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Weekly Tech Recap - № 220 - RoboMaster S1, ignored vulnerabilities, Radeon 5700 series, Xbox Two, Foxconn

June 14, 2019.

RoboMaster S1

RoboMaster S1.

RoboMaster S1. © DJI.

Every year, Chinese drone-maker DJI organizes a major robotics competition, called RoboMasters, where student-built robots do battle in an arena. Now, the company has launched a scaled-down, educational combat robot for the home. Called RoboMaster S1, it can be controlled using a mobile app, or programmed using Scratch 3.0 or Python. Mecanum-type wheels ensure impressive agility for moving in any direction. The robot comes with an FHD camera (1080/30fps) and 31 sensors to map its environment. It can recognize and respond to gestures and sounds and track moving objects. In battle, its cannon shoots non-toxic gel beads at a rate of 10 shots per second. The robot weighs 3.3kg and fits in a box 32cm across. Its maximum velocity is 3.5m/s (12.6km/h). Available as of today for USD500.

RoboMaster S1.

The Verge, “DJI’s newest drone is a $499 tank meant to teach kids how to code.”

 

Just 5.5% of vulnerabilities are hacked

Why do hacker always wear hoodies?

Why do hacker always wear hoodies? Because they’re sensitive to cold. © iStock.

A recent study found that only 5.5% of security vulnerabilities discovered by researchers were actually ever used by hackers. Why? Quite simply, because all vulnerabilities are not created equal, and hackers seek to control the most computers with the least amount of effort possible. In other words, some flaws are much easier and worthwhile to hack than others. That means that security patching should be done on a priority basis, starting with the highest-risk vulnerabilities; unfortunately, this prioritization is not an exact science. Besides, another study shows no correlation between the amount of media attention a vulnerability receives and the urgency of patching it, outside of marketing and public-relations considerations.

Axios, “Why hackers ignore most security flaws.”

 

Radeon series 5700

AMD Radeon RX 5700XT.

Radeon RX 5700XT. © AMD.

At the E3 show in Los Angeles, AMD unveiled the first two RDNA-architected 5700-series graphics cards. Available as of July 7, the 5700XT (USD450) and 5700 (USD380) are upper-mid-range cards intended to tackle the ever-popular Nvidia cards for gamers, the GeForce RTX 2070 (USD500) and the RTX 2060 (USD350). The Radeon VII (USD700) remains available, to compete against the RTX 2080. The chips are built on TSMC’s 7nm manufacturing process, a significant shrink from the 12nm process used on the Radeon RX 590, and on Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 2080, for a much-improved performance-per-watt. Both models come with 8GB of GDDR6 memory.

At the beginning of the presentation, AMD talked about the company’s design wins, pointing out that AMD is supplying graphics chips to both the next-gen Xbox and Playstation consoles, Apple’s Mac Pro, and Google’s Stadia game-streaming platform. AMD also recently inked an RDNA licensing deal with Samsung, which will build the graphics technology into its Exynos SoCs for smartphones and tablets. With this new generation of RDNA cards, AMD seems to want to take on Nvidia in the PC market.

The Verge, “AMD’s Radeon 5700 XT wants to put a dent in the world like the dent in its chassis.”

Ars Technica, “AMD launches Navi as the $449 Radeon RX 5700 XT.”

 

Xbox Two?

Xbox E3 2019 Showcase.

Xbox E3 2019 Showcase. © Microsoft.

Thanks to the E3 show, this week is gaming news week. Microsoft capitalized on this major show to reveal a few details on the successor to the Xbox One. Code-named “Project Scarlett”, the console should launch in 2020, in time for the Holidays. At the event, we learned that reduced loading times are a major focus for Microsoft’s next console hardware. The company said the system will sport high-bandwidth GDDR6 RAM, and a “new generation of SSD” will act as “virtual RAM”, leading to “more than 40 times performance increases over the current generation” when it comes to data bus bandwidth. No details were given on the Zen 2 AMD processor with RDNA graphics technology that will power the machine. Microsoft said the system would support 120fps, variable refresh rate, resolution up to 8K and “real-time hardware accelerated ray-tracing”.

Ars Technica, “Microsoft reveals first details on ‘Project Scarlett’ game console for 2020.”

 

The iPhone not held captive by China

Apple 王府井, Beijing.

Apple 王府井, Beijing. © Apple.

As the trade war between the U.S. and China heats up, Foxconn, the Chinese manufacturer of the iPhone and iPad, says that whatever happens, Apple phones will remain available for the American market. While most of Foxconn’s manufacturing occurs in China, where it operates 12 factories spread across nine cities, the company also has factories in several other countries, which together account for a full quarter of its production capacity. If new, punishing tariffs on products from China were to be imposed by the American administration, Foxconn would simply shift all of its Apple production activities outside of China. However, while Apple’s supply capacity would not be impacted, the same can’t be said for its profit margins. That said, new tariffs could also be a boon for Apple, since not all Android phone manufacturers can shift production so quickly and seamlessly.

Mashable, “Foxconn can make all iPhones outside of China (if necessary).”