Global Mobile Operators Select Qualcomm Snapdragon X50 5G Modem for Mobile 5G NR Trials in 2018

Move over 4G there’s a New Sheriff in Town: Mobile 5G

2018 is the year when the world opens its eyes to mobile 5G connectivity. Qualcomm is all set to showcase their Snapdragon X50 5G NR modem. Qualcomm has tied up with a number of OEMs to bring mobile 5G network to the world, with the first smartphone having the Snapdragon X50 5G NR mobile 5G network coming out in the first half of 2019. Chinese brand Vivo has also said that consumers can expect the first mobile 5G smartphone somewhere next year.

Some of the major mobile phone OEMs partnering with Qualcomm in their Snapdragon X50 5G modem trials are Xiaomi, Global, Nokia, Oppo, HTC, ZTE, LG and HMD. Notably absent from this list, are the companies- Samsung, Apple and Huawei, accounting for over 50% of the world’s smartphone market. Most of these names signing up for Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X50 5G modem have major presence in Asia rather than the US. There’s a more than possible chance that Asia maybe the first to see the likes of mobile 5G.

OEMs partnering with Qualcomm for mobile 5G: 

Fujitsu, Novatel wireless, Netgear, Sharp, WNC, Telit, Wingtech and NetComm Wireless are some of the other OEMs to sign up for mobile 5G with Qualcomm.

Devices manufactured by these OEMs will function at bandwidths of 6GHz and millimeter wavelength spectrum bands and will supposedly come out in 2019.

Other devices featuring Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X50 5G Modem with mobile 5G:

Other than OEMs featuring Snapdragon X50 5G modem, other devices to have mobile 5G are Always Connected PCs, VR Headsets and AR Headsets and Extended Reality Headsets. The speeds of this mobile 5G network are never seen before with speeds reaching 5Gbps and offering faster downloads, faster browsing speeds, better streaming from apps and instant cloud access on smart phones. The snapdragon X50 5G modem is also supposed to offer low latency in Always Connected PCs and ultra-low latency in HMDs.

The Qualcomm snapdragon X50 5G modem is going to be compatible with both 4G and mobile 5G networks.

Network Operators pairing up with Qualcomm on the mobile 5G Journey: 

Many network operators are also partnering up with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X50 5G network for mobile 5G. Some of the more prominent names are AT&T, Sprint China Telecom, British Telecom, China Unicom, China Mobile, NTT DOCOMO, Verizon, Orange, Telstra and Singtel besides others.
The aim is to combine Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X50 5G modem with Smartphone and other device’s designs that are compatible with mobile 5G and which are also compliant with mobile 5G standards. After that smartphones and other devices supporting mobile 5G will go in for commercialization.

Showcasing the Qualcomm Snapdragon X50 5G modem: 

Qualcomm is all set to showcase mobile 5G with their Snapdragon X50 5G modem in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress. Qualcomm has a booth all set up with their mobile 5G modem delivering Speeds of several gigabytes per second.

A HTC headset with mobile 5G connectivity was recently launched at an industry event in Taiwan.

Nintendo's Next Big Mobile Game Will Be 'Mario Kart Tour'

Popular Kart Racer – Mario Kart Tour

An outbreak of Nintendo news had been announced recently among which was a Mario movie with the Despicable Me studio, the launch of online service of Nintendo and to summarize Miyamoto, the revelation that Nintendo’s is a `fun’ company and not a `games’ company.

However, the biggest news of all was the announcement of Nintendo which was their next huge mobile project - Mario Kart Tour. The game is presently under development and according to the company; the popular kart racer would be released in Android as well as iOS devices before March 2019.

This would be a first for the Mario Kart franchise on modern smartphones. Though Nintendo has not been sharing much besides a logo, there seems to be a lot from the disclosure and the time in the mobile spaces for Nintendo has been a hit or miss. Recently Miitomo their first experimental mobile had been shut down and Super Mario run excellently failed to convert interested player into playing players with its `one and one’ at a cost of $10.

However Fire Emblem Heroes in contrast had made $100M in its first year with its extremely profitable gacha model together with the Nintendo’s piece of huge $1 billion and Pokémon GO pie.

Nintendo Partnering with Illumination

The big question is where will Mario Kart Tour fall and how does Nintendo tend to monetize it? The company had announced that 14.86 million Switch consoles had been sold together with around half as many copies of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, a straight port of game which sold a further 8 million copies also on the Wii U.

