Broadcom Announces New 5G 802.11ac Wi-Fi Chip for Smartphones
Communications chip maker Broadcom today announced a new 5G Wi-Fi Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) system-on-a-chip (SoC) designed for smartphones, bringing 802.11ac connectivity with 2×2 MIMO to mobile devices.
The Broadcom BCM4354 chip marks the first implementation of 2×2 MIMO for smartphones, bringing up to twice the Wi-Fi performance with 25 percent more power efficiency than the current 1×1 MIMO chips.
Some smartphones, such as the Galaxy Note S3 from Samsung have previously incorporated 802.11ac Wi-Fi using single stream chips such as the BCM4335 from Broadcom, but the new chip uses two spatial streams for speeds up to 867 Mbps.
MIMO is a technology that uses multiple antennas for both the transmitter and the receiver to improve communication performance. Apple first adopted MIMO technology for the iPad Air and the iPad mini with Retina display.
Broadcom’s chip also uses the newer 802.11ac Wi-Fi protocol for transferring data, which is considered “Gigabit Wi-Fi” with transfer speeds up to three times as fast as 802.11n networks. With the addition of Broadcom’s Transmit Beamforming technology, photo and video uploads can be twice as fast at crowded events.
In addition, Broadcom’s Transmit Beamforming (TxBF) technology further improves rate over range performance in congested environments for data-intense applications. Photo and video uploads to social networking sites, for example, will be twice as fast in crowded sporting events or concert venues.
Apple uses Broadcom’s technology in its line of Macs that support 802.11ac, including the newest MacBook Air, Retina MacBook Pro, and iMac. Broadcom also provides the Wi-Fi/Bluetooth chips for Apple’s iPhones, so it is possible that the iPhone 6 will feature Broadcom’s newest chip, marking the first iPhone with 802.11ac support. Previous iPhone 6 rumors have also pointed to 802.11ac support.
     |
T-Mobile Sweepstakes live for One of Six Galaxy S5 Prize Kits
Samsung just wrapped up its Unpacked 5 event where they announced a the Galaxy Gear 2, the Gear Fit and the Samsung Galaxy S5. They went over small portions of the device with small looks at the new UI, the camera, battery life and spent a good deal of time talking about the fitness integration. Now that the event is over, the barrage of carrier announcements can commence. The first up, that we have seen so far, is T-Mobile. Moments after the event ended they started pushing out the sign-up page link for the Galaxy S5.
The page is your typical “We will email you when it’s here” type page. Plug in your name, email and a few other check boxes and you are done. However, they are also having a contest to win a Galaxy S5 with a S-View Flip Cover. In all actuality, they are going to be giving away six packages over the next 6 weeks.
The contest also leads to some other details. Such as the suggested retail price of the device and S-View Flip cover coming to a total of $668.99.
To get your name on the list head over to T-Mobile.com. You can check out the contest details HERE.
Galaxy S5 for Verizon Sign-Up Page Goes Live
The Samsung Unpacked 5 event has finished, now all the carriers are bringing up their sign-up pages. Verizon just launched their sign-up page for the Galaxy S5, and you can enter your email into their so you can be notified on information on that new flagship. The link for the sign-up page is listed below, so head on over and sign up. Let us know if you are getting yourself a Galaxy S5.
RealPlayer Cloud Goes Global
Today RealPlayer Cloud announced that it is available globally. Five months ago the app was introduced as a U.S./Canada only app and, as always, was bombarded with international angst. Now the app can be picked up all over the world.
“We’re excited to bring RealPlayer Cloud to consumers worldwide. In just five short months, we’ve experienced extensive user growth and now have more than 500,000 users in the U.S. and Canada,” said Rob Glaser, founder and interim CEO of RealNetworks. “Clearly there is a real need and demand for RealPlayer Cloud, which is essentially Dropbox for videos.”
If you don’t know what the heck we are talking about, then here is the skinny. RealPlayer Cloud is an app that was released by RealNetworks Inc. The services is geared specifically towards allowing you to upload videos to the cloud for easy streaming, sharing and casting. It supports all major mobile device OS’s along with your PC, Roku and Chromecast devices. It supports all the popular file formats FLV, WMV, MKV, DIVX, XVID, MOV, AVI and MP4.
The app is free, but only offers you 2GB of free storage. You can earn more space by referring your friends, 1GB per friend. The updated global app also offers SMS capabilities. This allows you to share that video link to your friends and family via a text instead of the original method, email. The receiver of the video link doesn’t have to have RealPlayer Cloud to watch it, so don’t worry about Mom. If she can open a text or email and click a link she is set.
