Allxon today announced Allxon OOB Cloud Serial Console, marking a milestone as the industry's first offering tailored for the NVIDIA Jetson family. Allxon OOB Cloud Serial Console empowers direct device-level troubleshooting and remote access via debug UART. Allxon will be hosting a live demonstration at COMPUTEX 2024, showcasing this powerful technology alongside AVerMedia.Partnering with AVerMedia, which unveiled its Standard Carrier Board D115W for the NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX and NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano modules, Allxon showcased its power-related features for swift disaster recovery.Allxon OOB Cloud Serial Console leverages NVIDIA Jetson devices' serial console port through the hardware interface for seamless remote access and troubleshooting. This innovative solution provides unprecedented convenience and top-tier security. Unlike traditional SSH methods, Allxon OOB Cloud Serial Console eliminates the need for cumbersome server setups and fixed ports, significantly boosting security and operational flexibility.Allxon OOB Cloud Serial Console has received worldwide acclaim during its early access (EA), attracting partners including telecommunications giants, smart security innovators, independent hardware vendors, and leading-edge AI software developers. Allxon is thrilled to announce that its OOB Cloud Serial Console general availability (GA) is set for quarter three of 2024.Allxon will showcase Allxon Cloud Serial Console at COMPUTEX 2024 at booth #L1309a, Hall 1, 4F in Nangang Exhibition Center Halls 1 and 2 from June 4th to 7th.Learn more about Allxon's platform https://www.allxon.com/solutions/swiftdr.

From apparel manufacturers and gym businesses to emerging fashion brands, the benefits of integrating AI and ESG into their working processes are clear. This was a key focus of the Makalot Innovation Day Digital Fashion Forum, organized by Makalot Industrial and mentored by the Small and Medium Enterprise and Startup Administration, MOEA. The forum aimed to share how the supply chain - from upstream to midstream to downstream - should collaborate with local Taiwanese innovation tech startups to unlock digital potential.The speakers are leading industry pioneers who work with international Startups to expedite the integration of technology and fashion. Each panel discussed how AI tools can help with "precision production," reducing waste, lowering costs, accelerating Time-to-Market, and improving corporate ESG performance.At the panel on digital fashion, Leslie Holden (second from the right), co-founder of The Digital Fashion Group, said the interoperability between traditional industries and startups is crucialPhoto: Makalot IndustrialAn open mind towards digitization and using AI is crucialAI design and precision production are the leading tech applications in digital fashion. Leslie Holden, co-founder of The Digital Fashion Group, believes that the interoperability and communication between traditional industries and startups and between people and technology are crucial. Elly Cheng, Director of Digital Product Development at Makalot Industrial, also points out that conventional manufacturers must keep an open mind towards emerging technologies and embrace change.Jac Hsieh, CEO and co-founder of TG 3D Studio, said AI is a powerful tool and can be highly helpful. The fashion industry can first test new designs in the virtual world to get consumer feedback, optimizing and accelerating product development while saving significant costs on sample production and shipping.Edison Chen, the founder of Meta Intelligence, mentioned that AI could significantly shorten the time from design to launch. He added, "Generative AI not only speeds up the design process but also uses data analysis to understand market demand better, making the fashion products more competitive in quality and quantity, attracting more customers, and effectively reducing inventory backlog."At the panel on sports tech, host Evan Sheu, Director of Product Innovation at Makalot Industrial, along with Kevin Cheng (first from the left), Deputy Director of Industrial Technology Research Institute, Thibaud Brunel (second from the left), co-president of La French Tech Taiwan, and John Edward Caraccio (second from the right), Chairman of World Gym, discussed the main tech applications in fitnessPhoto: Makalot IndustrialTradeoff between design and manufacturing wearablesTechnology has enabled location- and time-agnostic training activities with smart features that create an interactive and immersive experience. John Edward Caraccio, Chairman of World Gym, the largest fitness chain in Taiwan, stated that wearable tracking devices with AI features are the dominant application of fitness technology. Digitalizing and gamifying exercise can attract more people and make exercising more enjoyable, achieving the "3M effects" - More people, more workouts, and more improvements.On the manufacturing side of sports technology, Kevin Chang, Deputy Director of the Industrial Technology Research Institute, said they currently face three significant challenges. The first is the innovation gap between design and manufacturing, where manufacturers often find it difficult to process complex designs, so the supply chain has come to rely on a single strategy partnership, which increases the risks of manufacturing. The second challenge is the feasibility of mass production. And the third is the rising pressure from the government to localize manufacturing. Chang added that in the future, they might need to bring Taiwanese manufacturers to other countries to comply with localization regulations and meet market demand.Thibaud Brunel, co-president of La French Tech, and Evan Sheu, Director of Product Innovation at Makalot Industrial, agreed that sports technology has more to offer. It will improve people's lives by managing their fitness, well-being, and medical care.Alice Li (second from the right), co-founder and COO of Rosetta.AI, Johnson Lin (second from the left), Director of Sustainable Development at Makalot Industrial, and Kuan Chen, founder of Story Wear, talked about how tech applications can reduce waste and avoid overproductionPhoto: Makalot IndustrialPrecise production to avoid