Nokia 3.1 review: A great small budget phone with performance problems

Nokia nails the core hardware and features, but comes up short in specs and performance.

We often talk about “cheap” Android phones in reference to devices like the Moto G6, which typically cost about $225. But many people don’t even want to break the $200 barrier when they’re looking for a phone, whether it’s because they just broke their flagship device and don’t want to spend $800 again, or they simply don’t want to budget out that much for a device in the first place.

For these people, the options are numerous — but they’re all pretty bad. Down around $100, you’re getting into the territory of horrible one-off prepaid phones with bad software, old specs and missing features. At best you’re going to get an Android Go phone, like the Alcatel 1X, that at least has good software but is still horribly hamstrung by its internals. But sitting just a little bit higher, at $159, there’s a cheap phone that still follows the recipe of a device that’s more expensive: the new Nokia 3.1.

Nokia 3.1

Price: $159

Bottom line: For an affordable price, you can get a phone that gets all of the basics done pretty well. It has a good quality screen and nice hardware, and is a compact option among lots of big budget phones. Its slow performance and lack of a fingerprint sensor are disappointing, but you get good Android One software in return.

The Good

• Better-than-expected screen
• Solid materials and good styling
• Android One software
• Full-day battery life
• MicroSD slot for adoptable storage

The Bad

• Slow performance
• 2GB of RAM is disappointing
• No fingerprint sensor
• Micro-USB charging

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Small but strong

Nokia 3.1 What I like

The Nokia 3.1 is immediately appealing because of its hardware quality and size. The lightly grippy flat plastic back is handsome, and the curved glass on the front running into the sides is classy for a $159 phone. Getting a nicely coated metal frame is also treat, and it really gives the feeling of a phone that’s built to sell for twice the price. Frankly the whole phone feels overbuilt for the money — I’m not sure how much it costs to make it this nicely, but Nokia could’ve easily skimped on the materials and build quality here and still been ahead of the competition’s flimsy thin plastic phones.

Nokia’s strength remains in its hardware, design and core features.

Unlike so many of the competitors in the segment that are trying to give you the largest screen for the money, the Nokia 3.1’s 5.2-inch 18:9 display gives the phone a refreshingly “just right” size that’s easy to handle. Even though the larger-than-usual bezels make it even taller than usual. The display itself is very good for a sub-$200 phone. 1440×720 resolution is more than enough for this size, and the viewing angles and brightness are actually above what I was expecting. The only two downsides are that it doesn’t get particularly dim for late-night viewing, and curiously there’s no night mode.

The rest of the hardware features round out well. A headphone jack is a welcomed sight, especially because it also enables a proper FM radio app on the phone. The speaker is also surprisingly loud — it doesn’t sound good, but for podcasts and spoken word radio it gets the job done for short periods. If it’s not going to offer a great sound experience, you might as well have it be loud enough to give you something to enjoy. The 3.1 also has an extremely strong Bluetooth connection over distance in through walls, in some cases better than my flagship phones. That’s likely thanks to the plastic backing, but whatever the cause it’s a surprise to experience in such a cheap phone (even though it’s only Bluetooth 4.2).

I don’t think any $159 phone deserves much mention of the camera performance so long as it works and is consistent. The Nokia 3.1’s 13MP camera gets the job done with an incredibly simple interface. Like the Nokia 6.1 it’s a bit slow to capture, but it’s manageable in this case … and you’re more willing to give it a pass at this price. With HDR and a steady hand, the photos are colorful but struggle with dynamic range and crispness in details; the only big issue I found was with slow focus speeds that sometimes took a few attempts to lock on a subject. Aside from that, nothing big to report — just keep your expectations low here, especially in low light where the photos get very bad very quickly.

Android One is a nice experience at the low end, and the battery life is good.

Nokia made a decision to go all-in on Android One software, and the 3.1 is a perfect example of the type of phone that benefits from it. With extremely low-end specs, so many of these inexpensive phones are burdened with superfluous bloatware and extra features that they simply can’t handle. That’s not the case with the Nokia 3.1, because it’s stripped down and simple just like every other Android One phone. The interface is clean and simple, and the Google apps shine here as they do on the Pixels. Android One should also give the Nokia 3.1 a better chance at future software updates, though at the time of writing it’s stuck on Android 8.0 with the May 5 security patch — I wouldn’t expect it to stay that way for long.

The simple software and relatively small display lead to really good battery life in my testing, even though I wasn’t expecting it with the 2990mAh battery capacity. I had absolutely no issue going through a full day of use and ending with 20% battery, and the Nokia 3.1 is particularly stellar with standby battery life — if you’re not using it, it’s hardly draining. It’s disappointing to be charging up over Micro-USB on a phone launched in mid-2018, but I understand that this is also what the competition is using still.

