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Every Android maker to have 5G flagship by end of 2019, Qualcomm says

Providing insight into the future of smartphone technology — and taking a jab at Apple — Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon said that by the end of 2019, all Android handset makers will have at least one flagship device capable of accessing speedy 5G networks. Apple’s iPhone is not expected to make the leap to 5G until 2020.

Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon discusses 5G at the Snapdragon Technology Summit. | Source: CNET’s Shara Tibken via Twitter.

With Qualcomm being the sole provider of baseband chipsets to most major Android manufacturers, Amon’s statement is less a prediction than it is a promise.

“When we get to exactly this time of year one year from now we will see every [handset maker] on the Android ecosystem, their flagship across all US carriers will be a 5G device,” Amon told CNET in an interview at Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Technology Summit in Hawaii. “Every Android vendor is working on 5G right now.”

Specific release dates and details were left unmentioned, but a slide presented during Amon’s keynote listed a number of major firms who are partnering with Qualcomm on the 5G rollout initiative. Those companies include Asus, Fujitsu, Google, HMD, HTC, InSeeGo, LG, Motorola, Netgear, NetComm Wireless, OnePlus, Oppo, Samsung, Sharp, Sierra Wireless, Sony, Telit, Vivo, WingTech, WNC, Mi and ZTE.

Hammering home the notion that 5G is knocking on consumers’ doors, Samsung at the event showed off prototype devices running on hyper-local 5G networks set up by AT&T and Verizon. The “proof of concept” phones were powered by Qualcomm guts including Snapdragon X50 5G NR modem and antenna modules, an integrated RF transceiver and other components from the Snapdragon Mobile Platform.

Apple, and any mention of iPhone, was conspicuously absent at the event. The Cupertino tech giant is embroiled in a bitter legal battle with its former supplier, and has since turned to Intel to meet its cellular modem needs.

In November, and again this week, reports claimed a 5G-capable iPhone will debut in 2020. That puts Apple’s timeline more than year behind Android vendors that plan to first integrate the technology in early 2019.

That said, Apple is typically slow to adopt the fastest cellular standards. The first iPhone, for example, launched without support for the then-cutting-edge 3G standard, while 4G LTE integration arrived much later than competitors when iPhone 5 received support in 2012.

While missing out on “first to market” claims, Apple’s launch plans should ramp well with a buildout of supporting infrastructure. Carriers like Verizon, AT&T and Sprint are in the early stages of seeding their respective networks with compatible base stations, and widespread availability is not expected until at least 2020. Amon at Tuesday’s event highlighted Qualcomm’s 5G working partners, which include the three major U.S. carriers and international players like China Mobile.

Still, the road to 5G will be slow going. At the event, AT&T senior vice president Kevin Petersen said the percentage of devices with 5G capabilities in the U.S. in 2019 will be in the “low single digits,” the report said.

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Best of 2018: Apple reveals most popular apps, games, movies and more

 

By AppleInsider Staff
Monday, December 03, 2018, 11:42 pm PT (02:42 am ET)

As it does every year, Apple on Tuesday released a list of the year’s “best” digital content up for offer on its various digital storefronts, from the iOS App Store to Apple Books.

Podcasts

Apple’s Best of 2018.

Apple announced the “Best of 2018” awards in a press release posted to its website. Like recent years, the list is heavy on apps and games, but also includes highlights from Apple Music, the iTunes Movie Store, Podcasts and Apple Books.

Starting with its bread-and-butter App Store offerings, Apple crowned Procreate Pocket as 2018’s iPhone App of the Year, with Froggipedia and Pixelmator Pro taking top honors for iPad and Mac, respectively. Workout app Sweat took the No. 1 spot on Apple TV.

Physics-based puzzler Donut County was named iPhone Game of the Year, while point-and-click puzzle title Gorogoa won the same honor for iPad. Story-driven adventure-puzzle title The Gardens Between was named Mac Game of the Year and Alto’s Odyssey took home the award for Apple TV.

