IF / News

Chipsets

[MWC2018] Qualcomm has introduced the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 700 Mobile Platform Series. Advances include on-device AI supported by the Qualcomm Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engine, and improvements to camera, device performance and power, supported by the heterogeneous compute power of premium features including the Spectra ISP, Kryo CPU, Hexagon Vector Processor and Adreno Visual Processing subsystem.  (Android Headlines, Android Central, Qualcomm, The Verge, iFanr, CN Beta)

Connectivity

[MWC2018] Samsung Networks has shown off what may be the final version of Verizon’s home 5G equipment. Verizon has promised a fixed-wireless 5G service for homes in “3~5 cities” in 2018. Samsung has also shown off the 5G millimeter wave cell site that will serve Verizon’s 5G neighborhood, and the external modem unit that will serve homes where Verizon’s millimeter-wave spectrum can’t make it into the windows. (CN Beta, Samsung, PC Mag, ZDNet)

[MWC2018] Samsung has announced that Sprint has purchased 5G-ready massive MIMO solutions from Samsung, which includes deployment of Samsung’s latest MIMO technology solutions on Sprint’s 2.5GHz TDD-LTE network. Sprint has announced it will begin deploying 5G-ready massive MIMO technology soon. (Samsung, Sprint, Android Headlines)

[MWC2018] T-Mobile will start building out its 5G network this year and plans to be in 30 cities by the end of 2018. The first 4 of those are being announced: New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Las Vegas.  (Android Headlines, The Verge, CNET, Engadget, T-Mobile, 36Kr, Tencent)

[MWC2018] Plane makers Airbus and Delta have partnered up with telecom giant Sprint, satellite startup OneWeb and India’s Bharti Airtel to develop WiFi on planes that can handle 5G connectivity speeds. ‘Seamless Air Alliance’ aims to let mobile operators provide services to airline customers through satellite technology. (Android Headlines, Daily Mail, Fortune, WSJ, China.com, iFeng)

[MWC2018] Sprint is still planning to launch a 5G network in 2019, and the carrier is moving toward building a next-generation network by announcing the first 6 cities where it plans to roll out Massive MIMO antenna technology. Built by Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung, Sprint’s Massive MIMO radios contain 128 small antennas per unit, with 64 transmitting and 64 receiving. (OfWeek, The Verge, VentureBeat, Samsung)

Phones

[MWC2018] Koh Dong-jin, head of Samsung’s mobile division, has hinted that the company may shy away from the current numeric naming scheme when it comes to the so-called “Galaxy S10” that is expected to be launched in 2019.  (Android Authority, The Investor, Sina, Tencent)

[MWC2018] Head of Samsung Mobile DJ Koh has revealed that Samsung will no longer care about being the “first” to bring new tech to the market. Instead, the company will implement features and technologies that are meaningful enough to serve the user.  (Phone Arena, The Investor, CN Beta)

[MWC2018] HMD Global’s CEO Florian Seiche has revealed that US market is not a core focus in 2018, but certainly on the roadmap. The company’s ambition is to become again one of the leading players, which means, top 5 or better in the next 3~5 years. (GizChina, NDTV, Nokia Poweruser, GSM Arena, CNET, Tencent)

[MWC2018] Huawei corporate senior vice president and director of the board, Chen Lifang, has indicated that Huawei “does not agree with the comments made by Richard Yu regarding our competitors”. She has also added that Yu’s comments were “not well grounded and not correct”. (CN Beta, Forbes, SCMP)

[MWC2018] TCL Communication VP Christian Gatti has indicated that BlackBerry is company’s main push in China in 2018. The BlackBerry products mainly targeting high-end commerce demographic, and expects to launch 2 new products in 2018. (CN Beta, Read01)

[MWC2018] ASUS ZenFone 5, 5Z and 5Q are announced: 5 – 6.2” 2246×1080 FHD+ IPS LCD, Qualcomm Snapdragon 636, rear dual 12MP-?MP + front 8MP, 4 / 6GB+64GB, Android 8.0, 3300mAh. 5Z – 6.2” 2246×1080 FHD+ IPS LCD, Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, rear dual 12MP-?MP + front 8MP, 4GB+64GB / 6GB+128GB / 8GB+128GB, Android 8.0, 3300mAh. 5Q (5 Lite)  – 6” 2160×1080 FHD+ IPS LCD, Qualcomm Snapdragon 630, rear 16MP-?MP + front dual 20MP-?MP, 4GB+32 / 64GB, Android 8.0, 3300mAh. (Android Authority, Android Authority, Android Headlines)

[MWC2018] Wiko View 2 and View 2 Pro are announced: View 2 – 5.45” 1528×720 HD+ IPS LCD, Qualcomm Snapdragon 435, rear 13MP + front 16MP, 3GB+32GB, Android 8.0, 3000mAh, EUR199. View 2 Pro – 6” 1528×720 HD+ IPS LCD, Qualcomm Snapdragon 450, rear dual 16MP-16MP + front 16MP, 4GB+64GB, Android 8.0, 3000mAh, EUR299. (GizChina, TechNave, Wiko, Wiko)

[MWC2018] Doogee is showcasing 2 smartphones prototype to solve “front camera problem” a full-display smartphone would face: Mix 3 – It features a rotatable camera. The rotatable holder controls the direction of the lens to take pictures at various angles. Mix 4 – It features sliding screen. It is composed of two thin modules. The upper module entirely consists of screen, and the lower module has the discreet in-display fingerprint reader.  (Android Pit, TechCrunch, Sohu)

[MWC2018] Doogee V is officially launched with in-display fingerprint scanner – 6.21” 2248×1080 FHD+ AMOLED, MediaTek Helio P60, rear dual 16MP-8MP + front 8MP, 8GB+128GB, 4000mAh. (PC Mag, GSM Arena, Doogee, Phone World, The Verge)

Wearables

[MWC2018] Coolpad has announced a new lineup of wearables powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear-series chips. The portfolio is focused on products that are tailored to meet the specific power, connectivity and location requirements of emerging wearable sub-segments, including smartwatches for kids, and smart trackers for pets, the elderly, and valuable assets. (Android Headlines, Business Wire, TeleAnalysis, JRJ)

[MWC2018] HTC chairwoman Cher Wang has announced the “Vive Reality” concept, which is a combination of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), 5G and artificial intelligence (AI). She has also indicated that Vive Reality would also reveal how humans could interact with VR and AR, with the duty of using those new domains to create an even better future for the next generations. (Android Headlines, Taiwan News, eWeek, Sohu, China Times)