overproductionThe fashion industry is also committed to environmental protection and waste reduction. Alice Li, co-founder and COO of Rosetta.AI, stated that precision production is critical to waste reduction. The company provides data-collecting solutions that analyze consumer behavior. Collaborating with retailers, Rosetta's AI can make recommendations and optimize the shopping experience. By precisely targeting customers' demands and preferences, retailers can have less inventory backlog and avoid overproduction.Johnson Lin, Director of Sustainable Development at Makalot Industrial, pointed out that fashion technologies such as 3D fitting, market analysis, and digital design services can reduce waste from the source, saving much fabric for samples and minimizing waste and energy consumption. Using technology, from the ideation of cradle-to-cradle (C2C), waste reduction can be fully embodied, creating a circular economy in the fashion industry. "We hope Makalot can lead the suppliers to work better on sustainability," Lin added.Students from the Department of Fashion Design at Shih Chien University created the virtual fashion show with Portal: M, which presents current trends in fashion sustainabilityPhoto: Makalot IndustrialDigitalization unlocks more potential - Portal: M and students from the Department of Fashion Design, Shih Chien University, work on a virtual fashion show at the InterContinental Hotel KaohsiungTowards the end of the forum, Makalot showcased a big, virtual fashion show at the WA-RA Japanese restaurant at the InterContinental Kaohsiung, a luxurious hotel owned by the globally renowned IHG InterContinental Kaohsiung Group. It was the hotel's first collaboration with a fashion show.The virtual fashion show, projected onto the 30-meter-high skylight at WA-RA, was created by Makalot and Portal:M's digital content team. It rendered the physical runway into a fantastic digital performance with original music and three-dimensional details. In the Multiverse, it was a combination of the creative energy of science fiction, the surreal beauty of dunes, and next-generation fashion styles.Makalot Innovation DayWhile physical fashion runways require an extensive workforce and resources, Makalot Industrial believes virtual fashion show is a more sustainable alternative where designers can leverage their unrestricted territory of imagination. This work went viral on social media. It can influence brands and designers considerably.

Chenbro (TWSE: 8210), a pioneer in the design and manufacturing of own-brand rackmount systems, is participating in COMPUTEX Taipei from June 4 to 7. Focusing on the theme of AI, Chenbro is showcasing its latest NVIDIA MGX chassis products and OCP DC-MHS cloud server chassis solutions, seizing more AI business opportunities.This year, Chenbro is flexing its muscles with its OTS (Off-The-Shelf), ODM/JDM, and OEM Plus service models. In addition to highlighting OTS server chassis solutions for AI, Cloud, Storage, and Edge applications, Chenbro is exhibiting JDM/OEM products co-created with customers, showcasing its strong R&D design capabilities and manufacturing prowess and realizing win-win partnerships.Aiming for Next-Generation Server Development with Unreleased Enclosure SolutionsEric Hui, President of Chenbro, highlighted the role of NVIDIA MGX in bringing accelerated computing into any data center with modular server designs. These designs offer multiple form factors, including 1U, 2U, and 4U, enabling diverse configurations of GPUs, CPUs, and DPUs to fulfill various computing requirements. As an NVIDIA partner, Chenbro is showcasing NVIDIA MGX server chassis in 2U and 4U form factors to address enterprise-level AI application needs, and is exhibiting 1U and 2U compute trays to support customers deploying the GB200 NVL72 and NVL36.Chenbro is also introducing a new generation of cloud server chassis solutions compliant with the OCP DC-MHS standard, and collaborating with Intel on server architecture. Chenbro's DC-MHS enclosure solutions offer Full Width (FLW) and Density Optimized (DNO) specifications in 1U and 2U form factors, supporting E3.S and E1.S storage devices, to meet product development demand for next-generation high-performance servers.Also at Chenbro's booth is a unique data center display featuring a blend of virtual and physical cabinets, showcasing its Tri-Load high-density storage server chassis solution, which has won both the MUSE and TITAN design awards. Known for its exceptional heat dissipation and load-bearing mechanisms, the Tri-Load series ensures easy maintenance and stability in data center operations. Chenbro is also showcasing Edge AI solutions with short-depth server chassis capable of accommodating GPU deployment, enabling AI computing at the edge.Collaborating for a Win-Win Partnership Corona Chen, CEO of Chenbro, underscored the company's commitment to tracking the product roadmaps of tech giants such as NVIDIA, Intel, AMD, and Ampere. By leveraging modular design, Chenbro ensures maximum compatibility and can offer a wide range of server chassis solutions, adhering to the slogan "Whatever's inside, Chenbro outside." Through diverse business service models, Chenbro is actively collaborating with global customers to seize opportunities in the AI and cloud server industry.This year, along with TechTalk sessions that share innovative product and industry insights, Chenbro is also showcasing joint product demonstrations with motherboard partners such as Gigabyte, MSI, ASRock, Tyan, and Compal, as well as storage device partners like Toshiba, Seagate, and Kingston. In addition, server products created through JDM/OEM collaboration with Hyve Solutions, Wiwynn, Pegatron, MSI, ASRock, and ADLINK are on display. Lastly, Chenbro will hold a joint VIP night co-hosted with JPC and FSP, showcasing Chenbro's collaborative achievements with customers and partners in win-win partnerships.Amidst the wave of green exhibitions, Chenbro is further showcasing its commitment to sustainability through participation in COMPUTEX ESG GO and the Sustainable Design Award competition. Chenbro applies the principle of 3R (Reuse, Reduce, and Recycle) not only in product design but also in booth design, paving the way for a low-carbon, sustainable future.

