Nothing Carl Pei

Will the Nothing Phone really transform the smartphone industry?

by with 3,767 Comments NewsSmartphonesTechnology

Nothing’s Carl Pei (who was also the founder of OnePlus) on various occasions has made it clear that he feels the smartphone industry today has become boring. He says that the large tech companies have lost innovation and almost all of the smartphones today are the same. Pei with his startup Nothing wants to bring the innovation back, bring the excitement and fun back to smartphone. 

New releases today have slight improvements over the previous iterations. This definitely makes the mainstream smartphone market look stagnant and unexciting. Carl with Nothing wants to make the market interesting, he wants people to be excited for upcoming phones because they would bring exciting new features to the table.

On July 12th Nothing would officially launch their first ever phone the Phone (1). The company has already revealed the design of the smartphone and has left a lot of people awestruck. The phone while has proportions similar to any regular smartphone, it also has some very unusual features that look more than just gimmicks. 

The phone (1) is currently marketed in a single white color. The phone features 2 rear cameras and a transparent back that shows the skilfully crafted inside of the phone. It also features unusually shaped strips of leds in the back glass that the tech startup calls the Glyph Interface. The Glyph Interface acts as a notification led on steroids giving a lot more information through various light patterns

Nothing Phone 1

The company has yet not revealed any information on the internals or the performance of the device, but rumours suggest that the smartphone features a snapdragon 778G+ SoC. The SoC can be found in smartphones like Motorola Edge 30, Vivo T2 Pro (upcoming) and Honor 70 (upcoming). The specs place the smartphone in the premium midrange category. 

We expect the price of the Phone (1) to be between 30 to 40 thousand Rupees. The Nothing Phone 1 definitely looks premium for the price range. Carl seems to be using the same strategy he used with OnePlus, building a device at a mid range price yet building features around it that are exclusive to the premium segment. 

The Ear (1) gives a clear indication of this strategy being implied. Priced at Rs. 6999, the ear 1s provide a wide range of features and quality that is much better than its competitors. Carl definitely wants the phone to attract the masses without loosing on it’s plan to become a premium technology company in the future. 

But is the phone really that revolutionary? Carl wants to build an ecosystem of products similar to what Apple has built, but with a more open approach. The ambitious startup wants to build an ecosystem where every device you own works together (even if it is not built by Nothing) with the Phone (1) being at it’s core. They also claims that the Phone (1) would connect seamlessly with not just devices like your headphones and speakers but also your PCs and even a Tesla. 

Nothing Phone Lights

While companies like Samsung are already trying to build an ecosystem even working with Microsoft to make Windows and Android work together, these are still not as open as Nothing claims its implementation would be. 

The innovation which Carl claims to have been lost in todays smartphones compared to when the first iPhone was launched is obvious. Considering the fact that the iPhone was the first device with the multitouch and an all screen interface there is very little you could go in after that. The basic rectangular form factor used today might seem a bit boring but it brings about consistency in the smartphone market making shifting from one phone to another very easy. 

Companies today are trying to diverge into different form factors while still keeping a similar experience by announcing foldable devices. While these are still in their early stages they are signs that the innovation is not completely lost. Companies are trying to bring new stuff to the table without compromising the user experience. 

Carl with this new venture has definitely been making big claims and it would only be a matter of time to find out how well would they stand on their promise. Nothing wants to change the smartphone market and might be moving in the right direction. 

History of the smartphone

History of Smartphones: How the mobile phones evolved to the amazing modern age smartphones?

by with 515 Comments Editor's PickiPhoneSmartphonesTechnology

It took smartphones more than two decades to become a highly sophisticated and essential piece of our daily life.

Mobile phones started large and bulky with very little functionality. They were a luxury that only a few could afford. Today we have more than 70% of the global population using affordable smartphones that also have processing power thousands of times more than what the first generation could provide. Today’s smartphones are millions of times faster than the computer that took humans to the moon.

Before smartphones

Mobile phones were a luxury that could only make calls and send text messages. There existed another category of devices called personal organizers or personal digital assistant (PDA), used for business purposes these had a digital calendar, you could take notes and write emails.