Performance in question

Nokia 3.1 What I don’t like

The achilles’ heel of the Nokia 3.1 experience is poor performance, which is brought on by a set of inferior specs across the board. An octa-core Mediatek MT6750 processor runs the show here, which is ostensibly comparable to the Snapdragon 425, and just isn’t fully up to the task. Particularly because this U.S. Nokia 3.1 has just 2GB of RAM, which is incredibly tight for a phone in 2018 that has any thought of being smooth and quick to switch between apps. After the system takes its allocation, there’s less than 1.8GB remaining — and somewhere around 400-500MB available during normal use. That can easily be chewed up by just a couple of apps, and you really notice when apps are dumped from memory during regular use.

The specs simply don’t offer enough performance, particularly when multitasking.

Between the processor and limited RAM the Nokia 3.1 just isn’t as smooth and consistent as I’d like. It’s good enough. It’s about average. But it definitely isn’t smooth or what I’d consider quick. You notice the amount of time it takes to open apps, and you really notice the sluggishness when you’re trying to multitask. Start listening to music or a podcast in the background while swapping between other apps, and you’ll be waiting multiple seconds for each app to open in some cases. This phone really is only built for uni-tasking.

I’m cautiously optimistic that the model with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, sold in some markets, will have performance that’s acceptable — but this particular model being sold in the U.S. is disappointing as it stands. Especially when you consider that some of the competition offers 3GB of RAM alongside a faster processor for similar money.

The model with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage should be the standard worldwide.

Speaking of storage, yes the Nokia 3.1 has just 16GB to offer. After letting my Google accounts sync to the phone and my standard set of apps restore from the cloud, I was sitting at 95% capacity — that was an unpleasant sight. That’s because the system itself uses 8.8GB … so you realistically only have about 7GB to use for yourself. With your standard app landing at 50-100MB, and some apps breaking the 200MB barrier, you quickly run out of storage unless you’re incredibly diligent about what you download.

The one saving grace is the Nokia 3.1’s SD card slot, which offers the option of adoptable storage to let you integrate that card into the system as an indistinguishable part of the internal storage. I put in a 32GB Samsung microSD card I had laying around and it quickly grabbed 2GB of data to ease the stress on the internal storage, and I think just about everyone will need to do the same — if not right out of the box, in short order after getting it set up. (One reminder for adoptable storage: be sure to get a high-quality card, because the speed of the card is incredibly important to overall system performance.)

Best microSD card for Android in 2018

Nice little phone

Nokia 3.1 Review

Let’s break it down simply. The Nokia 3.1 has really solid hardware befitting a much more expensive phone. It’s just the right size for anyone who wants to be able to use their phone in one hand, and the display is really good as well. It has all of the basic hardware features covered, including a good screen, average camera and full-day battery life. Android One software is a bonus, right now and going forward with updates. But it has the critical flaw of just being underpowered — its processor, when paired with 2GB of RAM, doesn’t enable smooth performance or consistent multitasking even for simple uses, and that’s disappointing. Add in the substandard 16GB of storage and the lack of a fingerprint sensor, and you’re missing out on some of the core things that we like to see on all phones today.

3.5
out of 5

You won’t feel short-changed paying $159 for the Nokia 3.1, but you’ll be frustrated by performance not meeting the hardware quality.

At $159, the Nokia 3.1 doesn’t have a lot of good competition, but it does have two phones that make the decision to buy it pretty tough. For the same $159 price, you can get a Moto E5 Plus that has a larger display, massive 5000mAh battery, a fingerprint sensor, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage — the only rub is that it’s currently only available directly from a few prepaid carriers in the U.S. But buying unlocked, for $30 more at $189, the Moto G6 Play is available with a bigger (and better) display, faster processor, a fingerprint sensor, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage.

The Nokia 3.1 is a great choice for its size, hardware, display, software and core features. But it isn’t the choice for anyone who needs a bigger screen, fingerprint sensor or fluid daily performance for powerful apps and multitasking. You won’t feel short-changed paying $159 for the Nokia 3.1, but you will be slightly frustrated by its software performance not meeting its hardware quality.

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HomePod OS 12 Beta Software Said to Support Multiple Timers, New Phone Call Features, and More

A new HomePod firmware update due to be released in the fall could include some significant new features for Apple’s smart speaker.

French tech blog iGeneration reports that a beta version of the software currently in internal testing enables HomePod users to make calls and answer them, ask Siri to Find My iPhone, and set multiple timers on the device.

Currently, HomePod owners who want to use the built-in speakerphone feature must make or receive a call on their iPhone and then switch the audio output to the HomePod when the call connects. With the beta software, however, the HomePod appears to have access to the user’s contacts, allowing them to initiate the call directly on the speaker.

In addition to the above, the report suggests HomePod users could soon be able to listen to voicemails and search their call history over the speaker. Improvements to Siri’s general knowledge are also hinted at, including specific enhancements to the virtual assistant’s food and nutrition knowledge base.

