Asus Republic of Gamers is now shipping the ROG Phone 3 (starting at $999), based on the Snapdragon 865 Plus 5G mobile platform. The 6.6-inch phone, with Wi-Fi 6, has a 144 Hz/1 millisecond, active-matrix OLED, 10-bit display; up to 16 GB RAM; up to 512 GB Universal Flash Storage 3.1 ROM; and three cameras. Gaming features include a motion sensor, programmable ultrasonic touch sensors, HDR and artificial intelligence experiences, said the company. It has a cooling system and a hibernate function to preserve life of the 6000 mAh battery.
Nokia signed 17 new 5G commercial deals in Q3, bringing to 100 its total wins with individual customers, said the company Friday. It also has 160 commercial 5G “engagements,” including paid trials, it said. “Nokia is present in all 5G early adopter markets,” including deals with the top four communications service providers in the U.S. and the top three in Japan and South Korea, it said. “Nokia also boasts a 180-strong portfolio of private wireless customers, many of whom are expected to migrate to 5G.”
The 5G Automotive Alliance and members showed the FCC test results on interference to cellular vehicle to everything (C-V2X) from sharing the 5.9 GHz band with Wi-Fi devices. Engineering teams from Ford and General Motors presented “the results of recent, real-world interference testing assessing the harmful impact of unwanted unlicensed emissions on C-V2X Direct safety services,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 19-138. The testing “involved vehicles equipped with C-V2X equipment” and “was conducted by an automotive consortium comprised of Ford, General Motors, Hyundai, Nissan, and Qualcomm over the course of eight months in Farmington Hills, Michigan.” 5GAA presented to acting Chief Ron Repasi and others from the Office of Engineering and Technology.
The U.S. Department of Labor gave the Wireless Infrastructure Association a contract to be the 5G industry intermediary to develop a wireless workforce, WIA said Monday. WIA is the national sponsor of the Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program, the group noted. “The contract will enable WIA to assist employers in developing over 600 apprentices in the next year, with multi-year options to renew thereafter,” and $400,000 annually “in incentive funds for employers that adopt registered apprenticeship and serve under-represented populations,” WIA said. Industry needs to invest in the workforce now to be ready for 5G, WIA President Jonathan Adelstein said in an interview. “There’s a real crunch ahead, with all the carriers investing, plus Dish” Network, he said, noting Congress could also authorize funding for infrastructure. “We’ve got to put this effort on steroids” since 5G takes more workers with specialized skills than any previous generation, he said. “There’s never a guarantee,” he said. “You’ll always get people to do these jobs; the question is are they really ready to do it.”
The consensus from the FCC’s recent open radio access network forum (see 2009140054) is that ORAN technologies are “showing great promise," and "the public and private sectors should continue to collaborate to help encourage their deployment,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai told the Prague 5G Security Conference Thursday. Last year, the conference released 5G network security proposals, emphasizing a cooperative approach that's often cited (see 1905030052). “Many carriers building out 5G networks are recognizing that you get what you pay for, and that the long-term costs of using insecure equipment are likely to outweigh any short-term savings,” Pai said now: “Making the right choices early on in the network planning and deployment process is much easier and ultimately cheaper than trying to correct mistakes once network construction and operation is well underway.”
Qualcomm highlighted HDR gaming and on-device artificial intelligence in its new 750G 5G mobile platform. Devices powered by Snapdragon 750G support multi-gigabit connections with fast upload and download speeds, said the company Tuesday. The 5G platform enables low-latency game play, multiplayer gaming and streaming from 5G cloud gaming platforms. It enables “intuitive interactions” for smart camera and video, voice translation, advanced AI-based imaging and AI-enhanced gaming experiences, it said. Its 4.0 trillion operations per second is a 20% improvement from the Snapdragon 730G, it said.
Verizon, which lowered smartwatch plan pricing earlier this week to coincide with Friday's release of Apple Watch Series 6 (see 2009150060), expanded connected device options in its Unlimited Plus wireless plan to support the growing number of connected devices, it said Thursday. Customers can add Unlimited Plus to their existing wireless plan for $30 monthly, and existing customers can upgrade their current unlimited connected device plan for $10 more monthly. In addition to unlimited 5G, the new plan includes 30 GB of premium 4G LTE data, up from 15 GB in standard Unlimited Plus, said Verizon, pitching the plan toward households’ increased Wi-Fi needs for remote learning or work. Unlimited data plans for tablets and hotspots are $20 monthly. Hotspot, laptop and tablet users get 50GB of mobile hotspot data on the 5G network monthly, then 3 Mbps for the rest of the month after exceeding allowance. Earlier this week, Verizon lowered existing smartwatch plan pricing to $10 monthly, including 15 GB premium data, for stand-alone or NumberShare plans.
Verizon completed lab trials with Corning and started trials with Samsung on new high-band in-building systems, targeting hospitals, factories, warehouses, schools, ports and stores. “The launch of these indoor cell sites will not only extend the footprint of Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband network, but will also bring the promise of private networks with Mobile Edge Compute capabilities one step closer,” Verizon said Wednesday.
Qualcomm is shipping to select customers the Cloud AI 100, an artificial intelligence accelerator that supports solutions for edge appliances and 5G infrastructure, it said Wednesday. The company’s Cloud AI 100 development kit is designed to speed adoption of edge applications with a system for AI processing up to 24 simultaneous 1080p video streams, along with 5G connectivity; it supports multiple form factors with PCI-E card-level power profiles 15-75 watts. Commercial products are expected to launch in first half 2021.
T-Mobile signed a 15-year master lease agreement with American Tower, they said Tuesday. It "enhances T-Mobile’s access to American Tower’s U.S. sites while locking in synergies and facilitating T-Mobile’s continued rapid, efficient deployment of broad and deep nationwide 5G,” they said. American Tower raised its guidance for revenue in 2020 by $95 million, New Street's Spencer Kurn wrote: “The agreement paves the way for T-Mobile to integrate Sprint’s spectrum into their network, sets parameters for them to decommission Sprint’s legacy sites, and significantly increases visibility on revenue growth” for the tower company. Kurn expects similar agreements with the other major tower companies.