Tech
Qualcomm to bring satellite SMS feature in SD 8 Gen 2, Could be seen in Galaxy S23
At the Consumer Electronics Show 2023 (CES 2023), the American multinational company Qualcomm unveiled a new and essential service for Android devices. This service, named Snapdragon Satellite, will be helpful in sending messages through satellite connectivity, even in the lack of cell coverage area. It is like Apple’s Emergency SOS service but improved. This new feature could probably be seen in the upcoming Galaxy S23 series device. Let’s learn more about Qualcomm’s new initiative.
What is the Snapdragon Satellite SMS feature? Know here
For those who are unaware, the Snapdragon Satellite SMS feature will let us send emergency messages when we are out of the coverage area. It is slightly different from Apple’s emergency message service because Apple only provides one-way messaging; we can only send messages through it but can’t receive them, while Qualcomm’s service will provide us a two-way messaging; along with sending, we will be able to receive them as well. It will be proven very helpful in an emergency situation. Besides, we can also use this service in remote, rural, and offshore locations.
Which device will support this new service?
Let’s inform you to get support for this new feature, the device needs to be equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC along with the X70 modem. However, not all devices with these requirements are eligible for having this service; only a few of them will get it. Notably, for providing this service, Qualcomm has collaborated with Iridium, which will lend its 66 low-orbit satellites for this service. As per Qualcomm, this service requires Iridium L-band spectrum’s use in the device for uplinking and downlinking.
Informatively, this new service will only work in the open sky, so it can easily establish a connection with the satellite. In other words, the service will not be accessible indoors. Once the device catches up with the satellite, afterward, we will be able to send or receive messages through it.
When and with which device will the service make its debut?
Previously, there were some reports which suggested that Samsung is working to bring a Satellite connectivity feature into its Galaxy S23 series. Coincidently, Samsung was also reported to get into a partnership with the same Iridium Communications for this new feature. On top of that, this respective series device fulfills all the requirements of this feature, such as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC and X70 modem, which makes it highly possible that the feature will be debuted with the Galaxy S23 series devices.
However, as per Qualcomm, the first smartphone with this Snapdragon Satellite SMS feature will be launched in the second half of 2023, which shows that both Samsung and Qualcomm are working independently on this service, even though their partner is the same. It means Samsung will provide this service in its Galaxy S23 series on its own. Note bone this feature will not work globally, but it will be launched for North America and European countries only.
Finally, Qualcomm has debuted its new ARM-based processor, the Snapdragon X Plus, designed for laptops. We anticipate Samsung to incorporate this chipset into its upcoming laptops.
However, this new chipset appears a bit below the company’s high-end laptop chipset, the Snapdragon X Elite, which was unveiled a few months ago and is expected to be used in Samsung’s forthcoming Galaxy Book 4 Edge.
The Snapdragon X Plus is a 4nm chip with a 10-core CPU. The Snapdragon X Elite and this newly launched chipset use the same Oryon CPU cores. This chipset is expected to be used in more affordable laptops running on the Windows OS. The CPU of this chipset operates at 3.4GHz, while the Snapdragon X Elite clocks at 3.8GHz.
Snapdragon X Plus’ integrated Adreno GPU has 3.8 TFLOPS of power, which could be equivalent to the Intel Core Ultra 7 series. The noticeable thing that remained constant in this new chipset is its NPU, which still offers 45 TOPS performance for on-device AI inference, similar to the Snapdragon X Elite.
This qualifies the chip as an AI chip, according to Microsoft Copilot’s minimum requirement of 40 TOPS. The brand has assured that the Snapdragon X Plus delivers 10% faster CPU performance than Apple’s M3 chipset while running at the same power. On the other hand, the Snapdragon chip claims to be 37% faster at the same wattage as the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H. This chip is expected to appear in laptops and will debut in the second half of this year.
Previously, Samsung has used Qualcomm’s top-of-the-line and mid-range Snapdragon chipset in its ARM laptops, and the giant has already unveiled that the forthcoming Galaxy Book 4 Edge will use the Snapdragon X Elite. Given this fact, it is quite possible that the brand could launch a more affordable Galaxy Book 4 series laptop with the Snapdragon X Plus.
The fact is, other storage facilities can’t replace the device’s local storage; it remains an essential factor yet.
Despite cloud storage, smartphone storage remains crucial, and UFS 4.0 makes phone storage faster than ever before, but the fact is there is always room for improvement. The latest UFS chipsets run at the same speed as an SSD; however, a brand founded by Toshiba has managed to make the UFS 4.0 standard even more efficient.
Kioxia is a Japanese multinational computer memory manufacturer that develops, produces, and sells flash memory and SSDs, and now it has recently introduced chips that arrive with storage capacities of 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1 TB.
Kioxia Revs Up UFS 4.0 Memory Standard
The brand has now revealed the THGJFMT1E45BATV, THGJFMT2E46BATV, and THGJFMT3E86BATZ chips that offer 50% faster random writing in an 18% smaller area. The chips have their particular size based on their storage capacities, which are mentioned below:
- 256GB and 512GB chips: 9.0 x 13.0. x 0.8mm
- 1TB chip: 9.0 x 13.0 x 0.9mm
Kioxia has equipped the new UFS 4.0 chips with BiCS Flash 3D NAND, making them 18% smaller as compared to the previously announced 11 x 13mm chips. The write speed of the new UFS chips has been boosted by 15%, and the random write speed has increased by as much as 50%, with a 30% rise in random read speed as well, although the maximum read limit remains unchanged at 4.640 MB/s.
It is also announced that the production of the 256GB and 512GB variants of these new UFS chips will begin by the end of this month, whereas the 1TB variant will go into production in June.
The forthcoming Nintendo Switch 2 could use the 5th generation V-NAND of Samsung, as the report says.
If the recent reports are to be believed, the Nintendo Switch 2 may use the Korean giant’s 5th generation V-NAND. If this comes true, then this will be a huge boost up from its predecessor, judging from some recent findings.
This is being speculated by a YouTube video shared by Doctre81, a former Samsung worker who was the backbone for designing a NAND Flash Controller gadget for a Nintendo game card, which could indicate that the Nintendo Switch 2 is expected to use Samsung’s 5th-generation V-NAND technology.
If this report comes true, then this technology will be an efficient upgrade from what is currently used on the Nintendo Switch, and it is essential for the forthcoming games that are expected to be quite bigger and ask for higher resolutions.
The Nintendo Switch 2 requiring faster read speeds than its predecessor is not that surprising, as it is using Samsung 5th-generation V-NAND. Even though it is, by today’s standards, a somewhat outdated technique, Samsung is already actively working on the 9th and 10th generations of V-NAND, which is expected to debut next year in 2025.
The up to 1.4 GB/s speed feature by the 5th generation should be enough for the forthcoming console and an actual major boost up as compared to its predecessor. It will be powered by NVIDIA technology. The T239 chipset will be a major boost over the Tegra X1 chipset housed in the current Nintendo system. It is also reported that it could support features like NVIDIA DLSS upscaling and ray reconstruction, which will likely make it the best ray-tracing-capable gaming system on the market.
Via – Wccftech