Agam Shah, Author at NetworkingNexus.net

Agam Shah

Author Archives: Agam Shah

Intel will change its approach to PC chip upgrades

Intel is changing its view on how it upgrades chips.Rather than tying chip upgrades directly to the manufacturing process involved, Intel will look at delivering a sustained set of performance upgrades with each new chip architecture."We're going to be focused more on the generation by the amount of performance increment it will give us," said Venkata Renduchintala, president of Intel's Client and Internet of Things businesses and its Systems Architecture Group. "I don't think generations will be tagged to node transitions."The performance benefits will matter more, and the process technology that lives underneath is going to be less conspicuous, Renduchintala said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

MediaTek will sit out the ARM race for Windows 10 PCs

Despite a turbulent past, Windows PCs with ARM are making a grand return later this year, but only with Qualcomm chips. Another big ARM chipmaker, MediaTek, is sitting out the opportunity to put its ARM-based chips in Windows PCs because the company sees it as a limited opportunity. MediaTek's chips are already used in Chromebooks, but ARM has had a turbulent history with Windows. That's another reason for the company to stay out. ARM getting into PCs is like Intel trying to get into smartphones -- it's a risky proposition, said Finbarr Moynihan, general manager of sales at MediaTek. PCs are dominated by x86 chips from companies like Intel and AMD. But Intel failed in its attempt to unseat a dominant ARM in smartphones, and ultimately quit making chips for handsets.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Meizu technology can charge a smartphone in 20 minutes

Chinese smartphone maker Meizu claims its Super mCharge technology can recharge batteries in as little as 20 minutes.To prove its point, the company demonstrated the superfast charging capabilities during a press conference on the show floor of Mobile World Congress, which is being held in Barcelona.The charging speed is even faster than Qualcomm's recently introduced Quick Charge 4.0, which "is engineered to charge a typical smartphone from zero to 50 percent in about 15 minutes or less," the chip maker claimed in a statement.The charging demonstration was via a USB Type-C port, and the smartphone carried a 3,000-milliamp hour battery, which is the capacity range in newer smartphones. The trick is offloading some of the charging pressure off the battery to the USB cable, which can carry a maximum of 160 watts of power.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Qualcomm details plans for Windows 10 PCs with Snapdragon 835

Qualcomm has big plans to bring back ARM to Windows 10 PCs, and there is a chance that its Snapdragon 835 could support Windows Holographic for VR headsets.The company is already working with major PC makers for using Windows 10 with Snapdragon 835, its latest chip introduced in Sony's Xperia XZ smartphone at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.The response to Windows 10 with Snapdragon 835 has been positive, and the grim memories of Windows RT -- a colossal failure in bringing ARM to PCs -- have remained in the past, said Keith Kressin, senior vice president of product management at Qualcomm Technologies."The goal is to get something credible out, show people why it's different from RT. Show that it's Windows 10 -- there isn't a second version of Windows 10," Kressin said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Porsche Design’s Book One looks to outrace Microsoft’s Surface Book

As with its cars, Porsche Design loved what it has created with its new Book One 2-in-1, made to challenge Microsoft's Surface Book.The 2-in-1 device is unique in that it is both a convertible and a detachable computer. The Book One can become a tablet by detaching the 13.3-inch screen or folding the screen 360 degrees onto the keyboard.The folding functionality exists because of the hinge, which has been borrowed from the Porsche cars' gearbox. The flexible folding and detaching mechanism gives the device a unique design that is hard to find in other 2-in-1s today. It's likely other PC makers will try to come up with copycat designs.Porsche Design has created a "new product category" with Book One, Roland Heiler, chief design officer for the Porsche Design Group, said at a press event at the fancy W Hotel in Barcelona. The press event was held on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress show going on this week.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Intel isn’t yet done with x86 smartphone chips

