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Qualcomm is making its best 5G modem even better

Standalone mmWave
Image: Qualcomm

MmWave has long been the fastest flavor of 5G, but a little known fact about it is that to date, devices have first had to have a Sub-6 connection before knowing to switch over to mmWave. That changes with the Snapdragon X70, which was demonstrated to be able to connect to a standalone mmWave network and deliver speeds of up to a hefty 8.3Gbps.

So why is that important? Basically, it allows carriers to be a little more flexible in how they deploy their 5G networks. For example, they could deploy mmWave cells in stadiums or other high-density areas, whether there’s a Sub-6 network there or not. That said, most areas where this would matter already have Sub-6 networks.

The Snapdragon X70 got a few other advancements too. For example, the modem supports 3x carrier aggregation. That means that the modem can aggregate signals of up to three bands, making for a faster connection overall.

From BGR

WhatsApp could soon let you filter chats to bring some sanity to your conversation list

Image: WABetaInfo

WhatsApp already offers chat filters as a part of WhatsApp Business, both on its desktop and mobile apps. It allows you to filter chats based on unread messages, from contacts not in your phonebook, saved numbers, and groups. As spotted by WABetaInfo, the messaging service now intends to bring the same filters to regular non-business users. The filter button will be visible in the top app bar, from where you’ll be able to refine which chats are shown as per your preference.

For WhatsApp Business users, the filter toggle only shows up when they use the search bar. However, for regular users, the button should always be visible. While the above screenshot is from WhatsApp’s desktop app, WABetaInfo claims that the functionality will make its way to the Android and iOS apps, too. Going by WhatsApp’s habit of testing new features for an extended period of time, don’t expect the feature to arrive anytime soon.

If you are a heavy WhatsApp user, the new filters could help bring some sanity to your conversation list. This may look like a small change, but it will help you quickly find the right chat when in a hurry. For now, though, you need to wait until WhatsApp gets around to rolling out this feature to its beta users.

From Android Police

Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+ to be announced next week, rumor says

Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+ rumored to launch next week
Image: Qualcomm

Qualcomm is expected to announce its Snapdragon 8 Gen 1+ soon and the launch may just take place next week according to Chinese tipster Digital Chat Station. Despite earlier claims that the chipset may be postponed until the second half of this year we now get a contradicting statement that says the launch is taking place next Friday – May 20. In addition to the flagship chipset, Qualcomm is expected to launch its Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chipset.

If these rumors hold up we can expect a barrage of announcements from smartphone makers confirming new devices with latest Qualcomm chipsets. The new SD 8 Gen 1+ (codenamed SM8475) is expected to be sourced from TSMC unlike the current SD 8 Gen 1 which is sourced from Samsung.

From Gsmarena

vivo teases S15 and S15 Pro camera samples, 80W charging confirmed

Image: Vivo

vivo launched the S15e last month in China, and it will add two more members to the S15 series this Friday – vanilla S15 and S15 Pro.

vivo hasn’t divulged much about the S15 and S15 Pro yet, but its VP, Mr. Jia Jingdong (name machine translated from Chinese), confirmed that the series will come with 80W charging, flagship chip, and run OriginOS out of the box, which is hardly a surprise since vivo and iQOO smartphones run OriginOS in China while the units sold globally boot Funtouch OS.

Additionally, the vivo VP also shared a few pictures shot with the S15 and S15 Pro. You can check them above.

From Gsmarena

One of the Honor 70 models certified with a 4,800mAh battery and 66W fast charging

One of the Honor 70 models certified with a 4,800mAh battery and 66W fast charging
Image: 3C

The Honor number series is on a twice a year release schedule and it has been six months since the 60-series launched. Signs that the sequel is nearly here include a new device being certified by the 3C, which revealed battery stats, while rumors filled in other blanks.

FNE-AN00 is one of the Honor 70 series models, insiders say. It’s not clear which one, however, this generation we are expecting the Honor 70, 70 Pro and 70 Pro+. The 60-series topped out at ‘Pro’, so this time around we should see a true flagship.

As for the AN00, it will have a 4,800 mAh battery and will support 66W fast charging (11V at 6A). Those are essentially the same specs as the Honor 60/60 Pro. There is talk of a faster charger, but that will be exclusive to the Pro+.

From Gsmarena

New leak suggests Nvidia RTX 4090 GPU is twice as fast as RTX 3090

Image: Future

Nvidia’s RTX 4090, if that’s what the next-gen Lovelace flagship graphics card ends up being called, could be twice as fast as the RTX 3090, and likely speedier than that, going by a fresh leak.

