GigabitLTE
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Samsung's next-gen chips point to Galaxy S9 face detection
Samsung has unveiled its next-generation smartphone chip that will give its upcoming Galaxy S9 some iPhone X-like features, including face unlocking and animated emojis. The Exynos 9810 is built on its second-generation 10-nanometer fabrication tech, and will outperform the current flagship Exynos 8895 chip by up to 100 percent in single-core mode, Samsung said. The chip is likely to be sold in Asia, while US and European customers will get the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chip.
T-Mobile more than doubles its gigabit LTE availability
At an event today in San Jose, Qualcomm and T-Mobile are getting together to demonstrate the power and speed of gigabit LTE. In conjunction with the event, the self-proclaimed Uncarrier announced that its higher-speed LTE Advanced speeds are now available in more than 920 markets, and, more importantly, that at least 430 of those markets are now gigabit LTE-ready.
The iPhone 8 has a gigabit LTE modem (updated)
At first blush, iFixit's tech autopsy on the iPhone 8 didn't reveal anything particularly notable, besides some different screws and a way to remove the glass backing. So far, so meh. But then when it came to the laundry list of chips and modems all crammed inside Apple's latest smartphones, we noticed something. It looks like the company has made its first gigabit LTE phone, capable of substantially faster download speeds. Or at least, the iPhone 8 could have, if it had everything else.
ZTE's 'Gigabit' phone will bridge the LTE and 5G gap
You may think of 5G as the next fast wireless standard, with speeds ranging from 400 Mbps with AT&T all the way up to 5 Gbps and beyond. LTE isn't quite dead yet, though, and ZTE has launched the first device that supports the gigabit LTE standard just ahead of Mobile World Conference (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain. Called simply the ZTE Gigabit Phone, the company says it'll make "360 degree panoramic VR video, instant cloud storage ... and fast cache of ultra Hi-Fi music and movies possible."
Australia gets first dibs on Gigabit LTE network and router
We're still years away before 5G fully goes live, so for now, Qualcomm continues to build on top of current 4G LTE technology to bridge the gap. The latest development on this end is the launch of the Netgear Mobile Router MR1100, which is the first mobile device to feature Gigabit LTE connectivity thanks to Qualcomm's Snapdragon X16 LTE modem. If all goes well, the lucky folks in Australia will be the first to use this device, as it'll be launched on world's first Gigabit LTE network courtesy of Telstra and Ericsson. According to Qualcomm's announcement at its summit today, Telstra will be launching its new speedy service "in the coming months," which means it could be this year or next year.
Qualcomm-powered 5G devices may arrive in first half of 2018
As we saw back at MWC, 5G trials are already well under way around the world, and such efforts are recently boosted with support from the FCC plus the EU. Verizon has stated that it's aiming to implement 5G at some point in 2017, but today, a mobile chip giant has given us a more specific time frame. At the Qualcomm 4G/5G Summit in Hong Kong, the company announced its very first 5G modem, the Snapdragon X50, which will support download speeds at up to 5 Gbps -- a super impressive number considering that we've only just started tapping into the Gigabit space with 4G LTE, let alone the more common 450 Mbps, 300 Mbps or even just 150 Mbps download speeds on our phones these days.
