7Series

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  • ASSOCIATED PRESS

    Most Qualcomm processors will include a 5G modem next year

    Qualcomm has announced that it will integrate its 5G technology into its midrange 6- and 7-series processors and not just its flagship 8-series tech. That means that by 2020, you'll be able to purchase a moderately priced device and still get 5G speeds that go well beyond 1 Gbps. It announced that the tech would be used in smartphones built by Oppo, Realme, Redmi, Vivo, Motorola, Nokia and LG. That's on top of Samsung, which is already expected to use Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855 successor with built-in 5G.

    Steve Dent
    09.06.2019
  • BMW

    BMW launches a performance 7 Series PHEV

    BMW has launched its 2020 7 Series sedans, and controversy about the ginormous grill aside, they're some of the company's highest-tech models yet. The 745e xDrive has a plug-in hybrid 389 HP inline six-cylinder with a 12.0 kWh battery that should allow for some grocery-getting purely on electrons (BMW hasn't released range figures yet). That combo will accelerate you to 60 mph in just 4.9 seconds, but if that's not fast enough, there's also a 523 HP V8 on the 750i xDrive or a 600-horsepower twin-turbo V12 on the 760i.

    Steve Dent
    01.17.2019
  • Roberto Baldwin / Engadget

    A peek at BMW’s self-driving ride-hailing plans

    Automakers are trying to figure out where they fit in the autonomous-driving future. With sales falling, some of these companies are exploring the idea of becoming ride-hailing services too. BMW is one of them and during the opening of its autonomous Driving Campus in Germany, it offered rides in an autonomous 7 Series that gave us a glimpse of its plans.

    Roberto Baldwin
    05.10.2018
  • BMW

    You can’t buy a self-driving BMW until 2021 (and that’s a good thing)

    At this point, if you're an automaker and you're not talking about autonomous cars, you might want to take a long, hard look at your product road map. During a briefing at its Mountain View research campus, BMW talked about how it plans to bring a Level 3 (autonomous driving in very specific circumstances where the driver should be ready to take over control) car to consumers in 2021 and deliver Level 4 and 5 ride-hail vehicles to urban pilot programs the same year. Right now, a lot of that strategy hinges on its partners while the automaker maintains the BMW brand.

    Roberto Baldwin
    10.25.2017
  • Samsung 9 Series and Sliding PC 7 Series quick hands-on (video)

    It's been a crazy day, but we hope you didn't miss Samsung's Sliding PC 7 Series. The little laptop / tablet hybrid does just what the name suggests, with the display literally sliding over the keyboard. Of course, we had to get video of it in action, which you can enjoy after the break. Some pictures are below, too, both of the 7 Series and ultra-thin 9 Series. Needless to say, we're going back for seconds. %Gallery-112893%

    Ross Miller
    01.06.2011
  • Windows Phone 7 Series gaming, all up in the club (video!)

    So... look. Sometimes you find yourself in a Vegas club at 3AM, holding a Windows Phone 7 Series testing device loaded up with a working copy of The Harvest, and you shoot what might be world's shakiest video of the gameplay using a nearby Nexus One. It's practically a rite of passage in this town, right? Video after the break. Update: Also, sometimes you find yourself in a Vegas hotel the day after the Vegas club, nursing your brutal headache and desperately seeking a second opportunity to film that hot unreleased game with a better camera. Video of that is after the break, too.