Lastly, the report mentions a new Wi-Fi feature that appears to allow HomePod users to switch the speaker to another wireless network as long as a paired iPhone knows the password. As it stands, users can only choose which network to connect their HomePod to during the initial setup.

As with all beta software, these features may be changed, delayed, or removed completely by the time the firmware is officially released.

The last software update for HomePod came with iOS 11.4.1, but it was limited to stability and quality improvements. We’ll know more about what’s in store for HomePod in September or October, when Apple releases iOS 12, along with watchOS 5, tvOS 12, and macOS Mojave.

Related Roundups: HomePod, iOS 12Buyer’s Guide: HomePod (Buy Now)
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Apple Singapore Investigating Multiple Fraudulent Charges to iTunes Accounts

Apple is investigating dozens of cases of fraudulent iTunes account charges in Singapore, according to local news reports over the weekend.

Channel News Asia spoke to two people in the Southeast Asian country who said they had both lost several thousand dollars through fraudulent transactions processed through their iTunes accounts.

Apple Orchard Road in Singapore (Image via Strait Times)

Two people told Channel NewsAsia that they lost at least S$7,000 each to iTunes purchases with one saying she was billed on her HSBC credit card. She added that she only realised something was amiss when she received a text message from HSBC that she had less than 30 per cent of her credit limit left. She realised the extent of the issue after speaking to a customer service operator.

The affected customers had reportedly been banking with Singapore banks including UOB, DBS, and Oversea-Chines Banking Corporation (OCBC). OCBC alone confirmed 58 similar cases of fraudulent charges.

One iTunes user who banked with DBS also told Channel News Asia that six fraudulent transactions had “completely wiped out” their account. As a result of the cases, UOB said that it was stepping up monitoring of all iTunes spending over recent weeks due to increase in cases of fraudulent activity.

Apple Singapore told the news organization that it is looking into the charges and had already cancelled many of the transactions identified as fraudulent. We’ll update this article if we hear more.

Tag: Singapore
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China’s BOE Seeking to Become OLED Panel Supplier to Apple

China-based BOE Technology Group is stepping up its bid to become an OLED panel supplier for Apple’s future smartphones, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal.

BOE is the world’s top producer of large liquid crystal screens and already makes displays for Apple’s iPads and MacBooks, but the firm now has its sights set on the lucrative OLED panel market.

The earliest BOE could supply the OLED screens would be from 2020, one person familiar with the matter said. For iPhones intended for release later this year, Apple is set to procure screens mainly from Samsung, with a small portion coming from LG Display Co. , people have said.

If Apple and BOE were to agree to a deal, the Chinese manufacturer would become Apple’s first OLED supplier outside of South Korea and Japan. Samsung exclusively produces OLED displays for the current iPhone X, but Apple is in the process of opening up to LG, Sharp and Japan Display.

Apple has considered using BOE as an OLED supplier before. In February 2017, Bloomberg reported that Apple had been testing BOE’s OLED displays for months, but that it hadn’t decided whether to add the company as a supplier.

One of the reasons for the delay may have been down to the OLED panel manufacturing process, which is much more difficult than making liquid crystal displays. If so, BOE will need to do more to convince Apple that it can produce large numbers of OLED panels while maintaining the highest quality controls.

If it succeeds, BOE will not only prove its manufacturing prowess with a technically challenging product, but also will score a big win for China in its race to catch up to South Korea and Japan in advanced display-screen manufacturing.

Buying display screens from BOE, which is controlled by the Beijing city government and whose biggest shareholders are state-linked companies, could help Apple stay in China’s good graces—as long as BOE can meet Apple’s high bar for quality.

BOE is one of China’s largest display makers, recently spending about $14.5 billion on two AMOLED factories. One of the new factories opened last summer, while another will open a couple years later. When they’re up to full capacity, BOE says they’ll be able to produce 1.6 million square-meters of flexible glass substrates (surfaces that displays are carved out of) a month.

Tags: China, OLED, BOE
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Qualcomm Announces First Fully-Integrated 5G Millimeter Wave Antenna Module

Qualcomm today announced the launch of what it says are the world’s first fully-integrated 5G millimeter wave and sub-6 GHz RF modules for smartphones and other devices, with the new 5G mmWave antenna combining a 5G millimeter wave radio, power amplifier for signal boosting, and antenna array, all in a package that’s small enough to fit on a fingertip.

Qualcomm’s QTM052 mmWave antenna module family and its QPM56xx sub-6GHz module family are designed to pair with the previously announced Qualcomm Snapdragon X50 5G modem to pave the way for smartphones and other devices able to take advantage of 5G networks.