Mobile phones then could merely be used for calling and did not serve any other function due to lack of processing power.

1992: The First Smartphone

IBM the biggest computer company in the 90s and wanted to expand its business in its quest for new tech that could fit into the company’s portfolio they decided to take a computer and shrink it down so it fits in your pocket. This idea started the project which later would be termed as the first true modern-day smartphone.

Smartphone

IBM revealed the device that can be called the first smartphone in 1992, a revolutionary device that was way beyond its time. It had a touch screen, and various apps such as an address book, a calendar, an appointment scheduler, a calculator, a world time clock, an electronic notepad, handwritten annotations, etc. This revolutionary device IBM was called Simons Personal Communicator.

The term smartphone didn’t exist then, but the IBM Simons is the first mobile device advanced enough to be called the first modern age smartphone.

1999: The age of Blackberry

Smartphone

Blackberry launched its first hardware device the Blackberry 850 in the year 1999. The BlackBerry 850 did fall in the category of two-way pager. The Blackberry was the largest smartphone manufacturer of the time. The company’s mobile phones provided features that no other manufacturer could provide, email on the go with great wireless network connectivity. Blackberry also had an instant messenger called the BBM a long before Whatsapp and others were even an idea. The Blackberrys also had super secure connectivity and messaging protocols making it a great choice for those who were worried about their confidential data being stolen from their devices. These features took Blackberry in hands of almost every Business customer across the globe.

2001: Mobile and the Internet

It took almost a decade to get a proper 3G connection to smartphones, in 2001 a mobile protocol was built to allow mobile devices to connect with the internet wirelessly. This allowed various new applications and features but these were again not for everyone. The price of the devices had been down but the cost of data was wasn’t worth it for most. Later as the prices of data started going down more and more people started using mobile internet.

2007: Apple & Steve Jobs Changed the World

In the year 2007, Steve Jobs unveiled one of the most influential smartphones in history, A device that defined what the future should look like, a device that reinvented mobile phones, the Apple iPhone. The iPhone was the sleekest touchscreen device ever made, it featured a large glass screen and a single button in the front.

When Apple revealed the iPhone, it received criticism from other mobile phone manufacturers calling the iPhone a gimmick and a waste of money. The press referred to it as a gamble. Five months later when the device hit stores, people lined up outside Apple Stores to get their hands on the future.

Smartphone

“Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything, Apple’s been very fortunate. It’s been able to introduce a few of these into the world. Well, today, we’re introducing three revolutionary products of this class. The first one is a wide-screen iPod with touch controls. The second is a revolutionary mobile phone. And the third is a breakthrough internet communications device. An iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator. An iPod, a phone … are you getting it? These are not three separate devices: This is one device, and we are calling it iPhone.” said Steve Jobs during the legendary keynote that gave the world the most influential piece of technology it ever had.

While the sales started to fall after most enthusiasts had bought the first iPhone, Apple realized that with so much screen real estate what apps could do was just limited by the imagination of the human brain. Apple launched the AppStore in 2008 one year after the iPhone launch giving users a way to install apps and go beyond what Apple provided. This new addition was one of the major reasons behind the iPhone being a massive hit in times to come.

Google follows with Android

While every major mobile phone company at the time was mocking Apple for the iPhone and its new touch screen keyboard and completely new user interface there was one company that knew Apple had made the future. Google was about to launch its first Android phone just a few months after the announcement of the Apple iPhone but seeing Apple unveil the iPhone on stage google knew it had to completely rebuild Android.

The device that almost made it to market was canceled and Google engineers got back to the drawing board, rethinking every aspect of its Operating System.

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The HTC Dream released in 2008 became the first Android smartphone. The first Android gained criticism due to lacking features when compared to iOS and Blackberry but it was set to become one of the most famous operating systems in the world due to its open nature.

2021: Entire world just a click away

Today 14 years and 27 iPhones later, we can do almost everything with just a few clicks on the touchscreen. Today we do everything from reading news, chatting with friends and family, playing highly sophisticated games and listen to any song in the world, sending emails, and doing all sorts of business stuff.

