What is 5G and what does it mean for me?

By Anirudh Regidi /  19 Oct 2016 , 08:43

The Qualcomm 4G/5G summit held in Hong Kong covered a lot of ground on mobile networks and the technology that enables them. By far the most important question the summit answered however, was: “What is 5G?”

To the average consumer and the layman, each generation of mobile network only means speed. 1G was analogue communication, 2G was GPRS and EDGE, 3G was 3Mbps speeds and 4G/LTE meant 20-60Mbps speeds.

To the engineers at Qualcomm, however, 5G is not just about speed. Yes, 5G promises ludicrous speeds that directly compete with wired “broadband” services, but 5G also means a vastly more efficient network and a more cohesive one.

We spoke to Peter Carson, Senior Director, marketing, Qualcomm, and Serge Willenegger, Senior Vice President, Qualcomm, who took the trouble to explain 5G to us.

What follows is a summation of the conversation we had with the two executives.

So what is 5G?

To put it simply, the use cases for 4G networks has expanded well beyond the initial scope of the standard. 5G is what you get when you reset the standard/design to cope with the increase in scope.

4G networks don’t just support mobile devices anymore. IoT (Internet of Things) devices are everywhere and the number of them is only going to increase. We’re seeing 4G modems in smart watches, in CCTVs and even in doorbells.

The complexity of 4G.

The problem is that 4G was never designed to support such a varied set of devices and as a result, the 4G ecosystem is fragmented and also congested.

5G, as happened when the transition to 4G happened, will consolidate all these standards under one roof and accommodate for

Chinese manned spacecraft Shenzhou 11 successfully docks with Chinese space station

Tiangong

  19 Oct 2016 , 09:23

China’s Shenzhou 11 manned spacecraft has successfully docked with China’s Tiangong 2 space lab, and two astronauts have entered the lab, China’s official news agency Xinhua said Wednesday. China is the third country after the United States and Russia to complete space rendezvous and docking procedures, Xinhua said.

According to the mission schedule, the astronauts will remain in the space station for 30 days and spend a total of 33 days in space, making the mission the longest in space so far for China. In a manned space mission in 2013, three Chinese astronauts spent 15 days in orbit and docked with a space laboratory, the Tiangong 1.

Advancing China’s space program is a priority for Beijing, with President Xi Jinping calling for the country to establish itself as a space power. China insists its space program is for peaceful purposes. Shenzhou 11, whose name translates as “Divine Vessel”, will also carry three experiments designed by Hong Kong middle school students and selected in a science competition, including one that will take silk worms into space.

The U.S. Defense Department has highlighted China’s increasing space capabilities, saying it was pursuing activities aimed at preventing other nations using space-based assets in a crisis. China has been working to develop its space program for military, commercial and scientific purposes, but is still playing catch-up to established space powers the United States and Russia.

Reuters

Schiaparelli lander to attempt a dangerous landing on Mars

Image: ISRO

  19 Oct 2016 , 09:35

The search for life on Mars may take a giant leap on Wednesday when a space lander is due to touch down on the red planet in Europe’s first attempt to land a craft there since the Beagle 2’s “heroic failure” more than a decade ago. The disc-shaped 577-kg (1,272 lb) Schiaparelli lander, which will test technologies for a rover due to follow in 2020, is expected to enter Mars’s atmosphere at a speed of nearly 21,000 km (13,049 miles) per hour at 1442 GMT.

It will use a parachute and thrusters to slow down before touching down on the planet’s surface only six minutes later. The lander is named for Giovanni Schiaparelli, the Italian astronomer who in 1877 began mapping the topography of Mars, extending study of what are now known as the planet’s canals, a mistranslation of the Italian word canali, or channels.

Schiaparelli is part of the European-Russian ExoMars program, which will search for signs of past and present life on Mars and represents only the second European attempt to land a craft on the red planet, after Britain’s Beagle 2 was ejected from the Mars Express spacecraft in 2003 but never made contact after failing to deploy its solar panels upon landing.

At the time it was dubbed “a heroic failure”. Landing on Mars, Earth’s neighbor some 35 million miles (56 million km) away, is

Intel beats Wall Street earnings expectation but current quarter forecast disappointing

  19 Oct 2016 , 10:06

Intel Corp reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue, boosted by improving PC demand and growth in its data centre and cloud businesses, but its revenue forecast for the current quarter disappointed Wall Street. The world’s largest chipmaker’s shares were down 5.3 percent at $35.75 in after-hours trading on Tuesday.

