IF / News

Connectivity

Communications group Arqiva and Samsung Electronics will trial Britain’s first 5G network in London this year, the companies said, with the capability of delivering ultra-fast broadband to mobile devices and potentially autonomous vehicles. (The Register, Financial Times, Reuters, Laoyaoba)

According to new guidelines released by the International Telcommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies, a single 5G cell must have a download capacity of no fewer than 20Gbps. For comparison, the peak rate for today’s LTE cells stands at about 1Gbps. (CN Beta, Digital Trends, TechWorm, ITU)

[MWC2017] ZTE unveils the first phone that can reach gigabit speeds, Gigabit Phone – Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor with X16 LTE modem, utilizing a combination of carrier aggregation, 4×4 MIMO antenna technology, and 256-QAM modulation achieve LTE download speeds that are up to 10× faster than 1^st generation LTE devices with speeds up to 100Mbps. (GSM Arena, Phone Arena, Gizmo China, TechWeb, Evolife)

Smartphones

Founder and president of Huawei Technologies Ren Zhengfei has stressed that Huawei consumer business group to exceed Apple in 3 years in terms of profit and service level, not sales. Also, the company aims to exceed OPPO / vivo in terms of profit rate in 3 years. If the company cannot make profit, they will start laying off, and the employees being laid off will be shifted to strategy team to get ready. (Sina, Laoyaoba)

[MWC2017] TCL debuts BlackBerry KEYone – 4.5” 1620×1080 IPS LCD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor, 12MP + 8MP cameras, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, Android 7.0, QWERTY Smart Keyboard, 3050mAh battery, EUR599. (VentureBeat, Gizmo China)

[MWC2017]  Moto G5 and G5 Plus are announced with fingerprint sensor and metal build: G5 – 5” FHD LCD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor, 13MP PDAF + 5MP cameras, 2 / 3GB RAM, 16 / 32GB storage, 2800mAh battery. G5 Plus – 5.2” FHD LCD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor, 12MP + 5MP cameras, 2 / 3 / 4GB RAM, 16 / 32GB storage, 3000mAh battery. (Android Central, GSM Arena, PC Mag, IB Times)

[MWC2017] LG G6 is announced – 5.7” 2880×1440 FullVision display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, dual rear 13MP-13MP + front 5MP cameras, 4GB RAM, 32GB storage, Android 7.0, IP68 certified, 3300mAh battery. (Android Central, ZDNet, LG)

[MWC2017]  Huawei P10 and P10 Plus are announced, powered by Kirin 960 processor, dual rear 12MP-2oMP + 8MP cameras, Android 7.0: P10 – 5.1” FHD display, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, 3200mAh battery, EUR649. P10 Plus – 5.5” QHD display, 4 / 6GB RAM, 64 / 128GB storage, 3750mAh battery, from EUR699. (Android Headlines, Android Authority, Engadget, Android Central, Phone Arena, Pocket-Lint)

[MWC2017] Sony Xperia XZs and XZ Premium are announced, equipped with 19MP PDAF 5-axis OIS + 13MP cameras, IP68 certified: XZs – 5.2” FHD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor,  4GB RAM, 32GB storage, 2900mAh battery. XZ Premium – 5.5” 2160×3840 HDR display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, 3230mAh battery. (Phone Arena, GSM Arena, Mashable, The Verge, Android Headlines, Android Central)

[MWC2017] Sony Xperia XA1 and XA1 Ultra are announced, powered by MediaTek Helio P20 processor, 23MP + 16MP cameras, Android 7.0, USB Type-C connector: XA1 – 5” HD display, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, 2300mAh battery. XA1 Ultra – 6” FHD display, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, 2700mAh battery. (Pocket Lint, GSM Arena, BGR, NDTV, Gizmo China)

[MWC2017] ZTE unveils Blade V8 Mini, Blade V8 Lite featuring 5” HD display, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, fingerprint sensor, Android 7.0: Blade V8 Mini – Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 processor,  dual rear 13MP-13MP +  front 2MP cameras, 2800mAh battery. Blade V8 Lite – MediaTek MT6750 processor, 8MP + 5MP cameras, 2500mAh battery. (Liliputing, GSM Arena)

