Items tagged with 5G
The new year has just begun, which means that rumors concerning the next-generation iPhone are already kicking into high gear. The latest news coming from Apple's supply chain revolves around the iPhone's Face ID software and the inclusion of additional time-of-flight sensors. On the Face ID front, a report from CNBC claims that the hardware is being "refreshed" which means that Apple is likely using an upgraded TrueDepth camera sensor with faster response times. Face ID has already gotten dramatically faster since it was first introduced on the iPhone X, so we'd be eager to see how much quicker device unlocking can get with the iPhone 12. There's also the possibility that Face ID will...
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Qualcomm isn't the company looking to take over the mid-range to premium segment of the smartphone market with a new 5G mobile platform. MediaTek is also stepping into the ring with the Dimensity 800 Series, which is a lower-cost version of the Dimensity 1000 Series that was announced late last year. When it comes to performance, MediaTek has outfitted the Dimensity 800’s CPU with a big.LITTLE arrangement featuring four high-performance Cortex-A76 cores paired with four Cortex-A55 efficiency cores. Both sets of cores can operate at up to 2GHz. MediaTek has also added a Dimensity 1000-class, 4-core GPU along with its in-house APU 3.0 AI processing engine (up to 2.4 TOPs compute...
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Back in mid-May 2019, Lenovo gave us our first glimpse at the ThinkPad X1 Fold, which was billed at the time as the world’s first PC with a foldable display. At the time, the company provided a high-level overview of its specs including its 13.3-inch OLED display, unnamed (at the time) Intel processor, and Wacom pen support. Today, Lenovo is giving us a lot more details on the 2.2-pound ThinkPad X1 Fold, including the revelation that it will feature Intel Core Processors with Intel Hybrid Technology. That leads us to believe that the folding wunderkind will be powered by Intel 10nm Lakefied SoCs, which will also underpin Microsoft’s Surface Neo dual display...
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CES 2020 is currently underway, which means that there are thousands of companies that have descend upon Las Vegas to show off their latest and greatest gadgets. We're expecting to see some great technology breakthroughs from companies both big and small, but there are a number of themes that will be pervasive throughout the week. Folding Smartphones and PCs Folding smartphones first made their big debut last year with the Samsung Galaxy Fold and the Huawei Mate X. We expect that trend to continue this year, and we're bound to see some new entries from smaller players at CES this week (along with some hands-on time with the recently announced Motorola RAZR). But it's not just smartphones that...
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The 5G revolution has begun, though not necessarily in earnest—5G connectivity is still the exception to the norm, for the most part. Samsung is doing its part, though. The company has revealed it sold a staggering 6.7 million 5G-enabled Galaxy smartphones in 2019, which gives it the lead on the hardware side. According to Samsung, it rose to a 53.9 percent share of the global 5G smartphone market in November 2019. It's not clear which company is the next closest, but the fact that Samsung's hardware accounts for half of the market is an achievement worth bragging about. Whether Samsung can hold onto its lead throughout 2020 is something that will be interesting to watch. "Consumers can’t...
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Of the two folding smartphones that were unveiled earlier this year, the Samsung Galaxy Fold perhaps got the most attention. But the Huawei Mate X was no doubt the more "attractive" offering with its outward folding design (the display is exposed even when the in the "folded" position) and sleek looks. The Mate X officially launched in China last month, but has been unavailable to purchase in other global markets. That could potentially change next year with the release of the Mate Xs. Huawei consumer business CEO Richard Yu confirmed in an interview with Frandroid that the Mate Xs will be revealed at Mobile World Congress 2020 in Barcelona, Spain. While the overall design of the smartphone...
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2019 has seen the emergence of 5G wireless networks in the United States, albeit with limited reach. The top two U.S. wireless carriers -- Verizon and AT&T -- chose to first launch mmWave 5G networks in select markets, primarily for business users. While mmWave 5G offers blazing speeds topping 1Gbps in some cases, the signal can't easily penetrate walls, and coverage area is measured in blocks rather than miles. AT&T calls this 5G+. AT&T today, however, has announced its standard 5G service that will be accessible by the vast majority of Americans as the network builds out. This 5G network makes use of low-band frequencies (850MHz spectrum) and has a much broader...