Aristocrat Leisure Limited is a global gaming and technology company known for bringing joy and happiness to many gamers.It is a top-tier publisher of mobile and casino games based in Australia with headquarters in Sydney. Some of its products include slot machines, house-banked card games, roulette, blackjack, and craps. This leading company was founded by Len Ainsworth in 1953 and is licensed to supply a variety of gaming products in over 200 jurisdictions. Aristocrat has a net worth or market cap of over AUD28.50 billion.Qtech Games is also a leading digital entertainment distributor in Southeast Asia. It features a growing portfolio of gambling products, including slot games, live casinos, instant win scratch cards, shooting games, and table games. Qtech Games was founded in 2015 by Lucy J, and is located in Makati, Manila, Philippines, and is licensed by the Curacao jurisdiction. It is Asia's number one games distributor known for its superior quality titles that are darling to many gaming fans. Some include European Roulette, Asgard Warriors, and Lightning Dice.The alliance of these popular franchises can be the best thing to ever happen to Australia and Southeast Asia. This is because the two big companies can combine their strengths to empower the gambling industries and economies of the two countries. Aristocrat Leisure and Qtech Games can use their combined resources to deliver exceptional results.Undoubtedly, collaborative alliances are integral parts of the gaming industry. Successful partnerships bring together the strengths of different companies for better performance. This includes shared expertise, enhanced resources, access to new markets, risk sharing, and increased creativity.Good enough, the franchises are not new to the partnership game. They have already joined hands with several gaming and technology companies and understand its benefits. For example, Aristocrat Leisure has partnered before with Skill Master Pro, Boyd Gaming, and Inspired Entertainment. Qtech Games also partnered with Rival Powered, Onlyplay, and S4Gaming. It helped them to improve service delivery to gamers in their prospective markets.The Aristocrat Leisure and Qtech Games alliance will drive innovation in the Australian and Southeast Asian gambling markets. Both franchises combine their cutting-edge technologies to take gaming experiences to greater heights. Aristocrat is already a slots giant with the best quality online pokies.Fortunately, you can easily identify some of its titles when you read the best online pokies reviews in Australia on reliable comparison sites. They have excellent graphics, amazing features, and interesting themes.However, with the partnership, the franchise can develop new game ideas to widen its portfolio.Furthermore, the alliance expands the reach of both gaming companies. Aristocrat Leisure will access the Southeast Asia market smoothly because it collaborates with a popular franchise. The same applies to Qtech Games, as Aussies will easily accept its products because the partner is already a darling in the country. The alliance will attract fans of each franchise, which develops the gaming community and increases revenue. Remember, entering a new market is always challenging, but with partnerships, the company gets a helping hand to penetrate it.International business partnerships also fuel job creation. Both companies need to employ new teams in the new markets. They need people who fully understand the market and know what works best for it. This creates many jobs for developers, marketers, and several other professions. Many Aussies will get employed in Qtech Games while Southeast Asians, in Aristocrat Leisure Limited. It helps in handling the unemployment issue in both countries, which is a major problem worldwide.Another great thing about the alliances is that they improve the relations between the countries. So, the Aristocrat Leisure Limited and Qtech games alliance will improve the relationship between Australia and Southeast Asia. It creates a strong international partnership that promotes sustainable growth and success in the global market. Cross-border partnerships are built on cultural understanding and respect, effective communication, establishing trust, and mutual benefit and collaboration. If these exist in the alliance, the companies and countries get the best out of them.Southeast Asia will also benefit from the financial strength and experience of Aristocrat. The company is financially strong, way more than Qtech Games, and worth over 28.50 Billion AUD. This is a golden chance for the Southeast Asian gaming company because it can get enough funding from Aristocrat. It saves it from the hustle of looking for other investors to finance its projects. Moreover, Aristocrat Leisure Limited has vast experience in the industry because it has existed for over 50 years. But Qtech Games is only nine years old and has much to learn from Australia's Giant.In summary, the alliance would be a good deal for Australia and Southeast Asia. However, the latter benefits more because Aristocrat Leisure Limited has more experience and is financially stronger. Despite that, Aussies also have much to gain from Qtech's superior-quality games.The Vital Role of the Aristocrat and Qtech Games Alliance

It is no secret that cryptocurrency is not looked at favorably by all regulators around the world. Some regard crypto with skepticism and some are outright hostile to the asset class. These could stem from a lack of education about crypto, concerns about its possible use for crime, or just a dislike of digital assets.This appears to be the case in Thailand as authorities have taken several steps over the last month to crack down on certain aspects of crypto use. From crypto mining to the accessibility of certain service providers, it has been an industry-wide effort.Thailand vs Crypto?One of the first of these developments came in late April 2024 when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Thailand put out a warning to crypto exchange operators. The warning was directed specifically at exchanges being accused of glamorizing crypto trading and trying to lure in new customers with special perks."When operators organize sales promotions by offering rewards to entice people to use the service, this