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Google revealed its first custom Arm-based CPUs for data centers at its Google Cloud Next 24 event. The new Google Axion processors are intended for general-purpose workloads such as web and app servers, containerized microservices, open-source databases, and so on. The company’s investment in custom silicon dates back to 2015 when the tech behemoth launched its first Tensor Processing Units (TPU). Google has also developed its own Video Coding Unit (VCU) and Tensor chips for mobile devices. A significant milestone Google's main rivals for cloud services, Amazon and Microsoft, have their own CPUs based on Arm technology, but Amin Vahdat, Google's vice president of machine learning, systems and cloud AI boasted, "Axion processors combine Google’s silicon expertise with Arm’s highest performing CPU cores to deliver instances with up to 30% better performance than the fastest general-purpose Arm-based instances available in the cloud today." Axion CPUs will also have "up to 50% better performance and up to 60% better energy-efficiency than comparable current-generation x86-based instances," Vahdat added. Built using the Arm Neoverse V2 CPU and on the standard Armv9 architecture and instruction set, the new processors are underpinned by Titanium, a system of custom silicon microcontrollers and tiered scale-out offloads designed to optimize performance for customer workloads. "Google’s announcement of the new Axion CPU marks a significant milestone in delivering custom silicon that is optimized for Google’s infrastructure, and built on our high-performance Arm Neoverse V2 platform," Arm CEO Rene Haas said. "Decades of ecosystem investment, combined with Google’s ongoing innovation and open-source software contributions ensure the best experience for the workloads that matter most to customers running on Arm everywhere." The contributions to the Arm ecosystem that Haas mentioned include open-sourcing Android, Kubernetes, TensorFlow, and the Go language, and should pave the way for Axion's application compatibility and interoperability. Google says customers will be able to seamlessly deploy Arm workloads on Google Cloud with limited code rewrites, accessing an ecosystem of cloud customers and software developers leveraging Arm-native software. The new Axion processors will be available to Google Cloud customers later this year. Virtual machines based on the CPUs will be available in preview in the coming months. More from TechRadar Pro Google wants to bring AI-powered security to businesses everywhereGoogle is giving your security teams a major Gemini AI boostGoogle Vids is Workspace's new video creation app for your workplace View the full article

Amazon today announced that it has added passkey support to its desktop sites and mobile apps, allowing customers to sign in to their accounts without the need for a password. Passkeys are a more secure alternative to passwords because a passkey cannot be shared with another person through a phishing attempt or leaked online through a database hack. Passkeys do not require customers to remember a password or add a two-factor authentication code, but they do require a verified device. Passkeys can be set up in the Amazon settings, and on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, logging in to an Amazon account can be done with a Face ID or Touch ID scan once the feature is turned on. To enable it, go to Your Account > Login and Security, and choose the Set up option next to Passkeys. Apple implemented support for passkeys with iOS 16 and macOS Ventura. Passkeys work through a public key that's stored on a website server and paired with a private key that's kept on a specific device. On Apple's devices, passkeys are authenticated with ‌Face ID‌ or ‌Touch ID‌, and two keys must match to allow for a user to log in. Passkeys rely on iCloud Keychain, which in turn requires two-factor authentication for further protection. Passkeys sync across all of a user's ‌iPhone‌, ‌iPad‌, and Mac devices, but they can also be used on non-Apple devices through a QR code system. Amazon says that passkey support is available today for all Amazon customers using browsers, and that it will be rolling out to the Amazon app for iOS devices in the near future.Tags: Amazon, Passkeys This article, "Amazon Adds Support for Passkeys, Allowing for More Secure Logins" first appeared on MacRumors.com Discuss this article in our forums View the full article