Marvell to launch new cost-effective SoC that focuses on advanced communication features
In a recent news release, the Santa Clara microprocessor manufacturer, Marvell, has announced a new 64-bit quad-core SoC that is both cost-effective and focuses heavily on carrier aggregation performance. This new SoC comes in Marvell’s ARMADA line of chips, dubbed the Mobile PXA1918 R10 LTE Carrier Aggregation SoC Platform.
President and co-founder of Marvell, Weili Dai, had the following to say about the announcement:
“I am very proud of our 4G LTE ARMADA mobile family of SoC platforms with proven track record of support and certification with global operators in regions such as China, North America, Japan, Europe and India as well as other emerging markets. Now with the launch of our industry’s first cost-effective 64-bit quad-core ARMADA Mobile PXA1918 R10 LTE platform, we can enable the deployment of carrier aggregation by global operators. Enhanced performance of R10 carrier aggregation is an important technology in today’s mobile industry to advance the Smart Life and Smart Lifestyle. At Marvell, it is our mission to deliver cost-optimized advanced technology for the benefit of the mobile consumer around the world.”
According to Marvell, among the features present in the new SoC are:
- Advanced Multi-Level Security and Memory saving technology
- 5-mode support (LTE TDD/FDD,DC-HSPA+,TD-HSPA+, GSM/EDGE) withDSDS
- R10 LTE Advanced TDD/FDD Carrier Aggregation Cat7, supporting up to 2x20MHz bandwidths with peak speed of 300Mbps downlink and 100Mbps uplink
- DC-HSPA+ for 42Mbps downlink and 11Mbps uplink
- 64-bit Quad-core ARM Cortex A53 processor
- Advanced imaging processor supporting up to 13MP camera
- Advanced graphics
- Integrated RF transceiver, supporting both cellular and GNSS communications
- Support for latest Android OS
- Marvell’sAvastar low-power wireless connectivity combo radio
- High performance Wi-Fi 11n/ac and Bluetooth 4.2 with latest feature set, highly integrated front-end and power-efficient design
- Advanced Features: VoLTE, eMBMS, RCS, VoWiFi, IMS, field proven DSDS technology
Source: Marvell
Come comment on this article: Marvell to launch new cost-effective SoC that focuses on advanced communication features
Get the Android 6.0 Marshmallow wallpapers right here
The easiest way to freshen up the look of your phone or tablet is by changing the wallpaper. Google’s Nexus line of devices, with stock Android being present, usually have some of the best wallpapers around; however, a Nexus device is not necessary to enjoy the beautiful landscapes and clean Material Design pieces that Google goes with. The nine wallpapers included with Android 6.0 Marshmallow are available for you to download and stare at right now.
Hit the break for the gallery to download the wallpapers.
- Select a wallpaper from below
- Open the wallpaper in a new tab
- Save to get full resolution
Not finding any of those wallpapers appealing? Then check out wallpapers from the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and the OnePlus 2.
Come comment on this article: Get the Android 6.0 Marshmallow wallpapers right here
Android operating system brought to Samsung Gear S thanks to XDA developer and CyanogenMod
Samsung might not have been the very first smartwatch manufacturer, but they definitely have been one of the most adamant companies in pushing the appeal of a wrist-borne computer. Additionally, one could easily argue that they also produce the most beautiful of all the smartwatches: the curved Gear S. Also, arguably, the Gear S has one of the biggest flaws of all the smartwatches out on the market: Tizen.
Until XDA developer biktor_gj stepped up and brought Android to the Gear S via CyanogenMod 12.1. And what was Biktor’s opening comment upon success? “Hey GearS! Welcome to the Android family!”
Biktor went on to say:
Almost nothing works, just boots, touchscreen, battery level as far as I’ve seen. But doesn’t it look spectacular? Oh, and it goes damn fast! I don’t know if it’s because it’s empty, half baked or what but it needed about 4 seconds to do all that “Upgrading apps X of 70″, so this CPU can do A LOT more of what it does with Tizen.
Using CyanogenMod 12.1 and popular custom recovery tool TWRP, Biktor rooted and replaced the Tizen operating system with that of Android 5.1.1 Lollipop. At the moment, Biktor is only able to bring this advancement to GSM smartwatches that have an unlocked bootloader, so if you have yours with AT&T, you’re out of luck for now.