could encourage the use of the service without considering the investment risks. This is especially the case for cryptocurrencies," said the Commission's Deputy Secretary-General Anek Yooyuen.Credit: SEC of ThailandIt was noted that any false, misleading, or exaggerated claims in adverts were a violation of Thai law and could lead to serious repercussions. This is not a situation unique to Thailand as regulators in several countries have had to flag and even remove crypto-related ads that violated advertising guidelines.Another development has been in the crypto-mining space. Crypto mining has always been a fairly controversial activity because of the amount of energy it often requires and Thai authorities are looking to crack down on illegal mining.Recently, hundreds of crypto mining hardware that were illegally imported into the country were seized. The Cyber Crime Investigations Bureau office also conducted raids of illegal crypto mining operations after they observed unusual amounts of energy use.Two raids were completed in Samut Sakhon's Ban Phaeo district and Ratchaburi where authorities discovered hundreds of crypto-mining hardware as well as illegal electricity distribution equipment. Following arrests, suspects admitted that they oversaw crypto mining operations for a fee and were importing the hardware from China.Finally, Thai authorities are looking into local access to unauthorized crypto exchanges. The Thai SEC's Secretary-General Pornanong Busaratrakul announced in April that the commission will begin submitting details of unregistered crypto exchanges to the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society. The ministry, in turn, will block access to these sites.It has been clarified that this will not affect all crypto exchanges but just the ones that have not been duly registered. More Thailand nationals have been using crypto for speculative trading and other purposes.As Sergio Zammit has explained, there is a growing list of casinos that accept Cash App as well as crypto. This is along with more people choosing to gamble on an anonymous casino, not all of which are registered in every jurisdiction.ConclusionAn increase in crypto use also means an increase in regulation surrounding it. Regulators who are looking to protect the public and the nation as a whole will likely continue to crack down on illegal or unregistered crypto use, whether that is the mining of tokens or the advertising of platforms.Thailand is not the first nation to take these sorts of steps and, from all indications, will not be the last.

At Computex 2024 in Taipei, Taiwan, VIA Labs announced PortSense, a suite of manageability and intelligent connectivity features for USB Hubs that sets a new standard for docking station functionality in business and professional environments.PortSense is an exclusive VIA Labs hardware and software solution embedded in the latest revisions of VIA Labs hub products, and it enables supported products to retrieve USB descriptor information from connected devices, even without a host system. USB descriptors contain vital details about the connected USB devices, such as the device class and capabilities, the product name and manufacturer information, serial number if present, and much more.Typically, a host system uses this information to identify, configure, and interact with connected devices. However, with PortSense, a managed docking station can collect usage data, perform tasks like pre-configuration and device inventory, and assist in implementing corporate policies.PortSense is available in VIA Labs VL817 USB 5Gbps Hub and VL822 USB 10Gbps Hub. The VL832 USB4 Endpoint Device has an integrated USB 10Gbps hub and supports PortSense.While PortSense can function in autonomous mode, its true potential is unlocked when integrated into a connected platform where AI could be applied for analytics and policy control. Hubs with PortSense can communicate with an external controller using a standard I²C interface to share collected USB descriptor information and offer a range of manageability controls, such as enabling or disabling ports, changing connection speeds, resetting devices, and toggling USB battery charging.These controls can be applied on a per-port basis, including the upstream port, providing granular control over each connection. PortSense can be used to collect detailed user activity and enable analysis of usage patterns over time, making it perfect for hot-desking setups or as part of a comprehensive office management solution.With PortSense, VIA Labs is enhancing the modern workspace with more intelligent and connected solutions. The advanced capabilities of PortSense extend beyond basic data collection and control, providing valuable insights that help businesses manage their USB peripherals more effectively.For instance, IT administrators can use PortSense to maintain an inventory of connected devices, ensuring that only authorized devices are in use. In addition, the AI-Ready features of PortSense support enforcing security policies, such as maintaining an allowlist or blocklist of devices or limiting the use of specific USB device classes in sensitive areas.By acting as one layer of a comprehensive security strategy, PortSense helps reduce the risk of data breaches and unauthorized data transfers. This approach enhances operational efficiency and security, helping companies maintain a reliable and secure technology infrastructure. VIA Labs has recently released a white paper with more technical details about PortSense, which can be found here: https://www.via-labs.com/pressroom_show.php?id=98VIA Labs PortSense: An exclusive suite of manageability and intelligent connectivity features for USB Hubs

