This week the folks at Nokia have revealed their first Android flagship - the Nokia 8. This device's specifications and release information were shared by the company right on cue, and today we've got the lot. This device is a flagship in all the ways - or most of the ways - and Android flagship should.
Right this minute the biggest names in smartphones are speeding toward the next "big thing" in mobile devices: Augmented Reality. Qualcomm is the latest company to make a public showing of their efforts with what they call "Qualcomm Spectra ISP, 2nd Generation." That' ISB as in Image Signal Processor, this paving the way for high-powered smartphone cameras that can do things we've never seen before.
Advances in mobile battery charging over the past half-decade have been extraordinary. Not in their capacity - sadly we've still got science to blame for that - but in their speed to recharge. Comparing the latest iPhones to the latest top-tier Android smartphones with regard to charge speeds shows an real trend: Android phones seem to recharge their batteries faster than iPhone.
The U.S. International Trade Commission has revealed plans to investigate Apple over Qualcomm's claims that the company is infringing some of its patents. According to the ITC, it received a complaint from Qualcomm on July 7; following a vote, the commission decided to proceed with a probe into the matter, saying it will have its results 'at the earliest practicable time.' It notes that the commission hasn't yet made any determinations about the case's merit.
Despite the surge of interest and content in consumer virtual reality, thanks to the likes of Oculus and HTC Vive, proponents quickly saw the technical limits of current technology and devices. For one, wands and sticks make for poor approximation of our hands. For another, these VR headsets keep us tethered to desks or, at the very least, laptops. The next wave of VR innovation seems to be focused at freeing headsets from the shackles and cables, and HTC is jumping at the forefront with its new Vive standalone headset, powered by none other than Qualcomm’s latest platform.
Qualcomm recorded a hefty 40-percent drop in quarterly profit for its fiscal Q3 2017, with the chip-maker blaming its ongoing legal spat with Apple for biting into revenues. The news comes as four new companies - all closely tied to Apple's supply chain - have filed new antitrust complaints against Qualcomm, while it itself has expanded its demands for an iPhone import ban to Europe. Still, Qualcomm warned that, until the royalty war is over, the financial horizon is still looking unsettled.
The iPhone is under attack, with Qualcomm demanding that Apple be blocked from bringing the best-selling smartphone into the US while a patent battle is waged. Qualcomm has filed a request with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) to not only investigate its claims of intellectual property infringement, but bar their import into the country. Of course, those versions of the iPhone that use Qualcomm's cellular systems wouldn't be on that list.
Our OnePlus 5 review focuses on the real-world use of the smartphone with special regard paid to design and the use of the device's camera. The value of this smartphone is in its ability to perform at or above the level of its competitors whilst costing just a bit less than the most popular smartphones on the market. While the OnePlus 5 costs more than its predecessors, it also has a few features that make it just a bit more premium, too.
When we're talking about mobile processors, a lot of attention is paid to the high-end, like Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835. The mid-range is just as important to many phone manufacturers, however, and Qualcomm wants its processors to feature in those devices as well. With that in mind, Qualcomm has launched its new Snapdragon 450 at Mobile World Congress Shanghai.
Although fingerprint scanners hiding underneath glass displays is quite the hot topic in smartphones these days, the dream isn't actually new. It has been around a few years back and some even had nearly working solutions. One of those is Qualcomm and it is now reminding everyone of that. At MWC Shanghai, the mobile chip maker will be showing off its latest ultrasonic fingerprint scanner running underneath the display of an actual commercial smartphone. And, in a way, it will be showing Samsung what it might be missing out on.
Qualcomm's mobile processors usually follow clear lines. The 200 series on the very low end, followed by 400, 600, and then the 800 flagship platform. Things might get a bit hazy if and when the Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 comes around. Although part of the lower mid-range line, the still unannounced processor supposedly shares more in common with the higher, though now somewhat outdated, Snapdragon 625, potentially giving birth to a new line of wallet-friendly smartphones that not only perform well but also last longer.
The number of smart speakers looks set to grow exponentially, with Qualcomm cooking up a turnkey platform to speed up manufacturers getting the next Google Home or Amazon Echo to store shelves. Dubbed the Qualcomm Smart Audio Platform, it's a combination of a low-power Snapdragon processor, AllPlay music streaming, and wireless connectivity, all on one chipset. To that, Qualcomm bakes a "Far Field Voice" multi-microphone system.
