Gadgets
iPhone 13 Models Said to Have Better Battery Life Than Previous Models
Market research firm TrendForce in its latest press note said that the iPhone 13 series would come with an all-new flexible charging circuit board that would include a System-in-Package (SiP) to save some space. This could allow Apple to have a larger battery pack, which has already been in the rumours.
The firm has also predicted that the iPhone 13 models would feature a next-generation SoC based on 5nm+ node that may help improve performance and bring better battery efficiency over the existing iPhone models. Further, the new iPhone versions are speculated to offer a wider 5G connectivity using millimeter wave (mmWave). There could also be upgraded display and camera sensors, the note indicated. The iPhone 13 Pro models, in particular, expected to have an improved wide-angle lens with autofocus.
Apple is likely to see a 30 percent year-on-year increase in the total iPhone shipments in the third quarter of 2021, thanks to the speculated September release of its iPhone 13 models. However, a five percent year-on-year decrease may come in the fourth quarter, as per TrendForce.
The Cupertino-based company is also predicted to see an overall increase in the iPhone sales for the second half of this year when compared with the same period last year. Further, the research firm estimated that the iPhone models could account for 16.7 percent of all smartphone shipments this year.
TrendForce has also reiterated what it mentioned in its report in June that the iPhone 13 pricing would be on par with that of the iPhone 12 series.
“As for retail prices, the iPhone 13 series is expected to remain similar to the iPhone 12 series assuming Apple is able to effectively control manufacturing costs, since the latest models do not come with significant hardware upgrades. As a result of this aggressive pricing scheme, iPhone shipment will likely maintain its growth trajectory for two consecutive years,” the firm said.
A separate report by South Korean news site The Elec says that Apple is changing the way how its camera modules for the iPhone are assembled to reduce costs.
The report said that up to last year, the company was using pre-assembled cameras produced by suppliers LG InnoTek, Sharp, and O’Film. It is now changing that tradition by consolidating its camera module production to Foxconn. This is said to help cut down the manufacturing costs to some extent. However, it isn’t clear whether Apple would be willing to passing on the savings to consumers.
Foxconn is said to have procured testing equipment from Korean Hyvision System that offers automatic test and measurement systems for mobile camera modules. The equipment would be used to test lenses such as wide, ultra-wide, and telephoto, alongside optical axis and image sensors.
For the iPhone 13 models, Apple is said to have ordered a 20 percent higher amount of components over the 90 million units it booked for the iPhone 12 series. It is, however, not likely that the company would use its new production method for the upcoming iPhone 13 family as it is already speculated to be in production. Nevertheless, Apple may use Foxconn-assembled cameras on its iPhone units in the future.
Foxconn has reported strong earnings for the second quarter, but the trend isn’t likely to continue as it has predicted a modest growth of 3 to 15 percent in the current quarter. The Taiwanese supplier has suggested shortage in component supplies as a key factor for its marginal growth, as reported by Reuters.
The component shortage could impact the iPhone 13 series — among other devices.
“The epidemic situation appears to be worsening in Asia,” said Foxconn Chairman Liu Young-way. “Because Asia is the key global hub for ICT components, it needs to be closely watched whether the epidemic will have an impact to the overall supply chain.”
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) also recently predicted that the global chipset shortage could be lasting into 2022.
Citing people familiar with the matter, a report by Bloomberg last month said that Apple had asked suppliers to produce 90 million next-generation iPhone models this year. This was 20 percent more than what Apple demanded last year. But with the shortage in component supply predicted by suppliers including Foxconn and TSMC, it looks uncertain for the iPhone maker to meet its demanded supplies.
“At Xbox, we believe that with better tools, creators can make even more extraordinary games,” Haiyan Zhang, GM, Xbox Gaming AI, said in a blog post. “This partnership will bring together: Inworld’s expertise in working with generative AI models for character development, Microsoft’s cutting-edge cloud-based AI solutions including Azure OpenAI Service, Microsoft Research’s technical insights into the future of play, and Team Xbox’s strengths in revolutionizing accessible and responsible creator tools for all developers.”