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Smartphone OEMs have wasted no time pushing the envelope with specs and pricing in recent years. Devices like the iPhone 11 Pro and Galaxy Note 10 start at around $1,000 and can easily creep into the mid $1,000 range when you up the storage capacity (or add 5G in the case of Samsung's flagships). Likewise, Samsung is testing pricing limits with the Galaxy Fold, which is priced at $1,980. However, a new report from research firm NPD Group suggests that these uber-expensive smartphones haven't exactly been a hit with U.S. consumers. In fact, NPD's Mobile Phone Tracking service shows that fewer than 10 percent of Americans are choosing smartphones that retail for $1,000+. Given that some flagship...
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The smartphone industry is at the beginning of a transition period. For years, we've been spoiled by 4G LTE wireless connectivity and its relatively ubiquity, but 5G networks are starting to popup around the globe. There were a handful of devices that shipped in 2019 with 5G connectivity (Samsung Galaxy Note 10 5G, Galaxy S10 5G, etc.), but the big boom in 5G will occur in 2020. The vast majority of Android smartphones are powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon processors, and the company this week announced two new SoCs that are 5G-enabled: the Snapdragon 865 Mobile Platform and Snapdragon 765/765G Mobile Platform. But the way they go about providing 5G is quite different. Snapdragon...
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Apple may have not been able to deliver the goods with respect to a 5G iPhone in 2019, but it’s not like 5G coverage is widespread right now in major markets. However, Apple is looking to blanket the market with 5G-capable iPhones in 2020 according to respected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. According to Kuo, Apple will release no less than five new iPhone models during 2020. The first of which is the long-rumored iPhone SE 2, which will more-or-less be a retread of the iPhone 8, but with more modern internals. We’re likely to see an A13 Bionic-class SoC running the show along with the familiar 4.7-inch LCD display, Touch ID, single rear camera, and 4G LTE connectivity. The...
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Today 5G mobile networks are only offered in a few select locations, but broader rollouts are coming in 2020. That means that more 5G smartphones are coming to take advantage of those networks. With the legions of iPhone fans, many are hopeful that the 5G iPhones will land in late 2020. Qualcomm recently announced its latest SoCs, and while at the event for those new products, Qualcomm president Cristiano Amon talked about its plans with the relationship it has with Apple. Qualcomm and Apple have a multi-year licensing deal in place. According to Amon, the first 5G iPhones that launch will feature Qualcomm modems inside, but they may not implement all of the company's RF front end. That decision...
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It's that time of the year again; Qualcomm is holding an event in sunny Hawaii, and it's announcing a new flagship SoC for mobile devices. But Qualcomm hasn't just announced the Snapdragon 865 Mobile Platform -- which was expected -- but it also announced the Snapdragon 765/765G Mobile Platforms. As you might expect for SoCs that will be powering the bulk of flagship Android smartphones in 2020, all three SKUs bring 5G connectivity to the table. Given that this is just Day 1 of Qualcomm's 3-day tech extravaganza, the company is being rather light on details for now. What we do know at this time, however, is that the Snapdragon 865 is being billed as the true "flagship" SoC, and that it includes...
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The 5G revolution has begun, and America's big wireless carriers are all jockeying for position to tout their initial efforts. T-Mobile is hoping to get a leg-up on the competition with today's announcement that its nationwide 5G network is now operational a few days ahead of schedule. While AT&T and Verizon are both using mmWave technology, which only provides spotty coverage outdoors when close to a transmitter, T-Mobile is using its 600MHz spectrum to deliver 5G coverage. As a result, T-Mobile can cover more people at greater distances. T-Mobile's 5G speeds at this point, however, are closer to that of 4G LTE than the 1Gbps transfers that you can see in optimal conditions...
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Earlier this year, Intel sold off its cellular modem business at a loss, which cost the company billions. Intel never thought that it would be in that position, as it had hoped to help spearhead the 5G revolution for smartphones and other mobile devices. Today, we're learning that Intel is placing direct blame on Qualcomm for its modem development problems which resulted in its unplanned sale. In fact, Intel is putting its money where its mouth is by filing a brief in support of the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) legal action against Qualcomm. Needless to say, Intel is not happy about Qualcomm's business practices and alleged anticompetitive behavior. "Intel suffered the...
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