Sunday, September 7, 2014

IT News Head Lines (AnandTech) 9/8/2014

AnandTech



PCIe SSD Faceoff: Samsung XP941 (128GB & 256GB) and OCZ RevoDrive 350 (480GB) Tested
We are currently on the verge of PCIe transition. Nearly every SSD controller vendor has shown or at least talked about their upcoming PCIe designs, and the first ones should enter the market in early 2015. In the meantime, there are a couple of existing PCIe drives for the early adopters, namely Samsung XP941 and Plextor M6e, and a variety of RAID-based PCIe SSDs like the OCZ RevoDrive 350. We already reviewed the 512GB Samsung XP941 in May and found it to be the fastest client SSD on the market, but today we are back with the 128GB and 256GB models along with OCZ's RevoDrive 350.


Read More ...




Intel’s Core M Strategy: CPU Specifications for 9mm Fanless Tablets and 2-in-1 Devices
Continuing our coverage of Intel’s 14nm Technology, another series of press events held by Intel filled out some of the missing details behind the strategy of their Core M platform. Core M is the moniker for what will be the Broadwell-Y series of processors, following on from Haswell-Y, and it will be the first release of Intel’s 14nm technology. The drive to smaller, low powered fanless devices that still deliver a full x86 platform as well as the performance beyond that of a smartphone or tablet is starting to become a reality. Even reducing the size of the CPU package in all dimensions to allow for smaller devices, including reducing the z-height from 1.5mm to 1.05 mm is part of Intel’s solution, giving a total die area 37% smaller than Haswell-Y.
The first wave of three Core M parts will all be dual core flavors, with HD 5300 graphics and all within a 4.5W TDP. For Core M Intel is no longer quoting the SDP terminology due to the new design.

Intel Core M Specifications


Core M-5Y70

Core M-5Y10a

Core M-5Y10

Cores / Threads

2 / 4

2 / 4

2 / 4

Base Frequency / MHz

1100

800

800

Turbo Frequency / MHz

2600

2000

2000

Processor Graphics

HD 5300

HD 5300

HD 5300

IGP Base Frequency / MHz

100

100

100

IGP Turbo Frequency / MHz

850

800

800

L3 Cache

4 MB

4 MB

4 MB

TDP

4.5 W

4.5 W

4.5 W

LPDDR3/DDR3L Support

1600 MHz

1600 MHz

1600 MHz

Intel vPro

Yes

No

No

Intel TXT

Yes

No

No

Intel VT-d/VT-x

Yes

Yes

Yes

Intel AES-NI

Yes

Yes

Yes
The top of the line processor will be called the Core M-5Y70, which is a bit of a mouthful but the name breaks down similarly to Intel’s main Core series. ‘5’ is similar to i5, giving us a dual-core processor with Hyper-Threading; ‘Y’ is for Broadwell-Y; and ‘70’ gives its position in the hardware stack.
The CPU will leverage both processor graphics and CPU Turbo Boost, allowing each of them to turbo at different times and different rates depending on the workload and overall power usage. Of particulary interest is that the 5Y70 features a base clock of 1.1 GHz, with turbo for both single-core and dual-core use listed as up to 2.6 GHz. The new HD 5300 GPU similarly has a 100 MHz base frequency with an 850 MHz turbo. The 5Y70 is different from the other two models in both clock speeds and features, as it will be part of Intel’s vPro program and also supports Intel TXT.
The other two processors in the stack are the 5Y10a and 5Y10, with dual-core + HT configurations and 800 MHz base frequency with turbo up to 2.0 GHz. There doesn't appear to be any major difference between the two parts, though Intel's presentation notes that the 5Y10 supports "4W Config Down TDP" (cTDP Down). The graphics is clocked slightly lower on the turbo, giving 800 MHz.
It's interesting to note that Intel informed us that the 1k unit pricing will be the same for all three processors: $281. Obviously these chips are going to end up in hybrids, tablets, and laptops that come pre-built, so the actual pricing will vary by OEM and whatever deals they have with Intel. But in general, Intel seems to be saying that OEMs can choose any of the three chips based on their power/thermal targets.
The HD Graphics 5300 is the new processor graphics and as part of the brief behind Core-M, a die shot was supplied with the important areas marked:
In the processor graphics section in the shot above, there clearly looks like 12 repeated units, with each representing two EUs (Execution Units). In our dive into the architecture in early August, it was stated that the minimum configuration here would be as a result of Broadwell taking 8 EUs per sub-slice, with the minimum configuration being three sub-slices, making 24 in total. This comes in combination with an increase in the L1 cache and samplers relative to the number of EUs, allowing for 25% more sampling throughput per EU.

Intel's Tick-Tock Cadence

Microarchitecture

Process Node

Tick or Tock

Release Year

Conroe/Merom

65nm

Tock

2006

Penryn

45nm

Tick

2007

Nehalem

45nm

Tock

2008

Westmere

32nm

Tick

2010

Sandy Bridge

32nm

Tock

2011

Ivy Bridge

22nm

Tick

2012

Haswell

22nm

Tock

2013

Broadwell

14nm

Tick

2014

Skylake

14nm

Tock

2015
The fundamental architecture of the GPU does not change from Haswell, albeit on a smaller process node. The GPU is confirmed as supporting DirectX 11.2, OpenGL 4.2 and OpenCL 2.0, with UltraHD (3840x2160) supported at 24 Hz through HDMI. This opens up possibilities of fanless tablets with UHD panels.
One of the main graphs Intel was pushing in their briefing was this one, indicating what power is required for a fanless tablet:
For a chassis of 7, 8 or 10mm, to have a maximum skin temperature of 41C at load, the above TDPs are required depending on the chassis size in order to go fanless. The first batch of 4.5W Core M processors aim at either the 11.6-inch, 8mm thick fanless tablet design as indicated in the graph above, or similarly a 10.1-inch 10mm thick tablet will also be suitable. Intel wants Core M to have a range of possible TDPs based on increasing or decreasing the frequency as required for a thin fanless tablet.
Intel is going to support extended docking functionality, especially with its business partners to allow features such as WiGig and additional I/O. Intel is also bringing a new 802.11ac design in the form of AC 7265, a lower powered version of the 2T2R 7260 for tablets. This will also support WiDi 5.0, and overall the platform aims to offer 1.7 hours longer battery life. Intel got to this ‘+1.7’ hour number with a reference design compared to a clocked-down Haswell-Y. I would like to point out that despite these numbers, a clocked-down part usually represents moving outside the optimal efficiency window, especially when dealing with low powered tablets.
Intel used the above slide in their presentations and drew particular attention to the power consumption of the audio during HD video playback (the orange bar on the top comparison). As part of Core M, Intel is reducing power consumption of the audio segment of the system from 100s of milliwatts down to single-digit milliwatts by integrating an audio digital signaling processor (DSP) onto the die. This is what Intel refers to as its Smart Sound Technology, and is designed to shift the majority of the audio processing onto a configured part of the die which can process at lower power.
If you think you’ve heard of something like this before, you have: AMD’s TrueAudio sounds remarkably similar in its implementation and its promotion. We asked Intel if this new DSP for Broadwell would have a configurable API similar to TrueAudio, however we are still waiting on an official response to this.
The platform controller hub layout was also provided, showing USB 3.0 support along with SATA 6 Gbps and four lanes of PCIe:
The PCH is also designed to be dynamic with power, meaning that disabling features on a design could yield a better-than-expected increase in battery life. The design will support NFC, and it is worth noting that the two USB 3.0 ports are in a mux configuration which may limit bandwidth. With a number of PCIe lanes in tow however, there are a number of controllers that could be used to expand functionality in a design.
Intel will be showing off the Core M at IFA in Berlin this week, with over 20 designs based on Core M from OEMs in the known pipeline – including designs like ASUS’ Transformer Book T300 Chi announced back at Computex. The T300 Chi was specified as a 12.5-inch fanless tablet in a 7.3mm thickness design, with LTE support and a 2560x1600 display. With the 12.5-inch size and 7.3mm width, it sounds like the T300 Chi will be modifying the Core M CPU to be around 4W in order to keep the 41C skin temperature as a maximum. Intel also listed the following Core M devices at IFA:
The CPUs will be in volume production before the end of the year (we seem to have differing reports whether volume production has started already or is just about to), with systems from ~5 OEMs available in Q4, starting in late October. Intel lists both consumer and business designs for this timeframe, however volume production is expected in Q1 2015.


