The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is looking to unleash the potential of spectrum and is exploring meaningful applications for 5G technology, a top official of the department said on Tuesday.

At the CII Partnership Summit 2020, Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash also said the government is soon going to come up with an incentive scheme to encourage manufacturing of telecom equipment in India where the government will look at more value addition from the country in making the gears.

“We are going to unleash the potential of spectrum, remove all the bottlenecks, explore what new can be done with the spectrum,” Prakash said.

He said the government wants to encourage wirelines, internet-leased line, FTTH (fibre-to-the-home) and FTTX connections.

“In the realm of 5G, we want to come up with meaningful applications. Applications that are not merely enhanced mobile broadband but which touch all lives in agriculture, health and education, disaster management, public safety, traffic management etc,” Prakash said.

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This month, Google forced out a prominent AI ethics researcher after she voiced frustration with the company for making her withdraw a research paper. The paper pointed out the risks of language-processing artificial intelligence, the type used in Google Search and other text analysis products.

Among the risks is the large carbon footprint of developing this kind of AI technology. By some estimates, training an AI model generates as much carbon emissions as it takes to build and drive five cars over their lifetimes.

I am a researcher who studies and develops AI models, and I am all too familiar with the skyrocketing energy and financial costs of AI research. Why have AI models become so power hungry, and how are they different from traditional data center computation?Today’s training is inefficient

Traditional data processing jobs done in data centers include video streaming, email and social media. AI is more computationally intensive because it needs to read through lots of data until it learns to understand it – that is, is trained.

This training is very inefficient compared to how people learn. Modern AI uses artificial neural networks, which are mathematical computations that mimic neurons in the human brain. The strength of connection of each neuron to its neighbor is a parameter of the network called weight. To learn how to understand language, the network starts with random weights and adjusts them until the output agrees with the correct answer.

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Apple is reportedly planning to bring iPhones with larger screens that could have Touch ID fingerprint reader and antennas embedded into the display.

The iPhone maker might be working on offering its users better signal reception while still providing a secure user authentication system as well. This would also lead to thinner bezels and notches, offering more screen estate to its customers, reports AppleInsider.

In the past, reports claimed that Apple is working on an in-display fingerprint reader for its Touch ID system. Various patents had surfaced over the course of last year, which touched on topics like acoustic imaging, infrared, and more.

Even the renowned Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has predicted that Apple could bring the in-display fingerprint sensor on Touch ID on future iPhone models.

In addition, a patent previously revealed that the RF antenna will be covered under several layers of the display.

The antenna needs to be exposed to be able to receive signals, which is why Apple patented something called the “Display Integratable Hybrid Transparent Antenna”.

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I am amazed to known that instant cameras also come in different variants despite being a niche products. After recently reviewing the Fujifilm Instax Mini 11 (review), I got my hands-in the Instax Square SQ1, which is another instant camera but aimed at entirely different audience compared to the former. Successor to the Instax Square SQ6, the Square SQ1 is a square-shaped instant camera that is touted be a better imaging device compared to commonly available instant cameras like the Instax mini 11.

In terms of design, the Instax SQ1 has a minimal profile and it looks like an instant camera from all sides. It is, however, a bit large for an instant camera and weights around 500g with the film. Its big size and heavy weight makes it unsuitable for one hand operations but these are the only deterrents in terms of design and the camera otherwise looks appealing.

The camera has a rotatable ring around the lens to switch it on or to activate the selfie mode. On the top side, it has the flash light, which is activated for use in all scenarios and there is no option to turn it off. This leads to flash light working even in scenarios where artificial light is not required. Therefore, it ruins the picture quality in good light conditions.

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Taking on Chinese short-video making platform TikTok once again, Facebooks has launched a new iOS app called Collab for making and mixing music with friends in the pandemic.

The experimental app for making collaborative music videos is now available on the App Store in the US.

Part of the Facebook’s app-focused New Product Experimentation (NPE) team, the app allows users to create short-form music videos by combining up to three independent videos of 15-second timeframe.

According to a report in TechCrunch, the users can either create a collab by playing along with someone else’s video or “just swipe on one of the three rows to choose a different video to slot into the mix from those available”.

“As you discover musicians you like to play along with, you can favourite them in the app to be notified when they post new clips. This also personalises the main feed,” the report said late on Monday.

Facebook has made several improvements to the app’s audio-syncing capabilities and other technical aspects during its Beta testing period since May this year.

