24 February 2019

Say hello to Microsoft’s new $3,500 HoloLens with twice the field of view


Microsoft unveiled the latest version of its HoloLens ‘mixed reality’ headset at MWC Barcelona today. The new HoloLens 2 features a significantly larger field of view, higher resolution and a device that’s more comfortable to wear. Indeed, Microsoft says the device is three times as comfortable to wear (though it’s unclear how Microsoft measured this).

Later this year, HoloLens 2 will be available in the United States, Japan, China, Germany, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Australia and New Zealand for $3,500.

One of the knocks against the original HoloLens was its limited field of view. When whatever you wanted to look at was small and straight ahead of you, the effect was striking. But when you moved your head a little bit or looked at a larger object, it suddenly felt like you were looking through a stamp-sized screen. HoloLens 2 features a field of view that’s twice as large as the original.

“Kinect was the first intelligent device to enter our homes,” HoloLens chief Alex Kipman said in today’s keynote, looking back the the device’s history. “It drove us to create Microsoft HoloLens. […] Over the last few years, individual developers, large enterprises, brand new startup have been dreaming up beautiful things, helpful things.”

The HoloLens was always just as much about the software as the hardware, though. For HoloLens, Microsoft developed a special version of Windows, together with a new way of interacting with the AR objects through gestures like air tap and bloom. In this new version, the interaction is far more natural and lets you tap objects. The device also tracks your gaze more accurately to allow the software to adjust to where you are looking.

“HoloLens 2 adapts to you,” Kipman stressed. “HoloLens 2 evolves the interaction model by significantly advancing how people engage with holograms.”

In its demos, the company clearly emphasized how much faster and fluid the interaction with HoloLens applications becomes when you can use slides, for example, by simply grabbing the slider and moving it, or by tapping on a button with either a finger or two or with your full hand. Microsoft event built a virtual piano that you can play with ten fingers to show off how well the HoloLens can track movement. The company calls this ‘instinctual interaction.’

Microsoft first unveiled the HoloLens concept at a surprise event on its Redmond campus back in 2015. After a limited, invite-only release that started days after the end of MWC 2016, the device went on sale to everybody in August  2016. Four years is a long time between hardware releases, but the company clearly wanted to seed the market and give developer a chance to build the first set of HoloLens applications on a stable platform.

To support developers, Microsoft is also launching a number of Azure services for HoloLens today. These include spatial anchors and remote rendering to help developers stream high-polygon content to HoloLens.

It’s worth noting that Microsoft never positioned the device as consumer hardware. I may have shown off the occasional game, but its focus was always on business applications, with a bit of educational applications thrown in, too. That trend continued today. Microsoft showed off the ability to have multiple people collaborate around a single hologram, for example. That’s not new, of course, but goes to show how Microsoft is positioning this technology.

For these enterprises, Microsoft will also offer the ability to customize the device.

“When you change the way you see the world, you change the world you see,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said, repeating a line from the company’s first HoloLens announcement four years ago. He noted that he believes that connecting the physical world with the virtual world will transform the way we will work.


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Need cameras? The Nokia 9 PureView has lots


You want camera? The Nokia 9 PureView has them — more than you could ever possibly need, really. The latest premium device from HMD sports a five camera hexagonal array, along with the flash and color sensors. The two front-facing cameras, meanwhile, bring the total up to seven.

Overkill? Yeah, probably. But the device certainly maintains the Nokia brand’s legacy of pushing mobile imaging to its limits. What’s most interesting here, is how it all works. Rather than, say, switching between different focal points, the the device takes shots on all five at on, fusing them together into one big picture.

Working in tandem, the cameras capture more than 60-megapixels worth of data. The system builds on the expertise of Light (they of the even more silly nine-camera array) and Qualcomm two process the information into one complex photo that allows for tremendous editing leeway and deep depth maps. Users can shoot in RAW format and edit those images with the mobile version of Lightroom, made available through a partnership with Adobe.

The phone’s design is nice — certainly one of the newly reborn Nokia brand’s nicer to date. Though the rest of the aspects are fairly middling, including a 5.99 inch pOLED display and a Snapdragon 845.