The smartphone also gave rise to a new industry of apps that is now bigger than Hollywood. Smartphone along with cheaper mobile internet is now changing how everything works. It is changing entire industries and also building new industries such as ed-tech and video and music streaming.

TSMC Apple Modem

Apple’s mind-blowing custom built 5G modem to be built by TSMC.

by with 129 Comments AppleNewsTechnology

Apple has been trying for several years now to shift away from Qualcomm to custom built modems. They also bought Intel’s modem division back in 2019 to get started with the development of the custom built 5G Apple modem. 

Apple Inc has always tried to have the complete vertical control over their devices from the processor to the software. This gives the company a greater control over their product cycle and reduced the dependence on other companies. 

The iPhone maker has been relying on Qualcomm for quite some time now for some of iPhones most vital components. Qualcomm being the market leader globally charges very high patent fees while still leaving all the control over the quality and speed to Qualcomm. 

The Cupertino giant is expected to turn away from Qualcomm and use its own custom built modems as soon as 2023. These will be manufactured by Tiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company who have been making Apple’s A series and the new M series processors for iPhone and Mac respectively. 

The custom build will be based on TSMC’s new 4 nanometer process and would save Apple millions of dollars in licensing fees. Apple is also working on its on radio frequency and millimetre wave components. 

We expect this new modem to come built into the newer A-series and maybe also the M-series chipsets making the entire architecture unified and providing better transmission speeds and network bandwidth. 

iPhone Self Service Repair

Apple is Going a New Direction: The Self Service Repair Announcement.

by with 204 Comments AppleApps and ServicesNewsTechnology

Apple Inc on Wednesday announced a “Self Service Repair” programme that lets customers repair their Apple device by themselves.

Customers that are comfortable with the process will have access to genuine Apple parts and tools and Documentation will be provided for the same. Beginning in 2022 Apple will start providing parts, tools and documentation for the iPhone 12 lineup and the iPhone 13 lineup. Later the same year Macs featuring Apple Silicone inside will get support for the Self Service Repair programme. 

The programme will be available beginning from the United States and will later expand to more countries.

This announcement comes as a result of the right to repair movement that has been gaining supporters globally. Apple seems to have taken a step back and is listening to what the customer wants first by bringing back ports to the MacBook Pro and then by providing users with everything they need to fix their own devices by themselves. 

This programme will initially only support screen, battery and camera related repairs which happen to be the three most common type of repairs at Apple Stores. Apple will be currently providing more than 200 individual parts and tools for performing these repairs. 

Customers can place order for these parts at the Apple Self Service Repair Online Store and can get the Repair manual on the website as well. Customers who return the used part for recycling will receive a credit towards their purchase. 

Apple said the programme is for people with knowledge and experience to repair electronic devices and the vast majority of people without any experience should prefer taking their devices certified repair shops as unexperienced customers could end up damaging the device even more. 

Apple has been considered as one of the biggest opponent to the right to repair movement and this Self Service Repair programme from Apple marks a major win of the movement. The Cupertino Giant being one of the most influential company in the world also now marks a shift through the Tech industry. 

Though just allowing screen, battery and camera might be a very small portion of repairs but still marks a massive win for the consumers as they now have an option to get their hands on fixing their Apple devices. 

iMac Pro

iMac Pro: Going beyond Pro/Max?

by with 1,602 Comments AppleMacNewsTechnology

Apple Silicone based iMac Pros might replace the current 27” iMac in the first half of 2022. The Pro moniker would be reserved only to the 27” model and would distinguish the 27” model from the 24” model.

These new machines will be available with the latest M1 Pro and M1 Max chipsets available with the MacBook Pros there will also be a newer more powerful chipset that will make the more expensive model. The device will also have a mini-LED display and will be launched in the first half of 2022. 

New Design:

The 2022 iMac Pro is expected to carry a brand new design with thinner bezels. These bezels will be black in color to distinguish the Pro line-up from the regular cheaper models. The iMac will also have a chin similar to the 24” iMac but would seem smaller due to the larger screen and a thicker overall body of the device. The device according to leaker Dylandkt the device would look a lot similar to the Pro Display XDR and the 24” iMac.

