Snapdragon 855 is the name of the next flagship chipset from Qualcomm that will power smartphones in 2019. The company unveiled the new chipset at its 3rd Annual Summit in Maui, Hawaii, same as last year when the Snapdragon 845 was announced. While the Day 1 Keynote focused heavily on 5G and how it will be transformative enough to be treated as a basic infrastructure like electricity, the Snapdragon 855 announcement right at the very end. Qualcomm did not reveal the details of the upcoming chipset except for the fact that it will be faster than the previous generation with AI capabilties that is reported 3 times better. The rumours are strong that the Snapdragon 855 is based on a 7nm manufacturing process, yet it’s still not confirmed. What we do know for sure is that the Snapdragon 855 will be the first mobile chipset to come with an integrated 5G modem. Qualcomm will also offer the chipset with 4G LTE capabilties for markets where 5G is far from being a reality (Read: India). The Snapdragon 855 will have 5G NR integrated in it that will enable smartphones to enjoy 5G connectivity across both sub-6GHz and mmWave. With things like adaptive beam forming and multiple antenna configurations, the 5G modem in the Snapdragon 855 is going to help smartphones make actual use of 5G networks. In that regard, both Verizon and AT&T, along with telecom providers from China, South Korea, Japan and Europe are ready to deploy their 5G networks commercially in 2019. Qualcomm has scheduled a keynote address focused on the Snapdragon 855 on Day 2 of the summit, that is tomorrow, where it is likely going to outline the CPU microarchitecture, GPU improvements and other key details. Meanwhile, the company did announce some interesting features of the Snapdragon 855. 4th Generation AI Engine The Snapdragon 855 will play host to the 4th generation AI Engine. At the keynote, Qualcomm said the AI Engine on it will rely on the Kryo CPU, the Adreno GPU and the Hexagon ISP to crunch through machine learning processes despite strong rumours suggesting that the flagship chipset will house a dedicated NPU. We are awaiting more details on the AI capabilties, but Qualcomm did hype up by claiming it is two times ahead of a certain 7nm SoC that’s Android compatible, a clear jab at Huawei’s Kirin 980 that powers the Mate 20 Pro. The AI Engine also bring a 3X jump in AI performance over the Snapdragon 845. Computer Vision capable ISP The next-generation Spectra ISP on the Snapdragon 855 will have computer vision capabilities. It’s the same capability that allows Google to have features like Night Sight on the Pixel 3 XL, and by the looks of it, Qualcomm will democratise it and allow other OEMs to make use of computer vision techniques to recognise, understand and take actions based on the environment you are shooting. Needless to say, that means a big improvement in the way AI works in cameras. There will be further information on the new ISP in the keynote address scheduled for tomorrow. 3D Sonic Sensor Qualcomm demonstrated it’s own take of in-display fingerprint sensor at CES and MWC in 2018, and in the Snapdragon 855, it will be baked in. Qualcomm’s take is different from the ones that the OnePlus 6T uses, in the sense that it uses ultrasonic sound waves to create an accurate 3D image of your finger’s ridge pattern. Qualcomm named it the 3D Sonic Sensor and claimed the technology to be the most secure biometric authentication among mobile devices. While that remains questionable, Qualcomm did say the technology will work even when you have a wet or an oily finger. Snapdragon Elite Gaming The Snapdragon 855 will not only have a more powerful Adreno GPU (again, no specific, technical details have been revealed yet), Qualcomm said it’s working with major mobile gaming companies to offer a service that it calls “Snapdragon Elite Gaming”. It sounds a lot like Huawei’s GPU Turbo with Qualcomm working to optimise popular mobile games to run best on the Snapdragon mobile platform. It also promised “console-grade graphics” in a mobile device, which again sounds highly ambitious and I’ll reserve my skepticism about till I actually get my hands on the tech. Nevertheless, the Snapdragon 855 will power most flagship and high-end devices in 2019, competing against Huawei’s Kirin 980, the Samsung Exynos 9820 and of course, the Apple A12 Bionic. While Qualcomm will do its best to promote the chipset and it’s capabilities, it will have to face the reality of decreasing smartphone sales. New reports are claiming that people are choosing to stick to their existing devices for longer, with mobile performance saturating at its peak. Images source: Qualcomm We will have more details to share about the Snapdragon 855 tomorrow, as Qualcomm’s Annual Summit will hit Day 2, so stay tuned for updates. Disclaimer: Qualcomm paid for my travel and stay at Maui, Hawaii for the Snapdragon Annual Summit 2018.