This comes from Kopite7kimi, a prolific leaker on Twitter, who tweeted somewhat cryptically about next-gen performance relating to the RTX 3090.

Clearly, the suggestion is that the RTX 4090, the successor to the 3090, will be at least twice as fast, and going by the phrasing here, probably speedier than that – or that’s the way we read this, anyway. If it’s ‘quite simple’ to double up performance of the flagship, then we could possibly expect more than that from Nvidia (with ‘further optimization’ certainly).

Of course, any leak must be taken with caution, and that’s especially true with a vague hint like this.

Kopite7kimi also just tweeted to again assert that the specs for the RTX 4090 that were previously shared are still theoretically correct, namely that it’ll use 24GB of GDDR6X video RAM running at 21Gbps, with a power consumption of 600W. Furthermore, the leaker added that the RTX 4070 will use 12GB of GDDR6 running at 18Gbps, with a 300W power usage (again, not new info, save for the speed of the VRAM).

From Techradar

E-Ink iPad Rival ‘reMarkable’ Sells More Than 1 Million Devices

E-ink tablet maker “reMarkable” has now sold more than one million devices since 2017 and raised money at a valuation of $1 billion, indicating that its unusual minimalist reading- and writing-focused tablet is growing its market share despite competition with fully-fledged tablets like the iPad (via TechCrunch).
The Norway-based startup company, which employs more than 300 people, has announced that it achieved investment from multiple international investors at its $1 billion valuation last year. The company’s valuation comes after making revenues of $300 million and operating profits of $31 million in 2021. Founder and CEO Magnus Wanberg said that the company was now closing the investment as a “good indication, a signal out to the world.”

From Macrumors

Apple, Nvidia, AMD supplier set to increase prices again

Taiwan Semiconductor
Image: Peellden/Wikimedia

According to Nikkei Asia, which has well-placed sources within the tech industry, TSMC has apparently informed its clientele that the cost associated with its silicon will become more expensive from 2023 onward.

TSMC is said to be attributing the price rise to “looming inflation concerns, rising costs and its own massive expansion plans to help alleviate a global supply crunch.” Bottlenecked supply chains have been a constant theme throughout the past two years.

iMore highlights how TSMC customers, which include the likes of Apple, Intel, Nvidia, and AMD, are already paying higher rates due to the substantial 20% increase that materialized in 2021.

Elsewhere, at the start of 2022, a DigiTimes report indicated that TSMC processor prices would grow “substantially” in 2022 because of an upsurge in foundry costs.

These prices will now be subjected to another increase in the 5% to 8% range. Although the changes should come to fruition during 2023, the reason behind the relatively early announcement is to “give customers some buffer to prepare for the price adjustments, while TSMC’s move to raise prices is to address increasing costs and capital needs for historic expansions.”

From Digital Trends

QuantumScape update: Solid-state cells will cut EV charging time in half and increase volumetric density over 50%

Image: Quantum Scape

Continuing its trend of developing and testing multi-layered cells that perform under the company’s “gold standard” conditions, QuantumScape shared that it has developed a 16-layer solid-state battery cell that has already endured over 500 charge cycles. So far, the cell’s energy retention and cycling have behaved similarly to the cells that came before it (see graphic above).

In addition to containing more layers, this new cell is the first to showcase QuantumScape’s proprietary cell architecture, which is flexible enough to support an anode-free format. The company describes this initial cell as “an encouraging proof of concept” for the flexible format but admits much work still needs to be done before it can truly be commercialized.

From Electrek

Coinbase CEO says India central bank’s ‘informal pressure’ prompted trading halt

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong at the Company’s Event In India
Image: Samyukta Lakshmi / Bloomberg / Getty Images

Coinbase halted trading service in India because of “informal pressure” from the Reserve Bank of India, the crypto exchange’s chief executive said on Tuesday, addressing the notable Indian episode for the first time in a month.

The Nasdaq-listed firm launched its eponymous crypto trading service in India to much fanfare on April 7. The app allowed users in the world’s second largest internet market to buy crypto tokens using UPI, a highly popular Indian payments infrastructure built by a coalition of retail banks. But just three days after the launch, the firm rolled back the service without an explanation.

The move followed a strange statement made by the National Payments Corporation of India, the governing body that oversees UPI in the country, in which it refused to acknowledge UPI support on Coinbase’s app.

From Techcrunch

I’m a tech savvy person who occasionally cook and party. I am an engineer by profession and tech enthusiast by passion.
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