“Today’s announcement of the first commercial 5G NR mmWave antenna modules and sub-6 GHz RF modules for smartphones and other mobile devices represents a major milestone for the mobile industry. Qualcomm Technologies’ early investment in 5G has allowed us to deliver to the industry a working mobile mmWave solution that was previously thought unattainable, as well as a fully-integrated sub-6 GHz RF solution.

The new 5G mmWave antenna modules are designed to fit in the bezel of a smartphone and the idea is to put multiple antenna modules (up to four) into different locations in the bezel so a 5G signal can be received even if one of the antennas is covered up by a hand or blocked by something in the environment, as is common with the way millimeter wave signals work.

This design also boosts signal that’s received, with the device able to choose the module receiving the strongest signal and swap between them seamlessly for a reliable 5G connection. Up to 800MHz of bandwidth in the 26.5-29.5 GHz, 27.5-28.35 GHz, and 37-40 GHz mmWave bands is supported.

In technical terms, QTM052 mmWave antenna modules support advanced beam forming, beam steering, and beam tracking technologies for improved range and reliability.

Millimeter wave technology is ideal for dense urban areas and crowded indoor environments, but broad 5G coverage requires the sub-6GHz spectrum bands, which is what Qualcomm’s new QPM56xx RF module family addresses. This includes the new QPM5650, QPM5651, QDM5650, and QDM5652 modules.

Qualcomm says the first 5G millimeter wave antenna modules are being shipped out to customers this week, and the first crop of devices able to take advantage of 5G networks will be released late this year.

Mobile hotspots are likely to be the first accessories to include Qualcomm’s technology, but the company says that we can expect Android smartphones with this 5G millimeter wave antenna during the first half of 2019. 5G devices require 5G networks, which carriers are working on.

T-Mobile is building out its 5G network with plans to roll it out to 30 cities this year, AT&T plans to deploy 5G to customers in a dozen cities in 2018, and Verizon plans to activate fixed 5G services in Sacramento in late 2018, with a mobile 5G service to launch approximately six months later.

As announced at Mobile World Congress, Qualcomm is partnering with more than 20 electronics manufacturers who will use its 5G technology, including Asus, Fujitsu, Nokia, HTC, LG, Oppo, ZTE, Xiaomi, OnePlus, Vivo, and more.

Apple is not a known Qualcomm partner and it is not clear if the two companies will work out their differences given the intense legal battle that is going on between the two. When asked whether Apple would potentially choose this technology for future iPhones, Qualcomm said it was not able to comment on that.

Little is known about Apple’s 5G plans at the current time, but November rumors suggested Apple was “leaning heavily” towards using Intel’s 5G modems in future iPhones, with Apple engineers already working with Intel on 5G technology.

That report, from Fast Company, suggested at the time that Apple’s discussions with Qualcomm have been “limited.” Other reports have suggested Apple is considering eliminating Qualcomm chips from future iPhones and iPads, and this year, it looks like Intel will be supplying the majority of chips needed for the 2018 iPhone lineup.

Tags: Qualcomm, 5G
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Qualcomm Touts ‘Superior Cellular Performance’ of Android Phones With Snapdragon 845 Chips

Qualcomm this morning published a blog post touting the superiority of its Snapdragon 845 chip with integrated X20 LTE modem compared to other competing chips such as the Intel XMM 7480, which is the LTE chip used in some iPhone X models.

The data Qualcomm is sharing comes from an Ookla database of more than a million speedtests conducted by smartphone users all over the world. For those unfamiliar with Ookla, the company makes a Speedtest service that is designed to provide users with a way to measure their LTE and WiFi connectivity speeds.

Ookla regularly creates reports based on the user-submitted tests that it collects, which have become popular advertising points for cellular carriers and smartphone manufacturers who come out on top. Qualcomm’s blog post focuses on data collected in the most recent Ookla report, from the period between April and June 2018.

Because Ookla reports can determine connectivity speeds between different devices and chipsets, the data can provide an interesting look at the top performing LTE chips. Qualcomm says that because of the large number of samples taken, the impartiality of the Ookla test, and the notable difference between the Snapdragon 845 and competing chips, it felt compelled to publicize the Ookla results.

In Ookla’s results, which measured download speeds, upload speeds, and latency on the T-Mobile and AT&T networks, the Android smartphones equipped with the Snapdragon 845 included in devices like the Galaxy S9 and S9+, beat out smartphones equipped with Intel XMM 7480 and XMM 7360 chips, which includes the iPhone X, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 7, and iPhone 7 Plus.

On T-Mobile’s network, for example, the Snapdragon X20 LTE chip was 53 percent faster than the Intel XMM 7480 included in the iPhone X/8/8 Plus when it came to download speeds, and latency was 32 percent lower. It was 68 percent faster downloading content than the Intel XMM 7360 in the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus and offered 35 percent lower latency.

On AT&T’s network, download speeds with Qualcomm’s chip were 40 percent faster than the XMM 7480, upload speeds were 20 percent faster, and latency was 20 percent lower. Compared to the XMM 7360, download speeds were 64 percent faster, upload speeds were 41 percent faster, and latency was 27 percent lower.