After announcing its foray into the LLM (Large Language Model) IP market, Skymizer recently unveiled a series of hardware and software solutions centered around LLM IP.These offerings are designed to bring more imagination to the LLM application service market. Skymizer's IP solution series is codenamed EdgeThought, with the first market-ready solution named ET2, capable of efficiently handling all current edge devices requiring LLM, including the recently released Llama3 with a parameter scale of up to 8 billion.Before introducing the IP solution, Skymizer's primary solutions were in the compiler space, bridging the gap between chips and software. This background has endowed the company with extensive experience in overall system hardware and software integration and optimization. As the demand for LLM rises, Skymizer, leveraging its solid market foundation, has entered the IP market to cater to diverse vertical application needs.Launch of integrated hardware-software platform: ET2 features edge computing, LLM, and AI inferenceAccording to Skymizer Executive Vice President William Wei, ET2 encompasses three key elements: edge computing, LLM, and AI inference. Besides accommodating various LLMs in the market, ET2 can flexibly expand computing resources to meet client needs.If the parameter scale of the LLM to be processed is too large, expansion can achieve the required computing power, naturally increasing memory capacity and power consumption. In addition to the existing IP solutions, Skymizer also launched the SkyGenie SDK (Software Development Kit).The SDK can address various categories of LLMs, including general, domain-specific, and private, assisting various industry applications. This enables software developers to create corresponding applications based on different LLM types, optimizing overall system performance. During COMPUTEX 2024, Skymizer will further demonstrate applications such as smart factories' Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs), Drive-thru ordering smart assistants, and smart automotive scenarios using ET2 and other hardware-software solutions.Wei emphasized that Skymizer's comprehensive hardware-software system development experience allows the broad tech industry ecosystem to benefit from Skymizer's complete platform solutions. He revealed that while the market currently sees edge AI GPUs performing at about 20 tokens per second, Skymizer's ET2 tests show around 32 tokens per second, with implementation costs at just 1/100 of Edge AI GPUs. This high cost-performance ratio makes ET2 an ideal choice for cost-sensitive end applications.First Chip with ET2 solution to debut at CES 2025 In the semiconductor domain, Wei candidly shared that Skymizer is open-minded and actively collaborating with domestic and international design services and IP firms. He also revealed that ET2 is highly expandable, from small IoT MCUs to high-performance Edge Servers.When paired with higher bandwidth memory interfaces, it can function as a server-level inference engine for multi-user, multi-batch processing. The first chip adopting ET2 is expected to debut at CES 2025, positioning ET2 as a game-changer for edge device LLM inference.ConclusionSkymizer's launch of its first IP solution, ET2, marks a new milestone for the company. With rich hardware-software integration experience, Skymizer not only provides high-performance, cost-effective edge computing solutions but also equips developers with powerful tools through the SkyGenie SDK to meet diverse LLM application needs.These innovations enhance the performance of different vertical market applications and create new possibilities for smart factories, autonomous mobile robots, smart automotive, and more. Skymizer's comprehensive platform solutions are poised to be a significant driving force in the future LLM application market.Skymizer not only provides LLM silicon intellectual property solutions but also offers the SkyGenie SDK, supporting various types of LLMs. This makes it easier and faster for AI application developers to create applications, enabling hardware chip partners to achieve higher integration and better meet market demands

The rapid development of AI has had a massive impact on global industries. The emergence of innovative technologies such as generative AI and machine learning has not only enhanced the performance of devices like smartphones, PCs, data centers, automotive systems, and industrial applications but has also spurred the demand for high-performance storage solutions in the market. Whether used for AI training or inference, the most crucial aspect is data. Swiftly acquiring the necessary data, securely storing data generated through AI training or inference, and properly protecting it is a vital issue within the entire AI ecosystem. In response to this trend, Silicon Motion, the world's largest NAND Flash controller supplier, has a comprehensive product layout and market strategy in place to help customers seize this immense business opportunity.Recently, storage technology has gained significant market attention. Wallace Kou, President and CEO of Silicon Motion, identified five major driving factors. Firstly, the rapid development of AI technology, as mentioned earlier, has led to a surge in storage demand. Secondly, the expansion of AI application scenarios necessitates storage systems that provide high-speed data access, large storage capacity, and a stable and reliable operating environment. Thirdly, with the widespread adoption of AI applications, users place greater emphasis on protecting sensitive data, requiring storage systems with more sophisticated data encryption and access control mechanisms to ensure data security. Fourthly, storage technology continues to advance, including innovations such as QLC NAND, NVMe protocol, PCIe Gen5, providing new solutions to AI storage challenges. Finally, the continuous increase in storage performance and capacity demands in areas such as data centers and cloud services, driven by applications like AI and big data, further expand the market space for high-performance and large-capacity enterprise storage solutions.Rise of AI Edge Devices Demands Progressive Functionality in Storage ComponentsWallace Kou further elaborated on the current market trends and changes in demand for storage components. He mentioned that current AI applications still heavily rely on the high computational capabilities of data centers and cloud servers to process large language models, leading to a significant surge in demand for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). However, with considerations for cost reduction, system latency reduction, and enhanced privacy protection, AI applications have started transitioning from cloud platforms to personal computers and AI smartphones, where miniature language models run on edge devices.In this context, edge