Nintendo is said to have more mobile tiles in the pipeline. Initially the company had intended to release five smartphone games by 2017 though only Super Mario Run, Fire Emblem Heroes, Animal Crossing, Pocket Cam together with the ill-fated Miitomo social app had made it till now. The Wall Street Journal had reported last year that Nintendo had been operational on a Legend of Zelda mobile title.

Moreover, Nintendo had also made an announcement that it would be partnering with Illumination for a movie known as Mario. Illumination is well known for animated hit films like Despicable Me and Minions. Besides the title together with a release window, details pertaining to Mario Kart Tour mobile game have not been disclosed by Nintendo.

Additional Mobile Titles in Progress

Tweet of Nintendo reads thus `The chequered flag has been raised and the finish line is near. A new mobile application is now in development: Mario Kart Tour! #MarioKartTourReleasing in the fiscal year ending March 2019.’Now it is left to be seen and only time will tell what Mario Kart Tour achieves in maintaining its relative success of its smartphone siblings.

While the Nintendo Switch had sold around 15 million units from the time of its launch in March 2017, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe had sold around 7.33 million units. Nintendo could have additional mobile titles in progress. The company had observed that the smartphone linked revenue had been around JPY 29.1 billion, in its nine-month earnings report.

Google Pixel 3 Release Date Rumours: This Could Be 2018’s Best Phone

Rumor Has it: All We’ve Heard so Far about the new Google pixel 3

Since Google’s pixel first released in 2016, it has been one of the best phones that is out there. Google then repeated its spectacular performance with pixel two the year after. It will be no surprise now when Google pixel 3, which is slated to be released this year, will repeat that same performance.


As a major contender to Apple’s IPhone, The Google pixel 3 is a highly anticipated release. With a face id, doing away with the annoying bezel or reducing it and debuting with android’s latest release in the maybe department, the phone is also slated to have much more.

When can we expect the Google pixel 3?

Taking an educated guess, we would say that Google is all set on an October launch or to be specific, A launch date of October 4th with the Google pixel 3 coming on shelves somewhere between 16th to 19th of the same month.

Google has been fairly consistent when it comes to launching its phones. The first pixel came out on October 4th 2016 and pixel 2 came out on 4th October the following year, with both phones hitting the shelves on the 25th and 19th of the same month (different year naturally) respectively.

But keep in mind predicting the exact site of sale is not possible as or again you can take an educated guess as the Google pixel 3 has not actually been announced yet.

Rumor about the design of the Google pixel 3 and its features:

Based on an expert website, the Google pixel 3 is rumored to be coming out in 3 models codenamed albacore, crosshatch and blueline. These names are a part of Google’s tradition of naming all their products after species of fish.

As for the specs that the Google pixel 3 will have is anyone’s guess. There has not been much leaks regarding the Google pixel 3’s specs, but based on competing with other phones in the market, some of the latest specs might be seen on the Google pixel 3.

The Google pixel 3 is said to be coming with Qualcomm’s snapdragon 845 processor which is supposed to make the Google pixel 3 25% faster than its predecessor which runs on a 835 snapdragon chip.

Coming at the premium end of the market, all phones have started reducing the bezel surrounding the phone. It may come as no surprise if Google does the same as well.

Another feature the Google pixel 3 is rumored to have is the Face id that has become so popular with Apple’s IPhone. Besides this an under screen finger print scanner and wireless charging also seem to be in the specs list of the Google pixel 3 based on various experts in the field.

What we do know for certain based on past experience with pixel phones is that Google will launch their newest offering with the latest android OS which is the Android 9.0.

How much will the Google pixel 3cost?

Since Apple has launched IPhone X, prices of smartphones in the premium end of the market have increased so it may mean that the Google pixel 3 is likely to burn not only a huge hole in your pocket but also in your bank account.

Talking Artificial Intelligence to the Next Generation

Bringing artificial intelligence as a subject to study for younger generation

The world is moving towards the artificial intelligence and it will become an integral part of everything from technology, hardware, software to almost anything comprehensible. Before that happens we need to get our next generation known about its intricate and complex concepts and science governing it.

Taking artificial intelligence right to the younger audience wouldn’t be a simple task given its complexity. However a professor from the Queensland University of technology has found a remarkable way of teaching the intricate working of the artificial intelligence with a simple book titled “The Complete Guide to Artificial intelligence for Kids”.