Apple’s iPhones actually use a mix of chips from Intel and Qualcomm, with some models equipped with Qualcomm’s X16, but these devices were not included in the data shared by Qualcomm. The X16 chip is not as new as the X20 and is slower, so this chip would not measure up to Android smartphones equipped with newer technology.

Samsung also recently used Ookla’s speedtest results in an anti-Apple advertisement highlighting the faster download speeds of the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S9+.

It’s worth noting that the Galaxy S9 and S9+, along with other Android smartphones equipped with Snapdragon 845 processors and X20 LTE chips, like the LG ThinQ, Asus Zenfone 5Z, and OnePlus 6, are newer than Apple’s flagship device, the iPhone X, and thus have newer technology.

Apple provided the following statement to Bloomberg in response to the speed-test data shared by Qualcomm:

With both LTE-Advanced speeds and Apple’s custom-designed A11 Bionic, the smartest and most powerful chip ever in a smartphone, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X provide an incredibly fast wireless experience that can easily handle today’s most demanding tasks. With up to 27 LTE bands, more than any other smartphone in the world, these iPhones also provide the best worldwide LTE coverage.

Apple is planning to introduce a new lineup of smartphones that are set to debut in just about a month and a half, if Apple follows its typical release schedule, and these devices will have new LTE technology.

Rumors have suggested Apple will introduce improved antenna technology for faster connection speeds, plus dual-SIM dual standby functionality. Apple may be planning to use Intel’s XMM 7560 and Qualcomm’s X20 chips, both of which are faster than the LTE chips in the iPhone X and will allow Apple’s iPhones to better compete with the current crop of Android devices.

Full, detailed speed comparisons of the Snapdragon 845 with Intel’s modems can be found over on Qualcomm’s site for those interested.

Tag: Qualcomm
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The coming hydrogen fuel cell evolution

Jeff Zurschmeide/Digital Trends

Hydrogen is not only the most common element in the universe but also the most common element here on Earth. Yet the limited availability of pure hydrogen in gaseous form has held back hydrogen fuel cells for decades.

Out in the cosmos, stars are mostly made of hydrogen. Here at home, our hydrogen is mostly bonded with oxygen to make water. To get hydrogen to use in a fuel cell to make electricity, you have to either break down a water molecule or break down a complex hydrocarbon like natural gas. When you break the natural gas molecule, you get hydrogen — but you also get carbon dioxide, which leads to global warming. Plus, you’re using a non-renewable resource. That leaves water, which is a great source except that you have to put more energy into breaking the molecule than you’ll get back out when you use the hydrogen to generate electricity.

“… What we’ve shown so far is if you can open up a hydrogen station, automakers can sell a car.”

The solution that makes hydrogen a workable fuel is this: using renewable energy to create enough excess electricity that you can break down the water and store that energy in the form of hydrogen. It’s not as elegant as it could be, but it’s pretty good if you consider what had to happen to store solar energy in the form of oil, coal, and natural gas.

That’s one side of the hydrogen conundrum. The other issues are building cars that will run on hydrogen and creating a big enough infrastructure to deliver hydrogen to those cars where and when they need it. To learn more about that, we went to San Francisco to attend SEMICON West, and we sat down with the California Fuel Cell Partnership to find out where things are today and what’s planned for the near future.

It’s About Infrastructure

Finding the funding for any infrastructure project is always a challenge. If a state funds a project to build hydrogen stations and the network to refill them, as well as hydrogen-generation facilities, that money generally comes from other projects, which has slowed the adoption rate. But now several states and national governments are deciding that hydrogen will have a place in their plans.

“I think that really the big issue is getting the infrastructure built because what we’ve shown so far is if you can open up a hydrogen station, automakers can sell a car,” said Keith Malone, legislative outreach and communications officer for the California Fuel Cell Partnership.

Malone’s organization works with automakers and government policy makers to argue the case for hydrogen infrastructure, and they’re getting results not only in California, but around the world.

By placing hydrogen stations strategically, a few stations can effectively serve a large community of hydrogen cars.

“In the Northeast, 12 [hydrogen] stations are being built in the New York to Boston corridor,” Malone revealed. “It’s a private effort, but different regions require different approaches. In California, we had legislation back in 2013 that established the first milestone, which was 100 strategically located stations and the funding to do it. Right now, we’re at 35 stations that are open and operational. We have more than 30 stations in development. This fall we’ll have another funding cycle that will most likely get us above and beyond 100 stations.”

Right now, California has the most hydrogen stations of any state in America, but it’s still just a start.