devices must improve performance, optimize human-machine interfaces, ensure seamless operation, and prioritize storage device performance, reliability, and data security. Moreover, to accommodate the vast amount of data generated by AI applications, edge devices need to expand their capacity while also managing cost increases, underscoring the importance of QLC NAND. It's anticipated that QLC applications will expand from the current PC market to mobile phones and enterprise applications.Another emerging trend is performance optimization. He highlighted the profound impact of data placement technology on AI performance, noting that major NAND manufacturers have recently introduced Zoned UFS, grouping similar types of data within the same storage block. For enterprise applications, ZNS and FDP technologies have adopted similar concepts, significantly enhancing read performance and extending device lifespans.To meet the aforementioned demands, Wallace Kou believes that a comprehensive approach is needed, combining product strategy, design services, and organizational transformation to satisfy customer needs. On the product front, comprehensive customer support is essential, along with actively adopting new technologies to address market demands. Regarding design services, different application areas have varying requirements, and customers have a high demand for customized designs. Storage component suppliers must integrate advanced technology with robust firmware design capabilities to provide intelligent, efficient, and reliable storage solutions across various sectors. Lastly, enterprise organizations need to segment based on different customer applications, enhancing service quality and efficiency, focusing on delivering specialized domain products and customized services.Silicon Motion Unleashes Three Strategies to Meet Diverse Customer NeedsResponding to the aforementioned demands, Silicon Motion has implemented a comprehensive strategy. Wallace Kou highlighted that all product lines of the company support QLC, catering to customers' requirements for high-capacity storage applications while achieving cost reduction and rapid shipping objectives. Beyond product lines, the strategic level also encompasses technical support in storage and firmware. For instance, in terms of edge devices, Silicon Motion's PCIe Gen5 SSD controller and UFS4.0 controller can fulfill the needs of AI PCs and AI smartphones with ultra-high performance and low power consumption. In enterprise storage, the MonTitan enterprise SSD development platform embraces key enterprise storage technologies like ZNS and FDP, optimizing data placement within systems. Moreover, Silicon Motion integrates its PerformaShape and NANDCommand technologies to guarantee maximum bandwidth performance and reliability, meeting the rigorous requirements of AI applications for high performance and reliability.Regarding design services, Silicon Motion maintains long-term collaborations with major smartphone manufacturers, PC OEMs, hyperscalers, car makers, industrial product manufacturers, and other partners to deeply grasp customer pain points and requirements. This enables them to design products that align better with real-world application scenarios. Wallace Kou noted that firmware design capability stands as one of Silicon Motion's significant competitive advantages in the NAND flash controller field. Over time, they have merged advanced technology with robust firmware design capabilities to deliver intelligent, efficient, and dependable storage solutions for various sectors. Silicon Motion's firmware solutions not only boast highly optimized and stable features but also enable customized services, tailoring optimal solutions based on customer application scenarios, performance requirements, and specific needs.Fine-tuning Organizational Structure to Enhance Firmware Customization Service AdvantagesAs part of its organizational restructuring, Silicon Motion has recently established two major business groups: Client & Automotive Storage (CAS) and Enterprise Storage & Display Interface Solution (ESDI) to assist customers across different industries in overcoming challenges in the AI era.The CAS group focuses on providing solutions such as client SSD controllers, mobile controllers, Ferri embedded storage, and expandable storage controllers. Its applications primarily cover areas like PCs, smartphones, automotive, gaming consoles, and industrial applications. On the other hand, the ESDI business group concentrates on enterprise SSD controllers and display interface products, targeting markets such as data centers, servers, workstations, enterprise applications, as well as USB display and embedded GPU applications. Wallace Kou stated that a specialized organizational division of labor can help Silicon Motion efficiently meet the diverse needs of different customers, accelerate innovation, and enhance overall competitiveness. Whether in consumer, enterprise, automotive, or industrial markets, Silicon Motion can provide more professional and tailored solutions closer to the demands.In the mobile sector, Silicon Motion has established strategic partnerships with several mobile phone manufacturers and mobile chip manufacturers to jointly develop high-performance, low-power, high-capacity storage solutions. Through firmware design capabilities and customized services, they meet specific requirements of phone manufacturers, optimizing storage performance and power consumption for AI smartphone development. In the data center domain, Silicon Motion has partnered with several major enterprise storage providers and hyperscalers in North America and China, securing commercial cooperation and providing enterprise storage solutions that meet performance and reliability demands.Looking ahead, Wallace Kou believes that with the continuous evolution of technologies like 5G, IoT, electric vehicles, IoV, and generative AI, the demand for storage in the market will continue to expand. Silicon Motion will increase its R&D investment, leverage its competitive advantages in firmware design and customized services, closely collaborate with partners in different fields, and provide more efficient, reliable, and secure storage solutions to help customers seize vast opportunities in the AI era.

