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Snapdragon 778 5G

Qualcomm revealed Snapdragon 778 5G Mobile Platform during the Annual 5G Summit.

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The new 5G Mobile Platform, that is, the Qualcomm powered Snapdragon 778 is designed by the company with cutting-edge technology and better implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Qualcomm has announced the new platform for the next generation of high-tier mobile phones from Honor, Motorola, Oppo, Xiaomi, Realme, and IQOO. The new Snapdragon 778 5G claims to enhance the gaming experience and also video and imaging with better AI.

The demand for OEMs for more platforms is increasing at a global rate, especially for high-tier smartphones. Qualcomm designed the new 5G mobile platform to address this problem as it brings many latest premium technologies and a wide range of features for a better experience in the future. The demand for quality tech has accelerated especially during the pandemic so the companies are trying to design better products that will be highly efficient in terms of performance and provide a top-notch entertainment experience as well. So, let’s have a look at all the new features and tech of the Snapdragon 778 5G Mobile Platform.

Snapdragon 778 5G Features

The new Snapdragon 778 5G Mobile Platform is featuring a Triple ISP which will allow the user to capture three photos or videos simultaneously. The options included in this shooting type are wide-angle, ultra-wide, and zoom along with the option of shooting from three different lenses all at once. So, when the user is capturing or recording the same subject from three different aspects, the camera system automatically merges these shots to finally produce a professional photography-like result. The videos can be also captured in 4K HDR10+ which is hard to differentiate if recorded in a mobile phone or a DSLR camera. The Snapdragon 778G also has Staggered HDR image sensors which allows one to capture computational HDR videos with improved detailing.

Snapdragon 778 5G
Image Source: qualcomm.com

6th Generation Qualcomm AI Engine

With every new platform released in the market, there is always improved technology behind it and one of the main reasons is more efficient AI-based applications. The Snapdragon 778G is featuring the latest 6th generation Qualcomm AI Engine with the Qualcomm Hexagon 770 processor. This assures high-performance delivery of up to 12 TOPs and twice the performance. The performance per watt has also increased as compared to its predecessor.

The capability of AI has been heightened as it will use AI-based noise suppression, AI-based camera, etc for a video call, zoom meeting, and even a voice call. The Snapdragon 778G also has the 2nd generation Qualcomm Sensing Hub which integrated a low power consuming AI processor for contextual awareness use cases. Honor has collaborated with Qualcomm as the brand new HONOR 50 series will be powered by Snapdragon 778G and this will set new industry standards for Honor.

Enhanced Gaming Experience

The new gaming features are one of the main attractions of the Snapdragon 778G. The platform is delivering select Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite Gaming features along with Variable Rate Shading (VRS) and Qualcomm Game Quick Touch. These are the features that have been unlocked in the 7-series. Users are looking for better gaming experience be it smartphones, laptops, or gaming consoles. The VRS feature which is enabled by the Qualcomm Adreno 642L GPU allows the user (developer) to specify and group the pixels being shaded with different game scenes. This helps in reducing the workload of GPU which leads to power saving by a huge amount while maintaining the highest visual fidelity. Along with this, the Qualcomm Game Quick Touch allows 20% faster input response which is also an advantage for a gamer.

Connectivity and Performance

Snapdragon 778G comes with the integrated Snapdragon X53 5G Modem-RF System which will deliver mmWave and sub-6 5G capabilities to more users around the globe. This new mobile platform is featuring Qualcomm FastConnect 6700 Connectivity and also supports multi-gigabit class Wi-Fi 6 speeds (up to 2.9 Gbps) with 4k QAM and access to 160MHz channels in both the 5GHz and 6GHz bands. It will support Bluetooth 5.2, lightning-fast Wi-Fi 6/6E, and 5G. The Qualcomm Kryo 670 is designed to generate up to 40% uplift in overall CPU performance and the Adreno 642L GPU will deliver up to 40% faster graphics rendering compared to the previous generations.

Windows 10x

Windows Cancels 10x, Launched a New Update for Windows 10 Instead.