Jeff Zurschmeide/Digital Trends

“To put this all in perspective in terms of the number of stations that are needed, right now in California, we have 8,000 gas stations,” Malone told us. “But only about 1,800 of them are providing 50% of the fuel to the consumers. The governor just said we want to get 200 hydrogen stations by 2025. Then our membership is coming out with a road map in a couple of weeks to get to 1,000 stations by 2030.”

The thinking is that by placing hydrogen stations strategically, a few stations can effectively serve a large community of hydrogen cars.

Right now, Germany and Japan actually have more hydrogen stations than we do. But we have more cars on the road.

“1,000 stations and a million cars,” Malone said. “It’s a stretch goal, but that’s the vision we have. It’s not just about passenger vehicles. You also need the medium duty/heavy duty vehicle category because with those larger vehicles and those fleets, they’re also driving volume on the hydrogen side. So, you start to see the per-unit costs go down.”

Creating demand for large amounts of hydrogen is key to making it economical, and support is coming from around the world.

“When I first started six years ago, we were talking about California, Germany, Japan, and South Korea,” Malone recalled. “In the last year, we’ve added China to the list because they will drive volume. Right now, Germany and Japan actually have more hydrogen stations than we do. But we have more cars on the road. As of July 1st, we have over 5,000 hydrogen vehicles on the road in California.”

It’s Also About Storing Energy

The advantage of fueling a car with hydrogen is that automakers can get to the magical 300-mile range between fill-ups and refilling a hydrogen fuel cell car takes no longer than getting gasoline. Like gasoline, the energy to power the car is stored in the hydrogen, as opposed to being stored entirely in a battery.

Hyundai

“The interesting thing is in California we’re kind of leading with fuel cell cars and hydrogen infrastructure,” Malone explained, “and I keep joking that California’s going to launch the model, but Texas will prove it.”

Can hydrogen fuel cell vehicles really sell in the Texas oil country?

“I think Texas will come to fuel cell vehicles through a different route because they have so much wind power, which means they have excess,” Malone pointed out. “I’m pretty sure they have excess capacity and they don’t know what to do with it. But one of the things you can do is split water to make hydrogen. In Texas, you can store that hydrogen in underground salt caverns. We’re not talking about kilowatts or gigawatts of power; we’re talking upwards of terawatts of power that can be stored. Hydrogen becomes the battery in many ways.”

“Hydrogen can become a grid balancer.”

When large amounts of energy are storable and accessible when needed, new applications are possible.

“Hydrogen can become a grid balancer,” Malone said. Grid balancers help energy distribution systems match generation to demand. Because fuel cells ramp up and down just about instantly, with stored hydrogen utilities can match output to demand on a moment-to-moment basis.

“If you look at the kind of stationary fuel cell market, it’s been kind of under the radar,” Malone said, “but it’s been very active. Telecoms are using fuel cells as backup generators because the tanks can hold the hydrogen for quite a long time. When superstorm Sandy happened on the east coast, there were about 80 fuel cell backup generators operating up and down the east coast. One of them went down, that’s it. It went down because it was under water for about four hours, and then it went back online.”

A West Coast Corridor

As California builds out its hydrogen infrastructure, the next step is to link the major west coast cities with available hydrogen stations to enable both passenger vehicles and heavy truck traffic to move up and down the coast conveniently.

“They just opened their first state hydrogen station in Canada,” Malone told Digital Trends. “British Columbia funded a study and asked a group of companies to look at taking their renewable grid and making renewable hydrogen to export to Japan and California. Then you’ve got California and really Oregon, Washington need to come together because you can’t do one without the other.”

In the last decade, California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia committed to and built a network of electric vehicle charging stations known as the West Coast Electric Highway. This network allows EVs to travel the entire west coast from the Mexican border into Canada. A hydrogen network would likely look much the same.

The Next Steps

As of today, there are two fuel cell vehicles on sale in California. Both the Honda Clarity and the Toyota Mirai are enjoying sales success in areas where hydrogen infrastructure exists. Hyundai had a fuel cell Tucson SUV in 2017 and plans to return with the Nexo crossover in 2019.

“Tokyo is spending over $300 million to showcase this technology [at the 2020 Olympic Games].”

“BMW is coming to market,” Malone said. “In about 2019, you have Mercedes-Benz with its plug-in fuel cell car. Audi is coming to market with a vehicle. It talked about a serious production run. Recently, you had Honda and GM announce a jointly owned subsidiary to build fuel cells in Michigan or Ohio. If you look at that announcement as I recall it, GM also talked about the fact that this is a power unit and reserved the right to use it for non-vehicular purposes or non-transportation purposes.”

One planned showcase for hydrogen power is the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

“Tokyo is spending over $300 million to showcase this technology,” Malone said. “We’re talking thousands of vehicles and hydrogen stations funded by Honda, Toyota, and Nissan. You will also have 100 buses and they’re going to power the athletes’ village using stationary fuel cells and hydrogen.”

