Best Electronics in MWC 2019

As Mobile World Congress 2019 ended a couple of days ago, I'm going to discuss the best gadgets and electronics from the show. The following is a list along with summaries and key takeaways.

1. Huawei Mate X

How could I avoid the main talking point of this year's MWC? A week after Samsung reveal of its Galaxy Fold, Huawei has come out with a true contender and a more staggering price tag. But, let's not bogged down on the price just yet and talk specs. This device will sport...

- Kirin 980 processor

- four cameras

- 8-inch screen (2480x2200)

- 512 GB

- 8 GB RAM

- 4,500 mAh battery 

- Balong 5000 5G modem chip. 

Only a 5G version will be offered sometime in the middle of this year and be priced at $2,600. Although there are many doubts surrounding the whole foldable phone idea, I'm still optimistic about the protentional it could bring. Especially the massive screen real estate on such a small footprint and multitasking capabilities that gets me so excited.

2. Microsoft Hololens 2

A more comfortable, intuitive, and visually pleasing follow-up Hololens has been revealed by Microsoft. Major changes in this new generation are as follows.

- Bigger field of view, doubled as before

- More balanced weight, the internals are divided into front and back

- Better hands tracking and intuitive gestures 

- Eye tracking, for logging into the device or usage for apps

For $3,500, it's a major improvement from the last generation. But you won't be buying this anytime soon, and you really shouldn't or can't. This product from the getgo wasn't intended for the consumers, instead, it's for high valued workers who need their hands free but need to access a computer too. Think medical professions, engineers, industrial designers.

3. Energizer P18k Pop

Not sure if this is a power bank with a phone or a phone with a gigantic battery. But this thing is massive. Larger than most power banks in the market, this device is rated at 18,000 mAh (hence the name). Conservatively speaking, this will last 48 hours of continuous video playback or a week of normal use. Equipt with fast charging, but charge time will take 8 hours. Here are the specs:

- Media Tek Helio P70

- 128 GB

- 6 GB RAM

- 6.2 inch LCD

- 2 pop up camera 

- 3 back camera

- 18,000 mAh 

As thick as this may be, there's still no headphone jack. Price and availability will be around $680 starting as early as June 2019.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Reference Phone Benchmark

Since Qualcomm released their next generation Snapdragon chip December of last year, they have finally released the benchmark scores for the Snapdragon 845 just one week before Samsung Galaxy S9's launch at February 25 during MWC 2018 in Barcelona. As usual, Samsung will be the first phone to carry the new chip, then soon be followed by other manufacturers like Google, Sony, and LG.

Qualcomm promised last year the upcoming Snapdragon 845 is going to have a 30% increase in performance, 2.5x the display output and 30% less consumption compared to the Galaxy Note 8 which has an 835 chip. 

According to Geekbench 4.0, the Snapdragon 845 scored 2,439 for single core performance and 8,200 for multi-core performance. Both of the categories are 27% faster in performance. Better yet, the 845 graphics test shows a buttery smooth video quality for its customer devices as it completely wipes the competition. 

Minded, I have to tell you that the testing was done by on a reference phone built by Qualcomm, it is just a phone they build by themselves solely for the sake of testing. It is supposed to resemble a real phone as close as possible (see picture on the right). With consumer products, the benchmark will be better due to software optimization. 

New Samsung Patents for Galaxy Display - Under-screen Fingerprint Sensor, Fully Curved Edges

It's definitely no secret that Samsung has been working on an under-screen fingerprint sensor for some time now, from its original rumors in early 2017 that set to be released on the S8, then later on the Note 8 device. But time has run out. Don't worry, new hopes awakens.

Recently, Samsung has been granted a patent by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which details the multiple layers within the phone display, featuring the fingerprint sensor and three pressure sensors. As the images suggest, the scanner can be used on any part of the phone's screen for a variety of security measures.

Also found in the patents from the WIPO, it shows a 180-degree curved display on the edges that go all the way to the back. Offering a "completely new user experience" and an "improved grip".

Links:

xda-developers.com: Samsung Granted Patent for Under-screen fingerprint Sensor

xda-developers.com: New Samsung Patent Shows a Fully Curved Galaxy Smartphone

iPhone X Face ID Unlocked by Mask and 10-Year-Old Son

When launched, Apple claimed this about its face recognition technology, "Face ID matches against depth information, which isn't found in print or 2D digital photographs. It's designed to protect against spoofing by masks or other techniques through the use of sophisticated anti-spoofing neural networks. Face ID is even attention-aware."

