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Annasha

Annasha Dey is an NIT student, who apart from studying engineering is also a content writer. She has a great interest in photography, writing, reading novels, and travelling as well. She is a foodie who loves socializing and hanging out with her friends. She is also a trained Kathak dancer and a big fashion enthusiast. Dey also loves watching TV series, which includes F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and Big Bang Theory. To be a better writer she prefers to read more

HarmonyOS

Huawei introduces new smartphones and other products powered by HarmonyOS 2.

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On 2nd June 2021, Huawei announced the rollout of new products which will be powered by the HarmonyOS 2 operating system. The company will launch the new OS for certain smartphone models from today itself. This will give the users a choice between the current Android OS and the new HarmonyOS that they can switch to. The new version of the HUAWEI Mate 40 Series and HUAWEI Mate X2 along with the HUAWEI WATCH 3 Series, and the HUAWEI MatePad Pro will run on this new OS.

Since the company is launching HarmonyOS, the smartphones of Huawei will not be totally dependent on the Android platform. This can be the consequence of the decision made by the US government when it banned Google from providing any technical support to the new Huawei phone models. So, let’s have a look at the new gadgets which will be powered by HarmonyOS 2 and how it will enhance user experience.

Introduction to HarmonyOS

In today’s event, Huawei has announced many new products by the company including smartphones and tablets which will be upgraded to run on HarmonyOS 2. Huawei has addressed the problem of interconnectivity between smart devices which often make us compromise on our smooth experience. The new HarmonyOS is designed in a way that it will provide a common language for different types of smart devices to connect and collaborate ensuring better safety.

HarmonyOS
Image Source: gizchina.com

This new OS uses distributed technology which makes it capable of responding to the different needs of different devices using a single system. HarmonyOS will establish a strong cohesion between independent devices turning them into a Super Device thus leveraging the capabilities of the component devices according to a user’s real-time need.

HUAWEI Watch 3 Series with HarmonyOS 2

The new flagship smartwatch of Huawei is featuring a real beauty of curved glass screen with a brand new 3D rotating crown that can sense different levels of pressure. Powered by HarmonyOS 2 the watch integrated seamlessly with your Huawei smartphone allowing you to make phone calls and also use your phone’s data. Not to mention the watch will become the favorite fitness buddy of the user providing 100 different modes along with healthcare support options. The users can manage their health in real-time with Huawei Watch 3 series which also comes with a sensor to detect skin temperature.

HUAWEI MatePad Pro

This new tablet features a 12.6 inch OLED FullView display with high color accuracy and an ultra-high contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1. It also supports a DCI-P3 color gamut. The Huawei MatePad Pro is equipped with Kirin 9000 series chipsets delivering an exceptional level of performance. With HarmonyOS, this tablet can work seamlessly with both smartphones and PCs doubling the productivity of the user.

This tablet also supports Multi-screen Collaboration with PCs meaning it will become your drawing board in Mirror mode and work as a monitor in Extend mode. Along with the new tablet, Huawei also revealed the second-generation HUAWEI M-Pencil featuring a platinum-coated riv to increase precision and decrease latency. The new Huawei M-Pencil is capable of converting any handwriting into digital text in real-time.

Multi-Device Interaction

The best part of this new HarmonyOS operating system is creating perfect sync between different smart devices for a better experience and smoother workflow. The new Control Panel of the HarmonyOS comes with a drag-and-integrate feature which will allow the users to choose the devices they want to connect together under different situations. Harmony OS2 has a new Task Center which allows apps to travel between different devices. This means if your smartphone has a specific app installed, you can transfer it to the Huawei MatePad Pro without installing the app on the tablet.

Currently, the company is aiming to launch HarmonyOS in 200 million smartphones and 100 million other third-party smart devices by the end of 2021. Wang Chenglu, president of Huawei Consumer Business Group’s software department, said that the company is looking beyond smartphones and trying to develop a system that will bridge the gap between other smart devices. And, with HarmonyOS users will be able to connect every smart device and develop a Super Device and harness the most of every product.

Alienware

Alienware launches x15 R1 and x17 R1 gaming laptops with exceptional cooling technology.

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Alienware has launched the brand new x15 and x17 of the x-series gaming laptops that are going to mark a new level of exceptional capability, design, quality, and performance. The company has always challenged itself to come up with something better and far more impressive every time with a new launch. With these new gaming laptops of the x-series, Alienware is presenting its thinnest 15” and 17” gaming laptops. The company has collaborated with Intel to help successfully design the thinnest form factor for such gaming laptops.

