Month: September 2019

Today, Samsung announced the launch of its newest mobile processor, the Exynos 980. This system-on-chip, which should enter mass production later this year, includes an integrated 5G modem, NPU (neural processing unit), and Mali G76 GPU.

How much should we care about 5G?

5G itself is probably not going to be a very big deal for most people. Aside from how relatively few and scattered 5G networks are for now, the really big speed increases for 5G happen on 5G FR2, the millimeter-wave band. The problem is, RF at millimeter wavelength has near-zero penetration—signals are easily blocked by walls, panes of glass, or even human bodies.

This makes 5G FR2 a potentially great delivery mechanism for site-to-site networking—such as an external antenna feeding the wired or Wi-Fi network for a large building—but much less so for an individual phone, whose connection would be interrupted by entering a building, a car, or even the user turning around and putting their body in between the phone’s antenna and the tower.

5G FR1, the sub-6GHz band, should be much more usable. It’s difficult to tell how much benefit real-world users will get from 5G FR1 connections. Current real-world speed tests show 5G FR1 speeds of 400Mbps to 600Mbps. This looks great compared to real-world speed tests of 4G at typically 50Mbps—but there’s a reason the 4G tests are so much slower, and that reason is congestion. 4G LTE is already capable of 1Gbps connections to stationary users, but there’s not enough bandwidth to support anything like that much speed delivered to all of the connected consumers.

Once 5G becomes a typical consumer use case rather than an uncommon and special one, we do expect to see some improvement over current 4G LTE—but don’t expect 500Mbps to become the new normal.

GPU and NPU

The Exynos 980’s GPU, Mali G76, is a significant improvement over earlier versions—roughly twice as fast as the Mali G71 used in earlier Samsung devices such as the Galaxy S8. It’s still not quite as fast in most benchmarks as the Qualcomm Adreno 630 used in Google’s Pixel 3 or Samsung’s own Galaxy S9+, though, so while consumers should expect snappy game and app performance, the GPU isn’t really a market game changer.

The real-world impact of the NPU, or Neural Processing Unit, is still a bit of a question mark. Samsung claims that the Exynos 980’s NPU is nearly three times as fast as the NPU used in earlier Exynos systems. We know that Samsung uses the NPU to enhance performance in its camera and augmented reality applications, but that’s likely it—for now. We expect that utilization of on-board NPUs in smartphones and tablets will increase greatly in the near future, as software vendors catch on to the possibilities of real-time, on-device machine learning.

A tale of shrinking process size

This won’t be Samsung’s first foray into 5G mobile devices; the difference here is not 5G connectivity itself but the fact that the modem is built in to the SoC (System on Chip) rather than being an external device. Building the 5G modem directly on-die with the CPU means less physical space needed for the components inside the phone, as well as lower power consumption and heat generation. All of this is really made possible by the shrink to an 8nm process—by comparison, the Snapdragon 845 used by Google’s flagship Pixel 3 phones is built on a 10nm process.

This is a story we’re seeing played out on all fronts this year. AMD shrank its CPU die process to 7nm earlier this year, allowing it to outperform Intel on both desktop and server CPUs. Intel itself gave us an even better example when it released both Ice Lake and Comet Lake notebook CPUs. Ice Lake, which is built on a 10nm process, was able to devote on-die space to a GPU three times as fast as the one in Comet Lake, which is still on a 14nm process.

Gaming laptops were out in force today at IFA in Berlin, as both Acer and Asus held their main press conferences just before Europe’s biggest consumer electronics show opens to the public. But while I was buried in computers of all shapes and sizes, two beefy gaming laptops caught my eye: The Acer Predator Triton 500 and the Asus Zephyrus S GX701. Not because they’re particularly beautiful, or come with flashing RGB lighting—they’re notable because they both boast 300Hz displays.

If that sounds ridiculous, it sort of is. Up until now, the fastest refresh rate on a gaming laptop was 240Hz. (Asus just announced some 144Hz and 240Hz gaming laptops back in April.) For more context, it was no small feat when Asus introduced the first 120Hz IPS display back in 2016. Three years later, we’re now at 300Hz. Why now? While vendors have been amping up refresh rates on high-end gaming laptops, current mobile GPUs are finally good enough that they can keep up, at least in some games.

