Khronos Group Releases OpenCL 3.0
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| Khronos Group Releases OpenCL 3.0 | |
| Number | 1111 |
| Broadcast Date | APRIL 27, 2020 |
| Episode Length | 5:48 |
| Hosts | Rich Stroffolino |
The Khronos Group releases OpenCL 3.0, Apple reportedly a month behind on next-gen iPhone production, and Germany will adopt decentralized contact tracing framework for COVID-19.
Headlines
- The Khronos Group released the provisional OpenCL 3.0 standard, the latest update to the open framework for programming GPUs and other compute accelerators. The new version reverts the core API to a fork of OpenCL 1.2, with everything released as part of the OpenCL 2 releases made optional components, giving platforms more control over which features to integrate. As Ryan Smith at Anandtech points out, this is largely a reflection of how OpenCL consortium members have deployed OpenCL, with OpenCL 2.2 released in 2017, but not seeing support from Nvidia, Intel, AMD, or embedded device makers. Khronos hopes to have the standard ratified by members in a few months.
- The Wall Street Journal reports that, according to sources, Apple production of the next-generation iPhone is about a month behind schedule, indicating a later release than the company's typical September target. The company also reportedly cut its July-December build estimates by 20%, as more production is pushed to 2021.
- Judge Timothy Kelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia approved the deal reached last summer that will see Facebook pay $5 billion to the US Federal Trade Commission over privacy violations. The fine relates to Facebook failing to do enough to make sure third parties protected user information, including Professor Aleksandr Kogan who shared Facebook user information with Cambridge Analytica without seeking permission to share it.
- France's Versailles Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling, ordering Amazon to stop delivering non-essential items in the country to protect workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the ruling, Amazon can only deliver health items, food, pet food and electronics while it does risk evaluations in consolation with French unions. Amazon faces a fine of up to 100,000 euros for each non-essential delivery.
- Germany's Chancellery Minister Helge Braun and Health Minister Jens Spahn announced that the country would adopt a decentralized approach to contact tracing for COVID-19. Germany authorities had previously backed the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing plan to develop a tracking system that would be giving health authorities centralized control of the data. According to sources speaking to Reuters, Apple refused to change Bluetooth settings in iOS to allow for this centralized approach. According to the announcement, the tracing system "should be voluntary, meet data protection standards and guarantee a high level of IT security."
- Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that the country's COVIDSafe contract tracing app has been downloaded more than 2 million times. Morrison said mass adoption of the app and broader testing are prerequisites for easing social distancing restrictions in the country, with the government saying at least 40% of Australia's population needs to use the COVIDSafe app for it to be effective.
- Bill Gates announced that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation would turn its "total focus" to defeating the COVID-19 pandemic. This will shift the charity from its work on HIV, malaria, and polio research, and even the foundations educational efforts will shift to focus on facilitating online learning. The Gates Foundation has the largest charity endowment with over $40 billion.
- During Netflix's earnings call, chief content officer Ted Sarandos said the company's slate of 2020 films and series are all largely in post production, and that the company does't anticipate substantial changes to its 2020 release schedule. Sarandos said this is largely because Netflix releases entire seasons at once, so most series are shot well in advance of release. Netflix currently has over 200 projects being worked on remotely, with plans to release more content in 2020 than 2019.
- AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson will step down July 1, and COO John Stankey will take over as CEO. Randall Stephenson will remain executive chairman of AT&T's board until January. Stankey was named President and COO of AT&T in September, and gave over control of the WarnerMedia division to former Hulu CEO Jason Kilar earlier this month. AT&T recently settled a dispute with some investors over the direction of the company, agreeing to make no more major acquisitions and separate the roles of CEO and chairman of the board.
- The analyst firm Canalys reported that smartphone shipments in India increased 13% in Q1, with Chinese smartphone maker Vivo overtaking Samsung for the number two spot in the country. Vivo grew shipments 49% to 6.7 million units, as Samsung saw shipments fall 13.7% to 6.3 million. The OEM RealMe also saw strong growth in the quarter, growing shipments 200% to 3.9 million, overtaking Oppo for the number four spot in the country. Xiaomi remained the largest smartphone OEM in the country, growing shipments 8% to 10.3 million units.
- On April 7th, WhatsApp implemented a limit on "highly forwarded" messages, allowing users to forward these on to one user or group at a time, down from five. Facebook announced that since the change, the spread of such messages has been reduced 70% globally. Facebook previously limited WhatsApp forwards to five recipients in 2018, which it said reduced forwards on its service by 25%.
- Travis Scott drew 12.3 million concurrent Fortnite players to a 15-minute live virtual performance, breaking the record of 10.7 million set by Marshmello in February 2019. The number does not count views on YouTube or Twitch.
Links
| Preceded by: "Week in Review for the Week of 4/20/20" |
Khronos Group Releases OpenCL 3.0 |
Followed by: "Instagram and TikTok Launch Donation Features" |