The price is right. At $699, it’s a decent mid-range phone with a heck of a gimmick. HMD, however, seems to be keenly aware that this one will have a relatively niche appeal. The company says it’s a limited edition device with a “defined production run.” No word what that means in terms of numbers, and it seems pretty reasonable to expect HMD to make this manner of device more widely available should it sell.

No word on timing, but HMD says we should expect the product to be available in the States.


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HMD keeps feature phones and Snake alive with the Nokia 210


HMD was something of an instant success when it launched at Mobile World Congress two years back. That rapid rise owed to a few key things: price, familiar branding and its predecessor’s long time commitment to the feature phone.

Those who’ve been following the industry for some time will recall that the original Nokia mobile wasn’t particularly quick to adopt the smartphone lifestyle, but the company maintained marketshare by catering to the low end of the market. HMD has continued to embrace the category by re-releasing some familiar designs and creating altogether new non-smart phones.

While it shares a number with the QWERTY-sporting Asha, the Nokia 210 is more burner than BlackBerry. The Palm-sized handset sports a small screen, surrounded by thick casing and some big buttons. The handset can access the internet via Opera mini, so users can do some light social network.

And yes, it runs Snake.

HMD promises an impressive month of battery life, packed into a handset that should run around €30 ($34).


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Huawei unveils its 5G consumer solutions built on new 5G chipset


Today at MWC Barcalona Huawei launched its first consumer 5G products. Aside from its 5G Mate 20 X, the company also updated and new products that will bring 5G to people’s homes and devices through routers and connectivity options. Most consumers will first taste 5G not on a dedicated device like a phone, but through broadband-like services and these devices are aimed at that market.

Last year, Huawei announced the 5G CPE Pro but never took it to market. Then, last month, ahead of MWC Barcelona, Huawei announced a new version alongside its new Balong 5000 5G chipset, which is at the heart of its consumer 5G products.

Huawei’s Balong 5000 brings added connectivity options over the company’s previous 5G chipsets. Huawei claims the Balong 5000 is the first chip that supports both standalone (SA) and non-standalone (NSA) network architectures for 5G allowing it connect to existing supercharged 4G networks as well as future 5G networks. It also packs the goods to support vehicle to every communication signaling Huawei’s commitment to infrastructure support.

The company says the Balong 5000 chip can achieve download speeds of 4.6 Gbps and 6.5 Gbps depending on if connected to Sub-6 GHz or high-frequency bands for extended spectrum.

The new 5G CPE Pro packs the Balong 5000 chip along with WiFi 6, which is key to serving 5G’s added speed to devices. With WiFi 6 the CPE Pro can deliver local network speeds of up to 4.8 Gbps.

The 5G CPE Win uses the same Balong 5000 chip and is being positioned as home receiver. It’s weather-proof and can be mounted to a wall, pole, or windowsill and serves network through the house through WiFi or Power Over Ethernet.
The 5G Mobile WiFi is an updated version of a product Huawei announced last year. Like the 5G CPE Pro, the product now features Huawei’s Balong 5000 allowing it connect to existing 4G networks and future 5G networks.

At this time the company did not reveal availability or pricing for any of the above products. Chances are though, giving the company’s legal issues in the States, these products likely will not be available in that market.


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This is what a foldable phone case looks like


Foldable phones are having their moments at this year’s Mobile World Congress. A few days after Samsung debuted the Galaxy Fold on stage at an event in San Francisco, Huawei has just shown off its solution, the Mate X.

On the face of it, the device looks like it may well be a step up from the Galaxy device, right down to its three large screens. Of course, all of that display real estate presents some key new challenges, beyond the underlying technology. Namely, how to avoid getting those surfaces scratched to hell.

Huawei’s got a solution for that, too — albeit not quite as elegant as the phone itself. In one of the earliest examples we’ve seen indicating what foldable cases may look like, going forward, the company quickly showed up a slip case.

The accessory opens to accept the folded up phone, snapping shut to protect both sides of the device. That means it doesn’t unfold to product the eight-inch display — which, to be fair, won’t be exposed when you’re carrying the device around in your pocket.