They now support French, German and Spanish with Italian, Japanese, Korean and Portuguese coming soon. Head over to Real.com for info about the service and pick up the Android app down below.
Press Release Below
REALPLAYER CLOUD NOW AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE
SEATTLE, Feb. 24, 2014 – RealNetworks, Inc. (NASDAQ: RNWK) today announced the global roll-out of RealPlayer® Cloud, allowing users to easily move, watch and share videos on any device or operating system, anywhere in the world. Consumers can now use RealPlayer Cloud on iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows 8 Modern UI, Windows, Kindle Fire, Roku and Chromecast.
“We’re excited to bring RealPlayer Cloud to consumers worldwide. In just five short months, we’ve experienced extensive user growth and now have more than 500,000 users in the U.S. and Canada,” said Rob Glaser, founder and interim CEO of RealNetworks. “Clearly there is a real need and demand for RealPlayer Cloud, which is essentially Dropbox for videos.”
The amount of video being captured on smartphones and tablets is exploding, yet not all platforms and devices get along. With RealPlayer Cloud, consumers no longer need to worry about converting videos, or carrying HDMI and USB cables to connect devices to each other to watch videos. RealPlayer Cloud simply works across all devices, including TVs connected with Chromecast. RealPlayer Cloud is powered by SurePlayTM, a revolutionary cloud technology from RealNetworks, which enables seamless auto-formatting of videos to fit the device type, size of screen, available bandwidth, and storage space of any device.
With today’s international launch, people around the world can privately share videos with their friends and family in other countries – even if their loved ones don’t yet have RealPlayer Cloud downloaded. If a video has wider appeal, people can easily share with their social network on Facebook or Twitter.
In addition to the global expansion, RealPlayer Cloud has added new features, including:
- · “Refer-a-Friend”: Now available globally, users can earn 1 gigabyte of free space for each friend who creates a RealPlayer Cloud account. The friend also receives an extra 1 gigabyte of free space.
- · SMS Text Capabilities: iOS and Android app users can now easily send videos – reformatted in the cloud for all devices – via SMS text message, in addition to email.
RealPlayer Cloud offers 2 gigabytes of cloud storage for free to all users and provides additional storage through subscription plans that start at $4.99 per month. In addition to English, the app is now available in French, German and Spanish. Versions in Italian, Japanese, Korean and Portuguese are coming soon. Visit Real.com for more information on RealPlayer Cloud.
Lenovo Brings out the new S-Series Smartphones at MWC
Continuing on the coverage from Mobile World Congress, we have a new set of Android powered smartphones from Lenovo. Yesterday they released the news about the new Yoga 10HD tablet, which we haven’t yet talked about, but will. The S series phones have been around for quite some time, and every year the line gets a boost. This year we have the S860, S850 and S660. Each offers something unique and different.
The Lenovo S860
Classified as the All-Day, Uninterrupted usage device, it really has some stand out details. The exterior is brushed metal and houses a 5.3-inch HD screen. It features a MediaTek Quad-Core processor and 2GB of RAM. The impressive factors come in with 40 days of standby time mixed with 24 hours talk time on 3G. Plus it can charge another device using the included USB cable.
More Detailed Specs:
- 5.3-inch 1280 x 720 IPS display
- Dual-Front facing speakers
- 1.3 GHz MediaTek quad-core processor
- 2GB RAM
- 16GB on board storage
- On the go charging of other devices
- 4000 mAh battery
The Lenovo S850
The S850 is more so the classy mix of design and function. It comes in white or pink and has an all glass exterior. It sticks with the quad-core MediaTek processor and the screen jumps down to 5-inches. It has a 13MP camera on the back and a 5MP camera on the front.
More Detailed Specs:
- 5-inch 1280 x 720 IPS display
- 1GB RAM
- 1.3GHz MediaTek Quad-Core Processor
- 16GB on board storage
- FM reciever
- 2000 mAh battery
The Lenovo S660
This one is more aimed at the budget friendly crowd who needs some performance but not all the insanity. The S660 features a 4.7-inch screen, brushed metal design, all-day battery with a 32GB memory card slot.
More Detailed Specs:
- 4.7-inch 960 x 540 IPS display
- 1GB RAM
- 1.3GHz quad-Core MediaTek processor
- 3000 mAh battery (replaceable)
All three will launch with Android 4.2 on board, offer dual-sim capabilities and the wide angle front facing camera lens. Price tags look pretty good too. The S860 will be $349, the S850 will be $269 and the S660 will be $229. Of course they will be available in select markets and via Lenovo.com.
AIVAnet 