With the objective to bring all the AI enthusiasts and stakeholders together, Fuse Machines, together with Artificial Intelligence Development, is organizing the country’s first ever AI Expo. The event, AI Expo 2019, is the first of its kind here and will be the biggest expo targeting Artificial Intelligence. The objective is to showcase the best AI projects and papers from both industries and academia.
Exhibiting the tech in one part. But the AI Expo 2019 also aims to bring together industry and academia (professionals and learners) to discuss opportunities and challenges in the industry. This makes it an excellent platform to discuss opportunities and challenges in the industry along with practical and ethical solutions to the challenges.
AI Expo 2019 Event Details
The event is a 3-month long journey (from 24th May to 24th August). So, in a way, it’s already underway. Applications are open and will end June 14th. So, if you have an idea, and can give your idea a feasible form, register now.
After the registration, applicants will be shortlisted on the basis of their ideas/projects. After which, they will go through orientation and mentorship sessions before the event day. Participants will get the opportunity to learn more about AI, its current state, future prospects, challenges, and solutions. Also, they’ll get to establish networks with experts in the industry and get employment prospects, too!
The actual event takes place on 24th August 2019 at Soaltee Crown Plaza.
Who should participate in the AI Expo 2019?
This is an open platform for any and all kinds of AI enthusiasts – be it professionals, or learners, or somewhere in between. So, this is beneficial to AI experts, AI instructors, professionals, freelancers, students, learners, practitioners. Basically, it’s for those who want to explore more of the AI world.
AI experts and instructors will get a chance to reach out to a large mass of audience, while others will have the opportunity to learn and grow.
Requirements
However, there are some requirements participants must be able to fulfill:
Participating teams must represent an institution (Academic or Company)
Teams should have a prototype ready for development or a technically sound and feasible idea that can be developed into a working prototype or a finished product
Participants must possess programming skills
Research paper on team project must be published in an academic journal
Selection Criteria:
Also, there are some criteria as to how participants will be selected:
Only applications submitted in teams will be selected
A team should consist of 3 – 5 members; no more, no less
Status of project/paper must be disclosed
How to Participate?
Finally, if you fulfill all the requirements and criteria, here’s how you can participate:
Like its elder siblings, the RTX 2070 will receive a Ti upgrade, will be called the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Ti. Currently, there are just rumors about the product. But the recent speculations are looks quite credible. So it might be just a matter of time when NVIDIA confirms its existence releasing an official statement. Nvidia also teased us about ‘Something SUPER‘ before Computex 2019 and we are eagerly waiting for that one as well. I don’t think the RTX 2070 Ti is what Nvidia had in mind, so maybe we are in for multiple GPU launches pretty soon.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Ti
According to newfound leaks, the RTX 2070 Ti will be about 10-15% faster than a stock RTX 2070. CUDA core count will be at 2560 as opposed to 2304 (RTX 2070) but still not quite close to the superior RTX 2080. Other specs include 8GB of GDDR6 memory running at 14Gbps. Finally, the GPU will boost at 1770MHz (1710 on the RTX 2070; 1800 on the RTX 2080). As for pricing, the Nvidia Geforce RTX 2070 Ti could launch for anything as low as $499 to $599.
Something SUPER
In addition to the RTX 2070 Ti, we are also looking at a minor refresh to the RTX 2060, 2070 and 2080. The new cards will probably offer higher binned dies, increased clock speeds, and GDDR6 as standard across the board. This should add about 5-15% improvement in performance from the previous version. Expected to go official at E3 2019, the current 20-series GPUs will potentially receive price cuts. Plus, what will they be called, the RTX 2080 already has a Ti version, so? An RTX 2080 SUPER?
Let’s just assume they will be called the RTX 2060 SUPER, 2070 SUPER, and 2080 SUPER. All three of those are rumored to retail for as low as $249, $399 and $599 respectively. With AMD quick to adopt the 7nm process, it’s still unlikely for Nvidia to follow on until the yields and TSMC’s capacity to handle the volumes increases. For now, these new cards will be based on the special Nvidia FinFET process from TSMC.