    Nilay Patel
    03.17.2010
  • Microsoft shows off XNA games running on Windows Phone, full 3D is a go

    Alright, we're going to be straight with you: you're not going to like this. See, Microsoft just showed us a pair of 3D games running on its ASUS Windows Phone prototype and built with its brand new XNA Game Studio 4.0, but wouldn't let us nab a single photo or video of the process. What we can tell you is that they exist, they work, and at least Microsoft tossed us some screenshots to wave in your face. The two titles are The Harvest (pictured), a good looking touch-controlled dungeon crawler with destructible environments, being developed by Luma Arcade; and Battle Punks, a less impressive one-on-one sword fighting Facebook game by Gravity Bear that's being ported over. We didn't get to see any full motion 3D camera moves, since Battle Punks is just composed of two characters duking it out, and The Harvest has a fixed camera and some pre-rendered elements, but there were indeed some real polygons being crunched before our eyes at a full resolution (no upscaling), alpha-rev, choppy framerate, and we were assured that full screen 3D was possible. We also got to see one of our first glimpses of universal notifications on Windows Phone: Achievement unlock notices (also pictured above) that slide down from the top of the screen in a black bar and then slide back, and can't be interacted with. Follow after the break for some more nerdy details, along with a video of VisualStudio in action, and screenshots of the two games are in the gallery below. %Gallery-87820%

    Paul Miller
    03.09.2010
  • Microsoft bringing XNA Game Studio 4.0 to GDC this week, does 3D gaming for Windows Phone

    We've all had a feeling that Microsoft is holding back some pretty big surprises (or at least completely reasonable revelations) when it comes to Windows Phone 7 Series and gaming, and here at GDC this week it sounds like we're going to get a little glimpse into that. Microsoft is unveiling its new XNA Game Studio 4.0, which lets developers work on games for Windows Phone 7 Series, Xbox 360 and Windows PC. The integration with Visual Studio 2010 that we saw the other day allows developers to build a single project and then make slight modifications to let it run on each platform respectively. Most importantly, Microsoft specifically mentions that 4.0 will include hardware accelerated 3D APIs for Windows Phone 7 Series -- not stunning, giving the fact that Zune can do 3D games (and is supported by XNA), but relieving just the same. Other phone-related tidbits are also telling: there will be fairly deep Xbox LIVE integration, including unlocking achievements from phone-based games and push notifications for asynchronous turn based gaming. Hopefully we can get some real live multiplayer gaming going as well, but there's no mention of that just yet. Microsoft promises "much, much more" will be revealed at MIX 2010, but for now we're gonna dig for all we can here at GDC.

    Paul Miller
    03.09.2010
  • Microsoft shows off single game running on Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox

    Guess we don't have to wait until MIX to have all our Windows Phone 7 Series questions answered! Microsoft's Eric Rudder, speaking at TechEd Middle East, showed off a game developed in Visual Studio as a singular project (with 90% shared code) that plays on Windows with a keyboard, a Windows Phone 7 Series prototype device with accelerometer and touch controls, and the Xbox 360 with the Xbox gamepad. Interestingly, not only is the development cross-platform friendly, but the game itself (a simple Indiana Jones platformer was demoed) saves its place and lets you resume from that spot on whichever platform you happen to pick up. Pretty impressive stuff, and while the words "Windows Phone 7 Series" weren't spoken by Eric, the use of the prototype ASUS device and the clear emphasis that this would place on Xbox Live for making the magic happen make it obvious that this is the "wave of the future" for all three platforms -- at least for casual gaming. Check out the demo on video below the fold. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

    Paul Miller
    03.06.2010
  • The Engadget Show - 006: Avner Ronen, the first Windows Phone 7 Series device, Dell Mini 5, and more!

    Truly our craziest show yet. In case you didn't tune into the livestream of The Engadget Show on Saturday (and if you somehow didn't hear about the news), then you're in for a real treat. The crew gets especially wild on this episode while talking Hulu and plans for world domination with Boxee's Avner Ronen, revealing the first partner handset for Windows Phone 7 Series with Microsoft's Aaron Woodman, and playing around with the Dell Mini 5, as well as the forthcoming Engadget app for Android. Oh, and there's also a fascinating short piece on chiptune music and visuals and the folks who make the magic happen. If you do one thing today, make it The Engadget Show. You won't be sorry. The full video is available to stream after the break, or you can download it below. Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Paul Miller, Nilay Patel Special guests: Avner Ronen and Aaron Woodman Produced and Directed by: Chad Mumm Executive Producer: Joshua Fruhlinger Edited by: Michael Slavens Music by: Nullsleep Visuals by: Paris and Outpt Opening titles by: Julien Nantiec Download the Show: The Engadget Show - 006 (HD) / The Engadget Show - 006 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted) Subscribe to the Show: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V). [Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V). [RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically. %Gallery-86746% %Gallery-86693%