Battle royale-style games like Fortnite and PUBG Mobile were cited as Game Trend of the Year, though no title in the category made the cut for best game. So-called self-care apps — health and fitness apps like Calm and 10% Happier: Meditation — featured as 2018’s app Trend of the Year.

Apple also shared a link to this year’s Top App Charts, expectedly populated with stalwart apps like YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook. Beyond breakout franchise Fortnite, the Top Games Charts was less predictable, led by the likes of HQ Trivia and Helix Jump, among others.

A smattering of watchOS apps are featured in a “favorites” section that feels more like a consolation than an distinct category.

Frequent Apple collaborator Drake was named Artist of the Year, while Juice WRLD rated Breakout Artist of the Year honors. Song of the Year went to “I Like It” by Cardi B featuring Bad Bunny and J. Balvin, as Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour took home Album of the Year.

Apple shined a light on podcasts with a list heavy on investigative reporting and storytelling, examples being “This American Life,””Slow Burn” and “Wolverine: The Long Night.” The company said podcasts focusing on news and politics gained traction this year, presumably thanks to a tumultuous domestic news cycle and the midterm elections.

Critically-acclaimed movies like “Crazy Rich Asians” and TV shows like “The Handmaid’s Tale” topped Apple’s picks for Apple TV and iTunes.

Finally, Apple noted top offerings from the recently revamped — and renamed — Apple Books, including Book of the Year “American Marriage.”

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Disrupt Berlin 2018 heavy on machine learning, picks sperm freezer Legacy as Startup Battlefield winner

A panel of tech industry judges narrowed down a dozen contestants picked from over a thousand applicants to pick up the Disrupt Cup award at Disrupt Berlin 2018. The panel ultimately bypassed other startups putting machine learning directly into consumers’ hands, and ultimately decided on a single winner that wiggled its way past the others to win $50,000 —a Swiss startup named Legacy that freezes men’s sperm when they are healthy and young to archive reproductive ability until the time is right.

Startup Battlefield

Shweta Gupta of ImagoAI presents her company’s case in the Startup Battlefield

Runner Up: Imago AI

Disrupt picked a runner-up winner also connected to seed, this time of the plant variety. Phenox, an app by Imago AI, uses computer vision and machine learning to automate the measurement of crop output and quality for farmers, greatly accelerating the time-consuming process of quantifying desirable plant traits with the goal of developing higher-yielding, more disease-resistant crop varieties.

The startup, based in Gurgaon, India near New Delhi, has developed technology that claims to reduce the time required to measure crop traits by three-quarters, providing a potential alternative to developing new crop varieties using genetic engineering. By accelerating the process of breeding and phenotyping plants, new varieties could be developed that are optimized to thrive in a particular location or climate.

Additionally, its computer vision and machine learning can be used to identify crop diseases and measure in great precision how extensively a particular specimen is affected. The system can take advantage of the cameras on mobile devices to review data literally in the field. The system is also non-destructive, as plants aren’t required to be dug up and tested in a lab.

Winner: Legacy

Legacy works like a sperm bank but enables men who want to preserve their fertility for later to make a deposit from home, using a special container that is picked up by a courier and delivered to a clinic. Once received, the goods are tested and can be stored cryogenically and indefinitely for a one-time payment.

The Geneva, Switzerland, based Legacy offers plans ranging from basic fertility testing to long-term, parallel storage kept redundantly at six secure locations to avoid any loss. Users pay between $1,000 and $10,000 for the storage plans, enabling them to delay having children without any risk of degraded fertility or genetic mutation.

Legacy’s founder Khaled Kteily said he was inspired to develop the “Swiss Bank of sperm storage” after a friend facing cancer treatment complained that existing options for banking his seed seemed less than trustworthy. Beyond potential damage from medical treatments, a man’s ability to produce healthy sperm also degrades over time.