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mini-LED:

Similar to the MacBook Pro and the iPad Pro the iMac Pro will have a mini-LED display that will allow the display to provide deeper blacks and brighter colors, this new technology that is also used in the Pro Display XDR will allow the iMac to work better with HDR and will allow for Pro Motion.

Pro Motion is the 120Hz adaptive refresh rate display technology that makes the screen look a lot smoother. 

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Some rumours suggest the screen size to go up in a similar fashion to the 21.5” iMac turning to 24” but according to display analyst Ross Young (who has a 100% accuracy according to AppleTrack) the screen size will remain unchanged. 

Going beyond Max

 The M1 Pro and M1 Max are pretty impressive chips but still lack behind the massive Intel i9 chip and the Radeon 5700XT that are available with the current iMac model. Going back to a leak from Mark Gurman from December 2020, Apple has been working on a 20 core CPU comprising of 16 high performance and 4 efficiency cores. This new 20 core CPU will also allow for a 128GBs of RAM unlike the current M1 Max which is capped at 64GB. 

The iMac Pro might still have models with the M1 Pro and M1 Max available for lower price and then the newer bigger CPU model which will likely cost significantly more. 

This can be backed by the fact that the MacOS Monterey has various references to multi-die SoC and the IRQ controllers on the M1 Pro and Max have a second half that is currently unused. This points to the 20 core SoC actually being 2 M1 Max put together.

This also means that the all-in-one will have double the number of video encoders and decoders, double the number of ProRes accelerators and double every of the highly specialised components.

Ports

The iMac Pro can be expected to have a similar port configuration to the current MacBook Pros and might also host a few more USB-C ports in the higher spec versions considering more available bandwidth due to presence of an extra M1 Max die. The desktop computer will also have an Ethernet port which can be expected to be present on the power adapter similar to the 24” iMac. 

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Pricing

Although a definitive price isn’t out yet we can expect the price to range from $2000 for the M1 Pro upto $10,000 for a fully maxed out model. 

Going Pro

The 27” iMac is internally called the iMac Pro and the same is expected to be its official launch name. The Pro suffix will differentiate the device from the 24” iMac. This will allow Apple to market the device to a wider range of audience from self claimed Pros to Industry Professionals. 

Apple plans on announcing this new iMac Pro in the first half of 2022 which indicate to a March event that will also feature the launch of a new iPad Pro.

0DF5DE19 37CC 4448 AC6D 0B78FC3113A6 Smartphone

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Apple Business Essentials

Apple Business Essentials is a subscription service that helps small businesses.

by with 141 Comments AppleEnterpriseNewsTechnology
Apple Business Essentials

Apple has been adding a lot of services to its catalogue and these services are becoming a major part of the business adding to this the company announced a new subscription service that it calls Apple Business Essentials. 

Business Essentials is a set of services for small and mid-sized companies using all Apple devices to manage IT within one single MDM management tool. The service includes Device Management, iCloud Storage per user, 24×7 phone support, and on-site repairs from Apple technicians.

The service is meant to streamline the processes of onboarding or managing business apps as well as managing disk encryptions and Lost Mode. The service uses the power of iCloud and Apple ID to manage all of the devices and users easily. 

Apple Business Essentials also automates services and permissions, and iscan configure an employee’s personal device to safely, securely, and privately carry work-related data. It does this through support for two Apple IDs on the device, the managed ID and the employee’s own. This allows to keep the user data private while also keeping company data secure.

The service will initially only be available in the US with price ranging from $2.99 to $12.99 a month per user which depends on amount of iCloud storage and number of devices needed per user. 

The Apple Business Essentials app can be used by the employees to install assigned work apps and request support.

“Apple Business Essentials is designed to help streamline every step of employee device management within a small business — from setup, onboarding, and upgrading, to accessing fast service and prioritised support, all while keeping data backed up and secure, so companies can focus on running their business.” Said Apple’s VP of Enterprise and Education marketing, Susan Prescott. 