    Chad Mumm
    03.01.2010
  • Switched On: Making it different versus making a difference

    Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. How many apps does it take to screw in a light bulb? That was the question facing Microsoft as rival mobile operating systems backed by Apple and Google added tens of thousands of applications giving users stylus-free access to a wide range of capabilities. For a company whose co-founder trumpeted the notion of information at your fingertips, it was a bitter position. The light bulb wasn't screwed, but Microsoft looked as though it was. Finally, though, the light bulb has turned on, and it has lit a path in the opposite direction from the guiding user interface philosophy that characterized Windows Mobile, née Windows CE, since it powered devices known as Pocket PCs. With its miniature Start menu, menu bars and icons, Windows Mobile had been designed to present a familiar interface to those used to using Windows 95. In this case, however, familiarity bred contempt. As Microsoft's Joe Belfiore repeated several times during his introduction of the new Windows Phone 7 OS, "the phone is not a PC."

    Ross Rubin
    02.16.2010
  • Editorial: Engadget on Windows Phone 7 Series

    Microsoft took a dramatic step with Windows Phone 7 Series this morning at MWC in Barcelona, and obviously we've been talking about it all day here at Engadget HQ. Just like with the iPad and the Droid, opinions on the staff are all over the map -- it's not every day that a company reboots an entire OS -- so we're going to let everyone speak for themselves, starting with the people who've handled Windows Phone 7 Series in person: Josh, Chris, Thomas, and Sean. Josh: The most astonishing thing about Windows Phone 7 Series is how completely it's managed to obliterate its Windows Mobile roots. Let's just be crystal clear about it: this is unlike anything the company has ever done, both in distancing itself from its past, and in the clarity of its vision. From the floor to ceiling, 7 Series is just a very new operating system with very new ideas about how users should be involved with their devices. What people should recognize is that the Windows Mobile team has made a huge gamble that upending its ailing OS was the only solution... and from the looks of things, that gamble has paid off. But this isn't a battle already won -- it's a battle yet to be fought. There's still much we don't know about this OS, and plenty to be concerned about when it comes to turning what looks nice in a demo into a daily use smartphone. There are huge questions to be answered. How are notifications handled? What kind of SDK will be made available to developers? How rigid will the user experience guidelines be? What is the real story on multitasking? Will the phone support third party browsers, email clients, or messaging applications? Can hardware manufacturers differentiate their products enough? Will the basic phone experience be useful to enterprise users or others looking for a workhorse and not just a pretty face? Honestly, those are just a few of the questions I have -- but I also continue to be impressed with Microsoft's fierceness of conviction on this platform. If the company can hew close enough to its promises and deliver on the tall order it's set out for itself, then hope for Windows in the mobile space is far from dead. It's about to be reborn.

    Nilay Patel
    02.15.2010
  • Windows Phone 7 Series hands-on and impressions (updated with video)