Stay tuned to his developer thread and see what he brings to the table over the coming weeks!
Now remember, if you don’t know what you’re doing when playing around in the guts of your smart devices, don’t do it. Doing stuff like this voids your warranty and you could end up turning your expensive gadget into a glorified paperweight (a.k.a. “bricking”). XDA developers and Talk Android accept no responsibility in such matters.
Source: XDA-Developer forums via Sammobile
Come comment on this article: Android operating system brought to Samsung Gear S thanks to XDA developer and CyanogenMod
LG to jump heavily into OLED display technology
Today, LG Display announced that it will be focusing the bulk of its display research and production funds into OLED technology. This will include TVs, smartphones, wearables, and even automobiles.
From now to 2018, LG states that it will be investing at least $8.47 billion into the technology.
Organic light-emitting diodes are a popular technology used currently in wearables due to its battery-efficient quality. LG already produces one smartphone that utilizes the display technology, the Flex, and is the biggest supporter of OLED-equipped TVs. This is in comparison to Samsung, who almost exclusively uses OLED for its smart devices, but has only dabbled in utilizing it for its TVs.
LG hopes that the jump will help revenue and avoid a price war with Chinese manufacturers producing cheap, high-end LCD TVs. Additionally, LCD research has nearly bottomed out and investor support of the technology has heavily waned over the past few years, indicating to the world’s #1 LCD manufacturer that it’s time to look to other display technologies.
This news comes on the heals of LG Display announcing last month that it would be investing nearly $1 billion in a new OLED production plan, which we covered here.
Source: Reuters
Come comment on this article: LG to jump heavily into OLED display technology
Samsung imagines Earth-wide internet through 4,600 satellites
Facebook, Google and SpaceX aren’t the only big names envisioning a world blanketed with satellite-based internet access. Samsung has published research proposing Earth-wide internet through a cloud of roughly 4,600 micro satellites. The vehicles would switch between multiple radio frequency bands to deliver over a terabyte per second each, and a total capacity of 1 zettabyte (1 billion terabytes) per month — enough to handle the world’s estimated mobile data traffic in 2028. The RF technology would be relatively inexpensive, so the concept isn’t too outlandish.
Don’t get your hopes up for getting online in remote jungles any time soon. This is a proposal, not a firm roadmap. It’s not clear that Samsung is even working on these satellites in the first place, let alone that they’ll be ready within the next decade or so. The tech giant would have to overcome its decreasing profits and find room for its satellites in the very crowded space around the planet. Samsung does have an incentive to either get the ball rolling or work with with others on its vision, though. Ubiquitous internet access expands the potential audience for its gadgets — connecting the Earth is a nice side benefit.
[Image credit: Getty]
Filed under:
Networking, Science, Internet, Samsung
Via:
ExtremeTech
Source:
ArXiv.org (PDF)
Tags: internet, samsung, satellite, science, space
This drone can steal data while hovering above your office
It’s the job of a security researcher to figure out how the company they are working for could be compromised. Apparently that now means using a drone sniff out vulnerabilities a few dozen feet off the ground. The Aerial Assault drone houses a raspberry Pi running Kali Linux, a distro built specifically for penetration testing (also known as pen testing) of networks and devices. Once in the air, the spy drone can detect insecure devices and networks and store that information locally or beam it back to the pilot.
The Aerial Assault drone is built on top of open source technology so researchers can purchase and adjust it to work in a way that suites their needs. Because it uses GPS, in addition to hanging outside of skyscrapers collecting unencrypted data, it can also be sent out to multiple buildings in areas that would be inaccessible by a person. For example; a courtyard in the middle of a complex or building behind a very large fence with razor wire.
While the craft is intended for researchers, there’s always the possibility that someone with fewer scruples could purchase it and use it to steal data from an individual or company. So if you’re feeling a bit safer about your system because you’re 30 floors up, think again. The $2,500 drone should be on sale in the next few days at Wall of Sheep. If you’re super impatient, you can hit up the site’s sales team via email.
