Posts Tagged ‘Microsoft’
Friday, April 26th, 2024
SOURCE: Hexagon
Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division announced its strategic partnership with Microsoft, which aims to redefine how engineers collaborate and enable the discrete manufacturing industry to innovate faster, with more confidence, and with new solutions that combine data from virtual engineering processes with real-world measurement of manufactured products. The collaboration will offer solutions that use modern cloud infrastructure to connect manufacturing and engineering systems – including Microsoft 365 – in Hexagon’s Nexus digital reality platform for manufacturers, and help employees increase their productivity through cloud-accelerated simulation and AI.
The partnership aims to transform collaboration across the manufacturing value chain and apply digital twins to accelerate product innovation.
Transforming how manufacturers collaborate
Hexagon and Microsoft have partnered closely on the development and scaling of the open-source Fluid Framework and Azure Fluid Relay service to support the real-time sharing of data across a wide range of manufacturing industry processes and systems, allowing data created in one system to be immediately available to any other person or machine operating in another. Under the new partnership, the Microsoft 365 ecosystem will plug into this data layer, enabling customers to connect their day-to-day office documents and processes with manufacturing tools. This gives teams the freedom to innovate with the tools they already use; for example, tooling cost data from a Microsoft Excel worksheet could be easily shared with a CAM programmer, so simplifying work practices and decision-making between roles.
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Tags: cloud, Hexagon, Microsoft
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Thursday, October 20th, 2016
According to an article this week in Engadget, Apple reportedly plans to eliminate the USB 3.0 and Magsafe ports on its next-gen MacBook, and kill the 11-inch MacBook Air altogether. That’s according to Macotakara, the Japanese rumor site that was among the first to predict that the company would kill the traditional headphone jack on the iPhone 7. It also claims that Apple will unveil a 15.4- and 13.3-inch MacBook Pro at a new product launch event next week.
If the report is accurate, MacBook Pros will only have USB Type C and Thunderbolt 3 ports. As with the new MacBook, you’d presumably charge it through the USB-C port and connect peripherals via Thunderbolt 3. That means you’d need some kind of USB 3.0 adapter, since the majority of storage and other peripherals still use the traditional standard. For the MacBook, Apple sells a $79 USB-C dock that gives you USB 3.0, USB-C for power and an HDMI connection.
Are These Ports Gone In The New MacBook Pros?
The company will also release a new 13.3-inch MacBook Air, but discontinue the 11-inch model, according to the report. That squares with previous rumors that Apple would kill the smaller Air model, since it has been made effectively redundant by the 12-inch MacBook. However, it also shows that it isn’t discontinuing the MacBook Air completely, as some feared (including me).
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Tags: Apple, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Microsoft, Surface Book, Surface Pro
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Thursday, March 24th, 2016
Earlier this week many of us in the MCAD community were saddened to hear of the passing of Andrew (Andy) Grove, the former CEO and Chairman of Intel Corp. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential personalities of the computer and Internet eras, as well as being instrumental in the development and proliferation of the CAD software as we know it today that runs on PCs.
Born András Gróf in Budapest, Hungary in 1936, Mr. Grove came to the United States in 1956. He studied chemical engineering at the City College of New York, completing his Ph.D at the University of California at Berkeley in 1963. After graduation, he was hired by Gordon Moore (of Moore’s Law fame) at Fairchild Semiconductor as a researcher and rose to assistant head of R&D under Moore. When Robert Noyce and Moore left Fairchild to found Intel in 1968, Mr. Grove was their first hire.
He became Intel’s President in 1979 and CEO in 1987, and served as Chairman of the Board from 1997 to 2005. During his time at Intel and in retirement, Grove was a very influential figure in technology and business, and several business leaders, including Apple’s Steve Jobs, sought his advice.
Andrew Grove
Mr. Grove played a critical role in the decision to move Intel’s focus from memory chips to microprocessors and led the firm’s move as a recognized consumer brand. Under his leadership, Intel produced the chips, including the 386 and Pentium, that helped foster the PC era. The company also increased annual revenues from $1.9 billion to more than $26 billion.
Just as we could have rode into the sunset, along came the Internet, and it tripled the significance of the PC.
–Andrew Grove
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Tags: Andrew Grove, Andy Grove, CPU, Intel, memory chip, microprocessor, Microsoft, Wintel
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Thursday, July 30th, 2015
If there is anything I detest more than upgrading software, it’s upgrading an operating system. OK, now I’ve said it . . .
Yesterday was a day just like any other, except a new operating system, Windows 10, was officially launched. Was it the dawn of a new day for Microsoft, or a yawn like any other day? More importantly, are you going to jump on the bandwagon or get in the back of the bus to see if it’s worth the effort?
I haven’t heard of many users clamoring for this release, and Microsoft hasn’t exactly had the trumpets blaring and proclaiming the birth of its new baby. Why is this happening (or not)?
Below is a brief overview of the new Windows 10 operating system that became available as a free upgrade (to some, but not all users) starting July 29th.
As the new Windows 10 was prepared for public launch yesterday, Microsoft oddly, wasn’t really talking about it much before, during, or after the launch. However, there sure have been a flurry of patches available from Microsoft the past few days and weeks.