Smartphones with Intel-based x86 chips aren't dead yet. Intel may have stopped making Atom chips for smartphones, but a partner is keeping that effort alive.Chinese chip maker Spreadtrum is still making x86 smartphone chips based on the Atom architecture named Airmont. The company will ship a powerful eight-core Atom variant for smartphones in the second half of this year.Smartphone makers will be able to use the Spreadtrum SC9861G-IA chip in mid-range handsets. It will have a PowerVR GT7200 graphics core and support 4K video and displays with resolutions up to 2560 x 1440 pixels.It's far more powerful than the original Atom smartphone chips made by Intel. Handsets with the chip were shown at Intel's booth at the ongoing Mobile World Congress trade show.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Android struggling in tablets as Windows 10 2-in-1s come on strong

In 2010, Apple's Steve Jobs welcomed the post-PC era when it introduced the iPad. Now in 2017, PCs are still around and on their way to recovery, while slate-style tablets are struggling. Apple remains the top tablet seller, but its shipments are diving, and Android tablets aren't as hot as they used to be. Unlike its heyday, tablets aren't expected to be huge presence at this year's Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona. Lenovo and Samsung are launching some Android tablets, but more attention is being heaped on Windows 10 2-in-1 PCs that can be tablets and laptops. Where Android has faltered, Windows is now taking over. Many people are replacing tablets with multipurpose Windows 2-in-1 PCs.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Lenovo to integrate Amazon Alexa in Moto smartphones

Lenovo is working with Amazon to get the Alexa voice assistant into a range of Motorola smartphones, and in the process, looking to depose Google's voice assistant technology.The partners will first focus on developing an Alexa "Mod," a block that will attach to a Moto Z modular handset. The companies will then integrate Alexa directly into a variety of Moto handsets and devices, Lenovo said during a press conference in Barcelona on Sunday.The Moto Z is much like Google's Project Ara, where individual parts like speakers and projectors can be added to boost the functionality of the handset.The exact details of the Alexa Mod for Moto Z weren't provided, but an onstage image showed a speaker that could hook up to the handset. It looked like a flatter and curved version of Amazon's Echo or Echo Dot.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Samsung’s disjointed OS strategy poses a hurdle for users

Samsung's Windows-based Galaxy Books, unveiled Sunday at Mobile World Congress, point to a critical weakness in the company's multiple-OS strategy. The company uses Windows 10 in PCs, Android in smartphones, and Tizen across wearables and smart appliances. This has led to a lack of coherence among Samsung devices, in contrast to the near-seamless product integration that has fueled Apple's success as the world's most valued company. The specific issues with the Galaxy Books are relatively small, but are nevertheless symptoms of the larger problem: walls among devices and an inconsistent user experience across the company's product line. The lack of a broad app ecosystem for Samsung devices has not helped.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Nostalgia rules as classic phone brands come alive at MWC

Classic phone brands from yesteryear are coming alive in Barcelona.Nokia, Blackberry and Moto were among the unlikely headline makers ahead of the Mobile World Congress trade show, which starts on Monday. Moto is owned by Lenovo, and the unit is still called Motorola Mobility.The new smartphones mixed up retro ideas with new features. A new Nokia 3310 candy-bar phone is the modern version of its classic namesake, while the new Blackberry KEYOne handset has a hard keyboard, which made previous smartphones under the brand popular.The Blackberry and Nokia brands have tremendous cachet, and fans will root for these brands to win again, said Roger Kay, principal analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Samsung mulls iris scanners on smartphones to log into Windows PCs

Soon, your Samsung phone may be able to recognize your iris and log you into your Windows PC. Iris-scanning via phone is not yet a feature available for Samsung's latest Galaxy Book 2-in-1s, which were announced at Mobile World Congress. But the company wants to quickly bridge the gap between its Galaxy smartphones, which run on Android, and its Windows PCs and 2-in-1s. Software called Samsung Flow links the company's Android smartphones to Windows PCs. Samsung and Microsoft are looking to collaborate on logins via Windows Hello -- designed to use biometric authentication to log into PCs -- and one big Flow feature is the ability to use Galaxy smartphones to wirelessly log into the new Galaxy Book.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