Read More ...




Note 4 and Mate 7 side-by-side
We already saw some pictures that Josh took during his briefing just a few days ago, but I still felt that maybe the Note 4 could use a closer look. Today I managed to talk to a representative at IFA to get some better close-up shots of the device.
The Note 4's new design is really striking. As Josh already mentioned in his hands-on, the improved feeling that Samsung managed to achieve with the new metal chassis is worlds apart from the plastic designs found in its predecessors. I was still skeptical until I got to hold it with my own hands: this is indeed a premium device.

I also had the opportunity to compare it to the Ascend Mate 7. There's definitely a size difference here that is noticeable when you hold both devices. Because the Mate 7 is a tad wider than the Note 4, it isn't as easy to handle. I'd say Samsung made a very good choice in staying at 5.7" and not going larger. One aspect that was immediately visible was the difference in screen quality. The Note 4 was a lot brighter, and due to the large size of the screens, the difference in resolution between 1080p vs 1440p was quite noticeable to me.
The two devices are basically the same thickness, and you won't notice too much in that regard other than a change from feeling the grippy soft-touch plastic of Samsung pleather back to the smoother aluminium of the Mate 7.
One thing Josh told me he omitted was taking a picture of the Note 4 without the back cover. Here we see that Samsung changed the layout a bit, and no is longer employing their stacked SIM+microSD slot holder that is common in current Samsung devices, and instead separates them again as in older devices.
Some readers in the comments section were asking about how the new S-Pen handled. I tried to play around with it for a bit and noticed no problems with it, as it performed without issue. I couldn't try out the angle-sensitivity of the pen as the stock apps did not support it, and the Samsung representative did not know how to showcase it.
Interestingly, the model I handled was a N910F with a Snapdrgon 805. This could mean that we won't see any Exynos models in western LTE markets such as Europe yet again. This would mean that Snapdragon variants would be the most widely reviewed and distributed. We're still waiting on Samsung to officially relase any information regarding the Exynos 5433 SoC. We're also waiting on Samsung to release a break-down of models and their availabiliy per region.
Yesterday I was impressed by Huawei's new design and build-quality. Today I'm actually torn between it and the Note 4 and can say that the Samsung has stepped the quality of their design as well.

Addendum: 

Samsung also had a lot of Galaxy Alphas on display in their hall. Since this was the first time I saw the phone in person, I wanted to share my thoughts on it too. The device provides a great alternative to people who dislike 5"+ phones, as it's very light and thin. I was concerned about the 720p PenTile screen, but it seems that this display employs one of the newer generation PenTile matrices and it was not as visible as I thought it would be. I didn't bother with taking too many pictures as it was a tethered device and there were no press kits available. The Galaxy Alpha is definitely a device to look foward to if that's the form-factor you desire in a phone.


Read More ...




Dell Previews 27-inch ‘5K’ UltraSharp Monitor: 5120x2880
UHD is dead. Not really, but it would seem that displays bigger than UHD/4K will soon be coming to market. The ability of being able to stitch two regular sized outputs into the same panel is now being exploited even more as Dell has announced during its Modern Workforce livestream about the new ‘5K’ Ultrasharp 27-inch display.  The ‘5K’ name comes from the 5120 pixels horizontally, but this panel screams as being two lots of 2560x2880 in a tiled display.
5120x2880 at 27 inches comes out at 218 PPI for a total of 14.7 million pixels. At that number of pixels per inch, we are essentially looking at a larger 15.4-inch Retina MBP or double a WQHD ASUS Zenbook UX301, and seems right for users wanting to upgrade their 13 year old IBM T220 for something a bit more modern.

Displays Sorted by PPI

Product

Size / in

Resolution

PPI

Pixels

LG G3

5.5

2560x1440

534

3,686,400

Samsung Galaxy S5

5.1

1920x1080

432

2,073,600

HTC One Max

5.9

1920x1080

373

2,073,600

Apple iPhone 5S

4

640x1136

326

727,040

Apple iPad mini Retina

7.9

2048x1536

324

2,777,088

Google Nexus 4

4.7

1280x768

318

983,040

Google Nexus 10

10

2560x1600

300

4,096,000

Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro

13.3

3200x1800

276

5,760,000

ASUS Zenbook UX301A

13.3

2560x1440

221

3,686,400

Apple Retina MBP 15"

15.4

2880x1800

221

5,184,000

Dell Ultrasharp 27" 5K

27

5120x2880

218

14,745,600

Nokia Lumia 820

4.3

800x480

217

384,000

IBM T220/T221

22.2

3840x2400

204

9,216,000

Dell UP2414Q

24

3840x2160

184

8,294,400

Dell P2815Q

28

3840x2160

157

8,294,400

Samsung U28D590D

28

3840x2160

157

8,294,400

ASUS PQ321Q

31.5

3840x2160

140

8,294,400

Apple 11.6" MacBook Air

11.6

1366x768

135

1,049,088

LG 34UM95

34

3440x1440

110

4,953,600

Korean 27" WQHD

27

2560x1440

109

3,686,400

Sharp 8K Prototype

85

7680x4320

104

33,177,600
Dell has been pretty quiet on the specifications, such as HDMI or DisplayPort support, though PC Perspective is reporting 16W integrated speakers. If the display is using tiling to divide up the transport workload over two outputs, that puts the emphasis squarely on two DP 1.2 connections. There is no mention of frame rates as of yet, nor intended color goals.
Clearly this panel is aimed more at workflow than gaming.  This is almost double 4K resolution in terms of pixels, and 4K can already bring down the majority of graphics cards to their knees, but we would imagine that the content producer and prosumer would be the intended market. Word is that this monitor will hit the shelves by Christmas, with a $2500 price tag.
Source: Dell


Read More ...




Motorola Announces the Moto Hint
The Moto Hint is a new Bluetooth headset. While this is normally a bit boring, Motorola has put extra effort into this headset.
The size and shape is specifically made to fit in ears as well as possible and to make it less obvious than most headsets. The headset also has microphones which also serve as a method to access Google Now and Moto Voice on the new Moto X. One use case demonstrated was turn by turn navigation with the phone in a pocket and relying upon the headset for directions. There's also a sensor that will automatically detect when the headset is removed from the ear and will shut off the headset upon detection. Finally, it will charge and store itself on a keychain charger if not in use.
The Moto Hint will go on sale later this fall. It will cost 149.99 USD in the US and will be available on Motorola's website and expand to other regions in time for the holidays.


Read More ...