    Forget everything you know about Windows Mobile. Seriously, throw the whole OS concept in a garbage bin or incinerator or something. Microsoft has done what would have been unthinkable for the company just a few years ago: started from scratch. At least, that's how things look (and feel) with Windows Phone 7 Series. This really is a completely new OS -- and not just Microsoft's new OS, it's a new smartphone OS, like webOS new, like iPhone OS new. You haven't used an interface like this before (well, okay, if you've used a Zune HD then you've kind of used an interface like this). Still, 7 Series goes wider and deeper than the Zune by a longshot, and it's got some pretty intense ideas about how you're supposed to be interacting with a mobile device. We had a chance to go hands-on with the dev phone before today's announcement, and hear from some of the people behind the devices, and here's our takeaway. (And don't worry, we've got loads of pictures and video coming, so keep checking this post for the freshest updates). First the look and feel. The phones are really secondary here, and we want to focus on the interface. The design and layout of 7 Series' UI (internally called Metro) is really quite original, utilizing what one of the designers (Albert Shum, formerly of Nike) calls an "authentically digital" and "chromeless" experience. What does that mean? Well we can tell you what it doesn't mean -- no shaded icons, no faux 3D or drop shadows, no busy backgrounds (no backgrounds at all), and very little visual flair besides clean typography and transition animations. The whole look is strangely reminiscent of a terminal display (maybe Microsoft is recalling its DOS roots here) -- almost Tron-like in its primary color simplicity. To us, it's rather exciting. This OS looks nothing like anything else on the market, and we think that's to its advantage. Admittedly, we could stand for a little more information available within single views, and we have yet to see how the phone will handle things like notifications, but the design of the interface is definitely in a class of its own. Here's a few takeaways on what it's like to use (and some video)... %Gallery-85559% %Gallery-85564%

    Joshua Topolsky
    02.15.2010
  • Windows Phone 7 Series is official, and Microsoft is playing to win

    Windows Phone 7 Series. Get used to the name, because it's now a part of the smartphone vernacular... however verbose it may seem. Today Microsoft launches one of its most ambitious (if not most ambitious) projects: the rebranding of Windows Mobile. The company is introducing the new mobile OS at Mobile World Congress 2010, in Barcelona, and if the press is anything to be believed, this is just the beginning. The phone operating system does away with pretty much every scrap of previous mobile efforts from Microsoft, from the look and feel down to the underlying code -- everything is brand new. 7 Series has rebuilt Windows Mobile from the ground up, featuring a completely altered home screen and user interface experience, robust Xbox LIVE and Zune integration, and vastly new and improved social networking tools. Gone is the familiar Start screen, now replaced with "tiles" which scroll vertically and can be customized as quick launches, links to contacts, or self contained widgets. The look of the OS has also been radically upended, mirroring the Zune HD experience closely, replete with that large, iconic text for menus, and content transitions which elegantly (and dimensionally) slide a user into and out of different views. The OS is also heavily focused on social networking, providing integrated contact pages which show status updates from multiple services and allow fast jumps to richer cloud content (such as photo galleries). The Xbox integration will include LIVE games, avatars, and profiles, while the Zune end of things appears to be a carbon copy of the standalone device's features (including FM radio). Besides just flipping the script on the brand, the company seems to be taking a much more vertical approach with hardware and user experience, dictating rigid specs for 7 Series devices (a specific CPU and speed, screen aspect ratio and resolution, memory, and even button configuration), and doing away with carrier or partner UI customizations such as Sense or TouchWiz. That's right -- there will be a single Windows Phone identity regardless of carrier or device brand. Those new phones will likely look similar at first, featuring a high res touchscreen, three front-facing buttons (back, start, and perhaps not shockingly, a Bing key), and little else. Carrier partnerships are far and wide, including AT&T, Deutsche Telekom AG, Orange, SFR, Sprint, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telstra, T-Mobile USA, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone, while hardware partners include Dell, Garmin-Asus, HTC, HP, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Qualcomm. We're told that we likely won't get to see any third-party devices at MWC, though Microsoft is showing off dev units of unknown origin, and the first handsets are supposed to hit the market by the holidays of this year. We had chance to go hands-on with a device before the announcement, and we've got some detail to share on just what the experience is like, so click here to read our hands-on impressions (with lots of pics and video on the way!). %Gallery-85544% %Gallery-85542%

    Joshua Topolsky
    02.15.2010
  • Live from Microsoft's Windows Phone press event at MWC 2010

    We're in our seats and the show is about to begin. Hang tight! Everything is set to go at these times: 04:00AM - Hawaii 06:00AM - Pacific 07:00AM - Mountain 08:00AM - Central 09:00AM - Eastern 02:00PM - London 03:00PM - Paris 11:00PM - Tokyo