But such robust claim isn't so trustworthy when just earlier last week, a 10-year-old boy, who looks like his mother, unlocks her iPhone X without any use of mask or makeup. Then a security firm from Vietnam called Bkav defeats Face ID with a $200 mask made out of stone powder and 2D infrared images of eyes which can be accessed by anyone. And the image of a person can be taken from a distance then a 3D printer is used to create the mask.

Although this shouldn't concern most users, Apple should've given users choices on methods of unlocking, like Andriod phones, either with facial recognition or fingerprint. Their habit of forcing customers to like and use their changes has to come to a stop, if not, more will jump ship.

Google Bought HTC's Smartphone Division for $1.1 Billion

Google has finally made it official with the long-rumored purchase from HTC regarding their smartphone division. Both companies have confirmed that the search giant is spending $1.1 billion on HTC's smartphone engineering and patents as well. However, this deal still allows HTC to continue the smartphone path if they choose to, which they are, and scheduled to launch a new smartphone in the near future.

HTC worked for Google's Nexus phones couple years ago and again on this year's Pixel 2. Even though HTC VIVE, their VR division, wasn't part of Google's purchase, but some untrusted rumors suggest that HTC is looking for protentional buyers. I personally think that's totally NOT true, HTC wouldn't and shouldn't give up on VIVE due to their dominance in high-end VR market.

Samsung Galaxy X - Foldable Tablet Received Bluetooth Certification

The long rumored Samsung's foldable tablet, the Galaxy X, has reportedly received certification from Bluetooth Special Interest Group (Bluetooth SIG), the not-for-profit corporation oversees the development and licensing of Bluetooth technology.

Apparently, Galaxy X has the model number SM-G88N0, which strangely doesn't match any of the devices on Samsung's current portfolio or any of the upcoming products either. Earlier, this device has seen passed Wi-Fi certification by running Android 6.0.1 at the time. I hope it has at least Android Nougat by now.

As of this moment, the Samsung Galaxy X has certifications for Bluetooth 4.2 (unclear whether it will have support for Bluetooth 5.0) and Wi-Fi. But, we still have to wait for a while unstill Galaxy X hits the mainstream market.

Lenovo has showcased its foldable tablet concept multiple times but never talked about bringing it to market.

Nokia To-be-released Flagship Smartphone in 2017 - Nokia 9 Leaks

In recent leaks, some of the important specifications for the long rumored Nokia 9 smartphone have been surfaced. It appears that Nokia's flagship smartphone is already in the works, and it is set to launch sometime later this year.

The device reportedly going to be a part of the second batch of devices the company plans to launch. In the leak, Nokia 9 will have a 5.3-inch QHD display, along with 530 nits measured brightness. Much like Samsung's Galaxy S8, Nokia 9 will apparently have the Always-On Display feature as well as Snapdragon 835 processor chip from Qualcomm. Lastly, it is expected to have 4GB of RAM memory and 64GB of storage.

For the camera, the Nokia 9 is expected to have a 13 Megapixel dual-camera set up on the back and a similar camera on the front. Laser auto-focus is also expected as well. Moving on to the software, the Nokia 9, like other recent Nokia devices, should run on Android 7.1.1 Nougat with a custom launcher on top of it.

The Nokia 9 is expected to be priced around $700 and will support Qualcomm's Quick Charge 3.0.

Top 5 Features of the Samsung Galaxy S8

Hi there,

Samsung recently launched the long anticipated flagship, Galaxy S8, on Wednesday, March 29th. It has significantly changed their design from the previous model, the Galaxy S7. Here are some new features that I am most excited about

1. 10 nm processor 

Samsung didn't specify the 10 nm processor, it going to be either the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chip or Samsung's own Exynos 8895 depending on region. Samsung claims the new chips will have a 10% CPU and 21% GPU boost from the last generation.

2. 5.8 / 6.2-inch display 

With a bigger display, cool slim black bezzles, and edge sides, watching videos or movies will be on a whole different level. I personally think 6.2-inch display is too large to handle, 5.8 is already big enough. 

3. Iris-scanner 

This technology will be Samsung's second time to put it on their device, the last one was the Note 7. With the iris scanning along with many other features, Note 7 was named the best smartphone of 2016 by many reputable reviewers. If you are wondering of falsifying other's identity, think no more, this can't be tricked by a photo.

4. Bixby

Bixby is the new AI assistant developed by Samsung, however, Galaxy S8 will also come with Google Assistant. These two AI assistants are supposed to work together and fill out each other's drawbacks. Which a lot of people are confused, and think Bixby is replacing Google Assistant. 

Bixby will have a more conversation based experience, it tracks user's health progress, interested news and so on. You can take a picture and Bixby can search it on Amazon. Bixby is still in early stages, not many details have been revealed. 