Motorola Launches the New Moto G
The new Moto G effectively is a minor refresh as the SoC, battery, RAM, WiFi, and most other features. However, the display is now larger at 5" size but is still a 720p resolution. The camera is now an 8 megapixel sensor, and the Moto G also gets dual front facing stereo speakers.There's also TV support for Brazil and a microSD card slot. We also see a new flip case designed for the front facing speakers but the design is mostly unchanged.
While this is a mostly incremental release, Motorola revealed some surprising data in comparisons between the Moto G and flagship Android phones. In practice, the light skin on the Moto G makes the phone noticeably faster than some flagship smartphones at some standard smartphone tasks. This is far from a small difference either, as we're looking at differences as great as .8 seconds, as seen below.
Motorola also emphasized features designed specifically for developing markets, which include Motorola Alert, Motorola Assist, and Dual SIM intelligent calling. The new Moto G is available today for 179.99 USD unlocked on Motorola's website. It will also be available in India, France, UK, Brazil, Spain, and on Motorola Germany's website. It will be available in more than a dozen countries and through several carrier partners by the end of the year.


Read More ...




Motorola Launches the Moto 360: Hands On and First Impressions
The Moto 360 at this point is one of the most hyped products I've seen this year. However, in my time with the product it seems to be a mostly standard Android Wear watch, but with a few major differences.
At the most basic level, this watch has a TI OMAP 3 for the main application processor. From a performance perspective the OMAP 3 is a solid and simple choice, packing a Cortex-A8 CPU alongside a PowerVR SGX 530 GPU, reflecting the fact that wearables don't require anything near cutting edge performance. However this choice in SoC is oddly out of date on the manufacturing side as OMAP 3 was produced on a now dated 45nm process. Though the Moto 360 doesn't need the performance benefits from from newer 28nm or 20nm processes, these newer processes can deliver similar performance with lower power consumption, which would seem to be a boon for a space and power constrained device such as a watch.
Otherwise, the specs are mostly within expectation. The LCD display is a 1.56" size with 320x290 resolution, and is 46mm in diameter and 11.5mm thick. The leather strap model we've been sampled weighs 49 grams, and the battery has 320 mAh in capacity. Although the nominal voltage isn't given it's likely that it's 3.8V. There's 4 GB of internal storage and 512MB of RAM, a pedometer, heart rate monitor, two microphones, and the watch is rated for IP67 immersion protection, which means it is dust tight and submergable up to 1m of water for half an hour.
Motorola wanted to emphasize that this was a modern timepiece rather than a smartwatch, and they’ve implemented a great deal of new technologies in order to support the intended industrial/material design and user experience. The most obvious of these is the round display, which has no bezel except for the bottom of the watch. Unfortunately, it appears that this area at the bottom is necessary in order to fit the display driver and provide an area where ribbon cables can come out and meet the logic board.
In addition, we see custom antennas that are in the metal housing but don’t require any antenna lines. Unfortunately, there was no real disclosure on how this worked so it was hard to say how they pulled this off but there are noticeable patterns on the inside of the metal casing. New RF techniques were also used to make custom metal wristbands that don’t interfere with the antennas of the watch itself.
Motorola has also equipped the Moto 360 with dual microphones and custom noise cancellation profiles to handle different acoustics from being strapped to an arm, and it should be able to handle noisy environments better than most other Android Wear devices. The work done to enable this level of noise cancellation was done at Motorola's main office in Chicago.
There's also a recessed strap to improve comfort and better hug the wrist, and a custom heart rate sensor that should have better performance and reliability when compared to competing solutions.
The watch also only has wireless charging, and charging is as simple as placing the watch on the included dock. Putting the watch on the dock also automatically puts it into a custom charging mode that allows it to function as an alarm clock. It's currently too early to judge battery life or the actual utility of the watch, but the watch was comfortable, with solid aesthetics and design.
It will start at 249.99 USD and will be available on the Motorola site, Google Play, Best Buy stores and the Best Buy website. The two metal band options will be available later this fall for 299.99 USD and the metal band will be available separately for 79.99 USD. Leather bands will also be available for 29.99 USD.


Read More ...




Motorola Announces the New Moto X: Initial Impressions and Hands On
Motorola has been through a lot, to say the least. It was only a few years ago that Motorola had become an OEM struggling to stay afloat, as it was effectively an ODM for network operators in the US. We saw phone after phone pushed out with no real cohesive strategy or market. After its acquisition by Google, we saw a major shift. Motoblur was removed, and we saw a move to using the AOSP UI to facilitate faster updates and smoother experience. The only real changes were Motorola’s custom apps and features, which were still following Android’s design principles. However, the Moto X seemed to lack in certain areas. The Snapdragon S4 Pro just couldn’t keep up with the Snapdragon 800 in performance also used more power. The Clear Pixel camera was definitely interesting from an academic perspective, but at launch it was rather disappointing. Combined with Moto Maker exclusivity to AT&T and general exclusivity to the US, the Moto X was a great idea held back by timing and distribution. Today, Motorola hopes to make things right with the new Moto X.





Read More ...




