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takyon writes:

If you can't keep your smartphones updated, perhaps the solution to rampant security vulnerabilities is "cognitive computing technology" to block them:

Qualcomm announced that the first main application for its Zeroth neural chip will be a malware behavior analysis feature called "Qualcomm Snapdragon Smart Protect." The feature will be free for OEMs to use, but it will be up to them to enable it on shipping devices. Qualcomm's Zeroth chip uses "cognitive computing technology," which can enable "brain-inspired," on-device intelligence. The chip is meant to bring more natural interaction with devices and anticipate users' needs. Zeroth was designed to think like a biological brain and learn from its experiences in order to improve itself.

For instance, one of the first demos Qualcomm showed back in 2013 was a robot using Zeroth to find only white squares on a floor, but avoid other colored squares. The robot did this not because it was programmed in a certain specific way to reach the white squares, but because it "learned" by itself where the white squares would be. This is the main principle behind a neural processing unit (NPU) such as Zeroth, which is supposed to sit side-by-side a "traditional" CPU in devices.

The most exciting features that such a chip can provide will likely arrive later on, after developers have started using Qualcomm's Zeroth SDK to create innovative new mobile solutions that can improve people's lives. However, Qualcomm has already come up with what could be a solid use-case for Zeroth: malware behavior analysis. Qualcomm can use the brain-like cognitive power of the Zeroth platform to detect "abnormal behavior" on mobile devices, which can include zero-day malware or "transformational malware," about which anti-virus solutions either don't know or the malware was modified to bypass them (in the latter's case).

Related: Mobile World Congress 2015 Roundup

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Intel has announced a Vision Processing Unit SoC named after the visualization processing company it bought last year:

Intel today introduced the Movidius Myriad X Vision Processing Unit (VPU) which Intel is calling the first vision processing system-on-a-chip (SoC) with a dedicated neural compute engine to accelerate deep neural network inferencing at the network edge. You may recall Intel acquired Movidius roughly a year ago for its visualization processing expertise. Introduction of the SoC closely follows release of the Movidius Neural Compute Stick in July, a USB-based offering "to make deep learning application development on specialized hardware even more widely available."

Intel says the VPU's new neural compute engine is an on-chip hardware block specifically designed to run deep neural networks at high speed and low power. "With the introduction of the Neural Compute Engine, the Myriad X architecture is capable of 1 TOPS – trillion operations per second based on peak floating-point computational throughput of Neural Compute Engine – of compute performance on deep neural network inferences," says Intel.

Commenting on the introduction Steve Conway of Hyperion Research said, "The Intel VPU is an essential part of the company's larger strategy for deep learning and other AI methodologies. HPC has moved to the forefront of R&D for AI, and visual processing complements Intel's HPC strategy. In the coming era of autonomous vehicles and networked traffic, along with millions of drones and IoT sensors, ultrafast visual processing will be indispensable."

Intel reports the new Movidius SoC VPU is capable of delivering more than 4 TOPS of total performance and that its tiny form factor and on-board processing are ideal for autonomous device solutions.

The device uses up to 1.5 W of power.

Also at Tom's Hardware and AnandTech.

Original Submission