Filed under:
Misc, Transportation, Software
Tags: AerialAssualt, DefCon, Drone, PenTesting, security, Wallofsheep
IBM wires up ‘neuromorphic’ chips like a rodent’s brain
IBM has been working with DARPA’s Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE) program since 2008 to develop computing systems that work less like conventional computers and more like the neurons inside your brain. After years of development, IBM has finally unveiled the system to the public as part of a three-week “boot camp” training session for academic and government researchers.
The TrueNorth system, as it’s been dubbed, employs modular chips that act like neurons. By stringing multiple chips together researchers can essentially build an artificial neural network. The version that IBM just debuted contains about 48 million connections — roughly the same computing capacity as a rat’s brain — over an array of 48 chips.
These systems are designed to run “deep learning” algorithms — similar to Facebook’s new facial recognition feature or Skype’s insta-translate function — but at a fraction of the cost, electrical draw and space needed by conventional data centers. For example, a TrueNorth chip contains 5.4 billion transistors but only uses 70 mw of power. An Intel processor, conversely contains just 1.4 billion transistors and draws between 35 and 140 watts.
In fact, future iterations of the TrueNorth system could (theoretically at least) be shrunk small enough to fit inside cell phones or smart watches. These chips also hold an advantage over the GPUs (graphics chips) and FPGAs (function-specific programmable chips) that the industry currently uses because TrueNorth chips operate much the same way that the deep learning algorithms running on them do. With it, IBM hopes to eventually shift some of the computing power requirements away from traditional data centers and onto end user devices.
This should speed up the computing process since data isn’t being sent back and forth over the network. Instead, companies could simply develop a deep learning model (say, to count the number of cars in a photo), upload it to a central data server and then have the model run on the user’s TrueNorth-enabled device. The system would be able to spot every car in the user’s image gallery without having to upload each photo to the remote server for processing. Unfortunately, the system is still in its infancy and years away from your phone.
[Image Credit: IBM]
Via:
Wired
Source:
IBM
Tags: computing, deeplearning, facebook, FPGA, google, GPU, IBM, neuralnetwork, neuromorphic, Skype, SyNAPSE
Samsung set to release yet another range of Galaxy devices
Samsung are set to release yet another range of Galaxy devices to compliment their Galaxy A, Galaxy S, Galaxy E, and Galaxy J series that already exist on the market.
According to a recent report, Samsung is working on two new smartphones called the SM-G550 and the SM-G600, both of which will be released under the Galaxy O series. The SM-G550 will most likely be named the Galaxy O5, with the SM-G600 going by the name Galaxy O7, according to the source. However, any further details past the naming of the devices are unknown.
What is important to discuss is the introduction of yet another series of Samsung phones, and instead of trying to consolidate their devices, the company seem to be trying to use every letter of the alphabet. With 6 series of Samsung smartphones, when is enough enough?
The post Samsung set to release yet another range of Galaxy devices appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Here’s all the Android Marshmallow wallpapers ready for download
Android M has finally got a name in the form of Marshmallow and with it a few new wallpapers that we’ve extracted from the latest Android M preview, bundled together, and make them available for you to download.
The post Here’s all the Android Marshmallow wallpapers ready for download appeared first on AndroidGuys.
M.I.A.: the Galaxy Tab Edge and Samsung Unpacked 2015
Samsung Unpacked was arguably out in the open and exposed weeks ago, given the tidal wave of leaks that had proliferated. One unknown factor however, was the mysterious “third silhouette” that appeared in the company’s main promotional image. The device looked to be curved, and given its proportion in comparison to the other two, it led to the logical conclusion that Samsung would unveil a Galaxy Tab Edge, or even a Galaxy Note Edge tablet.
M.I.A.: What happened to the mysterious “third silhouette” at the bottom?
Samsung has been all about patents in recent months and years, especially those related to foldable displays and products. Still, reports had indicated for months that there would be no follow-up to last year’s Galaxy Note Edge. Given the relatively poor sales performance of the darling device, this makes sense from a financial point of view: the costs, manufacturing, marketing and such all add up to a pretty penny for a doubtable dud.
