Technology - Google News

AT&T’s misleading “5G E” indicator comes to 4G iPhones in iOS 12.2 beta - Ars Technica
Respawn lay out year one plans for Apex Legends - Dexerto.com
Renders based on Samsung foldable smartphone video leak published - Notebookcheck.net

AT&T’s misleading “5G E” indicator comes to 4G iPhones in iOS 12.2 beta - Ars Technica

Posted: 05 Feb 2019 08:01 AM PST

Enlarge / A smartphone with AT&T's "5G E" network indicator.
AT&T

AT&T's misleading "5G E" network indicator for 4G phones, which was rolled out to some Android smartphones last month, has now come to iPhones in a beta version of iOS 12.2.

AT&T customers who installed the second beta of iOS 12.2 "are noticing their iPhones displaying a '5G E' connection to AT&T's network," MacRumors reported yesterday. 9to5Mac and other news sites provided details on the change, and people on Twitter posted screenshots of the 5G E indicator.

Of course, there is no 5G iPhone yet, and AT&T does not offer 5G mobile service for smartphones. AT&T's 5G E stands for 5G Evolution, but it's actually 4G LTE, albeit with advanced LTE features 256 QAM, 4x4 MIMO, and three-way carrier aggregation.

As we've previously noted, those technologies are part of the years-old LTE-Advanced standard, and are already used by Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint on their 4G networks. AT&T is the only major carrier using a 5G label for its 4G network, a move it defends by saying that "5G Evolution is our first step on the road to 5G."

"5G Evolution is now live in over 400 markets with more to come, and soon our most popular smartphones will start displaying a '5G E' indicator to let you know when 5G Evolution coverage is available," the company says.

Real AT&T 5G coming next year

AT&T says that its real 5G network will be available nationwide in early 2020, using sub-6GHz spectrum. AT&T's 5G rollout over millimeter-wave spectrum will apparently take longer to go nationwide.

We contacted Apple about the change in the iOS 12.2 beta today, and will update this story if we get a response.

AT&T confirmed the change to Ars, saying that "some iPhone and iPad users could start seeing our 5G Evolution indicator on their devices. The indicator simply helps customers know when they are in an area where the 5G Evolution experience may be available.”

AT&T has said that 5G E provides average speeds of about 40Mbps, while its trials of real 5G have been producing speeds of more than a gigabit per second over millimeter-wave frequencies. OpenSignal measurements last year found that AT&T's average 4G speed nationwide was 15Mbps.

AT&T's use of the 5G E indicator has been widely mocked by customers and its rivals. AT&T has been undeterred, with AT&T Communications CEO John Donovan claiming, "our competitors are frustrated."

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Respawn lay out year one plans for Apex Legends - Dexerto.com

Posted: 05 Feb 2019 08:36 AM PST

Respawn Entertainment have confirmed their plans for year one of their free-to-play new release - Apex Legends, including releasing a roadmap to show fans what's to come.

After it’s stealthy release on February 4, the new free-to-play battle royal Apex Legends has quickly swept across the gaming world - with over one million unique players playing the game within eight hours of its launch.

Yet, Respawn Entertainment still has more to come for the game - including a Battle Pass that will launch sooner rather than later and bring with it new cosmetics, in-game loot and even new Legends to play as.

Over a million players in less than a day is an incredible feat.

The game’s battle pass and season one will launch in March and give players access to exclusive cosmetic items that are earned through playing. According to the developer, each season will last for around three months at a time.

Season two is planned for the start of June, Season three should follow in September and Season four kicking off in December - giving players almost a full year of planning from Respawn and plenty of new content to look ahead to.

Players can also look forward to being able to play the new free-to-play release cross-platform.

In a recent interview with Eurogamer, Respawn Entertainment’s Lead Producer - Drew McCoy - confirmed that cross-play for Apex Legends is in the works and will be coming at some point in the game's lifespan. However, there is no date set for that update just yet - but it can’t be too far into the future.

Until that point, you can follow our helpful guides on how best to play each of the Legends and which weapons are best to use against your enemies.

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Renders based on Samsung foldable smartphone video leak published - Notebookcheck.net

Posted: 04 Feb 2019 02:25 PM PST

The new renders reflect the apparent slimmer profile. (Source: LetsGoDigital)

A number of new renders have been published by LetsGoDigital based on the glimpse of the foldable smartphone in the recently leaked video from Samsung Vietnam. The latest images reflect the surprisingly slim-looking front screen and the amount of icons that can be seen on the display in smartphone mode. However, this might not be the device Samsung is planning on revealing.

by Daniel R Deakin, 2019/02/04

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As usual, the team at LetsGoDigital has produced some wonderful renders to help give an idea of what a rumored/leaked device could end up looking like. This time it’s the turn of the Samsung Galaxy F/Fold foldable smartphone. We already reported on how a Galaxy Unpacked video was uploaded to YouTube recently by Samsung Vietnam, which offered a brief look at a foldable device. LetsGoDigital has based its renders on the smartphone shown in the clip.

The new look for the Galaxy F/Fold (the name still hasn’t been confirmed) stands in sharp contrast to the device that was shown at the Samsung Developer Conference in November. The foldable smartphone in the video is clearly much thinner than the device Justin Denison was holding in his hand.

Another difference, spotted by LetsGoDigital, is the amount of icons shown per row in smartphone mode. The November prototype had five icons per row, whereas the smartphone in the video has four. Generally speaking, the foldable in the leaked video looks much more streamlined and advanced than the smartphone shown at the 2018 conference.

It’s important to remember that the Galaxy Unpacked video showed a number of glimpses into potential future technology, and it is possible that the foldable smartphone was among that number. The device Samsung eventually reveals may more resemble the conference version rather than the video version.

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