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Samsung Electronics took the number one position in the global foldable smartphone market this year with the launch of new devices, a report said on Tuesday, as the company tries to further solidify its status in the burgeoning sector.

According to the latest report from industry tracker Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC), Samsung is estimated to take up an 88 percent share in this year’s foldable smartphone market in terms of shipments, reports Yonhap news agency.

Samsung unveiled the vertically folding Galaxy Z Flip in February and launched the Galaxy Z Fold 2 in September.

“By model, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip and the Z Fold 2 are expected to be the two best-selling foldables in 2020 on both a unit and revenue basis,” DSCC said.

Its display-making affiliate, Samsung Display Co., accounted for 96 percent of the foldable panels shipped in the third quarter of 2020 and is estimated to take an 87 per cent share for the whole 2020, DSCC added.

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Smartphone maker Xiaomi is reportedly planning to launch its next high-end smartphone Mi 11 on December 29.

According to GizmoChina, the source who relayed the info does not know if it will be a global or China launch. However, the report also speculates that the phone could very well go on sale the same day as the launch.

The Mi 11 could be the first smartphone in the market with a Snapdragon 888 flagship processor.

The smartphone may have a 50MP primary camera, 48MP ultra-wide camera, and a 12MP telephoto lens, while the fourth lens could be a depth sensor.

The device is expected to feature a 120-Hz screen along with a 2K resolution display with a punch-hole camera for selfies.

The phone may also come with the new 120W fast charging technology.

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Famed Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has claimed that the next generation iPhone 13 mass production will be as per schedule, without any delay like this year.

According to him, if the iPhone 13 production starts in summer next year, then Apple will launch the next-generation iPhones in September, following its usual release time frame.

Apple usually begins mass production of iPhones in early summer, but iPhone 12 models got delayed due to Covid-19 related lockdown and travel restrictions, hindering the production process.

Kuo denied the concerns regarding Apple supplier TSMC’s capacity utilisation being dropped to 80 per cent from 100 per cent for the A14 chips in the first quarter of 2021, reports MacRumors.

The analyst noted that this is more of a seasonality factor rather than a capacity utilisation aspect.

iPhone 13 is expected to come in the same four model sizes as this year’s iPhone 12, but with some major improvements to the camera technology.

The Ultra Wide cameras on the two high-end models will be significantly upgraded to f/1.8, 6P (six-element lens) with autofocus.

All the current iPhone 12 models are equipped with f/2.4, 5P (five-element lens) Ultra Wide cameras with fixed focus.

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Social network firm Reddit said https://redditblog.com/2020/12/13/reddit-welcomes-video-platform-dubsmash-to-team on Sunday it would buy short-video platform Dubsmash, becoming the latest company to expand in a space dominated by Chinese-owned TikTok.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but a spokeswoman for Reddit said the acquisition was based on a combination of cash and stock.

The success of ByteDance’s TikTok has prompted many social media companies to add short-video services to their platforms, with Snapchat Inc rolling out “Spotlight” in November and Facebook Inc launching “Instagram Reels” earlier this year.

Reddit said in a blog post that the deal would give its users, who can already upload and stream videos, access to Dubsmash’s editing and short-video creation tools.

The San Francisco-based company added that Dubsmash would maintain its own platform and brand.

Dubsmash’s entire team, including co-founders Suchit Dash, Jonas Drüppel and Tim Specht, will join Reddit.

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Swedish telecom gear maker Ericsson has accused Samsung of violating contractual commitments by failing to adhere to various licensing patent agreements ranging from 2G to 5G.

In a lawsuit filed at District Court in Texas in the US, Ericsson alleged that the South Korean tech giant failed to adhere to the fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms and conditions.

Samsung’s FRAND commitment is a contract between Samsung and European Telecommunications Standards Institute, Ericsson claimed in the complaint.

“The application of the FRAND commitment in this instance is in relation to various global cross-licences that cover both parties’ patents for 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G cellular standards,” reports ZDNet.

“Samsung’s breach has caused Ericsson to suffer actual damages, such as Ericsson’s costs and expenses in pursuing futile negotiations with Samsung in an amount to be determined at trial. In addition, Ericsson is further entitled to obtain specific performance under French law,” the lawsuit read.

Samsung was yet to react on the Ericsson lawsuit.

The Swedish company said it is seeking to attain a declaration that it has complied with its FRAND commitment, and that Samsung has not.

With several of the licensing deals set to expire next year and negotiations still ongoing, Ericsson said the payment of IP royalties may be delayed.

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