For me, I type faster than I speak, so I rarely use AI assistants. This is why Bixby is way down in 4th place on this list. Galaxy S8 even has a dedicated button for Bixby under the volume buttons, it better can change to other purposes, because I wouldn't use it a lot.

5. USB Type C

USB-C isn't anything new in the Android market, but it is the first in the Galaxy line. What more can I say? Reversible plug in with Qualcomm Quick charge will definitely make your life much easier. 

Samsung or Qualcomm haven't given any information on Quick charge. The latest Quick charge version is supposed to debut on the Galaxy S8, Qualcomm claims 5 minutes of charge will bring 5 hours of use late last year. I really hope it is true, and it will be on the Galaxy S8. Older version of Quick charge took 30 minutes to get 80% of the battery, already miles faster than Apple's Lighting, OnePlus's Dash. 

Other Features:

• Bluetooth 5.0 - better connection, longer range, connect with multiple devices.
• Facial recognition - fastest unlock, can be tricked by a photo
• On screen keys - with tactile feedback acts like a physical button, cool design

Cool New App

A new Android app I discovered last week is called Donald Draws. This recently launched app quickly caught lots of attention on the Android side, because this app is Android exclusive for now. The creator haven't conformed any announcement on Apple's App store.

Donald Draws Executive Doodle is a GIF creator with Donald Trump holding an open, blank U.S. executive order folder facing the cameras. Users can either add photos, draw or type texts on the folder. Check out some of the funny photos below to get a better understanding of this app.

Check out Donald Draws Executive Doodle in Google Play 
For much more examples, check out their twitter page.

If you enjoyed this blog, make sure to share this on social media. I would greatly appreciate it. 

iPhone 7 Launch

iPhone 7 just launched yesterday, 9-7-2016. It features dual camera, water resistance, A10 chip and ETC.

But there is nothing to hype about......

Let's be real, to the eye of the public these new cool features might be ground breaking. However, these features are already in the Android market for 2 or 3 years, some even came out earlier than that. Such as HTC and Huawei came out the dual camera about 3 years ago. And water resistance was in Samsung Galaxy series for 3 years now (except the S6).

And now the hardware. I don't get why people are so excited about the processor that Apple uses, A10, A9, A8.... doesn't mean anything. Putting a larger number one generation after another shouldn't convince anyone from buying that phone. I feel like the consumers need to understand that the "chart" that they give on their keynotes can be misleading, because they never reveal any detailed specs, unlike Android phones.

Don't even get me started on the prize of the iPhone 7, it's stupidly expansive.
A phone is more expansive than my computer, oh hell no!
My custom PC is less than $1000, and it has i5 4590, GTX 970 and 500GB SSD.

Think about it, PC or a phone for the same price.

Here is a nice video reviewing Android Nougat

Marques Brownlee, aka "MKBHD" on YouTube posted a in depth review on Android Nougat. He touched on and demonstrated many cool new features about the new operating software update on Android with his Nexus 6P. For more detailed information on this topic you can check out an article by Android Authority here: http://www.androidauthority.com/android-7-0-features-673002/

Top Android Nougat Features

Android Nougat starts to roll out this week, only certain Nexus devices will get this update in this week. You can learn more about the release here. Google's new version of Android comes with over 250 new features. Some are changes for faster performance, while others that you can immediately notice them. There are plenty of new tricks on the software that I highly recommend trying out as soon as possible.

Split Screen Apps 

Google is finally bringing out the most recognizable feature from Samsung Galaxy phones. Now with the split screen feature, you can view and operate two apps at the same time. I am using a Samsung S6 now, sometimes, I watch YouTube videos and check my Facebook simultaneously. While using this feature, you can also read an Email and reply to a text. Most third-party apps will be supporting split screen, but I doubt games will be supporting.

Easier APP Switching 

In the new version of Android, you'll be able to jump between two apps you have used recently by double tapping the recent apps button, which is located on the bottom right except for Samsung devices. This short cut eliminates the need to navigate back to home screen, making it easier to get stuff done.

More Emoji

Google is delivering 72 more emojis with Nougat, more skin tones, redesigned people's icon, new foods and more. The multi-skin tones are really pointless, I think the original, bright yellow, is a really great neutral color between various skin tones among out society.

Android 7.0 Nougat Released

After Google's five months of beta program testing and it's officially releasing the Android 7.0 Nougat. Google will start rolling out the operating system to selected Nexus devices, including the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, and Nexus 6 ETC. The Nexus 5 and 7 (2013) are not eligible for the update.

The first new device with the Nougat installed will be the LG V20. Galaxy Note7 should receive an update in the next 2-3 months. HTC phones from this year and last year will be getting this update as well, but they have not verify the date of the release.