NVIDIA Files Patent Infringement Complaints Against Qualcomm & Samsung
In a surprising move this afternoon, NVIDIA has announced that they will be filing patent infringement complaints against both Qualcomm and Samsung. This complaint is centered around the alleged use of NVIDIA patented GPU technologies in both Qualcomm and Samsung’s SoC’s and the unwillingness of the respective companies to enter in to a licensing agreement. NVIDIA has filed complaints with both the US Federal Court and the International Trade Commission, and in the case of the latter is seeking an injunction against Samsung to prevent them from shipping several recent products, including the Galaxy S5, Galaxy Note 4, and Galaxy Edge.
Starting from the top, NVIDIA is of course no stranger to high profile lawsuits. However those suits are typically on the defensive side, such as the company suing Intel over the loss of rights to make chipsets for their products, or being sued by Rambus over the use of DDR signaling. This suit by comparison is unabashedly offensive – one NVIDIA calls the first time they have ever initiated a patent lawsuit – with NVIDIA going to the courts arguing that their GPU patents are being violated and seeking a resolution and compensation for those violations.
The use of patent infringement suits in the technology space is nothing new, and even in the GPU space they’re somewhat common. NVIDIA in particular is still the 800lb gorilla of the GPU world by patent portfolio size (and arguably by GPU R&D), so how they interact with other companies tends to depend on the size of those companies and what patents they have in turn. In the PC space NVIDIA and AMD have relatively strong cross-licensing agreements – AMD being the next largest GPU developer – followed by Intel who settled a suit out of court with NVIDIA 3 years ago over continued access to NVIDIA’s patents.
In the mobile SoC space however there are a much larger number of GPU manufacturers, and overall there is still a certain “wild west” aspect to patent licensing and infringement. On top of the larger number of GPU manufacturers there are even more companies involved once you discuss integration. In this case an Imagination PowerVR GPU may be licensed by an SoC integrator such as MediaTek, who in turn will sell the complete SoC to the device manufacturer such as HTC. In which case it’s not at all clear who is responsible for patent licensing, or indeed if parties are responsible at each and every step.
This leads us to today’s suit against Qualcomm and Samsung, as it’s based around both alleged patent infringement and arguments about who’s ultimately responsible for those infringements. As far as patents go NVIDIA is going to the courts with a number of patents, with some patents going as far back as the GeForce 2 era and even patents first devised by 3dfx (before NVIDIA acquired them). At first glance these appear to be technologies that are fundamental to modern GPU designs, in which case it is admittedly difficult to imagine other GPU designs not infringing on these patents.
One such example is called the ‘063 patent, which involves on-chip tiling and early visibility testing, and was first developed by a company purchased by 3dfx. This is a technique that all modern GPUs implement in some form, though these days the methods are much more advanced.
"The ʼ063 Patent was directed to this technology, which combined on-chip tiling with early visibility testing in the graphics pipeline. All of Samsung’s mobile products use GPUs that implement this patented invention."
As is the case whenever anyone files a patent infringement suit, NVIDIA is telling the press and investors that they believe they have a strong case with ample evidence of infringement. The company ultimately believes that they would be victorious in court, though in many of these technology patent suits we see the involved parties settle out of court before any trial reaches its conclusion. Meanwhile if the case does go to trial, then NVIDIA has requested a full jury trial rather than a trial by judge.
Along with NVIDIA’s patent infringement claims, a big part of NVIDIA’s case will rest on allegations that Qualcomm and Samsung actively know about at least some of this infringement and have refused to settle the matter before now. NVIDIA’s claim notes that the company has been attempting to reach a license agreement with Samsung and Qualcomm since 2012, and that today’s suit is a result of their inability to come to an agreement over the last 2 years. Consequently because NVIDIA has been talking to these companies since 2012, they assert that this means that Qualcomm and Samsung have known about this infringement since NVIDIA presented their patents and proposed licensing agreement, meaning they have been willfully infringing on at least some of the involved patents over the last 2 years.
Complicating the matter is the question over who is responsible for patent violations. NVIDIA’s complaint alleges that Samsung believes this to be a supplier problem – that any patent violations are the responsibility of the company who designed the GPU, be it Qualcomm, Imagination, or ARM. As a result Samsung is unwilling to settle, and for that matter Qualcomm is no more willing to settle than Samsung is, though the complaint does not make it clear whether this is a disagreement over the patent claims or a belief that it’s the customer’s (Samsung’s) problem.
Ultimately this suit is focused around Samsung, as Samsung is both a device integrator and the manufacturer of the Exynos line of SoCs. Meanwhile because Samsung also uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon SoCs in a number of products (including the North American editions of many phones), Qualcomm is being collared in to the suit on the basis that they are supplying some of the infringing GPUs.
This suit is not limited to just Qualcomm’s Adreno GPUs however, and also extends to ARM Mali and Imagination PowerVR GPUs as well, as Samsung has used both of those GPU families in their various Exynos designs. Overall NVIDIA believes that the Adreno 200, Adreno 300, and Adreno 400 families all violate NVIDIA’s patents, while the Mali-T628 and the PowerVR SGX (Series 5) are also explicitly named in claims.
As a result virtually all of Samsung’s modern products are affected by this suit. As part of their request for relief, NVIDIA is asking that the ITC prevent Samsung from importing products using the infringing SoCs, which would include all of Samsung’s latest products including the Note 4 and its Edge variant, the Galaxy S4 and S5, and the latest Tab tablets. As Qualcomm’s SoCs are among the accused products, this injunction would presumably extend to Snapdragon imports as well, which given Qualcomm’s heavy presence in high-end phones and tablets in the United States would make the final list of affected products far larger. However it should be noted that immediate injunctions are very rare, so it’s unlikely that an import ban would go into effect before the conclusion of the trial (if it even makes it that far).
Meanwhile in the Federal Court complaint, NVIDIA is asking for both unspecified damages (i.e. a monetary reward) and for further injunction to prevent Samsung and Qualcomm from infringing on NVIDIA’s patents. Though once again the real goal here seems to be about forming a licensing agreement rather than preventing Qualcomm and Samsung from shipping SoCs.


One of the accused infringing products: Samsung's Galaxy S5
One of the big questions of course is why NVIDIA is going after these two companies in particular, especially since they are essentially claiming that ARM Mali, Imagination PowerVR, and Qualcomm Adreno GPU families all infringe on some of these patents. The answer in turn from NVIDIA is that Samsung is the largest phone supplier in the United States, and Qualcomm in turn is the largest SoC provider while also providing the SoCs for most of those Samsung phones, so it makes sense to start at the top. NVIDIA is not talking about further legal action at this time, but the outcome of this case could have an impact on whether NVIDIA targets the suppliers (e.g. ARM and Imagination) or goes solely after additional customers and their ilk. Ultimately who is responsible for this infringement – can and should Qualcomm indemnify their customers against infringement claims like these – may be just as important as the alleged infringement itself.
Which on that subject, as part of their claims NVIDIA also points out their existing license agreement with Intel. In this NVIDIA notes that their Intel agreement covers all SoCs and CPUs shipped by Intel, including those incorporating Imagination’s PowerVR GPUs. So in the case where the SoC integrator is responsible, their licensing agreements would seem to cover any infringement regardless of who designs the infringing GPU.
Wrapping things up, at this time Qualcomm and Samsung have yet to respond to this suit. However given the scale of the suit, the complexity of the underlying technology, and the vast number of products involved, barring a quick out of court settlement this is expected to be a case that could go on for years. And even longer if it goes to appeals and/or triggers counter-suits. Altogether the ITC should have an initial response to the filing within 35 days, and if no settlement is reached the expected court date is in 2-3 years. To that end today's suit from NVIDIA will be the start of a much longer process for Qualcomm, Samsung, and the larger GPU industry as a whole.


Read More ...




Sony SmartWatch 3 & SmartBand Talk Hands-On
With Sony's launch event we had the occasion to see their first Android Wear device. Sony presents the SmartWatch 3 and the SmartBand Talk wearable device watches.
The SmartWatch 3 sports a 1.6" 320x320 TFT LCD ran by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 SoC and powered by a 420mAh battery. We find 512MB of RAM and 4GB of system NAND.
The device is IP68 certified even though it is charged by a standard microUSB port. There's not much to say about the specifications of the watch as Sony has kept it pretty simple. Since Android Wear is not customizeable by OEMs, there is no differentiation between it and previous square Wear smartwatches.
In terms of design, there's only one way I would describe it: rubbery. With the rubber armband extending over the sides of the watch, we're talking a lot of rubber. It feels like one of those child-watches that I remember keenly, only that it's not coloured bright orange, which is kind of ironic because Sony will offer some gaudy colour options such as lime later in the wear. We only had black and white models available at IFA and the black one was already kind of odd looking.
I also found the device too be a bit too big for my taste, but then again I was never fan of big watches. The microUSB port is protected by a little cover which you need to keep lifted up while trying to plug in the cable. I found this very annoying as I couldn't make the cover stay on the side while plugging the cable in - it's so small and fiddly that it took me a good 20 seconds to connect it.
The other wearable is the SmartBand Talk. Sony markets it as a "lifelogger" device which tracks your movement via gyroscope and accelerometer and saves the data. The device also allows to be used pretty much as a bluetooth headset, just that it's not a headset. You can talk to it and it has a little speaker. It has a 1.4" curved narrow e-paper display that allows it to extremely power efficient. The band sports a tiny 70mAh battery.
Frankly, I'll admit that I didn't spend too much time with the SmartBand because I simply did not see any use for it. It kinda perplexes me and seems like some little gimmick gadget that you could just skip and get the real deal in the form of a full-fledges smart-watch.
All in all, Sony's new wearables don't seem to be any new groundbreaking inovation. It adds to the wearable ecosystem and I'm surely happy for that - but when it comes to actually buying one, I think people will find better options in devices from the competition.


Read More ...




Huawei Ascend Mate 7 & Ascend G7 Hands-On
Today Huawei launches the successor to the Ascend Mate, the Mate 7 and a new mid-range device called the Ascent G7. I've got my hands on a Mate 7 and managed to play a bit with the G7 today at Huawei's event in Berlin. The Mate 7 directly attacks Samsung's Note lineup in the phablet sector, while the G7 being still very big at 5.5" is more of a budget device while trying to make little compromises.
First up, let's see the raw specs that both devices offer.