However, even with all these hurdles, Nvidia could still potentially surprise us.
So, there are a lot of mid-rangers competing for the first position, each of them having their strengths and weaknesses. Two of the most prominent players in the smartphone business, Samsung and Huawei have put forward their contenders, the Samsung Galaxy A50 and the Huawei P30 Lite for pretty similar pricing. In this article, we will be performing an ultimate mid-range battle between Samsung Galaxy A50 VS Huawei P30 Lite in all the aspects. And we will try to find out which one is the better deal among these two!
Design:
Let’s start things off with the design. And this has been a difficult choice. While the A50 rocks a glasstic design, the P30 Lite has taken the plastic approach. And to be honest, both do look good. What the P30 Lite does better it is, how compact and easy-going it is. On the other hand, A50 feels better on the hands and has a bit more heft to it than the P30 Lite. Similarly, the A50 is a bit wider when felt on the hands.
Going by the looks, the P30 Lite looks a bit more appealing because of its gradient design. And even though it’s plastic, it almost looks as though it’s glass. So, I would go for the P30 Lite design.
I have used these phones for quite a time now and minor scratches have appeared on the P30 Lite while the A50 seems a bit more resistant to scratches. But overall, I must say, it’s very hard to pick one among these two; both have fared well on my tests. But, because of the ergonomic design and appealing colors, I will choose the P30 Lite as the winner.
Display:
When it comes to the display, there is pretty much no debate. The Galaxy A50 sports a 6.4- inch Super AMOLED display while the P30 Lite has a 6.15- inch IPS LCD Display. And in terms of quality, the A50 gets the cake here. The display is huge and seems aimed at multimedia consumers. The P30 Lite, however, isn’t that far behind though! The IPS panel is sharp and vibrant and though it does not match the deep blacks of the Super AMOLED, you can’t call it bad!
Both of these phones have a U-shaped notch with a single camera up top. And both look good, they are small and don’t hinder usage or media consumption, so, I don’t have a personal favorite here. But the bezels on the Galaxy A50 seem a bit more pronounced than the P30 Lite which you can notice right away. But all these are matters of preferences.
So, for the deep AMOLED blacks, I would go for the A50 despite the slightly pronounced bezels.
Cameras:
While testing both these cameras, the first thing in noticed was, both of them are not color accurate. Both of them have this extra punch to the pictures they produce and they are different in their own ways. It is kinda hard comparing both.
The P30 Lite comes with a triple camera set up at the back, a 24 MP primary camera, a, 8 MP ultra-wide angle lens and a 2 MP depth sensor while the A50 shows off a 25 MP primary lens, an 8MP ultra- wide angle lens and a 5 MP depth sensor.
So, let’s start with the details. Comparing both, I found the details to be slightly better on the Huawei P30 Lite. Not that A50 misses out on details, but P30 Lite’s pictures are a bit sharper. Maybe it’s the P30 Lite’s inbound photo sharpening mechanism, but it produces better details than its counterpart.
Galaxy A50 vs P30 lite details
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Huawei P30 Lite
Samsung Galaxy A50
Huawei P30 Lite
Samsung Galaxy A50
Talking of wide-angle shots, The Galaxy A50’s wide-angle shots are wider than the P30 Lite’s and has slightly punchier colors as well. But here too, the P30 Lite’s details are better, if you look closely. Here are some samples for you to check out.
Huawei P30 Lite vs Galaxy A50 wide angle shots comparison
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Huawei P30 Lite
Samsung Galaxy A50
Huawei P30 Lite
Samsung Galaxy A50
Huawei P30 Lite
Samsung Galaxy A50
Coming to saturation, as already mentioned, both of them give you over saturated images. But if you look at these two images, the A50’s image is more saturated.