Jeff Zurschmeide/Digital Trends

Malone has some advice for people interested in the technology but not residing in areas with an active hydrogen infrastructure plan.

“I’m going to get a little political here,” he warned. “For those who want to see fuel cell vehicles in their state, you have to call your legislators and you have to start talking to them. If they don’t have the information, then connect me with them and I will talk with those legislators and their staff.”

It’s likely to be much more difficult than simply placing a phone call, but it’s a start.

Editors’ Recommendations

• In a smoke-choked port, riding along in Toyota’s hydrogen-powered semi
• These living solar cells make energy, even in bad weather
• We tried some of the RED Hydrogen One’s crazy tech: Here’s what you need to know
• Waze on iPhone just landed on your Ford’s infotainment screen
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Apple Seemingly Unable to Recover Data From 2018 MacBook Pro With Touch Bar When Logic Board Fails

In 2016, when Apple introduced the first MacBook Pro with Touch Bar models, the repair experts at iFixit discovered the notebooks have non-removable SSDs, soldered to the logic board, prompting concerns that data recovery would not be possible if the logic board failed. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.

Apple has a special tool for 2016 and 2017 models of the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar that allows Genius Bars and Apple Authorized Service Providers to recover user data when the logic board fails, but the SSD is still intact.

The tool is essentially a little black box that is able to transfer data from a failed logic board to a functioning MacBook Pro. The box has a flex cable that connects to a data recovery port on the failed logic board, while the box and a functioning MacBook Pro are connected via USB-C to USB-C cable.

Apple’s internal Customer Data Migration Tool
Once the logic board is placed into a special holder, and all cables are connected, technicians simply power on the functioning MacBook Pro, open Migration Assistant, and proceed with the standard steps for data transfer.

Customer Data Migration Tool connector on 2016 MacBook Pro logic board
While not fail-proof, the tool is a convenient, last-ditch option for data recovery when a MacBook Pro’s logic board goes kaput. But, unfortunately, it appears the tool will not work with the latest models.

Last week, iFixit completed a teardown of the 2018 MacBook Pro, discovering that Apple has removed the data recovery connector from the logic board on both 13-inch and 15-inch models with the Touch Bar, suggesting that the Customer Data Migration Tool can no longer be connected.

MacRumors contacted multiple reliable sources at Apple Authorized Service Providers to learn more, and based on the information we obtained, it does appear that the tool is incompatible with 2018 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar models.

Multiple sources claim that data cannot be recovered if the logic board has failed on a 2018 MacBook Pro. If the notebook is still functioning, data can be transferred to another Mac by booting the system in Target Disk Mode, and using Migration Assistant, which is the standard process that relies on Thunderbolt 3 ports.

The data recovery port was likely removed because 2018 MacBook Pro models feature Apple’s custom T2 chip, which provides hardware encryption for the SSD storage, like the iMac Pro, our sources said.

Apple’s internal 2018 MacBook Pro Service Readiness Guide, obtained by MacRumors, advises technicians to encourage customers to back up to Time Machine frequently, and we highly recommend following this advice, as it now appears to be the only way to preserve your data in the rare event your MacBook Pro fails.

MacRumors also confirmed that Apple’s internal document for its Customer Data Migration Tool has not been updated to reflect use with the 2018 MacBook Pro, and nothing else we’ve seen outlines any alternative solutions.

While it appears Apple itself is unable to recover data from failed 2018 MacBook Pros, the Service Readiness Guide does state that customers can consult with data recovery specialist companies, such as DriveSavers, Knoll, Seagate, and Payam, but it’s unclear how they might be able to help.

We’ve reached out to Apple for clarification. If we receive any information, we’ll update this article accordingly.

Related Roundup: MacBook ProBuyer’s Guide: MacBook Pro (Buy Now)
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Google to run a 4,000-mile cable between Virginia and France

France and Virginia will soon be connected — all in the name of better internet service.

In a statement this week, Google announced that it would be constructing an undersea, transatlantic cable that will span 4,000 miles of open ocean, from Virginia Beach to the French Atlantic coast. The project is expected to be completed and fully functional by 2020 and is meant to help with the expansion of Google Cloud. Moreover, Google says that web traffic across the Atlantic is now particularly busy, which makes the timing and placement of this new cable particularly appropriate.

The U.S. landing of Virginia Beach is also convenient: The company has plans for a data center in the northern part of the state. This won’t be the first internet cable to call Virginia Beach home, for the record; just last year, a cable between Virginia Beach and Bilbao, Spain also went into operation. That particular project was a joint effort among Microsoft, Facebook, and telecommunications firm Telxius.

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Google

Underwater cables serve as the major carriers of the internet, and are responsible for the vast majority of the world’s digital traffic — 90 percent, to be exact. Google’s latest private subsea cable (named Dunant after the first Nobel Peace Prize winner and Red Cross founder, Henri Dunant), will add “network capacity across the Atlantic, supplementing one of the busiest routes on the internet,” noted Google’s Jayne Stowell, a “strategic negotiator,” in a blog post.