Ascend Mate 7

Ascend G7

SoC

Hi3630 "Kirin 925"

4xCortex A15 @ 1.8GHz

4xCortex A7 @ 1.3GHz

 Mali T628MP4 GPU @ 600MHz

MSM8916 "Snapdragon 410"

4xCortex A53 @ 1.2GHz

Adreno 306 GPU

RAM/NAND

2 GB LPDDR3 & 16GB NAND  or

3GB LPDDR3 & 32GB NAND

 &
microSD

2GB LPDDR3, 16GB NAND

&  microSD

Display

6" 1080p JDI IPS-NEO 

5.5" 720p IPS 

Network

2G / 3G / 4G LTE FDD & TDD

(HiSilicon Balong IP block UE Category 6 LTE)

2G / 3G / 4G LTE FDD or TDD

(Qualcomm MDM9x25 IP block UE Category 4 LTE)

Dimensions

157 x 81 x 7.9mm, 185 grams

? x ? x 7.6 mm, 165 grams

Camera

13MP Sony IMX214 BSI sensor,

 F/2.0, 28mm wide angle lens

5MP FFC non-spherical lens

13MP Sony IMX214 BSI sensor,

 F/2.0, 28mm wide angle lens

5MP FFC 88° angle lens

Battery

4100 mAh, 3.85V, 15.78 Whr

3000 mAh, 3.85V, 11.55 Whr

OS

Android 4.4.2 with EmotionUI 3.0

Android 4.4.2 with EmotionUI 3.0 

Connectivity

802.11a/b/g/n/ac + BT 4.1, USB2.0, GPS/GNSS, MHL, DLNA, NFC

802.11a/b/g/n/ac + BT 4.1, USB2.0, GPS/GNSS, MHL, DLNA, NFC

SIM Size

MicroSIM & NanoSIM

MicroSIM & NanoSIM
Let's start up with the Ascend Mate 7. The first thing you notice is that this is a big device. Coming with a 6" screen this is one of the bigger candidates in the phablet space. What Huawei has done is reduce the bezels on the device as much as possible, that in the end  the resulting device dimensions only slightly outsize the newly announced Note 4 with its 5.7" screen. The new JDI manufactured IPS-NEO screen promises a constrast ratio of 1500:1 and also brings with it increased brightness and reduced power, with Huawei stating 15% better transmissitivity and 15% reduced power consumption. We'll be sure to test this display to the fullest extent, as at first glance it seems outstanding. Filling up a 83% bezel-to-device-footprint ratio this is currently the most "screen" on a device out there. I have to point out that Huawei was very misleading in its rendered presentation pictures as it portrayed the phone as such that it gave an impression that the screen begins immediately where the bezel ends, however in reality there's another 3mm of black nothingness on both sides before you meet the first pixels.
The same HiSilicon Hi3630 powers the Mate 7 that was released for the Honor 6, however it gets a slight 100MHz clock boost on the A15 cores and gets brandished as the Kirin 925. I made sure to ask a Huawei representative if we'd see various regional models offering various connectivity options, and to my delight this time we have full use of the Balong category 6 LTE modem provided in the SoC as the device offers full RF and antenna support for both FDD and TDD on the global model. Only variations will be select Chinese models which need to support a wider range of TDD bands to take advantage of their national carrier's networks. This is all backed by two redundant antennas on the top and bottom of the device. Apparently the device is able to switch between them as the main connectivity antenna if the attenuation on either gets too high due to external influences like gripping or holding the device. Huawei reports a 40% reduction in call drops and a 15dB gain in signal strength.
Huawei was trying to praise a so called i3 co-processor, but this is something that devices have had since the Note 2 in the form of external "sensorhubs" which are most of the time little ARM Cortex M3 microcontrollers, with Qualcomm first integrating them into their SoCs such as the Snapdragon 800.
The body of the Mate 7 houses an enormous 4100mAh battery offering 15.78Wh of power: this is more battery capacity than found in the Nexus 7 2013, but inside a phone. Huawei made this possible by dedicating a very large amount of internal device space to the battery alone, with it taking the whole width of the device and filling up from the top of the bottom bezel up to the fingerprint sensor in height. This is all encased in an aluminium body and keeping a thickness of 7.9mm at the thickest point in the center of the device. Even though it is made of aluminium, the device is still able to offer NFC with help of a little gap above the camera and the NFC coil surrounding the camera and flash; the top and bottom parts of the Mate 7 remain plastic. Huawei tried to spin a 3.5mm thickness at the edges, but I'd say 5mm is the more realistic measurement that we see on the sides of the device. The ergonomics are very pleasing and the build quality is top notch.
On the bottom we find a standard microUSB 2.0 connector, which is oddly enough not in the very middle of the device and makes for a strange asymetry in terms of design. The power button is found on the right side at thumb's reach and the volume rocker is located right above it. On the left side we have the main SIM tray and the secondary tray that may house both a nanoSIM and a microSD card, which by the way means the phone has full dual-SIM capabilities.
The camera setup is relatively established while offering the same IMX214 camera sensor as found on the Honor 6. The G7 offers by the way the same optics system. The F2.0 28mm wide angle lens is a welcome addition that I hope more manufacturers would adopt. On the front camera we see a 5MP sensor, and with something Huawei names a non-spherical lens, which I'll have to investigate more to see what it brings.
The main attraction of the Mate 7 is the new fingerprint sensor found below the back camera. This is a touch-sensor manufactured by Swedish company FPC, which may be the FPC1020 that was announced late last year. As such, Huawei is the first manufacturer following Apple's TouchID to offer a full touch sensor as opposed to a swipe implementation as found on Samsung's devices. It offers full 360° print rotation readout support, no matter if you have wet fingers or not. Huawei implements a RF sensing ring around the sensor that makes it possible to detect your finger even when the device is sleeping (as it will wake the device up). This allows for turning on of the devie and unlocking in a single action. I tested out the feature and it works perfectly. The fingerprint registration is identical to Apple's, with you having to press your fingerprint multiple times for better characterization of your fingerprint. The success rate was near 100% for what I didn't consider a very serious registration procedure on my part. The touch sensor can also be used as a camera shutter button when taking photos.
On the software side we see an update of EmotionUI to version 3.0. I've been working on the Honor 6 review for the last few weeks which had version 2.3 on it, and the change is quite enormous as we go for a full redesign from 2.x's pre-iOS 7 style to literarly a new design language that seems to outright copy iOS 7 in many aspects. I'll dwell into the software more in the following weeks, but I can already say that this is now my favorite custom Android framework and skin implementation out of all OEMs out there, as it brings not only design, but also a termendous amount of exclusive and useful features with it.
The G7 on the other hand is a more mixed bag. It is a 5.5" 720p phone with a new Snapdragon 410 SoC, and is rightfully so a mid-range phone priced at 299€. As mentioned before, it offers the same camera setup as the Mate 7. The 7.6mm thin body housing a 3000mAh battery (which at time of writing I now considered small compared to the Mate 7's) is made out of plastic and was noticeably less impressive than the Mate 7's. Huawei didn't communicate its exact dimensions but it felt similar in size to the G3 considering both have 5.5" screens. I really don't have that much to say about it, and neither did Huawei as the presenter at the unveiling offered an excrutiating 12 minute presentation with very little substantial content.
The Huawei Ascend Mate 7 and the G7 both come in either silver and gold, with the Mate 7 and G7 having each  respectively an additional option of black and grey. At 499€ for 2GB/16GB and 599€ for the 3GB/32GB models the Mate 7 will be available end of october in China and Hong Kong and UK, Germany, Italy, France and Spain in Europe, with a global launch following that. The G7 with its 299€ MSRP will be available end september in Germany, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Hungary, the Netherlands Turkey, Poland, Norway, South Africa and Mexico, with other markets to follow.
Least to say I was impressed by the Mate 7. It seems like a great device overall - I know that the SoC has some faults (specially GPU performance) and you will be able to read about that soon as I finish up the Honor 6 review, however the phone's build quality, great screen, connectivity features and gigantic battery all make up for it.