Introducing Artificial intelligence to kids

The professor of the Robotics from QUT named Michael Milford is keen on making the young generation adept at understanding the artificial intelligence than any generation before them. He is introducing the AI to the kids in the primary school through a specially crafted book and a number of accompanying tactics which makes the complex themes and working of AI as simple enough to understand by a young mind. The best thing about this teaching methodology is that it can even used to teach AI even to the parents and grandparents alike which will help in creating a world where AI isn’t an enigma.

Michael has created this teaching program by drawing the insights from his vast experiences as the teacher as well as a capable researcher in the field robotics. He is also well versed in the field of the autonomous vehicles and even the exclusive brain-related technology.

In simple words he is best person to unlock the mysteries of the AI to the younger generation in a way which is both interaction and educational in every given manner. It is worth pointing out that Michael is regular speaker on the subject of Artificial intelligence at varied conference, schools, workshops and other popular events like World Science Festival Brisbane.



Michaela states that currently our world is buzzing with the talks about AI and the demand of deriving insights and information utilizing the AI capabilities is at its peak. We are bringing the AI right to the every basic sector of the society from the transport, finance, government to the public institutions. Therefore it is necessary to bring the knowledge of the artificial intelligence in tits and bits which help them in getting the bigger picture of the AI like even we can’t understand and or make them understand the way we know it.

Educating kids in their way using Artificial intelligence

The inspiration behind taking AI to the kids emerges from the constant enquiries made by his son about his work. IN order to make him understand about his work he had to make his understand some bits of the robotics then some bits about the AI. But when it came to AI he had make his understand a number of basic underlying concepts like how actually AI works, learns, interpret data and how good or bad affects it can have upon the society.

Artificial intelligence as simple as it sounds because it brings the culmination of varied fields like machine learning, science, computing, mathematics and other but this book helps in explaining everything to kids.

Philips SmartSleep: Philips personal health solutions at CES

Throw those Sleeping Pills Away: there’s a New Sleep Partner in Town: The Philips SmartSleep

 

For those who don’t sleep easy or who only manage to get a few hours of sleep, sleeping pills and the rest seem to be a commonplace phenomenon in their medicine cabinets. Only those who don’t get a goodnight’s sleep are aware of the actual importance of it. That’s not to say that others out there don’t know of the same but when you have something you don’t really comprehend the value of it till it’s gone. Well, all that’s going to change with Philips SmartSleep

Philips SmartSleep was recently launched at the CES held in Las Vegas, the company claims to give you a better night’s sleep without needing to put in any extra hours of dosing. You will reportedly get up feeling more alert, refreshed and rejuvenated.

What is Philips SmartSleep about? 

Philips SmartSleep is a foam-like headband that is supposed to give you a relaxing night’s sleep. This gadget plays soft soothing sounds to help you get that good night’s sleep. It is said that while playing these relaxing tones from the Philips SmartSleep you can get more energy from your sleep.

Besides recording the quality of your sleep on to an app that connect to the Philips SmartSleep, that you can check in the morning, the Philips SmartSleep kicks into motion once you enter a “slow wave sleep”, which is basically a sleep stage where your breathing slows as well as your heart rate with relaxed muscles. For those who don’t get sleep easy, reaching this stage itself might be difficult and in that case how much good this product will do is anyone’s guess.

How does the Philips SmartSleep really know when you’ve reached that stage of sleep? The answer is simple there is a lot of complex algorithms involved in the Philips SmartSleep. These algorithms were made in close partnership with various neurologists and doctors.

The Philips SmartSleep has sensors in it that helps detect when a person is in the said stage of sleep. The customized tones are then played when a person is in this stage of sleep, with the tones playing through an integrated speaker, the tones are played at a volume and their timing is all customized to make this stage of sleep more relaxing and lasting while using the Philips SmartSleep.

Testing conducted on the Philips SmartSleep: 

Philips says that they have tested this product on people who don’t really get enough sleep because of their hectic lifestyles and they go on to say that about 70% of this test population found that they got a feeling of being less tired when using the Philips SmartSleep. The target market is seemingly those who don’t get enough sleep, not those who have a difficulty in sleeping in the first place. The test subjects were shown to be more alert, having a higher level of energy and who had a better quality of sleep overall.
As to how many were exactly tested, there is no clear indication. Philips also goes on to say that the Philips SmartSleep is clinically proven and is the first sleeping wearable that is come out.