Intel said it expects fourth-quarter revenue of $15.7 billion, plus or minus $500 million. Analysts on average were expecting $15.86 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. “This is below the average seasonal increase for the fourth quarter as we expect the worldwide PC supply chain to reduce their inventory,” Executive Vice President Stacy Smith said on a conference call with analysts.

Last month, Intel raised its third-quarter revenue forecast for the first time in more than two years, citing improving PC demand. The company’s decision to raise third-quarter forecast moved investors’ expectations to

Xiaomi reportedly building a smartphone with flexible display

  19 Oct 2016 , 15:16

Joining the race to build a bendable smartphone, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is reportedly working on its own version of such a device.

According to Inquirer, Xiaomi’s device made its public debut over the internet through a 30-second video posted last week.

The video, courtesy of Gizmodo China, did not show the phone being bent but rather a bent screen that is very responsive to touch.

Flexible displays or foldable, bendable smartphones are the future and earlier this year, another Chinese major Lenovo became the first company to display two futuristic concepts: a foldable smartphone that can be turned into a wearable device and a bendable tablet that becomes a phablet.

Apart from Lenovo, Korean smartphone-maker Samsung has been working on foldable displays for years and is reported to be ready to launch its first foldable smartphone in 2017.

Apple has also gone for patents that suggest it is set to develop iPhones with curved screens.

IANS

You can now ask Google Now to book an Ola or Uber

By tech2 News Staff /  19 Oct 2016 , 16:11

Google has teamed up with Ola and Uber to make cab booking even more hassle-free. So, you can now look for directions and then choose the taxi service directly within the Search app or mobile search browser.

The feature was made available on the latest version of Google Maps earlier this year, offering a tab with information for cab services in addition to the existing driving, public transport, or walking options. With the further integration, users can ask Google for directions and book the ride directly from Search.

Google explains that on request for specific information such as “Taxi to Bangalore airport” or more specifically “Uber to Bangalore airport” or “Ola to Bangalore airport”, the app/ browser directs the user to select a service and

Google updates AdWords to let businesses chat with customers through advertisements

By tech2 News Staff /  19 Oct 2016 , 13:33

Messaging is a convenient platform for both businesses and customers to interact.Facebook, Google and Microsoft have all promoted the untapped potential of conversations during developer conferences held over the course of this year.

For businesses, it gives a direct line of communication with the customer. The customer can participate whenever they can afford the time and attention, and continue the conversation later.

Google has announced a new feature for advertisements shown in search results, that allows businesses to chat with their customers. For those businesses that use the feature, there will be a messaging option shown below the calling option attached to the advertisements. On tapping the chat bubble icon, a pre-generated text message selected by the business opens the conversation.

Google consumer surveys conducted in US, Canada, Australia and UK show that sixty five percent of consumers are open to the idea of texting with a business to get information or schedule an appointment.

The new feature is called click-to-message ads. A select few partners are already using the service. Gavin Chan, Digital Marketing Manager of AnyVan says “Click-to-message is a useful tool that allows consumers to engage with our business in a way that’s comfortable and efficient for them. They could be on their commute or in a rush, so they can text us quickly through click-to-message. It’s also a good medium to get questions answered that aren’t addressed on our website, or to reach us during hours when our office is closed.”

Gavin Parker, Paid Search Manager, Auto & General says “The results from click-to-message have been phenomenal and we’ve seen a 80 percent higher conversion rate when compared to other similar channels. We can now tap into an important consumer base that prefers to use SMS to learn more about our insurance products.”

Businesses can integrate chat with their advertising by setting up message extensions. The feature is expected to roll out over the course of the next few weeks. The click-to-message feature will be available to advertisers at no extra cost.

The problem with the feature as of now is that it triggers an SMS interaction. A better implementation is to integrate with the more common instant messaging applications such as Telegram, WhatsApp and Messenger. The feature could potentially tie into existing chatbots by the businesses on these platforms. SMS is an outdated and expensive form of chatting, and is bound to be less engaging as an instant messaging application.