[MWC2017] TCL announces Alcatel A5 LED, Alcatel A3 and Alcatel U3: A5 LED – 5.2” HD IPS LCD display, MediaTek MT6753 processor, 8MP + 5MP cameras, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, Android 6.0, snap-on rear cover with an array of LEDs, 2800mAh battery. A3 – 5” HD display, MediaTek MT6737 processor, 13MP + 5MP cameras, 1.5GB RAM, 16GB storage, Android 6.0, 2460mAh battery. U3 – 5” FWVGA display, MediaTek MT6737M processor, 5MP + 2MP cameras, 1GB RAM, 8GB storage, Android 6.0, 2050mAh battery. (GSM Arena, Phone Radar, GizBot)

[MWC2017]  HMD unveils Nokia 6, 5, and 3 are announced: Nokia 6 – 5.5” FHD IPS LCD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor, 16MP + 8MP cameras, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, fingerprint sensor, EUR229. Nokia 5 – 5.2” HD IPS LCD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor, 13MP + 8MP cameras, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, 3000mAh battery, EUR189. Nokia 3 – 5” HD IPS LCD display, MediaTek MT6737 processor, 8MP+ 8MP cameras, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, 2650mAh battery, EUR139. (Android Authority, CNET, Android Beat, Digital Trends, GSM Arena)

[MWC2017] HMD brings back Nokia 3310 –  2.4” 240×320 display, 2MP camera, 2.5G connectivity, 22 hours of talk time with one full charge, EUR49. (Android Authority, VentureBeat, Bloomberg, Forbes, IB Times, CNET)

[MWC2017] Gionee A1 and A1 Plus are unveiled: A1 – 5.5” FHD Super AMOLED display, MediaTek Helio P10 processor,  13MP+ 16MP cameras, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, Android 7.0, 4010mAh battery. A1 Plus – 6” FHD IPS LCD display, MediaTek Helio P25 processor,  dual rear 13MP-5MP + front 20MP cameras, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, Android 7.0, 4500mAh battery. (GSM Arena, CN Beta, Android Headlines)

Tablets / PCs

[MWC2017] Samsung unveils Galaxy Tab S3 – 9.7” 2048×1536 AMOLED processor, Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, 13MP + 5MP cameras, 4GB RAM, 32GB storage, Android 6.0, USB Type-C, 6000mAh battery. (Sammy Hub, Android Authority)

[MWC2017]  Samsung unveils Galaxy Book running Windows 10, equipped with USB Type-C: 10.6” 1920×1280 TFT display, Intel Core m3 processor, 5MP front camera, 4GB RAM, 64 / 128GB storage. 12” 2160×1440 Super AMOLED display, Intel Core i5 processor, 13MP + 5MP cameras, 4 / 8GB RAM, 128 / 256GB storage. (Sammy Hub, VentureBeat, PC World, Geeky Gadgets)

Wearables

Research firm SuperData released a new report predicting that VR hardware will earn USD3.6B in 2017. That would be an increase of 142% over the previous year. It expects VR hardware to reach USD17.8B by 2020. SuperData expects sales of premium headsets (e.g. HTC Vive, Oculus Rift) to hit 21M in 2017, more than triple the number in 2016. SuperData expects Google Daydream to lead the field with 6.8M devices sold. (Dealer Scope, VentureBeat, Laoyaoba, SuperData, China Times)

According to Counterpoint Research firm, Apple will have 78% market share in Artificial Intellience (AI) based hearables in 2017. The study says that AI powered wearables will grow 376% annually in 2017 to reach 60M units, while hearables will contribute to 50% of the AI powered wearables and this will be the fastest growing category with a growth of over 2500% annually. (Laoyaoba, India Times, The Register, Counterpoint Research, press, Gizbot)

[MWC2017] Huawei Watch 2 and Watch 2 Classic are announced – 1.2” 390×390 AMOLED display, Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor, 768MB RAM, 4GB storage, Android Wear 2.0, LTE support (only Watch 2), heart-rate sensor, IP68 certified, 420mAh battery. (Android Authority, Engadget, ZDNet, China Daily)