Read More ...




GIGABYTE Server GA-7PESH3 Motherboard Review
A dual processor system sounds awesome to the home user but in reality it is almost entirely a professional market. The prosumer has to use Xeons at JEDEC memory speeds and then ensure that the software is NUMA aware, especially if it decides searching for data in the other processor's L3 cache. However now that GIGABYTE Server is selling to the prosumer via Newegg, they sent us the GA-7PESH3 for review.


Read More ...




Lenovo Announces the VIBE X2 With 8-Core CPU
Lenovo has made quite a few announcements at IFA so far, but most have related to their traditional PC business. Today they announced a new high end smartphone branded the Lenovo VIBE X2, a sequel to 2013's VIBE X. Below I've laid out the specifications for Lenovo's new flagship.

Lenovo VIBE X2

SoC

MediaTek MT6595m True8Core

4 x Cortex A17 at 2.0GHz + 4 x Cortex A7 at 1.5GHz

Memory and Storage

32GB NAND, 2GB RAM

Display

5” 1920x1080 IPS LCD 441ppi

Cellular Connectivity

2G / 3G / 4G LTE (Category 4 LTE)

Dimensions

140.2 x 68.6 x 7.3 mm, 120g

Camera

13 MP Rear Facing, 5MP Front Facing 

Battery

2300 mAh (8.74 Whr)

Other Connectivity

802.11 b/g/n/ac + BT 4.0, USB2.0, GPS/GNSS

SIM Size

Micro-SIM (dual Micro-SIM SKU in certain markets)

Operating System

Android KitKat with VIBE UI 2.0
The VIBE X2 looks a lot different from its predecessor. The rounded corners and tapered edges have been replaced with flat edges and a more rectangular profile. The VIBE X2 is also smaller but thicker than the VIBE X, which was likely done to help accommodate the larger battery. Lenovo is calling the VIBE X2 a "layered" smartphone, in reference to the three distinct color layers that make up the body of the device.
In terms of specs, the VIBE X2 is similar to the VIBE X. It retains the 13MP rear camera and 5MP front camera, along with the 5" 1920x1080 IPS panel on the front. However, the VIBE X2 sports improved connectivity and processing power. Support for 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0, and category 4 LTE have all been added. The new SoC is MediaTek's MT6595m True8Core which has 4 Cortex A17 cores clocked at 2.0GHz and 4 Cortex A7 cores at 1.5GHz.
The VIBE X2 will be launching in China in October of this year. Other countries in Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East will receive the phone shortly after. Certain markets such as China will receive a dual-SIM SKU. Retail pricing is pegged at $399 USD.


Read More ...




IFA 2014 Lenovo Launches More PCs - From Laptops To Tabletops
At the IFA convention in Berlin, Lenovo launched two PCs and a tablet yesterday, and today they are at it again with the new ThinkPad Helix 2-in-1 Ultrabook, HORIZON tabletop PCs, the ThinkCenter Tiny-in-One (TIO), and the Edge 15 laptop. All are a different take on an existing device.
In May 2013, Lenovo released the ThinkPad Helix which is a 2-in-1 laptop with a “Rip & Flip” keyboard which can be detached from the tablet. The current model is getting a bit long in the tooth, with Ivy Bridge processors as the available options. Today, Lenovo announced an updated version of the Helix. The new model is 12% lighter than the outgoing version, coming it at 1.8 lbs, and at 0.38 inches thick, it is 15% thinner than the first gen device. The processors are getting a big boost, with Intel Core M CPUs now under the hood which should boost performance, but even more so, battery life and thermals. The Helix will function in five modes – tablet, stand, tent, laptop, and desktop. ThinkPads are known to have quality keyboards, and the ThinkPad Helix will hopefully keep to that tradition even though it is detachable. The Helix is well suited for business, with both a fingerprint scanner and a smart card reader. The 11.6” display is 1920x1080, is topped with Corning Gorilla Glass, and has provisions for a digitizer pen. The Helix will start at $999 and is available starting in October.
The second laptop announced was the Edge 15, which Lenovo claims is its thinnest 15 inch consumer laptop yet. At under an inch thick, and with a weight of 5 lbs, it doesn’t quite match some of the other 15” ultrabooks on the market for thickness and weight, but it does pack a lot of compute under the hood in addition to being able to fold the display back into a stand mode for media consumption. The Edge 15 can be configured with up to a Haswell Core i7 CPU, 16 GB DDR3L, optional NVIDIA GeForce GT840M graphics, and either a 1 TB hybrid drive with 16 GB of Flash, or a 256 GB SSD. The 15.6” 1920x1080 display also includes 10-point multitouch, and Lenovo claims up to 8 hours of battery life. The Edge 15 goes on sale in October starting at $899.
Lenovo also introduced an interesting take on the All-In-One (AIO) computer with the ThinkCentre Tiny-in-One 23. This is the first ever modular AIO for business. The Tiny-in-One is a 23” 1920x1080 display with a mount for the ThinkCentre Tiny PC on the back side. Any Tiny PC from Lenovo can be used, and it requires no tools. If your business PCs are getting out of date, you can simple pop a new Tiny PC in the back for a new system, or if there is an error with either the monitor or the PC, both do not need to be repaired or replaced like a traditional AIO. All cable connections are done inside, and a single power cord is all that is required. At $279, the Tiny-in-One 23 is not even much more than a traditional monitor. Availability begins in October.
Finally, Lenovo also launched an updated version of the original HORIZON 2 27” tabletop PC. The new models are the HORIZON 2s and 2e. The “s” in 2s stands for slim, with the 2s dropping 10 lbs off of the original HORIZON 2, while still providing the same Stand and Flat modes. Lenovo also has an optional stand made of aluminum which also serves as a charging station for the 27” 1920x1080 tablet. The HORIZON 2e is a smaller version of the original, with a 21.5” 1920x1080 display. Both models are powered by Haswell Core processors and battery life of 2.5 hours for the 2s and 3 hours for the 2e. Prices start at $749 for the HORIZON 2e, and $949 for the larger HORIZON 2s, with availability in October.
Lenovo seems to have a device for everyone. At IFA, they have now announced everything from an 8” tablet for $199 to a 27” tabletop PC. I believe the Tiny-in-One is an interesting idea, with the upgradability of a desktop system but the smaller footprint of an AIO computer. The ThinkPad Helix should be a great device to showcase the Core M, and looks to be a better laptop than some other 2-in-1 devices with detachable keyboards. However we will need to wait for final judgment until we can see some of these devices for ourselves to see just how much of the promise they deliver.


Read More ...




