Qualcomm

For years, Samsung Mobile has been dancing between two mobile processors, the Snapdragon chips from Qualcomm as well as the Exynos from its own sibling, Samsung Electronics LSI. In the past, the difference between the two chips in the same phone models hasn't been that noticeably but that gap seems to be getting wider and wide. Matters have seemed to come to a head this year with the Galaxy S20 and its Snapdragon 865 and Exynos 990 variants. According to benchmarks and user testing, the two couldn't be further apart in terms of performance.

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Qualcomm has revealed its next-generation audio SoCs for truly wireless earbuds, and if you've been considering a set of AirPods Pro or similar, you may want to wait until later in the year. The Qualcomm QCC514x and QCC304x Bluetooth chipsets for earbuds promise features like integrated active noise cancelation, lower power requirements, and support for voice assistants like Alexa and the Google Assistant.

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Today the Black Shark 3 PRO was revealed in full, complete with physical button shoulder triggers. This device is made for mobile (Android-based) gaming, and comes prepared for all the game streaming action you'll very possibly be enjoying in 2020. Instead of connecting a 3rd-party hardware controller, this device itself is the controller - sort of like you've got a Nintendo Switch, without all the Nintendo.

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5G is big in mobile but that's not the only place it'll be in, naturally. Desktop and laptop computers are also fair game but only if they have the hardware to slurp from that high-speed network. Most will use external peripherals but Qualcomm is, of course, pushing a new breed of Always On, Always Connected PCs that this year will gain the ability to tap into 5G networks. And to reassure future buyers that they will be getting their money's worth, the chipmaker is listing which network operators will be supporting Snapdragon-powered 5G PCs when they launch this year.

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Qualcomm has revealed its newest 5G mixed reality headset reference design based on the Snapdragon XR2, a wirelessly-connected VR and AR shortcut for manufacturers to bring new models to market. While it may look a whole lot like the XR1 reference design, this new version adds in 5G connectivity and higher-resolution displays, among other improvements.

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The next Redmi smartphone (from the Xiaomi spin-off Redmi) is officially called the Redmi K30 Pro. This device was teased a couple of times by the official Redmi account on Weibo, a major microblogging service where many China-centric brands provide insight to fans and potential users alike. There, Redmi’s Lu Weibing showed a bit of the next big 5G smartphone this week.

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Apple could use a new WiGig wireless standard to supercharge iPhone 12 file transfers, insiders claim, potentially making AirDrop-style exchanges much faster. The next-generation iPhone, expected to be released later in 2020, is believed to be Apple's first to offer 5G, but sources say that the fifth-generation cellular networks won't be the only wireless speed boost the new smartphone embraces.

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As carriers around the world have started rolling out 5G networks, Qualcomm has been iterating on its 5G modem RF-Systems. This began with the launch of the Snapdragon X50, which was followed by the X55. Now, it seems, the company is ready to launch its third-generation 5G modem-RF system, today announcing the Snapdragon X60.

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Qualcomm may be providing the 5G modem for the iPhone 5G later this year, but rumors suggest it could end up being connected to an antenna of Apple's own design. The two companies settled their legal spat over technology licensing last year, paving the way for Apple to use Qualcomm's 5G tech for its 2020 iPhone. However not all of the hardware on offer has come up to Apple's standards, it's suggested.

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Samsung's big Unpacked 2020 event - and the Galaxy S20 5G family that it revealed - had a glaring hole in it. The S20 5G series are more powerful than any phones Samsung has had before, make 5G the default, and double-down on the camera technology the company insists is the number one reason for smartphone upgrades. Question is - where's the direct iPhone 11 rival?

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Reports from Taiwan today suggest that the iPhone 5G in late 2020 may be beaten to the punch by an iPad Pro. The 5G-capable modem hardware that'll be included in this next-generation iPad is not yet known. It may be similar to what's predicted for the next-generation iPhone, that being the rumored 5nm-based A14 chips paired with Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 modems. That'll supply the next iPhone set with all the 5G your heart could desire, regardless of carrier here in the USA.

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Some might be wondering what a smartphone processor, often regarded as the CPU, has to do with recording in 8K. No matter how powerful these large imaging sensors become, they can't do all the work themselves and needs a separate imaging processor to, well, process the data. On a smartphone, that fall in the domain of the System-on-Chip and Qualcomm is only too happy to show how its latest Snapdragon 865 can enable 8K video recording even using something like a 48 megapixel Sony IMX586.

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