Of course, this is just an early solution developed in house. No doubt future cases will be every bit as varied — if not more so — than the devices themselves. This, at least, probably won’t run $2,600


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Huawei unveils its 5G consumer solutions built on new 5G chipset


Today at MWC Barcalona Huawei launched its first consumer 5G products. Aside from its 5G Mate 20 X, the company also updated and new products that will bring 5G to people’s homes and devices through routers and connectivity options. Most consumers will first taste 5G not on a dedicated device like a phone, but through broadband-like services and these devices are aimed at that market.

Last year, Huawei announced the 5G CPE Pro but never took it to market. Then, last month, ahead of MWC Barcelona, Huawei announced a new version alongside its new Balong 5000 5G chipset, which is at the heart of its consumer 5G products.

Huawei’s Balong 5000 brings added connectivity options over the company’s previous 5G chipsets. Huawei claims the Balong 5000 is the first chip that supports both standalone (SA) and non-standalone (NSA) network architectures for 5G allowing it connect to existing supercharged 4G networks as well as future 5G networks. It also packs the goods to support vehicle to every communication signaling Huawei’s commitment to infrastructure support.

The company says the Balong 5000 chip can achieve download speeds of 4.6 Gbps and 6.5 Gbps depending on if connected to Sub-6 GHz or high-frequency bands for extended spectrum.

The new 5G CPE Pro packs the Balong 5000 chip along with WiFi 6, which is key to serving 5G’s added speed to devices. With WiFi 6 the CPE Pro can deliver local network speeds of up to 4.8 Gbps.

The 5G CPE Win uses the same Balong 5000 chip and is being positioned as home receiver. It’s weather-proof and can be mounted to a wall, pole, or windowsill and serves network through the house through WiFi or Power Over Ethernet.
The 5G Mobile WiFi is an updated version of a product Huawei announced last year. Like the 5G CPE Pro, the product now features Huawei’s Balong 5000 allowing it connect to existing 4G networks and future 5G networks.

At this time the company did not reveal availability or pricing for any of the above products. Chances are though, giving the company’s legal issues in the States, these products likely will not be available in that market.


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Huawei is bringing 5G to the Mate 20 X


Today at MWC Barcelona Huawei announced it will bring 5G to its flagship phone, the Mate 20 X. This marks the first 5G phone from the Chinese mobile giant. Huawei joins a growing list of companies introducing their first 5G phone in early 2019.

In the past week, Samsung, Oppo, and Xiaomi announced 5G versions of their flagship phones.

The company failed revealed any more details about the upcoming handset including price and availability. Chances are the Mate 20 X will feature a version of its do-it-all Balong 5000 chipset, the company’s latest 5G chip announced a few weeks ago.

Huawei’s Balong 5000 brings added connectivity options over the company’s previous 5G chipsets. Huawei claims the Balong 5000 is the first chip that supports both standalone (SA) and non-standalone (NSA) network architectures for 5G allowing it connect to existing supercharged 4G networks as well as future 5G networks. This is key as carriers worldwide are looking to sell consumers on the benefits of 5G built on the networks of existing 4G networks.

The Mate 20 X is widely seen as one of the best phones available with an amazing camera, in-screen fingerprint reader, and a large, beautiful screen. Price and market availability


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Huawei’s 5G foldable costs $2,600


Foldables are expense. And so are 5G phones. But foldable 5G phones? Well, um, get ready for that second mortgage. At the end of Huawei’s MWC press conference, mobile chief Richard Yu dropped a pricing bombshell, noting that the recently announced Mate X will run €2,299 ($2,600).

There’s a pricing premium and then there’s that.

The audience at the event audibly gasped as the price was revealed for the handset, which is set to launch in mid-2019. Yu clearly anticipated the reaction, noting that the company was working with carriers to help bring the price down. The executive took an almost apologetic tone for the price of innovation.

Mass production should help lower the cost as well, but if there was any doubt that this thing is aimed exclusively at early adopters, that should well be put to rest.

Like the Galaxy Fold, the Mate X will feature some beefy specs, including 8GB of RAM, 512GB of storage and a pair of batteries that add up to 4,500mAh. And, well, for $2,600, this thing had better be top of the line.

There’s also the whole problem of Huawei not being able to sell its devices through major channels here in the States. Certainly carriers won’t help subsidize the product in this market, so if that price isn’t enough to make you reconsider, it still may be difficult to come by.