In person, that 300Hz refresh rate translated to silky smooth visuals on both the Triton 500 and Zephyrus S GX701 I saw. Watching Overwatch on the Zephyrus, it felt like my eyes were melting—in a good way. Of course, not every game is going to get up to 300fps, but it’s pretty remarkable that the possibility even exists in some contexts.

So, who exactly “needs” 300Hz gaming laptops. Both Acer and Asus said their laptops were aimed at hardcore gamers and esports competitors, but I’m willing to venture even the most obsessed amateur might flinch at Acer’s starting $2,800 price tag for the Triton 500. I asked Asus how much the Zephyrus S GX701 would retail for, but a representative demurred, saying, “It’ll depend on the locality.” It’s probably safe to say it’ll be expensive as hell though.

For all that moolah, you’d have to make a few sacrifices in quality to even have a shot of hitting 300fps. Few games are able to support that rate at higher resolutions, so unless you’re an actual esports competitor, both the Triton 500 and Zephyrus S GX701 are more aspirational than realistic. Plus, the Asus prototype I saw firsthand sounded like a chorus of wheezing grandpas while running Overwatch. Even though these laptops boast the beefiest Nvidia GTX graphics cards and Intel processors, it’s likely these first iterations will have their own quirks and kinks—especially since both Acer and Asus are trying jam pack so much into the slimmest chassis possible.

Still, even with a limited market, it’s not likely 300Hz laptops are going anywhere. Asus, in particular, had a number of 300Hz 15-inch and 17-inch Zephyrus and Strix prototype laptops on display that are expected to arrive sometime next year. The 17-inch Zephyrus S GX701 is slated to ship next month, and the Triton 500 will be available in EMEA regions in November, and the U.S. in December.

If you’ve got a Pixel or the Essential Phone, chances are that you’ve got — or are about to get — the full stable release of Android 10, which has a bunch of interesting new features that are worth checking out.

But where do you find them? I installed Android 10 on my original Pixel XL late yesterday (yes, I’ve still got the first version of the Pixel — so sue me), and except for a few stylistic changes, the new features weren’t immediately obvious.

You can find them easily enough, though, if you know where to look.

INSTALLING ANDROID 10

First, of course, you have to make sure you have the new OS installed. If you haven’t gotten a notification, it’s easy enough to find:

Open your phone’s settings

Select System > Advanced > System update

(Note: Before installing a new OS, it’s always a good idea to make sure that your phone is backed up, just in case. Google has a feature that automatically backs up your phone; go to Setup and select System > Backup. If it says On under Backup, you should be fine; you can tap on Backup to see what’s being backed up and when it last happened.)

It took my phone about half an hour or so to install the new OS and update the apps; your mileage may vary.

So now that you’ve got the new OS, here are some tricks to try.

GESTURES

For several generations of Android, you’ve navigated by using the three symbols at the bottom of the screen including Back, Home, and the Recent task-switching button. Google has now replaced that format with a gesture system, similar to that used by recent iPhones.

If you’re the kind of person who is resistant to change, don’t panic: Google has made the use of these gestures optional. In fact, when my phone updated to Android 10, the old symbols were still there.

No matter your initial opinion of gestures, it couldn’t hurt to give them a try. Here’s how to turn gestures on:

Go to Settings > System > Gestures > 3-button navigation

From the three choices on the page, select “Gesture navigation.” There is a GIF at the top of the page to illustrate the various gestures you need to make; there is also a quick rundown of how to use them in our review.

There’s a settings cog to the right of “Gesture navigation,” which lets you set the sensitivity of the screen when you back-swipe. You probably want to leave that setting alone until you’ve played with gestures for a while.

Now, instead of the three icons, all you’ll see at the bottom of your screen will be a black strip with a white dash in the center. (Or vice versa, depending on the page’s background color.) Of course, if you finally decide you’re not a gesture person, you can go back and return your phone to its old format.

DARK MODE

Dark mode is very popular these days. It’s supposed to help keep your battery going longer (having not tested it, I can’t say one way or the other), but I find it very useful when I’m using my phone at night. While many Android apps have, over the years, provided their own dark modes, Android now has a universal dark theme. To turn it on:

Go to Settings > Display

Toggle on “Dark theme.” You’ll get a pop-up that lets you know that supported apps will also switch to the dark theme.