And yet. There was that Unpacked image, and there was the simple fact that the Galaxy Tab S2, announced roughly a month ago, simply isn’t a flagship product by any means of the word. The tablet brings very little to the table and even manages to get its proverbial clock cleaned by several 2014-era devices, including the Galaxy Note 4 with which it shares the same SoC. The performance issues, coupled with the plastic rear and deliberate removal of several components (rear-LED flash, an IR port, vibration for the Wi-Fi model, even NFC) give rise to the idea that the use of “S” in the product’s moniker is arguably deceptive branding; the finished product is by no means on-par with the halo smartphone series by any means. (For more details, see our initial impressions here).
It’s a reach: the Galaxy Tab S2 uses the “S” branding, and yet…
Naturally, the idea of a Galaxy Tab Edge, or Galaxy Note Edge Tab as it might have been, would have provided all the power needed for a halo tablet. In addition, it would have given Samsung an unrivaled competitive advantage against every other tablet in the market: the Galaxy S6 Edge outperformed its sibling when it came to sales seemingly for no reason other than the “coolness” factor, and by that account there is no reason to suggest a Tab Edge wouldn’t have done the same as well. To put it another way: when deciding between a mid-range type tablet like the Tab S2 and a premium, curved product like a Tab Edge, it’s safe to assume a fair number of shoppers would go with the latter.
Beyond that, the Galaxy Tab Edge could have helped further the SDK research for applications and content specifically designed for the new curved display. Currently developers can only work with the S6 Edge and now S6 Edge+, however a tablet would have allowed for a larger canvas to make use of.
The logic of reality
The idea of the Galaxy Tabe Edge is so appealing because it would be nice to see a truly premium Samsung tablet, something Samsung has arguably never delivered. As far back as the original Galaxy Tab and its $600+ retail, the OEM has always been about charging more for what essentially amounts to less. In considering the Galaxy Tab series as a whole, it has been plagued with criticism in regards to the poor build quality, plastic construction, and low-resolution screens – despite commanding large price tags.
The Galaxy Tab 2: not exactly top-tier.
In more recent times, Samsung has raised the bar a little with the Tab PRO line, which brought a QHD display, but still lacked in other key areas such as design with its use of plastic. And then there’s the Samsung Galaxy Tab S, probably the closest thing to a true premium, flagship-level tablet, though it was largely seen as a top tier product in no small part as a result of the snazzy AMOLED screen and in many ways still failed to push things to the next level.
Bottom-line, the tablet market has seen plenty of more aggressively priced devices push the envelope further, including the Asus ZenPad S with its great specs and even more impressive price tag. If Samsung doesn’t want to lead in pricing, producing a unique Edge tablet would at least give us a premium option worthy of a higher price tag.
The logic of rumors
Despite argument for why there should be a Galaxy Tab Edge, it also needs to be addressed why there currently isn’t one. For starters, regardless of what we might feel about the Galaxy Tab S2 and its specs, Samsung did just announce and release a brand new tablet, and to suddenly make light of an even newer one would certainly cannibalize sales of the “old” one.
Additionally, there is also the consideration that the original mysterious image reported on might have been a mistake entirely. As it came from Samsung Philippines, perhaps it was just an unused teaser. Or perhaps Samsung does have the device on the dashboard but simply wanted to save it for a later date.
Regardless of what truth may be out there, it’s important to remember that Samsung itself is not “guilty” of anything. No official product was announced or even shown, and thus any speculation or expectation based on anticipatory judgment needs to be dosed with the same prescription of skepticism administered earlier.
How long must we wait?
Given that there seems to be little hope of a Galaxy Tab Edge releasing this year, the unfortunate question then becomes, when, if at all? The condition is exacerbated by the idea that Samsung has released a sub-par Galaxy Tab S2 which eschews all traces of the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, including the glass back. Likewise, the company’s clear new focus on bendable displays (read: the Galaxy S6 Edge+) would logically suggest an expansion into the tablet market, all the more plausible given that no one (save for LG) could even begin to compete with it at the moment.
With the Berlin-based IFA taking place in a matter of weeks, there is a possibility that the Tab Edge might be unveiled then, as Samsung would ideally benefit from the presence of a second device, as opposed to just the Gear S2. What do you think, would you be interested in a premium Edge tablet or not? Let us know in the comments.
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