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The Mate X is Huawei’s 5G foldable


The world’s fastest growing mobile company has long had a chip on its shoulder when it comes to Apple and Samsung. For too long, the company has had to go out of its way to remind the world that it’s capable of being every bit as innovative as those better established brands, a concept very much at the heart of the Mate X.

The device lives right at the cross section of the year’s biggest forward looking trends — foldables and 5G, and unlike some of the concepts we’ve seen to date, the product does so with panache.

It is, of course, a bit of a wild west when it comes to form factors for the burgeoning foldable space. In a quick, behind the scenes briefing ahead of today’s press conference at MWC, we were given the opportunity to see the handset in action. It was, admittedly, a little more rushed than we’d like, involving no actual hands on time with the product — it was more of a stand behind this rope and snap off a couple of photos situation.

No touching, no followup questions. The company promised to shed more light on the product today, as Richard You takes the stage, but for now, it appears to be the kind of cautious presentation one gives involving a device that isn’t quite ready to be put through its paces. Even so, it’s a heck of a lot closer and with much better lighting than we got the first time Samsung showed off its own entry.

And from these early glimpses, I’m mostly impressed with what the Chinese manufacturer was able to do here. Huawei’s brought some clever touches to the product category, and designed what looks to be a pretty slick devices from most angles.

The device is thin, as far as tablets go, at 5.4 mm, unfolded. Closed, it’s nearly double that, at 11 mm. Not thin, exactly, but still a heck of a lot easier to slip into your pants pockets than the 17mm Galaxy Fold.

More impressive is what the company’s been able to do with its displays. The screen is very much the thing on these products, and yet the Fold’s outside screen only measures 4.6 inches. The Mate X, meanwhile, sports a pair of outward-facing displays, the larger of which measures 6.6 inches at 2480 x 1148 pixels, with a 19:5 aspect ration.

The flip side is 6.38 inches, allowing for space for the camera bar — a chin that folds over to meet the display. The system features a Leica lens and the design is such that photo subjects can see themselves on the outward-facing display as a shot is taken. On the device’s side is a combo fingerprint reader/power button.

Unfolded using the proprietary “Falcon Wing” hinge (three years in the making, according to mobile CEO Richard Yu), the inside screen is a full eight inches. That’s certainly enough room to have a pair of apps open, side by side. While we didn’t get closer than a few feet away, the vantage point was enough to spot a visible crease in the middle of the phone, detectable when it caught the overhead lights.

The other key part here is, naturally, the 5G. Huawei, of course, manufacturers its own 5G network gear, which means that, unlike most of the competition, it’s been able to speed test. The company calls the Mate X “the world’s fastest 5G phone” — words that admittedly don’t mean a heck of a lot, at the moment. That said, it’s promising download speeds of “up to 4.6 Gbps, which should translate to a 1GB movie download in three seconds.

Inside are a pair of batteries that add up to 4,500mAh – you’re going to need something beefy inside to deal with all of those screens and 5G, which is a notable battery drainer. The company’s Kirin 980 processor is also on board for the device.

Update: The handset will be available mid-year, priced at, get this, $2,600


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Huawei is bringing 5G to the Mate 20 X


Today at MWC Barcelona Huawei announced it will bring 5G to its flagship phone, the Mate 20 X. This marks the first 5G phone from the Chinese mobile giant. Huawei joins a growing list of companies introducing their first 5G phone in early 2019.

In the past week, Samsung, Oppo, and Xiaomi announced 5G versions of their flagship phones.

The company failed revealed any more details about the upcoming handset including price and availability. Chances are the Mate 20 X will feature a version of its do-it-all Balong 5000 chipset, the company’s latest 5G chip announced a few weeks ago.

Huawei’s Balong 5000 brings added connectivity options over the company’s previous 5G chipsets. Huawei claims the Balong 5000 is the first chip that supports both standalone (SA) and non-standalone (NSA) network architectures for 5G allowing it connect to existing supercharged 4G networks as well as future 5G networks. This is key as carriers worldwide are looking to sell consumers on the benefits of 5G built on the networks of existing 4G networks.

The Mate 20 X is widely seen as one of the best phones available with an amazing camera, in-screen fingerprint reader, and a large, beautiful screen. Price and market availability


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