.”

SOURCE Synergy Research Group

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AVEVA x Microsoft: Partnership To Optimise Manufacturing Operations

Ashwini Balan — Wed, 16 Mar 2022 00:00:48 +0000

Ravi Gopinath, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Cloud Officer, shares how AVEVA is working with Microsoft to help manufacturers improve business operations while reducing energy consumption and emissions

The race is on for the manufacturing industry to find innovative ways to optimise operations as they strive to reduce energy consumption and achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Here, AVEVA’s chief strategy officer and chief cloud officer Ravi Gopinath explains how his company is working with Microsoft to create a powerful ecosystem of digital technologies and solutions that will enable manufacturers to drive sustainability across their value chains and attain this ambitious goal.

What are manufacturers looking for today?

As the world looks to realise net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, manufacturers are seeking green industrial processes to meet stakeholders’ expectations for sustainability and environmental commitments. More than 80 per cent of major international companies now report sustainability metrics, and many enterprises are aligned with initiatives such as the Race to Zero and Business Ambition for 1.5C (including AVEVA).

Digital technologies can help manufacturers and other businesses deliver on these commitments by cutting carbon emissions by up to 15 per cent, identifying areas for optimising value chains, reducing energy consumption and streamlining operations.

How do AVEVA and Microsoft work together to develop sustainable manufacturing solutions?

The sustainability challenges ahead of us are inherently complex and demand collective action in addition to new technology and scalable solutions. AVEVA and Microsoft have strengthened our long partnership to enhance customers’ digital transformation journeys by leveraging the benefits of sustainability. Digital transformation unlocks data for real-time optimisation, improved decision-making and digitally enabled business operations, even with a remote workforce.

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Together, we support our joint customer vision of creating profitable and sustainable business outcomes. AVEVA’s portfolio breadth, combined with Microsoft’s technology solutions, enables customers to deploy faster, reduce energy consumption, cut emissions and share collaborative innovation, boosting efficiency for all.

What technologies are AVEVA and Microsoft focusing on to help manufacturers transform their operations and reap the benefits of Industry 4.0?

Working in partnership with Microsoft, AVEVA offers several bespoke solutions, such as AVEVA Manufacturing Execution Systems, for which we were named a leader in the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant. Beyond operations execution, AVEVA offers edge-to-enterprise visibility and control through the AVEVA Unified Operations Center, while our Asset Performance portfolio is the most comprehensive way to help our customers exceed reliability, safety and performance goals.

Additionally, our AVEVA Unified Project Execution offers digital project execution and construction management capabilities integrated within engineering solutions. These are just some of the tools AVEVA uses to provide real-time energy data and support improved operational efficiency while helping our customers reduce their often very sizeable carbon footprints.

These systems are delivered alongside Microsoft solutions, such as Azure. Together, AVEVA and Microsoft are committed to building a stronger, more powerful ecosystem to enable industries globally to action their business and sustainability goals.

How do AVEVA and Microsoft help manufacturers to engage customers in new ways and ensure success in the ‘next normal’?

Pandemic-linked challenges were a huge setback for all kinds of businesses. Manufacturing, which was already being disrupted by new technologies and the demand for faster production cycles, was further hit by border closures, supply chain disruptions and remote working requirements. AVEVA and Microsoft co-innovated to deploy responsive, strategic tools to underpin autonomous systems, remote operations and lights-out manufacturing.

In Batam, Indonesia, for example, a smart factory team at Schneider Electric used AVEVA Discrete Lean Management, AVEVA Enterprise Management and AVEVA Insight to enable streamlined operations in the cloud. Giving the factory team intelligent data has improved operational efficiency through real-time performance tracking and empowered faster decision-making. Results included a 44 per cent decrease in downtime, a 40 per cent increase in on-time delivery for customers, and 21 per cent rise in energy savings.

AVEVA and Microsoft have also enhanced our joint workforce transformation solutions. With the explosion of Industry 4.0, re-skilling workers with advanced technology is essential to moving manufacturing from a manpower-intensive business towards a future-focused industry.