“Every eight months,” Kteily stated, “men produce a new genetic mutation that gets passed on to their children. Birth rates around the world are plummeting and men are responsible for infertility in 30-50 percent of couples. Meanwhile, you can freeze sperm indefinitely with no loss in quality, through Legacy, without having to leave your home and at a tenth of the cost of egg freezing.”

Other Battlefield survivors

Other finalists in the Disrupt Berlin Startup Battlefield included Spike, an app created by Ziad Alame, a diabetic himself, to simplify the work of monitoring and responding to changing blood glucose levels. Beyond simply recording data, the service is designed to proactively help users to coach their behavior, suggesting foods with specific carb counts or recommending specific behavioral changes in response to learning their health patterns over time.

The firm also launched its new Spike Guardian app designed to link people managing their diabetes with friends and family, creating a social network of support that helps others assist them in maintaining their ongoing requirements for carb-counting and insulin injections.

Ziad Alame presents Spike, a tool for helping diabetics manage their condition

The Berlin-based Polyteia is a startup working to help city governments take advantage of the data they have available in various databases. The platform aspires to centralize data and derive meaningful insights that can be used to chart out performance indicators from financial and operational data, optimizing city services based on utilization, and even forecasting future needs.

The final round also included Kalepso, a startup from Montreal, Canada that claims to have a solution to securely encrypting database information with higher performance using differential privacy to enable database analysis without leaking any individual’s private data.

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48 hours only: Save $40 to $100 on 2018 iPad Pros with free expedited shipping

 

By Christine McKee
Saturday, December 01, 2018, 03:08 pm PT (06:08 pm ET)

For two days only, B&H is knocking $40 to $100 off Apple’s new 2018 iPad Pro. Both 11-inch and 12.9-inch models are discounted, with free expedited shipping and no tax in many states. These holiday deals end soon, so grab the savings while you can.

Now through Dec. 3, B&H Photo is discounting both 11-inch iPad Pros and 12.9-inch iPad Pros. These 2018 models are brand-new with support for Apple’s updated second generation Pencil and Smart Keyboard Folios. The gorgeous, edge-to-edge Liquid Retina display and Face ID functionality make these iPad Pros a pleasure to use, according to our 11-inch iPad Pro and 12.9-inch iPad Pro reviews.

What’s more, each iPad Pro qualifies for free expedited shipping within the contiguous U.S. when shopping at B&H — and the electronics retailer will not collect sales tax on orders shipped outside AL, HI, IL, IN, KY, MD, ME, MI, MN, MS, NJ, NY, ND, OK, VT, WA and WI. For many shoppers outside of those states, this can equate to $100 to $160 in savings compared to shopping at Apple. Top discounts can be found below, while a full list of deals is available 24/7 in our iPad Price Guide.

2018 11″ iPad Pros

2018 12.9″ iPad Pros

For discounts on other Mac and iPad hardware, including deals on 2018 MacBook Airs and Mac minis, please visit our Apple Price Guide.

Additional Apple Deals

AppleInsider and Apple authorized resellers are also running a handful of additional exclusive promotions this month on Apple hardware that will not only deliver the lowest prices on many of the items, but also throw in discounts on AppleCare, software and accessories. These deals are as follows:

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Sending unsolicited nudes via AirDrop might soon be illegal in NYC

A bill introduced to the New York City Council this week seeks to address the growing problem of “cyber flashing,” or the act of sending explicit photos to strangers through file sharing technology like Apple’s AirDrop.

Thanks to iPhone’s popularity — and AirDrop’s behavior — Apple products are prime candidates for exploitation. The wireless protocol is designed to quickly connect to, and move content between, two supporting iOS or Mac devices.

Unlike other systems, AirDrop presents a preview of incoming photos and video, which users can then accept or decline. Cyber flashers take advantage of the automated preview feature to present inappropriate material to victims.

Further, AirDrop allows users to send files anonymously, as devices are identified by their user-defined name. An iOS user, for example, can easily modify their device name in the operating system’s Settings menu.