Huawei P 30 Lite vs Galazy A50 comparison- saturation
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Samsung Galaxy A50
Huawei P30 Lite
Some might find it appealing but I liked P30 Lite’s saturation levels better. You can check out this image of the building here for some more reference.
Galaxy A50 vs Hauwei p 30 lite comparison- saturation 1
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Samsung Galaxy A50
Huawei P30 Lite
Now, photos of human subjects seem better on the A50, because it gives a good texture on the skin. Similarly, portrait images also look better from the A50’s cameras with good levels of background blurring. Edge detection, on the other hand, is not good at both. However, in portrait images, colors seem lively on the P30 Lite. But, because of better background blurring, I will go for A50 in terms of portraits.
Huawei P 30 Lite vs Galaxy A50 portraits comparison
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Samsung Galaxy A50
Huawei P30 Lite
Samsung Galaxy A50
Huawei P30 Lite
Selfies too appear better on the A50 because of punchy colors. Check out these selfies from the P30 Lite and the A50!
Huawei P 30 Lite vs Galazy A50 selfie comparison
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Samsung Galaxy A50
Huawei P30 Lite
Samsung Galaxy A50
Huawei P30 Lite
What the P30 Lite does better are the night time shots. Like in daytime images, the night time images pack in more details. The colors are better too. There is a dedicated night mode in the P30 Lite that makes for even better details during a low light environment.
Galaxy A50 vs Huawei P30 lite night time pictures comparison
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Huawei P30 Lite
Samsung Galaxy A50
Huawei P30 Lite
Samsung Galaxy A50
Huawei P30 Lite
Samsung Galaxy A50
So, judging overall, the P30 Lite takes the cake in the camera department albeit by a small margin.
Talking of performance, the A50 is powered by the Exynos 9610 chipset while the P30 Lite gets the Kirin 710. And comparing the benchmark scores, the A50 is better by a good margin. But in real life usage, both fare well. Regular usage and multitasking are smooth on both. You will not feel any lags or stutters of any kind when it comes to regular use.
However, gaming on the A50 is slightly better. You can play PUBG on high settings as well with some stutters here and there. In the P30 Lite, however, you can play PUBG at medium settings at max which runs pretty good though. Small to mid-tier games do run well on both.
Having said that the P30 Lite offers you 6 GB RAM and 128 GB of storage while the Galaxy A50 gives you 4 GB RAM and 64 GB storage.
To sum up, the A50 does a slightly better job in the performance.
Software and UI:
Both these phones run on their own versions of skin on top of Android. The A50 comes with Samsung’s new One UI while the P30 Lite rocks the EMUI 9. And choosing one was a tough job because both of these are well optimized in their games. Huawei’s EMUI has improved a lot than what we knew for it be while Samsung’s One UI is new and fresh.
What I really like about Samsung’s UI is the dark mode that helps lessen eye strain and it brings everything down for the user’s ease. Huawei’s does not provide that but it is simple and easy to navigate, so no complaints here. There is a bit of bloatware on both but many can be deleted so nothing much to worry about here as well.
But something I have noticed is OneUI is a bit sluggish. I mean, on a flagship phone it works pretty smooth but in mid-range phones, you can feel that it is not that optimized. But in Huawei’s case, EMUI is smooth and swift even on mid-range phones. So, for the swiftness, I would choose EMUI over OneUI.
Battery:
A good battery size on mid-range smartphones is a given these days. Likewise, is the case here. The Huawei P30 Lite comes with a 3,700 mAh battery while the A50 shows of a good- sized 4,000 mAh battery. Both the phones come equipped with Fast Charging Technology, 15-watt fast charging on the Galaxy A50 and 18-Watt fast charging on the Huawei P30 Lite.