By deploying six cloud-based AVEVA Operator Training Simulators in partnership with Microsoft Azure, TotalEnergies’ Oleum division created a fully simulated petrochemical facility that provides highly effective training in a safe environment identical to the control room. This enables teams to learn how to handle potential hazards, and improves accessibility and scale, meaning up to 2,000 operators can be trained each year.

Meanwhile, AVEVA’s Connected Worker solution accelerates the learning, upskilling and reskilling of the workforce technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics, mixed reality – for example, improving skills through experiential training using mixed reality and AI in the cloud.

Together, the solutions leverage Microsoft’s standardised, open cloud platform for sustainability alongside AVEVA’s industrial expertise in optimising production, improving environmental efficiency and decreasing fuel costs and waste. We have created a powerful ecosystem for companies to deliver on their sustainability goals and achieve net-zero emissions, while staying resilient and prepared for any future crises.

What results have these innovative technologies demonstrated?

By combining our expertise, network and capabilities, AVEVA and Microsoft have helped customers across the manufacturing sector gain significant competitive advantages. In addition to this, AVEVA develops technology solutions that are contributing towards effectively reducing industrial organisations’ environmental footprints. Our offerings are enabling our customers to integrate legacy solutions seamlessly, providing advanced analytics that drive sustainable decision-making through actionable insights.

A recent AVEVA survey showed that 90 per cent of industrial leaders are looking to digital technologies to achieve sustainability goals. How can AVEVA and Microsoft enable decarbonisation in manufacturing?

The AVEVA survey shows how AI and automation are now seen as necessary technologies to keep pace with competitors. About 30 per cent of manufacturers expect to significantly increase investment in digital transformation technologies to automate and modernise their business and drive sustainability across their value chain.

Together with Microsoft, AVEVA’s software supports long-term, sustainable value creation that can mutually benefit people and the planet. Our combined efforts provide innovative solutions that make it easier for customers to build collaboration between globally dispersed teams and help in the transition to a lower-carbon future.

Working side-by-side with Microsoft, AVEVA has templated its best practices and vertical solutions to become repeatable, scalable and adaptable to fit agnostically with other software stacks, thereby enabling rapid implementation and payback. Today, organisations deploying the combined AVEVA Energy Management and Performance Solutions – delivered over Microsoft products – can reduce project implementation times by up to 60 per cent when compared to bespoke implementations of intelligent operations. Plus, our operations and performance solutions are already helping customers to increase energy efficiency, minimise noxious emissions and optimise the effective use of valuable natural resources.

This article was originally published in the Winter 21/22 issue of Technology Record.

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2035 E-Mobility Taiwan Exhibition—Microsoft Unveils Latest Cloud And IoT Innovations

Ashwini Balan — Tue, 16 Nov 2021 06:00:52 +0000

Microsoft unveiled the latest cloud and IoT innovative technology at the inaugural 2035 E-Mobility Taiwan Exhibition on Wednesday October 20th, 2021, further unlocking potential of cloud computing for smart mobility industry.

The latest reveal highlights Microsoft’s partnership with MIH Consortium (MIH), global manufacturing leader Foxconn’s electric vehicle (EV) software and hardware open platform. Leveraging the power of Microsoft’s cloud service Azure, the partnership delivers secure and innovative cloud-native solutions, accelerates the transformation of automobile industry, while reduces carbon emission for the planet.

Microsoft’s latest innovative cloud computing supports MIH Marketplace’s in four major categories – V2G (vehicle to grid) in support of energy management, pipeline management, dataset management, and in dashboard service – Driver Viewer. Azure IoT Central enables enterprises to collect real-time images, optimizing performance, and improving development agility and efficiency with machine learning modules, container registry, and DevOps.

Jack Cheng, Chief Executive Officer of MIH said, “In the next generation of mobility, user-centricity is key. To enable developers to innovate and create great user experience and applications, we must work towards a Software-Defined Vehicles future by realizing the Open EV Platform vision. The MIH partnership with Microsoft Azure is a great example of connecting and enabling players in the ecosystem to launch new applications and accelerate innovation.”