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Buying a flagship TV generally means going for an OLED TV but if you are someone that will watch TV in a brightly lit environment or a room with a lot of sunlight, then chances are you will need somet...
The clamshell design of the laptop has existed since the very beginning of the category, with not many significant changes being made to the design. Lenovo tried something radical with the Yoga Book, a laptop with two displays (and no keyboard), but at the time, the device wasn’t very well received. However, Windows Central has now reported that Microsoft may be working on its own version of a dual-screen PC which could be called Surface Centaurus. According to Windows Central’s report, Microsoft is working closely with Intel in the development of Centaurus. Incidentally, this won’t be the first dual display device Microsoft would be working on, with the cancelled Project Andromeda being the first. Microsoft even dabbled in the idea of a digital journal with two displays as far back as 2010, but the project was abandoned. According to the report, Microsoft now plans to launch the dual screen 2-in-1 machine by fall of 2019. Interestingly, the device may not run a traditional version of the Windows operating system but could instead run Windows Core OS. Windows Core OS is a modular operating system that Microsoft has been developing for use in devices that do not fall into the standard form factor. Microsoft has dabbled in unique form factors for a while, with the Surface Pro being one of the examples of their eccentric experiments paying off. Back in the days of Windows Phone, Project Andromeda was rumoured to be the next big development from Microsoft, but the project was eventually shelved. Now Surface Centaurus could be a rebranding of Project Andromeda, but Windows Central report states that Surface Centaurus is a different device from Project Andromeda, which was supposed to be a smartphone. Surface Centaurus is looking to be a more laptop-centric device, but until Microsoft releases any official statements, we will never know. However, Microsoft isn’t the only company to be working on something like this. Asus had shown off Project Precog, the company’s experimental thin and light laptop which ditches the keyboard in favour of another display. We got our hands on a prototype of Project Precog at Computex earlier this year. If Microsoft does indeed launch a dual display laptop, we would expect it to set a standard for the new class of device.
Popular remote connectivity software, TeamViewer, revealed their usage statistics during the announcement of the opening of their new Mumbai office. The number of installations from Q1 2017 to Q1 2018 grew by 23% along with a rise of 28.6% in the number of active monthly devices. Connections also grew by 25.6%. Essentially, the usage of TeamViewer in India is at an all time high with around 96,200,000 installations in the country until now. Considering this massive growth and in an effort to overcome geographical challenges, the company decided to open up an office in the country at Mumbai. Earlier, operations of the APAC region were conducted from Adelaide, Australia. Realising the enormous potential in this region, they had earlier opened offices at more locations including Shanghai and Tokyo, and now in Mumbai for the South Asia region. “Opening an office in India is integral part of our APAC growth ambitions with a strong focus on going multi-local to be closer to our existing customers and even better understand the market, client, and partner needs,” said Oliver Steil, CEO of TeamViewer, speaking to the media in Mumbai. “With our strong commitment to India we aim to address the substantial opportunities of work-style reform and the strong demand from businesses of all sizes for secure remote connectivity solutions at scale. We are very excited to further strengthen our footprint in one of the fastest growing economies in the world that is at the forefront of digital transformation.” During an interaction, Oliver stated the company’s high ambitions of growing in the Indian market by taking into account the various local initiatives. “With the growth of India’s digital footprint, more and more industries in the country are developing and implementing IoT, AR, and AI innovation. TeamViewer offers best-in-class connectivity enabling our customers to securely tap into these megatrends,” said Krunal Patel, TeamViewer Head of Sales India and South Asia. “Our channel partner fraternity will play a pivotal role in driving this growth with sector specific solutions. We already have Ingram micro signed up as our first distributor in India and are quickly expanding our existing reseller network.” TeamViewer also shared global stats displaying their strength in numbers. With more than 1.8 billion installations, there are more than 274 million active endpoints with over 40 million of them being concurrent connections or sessions. TeamViewer had over 330 million active devices (at least one successful incoming and outgoing connection) in the last year.