The Dunant is the second private subsea cable project Google has taken on. Its first was named Curie, and the name of its third (if it’s built) will follow the same alphabetical scheme, and begin with an “E.” So why has Google chosen to take on these projects independently? The company explained that there were three major considerations: first, performance and latency; second, customer needs with regard to capacity; and finally, guaranteed bandwidth for the lifetime of the cable.

Google notes that all of its investments in internet cables seek to satisfy the same goals: “helping people and businesses can take advantage of all the cloud has to offer.” The tech giant added, “We’ll continue to look for more ways to improve and expand our network, and will share more on this work in the coming months.”

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Meet the gigantic machine that eats land mines for breakfast

MMD

For the person with a hammer, every problem they see is a nail. And for a person working for the one of the world’s biggest anti-landmine organizations, every bit of technology is a possible de-mining tool. That’s what happened with Tom Meredith, regional director for the HALO Trust, back in 2012.

“It was crucial that it would work, since even letting a single mine through by accident would be unacceptable.”

HALO as an organization has been working toward its goal of a landmine-free planet since 1988. While things have certainly improved since then, its goal is in no way complete. Landmines continue to represent a terrible plague on the world, maiming or killing an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 people every year. Of these, children account for one in five victims.

To remove these mines, HALO has thousands of employees around the world, many of whose job is to spend long days on mine field manually locating the explosives with metal detectors and then digging them out by hand.

In the case of one particular site, however, that approach simply wasn’t going to cut it. And Meredith was struggling to come up with an answer.

The trouble with soil

“We had this problem of how to process wet, sticky soil,” he told Digital Trends. “One area we were working with had these plastic anti-personnel mines, which are very difficult to find with a metal detector. These were mixed in with some of the stickiest soil you can imagine. We had no easy way of dealing with it.”

Things changed when a chance connection led to him being linked up with a U.K.-based machinery company called MMD.

MMD builds heavily armored agricultural diggers, used for chewing up tough ground full of clay and rocks and breaking it into tiny chunks of 25mm or less. Meredith wondered whether it could do the same for landmines.

Using one single rig, HALO and MMD believe it should be possible to destroy 100,000 mines by 2025.

He reached out to the company, and found they were receptive. So receptive, in fact, that they offered to not only donate one of their vehicles to the HALO Trust, but to actually build an entirely new scaled-down machine which could be easily deployed on minefields around the world.

“It was a use for one of their machines that they had never considered before, and one which carried a real human benefit,” Meredith continued. “They knew that the core principle of their technology — taking big lumps of rock and making smaller ones — was up to the job, but they’d never made anything like this before. They had to adapt their whole ‘sizer’ unit in order to accomplish this task. It was crucial that it would work, since even letting a single mine through by accident would be unacceptable.”

The landmine muncher

Six years of research and development later, and MMD has delivered its awesome final product: a mine-munching tank of a machine, weighing 30 tons, and capable of chewing through 50 tons of soil every hour. This soil is loaded into the armored rig and then fed through two sets of rotating steel teeth called “sizers.”

While the mines do detonate inside the machine, the 150 grams of high explosive each mine packs has about as much impact as a tiny pothole does on a tractor. Using one single rig, HALO and MMD believe it should be possible to destroy 100,000 mines by 2025.

MMD

“It will be heading off to Zimbabwe within a month or two,” Meredith said, referring to the African country where thousands of landmines were laid along its borders during the Liberation War of the 1960s and 70s. Even today, there are an estimated 5,500 unexploded landmines per 3,000 cubic feet in these zones.

“Once it’s out there, there will be a period of testing and accreditation. But we hope it will then be out in the field destroying mines before the end of the year.”

The future of anti-landmine tech

Landmine-munching machines aren’t the only example of smart tech intended for this task. Previously at Digital Trends, we’ve covered other innovative initiatives, such a project to use drones to locate landmines, one that uses lasers and fluorescent bacteria for the same task, and even one based around an army of oddball robot turtles.

“It’s rarely a perfect football pitch with a precise pattern of mines for you to go and spot.”

“We have a lot of really bright ideas that come across our desk,” Meredith said, discussing the future of landmine-eliminating technology. “Sometimes it comes from military use, sometimes it’s from commercial companies, other times it’s just your stereotypical inventor in their garage conjuring up clever tools.”

While he warns that the issue is more complex than some expect (“It’s rarely a perfect football pitch with a precise pattern of mines for you to go and spot”), it’s out-of-the-box thinking like this that will lead to a world in which injuries and deaths by landmine are relegated to be a terrible relic of the past.

Most important of all is to keep your eyes and ears open. Because you never know when a chance comment about a piece of ground-chewing agricultural machinery could change the game.

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