In terms of battery, the A50 gives you a slight advantage. The A50 seems to last a tad bit longer than the P30 Lite because of its AMOLED display and a slightly larger battery. The P30 Lite, on the other hand, is no slouch. It lasts for an entire day but under heavy usage, you will experience the need to charge it at the end of the day. Similarly, the A50 will leave you with 20-30% juice after using it for an entire day.
Charging on the Huawei P30 Lite takes exactly one hour and 40 minutes while the A50 takes one hour and 48 minutes. Needless to say, the charging speeds are more or less similar on both.
Extras:
Okay, now extras. The Huawei P30 Lite has the same old fingerprint sensor at the back while the A50 has a modern in-display fingerprint sensor incorporated. But sadly, as modern as an in-display fingerprint sensor sounds, on the A50, it can be rather frustrating. It is very slow and takes a considerably longer time to unlock your device. While the old school rear-mounted fingerprint sensor on the P30 Lite is zippy fast and accurate.
The Face Unlock shares the same story. The A50’s is a little slower compared to P30 Lite’s. Not to a frustrating level but it’s still slower.
Call quality on both is fine. Speaker test of both the phones reveals that the A50 is louder than the P30 Lite. However, the P30 Lite’s audio is more balanced and it does not get distorted at the highest volumes. So, all in all, the Huawei P30 Lite rules the extras department.
Conclusion:
So, getting towards the conclusion, both these devices are very competitive when it comes to their offerings. But taking price into consideration, the A50 will cost you a little less and offers 4/64GB memory. While for a slightly more price, you can get 6/128 GB variant of the P30 Lite. And in the end, it all boils down to user preference. Having said that, you get the A50 for a slightly discounted price these days, so that might change your decision as well.
If your needs can be sufficed with slightly lesser memory, the A50 is a good deal, but if you want more memory and an ergonomic design, than the P30 Lite will do great for you.
Most people think of the ongoing Cricket World Cup not just as a competition, but a feeling. And what better way to feel the game than on a huge TV that you bought for almost 50% off. Well, here is your chance to take away a brand new Samsung TV for a lot less than the market price. From 40″ to a 55″, 1080p to 4k, here are the top 3 deals on Samsung Televisions you shouldn’t miss out on, especially if you were already looking to buy one. And needless to mention, these TVs also happen to be some of the best televisions to buy in Nepal when their new prices and features are considered.
Samsung 55 Inch Curve Full-HD TV (UA55K63000)
As the name suggests, it’s a 55-inch Curved TV which should be more than enough for most. Originally priced at Rs 224,900, this curved TV set is currently on sale for Rs 97,000, that’s a discount figure of 56%. Given its price, panel size and the fact that it’s a curved screen more than makes up for the Full-HD resolution. You also get 60MBps internet from Vianet along with Net TV free for 3 months. So you are all set to go from the start.
So maybe that FHD resolution is a real deal breaker for you. It shouldn’t but let’s just assume that for a moment. For those of you, the UA-50KU6000 is the TV to get, featuring a crisp 4k resolution panel. What you are giving away is 5-inches of screen real estate and its curved nature. You will also be paying about 8k less for this one. Priced at Rs 167,990, the TV is currently on sale for just Rs Rs. 89,000.
So maybe 50-inches is a bit too big for you. Maybe you have a small living room or need a TV for the bedroom. The Samsung 40K5100 might be a good fit for you. It has got a 40-inch FHD panel with slim bezels. Although not a smart TV, this one is acquirable for Rs 49,000, down from Rs 66,990. And should you want a bit more from your TV, the Google Chromecast will be a good addition.
With what is happening with Huawei right now, it is only natural if the company slows down for a while. Of course, even the biggest tech giants can face pressure. And in the light of recent events, there were reports of Huawei slowing down the production of its phone in some of the plants. A very recent report reported that the smartphone giant cut off a part of its smartphone production at Foxconn plants for the time being.
Sources claimed that the Taiwanese company is slowing down the production of Huawei phones as per the company’s orders.