Microsoft joined MIH Consortium as one of the partners at the inaugural 2035 E-Mobility Taiwan Exhibition

The automotive industry has shifted from individual hardware manufacturing to software solutions collaboration, critically for electric vehicles. Cathy Yeh, Principal PM Group Manager at Industry Clouds and Solutions, Microsoft Corp, commented on the significance of the partnership for the industry, “As the global energy industry steps into a new era of digital transformation, Microsoft has partnered with Taiwan Power Company and YES Energy Service Co., LTD to bring Vehicle to Grid (V2G) solutions on the MIH EV Open Platform, allowing electric vehicle to be part of ancillary services for grid stabilization, creating a new milestone for smart mobility industry. Microsoft will continue to support MIH and its ecosystem development with cloud-based solutions to unlock new innovations for a booming EV industry.“

With smart mobility industry growing at rapid pace, it is imperative to closely manage, monitor, and optimize grid stability, energy supply, and charging sessions to maximize efficiency. Chong-liang Chang, Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) added, “The exponential growth of the electric vehicle industry presents both a challenge and an opportunity in Taiwan for power consumption and distribution. Taipower is thrilled to collaborate with MIH and Microsoft on innovative applications in V2G, allowing services for electric vehicles to be agile and user-centric. Leveraging Taipower’s energy trading platform, together we are working towards a vision for Taiwan’s carbon neutrality and industry electrification.“

Cybersecurity is an integral part of the electric vehicle ecosystem. Microsoft Azure provides multi-layered, built-in security controls and threat intelligence to protect drivers, and passengers’ personal data. Azure Active Directory is an identity service that manages and secures identities during each of electric vehicle’s development phase. Azure’s high-performance computing (HPC) enables MIH to build algorithms and simulation-driven Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS), enabling digital transformation of the ecosystem research & development and collaboration among consortium members.

William Wei, Chief Technology Officer of MIH said, “Microsoft Azure empowers MIH to accelerate the development of Open EV Platform. Its flexibility and cloud services provide stable development environment to enable cloud-based automotive software ecosystem and global deployment of applications to Software-Defined Vehicles (SDV) in the future.”

Sustainability is a shared priority for Microsoft and MIH. The partnership allows the ecosystem to transform mobility industry to create a safer, and cleaner planet for all. Sean Pien, Enterprise Commercial Lead of Microsoft Taiwan reiterated the company’s commitment to sustainability, “To achieve our goal of carbon negative by 2030, Microsoft continues to collaborate with ecosystem partners to fulfill our sustainability commitment. Microsoft’s cloud solutions for the EV industry will drive sustainability development for a greener future.”

SOURCE_Microsoft Taiwan

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What Will Move Us Next?IAA Mobility 2021 Highlights

Ashwini Balan — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 13:06:17 +0000

With 2021 coming to a close and some countries slowly easing restrictions within their country, the post-pandemic world has certainly been enlightened to how mobility affects us significantly.

By Ashwini Balan, Eastern Trade Media

Mobility can be labelled as an umbrella term that encapsulates a wide range of functions either as enabling mobility or in itself mobility. Especially in our digital world, the possibility is simply limitless from our standard automobiles to digital solutions and urban air mobility. With the global vision of an all-electric future, the organisers of IAA Mobility 2021, have brought together a phenomenal trade show that has been a trending topic among trade leaders, international corporations and fans of the latest automotive innovations.

400,000 participants from 95 countries – 744 exhibitors and 936 speakers from 32 countries – 67 percent of visitors under the age of 40 – international media reach of 137 billion – survey shows very positive exhibitor and visitor response. All these statistics makes it further evident that the premiere of IAA Mobility 2021 in Munich, from the 7th to 12th September, was a roaring success and is now the largest mobility event in the world.

“We took a courageous step and were rewarded by the visitors,” said Hildegard Müller, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), which organized the first IAA Mobility this year jointly with Messe München.