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Windows 10 have been one of the most popular OS by Microsoft, and before the pandemic, the company had announced an even better version of the OS, i.e., Windows 10x. But today, Microsoft took it to their official blog and revealed that the company doesn’t have any plans to release the much-anticipated Windows 10x, also known by the codename ‘Santorini’. Rather, it will revamp the existing Windows 10. Microsoft also released a new version of the OS, version 21H1.

The Early Announcement

In 2019, Microsoft had announced that the company will release a new OS, Windows 10x, along with Microsoft’s new dual-screen devices. It was at the time when Microsoft announced its dual-screen foldable laptop, the Surface Neo, in October 2019. The company called Windows 10x, and the dual-screen laptops, its most ambitious projects of all time. But exactly one year ago, the company changed its statement and revealed that it is also planning to release the OS for the single-screen laptops, and those will be the first to get access to Windows 10x. Even during the last announcement, Microsoft had not given any dates on when it will officially launch the OS for any of the devices.

The Cancellation of Windows 10x

Though the company was really excited about the new OS for its lightweight devices, Microsoft today announced that it is has pulled the plug on Windows 10X. The company revealed the information in a blog post that included the announcement of the new update to the existing Windows 10.

In the announcement, Microsoft said that it was intending to launch the 10x technology for a certain group of customers. But in the past two years of exploration and experiments, the company has concluded that 10x can serve a larger group of people, so launching it for only a specific group won’t be fair. So instead of launching a separate OS, windows 10x, the company will be incorporating the key foundational 10X technology into the existing Windows 10 and other products of the company so that all the Windows customers can get benefitted.

Windows 10x
Image Source: storial.in

“Instead of bringing a product called Windows 10X to market in 2021 like we originally intended, we are leveraging learnings from our journey thus far and accelerating the integration of key foundational 10X technology into other parts of Windows and products at the company,” said the head of Windows servicing and delivery, John Cable, in a statement. 

Microsoft also confirmed that it has already started to include some of the 10x features into the Windows products, like the new app container technology has already been integrated into the Microsft products like the Microsoft Defender Application Guard and the Voice Typing.

The New Version 21H1 Update

Microsoft, along with announcing the cancellation of Windows 10x, also announced the rollout of the new version 21H1 update for Windows 10. The company announced the update release in February 2021 and finally launched it in May. Microsoft claimed that the new update is a result of the ongoing work from home situation, and it will provide a better experience for the customers in terms of security, remote access, speed and quality.

According to the blog post, the update won’t be available right away, and the company is trying to help the customers to get the most out of it, so it is going to offer a reliable download to them. The update’s preview build was already available for the Windows Insider Program, and after the positive feedback from the community, the update is finally out for the customers.

How to Get the Update

The company has announced the new update for the devices running the Windows 10 version 2004 and further. The users can go to their Windows settings and select “Windows Update” under “Update & Security”. Here they have to select “Check for Updates”. The screen will show the “Download and install” option, and then, after clicking on that option, the update will download onto the computer. The update is similar to a monthly Windows update, and you can directly start updating the OS by running the downloaded file. According to the company, the update will run faster on Windows 10, version 2004, and version 20H2.

Android 12

The Android 12 Leak Reveals Changes in Notification and Widget before Google I/O Event

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Google is all set to host its annual Google I/O event starting from 18th May, and before that, we have got some information on what it has in store for its huge customer base. The so-called leak is said to be a mere preview of what Google has brought for its users in terms of the updated new Android 12 and other devices that the company is about to launch at the event.

Google I/O 2021

Google I/O is an annual developer conference hosted by Google every year. It is a two to three days event, mostly held in the month of May, where the company showcases and launches its new products and services. Starting from 2008, the company has hosted 13 such events and has introduced new technologies to its customers, Android being one of them. Last year’s Google I/O event got cancelled due to the spread of the Coronavirus, and this year, the company is hosting the conference online through a live stream. The keynote will start on Tuesday, May 18th, at 1 PM ET/10 AM PT and will end on 20th May.

The Last Minute Android 12 Features Leak

Google published its Google I/O event schedule on 15th May, and along with that, there has been some information leak about the products and services that are to be launched during the event. The ‘leak’ aka the preview of these services has also given a glimpse of the changes made to the all-new Android 12. Recently, a video from the Jon Prosser show included a few slides of a presentation on Android 12, and those slides have a lot to say about Android 12.