Apple has announced its best of 2018 list, recognising the top apps, games, movies and more, which made waves on the App Store this year. Battle Royale games like PUBG Mobile and Fortnite have clearly dominated the mobile gaming scene this year and the same has been stated in Apple’s game trend of the year. Users seem to have become more mindful of their needs and the self-care category has been crowned the app trend of the year. Donut Country has been declared as the app of the year for iPhone, while the iPhone app of the year is Procreate Pocket. The company has also announced the best apps in various categories and here’s the entire list: Best Apps of the Year Alongside the above-mentioned app and game of the year for iPhone, Apple has also announced the same for iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. App Trend of the Year - Self-care Game Trend of the Year - Battle Royale-style gaming iPhone App of the Year - Procreate Pocket iPhone Game of the Year - Donut County iPad App of the Year - Froggipedia iPad Game of the Year - Gorogoa Mac App of the Year - Pixelmator Pro Mac Game of the Year - The Gardens Between Apple TV App of the Year - Sweat Apple TV Game of the Year - Alto’s Odyssey Favorite Watch Apps of the Year Top 10 Songs (India) Drake is Artist of the Year, while the Breakout Artist of the Year is Juice WRLD. Song of the Year is ‘I Like It’ by Cardi B featuring Bad Bunny & J. Balvin, while Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour bagged Album of the Year. Apple also revealed the top 10 songs for India, which are: Atif Aslam - Dil Diyan Gallan Badshah & Qaran - Tareefan Camila Cabello - Havana (feat. Young Thug) Ritviz - Udd Gaye (Bacardi House Party Sessions) Drake - God's Plan Ed Sheeran - Shape of You Zack Night & Jasmin Walia - Bom Diggy Diggy Maroon 5 - Girls Like You (feat. Cardi B) Charlie Puth - Attention Post Malone - rockstar (feat. 21 Savage) TV and Movies Apple has included a slew of best movies (both global and India listing) and TV shows in its best of 2018 list. Best Movies of 2018 on Apple TV and iTunes Annihilation Black Panther Crazy Rich Asians Eighth Grade Green Book* Hereditary Incredibles 2 Minding the Gap A Star is Born* Won’t You Be My Neighbor *available for pre-order Best Movies - India Soorma Raazi Hichki Ocean’s 8 Deadpool 2 The Shape of Water Jumanji Welcome to the Jungle Justice League Tiger Zinda Hai Tomb Raider (2018) Best TV Shows of 2018 on Apple TV App and iTunes The Americans Atlanta Barry The Expanse The Good Fight The Good Place The Handmaid’s Tale Killing Eve The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Pose Additionally, there are also the best podcasts, books and audiobooks of 2018 Best Podcasts of the Year In The Dark Caliphate The Dream Everything is Alive Slow Burn Dr. Death Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard Bubble Bundyville A Very Fatal Murder Wolverine: The Long Night Serial The Daily This American Life 99% Invisible Best Books of the Year Book of the Year: American Marriage Best Nonfiction: The Library Book Best Mystery: The Witch Elm Best Thriller: Light It Up Best Bio/Memoir: Educated Best Romance: Too Wilde to Wed Best Science Fiction/Fantasy: Spinning Silver Best Feel-Good Fiction: When Life Gives You Lululemons Best Literary Fiction: There There Best Young Reader Book: Harbor Me Best Audiobooks of the Year Audiobook of the Year: American Marriage Best Nonfiction: 21 Lessons for the 21st Century Best Mystery: Something in the Water Best Thriller: Long Road to Mercy Best Bio/Memoir: Becoming Best Business Audiobook: Dare to Lead Best Health, Mind, Body: Girl, Wash Your Face Best Family Audiobook: Rebound Best Humor: Calypso Best Historical Fiction: The Great Alone Google Play also recently announced its “Best of 2018” listing, which you can check out here. 
