Smartphones
Samsung is announcing today that it has begun mass production of 12 GB and 16 GB LPDDR5X modules in the industry's thinnest package. Samsung's shrunken memory packages measure approximately 0.65 mm in thickness, making them 0.06 mm (~9%) thinner than standard LPDDR5X packages. The company expects the new DRAM devices to be used to make for thinner smartphones, or improve their performance by enabling better airflow inside. According to the company's press release, Samsung achieved this ultra-thin design by employing new packaging methods, such as optimized printed circuit boards (PCBs) and epoxy molding compound (EMC). Additionally, an optimized back-lapping process was used to further reduce the height of the packages. The newly developed DRAM packages are not only thinner by 9% compared to previous models...
MediaTek Announces Helio X30 Availability: 10 CPU Cores On 10nm
MediaTek first unveiled the Helio X30—its next-generation high-end SoC—last fall, but today at Mobile World Congress the Taiwanese company announced its commercial availability. The Helio X30 is entering mass...
57 by Matt Humrick on 2/27/2017BlackBerry KEYOne Announced: Snapdragon 625 with QWERTY, $549
This week at MWC, TCL announced the BlackBerry KEYOne, which follows in BlackBerry's traditional style with a distinctive hardware QWERTY keyboard, but this time a more polished look at...
49 by Anton Shilov on 2/27/2017Sony Launches Xperia XZ Premium and Xperia XZs Phones For US Market
Sony announced today at MWC 2017 that it’s bringing two new premium phones to the US market: the Xperia XZ Premium and Xperia XZs. Both models employ classic Sony...
28 by Matt Humrick on 2/27/2017MWC 2017: Samsung Press Conference
We're here at Samsung's MWC 2017 press conference. The Galaxy S8 will be a no show, but Samsung has some other mobile devices to show off.
18 by Anton Shilov & Matt Humrick on 2/26/2017Huawei Launches the P10 and P10 Plus, in Green
Today Huawei is unwrapping their latest mainstream device, evolving from the P8 and P9 into the P10. The yearly cadence regularly brings high-level design features from their Mate series...
17 by Ian Cutress, Brandon Chester & Anton Shilov on 2/26/2017MWC 2017: Huawei P10 and P10 Plus Press Event Live Blog
We're here at MWC waiting for Huawei's Press Event to start. We're expecting to see the P10 and P10 Plus, given that their names were on the front of...
24 by Ian Cutress & Anton Shilov on 2/26/2017Announcing the LG G6: Snapdragon 821, 18:9 Display, IP68 Waterproof
Today in Barcelona, LG officially unveiled the G6, the next installment of the venerable G-series that's now classified as a lower-end flagship below LG’s V-series. Like the G5 before...
32 by Matt Humrick on 2/26/2017Performance & Battery Life Report: Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 with MediaTek Helio X20
As a member of Xiaomi’s more affordable Redmi series, the Note 4 does not have a curved screen, a ceramic body, or the latest flagship hardware like Xiaomi’s more...
34 by Matt Humrick on 2/23/2017Qualcomm Announces Snapdragon X20 LTE Modem & New RF Front-End Modules For Mobile Devices
Qualcomm announced its first LTE Advanced Pro modem, the X16 LTE, last February, supporting downlink speeds of up to 1.0 Gbps. Today the company announced its second-generation gigabit class...
17 by Matt Humrick on 2/21/2017HTC to Exit Entry-Level Phone Market Later This Year
In the highly competitive smartphone industry it’s easy enough to make a name for yourself, but it’s a lot harder to make a profit while doing so. Apple and...
27 by Ryan Smith on 2/17/2017Netgear Nighthawk M1: LTE Cat 16 Router up to 1 Gbps
Netgear this week announced the Nighthawk M1 mobile router, which is the industry’s first 4G LTE device with download speed up to 1 Gbps. The Nighthawk M1 is powered...
51 by Anton Shilov on 2/2/2017Apple Announces Record Q1 2017 Results
Today Apple announced their earnings for the first quarter of their 2017 fiscal year. As is normally the case now that the iPhone has moved to a fall launch...
23 by Brett Howse on 1/31/2017The Huawei Mate 9 Review
Huawei has steadily improved its flagship Mate phablets while adhering to the same blueprint: large screen, slim bezels, aluminum chassis, excellent system performance and battery life. They’ve also shared...
84 by Matt Humrick on 1/27/2017Update: Xiaomi International VP Hugo Barra to Leave the Company, Join Facebook As VP of VR
Update 1/26: Wasting no time, Facebook has announced that Hugo Barra is joining the company as the Vice President of their VR division, puting him in charge of the...
21 by Ryan Smith on 1/26/2017Xiaomi Announces the Redmi Note 4 in India
Just before Hugo Barra announced he was leaving the company, he and Xiaomi on Thursday introduced its latest phablet, the Redmi Note 4, in India. The design of the...
18 by Anton Shilov on 1/24/2017Samsung Reveals Root Cause of Galaxy Note7 Battery Fires
Samsung held a press conference today detailing the results of its investigation into the battery fires that plagued its Galaxy Note7. Reports of phones catching fire appeared soon after...
91 by Matt Humrick on 1/23/2017United States FTC Charges Qualcomm with Antitrust Violations over Cellular Modem Patents & Technology
Qualcomm’s legal problems are growing. This afternoon the United States Federal Trade Commission, which has been investigating Qualcomm for possible anti-trust issues since 2014, has moved on to the...
39 by Ryan Smith on 1/17/2017ZTE's CSX "Hawkeye" Concept Phone Detailed, Kickstarter Launched
For some time now ZTE has been running a program to crowdsource the ideas for smartphones. The basis for this is to collect the ideas of consumers in order...
23 by Brandon Chester on 1/17/2017Synaptics at CES 2017: Advanced Touch and DDIC
To some extent, Synaptics is not nearly as visible to consumers as a company like Intel or Qualcomm, but their role in touch interfaces and display driver ICs is...
22 by Joshua Ho on 1/17/2017HTC Announces New Phones For U: HTC U Play and HTC U Ultra
HTC added two new smartphones to its lineup today: the HTC U Play and HTC U Ultra. Both phones use an aluminum frame paired with a curved glass back...
36 by Matt Humrick on 1/12/2017