If you look in your quick settings menu (the one you get when you swipe down from the top), you can also access a dark mode toggle there. If you don’t immediately see the icon, click on the pencil icon in the lower left corner of the quick settings drop-down.

As mentioned in our review, it would be a lot nicer if there was a way to have the phone change to dark mode automatically at sunset. Maybe in a future iteration.

FOCUS MODE

Yes, I am easily distracted. For example, while writing this article, I found myself clicking on an article I found in my Google drawer, and had to force myself to remember that I had work to do. So Focus Mode — which was created to help minimize distractions by pausing specific apps — may prove very useful, at least in my case.

Before I describe how to find Focus Mode, a note: To be able to use it, you have to be part of the Digital Wellbeing beta program. If you don’t see Focus Mode in your Digital Wellbeing app, then simply sign up for the beta, and wait for the app to be updated with the beta version; it should take only a few minutes.

Ready?

Go to Settings > “Digital Wellbeing & parental controls”

Scroll down to “Ways to Disconnect”

You’ve got three choices here to help you manage your distraction level. Tap on each to set it up.

Dashboard lets you set timers for specific apps so that they will pause if you go past your allotted time.

Wind Down lets you avoid interruptions at night; you can use Night Light to tint the screen for dim lighting, have the app remind you that it’s time for bed by gray-scaling your screen, and put the Do Not Disturb mode in place, among other features.

Focus Mode (mentioned above) lets you immediately pause apps such as Facebook or Twitter so that you can concentrate on the task at hand.

As with Dark mode, you can also find Focus Mode on your quick settings menu.

LOCATION PERMISSIONS

A lot of apps ask for permission to track your location. In Android 10, you can now set that permission so that the app can only track your location while it is in use rather than all the time. To find which of your current apps have permission to track your location, and to change their permissions:

Go to Settings

Go to Apps & notifications > Permission manager > Location

You’ll get a list of all the apps that have permission to track your phone’s location, followed by all those allowed to track you only while they are in use, and then by those that have been denied the right to track your location. Tap on each app’s name to change its permission to “Allow all the time,” “Allow only while using the app,” or “Deny.”

A NEW CATEGORY IN SETTINGS: PRIVACY

By the way, you can find the Permission manager in another place now as well: the new category of Privacy in your settings listing. You can also find your “Show passwords” toggle here (so you can see passwords as you type them), your notification controls for your lock screen, your autofill manager for forms, and several other privacy features.

There are, of course, a number of other new features that will simply pop up as you need them — for example, more details on some notifications. And one very interesting new feature, Live Caption, is not yet available; it should offer closed captioning for all audio and video on the phone. As with all newly released operating systems, Android 10 is a work in progress. The features described here are probably only the beginning.

Samsung Electronics today announced the launch of the Galaxy Fold—a completely new category of mobile technology—available in Korea on September 6, followed by select countries including France, Germany, Singapore, U.K., U.S., and more, in Cosmos Black and Space Silver. With a 5G-ready option in select countries, consumers will be able to unfold the future on the fastest network speeds available.

Galaxy Fold was designed to inspire new experiences: When closed, you can access your essentials on the cover display comfortably with one hand, and when opened, you can explore new ways to multitask, watch videos, play games, and more, on its immersive 7.3-inch Infinity Flex Display.1

During the past several months, Samsung has been refining the Galaxy Fold to ensure it delivers the best possible experience. Not only we improved the Galaxy Fold’s design and construction, but also took the time to rethink the entire consumer journey.

“The category-defining Galaxy Fold is a device that defies the barriers of traditional smartphone design. Now, we’re excited to release this pioneering mobile technology, and allow consumers to experience it for themselves,” said DJ Koh, President and CEO of IT & Mobile Communications Division, Samsung Electronics. “Consumers have responded positively to larger screens, and the Galaxy Fold’s revolutionary form factor offers a bigger, more immersive screen without sacrificing portability. This is what we call innovation of new mobile experience in action.”