However, after that news came out, Huawei denied that flat. The tech giant said that no such thing happened and production is still at full capacity. There are also no further plans to slow down in the near future. They’ll probably go all out until they have the stockpile of chips as their claims.
At such a time, we’d expect the company to slow down and think things over. But it seems that the firm is not as badly affected by all these things. Or maybe, the company’s keeping a rock-solid front for morale. Either way, it seems the company’s goal hasn’t changed. Its goal is, still, to become the top smartphone brand in the market. Although, that might take a lot longer now.
Yet, Huawei is undeterred. And this should teach us all a life lesson, or two! Godspeed, Huawei, Godspeed!
There’s like all sorts of hype around the Redmi K20 Pro – about how it’s going to be the new flagship killer, replacing the OnePlus 7 Pro. While that is in the air, Xiaomi is gearing up for another flagship device. It launched the Xiaomi Mi 9 back in February. And now, it’s going to launch a follow-up device, the Xiaomi Mi 9T.
Sounds so much like a OnePlus knock off just by the name, doesn’t it? But it’s actually a knock-off of the Redmi K20, actually! I wouldn’t say knock-off, but a remodeled version of the Redmi K20. After all, even though Redmi is a new company, it’s still Xiaomi’s! For all we know, it could actually only be renamed, with all other features being the same.
The Xiaomi Mi 9T will feature a pop-up selfie camera as opposed to the water-drop notch on the Mi 9. This further confirms that the Mi 9T is the Redmi K20. And since there is a Redmi K20 Pro as well, we expect a Pro model to accompany the Mi 9T too.
Furthermore, the Redmi K20 and K20 Pro might also launch as successors of the Pocophone F1. The new phones might launch as Poco F2 and the F2 Pro in some markets. However, the Redmi K20 will keep its original moniker in India. So, it’s not sure which markets will get what. But no matter what, we can rest assured they’re one and the same phones, except for some minor changes, here and there. The phone is launching on on June 12.
But in the end, it will be us, who will get confused with the name games smartphone companies are playing. What do you think about this?
So, Oppo became the first to showcase an under-display camera technology on their phones. And promptly, right after that, a few hours later…Xiaomi thought it wasn’t going to keep their’ secret anymore. So, they took to Twitter and released a small clip of an under-display camera too!
The video came from Xiaomi’s Director of product management, which shows a Xiaomi Mi 9 Prototype with the under-display camera technology. Of course, they didn’t reveal any other information regarding it, except for a few general ideas.
The company claims they’re patenting their technology. It is only plausible, of course, since they say they found a way to make the display transparent without reflecting light in any way. Even when the screen is completely turned off when the light diodes are completely black, the selfie shooter won’t be visible. That’s a pretty neat implementation.
In addition, the company claims they can put up to a 20 MP selfie camera under the panel. And for this, they can only use OLED panels, as LCDs apparently have some limitations which don’t provide as good of viewing experience as OLED panels.
Other than this, there’s no other info whatsoever. No release dates, and no telling which phone will sport it first. Of course, expectations suggest it will come out on the next Xiaomi Mi Mix, as the Mi Mix phones tend to showcase interesting features.
What do you think of this kind of implementation? Yay OR Nay? Are are you fine with good old bezels? Do let us know.
Is it just me or has OPPO’s smartphone lineup in Nepal gone a bit stale lately? What I mean is, there is very less versatility in their product lineup these days – apart from the OPPO F11 and F11 Pro, of course – they have something going, at least. But still, we could use some fresher products. Maybe that’s why the Oppo A1K is here. It’s targeted towards the sub Rs 20,000 price segment. But with middling specs, a minimal feature set and an asking price of Rs. 17,590, is it worth your attention? Let’s find out in this Oppo A1k review.