It will be free to certain users (more about that later); has elements of Windows 7 and 8.1; and will affect desktop, mobile, and Xbox platforms.
Unclear is exactly what existing technology Windows 10 will and will not work with. This uncertainty is certainly bound to put a lot of people off upgrading, at least right away. Even Microsoft’s “official” forums don’t agree on this vital issue. No one really knows whether your PC will be ready, and you won’t either until after you upgrade. If too many problems occur, you have an out (also discussed later).
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Tags: Cortana, Microsoft, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Passport, operating system, Start button, Widows Hello, Windows 10
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Thursday, December 18th, 2014
This year we’ve attended several technical meetings and conferences in the design, engineering, and manufacturing realms and have heard one concept/phrase repeated much more than anything else – Internet of Things (IoT). That said, we consider IoT to be the most significant technology of the year for 2014.
Simply, IoT is a newer implementation and outgrowth of an older technology known as Machine-to-Machine (M2M).
The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to uniquely identifiable objects and their virtual representations in an Internet-like structure. The term Internet of Things was proposed by Kevin Ashton in 1999, although the concept had been discussed since 1991.
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) was seen as a prerequisite for the Internet of Things in the early days. The initial thought was, if all objects and people in daily life were equipped with identifiers, they could be managed and inventoried by computers.
Today, the term IoT is used to denote advanced connectivity of devices, systems, and services that goes beyond machine-to-machine (M2M) communications and covers a variety of protocols, domains, and applications. Both of the technologies are expected to enable billions of new devices in the near future (I’ve seen forecasts of 20-100 billion connected devices by 2018 or 2020).
The Internet of Things: Dr. John Barrett at TEDxCIT
In most M2M and IoT scenarios, the device being monitored and/or controlled contains an integrated sensor and wireless transceiver connected through a cellular, WiFi, or other wireless link to the Internet. Keep in mind that all devices are assigned an Internet Protocol (IP) address for unique identification and role purposes. The Internet connection communicates with a remote server that contains the application software. The monitoring device then makes an Internet connection to the same server to complete the service request loop.
Data from the communication is then captured, displayed, stored, and control commands are issued as a result of it.
The Internet of Things Explained
In mechanical design and engineering, while many of the hardware and software vendors have expressed interest in IoT, PTC has really embraced it and positioned it as a major part of their overall strategy going forward.
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Tags: Apple, Cisco, Internet of Things, interoperability, IoT, M2M, Machine-to-Machine, Microsoft, PTC, Qualcomm
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Thursday, July 5th, 2012
I’ll admit up front that I’ve had a “thing” for mobile computing devices for some time — smartphones, netbooks, ultrabooks, tablets, and so on for day-to-day office work activities. However, I’ve increasingly gotten more interested in how these mobile platforms work in an engineering environment.
I’ve used various Windows, iOS, and Android devices with different levels of satisfaction and frustration.
I currently use devices running iOS (an iPad and iPhone), as well as a Dell Notebook running Windows XP. In the past I have used an Android smartphone and tablet.
I actually had the highest hopes for the Android devices, but gradually got so frustrated with the relative lack of standards and consistency with different apps and devices with regard to look, feel, behavior, and reliability. I guess I could have worked more diligently getting things to work better, but felt I didn’t need another hobby/part time job, so I sold all my Android stuff. That’s not to say I won’t return to the Android camp at some time, because I do like the “open” aspect of things Andoid. I’m just going to take a step back for a while.
I now use the Apple devices on a daily basis and am pleased with the way they work together in their little ecosystem — what works on the iPhone usually works on the iPad and vice versa. Office document, engineering application, and photography workflows are still quite a challenge, but I’m really trying to make things work. Beyond writing and simple photo editing, on the engineering side, the I use the iPad primarily as viewer. There are some interesting apps for engineering, such as simple CAD and simulation, but haven’t spent too much time with them yet, although I intend to in the near future.
On the Windows side, I’ve had fairly good luck with the Windows platform (netbook), but it is Windows, and that fact alone has caused me a lot of frustration over the years — don’t get me started. The upcoming Microsoft Surface tablets with Windows 8 look interesting, but with the keyboards Microsoft is pushing, they look more like ultrabooks than innovative tablets. When introduced, there will be two levels:
-RT with an ARM CPU, 16-32 GB and starting at $599
-Pro with an Intel CPU, 64-128 GB and starting at $799
Admittedly, Microsoft is a little late to the tablet game, and the company (with few exceptions) has not exactly been a powerhouse with in-house developed hardware. However, Microsoft tablets might be popular in the business world, including engineering. I’m going to wait and see on that one, though.
Ideally, I’d like to be able to have one OS/platform that meets all my needs, but for the foresseable future, I’ll probably be using two — one for personal work and one for professional work — iOS and Windows. This means ongoing compromise, but I enjoy the ability to make the best use of each one in ways that work best for me. I have no doubt, though, that mobile devices and engineering apps will continue to improve to the point where they are as useful as their counterparts on desktop platforms.
Editor’s Note: I’ll review and report on some engineering-oriented apps in the coming weeks and months.
Tags: Android, Apple, iOS, iPad, iPhone, Microsoft, Surface
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