ECS Reveals LIVA Product Roadmap
The PC market is warming up to the ECS LIVA 'nettop' that we reviewed back in July. The fanless nature and low cost, as well as 'good-enough' performance serve as positives for the unit. Recently, ECS conducted a media event, where they gave a sneak peek into the future of the LIVA lineup. ECS also fielded questions from the media and tried to address the concerns raised.
One of the first things that needs to be cleared up is the configuration of the currently shipping 32 GB LIVA kit. Our review unit came with the Celeron N2806. Apparently, only the first batch of 600 units sported that SoC. Subsequent production batches have the Celeron N2807. The update addresses one of the improvement aspects we raised in our review - the use of a Bay Trail part enabled with Intel Quick Sync for transcoding. This opens up additional use-cases for the LIVA kit.
Coming back to the product roadmap, ECS is going to bring the 64 GB version into mass production soon. Next month, the company is also planning to release the BAT-MINI motherboard standalone into the market (users can bring their own chassis). In late November, we will see the 2nd generation LIVA. This is also based on Bay Trail, and comes in a solid metal chassis. ECS was mum on the internal configuration, but we can see that the chassis addresses concerns regarding the positioning of the USB ports, amongst other things.
Early next year, ECS also plans to introduce an AMD-based unit. Obviously, the Bay Trail units will get upgraded to Braswell too. The LIVA kits are quite exciting, with the competition mainly coming in from the Bay Trail-based Zotac C-series. Zotac already has the Windows 8.1 + Bing OS pre-installation aspect fixed up. ECS needs to act fast on that, as the LIVA kits currently ship barebones. The attempts of the company to translate their success in the NUC / mini-PC OEM space to the consumer market brings choice to the users - and that is always good.
During the event, ECS also talked about their LIVA chassis design contest. The Z97 motherboards were also talked up, with emphasis in particular on the Z97-PK for overclockers.


Read More ...




Microsoft Launches New Mid-Range Lumias And Accessories At IFA 2014
Today in Berlin Microsoft announced two new midrange Windows Phones, as well as several accessories to compliment the Windows Phone ecosystem. We now have the rest of the phones to fill out the Lumia lineup with the Lumia 730/735 and Lumia 830 announced today. As well, there is a new wireless charger to match this year’s Lumia color lineup, and a Miracast enabled screen sharing device to allow the broadcast of your phone (or anything Miracast compatible) onto a television.

First up are the 4.7” Lumia 730 and Lumia 735 models which are “built for Skype calls and selfies” as described by Microsoft. These devices integrate a wide-angle 5 megapixel front facing camera with a f/2.4 aperature which is the feature point of this midrange phone. The internals are similar to the Lumia 630/635, with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 (MSM8926 is listed for both devices but the 730 is likely MSM8226 due to the lack of LTE) and a bump in memory over the less expensive cousins with 1 GB in these new models. Storage is 8 GB internal memory, with support for 128 GB microSD cards. The display is a 1280x720 AMOLED for 316 PPI, and has a curved glass on the front in addition to ClearBlack, SuperSensitive Touch, High Brightness Mode, and Sunlight readability enhancements. The rear camera also looks to be good for a mid-range phone, with a 6.7 megapixel sensor with Zeiss optics and a f/1.9 aperature as well as LED flash. NFC is included, as well as optional Qi wireless charging of the 2220 mAh removable battery via an exchangeable shell. To round out the experience, a new Lumia app has been created just for this model – Lumia Selfie.
The final phone to fill out the Lumia line is the Lumia 830. This device bumps up to a 5” display, but keeps the same resolution as the 73x models at 1280x720 as well as the curved glass. The SoC also stays the same, with the 1.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 (MSM8926) and 1 GB of memory, but the storage is bumped up to 16 GB internal NAND as well as up to 128 GB extra storage from microSD. The rear camera gets a spec bump up to a PureView 10 megapixel model with Zeiss optics, Rich Recording (3 HAAC microphones for up to Doiby 5.1 audio recording), and Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) which has been tweaked for the 830 with Microsoft claiming it to be the thinnest OIS of any Lumia phone to date. The Lumia 830 can also charge its removable 2200 mAh battery with Qi wireless charging. NFC is not listed, but due to the accessories coming up it seems likely it is included.

New Lumia Lineup


Nokia Lumia 730

Nokia Lumia 735

Nokia Lumia 830

CPU

Qualcomm Snapdragon 400

MSM8226 1.2 GHz Cortex A7 quad-core

Qualcomm Snapdragon 400

MSM8926 1.2 GHz Cortex A7 quad-core

Qualcomm Snapdragon 400

MSM8926 1.2 GHz Cortex A7 quad-core

RAM/NAND

1 GB / 8 GB + MicroSD

1 GB / 8 GB + MicroSD

1 GB / 16 GB + MicroSD

Display

4.7" 1280x720 OLED

4.7" 1280x720 OLED

5.0" 1280x720

Network

GSM/WCDMA/HSPA+ up to 21 Mbps

GSM/WCDMA/DC-HSPA/LTE up to 150 Mbps

GSM/WCDMA/DC-HSPA/LTE up to 150 Mbps

Dimensions

134.7 x 68.5 x 8.7 (mm)

134.7 x 68.5 x 8.9 (mm)

139.4 x 70.7 x 8.5 (mm)

Weight

133 g

134.3 g

150 g

Camera

6.7 MP rear camera, Zeiss Optics, f/1.9, LED Flash, 5 MP f/2.4 FFC

6.7 MP rear camera, Zeiss Optics, f/1.9, LED Flash, 5 MP f/2.4 FFC

10 MP rear camera, Zeiss Optics, OIS, LED Flash, FFC, 5.1 Dolby Digital HAAC audio

Battery

2220 mAh removable

2220 mAh removable

2200 mAh removable

Current Shipping OS

Windows Phone 8.1 with Denim Firmware

Windows Phone 8.1 with Denim Firmware

Windows Phone 8.1 with Denim Firmware

Connectivity

802.11 a/b/g/n + BT 4.0 LE, NFC, USB2.0, MPT, DLNA, FM Radio

802.11 a/b/g/n + BT 4.0 LE, NFC, USB2.0, MPT, DLNA, FM Radio

802.11 a/b/g/n + BT 4.0 LE, USB2.0, MPT, DLNA, FM Radio

SIM

Dual SIM

Single SIM

Single SIM
All of the phones announced today will ship with Windows Phone 8.1 and the Lumia Denim firmware update which brings some big features to the camera functions. The new firmware will allow for a new version of Lumia Camera (formerly Nokia Camera) and add a series of enhancements over what is currently offered. The new Lumia Camera improves camera startup and capture speeds, with Microsoft claiming only milliseconds between shots. 4K video recording is now available, with a long press of the camera button within the camera app. 4K video will be at 24 frames per second, and any single frame can be selected and saved as an image. Rich Capture adds the HDR mode that has been missing since, well, forever in Lumia Camera, and includes auto HDR and Dynamic Flash which lets you edit the photos after the fact to perfect an image. Finally, updated low-light algorithms improve the already impressive performance of PureView cameras in dim scenarios.
The updated Lumia Camera app will come to the Lumia 830 in Q4 2014, and to the Lumia Icon, 930, and 1520 as part of the Denim firmware update following partner testing and approvals (read carriers).

