Robert Hof
Latest from Robert Hof
VMware to acquire Avi Networks to make data centers cloudier
In a continuing bid to help data centers become more cloudlike, VMware Inc. today said it plans to acquire Avi Networks Inc. for an undisclosed price. Avi provides application delivery services to large enterprises such as Deutsche Bank, Cisco Systems Inc. and Adobe Systems Inc. with what it calls a multicloud fabric, in particular helping balance application loads ...
Big bets, billion-dollar failures: Amazon’s Jeff Bezos on how to succeed in business
In a rather rare public appearance, Amazon.com Inc. founder and Chief Executive Jeff Bezos provided no news but offered up a few of his well-honed tips for creating and building successful businesses at a “fireside chat” today. The only exciting moment at the retail and tech giant’s re:MARS conference in Las Vegas was when a ...
Amazon will soon make its Alexa AI a lot more conversational
Alexa, Amazon.com Inc.’s increasingly ubiquitous digital voice assistant, is about to get a lot chattier. Today at the company’s re:MARS conference in Las Vegas, Amazon said it has developed a new approach using deep learning, which has already produced new capabilities in voice and image recognition in recent years, that will help developers create more ...
Robert Downey Jr. reveals group that will use robotics, nanotech and AI to clean up the environment
Actor and producer Robert Downey Jr. launched a group Tuesday night at Amazon.com Inc.’s re:MARS conference in Las Vegas that plans to use advanced technologies to clean up the environment “significantly if not totally” in about 10 years. Somewhat more specifically, Downey Jr. said, robotics and nanotechnology, as well as artificial intelligence, could help clean ...
FEATURE
No cloud required: Why AI’s future is at the edge
For all the promise and peril of artificial intelligence, there’s one big obstacle to its seemingly relentless march: The algorithms for running AI applications have been so big and complex that they’ve required processing on powerful machines in the cloud and data centers, making a wide swath of applications less useful on smartphones and other ...
Wearable shrinks, the return of silicon and eight more hot tech trends
Get ready for therapy by text message, new silicon chip architectures and personalized fertility services. Those are a few of the hot technology trends that will take off in the next few years, according to five venture capitalists on a panel Thursday night in Silicon Valley. They made their predictions at the locally popular Top 10 ...
At I/O, Google debuts new hardware, but AI-driven services get the love
Pretty much as expected, Google LLC today debuted two new midrange smartphones and a new hub for home devices, but improved services such as a recharged Google Assistant that works much faster got most of the love from the tech giant. Headlining the announcements this morning at its annual Google I/O conference for software developers ...
Despite cloud growth, slowing revenue at Alphabet sends investors fleeing
Updated: Despite posting a better-than-expected first-quarter profit, Google LLC parent Alphabet Inc. today announced a slowdown in revenue growth that sent investors to the exits. In a quarter made murkier by accounting changes announced earlier this month, Alphabet Inc. reported a first-quarter profit of $6.6 billion, or $9.50 a share, down from $13.33 a year ...
Cloud computing again leads the profit parade at Amazon
Updated: There’s still a cloud hanging over Amazon.com Inc., but that’s a good thing. Thanks once again to strong growth in its cloud computing operation, the tech and retail giant today reported better-than-expected profits in its first quarter. But light guidance for second-quarter companywide operating income kept a lid on shares, which rose only about ...
Facebook stock pops on earnings jump, but it takes $3B charge for FTC fine
All those controversies over Facebook’s data and privacy practices, fake news and election meddling have finally hit its bottom line. Facebook said today that it expects to pay a $3 billion to $5 billion fine to the Federal Trade Commission over its user data practices, and it took a $3 billion charge in its first quarter to ...