64-bit ARM Servers coming Sooner than expected, thanks to Apple A7 waking up the 64-bit opportunity

CNET has a post on 64-bit ARM processors catching ARM and other fabs flat footed.

Phone and tablet makers are rushing to embrace 64-bit designs, surprising even those executives behind the chip platform.

Tom Lantzsch, ARM's executive vice president of corporate strategy, spoke with CNET after the company reported first-quarter earnings on Wednesday.

ARM supplies virtually all of the basic processor designs for phones and tablets running on Android.

"Certainly, we've had big uptick in demand for mobile 64-bit products. We've seen this with our [Cortex] A53, a high-performance 64-bit mobile processor," he said.

This caught the chip designer's executives off guard, as they believed that 64-bit ARM would only be needed for corporate servers in the initial phase of the technology's rollout.

"We've been surprised at the pace that [64-bit] is now becoming mobile centric. Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Marvell are examples of public 64-bit disclosures," he said.

Past assumptions is only large memory addressing would address the need for 64 bit chips.  But, thanks to Apple’s A7 the market has found a new feature to differentiate on.

This echoes comments from a Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. executive last week, who said the conversion to 64-bit has in the mobile device industry accelerated in the last six months after Apple made its 64-bit A7 processor -- also an ARM design -- announcement.

How soon are the 64-bit chips showing up?  By Christmas.

So, when will the transition to 64-bit processors happen for Android phones and tablets?

"We believe the capability will be there for a 64-bit phone by Christmas," he said, referring to phones and tablets with 64-bit bit processors.

The Power of Visual/Spatial Thinkers, Temple Grandin's Story

I’ve written a few posts on the importance of Visual/Spatial Thinking.

Do you think Spatially? A neglected skill is becoming a hot talent

Journal Entry by Dave Ohara on October 5, 2013

HBR has a post on Spatial Thinking. The Importance of Spatial Thinking Now by Kirk Goldsberry  |   1:00 PM September 30, 2013 Comments (31)                           …

Problems with adding Supply Chain people, thinking like procurement instead of spatialintelligence

Journal Entry by Dave Ohara on August 4, 2013

How many of you are frustrated with your purchasing department?  I had a short stint at Apple in the Purchasing group.  The purchasing group had a staff of technical project managers who would work with the product development teams on peripherals for Apple products.  During this time is when I got …

Are Spatial Skills one of the under valued skills of a data center engineer?

Journal Entry by Dave Ohara on October 9, 2012

Designing a data center is a skill that you don’t go to school for and learn from a book.  Book learning works for math, science, english and of course reading. So, what kind of skill is needed to design a data center.  One of the challenges is trade-off of getting things just right to reduce or eli …

I”ve watched Temple Grandin’s Ted Video.

But, it took the movie on Temple Grandin to understand Temple Grandin’s story and what she went through to develop her skills.  Here is a behind the scenes movie that gives you some of the feelings behind the movie.

What's your Favorite Typeface (humor)

People who have a focus on design at some point have the question asked “What’s your favorite Typeface?"

Here is a comedian’s answer.

Woohoo, On a Blacklist for a Data Center Conference I don't go to, Freedom of Speech!

A good friend just joined an organization and said he would be at a data center conference that I don’t go to anymore.  He said he would try to get me a pass to attend.  We chatted yesterday and he said everything looked OK, until he got to an individual in the organization and said I was not on the list as media/analyst who can attend their conference.  “Yes, I am blacklisted for a conference.”  My friend apologized, I told him no it is OK.  Thanks for trying.  I know I have probably wrote things that aren’t popular with the conference people who I don’t know and don’t talk to.

I could name the specific conference, but most of you know which one, and at some point I am sure I’ll get on the blacklist for another conference.  If you aren’t willing to write what you think, and upset someone are you just a slave to the will of the conference people.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech

The Declaration provides for freedom of expression in Article 11, which states that:

"The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law."^[5]

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, states that:

"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."^[6]

One of my friends was nice enough to send this comment when I said I was blacklisted from a data center conference.

WOW!!!

 

Congratulations - you know you've made it when you are getting blacklisted from blogging about industry conferences :-)

Apple's Environmental Leader meets with Data Center Team, Learns Being Green starts with Design

Some people out there, well many think being Green in a building means being LEED certified.  Apple’s data center team has some smart folks and they know there is much more to being green than how many LEED points you can get.

GreenBiz has an interview with Apple’s Lisa Jackson and one nice point at the end of the article is on her meeting with the data center design team.

Makower: As you approach your one-year anniversary at Apple on June 10, what’s your biggest surprise?

Jackson: I think it’s how deeply Apple thinks about any given issue. I mean, I knew that it takes a lot of work to make a data center 100 percent renewable, to use our most prominent example as a proof point. What I didn't understand is that to really do it and to be successful at it, you have to start with thinking about the design of the data center. So, getting a chance to meet the team from the very conceptualization of the data center and learn from every data center they've built to the point. Or people who are thinking about energy from the standpoint of efficiency, of course, but also from the deep principles of additionality and displacement and accountability.

Here is some background on Apple’s environmental leadership.

Apple is committed to addressing climate change, to developing green materials for safer products, and to using materials as efficiently as possible. In June 2013, Apple CEO Tim Cook appointed Lisa Jackson as Vice President of Environmental Initiatives. The Office of Environmental Initiatives works with teams across Apple to set strategy, engage stakeholders, and communicate progress.

Apple’s Board of Directors oversees the CEO and other senior management in the competent and ethical operation of Apple on a day‑to‑day basis and ensures that the long‑term interests of shareholders are being served. The Vice President of Environmental Initiatives reports to the CEO. Our integrated approach means that decisions about environmental issues are reviewed at the highest levels of the company. Executive Team members regularly review each new product during its development, focusing on material and design choices, the supply chain, packaging, and product energy efficiency.