In addition, two accessories were revealed today. First, there is a new Wireless Charging Plate. The charging plate connects to the phone over Bluetooth which allows the plate to give status updates for the phone, and will even alert you if the phone needs to be charged. The charging plate will perform a “breathing” light to invite you to charge your phone if the device paired to it has 30% or lower battery. In addition, the charging plate will give two blinks to display notifications such as a missed call or SMS message. While charging, the plate will show a continuous light, and if there is a charging error, it will continually blink until the issue is addressed. The Nokia Wireless Charging Plate is available in green, orange, or white to match the 2014 Lumia colors. Pricing is expected to be $59 USD and EUR 59, with availability in October.
The final accessory is the long named Microsoft Screen Sharing For Lumia Phones HD-10. This Miracast receiver allows you to beam your smartphone display and audio to any HDMI TV or monitor. The HD-10 is NFC enabled, allowing easy pairing by just tapping a phone on the NFC disc, which is removable as well so the disc can be kept away from the receiver. Being Miracast, the device is compatible with any Wi-Fi certified Miracast product. Availability is September with a MSRP of $79 USD and EUR 79.
The new smartphones look like nice mid-range devices to fill the huge gap that exists between the Lumia 630 and the Lumia 930. Pricing was not available, which will be the key to where these fit in the market, but there again is a large gap between the Lumia 630/635 which is already available for $99 or so, and the Lumia 930 which is closer to $600. The bump to 1 GB of RAM and the display resolution increase are the most important additions to these devices to pull them away from the low end 630. Both the 730 and 830 have decent looking cameras, with the 830 even being added to the PureView stable now with OIS to back the 10 megapixel sensor.
The charging plate looks quite interesting, and having it pair with the phone via Bluetooth is a nice trick. The Miracast receiver is the one thing that Miracast needed more than anything, assuming it works well and is as easy to use as indicated. The inclusion of NFC should assist for smartphone users at least for initial setup.


Read More ...




HTC Announces the Desire 820
According to HTC, the Desire 816 proved to be a popular device in the mid-range smartphone market. Now, only a bit longer than six months after its release, the Desire 820 is here to replace the 816 as HTC's new flagship of the Desire lineup. It's one of the first Android devices with a 64-bit ARMv8 SoC, and the first to adopt Qualcomm's Snapdragon 615. Below I've laid out all the specifications for the Desire 820.

HTC Desire 820

SoC

Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 with 4 x Cortex A53 at 1.5GHz and 4 x Cortex A53 at 1.0GHz + Adreno 405 

Memory and Storage

16GB NAND + MicroSDXC, 2GB RAM

Display

5.5” 1280x720 LCD at 267ppi

Cellular Connectivity

2G / 3G / 4G LTE (Qualcomm MDM9x25 UE Category 4 LTE)

Dimensions

157.7 x 78.74 x 7.74 mm, 155g

Camera

13 MP f/2.2 Rear Facing, 8MP Front Facing 

Battery

2600 mAh (9.88 Whr)

Other Connectivity

802.11 a/b/g/n + BT 4.0 with aptX, USB2.0, GPS/GNSS, NFC

SIM Size

Nano-SIM (dual Nano-SIM SKU in certain markets)

Operating System

Android KitKat with HTC Sense 6
In many ways the Desire 820 is similar to its predecessor. The appearance is very similar, with colorful plastic backs and a front sporting HTC's Boomsound speakers on the top and bottom, with the front facing camera off to the left on the top bezel. The dimensions are also similar, with the 820 being ever so slightly taller and thinner than the 816. Keeping the same dimensions also allows the Desire 820 to retain the same 5.5" 1280x720 display and 9.88Whr internal battery. Where things get interesting is the SoC.
For a long time the hardware platform for mid-range devices has remained the same. Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 with 4 x Cortex A7 cores and either 1.5GB and 2GB of RAM. Obviously there are cost and performance reasons for this. Snapdragon 200 was a big step down, and Snapdragon 600 and 800 were a big step up. With the launch of Snapdragon 410, 610, and 615 there's finally some more options for the mid-range market.
HTC has chosen to adopt Qualcomm's Snapdragon 615 which sports 8 Cortex A53 cores in two clusters. One cluster of 4 cores is optimized for high performance, running at 1.5GHz, and the other is optimized for low power and runs at 1.0GHz. This is the first device to ship with Snapdragon 615, and one of the first 64-bit Android devices with the ARMv8 instruction set. However, support for 64-bit under Android won't exist until Android L ships later this year, and HTC is committing to updating the Desire 820 to Android L some time after it releases. For more information about Snapdragon 615 as well as Qualcomm's other Cortex A53 SoCs you can read the piece that Anand previously wrote about them.
Beyond the SoC there are a few other improvements. The RAM has been bumped from 1.5GB in the Desire 816 to 2GB in the 820. The front facing camera also moves up a notch from 5MP to 8MP. In terms of connectivity the Desire 820 retains the same Qualcomm MDM9x25 modem solution but now includes 5GHz band support on 802.11n and aptX audio support over Bluetooth which is appreciated by users like myself who use Bluetooth headphones.
HTC Desire 820 in Santorini White
While the Desire 820 won't win over buyers looking for the highest end smartphone, it definitely breaks new ground in the mid-range segment of the market. Like its predecessor, the Desire 820 comes in a wide variety of colors. Below is the entire list of color options, including whether they are a glossy or matte finish.
Tuxedo Grey (matte)
Marble White (glossy)
Santorini White (glossy)
Milky-way Grey (glossy)
Tangerine White (glossy)
Saffron Grey (glossy)
Flamingo Grey (glossy)
Blue Mist (glossy)
Monarch Orange (glossy)
HTC plans to begin sales of the Desire 820 by the end of September, with the goal being to eventually have it at carriers and retailers worldwide. In certain markets, it will have dual Nano-SIM slots. Pricing is yet to be announced.


Read More ...




Apple CEO Continues to Deny Wrongdoing But Agrees to New iCloud Security
New security features will mirror Facebook and AIM's verification systems

Read More ...




Update: Google to Make Android Wear Smartwatches More Self-sufficient
Google to add GPS and Bluetooth headset support along with support for 3rd-party watch faces

Read More ...




"Decepticon" Driver Triumphs Over Cops in Massachusetts Court
State magistrate concludes that young software engineer did not violate the law as he did not impersonate police

Read More ...




Motorola Debuts Updated Moto X, Moto G; Finally Launches Moto 360 Smartwatch
Motorola introduces an all-new mobile product family

Read More ...




Tesla Motors Confirms Nevada Gigafactory Deal, Will Receive $1.25B in Tax Breaks
Generous tax incentives package helped Nevada score a win over neighbor states

Read More ...




Apple Stock Sees Biggest 1-Day Loss in Months Ahead of iPhone 6, iWatch Announcement
Perceptions of a lack of security and innovation may be damaging Apple share prices, as big device launches loom

Read More ...




Microsoft Exec Reveals Steve Ballmer Created Original Blue Screen of Death Message
Dissatisfied with Windows 3.1 failure message, Mr. Ballmer created an almost loveable iconic failure message

Read More ...




Lumia 730 and 735 "Selfie Phones" Complete Windows Phone's Midrange
Phones feature 5 megapixel front-facing cameras for that perfect self-shot

Read More ...




WSJ: Apple's iWatch Will Feature Curved OLED Screen, NFC Support Mobile Payments
The iPhone won't be the only mobile device from Apple to support NFC

Read More ...




Quick Note: Buy an Xbox One Sept 7-13, Get a Free Game
Microsoft is looking to boost sales by giving gamers a freebie

Read More ...




Lenovo Unveils Its First 64-bit Smartphone, Launches Updated Helix Ultrabook/Convertible
Lenovo's 64-bit Vibe Z2 come with a 5.5" 720p display

Read More ...




Microsoft Introduces Mid-range Lumia 830, Rolls Out Denim Update for Nokia Devices
The Lumia 830 mirrors its Lumia 930 big brother in looks

Read More ...






Available Tags:SSD , Samsung , OCZ , CPU , Dell , Motorola , NVIDIA , Sony , GIGABYTE , Server , Lenovo , Microsoft , HTC , Apple , CEO , Security , Google , Android , Driver , iPhone 6 , iPhone , Windows Phone , Windows , Xbox , Nokia

No comments: