From: FJB | 9/3/2018 12:38:30 PM | | | | Huawei 7nm smartphone chip stuns Apple and Samsung
7nm smartphone processors will help phones run faster, save more power, and have a higher resolution screen and camera than the current 10nm versions
24 Aug 2018
 More on this story
With nodes just 7 nanometres wide, the world’s newest generation of smartphone chips will help phones run faster, save more power, and have a higher resolution screen and camera, compared to the 10nm processors available now.
They are costly and difficult to produce, which is why industry experts predicted last year that Apple and Samsung could be the only two manufacturers in the world to launch 7nm chips in their newest phones this year.
But an unexpected contender has caught up: Huawei, the Chinese phone manufacturer that recently unseated Apple from its position as the world’s second biggest phone maker.
Huawei reportedly started developing its 7nm chipsets as early as 2015, in partnership with TSM Corporation, a manufacturer of precision machine components.
5 common myths about iPhone battery life – and how to prolong it
While Apple’s 2018 iPhones – expected to contain 7nm chips – will be launched around September, Huawei chief executive Richard Yu has confirmed that the company’s new Mate 20 series phones will hit the market in October, and with 7nm technology,
Huawei will unveil its 7nm technology at IFA, an electronics trade show in Berlin, from August 31 until September 5.
Samsung hopes Galaxy Home will rival Apple, Google speakers
Competitor Samsung’s 7nm chip is expected to feature in its S10 series, which could be made available next year. The company is also said to be researching 3nm chips, with a targeted production date of 2021.
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This article originally appeared on Business Insider.
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From: FJB | 10/18/2018 11:23:16 AM | | | |
Huawei Launches the Mate 20 Series: Kirin 980 7nm SoC Inside
anandtech.com
Posted in New to the market is the latest flagship smartphone from Huawei. Following the Mate series, last year’s Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro are succeeded by the Mate 20 and the Mate 20 Pro, featuring the 7nm Hisilicon Kirin 980 chipset, along with a whole new design with added features. Out of the two, the Mate 20 Pro is aiming for the upsell, with new features such as reverse wireless charging, an OLED HDR display, an IP68 rating, a larger battery, and support for a 40W Supercharge.
Huawei Mate 20's | | Mate 20 Pro | Mate 20 | Mate 20 X | SoC | HiSilicon Kirin 980
2x Cortex A76 @ 2.60 GHz 2x Cortex A76 @ 1.92 GHz 4x Cortex A55 @ 1.80 GHz | GPU | Mali G76MP10 @ 720MHz | DRAM | 6GB LPDDR4X | 4GB LPDDR4X 6GB LPDDR4X | ?GB LPDDR4X | Display | 6.39" OLED 3120 x 1440(19.5:9) DCI-P3, HDR | 6.53" RGBW LCD 2244 x 1080(18.7:9) DCI-P3, HDR | 7.2" OLED 2244 x 1080 (18.7:9) DCI-P3, HDR | Size | Height | 157.8 mm | 158.2 mm | | Width | 72.3 mm | 77.2 mm | | Depth | 8.6 mm | 8.3 mm | | Weight | 189 grams | 188 grams | | Battery Capacity | 4200mAh
40WSuperCharge | 4000mAh
22.5WSuperCharge | 5000mAh
| Wireless Charging | Qi | + Wireless reverse charging | - | Rear Cameras | Main | 40MP f/1.8 27mm equiv. FL | 12MP f/1.8 27mm equivl. FL | 40MP f/1.8 27mm equiv. FL | Telephoto | 8MP f/2.4 3x Optical zoom 80mm equiv. FL | 8MP f/2.4 2x Optical Zoom 52mm equivl. FL | 8MP f/2.4 Optical Zoom | Wide | 20MP f/2.2 Ulta wide angle 16mm equivl. FL | 16MP f/2.2 Ultra wide angle 17mm equivl. FL | Ultra wide angle | Front Camera | 24MP f/2.0 | Dot-projector Flood illuminator IR camera | - | Storage | 128 GB + proprietary "nanoSD" card | I/O | USB-C | USB-C 3.5mm headphone jack | Wireless (local) | 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi Bluetooth 5.0 LE + NFC | Cellular | Kirin 980 Integrated LTE (Category 21/18)
DL = 1400 Mbps 4x4 MIMO 3x20MHz CA, 256-QAM (5CA no MIMO)
UL = 200 Mbps 2x2 MIMO 1x20MHz CA, 256-QAM | Splash, Water, Dust Resistance | IP68 (water resistant up to 1m) | IP53 (no water resistance) | Dual-SIM | 2x nano-SIM | Launch Price | 128 GB: 1049€ | 4+128 GB: 799€ 6+128 GB: 849€ | 128 GB: 899€ |
A New Generation of DesignEven by Huawei’s own reckoning, the Mate 10 series sold extraordinarily well. As a company, in the first half of this year, they moved ahead of Apple to be the second biggest smartphone manufacturer in the world in terms of unit sales, totalling 95 million units. That represents a 30% year-on-year growth, although a big step up is needed to rival Samsung for that number one spot. Huawei believes that flagship devices such as the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro are an integral part of that strategy.
 Mate 20 Pro
In our briefings, Huawei made it clear that they want an iconic look. Smartphones, we were told, seem to be unifying over the design and it is often difficult to tell them apart. Huawei stated that it has made design choices this time around to remain identifiable and unique in the market, and from my perspective, the choices made here will instantly indicate that someone is using a Huawei smartphone. The first obvious feature is the rear camera.
 Mate 20
Following on from the dual-camera setup of the Mate 10 series, the new three rear cameras now appear on the back of the Mate 20 in a square pattern, with the flash in one of the corners. This quadrilateral design is slightly different on the Mate 20 Pro, as it is a larger phone so the camera layout is slightly longer vertically, however the camera setup on both is very similar: a telephoto lens paired with a wide angle lens and then an ultra-wide angle lens just for good measure.
 Mate 20, Mate 20 Pro
This means that the monochrome sensor has finally gone (it had questionable benefits in the last generation), and has been replaced with a new ultra-wide sensor. This allows the new phones for an optical zoom from 0.6x to 2.0x-3.0x (depending on model), beyond which the camera goes into a ‘hybrid zoom’ mode, combining optical and digital zoom. The differences between the two models are in the details:
Mate 20: 12MP Wide Angle f/1.8 + 16MP Ultra-Wide f/2.2 + 8MP Telephoto f/2.4Mate 20 Pro: 40MP Wide Angle f/1.7 + 20MP Ultra-Wide f/2.2 + 8MP Telephoto f/2.4The 40MP wide angle also supports "4-in-1 shots", or more commonly referred to 2x2 pixel binning, combining data from multiple pixels to produce 10MP photos that look better in low light. For both cameras OIS is found only on the telephoto lens, while other stabilization comes from Huawei’s AI-stabilization technology.
Sticking with the cameras, the front facing camera is different on both models as well. The standard Mate 20 will have a single 24MP f/2.0 RGB camera sensor on the front, whereas the Mate 20 Pro is going all in with proper facial recognition, with a dot projector, the 24MP RGB sensor, a time-of-flight proximity sensor, a flood illuminator, and an IR camera, similar to the Apple system but in testing felt a lot faster, capable of dealing with some sizeable side angles. Huawei was not clear if this is going to be used as a way to make payments, although some announcements might be being made at the presentation today. Huawei did state that apps and files can be locked away using the facial recognition.
 Mate 20 Pro
 Mate 20
Also on design uniqueness, Huawei is pleased with what the company has done with the rear of the device for feel. The main color choices for the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro use a glass ridged rear surface, with microbumps as an oleophobic coating. Running a nail across it gives that scratchy sound similar to vinyl, and the feel of the device is very natural, with Huawei stating that every edge uses rounded glass. Each model will be available in five different colors, three with the microbump ridge pattern (Pink Gold, Midnight Blue, Emerald Green) and two without (Twilight and Black).
The HardwareInside both devices is the Kirin 980, Huawei’s newest 7nm smartphone SoC. We covered the launch of this chip at IFA when it was announced, but the high level specifications include a tri-CPU design using ARM’s latest Cortex A76 and A55 processors and ARM Mali-G76 graphics. Huawei’s enhancements to the chip over the Kirin 970, aside from the new CPU/GPU and manufacturing process, includes the newest version of the sensor hub, an upgraded integrated modem now capable of Cat 21 download, and a dual core Neural Processing Unit (NPU) for neural network inference.