Apple is also promising an AppleCare+ for Business Essentials which will be available after the service officially launches in spring 2022. This is an optional feature which would most likely cost extra, although the prices are unclear we can expect the onsite service and 24×7 Tech Support to be a bit expensive.

Also Read

Apple releases M1 based MacBook Pros: The M1 is going Pro.
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Apple vs Apple: Comparing the M1, M1 Pro and M1 Max.

1

Facebook is now Meta: New vision, new goals and a new name.

by with 173 Comments Editor's PickFacebookFeaturedNewsTechnology

On Thursday, October 28th Facebook Inc’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Meta which will be the parent company to Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus and other brands which were previously under the brand Facebook Inc. 

Meta Platforms Inc or Meta is the company’s way of saying it is no longer just a social media company but a company that is innovating in ways people communicate,  a company that is focused on building a metaverse. 

Meta Work

Also Read|The Facebook rebranding, what it really means for the company moving forward.

It is to be noted that the blue Facebook app is not the one to be renamed but Facebook Inc the company is now Meta Platforms inc. 

This vision of metaverse of the visionary company is about building a hybrid between the internet and real world, rather than just the 2D screens Internet will be built to expand in 3D in the real world using AR and VR technologies. This idea has no limits with how creative people can get considering technologically feasible. 

At the Connect 2021, the social technology company announced it will be investing a total of $150 million into training the next generation of creators to work with the AR, VR and the Metaverse. 

This new vision and new efforts are gaining to be implemented without changing any parts of the corporate structure of Facebook Inc. However the company will be reporting its financials on two separate operating segments: Family of Apps and Reality Labs. 

The company also announced that starting December 1 complementing the new name the stock ticker will be changed from FB to MVRS. 

The company had already began working on various lines of hardware to build the technologies required to build the metaverse. Through the likes of Oculus the company already has multiple VR headsets out in the public and also launching the Ray-Ban Stories glasses and a line of portable video-calling devices. 

Meta Gaming

“Our hope is that within the next decade, the metaverse will reach a billion people, host hundreds of billions of dollars of digital commerce, and support jobs for millions of creators and developers,” Zuckerberg wrote in a letter. 

Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook have made the move to tell the world augmented reality and virtual reality will be a key part in the business of the company moving forward with the new name.

Also Read| MacOS Monterey is live: Find out what’s new and is your Mac eligible for the upgrade.

M1 Pro , M1 Max

Apple vs Apple: Comparing the M1, M1 Pro and M1 Max.

by with 157 Comments AppleMacTechnology

With the launch of the Pro MacBooks Apple released two new SoCs (M1 Pro & M1 Max) that deliver higher performance than the current M1 SoC. These new processors are product of Apple’s transition to custom in-house silicon that the company announced back in 2020. 

These custom ARM based chipsets first debuted in the form of the extremely popular M1 alongside the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. The recently announced M1 Pro and M1 Max are a step further in the direction to going completely free from the slow Intel timeline.

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Apple’s M1 series of Chips are based off the A series chips that the company uses in its iPhones. This allows the Mac systems to be extremely energy efficient while still being very powerful.

These Intel killers have separate high-performance and high efficiency cores, they also have a set of GPU cores and a dedicated neural engine for machine learning tasks. These also have various hardware accelerators giving the devices a major advantage in specific tasks. This philosophy of designing hardware for specific tasks has been proving to be superior to Intel’s method of designing cores that compute very type of task given to it.

M1 Pro, M1 Max CPU Charts

The M1 was already an impressive piece for Apple’s first attempt at making a chip for Laptops and Desktops, and was already making Intel and AMD’s offerings look inferior. The M1 Pro and M1 Max take the entirety of the M1 chipset and almost doubles and at some tasks even quadruples what the already breathtaking M1 can do. The M1 Pro and Max are aimed at professionals and Apple seems to have taken care of every single issues they might have faced using the standard first gen silicon. 