The slides suggest that the new Android 12 will come with a new and revamped UI. The first slide describes sentences like, “A beautiful new experience,” “Stronger privacy and security protections,” and “All of your devices work better together.” So clearly, the company has worked on the looks as well as the security settings for Android 12. Further, the slide shows that there have been changes to the widgets and the notification bar, as one of the slides include different looking brightness toggle, weather widget, analog clock widget, a snooze/dismiss toggle, new media widget and notifications. Other than that, one of the slides from the Prosser show also displayed a new keyboard design and a new lock screen with a larger clock.

There have already been a lot of talks about Android 12 through leaks and rumours, among which there are a few that quite matches the new information from the Jon Prosser show. Only a day’s wait, and we will be able to know if there is even a little information that is correct about Android 12. If the rumours come out to be true, the new Android 12 will be the one to get the most advanced updates.

What Else to Expect?

Though Android 12 is said to be the prime attraction of the event, the much anticipated Pixel Watch may also steal the limelight and interest many. Jon Prosser show has already given a glimpse of a circular watch from Google last month. So we can expect the launch of Google’s first smartwatch at the event after it acquired Fitbit.

Also, there has been news that Samsung is also planning to launch the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 using Google’s operating system. So there may be an announcement of the same at the event. Other than that, since Google has already tweeted about the new Pixel Buds, it may also announce the launch of the same at Google I/O.

Though Google was likely to announce the new Pixel 5a at the event, since there has been an ongoing shortage of chips globally, maybe the company will skip launching the smartphone. There may be a similar case with the new mobile processor named Whitechapel (which the company have been working on for a while), as Google might not be able to launch the processor at the event. But we can at least expect the announcement of the same.

How to Watch the Live Stream?

Google’s I/O event will be a three days event, and the company will host its keynote through a live stream. Google has given all the details about the live stream on the Google I/O’ official website. The live stream of the opening keynote will be on YouTube, but to access the workshops, AMAs, live Q&A, and the other Google I/O event-related services, one needs to register to Google I/O through its website.

Intel

Intel Unveils the New 11th Gen Tiger Lake-H Processors for Gamers and Content Creators

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After the successful launch of the 11th Gen Intel Core H35 series, Intel has just launched its new series of Mobile Processors for the gaming geeks, business professionals and content creators. The company launched the 11th Generation Intel Core H-series, also known as the “Tiger Lake-H”, on Tuesday, claiming that the chip delivers the highest performance in laptops.

The 11th Gen H-series mobile processors include Core i9-11980HK, Core i9-11980H, Core i7-11800H, Core i5-11400H, Core i5-11260H. The processors are based on the Xe architecture, but the company is not in favour of branding them as Xe.

What’s New?

Intel’s new upgraded 11th Gen core Tiger Lake-H is a 10nm processor based on SuperFin process technology, specifically built to support high-end gaming and professional laptops. According to the company, the new processors are built on three eight-core chips and two six-core chips. The newly launched processors can access the high-speed GDDR6 memory directly and hence render a higher frame rate with lower latency. These are also capable of loading large textures faster. Compared to Intel’s 10th Gen H-series processors, the 11th Gen offers 2.5 times the total PCIe bandwidth to the CPU.

“These new H-series processors are an exciting extension of our 11th Gen mobile family with double-digit single-core and multi-core performance improvements, leading game play, direct-attached storage and 20 PCIe 4.0 lanes for true enthusiast-level platform bandwidth,” said Chris Walker, the corporate VP and GM of the Mobile Client Platforms Group at Intel.

Along with the 11th Gen processors, the company also unveiled new Intel vPro H-series processors, the eight-core and 16-thread Intel Core i9-11950H, and the Intel Xeon W-11000 series mobile processors.

The Comparison

Intel revealed that the Core i9-11980HK processor is the most powerful among all Intel processors and is best suited for gamers and boasts a 5GHz speed. Intel claimed that the processor is a better version of its Comet Lake processor and took AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX for comparison and claimed that core Tiger Lake-H provides 15 per cent higher performance than the AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX.