OPPO A1K Specifications
Display: 6.1-inch IPS LCD HD+ display, 19.5:9 aspect ratio
CPU: MediaTek MT6762 Helio P22
GPU: PowerVR GE8320
OS: Android 9 Pie with ColorOS 6 on top
RAM: 2GB
Storage: 32GB, Expandable up to 256GB via dedicated SD card slot
Rear Camera: 8MP, f/2.2, 1/3.2″, 1.4µm, AF), LED flash
Front Camera: 5MP, f/2.0
Sensors: Accelerometer, Proximity, Compass
Battery: 4,000 mAh; Micro USB charging port
Price: Rs. 17,590
Design and Build
Starting off on a positive note, the OPPO A1K excels in this category. Sure it’s still plastic and has a cheap feel in the hands, but it’s sturdy and feels durable. I have no complaints on the design front. I even liked the red matte color scheme which, first off looks good, and isn’t a fingerprint magnet. Either way, using the clear case you get out the box is recommended. You also get a pre-applied screen protector over the Gorilla Glass 3 display up front.
Design and Build
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Notch
Bottom
Left
Right
Other than that, the water drop notch and those bezels place it on the same levels as its competition. The plain matte Red back with the OPPO branding and that single camera sensor aided by an LED flash is your typical budget phone look. The bottom holds the speakers, micro USB port, mic, and a headphone jack. On the right, you are greeted by a lonely power button and on the other side is the volume controller plus the SIM slot while the top remains empty.
Display
Its 6.1-inch display with a screen to body ratio of a little over 80% is pretty decent. There’s isn’t significant bezels on the sides of the display, but the pretty huge chin is noticeable. But given it’s a budget phone it’s hard to complain about these types of shortcomings. Moving on to the actual panel, the HD resolution and that IPS technology is all but standard, but the actual display quality feels ok at best. It’s decently bright, produces punchy colors and the viewing angles are pretty good.
Camera
The single 8MP lens didn’t really impress me much here. Details were acceptable in good lighting but produced grainy and muddy photos under harsh lighting while the color reproduction was average. In the end, the overall result was decent at best. Under low light conditions, the photos suffer from lack of detail.
Camera Samples
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Normal Lighting
1x
Zoom
Low Light
While we have seen some phones produce good portraits with a single lens, that’s not the case here. The portraits it took were far from it. Edge detection is something that needs a lot of improvement, not to mention the blurs. Plus, the phone overexposes the background in portrait shots which makes those basically unusable.
Portrait
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Portrait
Normal
Portrait
Normal
Low Light Portrait
Moving on to the front, the 5MP shooter managed to capture some acceptable selfies under well-lit conditions but again suffers under harsh lighting. Portraits are again, not very good, with lots of irregularities and missed edge detection. On top of that, the same overexposing problem for portraits carries on to the front camera as well.
Front Camera
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Selfie
Portrait selfie
Low Light Selfie
Finally, for videos, it takes FHD@30fps and there is no stabilization on board. The quality is average. The videos can be used for memories but nothing more.
The Oppo A1K comes with a Helios P22 SoC and ColorOS 6.0 on top of Android Pie. For the given price, I would have loved to see OPPO put in a much better processor. First off, the A1k does not really belong in this price range. It’s a lot slower than its competition in both synthetic benchmarks, and in the real-world usage. I don’t mean to say the phone is bad. But it’s just that the competitors are offering much better hardware and this one doesn’t.
If we talk gaming, the first one I tried out was PUBG – at the lowest settings. It was enjoyable, with some stutters here and there. Clash of Clans was also playable (if you guys are still into it). Other mid-tier games like PH: Cruise and Real Cricket 19 also ran with lowered graphics quality. As for general apps like Facebook, Instagram, and other general apps, they will run without any problems.
I previously reviewed the OPPO F11 Pro, and that one also ran on the ColorOS 6.0 over Android Pie. It was a pretty great experience and showed a lot of promise for future OPPO smartphones. Sadly, that feeling was shortlived when I went into the OPPO A1K with huge expectations and all of them were shattered. The phone felt sluggish, had a bunch of bloatware (which were removable), and the UI itself stutters every now and then.