    Joshua Topolsky
    02.15.2010
  • Samsung's 63-inch PN63A760 fares alright in recent review

    Yet again, we're facing just another "pretty good" plasma in the highly competitive realm of flat-panels. Samsung's largest 7 Series PDP (PN63A760) was recently reviewed over at CNET, and while the accurate primary colors, effective anti-reflective screen, smooth dejudder mode and built-in interactive content were fine and dandy, critics couldn't help but ding it for reproducing "relatively light black levels" and "tacking on" the aforementioned interactive services. Additionally, the streaming functions didn't support third-part DLNA servers, the "Smooth mode" didn't work with 1080p sources and the red color design didn't do much for some eyes. The bottom line? It packs a bountiful feature set and a unique look, but the lackluster picture quality just seemed to overshadow those other positives.

    Darren Murph
    11.02.2008
  • Hands-on with Samsung's new LCD / plasma displays

    If you're finished digesting all that information spewed by Samsung this morning, why not head on over to Engadget Classic and have a look at everything in the flesh? We were able to point the camera at a few of Sammy's latest wares this afternoon, and as always, we hosted up a gallery for you to gaze at. Go on, get!

    Darren Murph
    07.23.2008
  • Samsung reveals 50- / 58- / 63-inch 7 Series plasma HDTVs

    Not a huge fan of the LCD HDTV? Is plasma more your style? Fantastic, because Samsung just took the (official) lid off of the already spotted 7 Series plasma lineup. Featuring the outfit's Touch of Color design, a 1,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, daytime / nighttime calibration options and a DNIe Pro video processor, this trio makes no bones about which rival it's gunning for. The entire crew also features InfoLink RSS access, a USB 2.0 port (WiseLink Pro), DLNA compatibility, four HDMI-CEC jacks and 1080p panels. Read up on the full rundown of specs in the read link, and prepare to hand over $2,799.99 for the 50-inch PN50A760, $4,499.99 for the 58-inch PN58A760 or $5,499.99 for the 63-inch PN63A760 sometime next month.

    Darren Murph
    07.23.2008
  • Samsung's IFA lineup of HDTVs emerges

    Mmm, IFA. The Berlin-based trade show is drawing near, and Samsung isn't waiting around to tease us with what will be unveiled there. The company is already showcasing a number of swank flat-panels including the 7 Series (46-inch LE-46A780 and 40-inch LE-40A780), 9 Series (46-inch LE-46A950) and 7 Series plasma (50-inch PS-50A750). We're also noticing a number of HTIB systems along with a few other components we're sure to take interest in, but the whole German language thing is a bit of a barrier right now. Nevertheless, tap the (roughly) translated links below for specifications on the aforesaid HDTVs, and look for more details (read: information in English) to emerge as the expo approaches.Read - Samsung's IFA informationRead - 7 Series LCD HDTVsRead - 9 Series LCD HDTVsRead - 7 Series Plasma

    Darren Murph
    07.18.2008
  • BMW Hydrogen 7 is unveiled as first for luxury performance space

    While plenty of car manufacturers have been working hard to bring hydrogen-based vehicles to the everyman, it seems BMW has been taking an alternate tact, and instead got bizzy squeezing a hydrogen drive into a 7 Series model. The car's engine can run on either hydrogen or gasoline, and includes tanks for both. You can manage around 124 miles on hydrogen and an additional 311 miles on gasoline, which should cut down on the whole "stranded in the middle of nowhere since there aren't enough hydrogen stations yet" situation. Performance is passable, at 0-62mph in 9.5 seconds, but this ain't no Tesla. The switch between power sources is performed automatically at the push of a button, and the car will be produced in a limited series for selected users, meaning you probably won't even have a shot at one. All the same, it's good to see alterna-fuel vehicles getting so close to reality -- and BMW seems convinced that in reality, the future won't just play host to compact boringcars.

    Paul Miller
    12.04.2006