During the keynote, Intel displayed a chart of games, including Hitman 3, War Thunder, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, Far Cry New Dawn, etc., to compare the performances of the Tiger Lake-H and the AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX. The company also compared how better the former handles the heavy apps like Adobe Video Creation Workflow than the AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX. And it turned out to be 18 per cent better at app handling and 24 per cent better in photo processing than the AMD processor.

Laptops to Get the H-series processors

Along with the launch of the new processor, Intel also revealed that in the coming months, more than 80 devices are going to include the newly launched Intel H-series processor. Since the processor has been developed to fulfil the needs of gamers, business professionals and content creators, many laptop companies, including Asus, Dell and Lenovo, have already announced new laptops built on this processor.

Asus is all set to bring the Zephyrus series laptops, and according to the company, these laptops will boast Intel’s 11th gen Intel Core H-series chips. In the same league, Lenovo has also revealed that the Legion 7i and 5i Pro laptops from the company will also include the new Intel 11th Generation Intel Core H-series. These laptops are gaming laptops and will hit the market in the coming June and July months.

The mobile workstations, ZBook Fury G8, the ZBook Power G8, and the ZBook Studio G8 from HP are also to be powered by the newly launched chip. These are the gaming laptops and support Nvidia RTX 3080 GPU. Other than these companies, Dell is also going to update its upcoming series of laptops, i.e., Alienware M15, Dell G15, Alienware X-Series, XPS 15 and XPS 17 laptops, with the H-series processors by Intel. 

UploadVR Reveals the Detailed Features of Sony’s Upcoming PS5 Next-Generation VR Headset

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Sony announced its PlayStation5 next-generation VR headset in February 2021 and talked about some of its advanced features like a better field of view and higher resolution. But now, a story from UploadVR have given detailed information about these features of the VR headset by Sony. According to UploadVR, the new Sony VR headset will boast a 4K resolution, eye-tracking, and a vibration motor to enable the haptics.

The Announcement by Sony

In February, Sony announced that it is working on a next-generation VR headset for the PS5. The company did not give any information on the release date for the same but confirmed that 2021 won’t be the year for its launch. According to Sony, the headset will be a single cord high-resolution headset, with an improved field of view. The announcement from the company also included the release of the new development kits for its next-gen VR headset as well as the new VR controller, including some of the DualSense PS5 controller’s features.

The In-depth Reveal of the Features

Though the announcement by Sony did not include much about the features of the upcoming VR headset, the latest story by UploadVR gives a more extensive view of its major highlights.

The Resolution: UploadVR first talk about the high resolution of the headset, as it will boast a 4k resolution of 4000 x 2040 providing each eye with the 2000 x 2040 pixels experience. The first PlayStation VR only featured a 960 x 1080 pixels per-eye resolution. The resolution is even higher than the 1832 x 1920 pixels per eye resolution of the Oculus Quest 2. The higher the resolution better it will avoid the “screen-door effect” for the users giving them an even more realistic experience.

Separate Adjustable Dial for IPD: According to UploadVR reveal, the new Sony VR is also including a more adjustable dial for matching the IPD (interpupillary distance), i.e. to precisely measure the distance between the pupils of the eyes of the users. This way, the VR captures a perfect 3D image for the users.

Eye Movement Tracking: The new VR headset is enabled to track the eye movements added with the Foveated Rendering feature. According to UploadVR, the new headset will use eye movements as the input. The eye input of the users will also make the eye movement of their Avatar’s in the game look more realistic to the other players in the game.

Foveated Rendering: Then comes the super-popular graphical technique foveated rendering, which will render a more powerful GPU to the point the user is looking at. This way, GPU will be used majorly on the part where the user is focused, providing them more detailed scenes, and lesser GPU resources will be used on the other parts of the scene.  

The Oculus Quest and Quest 2 also have included such feature with a similar name, ‘fixed foveated rendering’. But the said feature is selected manually, and the user though gets a better vision where their gaze is focussed, but the rest of area lacks in resolution and the user can see that. But the foveated rendering included in the Sony VR headset is capable of adjusting the resolution wherever the user gazes.

Inside-Out Tracking: The previously launched VR sets are known for having “outside-in tracking”, which means that there had to be some sensors set up in the play area to track the controllers and their position while playing. But the new Sony VR headset will include special cameras to track the controllers, eliminating the need of setting up external sensors.