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Choosing the right chip for you could be a bit confusing considering the fact that there are multiple variations in these chipsets carrying the same name. With different numbers of CPU and GPU cores Apple brought in variation but the way it is done could be a bit intimidating to the buyer. The M1 Pro for instance has two versions, one with 8 CPU cores and 14 GPU cores and one with 10 CPU cores and 16 GPU cores. The M1 Max has versions with 10 CPU cores and either 24 or 32 GPU cores.  

M1 v M1 Pro v M1 Max

M1M1 ProM1 Max
CPU Cores88 or 1010
Performance Cores46 or 88
High Efficiency Cores422
GPU Cores7 or 814 or 1624 or 32
Neural Engine Cores161616
Maximum Memory Supported16GB32GB64GB
Peak Memory Bandwidth68.25 GB/s200 GB/s400GB/s
ProRes AcceleratorN/A12

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What is Pegasus? The super spyware that’s on every news headline.

by with 194 Comments NewsPrivacyTechnology

Pegasus is a surveillance software developed by an Israeli tech firm, the NSO Group. It is a highly sophisticated spyware developed solely for law enforcement and intelligence agencies. 

Pegasus first got public attention when several journalists were intimidated by WhatsApp about their phones being compromised by spyware. 

This software has again gained limelight, on July 18th it was reported that documents acquired by a international media collaboration showed a list of numbers that are claimed to have been potential targets using Pegasus. 

What Exactly is Pegasus

Pegasus is as mentioned a highly sophisticated spyware software developed by NSO Group only available to intelligence agencies and law enforcements. 

Pegasus is termed as a modular malware. The biggest USP of Pegasus for its users is the seamless intrusion it promises where an individual targetted wont have an idea that their phone is compromised. The spyware when enters a device first gets a scan and then installs various modules as per the requirements. These modules can:

  1. Listen to calls and access all contacts
  2. Access all messages and mail
  3. Log keyboard keystrokes
  4. Capture screenshot
  5. Access browser history 

Any mobile device can be hacked just by making the target click a URL link, or even just a WhatsApp missed call. A single missed call can install the software on the targets phone which then deletes the call log entry to ensure that the victim of the hacking remains unaware.

Costs 

According to documents collected by The NewYork Times, the costs for using the NSO Group’s software is quiet steep. It costs about $500,000 installation fee, followed by $650,000 to spy on 10 iPhones or Android users; $500,000 for five Blackberry users; or $300,000 for five Symbian users. The users also had to pay an additional fee of $800,000 for an additional 100 targets, $500,000 for 50 extra targets or $150,000 for 20 extra targets. 

Now a NSO spokesperson said “NSO will thoroughly investigate any credible proof of misuse of its technologies, as we always had, and will shut down the system where necessary,”

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Microsoft Announces Windows 365, A subscription based cloud PC to carry your windows wherever you go.

by with 227 Comments FeaturedMicrosoftNewsTechnologyWindows

Microsoft today announced a new subscription based cloud service that lets you run Windows 11 on the cloud. This new service is built entirely for enterprise and will not be available for consumers. This service is similar to the Xbox Cloud Gaming service but built for productivity and business.

Now we would require a PC to run the Windows 365 so why use it? We’ll this allows users to store apps, files and documents making them available on any device, anywhere just the way they want it. It will be available on devices including Windows PC, Linux Machines, on tablets and even on Macs through the browser. The service takes advantage of Microsoft’s Azure Virtual PC.

The Windows 365 cloud PC can run all of the Microsoft 365 apps as well as any other app that can be installed on a regular Windows machine. 

Windows 365

“Windows 365 takes the operating system to the Microsoft Cloud, securely streaming the full Windows experience—including all your apps, data, and settings—to your personal or corporate devices. This approach creates a fully new personal computing category, specifically for the hybrid world: the Cloud PC.” said Wangui McKelvey, General Manager, Microsoft 365.

A major advantage of this type of solution is it makes the task to managing employee machines easier. This also lets employees work from home from the Windows they use for work. 

Windows 365 will be available from August 2, in two different versions, Enterprise and Business. The pricing for the subscription will be per user, per month based depending on the size of installation.