Though AirDrop is by default restricted to a user’s contacts list, the feature can be configured to allow connections with all nearby devices. Once modified, discoverability settings are saved, meaning a device is perpetually set to one of three options: “Receiving Off,” “Contacts Only” or “Everyone.”

A decidedly modern form of sexual harassment, cyber flashing is typically conducted in high occupancy spaces like trains and buses, where people are often seen with their eyes glued to mobile device screens. The more users in a given area, the more targets there are for perpetrators who use crowd cover to remain anonymous.

“In the old days, you had to have a long trench coat and good running shoes,” New York City Councilman Joseph Borelli said in a statement to The New York Times. “Technology has made it significantly easier to be a creep.”

Councilmen Borelli, Donovan Richards, Justin Brannan and Alan Maisel are co-sponsors of a bipartisan anti-flashing bill introduced on Wednesday. If passed, the legislation would make it illegal to “send an unsolicited sexually explicit video or image to another person with intent to harass, annoy or alarm such other person,” punishable by up to a year in jail or a $1,000 fine.

“Keep your pic in your pants,” Richards said. “If you do it, the message we are sending is that the repercussion is a fine or jail time.”

As AppleInsider explained last year, users can protect themselves from becoming cyber flashing victims by limiting AirDrop discoverability to known contacts.

To do so, open Control Center on any device running iOS 12 by swiping down from the top right corner of the screen (iPhone X and newer) or up from the bottom of the screen (iPhone 8 and older). Press down on the Bluetooth icon, or press and hold, to reveal additional connectivity controls, tap on the AirDrop icon and select Contacts Only or Receiving Off.

Alternatively, the same AirDrop settings can be found under General > AirDrop in the Settings app.

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Target may be ready to concede and enable Apple Pay at retail

 

By Roger Fingas
Thursday, November 29, 2018, 06:48 pm PT (09:48 pm ET)

One of the biggest U.S. retail holdouts for Apple Pay, Target, may be preparing to launch official support at its stores in the near future.

Target

The technology is already working at the Metreon location in San Francisco, some posters on Twitter have claimed. Another noted that while they didn’t try Apple Pay, they were able to use a contactless card, which only works with NFC-enabled terminals.

Target has so far resisted not just Apple Pay but any NFC-based mobile payment option for its stores. Shoppers can use Apple Pay in the Target iOS app, but at retail the closest equivalent is a scannable barcode in the app.

The Twitter anecdotes were first highlighted by 9to5Mac.

It is possible that the Metreon store has simply enabled NFC by accident, but merchants will often test Apple Pay on a small scale before official rollouts. Target has also been under public pressure to support the platform, given the popularity of the iPhone and Apple Watch in the U.S.

Target has some 1,850 stores nationwide, and is where many Americans do weekly shopping for clothes, groceries, and other necessities. It also sells some Apple products, such as iPhones.

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iPad blowout deals: $330 off 12.9″ iPad Pros; $200 off 10.5″ iPad Pros; $50 off 9.7″ iPad

 

By Christine McKee
Wednesday, November 28, 2018, 05:13 pm PT (08:13 pm ET)

Fresh iPad markdowns have arrived at B&H just in time for the holidays with instant discounts of up to $330 off. Pick up a 2017 12.9″ iPad Pro for just $579 — or save $200 on a 10.5″ iPad Pro with 512GB of storage. Prices for the discounted tablets start at just $379.

Many of the iPad deals found below are valid for two days only with limited quantities available at the reduced prices. The discounted iPads and iPad Pros are also eligible for free expedited shipping within the contiguous U.S. for fast delivery in time for the holidays. To further add to the savings, B&H will not collect sales tax on orders shipped outside AL, HI, IL, IN, KY, MD, ME, MI, MN, MS, NJ, NY, ND, OK, VT, WA and WI (potentially saving many shoppers another $30 to $70 on average). According to our iPad Price Guide, these iPad Pro deals deliver the lowest prices available.