“What will move us next?” is the motto of this year’s show with three key pillars being mobility of the future, commitment to constant change, and a platform for all those shaping the future. Among the massive list of exhibits, some were well-known OEMs such as Renault, Hyundai, Ford, BMW, MINI, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Porsche, Volkswagen, Huawei, Microsoft, IBM, Bosch, Magna, Schaeffler, Continental, Michelin, and the bicycle brands Canyon, Specialized, Riese & Müller, Rose, Kettler and many more.

I have narrowed some interesting products and innovations that might be of interest to you.

Products: 176 listed

Automobiles Related

Innovations: 340 listed

“We are now evaluating the event and will further develop our strategy so that we can welcome an even broader spectrum of exhibitors at the next IAA MOBILITY, and to continue the dialog on the future of mobility.,” Hildegard Müller said.

Regardless of the event format in Munich, the IAA Mobility will continue operating its website www.iaa.de, making it a worldwide digital platform for the transformation of mobility on the path to climate neutrality, for innovations around cars, bikes, scooters, car and ride sharing, digitization and urban development.

References of the content:
1. Original Article Source: Press Release, IAA Mobility 2021 Website

2. The best photos of the IAA MOBILITY 2021 are available here

3. The film about the IAA MOBILTY 2021 is available here

4. The public-domain photo. and film material is available here

5. The complete list of exhibitors is available here

6. The complete list of partners is available here

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ZEISS Partners Microsoft To Accelerate Cloud Solutions For Efficient Manufacturing

Asia Pacific Metalworking Equipment News — Tue, 03 Nov 2020 04:01:55 +0000

ZEISS Group and Microsoft Corp. has announced a multi-year strategic partnership to accelerate ZEISS’ transformation into a digital services provider that is embracing a cloud-first approach. By standardising its equipment and processes on Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud platform, ZEISS will be able to provide its customers with enhanced digital experiences, address changing market needs more quickly and increase its productivity.

Leveraging Azure high-performance compute, AI, and IoT services, ZEISS will work with Microsoft to provide original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with new quality management solutions, enable microchip manufacturers to build more powerful, energy-efficient microchips and deliver new digital healthcare solutions for improved clinical workflows, enhanced treatments, and device maintenance. Furthermore, ZEISS will create a seamless experience for its customers through one digital platform and manage all digital ZEISS products through one cloud-native platform to enhance continuous and agile product development.

Connected quality platform drives industrial efficiency

Initially, ZEISS will enable its solutions in the Industrial Quality & Research segment to be run on a connected quality platform built on Azure, allowing direct integration into the customer’s production process. The platform will help gain business insights and foster collaboration across domains, assets and processes that have traditionally been managed in siloed, proprietary systems.

ZEISS provides metrology and quality assurance solutions delivering meaningful information on parts dimensions, component behavior and defect detection. Real-time and large-scale analysis of data that is collected at all stages of the manufacturing process is key to efficient and effective quality assurance, tightly integrated with today’s and tomorrow’s IoT-enabled production processes.

Quality is also a key objective of a new ZEISS audit trail solution, initially focused on highly regulated manufacturing industries, such as medical technology which is particularly sensitive to quality assurance. The solution will allow customers to identify root causes and react quickly on quality issues to reduce down-time and keep productivity up. The software will allow customers to track, trace, visualize and analyze process and product data with the help of Azure AI services to identify failure root causes more quickly.

Data-driven healthcare solutions improve patient care

ZEISS Medical Technology provides comprehensive solutions for ophthalmic professionals and microsurgeons, consisting of devices, implants, consumables and services. Through the partnership, ZEISS will connect its medical technology to Microsoft’s cloud and leverage Azure AI and IoT technologies for new digital services such as improved clinical workflows, enhanced treatments, and device maintenance in a secure environment that enables compliance with regulatory requirements in the health industry. These solutions will help improve the quality of life of patients and drive progress, efficiency and access to healthcare.

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