Beacons are hardware transmitters that broadcast their identifier via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to smartphones in close proximity. Once opted in with a mobile app, consumers can use beacons strategically placed throughout a brick-and-mortar store to receive product recommendations and coupons, view purchase history, display the precise location of items on store shelves and even listen to product descriptions.
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Rambus renews DPA countermeasures license with Thales e-Security
Rambus has renewed its Differential Power Analysis (DPA) countermeasures license agreement with Thales e-Security. Under the new five-year agreement, the Thales line of hardware security modules (HSMs) will be protected against side-channel attacks in a variety of systems, including high-performance data center appliances.
The digital evolution of the retail experience
Craig Guillot of Samsung’s Insights recently noted that millennial shopping habits have prompted retailers to adapt with the creation of more personalized, seamless experiences fueled by technology. Indeed, over 85 percent of U.S. millennials own a smartphone and are increasingly using their devices to browse and research products, order online, pick up in-store and pay at the point-of-sale with mobile wallets.
FPGAs are shaping the computing platforms of the future
Steven Woo, VP of Systems and Solutions at Rambus, recently penned an article for Semiconductor Engineering about how FPGAs are helping to shape the computing platforms of the future.
As Woo notes, Moore’s Law, which helped fuel a relentless progression in computing performance, has been an important semiconductor industry mainstay for decades. However, Moore’s Law is waning, with an end on the horizon due to a combination of physical limitations and economic factors.
Amazon eyes a new shopping paradigm with Go
Amazon is currently beta testing a new type of brick-and-mortar store that replaces the traditional checkout lines and registers with a Just Walk Out Shopping experience. Shoppers simply load up the Amazon Go app upon entering the store, take the products they want and go.
“Our checkout-free shopping experience is made possible by the same types of technologies used in self-driving cars: computer vision, sensor fusion, and deep learning,” Amazon explained in a company blog post.
Smart sensors go lensless for smart cities
Gale Morrison of Semiconductor Engineering recently penned an article about the various challenges associated with building smart cities of the future. As Morrison notes, governments around the globe are beginning to tap into a world of connected devices and sensors for reasons ranging from cheaper lighting to less traffic, lower crime and improved air quality.