The newly launched laptops feature patent-pending cooling technologies, high-level performance components, and other designs so that one can play any latest games with minimal discrepancy. Alienware wanted to design something that will redefine the experience of mobile gaming and do more than just a thin laptop. With this massive breakthrough with x15 and x17, x15 became the world’s most powerful sub-16mm 15” gaming laptop.

Alienware Cryo-Tech Cooling Technology

Fast heating of a gaming laptop is an issue faced by every gamer and that’s why advancements in thermal technologies are requested. Alienware’s main focus was to expand these thermal limitations and in doing so they invented new engineering methods to resolve the issue. The Alienware Cryo-Tech cooling technology has been redefined by introducing Element 31[1]. It is an exclusive thermal interface material placed between the CPU and its elements. This will help in dispersing heat and prevent the spike in temperatures from affecting the performance of the laptop.

Alienware
Image Source: laptopmag.com

The x-series laptop offers HyperEfficient Voltage Regulation to extend high performance during long hours of gaming and more heat dissipation. Alienware has also designed an exclusive Quad Fan that blows air to the system, chassis, and internal hotspots to constantly cool the system. These new laptops are also featuring Smart Fan control technology which uses AI to enhance the application-based performance of each fan independently. With this newly cooling technology, gamers can enjoy a high-level gaming experience keeping their system cool and quiet. 

Sleek Design

The new x-series laptops are designed very intricately keeping in mind every single detail adding up to its classic appearance. These laptops are featuring Alienware Legend 2.0 design identity which comes with a Dark Core that first appeared in Alienware m15 R5/R6 gaming laptops. The main purpose of this improved design is to enable high performance with the thin form factor.

These laptops have a continuous series of bold stadium lighting, illuminating the rear hexagon venting system (Alienware Arena). The laptops are designed in a way that mainly focuses on maximizing thermal benefits which explain the venting system both on the top and base of these x-series laptops. The thinness of x15 is 15.9mm while that of x17 is 20.9mm.

High Performance

Both the x15 and x17 gaming laptops are powered by 11th Gen Intel Core H-series mobile processors and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Series Laptop GPUs. The graphics power supported by x15 and x17 is 110W and 165W respectively. The laptops have Thermal Control Circuit Offset which will allow the user to set a temperature for the CPU and the system will assure that the CPU temperature remains within the range. There are five options for power states that the users can choose from, namely, Full speed, performance mode, balanced mode, battery saver, and quiet mode.

The keyboards are also redefined as x17 features the CHERRY MIX keyboard which has a 3.5mm ultra-low-profile design with German stainless steel mechanical components for a better experience. The laptops also have Windows Hello IR camera ensuring quick and safe login and DirectX Raytracing providing FHD 360 Hz speed to 4K-UHD HDR400. The gamers can also personalize the lighting zone from Alienware Command Center. The packaging material of the laptops is coming from recycled products as a part of Dell’s 2030 Moonshot Goals.

For both the models, limited config models are already available and for full config models, gamers have to wait till 15th June. The starting price of the laptops are 1,999.99 (x15) and $2,099.99 (x17). Along with these, the Alienware m15 R6 and Dell G15 systems are also made available at $1,299.99 and $949.99 respectively.

AMD

AMD confirms the use of Radeon Graphics in Samsung Flagship Exynos SoC and Next-Gen Tesla Cars during Computex 2021.

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Upcoming new series of products from many companies have been confirmed during the virtual Computex 2021. One such company is AMD that has confirmed two rumors which were spreading in the air for a while. Dr. Lisa Su, CEO of AMD has confirmed that the partnership of AMD with Samsung and Tesla is going to the next level with AMD’s RDNA 2 graphics architecture. This new graphics architecture of AMD Radeon will be incorporated in Samsung’s next flagship Exynos SoC and both the Ryzen APU and GPU will power Tesla’s cars. For the Tesla company, both APUs and GPUs of AMD Ryzen will be used in the next Tesla Model S and Model X revisions.

