Enterprise

MediaTek takes over U.S. market, beats out Qualcomm

Not everyone agrees, though

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The smartphone race isn’t just a simple battle of the brands. Underneath every successful device lies a plethora of components vying for their own supremacy in the market. Processors are no different. For years, Qualcomm and MediaTek, two of the most known players in the industry, have competed over who can supply the most chipsets. However, though one has historically placed handily above the other, the tide has been shifting. In the United States, MediaTek has reportedly defeated Qualcomm as the top chipset supplier.

According to analyst firm IDC (via PCMag), Taiwanese semiconductor company MediaTek captured 48.1 percent of Android smartphones in the United States, as of Q4 2021. In comparison, Qualcomm only got 43.9 percent of the market in the same period. For the preceding quarter, Qualcomm was clearly ahead of MediaTek, owning 56 percent of the market versus the latter’s meager 41 percent.

Though surprising, MediaTek’s progress is still a reflection of the company’s progress on the global stage. Since 2020, the Taiwanese chipmaker has consistently posted impressive reports contra Qualcomm. However, since Qualcomm has traditionally dominated the U.S. market, MediaTek’s progress in the country is noteworthy.

Unfortunately, some firms don’t agree with IDC’s assessment. According to Counterpoint Research (and as noted by The Verge), Qualcomm still beats out MediaTek with 55 percent versus the latter’s 37 percent.

Regardless of which one is correct, MediaTek is certainly on the rise. Just a day ago, the company launched the new Dimensity 8000 series, a new chipset series set to debut in premium phones worldwide.

SEE ALSO: MediaTek hosts world’s first demo of Wi-Fi 7

Apps

US increases efforts to ban TikTok and other apps

New bill faces vote later this month

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Millions of users are fans of TikTok. However, the American government is clearly not. Over the years, the country’s officials have experimented with ways to ban the platform from the American tech space. While past efforts haven’t materialized into anything concrete against the Chinese platform, a new bill might finally pave the way to ban TikTok (and other apps) for good.

Today, American senators have introduced a bipartisan bill which will give the government the necessary authority to ban TikTok from American companies. As always, the new bill is concerned about TikTok’s potential as a gateway for Chinese surveillance. If passed, it will prohibit the app from being offered through the App Store and the Play Store on American soil.

If you’ve followed the drama all this time, you might be wondering what’s new this time. Unlike other efforts in the past, the new bill isn’t just limited to TikTok. In fact, it doesn’t even name the app explicitly.

Instead, it aims to introduce a system which will ban other potentially dangerous apps from “adversarial countries” such as China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Venezuela. When the next Huawei or TikTok rears its head, the government will have an established way to deal with the company, rather than going through years of discussions.

The bill must still pass through a vote later this month, so it’s still an open playing field. However, it isn’t the only effort to curb the platform. A recent act, the Deterring America’s Technological Adversaries Act, aims to deal with the app directly.

SEE ALSO: TikTok is now under investigation by the European Union

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Enterprise

Qualcomm announces world’s first iSIM

Coming with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

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Though the technology is ubiquitous today, there’s still a sense that eSIMs are still working their way into the mainstream. However, the world keeps turning and is already on its way towards the next big thing. Today, Qualcomm has announced what that next big thing is: iSIM.

Qualcomm and Thales have officially confirmed that the world’s first commercially deployable iSIM will arrive on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset. All devices with the chipset will be able to enjoy the benefits of the burgeoning technology.

Now, let’s get the biggest question out of the way: What is an iSIM?

SIM cards, as we knew them back then, are little chips we inject (or used to inject) inside smartphones. Over time, the telecommunications industry developed the eSIM (or embedded SIM). Instead of a manually swappable chip, the eSIM is an even tinier chip physically soldered into the smartphone. Telecommunications networks can just digitally install the network data directly into the eSIM.

The iSIM, or integrated SIM, shrinks things even more. Instead of a physically soldered chip, the SIM is now installed inside the hardware, taking up less than 1mm2 of the device’s real estate. Though the difference seems miniscule, freeing up this much space leaves room for improvements in other components. Additionally, an iSIM takes up less power than traditional SIMs and eSIMs.

Qualcomm is already hopeful for the technology, expecting iSIM shipments to grow to 300 million devices by 2027.

SEE ALSO: Qualcomm partners with Mercedes-AMG in F1

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Enterprise

Nokia has an all-new logo

After 55 years with the old one

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Image source: Nokia

In the world of old tech, the Nokia logo is all-enduring. If you lived through the early days of mobile phones, you’ll recognize the simplicity of the Finnish company’s dark blue logo emblazoned on every device back then. Now, after five-and-a-half decades, Nokia is changing things up a bit with a brand new logo.

During MWC 2023, Nokia unveiled a new logo to reflect what the company stands for today. For a company that’s existed since the 1800s, the new logo is as youthful as a startup today. The new logo features a more open font and a brighter blue.

Though the company eventually got its big break for creating one of the most iconic mobile phones in history, Nokia is much more than just a phone brand. The company now handles a wider net of telecommunications technologies. To reflect that, the new logo aims to bring the company’s perception to the present and the future, while paying homage to the era that put it on the map.

If you’re wondering what that means for the brand’s modern smartphones, the old logo isn’t going away entirely. According to Nokia, the deal with HMD Global (which handles the brand’s smartphones today) will retain the old logo for the foreseeable future. In the meantime, both logos will exist in separate spaces. The old logo will exclusively pertain to the brand’s smartphones, while the new logo will usher in the brand’s endeavors in other industries.

SEE ALSO: Nokia seeks to kill OPPO’s sales in some countries

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