That is, however, due to the hardware shortcomings rather than the software. Just like what happened with the Redmi 6 after its MIUI 10 update.
OPPO A1K benchmark scores:
Geekbench 4:
817 (Single Core Score)
3224 (Multi-Core Score)
2905 (RenderScript Score)
AndroBench:
280MB/s (Sequential read)
111MB/s (Sequential write)
PCMark: 4983 (Work 2.0 Performance score)
Battery
The battery, however, impresses thoroughly. Oppo does this thing with its budget phones where it gives them larger batteries, like the Oppo A3s! With a 4000mAh battery, 2 days of normal usage was easy and that’s with all the power saving options turned off. I was never worried about charging this phone, but that’s what made its tediously long charging times bearable. It literally takes around 3 hours to get to 100%. I tried charging it with the 20W fast charger from the OPPO F11 Pro, and guess what? Same results. I guess this one doesn’t support Fast Charging. On a side note, this phone comes with a 5V/2A charger out of the box.
Security and Extras
As for security features, this one lacks a fingerprint sensor. You can opt for face recognition but that’s pretty slow, to begin with. You do get the usual pattern and pin unlock, just like on every other Android phone out there. Apart from the security, you get a dedicated microSD slot while the phone itself comes with 32GB of internal storage. Speaker quality is nothing special and the same goes for call quality as well.
Conclusion
The OPPO A1K sports some satisfying design choices coupled with some amazing battery performance. But apart from that, there is very less reason to buy this phone. It offers aggressively mediocre performance, poor implementation of ColorOS 6 and an average display at best. And what makes it an even more of a bad deal is its competitors in the same price bracket.
The Redmi 7 comes with more performance, similar battery life, and better cameras while retaining a fingerprint sensor. Then there is the much cheaper Galaxy A10, which might not hold its ground in the camera department but will surpass it in the performance department. It also has a better display and costs 3.5k less.
And you know what? With the recent price decreases in Samsung’s smartphones, the Galaxy M20 is available for less than this! And even so, it has a more pleasing high-res display, better camera(s), faster performance, larger battery (with fast charging) and is a true value for money smartphone. The Oppo A1K, despite being a decent budget phone, gets easily lost in the competition, with its unreasonable price.
Apple held its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) event yesterday unveiling a lot of new features for its ecosystem and for its products. At the event, Apple announced two new devices, a new version of MacOS, iPadOS, iOS 13 and upgrades to Watch OS.
Mac Pro
So, after lots and lots of wait, Apple has finally launched the new Mac Pro. The device looks quite unique with its ‘cheese grater’ design. But the talking point lies on what’s inside.
The 2019 Mac Pro’s base model features the octa-core Intel Xeon W processor with 3.5 GHz clock speed which turbo boosts to 4 GHz. It comes with 32 GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal SSD. This product has the AMD Radeon Pro 850X as its graphics, and users can add up to four of these cards in the Mac Pro.
However, the star of the show is the maxed out variant of the product which is an absolute beast when it comes to specifications. This device has 1.5 TB of RAM and the 28-core Intel Xeon W processor. It comes with a dedicated AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo graphic card with 64 GB of graphics. This variant has a separate graphics accelerator as well.
The company didn’t announce the price of the Mac Pro but it is expected to be anywhere be $40,000 to $50,000 while the base model will go on sale for $5,999.
Apple Pro Display XDR
Apple also announced a 6K Retina display to match the Mac Pro. This device comes with a 31.6-inch screen with 6K resolution and it is HDR enabled. It has a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio and features 1,000 nits of brightness. There is also a matte option for the monitor, but it will raise the price of the already-expensive monitor. This device will go on sale for $6,000 with the high specced model going for $12,000.