Partnership of Samsung and AMD

The two companies have joined hands in June 2019 which will allow Samsung to have access to the license for AMD’s Radeon graphics IP for the company’s future Exynos processors. Though both the companies had entered into a partnership two years ago, the details of the agreement have not been revealed by either of them. Even the details of the partnership between AMD and Tesla are unknown. But very soon both Samsung and Tesla will make announcements about their individual new products which will be powered by AMD Radeon graphics. Samsung has dropped just a small hint that the first Exynos processor with Radeon graphics will be released in 2021 but no further information was provided.

AMD
Image Source: youtube.com

During the virtual event of Computex 2021, Su has mentioned that Samsung will use Radeon RDNA 2-based graphics for its new flagship Exynos smartphone processor. She further added this new product will also support ray tracing and variable rate shading. The rest of the details about the product will be announced by Samsung itself later this year. The existing Samsung customers are going to see which new series of smartphones will receive high-end integrated graphics capabilities. Samsung has used a blend of its own Exynos processors along with Qualcomm chips (Snapdragon) to build most of the models but this time the company is making it more exciting.

Samsung and AMD

Samsung hasn’t announced anything clearly regarding the details of the products. So, it is uncertain if the company is planning to use this upcoming Exynos SoC in smartphones or any other products or both. Tablets are another range of high-demand products but there is a rumor that Samsung is planning to launch laptops running Windows on Arm (Gadgets 360). If Samsung is planning to launch these new models of laptops it will give a competition to Apple which has started developing its own Arm-based processors. But, Samsung is famous for its wide range of smartphones in every market around the world, so it is unpredictable how the laptop market would turn out if the company truly releases it.

AMD and Tesla

Though the company has announced the partnership for Tesla Model S and X recently, the rumor spread in the market when Tesla announced the redesign of these models earlier this year. Tesla is planning to avail high-end gaming in these revised versions of cars which will require high graphics horsepower. With an embedded Ryzen APU powering the in-dash infotainment system of the new Tesla cars coupled with an RDNA 2-based GPU, it will allow the users to run AAA games.

Both the X and S models of the Tesla cars are featuring large dashboards touch screens along with rear passenger screens. Along with the modification to the infotainment systems, Tesla has also begun testing compatibility with wireless controllers which will allow the passengers to game from any seat. But, Tesla has not yet announced which game developers will be supported in this new environment or what is the software used to run the platform.

AMD CEO, Lisa Su has also mentioned that the new AMD GPU can deliver up to 10 Teraflops of graphics throughput. The graphics of AMD are already implemented in Son’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox gaming consoles. So, the gamers have a fair idea of the performance that can be delivered by the graphics of AMD given that the company is expanding its collaboration.

5G Solution 5000

Intel announced a few products including 5G Solution 5000, New Tiger Lake Laptop CPUs at Computex 2021

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With the ongoing pandemic since last year, there has been a great surge in demand for high-performing gadgets. Seeing how the demand for highly efficient gadgets has risen, has changed the scenario of the entire IT industry. Intel during Computex 2021 showed a keynote presentation of how PCs have become important not only for work but also for education and entertainment.

Be it laptops or smartphones, every student to professional around the world wants high multitasking capabilities and strong connectivity. So, Intel has decided to bring a few brand-new products into the market to make communication and workflow in this pandemic easier and better. The company is launching a 5G module for PCs, that is, the Intel 5G Solution 5000 and new 11th Gen Tiger Lake CPUs for thin and light laptops. Intel also showed a glimpse of the upcoming 12th Gen Alder Lake CPUs up to and running for both desktops and laptops.

Intel 5G Solution 5000

Intel has developed this new 5G Solution 5000 in collaboration with two other companies, MediaTek and Fibocom. This 5G solution has been developed to incorporate laptops and desktops which will help the demand for 5G networks as well as improve the existing connectivity. There are still many people out there who depend on cellular data even while logging in through a PC. So, this new 5G solution will improve the connectivity for them.

5G Solution 5000
Image Source: themobileindian.com

The planning for building this 5G solution started a couple of years ago when Dell and HP were supposed to be the first companies to introduce this new Intel’s 5G solution. But, in the present scenario, it has been confirmed that Acer, Asus, and HP will introduce laptops with this 5G solution in 2021. The new laptops which will be introduced will be based on both Intel 11th Gen U-Series and H-Series CPU families (Gadgets 360). This suggests that the performance and connectivity will be enhanced for both thin and light laptops as well as gaming laptops. Intel along with the partnered companies are planning to launch around 30 laptops integrated with 5G modem and Tiger Lake (and Alder Lake) CPUs next year.