The aforementioned AI design copilot is a toolset that will help game designers turn prompts into scripts and dialogue trees. In contrast, the character runtime will enable dynamically generated plot beats and quests. We’ve already seen heavy AI integration in games by way of procedural generation — a more recent example being the 1000+ planets in Starfield. Not to mention, enemy AI has been around for way longer.
Inworld made headlines in August when it launched a modded story mode for Grand Theft Auto V, Sentient Streets, in which players had to investigate the rise of a bizarre AI-worshipping cult — a segment loaded with characters that spoke in AI-generated dialogue, on the fly. The mod was later taken down by publisher Take-Two, leaving a permanent strike on the creator Bloc’s YouTube channel. As per The Verge, Inworld’s AI technology can also be used for narration in top-down RPGs to warn players about any events awaiting off-screen and respond to questions like we’ve seen in the past year with AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Bing Chat. Microsoft has also been heavily banking on artificial intelligence, having made a $10 billion (about Rs. 83,254 crore) investment in OpenAI. The company has also integrated AI tools into its popular suite of services and also added an AI copilot to Windows.
Despite being a Microsoft-affiliated AI toolset, it would be interesting to see whether titles using them will be allowed to thrive on other platforms. In July, Valve claimed that it would be cracking down on games that included AI-generated assets if the developer didn’t own the copyright to the piece of art. For the uninitiated, when you insert a prompt to create something in AI, the software simply repurposes existing assets found online and mushes them together — basically stealing from other artists and writers without appropriate commercial licenses. Infringing them would lead to the game not being distributed on Steam, forcing the developers to seek proper licenses for the asset by reaching out to the AI companies involved. It’s unclear how Microsoft’s partnership will play out — as long as AI content is being used as a catalyst to innovate and create something new, it should be fine.
In a post on X shared by BSNL’s Andhra Pradesh (@bsnl_ap_circle) unit, the company confirmed that BSNL users can upgrade their older 2G or 3G SIMs to a 4G SIM for free. Not only will the upgrade be free, but a promotional image shared with the post suggests that users who opt for the upgrade will also receive 4GB of free data that will be valid for three months. It is speculated that BSNL is aiming to boost its upcoming 4G services with this offer. The announcement was first spotted by Telecom Talk.
To access the free data offer and the free upgrade, BSNL users are requested to get in touch with executives at BSNL’s Customer Service Centre, franchisee or retailer stores, or contact one of their Direct Selling Agents (DSA). The promo image also adds in a finer print that the offer is available with certain terms and conditions, but hasn’t detailed any, so far.
Reliance’s Jio recently launched the 4G-supported Bharat B1 feature phone in India. The handset is priced at Rs. 1,299 in India. Alongside 4G connectivity, the phone comes with JioCinema and JioSaavn applications pre-installed.
The Jio Bharat B1 is equipped with the JioPay application, which is said to allow users to make UPI payments. Aiming to increase accessibility, the phone supports 23 languages overall, including multiple regional languages.
Realme, via Weibo, announced the arrival of the Realme GT 5 Pro in China. The display of the handset is confirmed to offer 3000 nits peak brightness. It has also been teased to offer heat dissipation with a surface area of around 10,000mm2. It is confirmed to ship with Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC. The post doesn’t specify the exact launch date of the smartphone, however, given the release of the teasers, the launch could be just around the corner.
The Realme GT 5 Pro has been in the news a lot lately. It is expected to feature a 6.78-inch (1,264×2,780 pixels) AMOLED display and is tipped to come in 8GB, 12GB, and 16GB RAM options along with 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB inbuilt storage options.
For optics, the Realme GT 5 Pro is said to have a triple rear camera unit comprising two 50-megapixel sensors and an 8-megapixel shooter at the rear. The camera setup might include a Sony LYTIA LYT808 sensor, an OmniVision OV08D10 secondary sensor, and a Sony IMX890 telephoto sensor. For selfies, there could be a 32-megapixel sensor at the front. It is said to carry a 5,400mAh battery with support for 100W wired charging and 50W wireless charging.
The Realme GT 5 Pro is expected to come with upgrades over Realme GT 5. The latter was launched in China in August with a price tag of CNY 2,999 for the base model with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
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