Other than that, according to the alleged sources, the new VR headset from Sony is also going to feature haptic feedback via an inbuilt motor to provide the users with a better in-action experience. Also, the company has eliminated the juggling with wires as the headset is connected to the PS5 system only through a single USB type-c cord.

It has been four years since Sony came with its original VR headset and looking at the new features of the upcoming one, we can clearly say that the company has put all its learning from the past in improving the new gadget for its users in every which way. Now, we just need to wait for the launch of the actual headset and see if it works as expected or fails the expectations of its users.

Colonial Pipeline

The White House working to aid the recent Colonial Pipeline Cyberattack.

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Colonial Pipeline is the top U.S. pipeline operator which was recently attacked by a ransomware group. The U.S. government said that this group of hackers might be new but they aren’t amateur hackers. This attack has plummeted the oil supply thus forcing the company to shut down the oil supply in the eastern states of the nation. The White House is working closely with Colonial Pipeline to help them recover the losses after the cyberattack.

The suspect behind this Colonial Pipeline cyberattack is not yet made official but a couple of industry resources have informed Reuters that the group DarkSide is one of the suspects. Cybersecurity has mentioned that veteran cybercriminals constitute the group of DarkSide whose main focus is to squeeze as much as possible from their target. Tension among government officials and lawmakers has increased and this attack is one of the most disruptive digital ransom schemes ever reported. (Reuters)

Colonial Pipeline

After the change of the political scenario in the U.S., the pipeline fix became one of the top priorities for the Biden administration and Washington, said Gina Raimondo, Commerce Secretary. The U.S. government was working vehemently so that Colonial Pipeline could restart the 8,850km pipeline network stretching from Texas to New Jersey. She further mentioned that the White House is working closely with the company, state, and local officials so that the company gets back and up running as soon as possible.

Colonial Pipeline
Image Source: bloombergquint.com

Colonial Pipeline has mentioned on Sunday that the main pipeline network is not in operation at this moment. But there are some smaller lines between the terminals and delivery points which are currently operational. The company is uncertain as to when the company can resume the entire pipeline network again.

Oil Supply Disrupted

Colonial Pipeline is responsible for transporting approximately 2.5 million barrels of gasoline per day and other fuels. It is shipped from the Gulf Coast refiners to the mid-Atlantic and southeastern United States consumers. This pipeline network supports the major airports of the U.S. including  Atlanta’s Hartsfield Jackson Airport. One spokesperson from the Charlotte Douglas International Airport said that the airport has a supply on hand which is supplied by another major pipeline along with Colonial.

The compromise of the oil supply network will have a significant impact on the regional fuel supplies. Since the company is uncertain about when the company will be fully operational again, this outage will affect the southeastern United States, said American Automobile Association. Once the crisis tends to continue prices will accelerate substantially in the southeastern states. Some of the U.S. states that are very vulnerable to this situation are Tennessee, Georgia, and Maryland.

Suspected Criminals for the Cyberattack

The investigation led by the U.S. government is in its early stage but still many of the industrial experts and a former U.S. official suspect it to be the cybercriminal group called DarkSide. DarkSide is a professional ransomware group that avoids setting targets in the post-Soviet states. Their goal is to break into a network and then use software to encrypt the data while they steal data at times. Once this is done they ask for payment to decrypt the data. Additional payments are charged as they continuously threaten to publish the stolen content.

An unnamed source has said that this time the hackers stole more than 100 gigabytes of data from Colonial. While the FBI was working with both government and private officials, the hackers took the cloud computing system offline that they used to collect the stolen data. It seems that the data of Colonial was not further transported to any other system. The company has declined to make any further comments regarding DarkSide.

The Biden Administration

On Saturday, President Joe Biden was briefed about the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack and that the government was trying to restore the company and prevent disruption in supply. The lawmakers are looking forward to working more with privately-held critical infrastructure companies to guard against cyberattacks. (Reuters) U.S. Senator, Bill Cassady has said that this is a question and threat to national security and something that the Democrats and Republicans can work on together.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is issuing temporary hours of service exemption so that refined products are transported to 17 southern and east coast states including Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, and New York. Alternative transportations can be required at any hour and the oil refining companies are looking into it.