5G will help autonomous cars cruise streets safely

Years from now, your first autonomous car may have a lot of help from 5G wireless networks to navigate the streets safely.5G will be as important to autonomous cars as 4G has been to mobile phones. The technology will help cars change lanes, recognize signals and draw up accurate maps. 5G will also help vehicles communicate in order to scope out road and weather conditions.For collision avoidance, 5G will connect cars to cloud services for object recognition. It will also provide a constant link to live TV for backseat passengers to enjoy. Many 5G capabilities for autonomous cars will be on display at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, where Intel and Qualcomm will be showing off their latest technologies.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Intel’s Atom is underwhelming no more: New chip packs 16 cores

Intel's Atom was mostly known as a low-end chip for mobile devices that underperformed. That may not be the case anymore.The latest Atom C3000 chips announced on Tuesday have up to 16 cores and are more sophisticated than ever. The chips are made for storage arrays, networking equipment, and internet of things devices.The new chips have features found mostly in server chips, including networking, virtualization, and error correction features.Networking and storage devices don't require a lot of horsepower, so the low-power Atom chips fit right in. Only a handful of Intel server chips have more than 16 cores, but the number of Atom cores means the chip can handle more streams of data.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Intel’s Atom is underwhelming no more: New chip packs 16 cores

LTE speeds outpace home internet with new Qualcomm and Intel modems

With every new generation of smartphone, LTE connections get faster. That's because the devices have faster modems that can transfer data at unprecedented download speeds.The top modem providers are Intel and Qualcomm, whose cellular chips are used in the iPhone. On Tuesday they both announced modems that will push LTE connections to speeds well over those of regular home internet connections.Qualcomm unveiled the X20 LTE chipset, which can transfer data at speeds of up to 1.2Gbps. Intel announced the XMM 7560 LTE modem, which can download data at speeds of up to 1Gbps.However, cellular networks aren't yet designed to handle such fast speeds. One exception is Telstra, an Australian telecommunications company, which has launched a gigabit LTE service for commercial use in that country.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

LTE speeds outpace home internet with new Qualcomm and Intel modems

Intel’s mobile future is in blazing modems as it buries Atom failure

Apple's iPhone has twice been linked to Intel's mobile future. The chip maker bungled it up once, but is coming on strong the second time.Intel passed on the opportunity to make chips for the first iPhone, and in May discontinued Atom smartphone chips after wasting billions trying to get them in handsets. The chip company instead started building a new mobile identity around its modems and wireless connectivity assets.Intel's had success, and some iPhone 7 smartphones are already using the chip maker's modem. The company is now building faster modems, and carrying out trials for future 5G wireless networks.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Add Bluetooth 5 to Raspberry Pi 3 or create gadgets with this new chip

One of Raspberry Pi's weaknesses is a lack of wireless technologies, which limits its communications capabilities with other devices. One new chipset from Qualcomm could help fill that gap.The QCA4020 chipset packs in Bluetooth Low Energy 5, ZigBee 3.0, WiFi 802.11n, and OpenThread wireless communications protocols.The chipset is like a mini-developer board -- an integrated chipset with an ARM-based CPU. It can be used to create smart home or industrial devices.It can also serve as a wireless access point for Raspberry Pi and other developer boards used to make smart gadgets, drones, robots, and industrial devices. It has a number of connector protocols and can work with Arduino boards.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Add Bluetooth 5 to Raspberry Pi 3 or create gadgets with this new chip

PC prices will continue to go up due to shortage of components

PC prices are going up due to a shortage of a number of components, and the situation isn't expected to change in the coming quarters.A shortage of DRAM, SSDs, batteries, and LCDs have conspired to drive up PC prices, Gianfranco Lanci, corporate president and chief operating officer at Lenovo, said during an earnings call on Thursday.The cost of purchasing these components is going up, which is triggering PC prices to also rise, said Lanci, a PC industry veteran. The shortage of components like memory will continue, Lanci said.As component supplies shrink, PC prices will rise, said Mikako Kitagawa, an analyst at Gartner. Moreover, PC makers are raising prices to squeeze more profits out of the shrinking PC market, Kitagawa said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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