Computer Shopper - UK (2019-12)

ISSUE 382|COMPUTER SHOPPER|DECEMBER 2019 15

YOUMAY SIGHat yet another laptop that’s
ever so slightly slimmer than previous models.
But what’s interesting here is that computer
makers haven’t called itaday when it comesto
shavingoff depth from their laptops.
Packing inaprocessor that promises
solid performance and adding a
dedicated graphics card intothe
mix takesabit of engineering
nous, as the heat such
components generateneeds to
be siphoned awaywhile ensuring
hot air isn’t vented uncomfortably
ontothe user’s lap or hands.
So improvements in cooling such
specs inaslim chassis are likelyto benefit
future models in the restof Acer’s laptop
line-up,and potentially laptops from other
brands that are lookingto steal the thin crown
from theSwift 5. And havingasuper-slim
laptop is always appreciated if you doalot of
travelling or working on the go.
Another thing theSwift 5showcases is the
role of Intel’s new Ice Lake processors in the
laptop world. With the potentialforIce Lake

SOWHAT?

Whistleblowing

Edward Snowdenfaces acivil lawsuit in

the US alleging material in his memoirs

breach non-disclosure agreements he

had with government agencies

NAS-ty security risks

Cyber security researchersfound amix

of 13 routers and NAS devices, including

those fromLenovo ,Netgear andZyxel,

contained flaws that could expose them

to remotehacking

Blundering broadband

ZenInternet has

found thatafifth of

internet users in

Southampton and

Glasgow arefedup

with their broadband

service because it’s

slow and unreliable,

leaving local residentsfeeling stressed

Pricing out of thisworld

Samsung’sfolding phone,the Galaxy

Fold, is now on sale,but EE is the sole

seller in the UK and the handset will

cost ahefty£119 amonth, or £2,

over the courseof atwo-year contract

Ultrabook oomph

Razer’s BladeStealth ultraportable now

comes with Intel’s 10th-generation Ice

Lake processors and an optional Nvidia

Geforce GTX 1650, making itagenuine

gaming ultraportable

Apple’saces

Apple has launched the

iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and

11 Pro Max. Theformer is a

decent upgradeover the

iPhoneXs,while the latter

models pack inatriple

camera arrayand aslick

Super Retina RD Xdisplay

Helping hertz

OnePlus has taken the coversoff the

OnePlus 7T,which now comes with a

90Hz display, triple camera arrayand

Snapdragon 855 Plus chip

Robo rumba

Astrip club in Nantes,France,has added

two new dancersto its line-up: robots

withacameraforaheadtomakepunters

think about the natureof voyeurism

QUALCOMM’S5GAMBITIONSare nothing
new.The chip maker revealed its Snapdragon
X50 modem last year,and earlier this year
showcased the Snapdragon X55 modem chip
with accessto anew antenna packageto
improve the way5Gs ignals are received and
reduce the power consumption
of 5G connectivity.
But 5G is inabit of a
Catch-22 situation; whilea5G
network is neededfortech to
connectto it, there’s no point
having anetwork if there aren’t
any devices that can access it.
With afew phones nowavailable that can
support 5G and more on the way, and with the
networks being rolled out, there’s nowabase
forthe next-generation connectivity.But the
challenge is scaling it up.
“That is our next industry challenge.We
launched thistechnology,but now we’re
committedto drive the proliferationof 5G

across all device tiers,”said Qualcomm’s

president Cristiano Amon at IFA2019.

“Wewant all usersto have the benefitof

this technology.”

That’s where Qualcomm’s pushing downof

its 5G modemsto other Snapdragon chipsets

will come intoplay. Such chips

will help pave the wayfor more

affordable 5G phones, which in

turn should get more people

moving from 4Gto the faster

network. In theory,that could

propel further 5G rollouts.

This means all the things

that technology companies and luminaries have

been claiming 5G will bring could then become

areality forlarge numbersof people.That

could mean watching 4K movies on the go

rather than needingto download hefty files, or

streaming graphically impressive gamesover

5G through upcoming services such as Google

Stadia and MicrosoftxCloud.

SOWHAT?

chips to offer not onlyaboost in processor

performance butahike in graphics power,an

incoming waveof new ultraportables looksto

offer machines that can not only handle plenty

of day-to-daycomputing work but could

even manageabit of gaming and

graphics-rendering tasks.

With theSwift 5, there could

even be an argumentforopting

foramodelwithouttheGeForce

MX250 graphics card in order

to tap int othe performanceof

the Iris Pro,providing it lives up

to Intel’s claims, although Nvidia’s

dedicated graphics card probably

still hasarole in some tasks that work

well with its drivers and architecture.

The Swift 5, alongsideafew other

ultraportables shownoff at IFA, is the tipof

the icebergforIntel’s Ice Lake thrust. And we

can expectto see more laptops popping up

using the chip maker’s 10nm processors,

which could yield machines with some

impressive performance in laptops that can

be easily held between two fingers.

Wewant all

users to have

the benefit of this

technology”

Qualcommpresident

CristianoAmon

Ze

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omises

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