Displaying items by tag: M1

Apple has revealed its first Mac computers powered by chips of its own design. The California-based tech giant unveiled its M1 chip and the first computers that will run on it: a new MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini.

However, the launch failed to excite investors. Apple’s value varied during the performance, with shares dropping and the big reveal failing to stall the decline. It would seem investors were unsurprised by the new product line, but this may change as we edge closer to Christmas and as global lockdowns are eased. Perhaps this can reverse Apple’s recent revenue stagnation.

In June, the company announced it would transition away from the Intel processors it had used since 2006. Putting a processor based on the ARM architecture in its desktop and laptop computers marks a big move for Apple away from Intel-designed chips and towards its own silicon, which has been used in the iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch for a number of years.

Apple said the advantages of using the M1 chip included better battery life, instant wake from sleep mode, and the ability to run iOS apps. It added it had optimized all of its own Mac apps, but now needs to convince other developers to do likewise.

This will be the first time in the 36-year history of the Mac that Apple-designed processors will power these machines. It has changed chips only two other times. In the early 1990s, Apple switched from Motorola processors to PowerPC. At WWDC in 2005, Steve Jobs announced a move from PowerPC to Intel, and Apple rolled out those first Intel-based Macs in January 2006.

According to Bloomberg, Apple’s chip-development group decided to make the switch after Intel’s annual chip performance gains slowed and engineers worried that sticking to Intel’s road map would delay or derail some future Macs.

M1 Limited (M1), Singapore’s third largest mobile carrier, and Huawei announced on 18 January that they had successfully achieved Singapore’s highest 5G transmission speeds of 35Gbps. The demonstration, at M1’s main operating centre in Jurong, is part of Huawei’s long-term commitment to the successful deployment of 5G network by the year 2020.

The M1-Huawei demonstration, using millimeter wave (mmWave), was conducted over the 73GHz band at E-band. The trial validates the performance of 5G in high frequency bands and opens a new landscape for the standardization of 5G high-frequency technologies in Singapore.

Various candidate 5G technologies and standards, overseen by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards body, are undergoing aggressive trials globally. The 3GPP is expected to finalize 5G technology standards for global adoption and deployment by 2020.

Alongside greater throughput speeds – users will be able to download a 1080p movie in seconds – 5G technology will support the massive number of low-latency connections critical to driving the next wave of virtual/augmented reality and Internet-of-Things applications such as autonomous driving.

“Singapore’s mobile networks are widely acknowledged as amongst the most advanced worldwide, and M1 is committed to staying at the forefront of 5G technology to ensure our consumers enjoy the best experience and latest smart applications,” said Mr Denis Seek, Chief Technical Officer, M1.

A high broadband, ultra low latency 5G network is vital to power smart applications that will fundamentally transform lives of Singaporeans in a ‘Smart Nation’. As early as in 2009, Huawei set up its research into 5G since its deployment of the world's first commercial LTE network, and has continuously made long-term investments in research on high-frequency channel for mainstream application scenarios.

In January 2016, M1 and Huawei together achieved a combined download and upload speed of more than 1Gbps. The trial is conducted using existing commercial hardware infrastructure supplied by Huawei and a prototype CAT14 device. The trial was made possible through the innovative integration of four advanced network technologies: 3CC (three component carrier) aggregation, 4x4 MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output), Higher Order Modulation 256 QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) and 2CC uplink carrier aggregation.

Singapore’s three mobile network operators — M1, Singtel and StarHub — have adopted the GSMA's Mobile Connect authentication standard enabling their customers to access a variety of online services with their mobile number. The Mobile Connect service is already used in 22 other countries

With Mobile Connect users follow a series interactive prompts on the mobile phone to confirm their identity using their mobile number, combined with a unique personal code for online transactions that require greater levels of security. No information is made available to online service providers without users' permission.

In a joint statement the three telcos said: “Mobile Connect will free customers from having to manage multiple usernames and passwords for every online account. With Mobile Connect, mobile customers can look forward to creating a universal trusted digital identity for convenient and secure access to compatible telecommunications, banking, e-commerce, entertainment, government and travel services and applications.”

They cited research from the GSMA suggesting that 87 percent of consumers leave a website when asked to register and that, not surprisingly “they also face difficulties remembering their growing list of usernames and passwords, with 40 percent using the 'forget password' feature monthly.”

The telcos says the service will also benefit online service providers. “They will be able to offer simpler sign-ups, reduce customer frustration and abandoned transactions due to authentication issues, and increase the likelihood of repeat business.”

To support adoption, M1, Singtel and StarHub are building a unified platform to enable easy integration with online service providers through a common Mobile Connect Application Program Interface (API).  They expect to announce the first wave of supported online services in the second half of 2017.