Capabilities of the new 5G Solution 5000

The new 5G solution 5000 will be implemented using the standard M.2 interface but in a wider module than the current day’s SSD. This solution will work for both laptops and desktops running on Windows, Linux, and ChromeOS. Intel provides worldwide carrier certification and some of them include APAC, Japan, Australia, North America, etc. So, once the laptop is provided with this new connectivity solution, the user can connect to 5G NR networks, 4G LTE networks, and even 3G networks. The 5G solution will support sub-6GHz 5G and also up to 4.7Gbps downloads and 1.25Gbps upload speeds as claimed by the company.

New Tiger Lake CPUs

Intel will launch two brand new Tiger Lake  CPUs which are Core i7 1195G7 and Core i5 1155G7. The former CPU will have a single-core turbo speed of 5GHz while the latter one will have up to 4.5GHz. Both of these CPUs will feature Intel Iris Xe graphics and have 12-28W configurable TDP targets. Not to mention that these new CPUs will compete with AMD Ryzen 5000 CPU series. Intel and AMD are in strong neck-to-neck competition and each one is coming up with something better, efficient, and proficient every time.

The demand of consumers is changing with time, and the real winner is the one who can evolve faster along with a sustainable approach. At the end of Computex 2021, Intel also presented the eco-friendly Acer Aspire Vero Notebook which is made from recycled materials of the post-consumer sector. This is an example of a sustainable approach which is important for a better ecosystem where both nature and technology can thrive together.

Sanmina Corporation

Sanmina Corporation – An American Fortune 500 Company providing Electronics Manufacturing Services.

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From the mid-1900s till the end of the 20th century, many companies started their fortune in the semiconductors and telecommunication industry. Most of them became very successful due to the rising demand for technology with the increasing population and change in lifestyle. Sanmina Corporation is one such successful company in the field of electronics manufacturing services. The company was founded in 1980 by Jure Sola. Sanmina provides end-to-end design solutions of premium quality to the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). The company’s main fields of interest are communications network, healthcare, computing and storage, multimedia, defense, aerospace, clean tech sectors, etc.

A Brief Introduction about Sanmina Corporation

Sanmina Technology is based in San Jose, California. Within 40 years of its thriving business, the company has opened nearly 80 manufacturing sites, hired 40,000 employees, operating in more than 20 countries, and has already established itself as a technology leader. In 2018, the company was ranked 411 on the Fortune 500 list. Currently, Jure Sola is serving as the Chairperson and CEO of the company although there was a change in leadership in the meantime. As many big companies are eventually entering into the profitable industry of oil and gas, Sanmina has been a provider of manufacturing services to some big oilfield equipment and service corporations for the last 20 years.

Sanmina Corporation
Image Source: sanmina.com

Founding History of the Company

Jure Sola started working for Lika after graduating which produced electronic transducers and control instruments for factory automation. In 1980, he decided to establish his own company and thus co-founded Sanmina Corporation with Milan Mandaric. When Sola and Mandaric opened the company they exclusively manufactured printed circuit boards. For the first decade, the company expanded the business into manufacturing backplanes and subassemblies. In 1991, Jure Sola became the President and Chairman of the company.

In the 1990s, the company started designing and producing products for major OEM companies and acquired a bunch of businesses. In 1993, the company filed for an IPO and completed it on NASDAQ. In 1997, among the contract manufacturers present at that time, the company ranked ninth. So, Sanmina avoided manufacturing consumer products so that it can focus on high-end networking and telecommunication applications. Sola believed that the company had lots of opportunities if it went after designing and manufacturing products that are difficult to build internally.

Sanmina Corporation and SCI Systems

From the 1990s both the OEM companies and the contract manufacturers started working side by side like integrated cooperation. During this truly cooperative time, SCI became a pioneer in the list of OEM companies as it designed and produced almost everything for the Apollo Space Project. By the end of the 1990s, the company generated most of its revenue from government contracts and personal computers. Jure Sola saw this as an opportunity as it wanted to create a more diversified revenue system for Sanmina Corporation. This meant the company needed to bring a broader group of customers on board which led to the merger of SCI and Sanmina in 2001.