First-of-its-Kind User Experience

The Galaxy Fold combines users’ favorite smartphone and tablet features to deliver a new kind of mobile device and a first-of-its-kind user experience—from a new form factor and materials to its unique foldable UX, versatile camera and premium performance. Samsung worked alongside partners to create an entirely new UX that will change the way we use our mobile devices and takes full advantage of the foldable design with its cover and main displays. As a result, the device opens up new possibilities for users.

The Galaxy Fold transforms how you capture, share, and edit mobile content. When closed, you can shoot a quick video, and then simply open the device to watch it on a larger screen—with App Continuity, the video seamlessly transitions from the cover display to the main display.2 With Multi-Active Window, you can run multiple apps at once in real-time and effectively multitask: Edit footage, browse through the photo gallery for still shots, and read emails from friends and co-workers, all at the same time.3

With a 5G-ready option, Galaxy Fold users in select markets can take full advantage of their carriers’ fastest speeds. The Galaxy Fold 5G harnesses the full power of next-generation connectivity for streaming and downloading high-resolution videos and other content, as well as graphics-heavy games, at super-charged speeds.4 By allowing us to do more with the 7.3-inch Infinity Flex Display, the Galaxy Fold is changing the way we consume content and multitask.5

Every Galaxy Fold comes with exclusive access to specialized customer care services – including one-on-one access to Samsung experts, and a 24/7 support hub online or over the phone. Samsung will elaborate on plans in each market to ensure every aspect of the Galaxy Fold experience is as extraordinary as the device itself.

Are you seeing unexpected processor spikes after installing Windows 10 update KB4512941? You’re not the only one — Here’s how you can fix it.

On August 30, Microsoft started rolling out update KB4512941 to address a slew of issues with devices running the Windows 10 May 2019 Update (version 1903), but it appears that the update is causing some new problems.

According to a number of complaints from users seen here and here on Reddit, Microsoft forums, and Feedback Hub app, after installing update KB4512941 — which bumps the version to build 18362.329 — Task Manager may report constant high CPU usage (even when idle) negatively impacting performance on devices where Bing has been disabled for Windows Search.

While Microsoft hasn’t acknowledged this as a problem on Windows 10, reports suggest that there’s a problem with the Cortana integration causing the SearchUI.exe process to spike, which also affects the Start menu functionality.

The problem doesn’t seem to be widespread. But if you recently updated your computer, and you’re noticing high CPU usage, you can fix this problem by removing the cumulative update or modifying the Registry.

In this Windows 10 guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to deal with the high CPU usage after installing build 18362.329.

How to fix high CPU usage with KB4512941 removing update

The easiest method to overcome the high CPU usage on Windows 10 is to remove the update from your device.

To uninstall update KB4512941 from Windows 10, use these steps:

Open Settings.

Click on Update & Security.

Click on Windows Update.

lick the View update history option.

Click the Uninstall updates option.

Select the “Update for Microsoft Windows (KB4512941)” item.

lick the Uninstall button.

Click the Yes button.

Click the Restart Now button.

Once you complete the steps, your device will go back to the more stable build 18362.295, which isn’t affected by the excessive processor usage.

How to fix hight CPU usage with KB4512941 using Registry

If you’re unable to remove the update or don’t want to rollback, you can tweak the Registry settings to mitigate the high processor usage on Windows 10.

Warning: This is a friendly reminder that editing the Registry is risky, and it can cause irreversible damage to your installation if you don’t do it correctly. It’s recommended to make a full backup of your PC before proceeding.

To fix high CPU usage after installing KB4512941, use these steps:

Open Start.

Search for regedit and click the top result to open the Registry.

Browse the following path:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Search

Quick tip: On Windows 10, you can now copy and paste the path in the Registry’s address bar to quickly jump to the key destination.

Double-click the BingSearchEnabled DWORD and set the value from 0 to 1.

Important: Alternatively, users have also reported that right-clicking and deleting the “BingSearchEnabled” DWORD also fixes the problem.

Click the OK button.

Restart your computer.

After you complete the steps, you should no longer notice processor spikes as a result of the possible bug with update KB4512941 for Windows 10 version 1903.

Once the company permanently fixes the problem, you can revert the changes using the same instructions, but on step No. 4, make sure to set the value of the DWORD to 0.

Update September 3, 2019: Microsoft has acknowledged the problem, and it’s currently investigating to address it.