10.5″ iPad Pro

12.9″ iPad Pros

2017 9.7″ iPad

Additional Apple Deals

AppleInsider and Apple authorized resellers are also running a handful of additional exclusive promotions this month on Apple hardware that will not only deliver the lowest prices on many of the items, but also throw in discounts on AppleCare, software and accessories. These deals are as follows:

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Hands-on: Boosted’s flagship electric skateboard, the Stealth

 

Hands-On

By Roger Fingas
Tuesday, November 27, 2018, 07:45 pm PT (10:45 pm ET)

We’re taking an adventurous turn here at AppleInsider by checking out an iPhone-connected gadget you can ride: Boosted’s top-of-the-line electric skateboard, the Stealth.

Boosted Stealth

Boosted debuted on Kickstarter six years ago, and in 2014 launched its first three board models. Since then — helped in no small part by hype from YouTube celebrities like Casey Neistat — the company’s boards have become some of the most sought-after, challenged mainly by the likes of Onewheel and Evolve.

Boosted’s products are now in their third generation, characterized mainly by the company’s switch to in-house parts such as the trucks and deck, and the addition of two smaller boards, the Mini S and Mini X.

The Stealth is a longboard like previous Boosted boards, but no longer uses a bamboo deck, instead turning to a composite design combining poplar, fiberglass, and foam. The company has also reinforced the edges to reduce wear, and done away with a mid-section taper — the result is a flexible yet pretty sturdy-feeling board with more foot space. Other upgrades include metal pulleys and wider, Boosted-made 85-millimeter wheels.

Boosted Stealth

As someone with relatively little skateboard experience, these changes made me feel a little more confident in stepping on, especially since the Stealth starts out in a “Beginner” ride mode that caps speed at 11 miles an hour and stops you from attempting hills. Make no mistake though: unless you’ve been on an electric skateboard before, expect to take several days learning how to comfortably balance and carve. You’ll also want to wear a full assortment of safety gear, not just a helmet, until riding becomes second nature.

It’ll be a little while before I can test another feature, Hyper Mode. This is an option exclusive to the Stealth, with even more acceleration than the Boosted Plus and a top speed of 24 miles per hour. From what I’ve seen online only the brave need apply, and it comes at the cost of battery life — while the board can otherwise last up to 14 miles, that figure gets cut in half.

The Boosted iPhone/iPad app lets you estimate range, update firmware, and track and share rides. You also get an odometer, and notifications when a board is finished charging. None of this is strictly necessary.

Boosted iPhone app

If you have an Apple Watch you can check speed and battery percentage on the fly. I should say that you’ll need to load the app before you start riding, and in practice I found that I was often too focused on balance or steering to safely raise my wrist.

Keep following AppleInsider in coming weeks for a full review, including video of the Stealth in action.

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Future version of Animoji might add voice, sound effects based on user expressions

Apple’s Animoji may provide more ways to interact with the face-tracking animated characters, by playing appropriate sound effects for each avatar triggered when users either make specific expressions or say certain words during a recording session.

Launched alongside the iPhone X as a demonstration of what people can do with the TrueDepth camera system, Animoji quickly became a popular addition to iOS that spawned commercials and “Animoji Karaoke” videos across the Internet. While Apple has added more interactivity to the face-tracked creations, including tongue detection and user-created Memoji, it seems that Apple has more ideas of where Animoji can go.

A patent application filed on February 28 and published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on November 22 for “Voice effects based on facial expressions” is all about how a video clip of a virtual avatar is created, but can be altered with special effects that the user can trigger. In short, Animoji but with added extra features.

During the recording phase of the Animoji message, the software captures the facial movements and audio from the subject. Usually, the face tracking is mapped directly to the character, with the user’s movements mirrored as closely as possible, while the audio track is exactly what was picked up by the iPhone during the period.

According to the patent application, both the visual and audio elements are monitored for specific states, which can then be changed during the playback phase to something else. These states can include detected facial expressions, such as frowning, or even trigger words, which could trigger an effect.