The savvy smart location tags, asset trackers, connected health sensing devices, smart home appliances, advanced vehicles, and smart electric vehicle systems show that the popularity of Internet of Things (IoT) devices has penetrated nearly every aspect of our lives. The wireless communication technologies, coupled with powerful cloud computing and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, play a significant role in driving technological advancement.Nordic Semiconductor, a leading global provider of wireless IoT solutions, provides an exclusive product and technology showcase during Computex Taipei 2024. Strongly demonstrating the Nordic's product series with short-range, medium, and long-distance wireless communication technologies, helps customers to develop modern devices and notable applications while continuously improving by delivering low-power multi-protocol wireless technologies.In this interview with Mr. Richard Chen, regional sales manager of Nordic Semiconductor, he indicates that product development engineering teams are consistently struggling to implement the well-balanced features between connectivity, security, power saving, and other fancy functions while consumers' endless demand for intelligent, sophisticated and instant-response IoT devices. These difficult trade-offs are achieving longer battery life and lower energy consumption in devices.To help customers solve these tough problems, Nordic displays a series of wireless communication products and application demonstrations at the Taipei W Hotel in Xinyi District between June 4 to 7 2024. It covers several important product highlights below in this article. There are key product information and major demos on the following web pages of https://www.nordicsemi.com/Events/2024/Computex-Taipei for further reference.Short-ranged smart home applications for Matter and Bluetooth LE Audio + Auracast featuresNordic is set to showcase a range of smart applications based on Matter standard and Bluetooth wireless technology. The demos are highlighting Matter-over-Thread / Matter-over-Wi-Fi use cases. The booth shows an integration of Nordic's development kits and devices including models of nRF54H20 DK, nRF54L15 DK, and nRF7002 EK.Developed by Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), Matter is a smart-home connectivity standard that ensures connected devices interoperate reliably. Industry leaders such as Apple, Amazon, and Google have promoted Matter standards and are supported by their IoT eco-systems.The recent released Matter 1.3 standard on May 8, 2024 brings support for more appliances like kitchen robotics.More supported devices across ecosystems require bigger software to handle it. One of the strengthening features of Nordic solutions is the enlarged Flash memory size to satisfy customers to accommodate big software stacks and update firmware easily through Over-The-Air technology.Another advantage of Nordic solution is the cyber security features like nRF9160 low power system-in-package (SiP) and nRF5340 system-on-chip (SoC) achieved Platform Security Architecture (PSA) Certified Level 2. The latest models such as nRF54H20and nRF54L15 SoC have passed PSA Certified Level 3. These certifications provide Nordic customers with an assurance offering a secure platform to build IoT products ensuring that all devices on the network are communicating securely and privately.Meanwhile, the demos of Nordic's Bluetooth Low Energy flagship SoCs are another spotlighting focus. Nordic's award-winning Bluetooth LE series solutions will be displayed at the booth based on the nRF5340 Audio DK development kit delivering both low-energy and high-quality wireless audio as well as the broadcasting capabilities of Bluetooth LE Audio with Auracast.Bluetooth LE Audio is the next generation of wireless audio streaming technology. The stand will also play host to a Bluetooth LE Audio and Auracast demonstration.Bluetooth LE Audio pursues advanced sound quality with lower power consumption and reduces the delay between audio and visual experience to improve the immersive experience. Moreover, Auracast technology uses broadcast technology to share audio streaming services with multiple people.In addition to hearing aid applications, Auracast is also aiming at some interesting use scenarios such as museums and art exhibitions navigation services to open up unlimited possibilities for broadcast applications in the future.Low-powered Wi-Fi 6 and Cellular wireless communication applicationsNordic builds the mid-range product portfolio by introducing low-powered Wi-Fi 6 technology to explore new applications for high-speed data communication in the edge nodes. Taking edge computing use cases as an example, Chen described, the IoT sensors transfer sensing information wirelessly on the edge side to cloud servers for connecting Nordic's Thingy:53 IoT machine learning platform for training a model in the cloud. The model can then be deployed straight back onto the SoC on the edge side for deployment and inferencing. The entire process is quick and requires no coding knowledge.There are further examples in the real world. For example, the sensing audio data or abnormal vibrations of industrial fans or motors in the factory can be captured for AI training in the cloud. After downloading the AI models to the edge SoC, the systems will have the prediction features to identify and predict the motor systems' possible failures and malfunctions to ensure that the right motor maintenance strategy is implemented at the right time.Talking about long distance wireless applications, Nordic focuses on cellular LPWAN technologies to connect devices through 4G/LTE, and 5G communication standards. The product series are ranging from nRF91 SiP product lines to newly released low-power cellular SoC chips to support LTE-M and NB-IoT protocol.The product combination provides major benefits of low power consumption, cost-effectiveness, and size reduction due to the integrated multi-protocol cellular modem and transceiver. Giving battery-driven devices better prospects, Nordic cellular LPWAN solutions represent a leap forward in connecting remote meter-reading networks for water, gas, and electricity.In the Nordic suite, the guests will witness the convergence of GNSS, Cell-based, and SSID-based Wi-Fi locationing in the demo stations. Using the nRF Cloud Location Services alongside DECT NR+ nodes, this showcase demonstrates asset tracking with precision and accuracy. Running predictive maintenance ML models by Edge Impulse's ML software, there is a further demonstration station to show Thingy:53 IoT machine learning prototyping platform to allow guests to examine and feel the prediction functions.In the demos of Human Interface Devices, Nordic uses Bluetooth LE gaming mouse device to emulate high-speed automatic packet transmission to a gaming PC. This gaming mouse delivers up to 8,000 data reports per second, ensuring high speed and minimal delay in intense and fast-paced gaming scenarios. This improved user experience that hasn't been seen before.As a pioneer of Bluetooth LE technology, Nordic has evolved into a full-spectrum wireless IoT company offering a range of solutions based on leading industry standards including LTE-M, NB-IoT, DECT NR+, Wi-Fi 6, Matter, and Thread, says Chen. Nordic's diversified offering at Computex 2024 is showing greater market expansion not only to maintain a significant market share in Bluetooth Low Energy but also to expand their cellular IoT offerings. Nordic hopes to work with Taiwan's electronics supply chains and ecosystem partners to embrace IoT business opportunities to spur growth in increasingly fast-paced markets.Capable of supporting Bluetooth 5.4 and future Bluetooth specifications, plus LE Audio, Bluetooth mesh, Thread, Matter, and more, the nRF54H20 will be the foundation for a new wave of revolutionary IoT end-products. Its combination of advanced features will enable complex end-products that have previously been unfeasibleCIoT shows Nordic's goal to streamline cellular product development and support the entire product lifecycle. This is why we have integrated all the different parts of our cellular offering into a complete solution – a fully Nordic-owned and controlled offering that includes hardware, software, tools, cloud services and our world-class supportNordic is actively involved and one of the main contributors the development of Matter. Matter aims to make it easy for developers to create a secure and reliable solution. If you want your products to be interoperable with the major smart home ecosystems, Matter is the way to go

COMPUTEX Taipei 2024 will be held from June 4 to June 7 at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Halls 1 and 2. KIOXIA Taiwan will showcase its full range of memory products and technologies under the theme of "Memory Maker – Making Flash Memory Solutions for Every Application" at booth X0001 on Floor 3 of Hall 2 in the Semiconductors & Hospitality Suites.In addition to exhibiting KIOXIA's memory products, the booth will feature joint displays with multiple ecosystem partners to highlight the critical role KIOXIA plays in the related ecosystem. This exhibition underscores KIOXIA's indispensable position in the current technological landscape and the significant benefits its products and technologies provide.Business Memory SolutionIn the business memory solution area, KIOXIA will showcase cutting-edge flash memory technologies, including the 8th generation BiCS FLASH and CMOS directly Bonded to Array (CBA) architecture, alongside memory products for various applications.Business Solid State Drive SolutionThe area of business solid-state drive solutions (SSD) will feature a range of current and new products. The highlight will be the data center grade SSD - CD8P series, which utilizes the PCIe 5.0 interface and comes in both 2.5-inch and E3.S form factors.Optimized for the performance, latency, power consumption, and thermal requirements of data center environments where power and cooling efficiency is critical. KIOXIA's CD8P Series provides the predictability and consistency needed for a seamless user experience.In addition, several leading ecosystem partners will showcase their server systems compatible with KIOXIA products, providing visitors with a comprehensive understanding of the vital role and applications of KIOXIA's business SSDs in nowadays' large-scale computing demands. As one of the leading manufacturers in memory technology in business SSD, KIOXIA is focused on enhancing the performance, offering stable and reliable memory solutions.Personal Memory SolutionsIn the personal memory solution area, KIOXIA will exhibit a variety of SSDs, memory cards, and USB flash drives. A key highlight will be the debut of the EXCERIA with Heatsink SSD, scheduled for release in the second half of 2024.This PCIe 4.0 SSD offers a sequential read speed of up to 6,200MB/s and is designed for PC systems with M.2 interfaces and PlayStation 5, providing a new option for gamers and general users. In addition, KIOXIA will showcase the newly launched EXCERIA PLUS G2 microSD card, offering up to 2TB of storage, 100MB/s read speed, and support for UHS-I and U3 (V30) speed classes, providing users a microSD with larger capacity and faster reading options.Highlights of KIOXIA Taiwan's BoothVisiting the booth to experience the advanced memory technologies and understand KIOXIA's pivotal role in the ecosystem through product displays and joint displays with ecosystem partners, KIOXIA Taiwan invites industry leaders and relevant professionals to join KIOXIA and Make Memories at COMPUTEX Taipei 2024.Credit: Company