Apple will also launch a separate stand for this monitor which costs $1,000 alone.
iPadOS
Apple also unveiled the iPadOS – a new operating system that’s meant for iPads. This new OS will replace iOS on the tablets and will bring in features meant exclusively for iPads.
The iPadOS will feature a new home screen layout, better multitasking experience and gestures for easier usage. The file application has also improved, and there is a better Apple Pencil support for the iPads. This OS also brings a dark theme to the tablets.
macOS Catalina
macOS also received an update yesterday along with a new name ‘Catalina’. The macOS 10.5 offers Apple users a seamless interaction between MacBook and iPads as the new Sidecar feature connects the laptop and the tablet together for better user experience.
Apple has also replaced the iTunes app on their MacBook with a music app, a podcast app, and Apple TV.
Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, said, “With macOS Catalina, we’re bringing fresh new apps to the Mac, starting with new standalone versions of Apple Music, Apple Podcasts and the Apple TV app.”
This new version of macOS also has better security features, Voice Control, and new applications. It will also showcase a user’s screen-on-time on their laptops.
iOS 13
After years of wait, Apple has finally introduced a dark theme for iPhones. Although the feature was announced with ultimate flex, it is a great addition to the OS. This theme will apply to internal applications as well.
Apple Maps has also received an update as Apple is looking to make this application better from the base itself. The company has used cameras just like Google did to build a better map.
The newest version of iOS will also bring better security features, Memoji updates, portrait lighting effects, and better photo and video editing tools among others.
WatchOS 6
Apple Watch and its operating system – Watch OS also received updates as its software will now feature a standalone App Store without any need for an iPhone. There are also new watch faces, and the pride flag strap for Apple Watch users.
Apple Watch will now come with a Calculator app, and will also support voice memos. For health purposes, the watch will track period cycle and the Noise app will measure the decibel level of your surrounding to notify users if they are in a loud environment.
Samsung’s Galaxy Fold and Huawei’s Mate X are the very first smartphones that feature a foldable screen. Although both of these devices are yet to make their way to the market, the tech incorporated on these devices has surely shown us a glimpse of the future. The Mate X is currently in the works whereas Samsung is mending the issues found on the Galaxy Fold. At a time when these major players are indulged in fixing and polishing the folding technology, Apple seems to be getting started in the folding tech. Recently, the Cupertino-based company filed for a patent for folding phone and was granted as well. Unlike the Galaxy Fold and Mate X, this device will have a double folding screen.
The company had submitted a prototype last year in which the device folds in the middle. With that prototype, many had expected that a foldable iDevice could make it to the market ahead of others. But there is still no solid information regarding the progress of such folding machines.
Although only the patent for the double folding screen is currently making headlines, the company filed to protect both the single and multifold devices. The patent also includes a document with 37 drawings. The drawings show the technical features, folding configurations, and the working mechanism of all the folding configurations. It is also quite clear from the drawings about the rotating mechanism of the hinges when the screen on the device folds and unfolds. The source claims that the folding screen can go from a 180-degree angle to 90-degree angle.
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Another image also appeared on the internet, which shows that the screen can be folded backward so as to form a triangle. When the screen is balanced on two edges, the same contents can be viewed on both the divided screens.
Further details also revealed that the flexible cover layer on such devices would be made up of ceramic material like glass, strengthened glass, sapphire, and Zirconia. This could ensure better protection for the flexible display from impact or other potentially damaging contacts. If Apple could implement this, it might overcome the damaging issues found on the Galaxy Fold and could be even more reliable.
The patent reveals many technical details of the folding device. However, it’s still unclear whether the tech giant will implement this tech on its iPhones or iPads. The upcoming iPhones are slated to launch on October 2019 and there is just a few months for the company to work on. So it’s highly unlikely that Apple could launch a foldable iPhone this year. Also, these are just the schematics for the patents. So the upcoming iDevices may have a slightly or completely different design when it makes its way to the market.