Once triggered, the expression creates an effect that is applied to the character’s visuals or the audio section. The character could go through a predefined animation or be altered in certain ways while the expression is being made, while accompanying speech could be pitch shifted or replaced entirely.

An illustrated basic example of changing a user's 'woof' speech to a recording of a dog bark

An illustrated basic example of changing a user’s ‘woof’ speech to a recording of a dog bark

For example, a person using a dog avatar could say the word “bark,” resulting in the playing of an audio file of a dog barking and altered mouth shapes on the character to match. A user frowning and growling could transform a pleasant dog character into an angry version, with a pitch-shifted or replaced growling sound.

The voice recording in its entirety could be replaced by a synthesized voice in some cases, with voice recognition detecting individual words, pitch, and cadence that can then be reproduced in a character-specific voice.

While the filing of a patent application is not a guarantee that it will appear in a future Apple product or service, while also serving as an indicator of where Apple’s interests lie, in this case the concept has a good chance of being implemented in a future iOS update.

In the case of Animoji, it already takes advantage of the facial tracking elements of TrueDepth camera-equipped iPhones, making it feasible for Apple to add in emotion recognition. The voice recognition capabilities, as already demonstrated by the existence of Siri, also lends itself to the audio-tampering elements of the patent application.

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Cyber Monday mega deal roundup: Find the best deals & lowest prices on MacBooks, iPads, iMacs & Apple Watches

 

By Christine McKee
Sunday, November 25, 2018, 11:42 pm PT (02:42 am ET)

Cyber Monday 2018 is in full swing, and we’re rounding up the best deals on Apple products, from the lowest prices on MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs to rock bottom savings on iPads, Apple Watches and much more. Keep checking back as this guide will be updated throughout the day.

These deals offer discounts of up to $1,200 off Apple hardware, with the lowest prices ever on some of Apple’s newest products. Top picks can be found below, while a full list of bargains is available 24/7 in our Apple Price Guides.

A note about sales tax:

  • Apple authorized reseller Adorama will not collect sales tax on orders shipped outside NY and NJ. B&H will not collect sales tax on orders shipped outside AL, HI, IL, IN, KY, MD, ME, MI, MN, MS, NJ, NY, ND, OK, VT, WA and WI.

Best Apple Watch deals

Apple Watch Series 3

Best iPad deals

Top pick: 2017 12.9″ iPad Pro

2018 11″ iPad Pros

2018 12.9″ iPad Pros

2018 iPad Pro accessories

2018 9.7″ iPads

10.5″ iPad Pros

iPad mini 4

Best Apple TV deals

Apple TVs

Best MacBook Pro deals

Current 13″ MacBook Pros with function keys

2018 13″ MacBook Pros with Touch Bar

2018 15″ MacBook Pros

2018 15″ MacBook Pros w/ Radeon Pro Vega 16

2018 15″ MacBook Pros w/ Radeon Pro Vega 20

2017 15″ MacBook Pros

2017 13″ MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Best MacBook Air deals

2018 MacBook Airs

Best Mac mini deals

2018 Mac mini

2014 Mac minis

Best iMac deals

21″ iMacs

27″ iMac 5Ks

iMac Pros

Best deals on iPhone accessories

Cables

iPhone battery cases

Best deals on audio

Sonos smart speakers

Headphones

Audiophile Favorites

  • Audio-Technica ATH-M50xBT Wireless Over-Ear Headphones: $199* @B&H (Free expedited shipping)

    Best deals on displays

    LG monitor DealZones

    • Up to $200 off LG displays @B&H
      *B&H will not collect sales tax on orders shipped outside AL, HI, IL, IN, KY, MD, ME, MI, MN, MS, NJ, NY, ND, OK, VT, WA and WI.

    Additional Apple Deals

    AppleInsider and Apple authorized resellers are also running a handful of additional exclusive promotions this month on Apple hardware that will not only deliver the lowest prices on many of the items, but also throw in discounts on AppleCare, software and accessories. These deals are as follows: