Highlights: Samsung and Sprint partner to offer commercial 5G solutions in the US. Samsung will provide its 5G NR solutions to Sprint. The first 5G city of Sprint networks will be Chicago where the service is slated to go live in May Samsung doesn't only make smartphones with 5G modems, it is also a supplier of 5G infrastructure to networks. At MWC 2019, Samsung announced that US network Sprint is using Samsung’s 5G New Radio (NR) solutions for delivering its 5G network in the United States. The Samsung 5G NR uses Samsung’s software, as well as a channel card to tap into Samsung’s existing Massive MIMO tech, which Samsung already uses to provide enhanced LTE services in the US. Sprint already uses Samsung’s Massive MIMO to provide 2.5GHz TDD network since 2018. The setup allows both 4G and 5G services to operate commercially using the ‘split mode’ capabilities of Samsung’s MIMO solution. Samsung claims this offers a simple, cost-effective transition to 5G and is capable of achieving 1.5Gbps of throughput. The first instance of Samsung’s 5G NR solution will be used to offer 5G network in Sprint’s first 5G city, Chicago. The service is scheduled to launch commercially in May. The 5G service will rely on Sprint’s 2.5GHz spectrum and will offer “hyper-streaming” and “ultra-fast downloading” on 5G-enabled devices. Sprint is showcasing the commercial 2.5GHz 64T64R Massive MIMO unit at Samsung Networks booth at MWC 2019. You can follow our MWC 2019 coverage here. Disclosure: Samsung paid for a Digit correspondent’s travel and stay to MWC 2019, Barcelona. Related Reads: Samsung Galaxy S10e First Impressions: Compact and uncompromising Samsung Galaxy Fold unfolded in a 4-minute long video
from Latest Technology News https://ift.tt/2U8UtIc
Highlights Oppo's foldable phone prototype looks like the Huawei Mate X No plans to produce the phone unless there is significant demand The first day of Mobile World Congress concluded with Oppo revealing its foldable smartphone, but it wasn’t at MWC. Oppo Vice President Brian Shen revealed photos of the company’s foldable smartphone which looks like one giant OLED display that folds inwards. For those who have been following our coverage of MWC 2019, Oppo’s phone looks incredibly similar to the Huawei Mate X. As we have seen with the Galaxy Fold and the Huawei Mate X, foldable phones are priced like a luxury device. In accordance with this, Shen says that Oppo does not plan to ship the prototype shown in the images until and unless there is enough demand for it. While Samsung and Huawei can command the premium, Oppo may not be so lucky. However, TCL did announce their plans to bring budget-friendly foldable phones to the market by next year, so maybe Oppo could take a cue from them. In terms of specs, there really is nothing known about the prototype. Shen only shared a few images of the phone on his Weibo page, so we don’t have any specifics. However, there are a few things we can tell from the images shared. We can see that it has a very similar design to the Mate X, meaning that it too has a sidebar, which houses the electronics and the cameras. There appear to be two cameras present, along with a dual-LED flash setup. The display itself appears to be a single one-sided panel which folds and neatly tucks into the bar. This is also the same design we had seen on the Royole Flexpai, technically the first smartphone with a foldable display. The Flexpai is only available in China at the moment and would roughly cost $1,300 converted. 2019 is the year when we finally see something drastic in terms of form-factor, with smartphones having been a bar-shaped device for the better part of a decade. While the technology is still in its nascent stages (and expensive) given that it is now “out there”, we can only hope that foldable smartphones become cheaper down the years. Image Courtesy: Brian Shen's Weibo Related Reads: Samsung Galaxy Fold unfolded in a 4-minute long video
Highlights: The Samsung Galaxy S10e sits at the lower spectrum of this year’s Galaxy S lineup. The handset features a 5.8-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display. It starts at Rs 55,900 in India for the 128GB base storage variant. Samsung is playing the smartphone market very smartly and with its recent launches, it is evident that the company wants to target competition in almost every price segment, be it budget, mid-range or premium flagships. Sitting comfortably at the lower spectrum of this year’s Galaxy S lineup is the Samsung Galaxy S10e. On first impressions, the smartphone managed to do what Apple’s iPhone XR did not - feel adequate enough to be a flagship. With a 5.8-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display, the Galaxy S10e fits snugly in the hand. The non-curved edges of the flat display are actually refreshing on an S-series smartphone and the punch hole Infinity-O design gives ample amount of screen real estate to the device in an era where large, bezel-less displays have become a norm. The display renders colours pretty well on first impressions and if nothing, Samsung’s OLEDs have only become better with time. In fact, it seems way better than Apple’s LCD display on the iPhone XR. Its 19:9 aspect ratio keeps it in tune with the times. The phone has a physical fingerprint scanner instead of the Ultrasonic scanner that’s found embedded within the screens of the Galaxy S10 and S10+, but it doesn't really hinder the user experience and in fact, sits flush with the power button. Another difference between the S10 and S10+, and the S10e is the cheaper flagship’s camera setup. Instead of the triple-rear camera setup, the S10e offers a 12MP wide angle sensor with OIS and another 16MP ultrawide sensor, which is different from what the company usually offers in a dual cam setup, ie there is no telephoto lens. Instead, the Ultrawide camera offers a widened 123-degree field of view to capture more in a frame and Samsung has been big on this camera feature starting with this year’s Galaxy flagships. The camera still gets the inherent Samsung features such as Live Focus, a Pro mode, Super Slow-mo, HDR recording and more. On the front, the S10e gets a single 10 MP selfie snapper with Dual Pixel PDAF, capable of taking 4K selfies. Another feature which puts the S10e ahead of the iPhone XR is its reverse wireless charging feature, or what Samsung calls Wireless PowerShare. This means that the 3100mAh battery on the S10e can actually charge other phones as well as accessories like the Galaxy Buds or the Galaxy Watch Active. We checked out the feature on the MWC 2019 showfloor and it works as advertised. In addition, the phone supports wired and wireless Fast Charging. With iP68 water and dust resistance, the Galaxy S10e once again beats the iPhone XR to the punch as the latter comes with an IP67 rating, even though the difference is minimal. The best feature of the Galaxy S10e is that it gets the same flagship chipset as the S10 and S10+ phones - Snapdragon 855 in some markets and Exynos 9820 in others. It also comes in at almost Rs 20K cheaper than the iPhone XR, starting at Rs 55,900 for the 128GB base storage variant (expandable), compared to the Rs 70,000 64GB base version of the iPhone XR (with no expandable storage). Samsung’s One UI layered on Android Pie works pretty well on the S10e, no complaints there. Regular updates will do the device great service. All in all, we are pretty impressed with the S10e on first impressions and see it as the one big competitor to the iPhone XR in the compact premium flagship space. We will reserve all other judgements about the phone for our in-depth review. Until then stay tuned to Digit.in for more updates on the latest and upcoming smartphones. You can follow our complete MWC 2019 coverage here. Related Reads: OnePlus 5G prototype showcased at MWC 2019 Here's how the Nokia 9 PureView uses five cameras in tandem to create a single shot with crazy amount of detail 
Highlights: Spotifty sued by Warner Music Group over licensing rights in an Indian court, asking the court to block the service from playing its music. Apple Music has had no issues securing a licensing deal with WMG in India. Spotify plans to use a 2012 amendment of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957 to play content from WMG's catalogue. Spotify’s much anticipated launch in India has once again hit a roadblock. The Apple Music rival was sued by music label Warner Music Group over licensing rights in India, asking a Mumbai court to block the streaming service to stream music from its label in the country. WMG also revoked a previously agreed upon deal for reasons, according to Spotify, are wholly unrelated to the company’s upcoming launch in India. WMG filed the complaint with the Bombay High Court and asked for an injunction from an Indian court, according to a report by Bloomberg. Spotify’s continued struggle to launch in the second-largest smartphone market in the world is in stark contrast to Apple Music, which has had no problem striking deals with music labels to stream their content in India, including Warner Music Group. When the year began, the streaming-service was set to launch in India within a few weeks. The Swedish streaming service is reportedly planning to use an Indian rule that allows radio stations to broadcast songs from the music label. Spotify essentially wants to use a 2012 amendment made to the Indian Copyright Act of 1957 when the section 31D was added which expands the compulsory licensing of copyrighted works for broadcasters. However, while most of the law has been amended over the years, what hadn’t changed was the definition of broadcast. It was only defined by “communication to the public”. However, in 2016, the definition of broadcast was expanded to include internet broadcasting organisations also. This expanded definition is what Spotify plans to use to stream music from Warner’s catalogue. Spotify is presently operating in 78 countries worldwide and has over 200 million users while Apple Music is available in over 100 countries with around 50 million subscribers. The company has been wanting to enter India for quite some time now, where the market is already being split between homegrown services like Gaana and JioSaavn, and international giants like Apple Music, Amazon Prime Music and Google Play Music. Related Reads: Spotify India debut could happen in March, January 31 launch deferred because of lack of deals: Sources It is January 31 and Spotify has still not launched in India. Here's what happened
Highlights: Nubia announces Alpha, a smartwatch-smartphone hybrid device It's powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 platform It has a 4-inch flexible display and a 5-megapixel camera It’s the second day of the Mobile World Congress 2019 in Barcelona, Spain, and the company that brought us the Red Magic smartphone earlier this year is now showing off a small bendy smartwatch that’s also a smartphone. Nubia’s new gadget is called the Alpha and it has a 4-inch flexible OLED display. It’s equipped with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and e-SIM support for texts and calling. The Nubia Alpha is expected to go on sale in April this year for a starting price of 449 euros (Rs 36,200 approx). According to Nubia’s press release, the Alpha “combines the best features of smartwatches and smartphones for a whole new breed of smart device.” The Chinese smartphone manufacturer collaborated with Visionox to create what it believes is the largest wearable flexible screen in the industry for the Alpha. Nubia has failed to mention the resolution of the 4-inch Polyimide-coated heat-resistant display. Equipped with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and e-SIM support, the Alpha is capable of sending and receiving texts, making calls, and accessing the internet without depending on a connected smartphone. Interestingly, the Nubia Alpha comes with a 5-megapixel camera with “clever UI shortcuts”. Tapping the display takes a photo, while long-pressing it records a video. The Nubia Alpha’s unified internal structure is made from anodised stainless steel and the device is water-resistant. The Nubia Alpha is available in two colour options: black and gold. The latter features a band plated in real 18k gold. The Nubia Alpha is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 2100 platform. It has 1GB of RAM and 8GB of onboard storage, which the company claims is sufficient for over 1,000 songs, 2,000 short videos, or 6,000 pictures. Its 500mAh battery will keep it alive for one or two days with regular use or give it a week’s time on standby. The custom-made UI supports air gestures and multi-finger touches. The Nubia Alpha also sports typical smartwatch features like activity tracking, heart rate monitoring, and music streaming via Bluetooth. There’s no word yet on whether the Nubia Alpha will enter the Indian market anytime soon. Related Read: MWC 2019: Qualcomm announces 5G chip for PCs, Wi-Fi chip for automobiles
Highlights: Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon X55, the company's second-gen 5G modem. The modem will be introduced in a Samsung device, Qualcomm said first devices to be expected in 2020. The Snapdragon X55 supports both 4G and 5G connetivity. Even when the Qualcomm Snapdragon X50 5G modem is seeing the light of the day for the first time among the first-generation 5G devices like the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 5G, Huawei Mate X, Samsung Galaxy S10 5G and the likes, Qualcomm is already thinking ahead. The chipset designer announced the Snapdragon X55 5G modem, the second-generation 5G modem that will succeed the Snapdragon X50. At the same event, Samsung announced it will be the first to implement the Snapdragon X55 modem. Qualcomm said the sampling of the modem will begin from Q2 2019 and the first devices touting the second-gen 5G modem will begin rolling out in 2020. The Snapdragon X50 modem offers both 4G and 5G in a single chip. The chip offers peak downlink of 7Gbps and also supports 5G standalone, the next-gen 5G infrastructure that will roll out in the second wave. The 5G chip supports both mmWave and sub-6GHz spectrum of 5G connectivity, same as the X50. But it’s theoretical speeds are bumped up from 5Gbps to 7Gbps with up to 3Gbps upload. More crucially, the Snapdragon X55 supports 5G FDD which is required in Europe and other places to make use of low-frequency spectrum for 5G connectivity. The Snapdragon X55 also offers 4G/5G spectrum sharing. The chip supports Category 22 LTE standard and offers a peak downlink of 2.5Gbps using Full Dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO) for LTE that has 3D beamforming which makes better use of the available spectrum. It’s Qualcomm’s fastest 4G solution yet. Furthermore, the chip has better antenna tuning that improves power management. More importantly, the chip supports 5G Standalone specification. For now, all 5G infrastructure is based on 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) specification which will eventually transition to 5G Standalone. When that happens, devices sporting the modem will continue to connect to 5G networks. 5G Standalone essentially ditches the LTE backend, moving entirely to 5G infrastructure, allowing for more network flexibility and Network Slicing that offers lower latency to IoT devices. Qualcomm paid for Digit correspondent's travel and stay at MWC, Barcelona Related Reads: MWC 2019: Qualcomm announces 5G chip for PCs, Wi-Fi chip for automobiles Samsung Galaxy Fold unfolded in a 4-minute long video