Back at IFA, we were told that this dual-core NPU is essentially just a double size NPU to that of the Kirin 970, except with 8-bit INT capabilities. Ultimately it acted like a single device, but could compute on one core for efficiency or both for throughput. At our recent prebrief, we are now told that one core of the NPU deals with 16-bit networks, while the other deals with 8-bit networks. We’ve asked several questions to clarify this, and are waiting on the response.
For the deep analysis of the launch of the Kirin 980, head on over to our article here.
On the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro, one of the key differentiators will be with the screen. On the standard Mate 20, the display is a 6.53-inch 2244x1080 RGBW LCD unit, capable of a good amount of DCI-P3, and brightness up to 820 nits, in what Huawei is calling a ‘Dew Drop’ display based on the notch. The Mate 20 Pro by comparison uses a smaller but denser 6.39-inch 3120x1440 OLED display also capable of DCI-P3 and HDR, with Huawei stating it has a ‘high color saturation’ and ‘high contrast ratio’ but declines to give specific numbers.
Also up for differentiation is the battery, with the Mate 20 Pro getting a 4200 mAh battery capable of a new 40W Super Charge mode certified by TÜV Rheinland (we’re still waiting on exact details) which Huawei states is good to charge the device from 0% to 70% in 30 minutes. The Mate 20 Pro is also equipped with fast wireless charging, up to 15W, and can be used in reverse charging mode – if you need to charge another wireless device, it will do so up to a certain limit.
We tried this with an iPhone. No problems. But no luck with my LG V30.
The standard Mate 20 gets a 4000 mAh battery, which is a bump up from the standard Mate 10, and will do 22.5W Super Charge, which charge the device to 56-60% in half an hour according to the claims.
The fingerprint sensor is another area for differentiation, and the Mate 20 Pro has one built into the screen using a DPS sensor similar to the Mate 10 Pro. The Mate 20 has a rear fingerprint sensor, which in our hands-on seemed to get a lot of oil from fingerprints on it very easily. Another differentiation is the waterproof rating, with the Mate 20 Pro going at IP68, while the standard Mate 20 is an IP53 device. Also the 3.5mm jack: the Pro does not have one, but the regular Mate 20 does.
Both devices will support 802.11ac Wave 2 technology, capable of a theoretical peak of 1.732 Gbps in a perfect scenario, and both devices will ship with EMUI 9, based on Android 9, with the latest version of GPU Turbo technology and a high-performance mode for users that need it. As part of EMUI 9, Huawei is introducing a password vault, with data kept inside a secure zone in the processor. There will also be backup capabilities to a NAS with the SMB protocol.
SoftwareOn the software side, due to EMUI and the dual NPU, the AI has improved to allow for more scenes to be detected in the camera view, as well as skeletal representations of people in shot to help with framing. It uses real-time 4D predictive focus to keep objects in focus in videos, and with the wide angle lens can record natively in 21:9. A new feature is an AI-based highlight reel, which can take all the film from a day of shooting, identify people common to many videos and generate 10 second highlight footage of those individuals.
Also in the software is Huawei’s push to make it more ‘natural’, using a slow chirp of nature as the default alarm sound for example. There is a general push to give a more natural aural feedback across the interface. Huawei also states that it is up to 51% faster with built-in app startup, and that its ‘born fast, stay fast’ philosophy still applies with a supposed better aging process for devices than competitors and even the Mate 9 or Mate 10.
Both the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro are also taking Desktop Mode to a new level, by now supporting wireless desktop mode via Miracast. This allows users to take their device with them and stream wirelessly in desktop mode using the smartphone as a trackpad, or supporting a dual screen extension.
Another feature of the Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro will be the Digital Balance part of the software, showing users where their time is spent, and offering to give warnings when the user is putting the device in front of their face too often during the day.
Configurations and PricingBoth devices will come in dual nano-SIM variants, however rather than supporting the standard microSD, Huawei has developed a proprietary standard it is calling ‘nanoSD’ that it will sell and will fit into a standard nanoSIM slot. This is going to be fun (not).
The Mate 20 will be sold in 4GB+128GB and 6GB+128GB variants, with the Mate 20 Pro only in a 6GB+128GB variant. Exact details of regions and pricing should be announced at today’s launch.
 Mate 9, Mate 10, Mate 20 Pro
We are also expecting another Mate 20 design to be announced today, probably a Porsche Design model, with additional storage and a leather trim with certain PD specific design aspects. |
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From: FJB | 3/5/2019 10:13:59 AM | | | | Huawei says it would never hand data to China’s government. Experts say it wouldn’t have a choice
CNBC ^ | Mon, Mar 4 2019 • 8:13 PM EST | Updated 3 hours ago | Arjun Kharpal
Huawei would have no choice but to hand over network data to the Chinese government if Beijing asked for it, because of espionage and national security laws in the country, experts told CNBC. Major governments including the United States, Japan and Australia have blocked the Chinese telecommunications equipment maker from providing hardware for next-generation mobile networks known as 5G. The U.S. has said Huawei equipment could provide backdoors for the Chinese government into American networks — a claim the company has repeatedly denied. Australia did not cite specific countries or companies, but last year it gave guidance to domestic carriers... |
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To: FJB who wrote (2987) | 3/5/2019 12:26:38 PM | From: waitwatchwander | | | FUD everywhere these days. You have to wonder about these experts given the same can be stated about any country within their jurisdictions. Some may requires courts to act in conjunction with the state but is that really that much different. Jurisdiction also comes into play with a foreign entity selling equipment elsewhere. Yes, Huawei could break the law just like anyone else. What happened with innocent until proven guilty.
If all is so dire why don't these experts have factual cases to back up their coulda's.
Yes, more of the real world ! |
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From: FJB | 3/14/2019 2:19:38 AM | | | | First Verizon Mobile 5G Markets Chicago and Minneapolis Launch April 11 with Moto Module
3/13/19 at 11:48 AM by Joan Engebretson +
The first two Verizon mobile 5G markets will be Chicago and Minneapolis and will launch April 11, the company said today. To use the service, customers will initially have to purchase a 5G moto mod device from Motorola, exclusive to Verizon, which will be used in combination with a moto z3 smartphone launched last year. Additional 5G capable smartphones will become available later.
Verizon calls the mobile 5G service “5G Ultra Wideband” to designate the technology’s deployment in the millimeter wave band. Verizon has broad spectrum holdings in that band, which should enable it to maximize mobile data speeds. The downside is that the offering is expected to require dense cell site infrastructure as range is reduced for service operating in that band – although Verizon has said that those concerns are not as severeas some initially expected.
The equipment underlying Verizon mobile 5G meets the 5G NR standard developed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards body, the company said. A total of 30 Verizon mobile 5G markets, specifically 5G Ultra Wideband markets based on the 5G NR standard, are expected to launch in 2019. The Verizon news comes just a few weeks after AT&T added Chicago and Minneapolis to the list of cities where it expects to roll out 5G service in 2019. It seems unlikely that the news was a coincidence. Instead, it seems more likely that AT&T learned of Verizon’s deployment and made the announcement to dissuade its own customers from switching to Verizon.
It would seem virtually impossible for a carrier to deploy a mobile network in a major market without other industry stakeholders learning of it.
Verizon Mobile 5G The 5G moto mod will retail for $349.99 but Verizon has a special introductory price of $50. The moto z3 smartphone that the 5G moto mod works with launched in August with a price of $480 and a trade-in offer to take as much as $300 off that cost. The moto z3 works on Verizon’s earlier generation networks if 5G is not available.
Verizon will begin taking orders for the 5G moto mod tomorrow. Rival carrier AT&T previously launched mobile 5G service in 12 markets, with plans for at least nine more markets this year, but that service also lacks a dedicated smartphone. Instead, the service is supported initially by a mobile hotspot. Both carriers were able to launch their networks before dedicated smartphones were available. Those smartphones are expected to hit the market this year.
Verizon previously launched a non-standard version of 5G to support fixed service in four markets to support an offering the company calls 5G Home. |
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From: Julius Wong | 4/20/2019 10:41:50 AM | | | | WSJ's Joanna Stern had big plans to review Samsung's first foldable phone. Then other Samsung phone screens started breaking and she accidentally began to peel off the screen protector that's not really a screen protector.
wsj.com |
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