Sanmina Corporation
Image Source: mergr.com

Sanmina generated two-thirds of its revenue from the communication market but it was really depressed during the time of the merger. So, this merger was very crucial for Sanmina Corporation to get back on its feet and emerge as a larger empire in the industry. In July 2001, Sanmina Corporation acquired SCI in a stock swap for $6 billion and it is till date one of the biggest acquisitions in the history of the electronic manufacturing services industry. After the acquisition, the new company started generating an annual revenue of nearly $12 billion and soon it became one of the top 5 companies in the electronics manufacturers industry. In the last few years, Sola’s company acquired a few more businesses and has maintained the quality of services provided.

The Founders: Jure Sola and Milan Mandaric

Jure Sola was born in 1951 in Croatia. He moved to the United States at the age of seventeen and completed his engineering from San Jose State University. After graduating in 1972 Sola joined Lika Corporation and worked there for eight years. In 1980, he co-founded Sanmina Corporation and switched his positions a couple of times.

Milan Mandaric is a Serbian-American businessman who started his career by taking control of his father’s machine shop. In 1969, he left his home country Yogoslavia and started working for an American company in California. Soon he founded his own company, Lika Corporation but after a few years sold it off to co-found Sanmina with Jure Sola.

Microsoft Build 2021

Microsoft Teams to let developers create collaborative apps, announced during virtual Microsoft Build 2021

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Microsoft revealed a bunch of new updates during the virtual Microsoft Build 2021. These new updates are going to help developers bring real-time, multi-user collaboration for their app offering features like whiteboarding, design, etc. Microsoft has added this series of new updates such that developers can increase user engagement and harness the power of the Teams platform.

The new class of apps has exclusively originated as the solution to the crisis developers faced during the 2020 lockdown. The working scenario changed dramatically as everyone started working remotely and hence a strong purpose of the collaboration was the need of the hour. Microsoft Teams was built for this very reason so that it can enable collaboration creating opportunities for developers to build the next generation of applications.

A Hybrid Workplace

With collaboration being the top priority, Microsoft has added some new features that will help the developers to navigate a new hybrid workplace. The availability of the share stage integration is a new feature that is available in preview. With this new feature, the developers can now build apps and enable a real-time, multi-user collaboration experience. This can be done by extending the main stage of a Teams meeting as the user will get an option to add an app and share it with other attendees. Using this, the developers will experience real-time collaboration which will involve whiteboarding, project boards, design, etc.

Microsoft Build 2021
Image Source: microsoft.com

Developers are also getting a series of new media APIs with resource-specific consent. This will enable real-time audio and video streaming for the developers at the Teams meetings. These new APIs will have added features like transcription, translation, note-taking, insights gathering through their apps, etc.

Microsoft is also adding an extension of the Together Mode coming this summer. This will allow developers to create their own customized meeting scenes for any Teams meeting which they can also share with others. There will be a Scene Designer Tool in the Developer Portal which the developer can use to create custom scenes thus increasing user engagement and making the meetings more fun.

Another feature Microsoft Teams is adding is the availability of the fluid components in private preview. It will allow the developer to send a table or a list as a message. Actions in these items can be taken by everyone in the meeting if they are co-authored by the developer. This reduced redundancy as communication through long chat threads can be minimized as all the changes can be made in the table itself.

The Developer Portal for Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is also enabling automation of meeting related-workflows such as starting and ending of a meeting. The Developer Portal in the Microsoft Teams has been built exclusively for the developers so that they receive a standalone app management console that can be accessed through the web or the Teams. In this portal, the developers can register their apps and configure them within a single or central location. Since Microsoft is adding plenty of new features for the developers, the app might become strong competition for Slack, Zoom, and others.

Other Updates

Apart from the updates in Microsoft Build 2021, the company has also announced support for message extensions in Outlook. This will create a sync between Teams and Outlook as this will allow users to integrate tasks in Teams while emailing someone from Outlook. Additionally, the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is also receiving support for Linux graphical user interface (GUI) apps. With this support, any Linux GUI apps can fully run on Windows without setting up a traditional virtual machine.

Upgrades are also made in the Windows search bar to support personalized results from tools such as Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365. The Windows Terminal 1.9 preview will be also available as announced by Microsoft which also comes with a Quake Mode. The advantage of this mode is users can open a new terminal window in Windows by using a keyboard shortcut from anywhere. In Microsoft Build 2021, an update was also announced for Visual Studio 2019 and support for creating GitHub Actions Workflows directly from the IDE (Gadgets 360).