The Acer Spin 7 notebook with the Snapdragon 8cx CPU offers 5G support

Credit: Acer

• Acer has announced its Spin 7 convertible notebook.
• It has Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8cx CPU inside, with support for both 5G mmWave and sub-6 frequencies.
• A price and release date for the Spin 7 has not yet been announced

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Acer is revealing a new member of its Spin family of convertible notebooks today, but this one is a bit different. The Windows 10-based Acer Spin 7 is powered by the second generation of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8cx CPU.

The Acer Spin 7 will use the ARM-based chip to support connecting the notebook to 5G wireless networks. The company claims that the notebook will be the first Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 notebook that will support both 5G mmWave and sub-6 frequencies. That should mean that the notebook should have no problems connecting at 5G speeds where they are currently available or will be in the future.

Since this is a convertible notebook, the display on board the Acer Spin 7 can rotate 360 degrees. That means it can be used in a variety of form factors, including notebook, tablet, tent, and presentation modes. Acer says the display is covered in Gorilla Glass, along with a special silver-ion antimicrobial coating. It also includes a Wacom AES 1.0 pen with 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity for note-taking and drawing on the 14-inch display. The battery life for the 3.06-pound Acer Swift 7 is supposed to be “multi-day,” according to Acer .

The company unfortunately declined to offer a release date or a price point for the new Acer Swift 7 notebook. Hopefully, we will get that information in the very near future.

Next: The best Acer Chromebook for your needs

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Qualcomm is bringing 5G to ultra-affordable phones

Credit: Qualcomm

• The first 5G Snapdragon 400 series chipset will power affordable smartphones in 2021.
• The Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 promises better performance for always-connected laptops.
• Qualcomm Adaptive ANC improves noise cancellation for poorly fitted earbuds.

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Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon’s opening IFA 2020 keynote lifted the lid on the company’s upcoming plans for mobile, laptops, and audio products. Product specifics are being saved for a later date, but come 2021 we can expect much more affordable 5G phones, a few more Snapdragon-powered Windows laptops, and better noise cancellation for true wireless earbuds.

The first 5G Snapdragon 400 series processor

5G capabilities have already arrived in mid-tier smartphones, thanks to the Snapdragon 765. Prices should become a little bit more affordable once Snapdragon 690 devices hit the market in the near future. But truly budget 5G handsets powered by Qualcomm will soon be possible with the first 5G-enabled Snapdragon 400 series processor. The company estimates that it could eventually bring a further 3.5 billion users into the 5G ecosystem thanks to lower product prices.

We don’t have any specifics about the first 5G Snapdragon 400 chipset yet, so we can’t make any comparisons to MediaTek’s 5G Dimensity 720 SoC, probably the cheapest 5G option currently on the market. Typically, Snapdragon 400 series chipsets have stripped-down features and with older performance parts to fit into sub-$200 markets. It’s going to be interesting to see what, if any, compromises have to be made to bring 5G to this price.

We do know that Motorola, Oppo, and Xiaomi appear poised to use the upcoming Snapdragon 400 5G chipset to power budget smartphones sometime in early 2021.

The Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2

Speaking of 5G, the new Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 is the company’s latest play for the premium connected laptop market. However, the SoC tweaks and boosts the existing Snapdragon 8cx architecture rather than revamping the design. It’s based on the same 7nm process, but Qualcomm is touting bigger performance wins over Intel’s 15W and 7W TDP Core i5 chips in the PC Mark 10 benchmark. Though, we should take these with a pinch of salt.

Credit: Qualcomm

For a feature recap, the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 boasts 4K HDR video support, dual 4K60 external display support over a single USB-C connector, Qualcomm Aqstic audio with echo and noise suppression, FastConnect 6800 chip with Wi-Fi 6, and 9 TOPS of AI performance. The 8cx comes with an integrated Snapdragon x24 4G modem but can be paired up with a Snapdragon X55 for 5G support too. Overall, the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 is a minor but welcome upgrade rather than a major overhaul of Qualcomm’s flagship laptop chipset.

In terms of products, Acer is launching its first-ever Windows on Snapdragon PC later in the year. HP is also on board but doesn’t have anything to announce just yet. These companies follow Microsoft and Samsung, among a few others, in making the transition to Arm-based Windows laptop in addition to more familiar x86-powered products.

Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation

Finally, Qualcomm’s third announcement is Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) for wireless earbuds. The idea is to improve the quality of ANC for tiny earbuds even when they aren’t correctly fitted in the wearer’s ear. This aims to mitigate the need to spend time messing with different ear tips and other calibration methods to obtain good cancellation. Qualcomm’s technology also supports automatic environment adaptation with smooth transitions and can be customized by partners to support unique product features.

We don’t know exactly how Qualcomm makes ANC work well without a full seal, but the company boasts up to 20dB of low-frequency background attenuation with a very poor fit as a worst-case scenario. That’s pretty decent, especially for small in-ear buds. Qualcomm Adaptive ANC is supported on its 514X series of Bluetooth SoCs and will likely appear in products come 2021.

Related: Microsoft Surface Pro X review | Samsung Galaxy Book S review

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US court rules NSA surveillance uncovered by Edward Snowden is illegal

• A US appeals court has ruled that the NSA bulk phone data collection program is illegal.
• The program was initially leaked by US whistleblower Edward Snowden.

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US whistleblower Edward Snowden made headlines in 2013 when he revealed the National Security Agency (NSA) was collecting Americans’ phone data as part of a surveillance program.

Now, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that this controversial program is illegal and potentially unconstitutional (h/t: Politico), finding that it violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The court also downplayed the role the bulk phone data collection program played in the 2013 prosecution of four men accused of fund-raising for terror group Al-Shabaab. More specifically, the court declared that the role of the program in the case was “so minor that it did not undermine their convictions.”

Read: Incognito mode unmasked — What it does and what it doesn’t do

The court turned down the Justice Department’s defense that NSA phone data collection did not constitute a search because customers voluntarily share this information with service providers.

This latest court ruling comes almost a month after it emerged that the US government is tapping into mobile phone data in an altogether different way. The Wall Street Journal reported that hundreds of mobile apps contain secret tracking software inserted into these apps by a government contractor.

It’s believed that the contractor, Anomaly Six LLC, inserted this secret tracking software into over 500 mobile apps. Furthermore, the data obtained by this software is said to be anonymized. But as we’ve learned before, it’s not hard to tie anonymized data to a specific user.

Next: Googlers in 2018 were just as confused by their privacy settings as you were

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Philips Hue Line Gains New Gradient Lightstrip, Revamped Hue Iris and More

Signify today announced a series of new products that are coming to the HomeKit-compatible Philips Hue line of lights, including a new lightstrip, an updated version of the Hue Iris, new low-cost white bulbs, and more, as outlined below.

The Philips Hue Play Gradient Lightstrip is designed to integrate with the Philips Hue Play HDMI Sync Box that connects Hue lights to TVs, consoles, and other devices to match lighting to the content being displayed on the TV set. The Gradient Lightstrip is designed specifically with television sets in mind and it comes in three lengths to accommodate common TV sizes: 55 inch, 65 inch, and 75 inch.


It sticks on the back of a TV set and is able to display color gradients, a first for a Philips Hue product. Prior lightstrips were always limited to a single color and did not support multi-color usage, but the LEDs in the Gradient Lightstrip are individually addressable.

For use with media, the Gradient Lightstrip needs either the Hue Play HDMI sync box or the Hue Sync PC or Mac app, which allow it to match the colors on the TV set for an immersive home theater experience. It features a 45 degree light projection and Signify says the light gradient is "perfectly blended." The Gradient Lightstrip can also work as an ambient lighting option without being synced to a TV through one of the above mentioned options, but it's not the primary function.


The Philips Hue Play Gradient Lightstrip will be available starting on October 16, 2020, but it can be pre-ordered today from the Hue website. The 55-inch version is priced at $199, the 65-inch version is priced at $219, and the 75-inch version is priced at $240.

In addition to the new Gradient Lightstrip, there's a newly revamped Hue Iris that's coming soon. Priced at $99.99, the Hue Iris is a table lamp that offers richer colors, lower dimming, and increased brightness compared to the prior version of the Iris.

The Iris offers up to 570 lumens of brightness when it is used as a white light lamp, and it has a fabric wrapped cord. It comes in limited edition colors that include gold, rose, copper, and silver. It can be paired with a Hue Bridge or used over Bluetooth, and it will be available for purchase on October 19, 2020.


Alongside these two major product releases, Signify is updating the Philips Hue E12 Candelabra bulbs with Bluetooth, and introducing the Globe and Edison Filament bulbs in new larger form factors. The Hue Ensis pendant light is being released in a new black finish, and there's a new small form factor E14 Lustre bulb ideal for smaller lamps.

Signify in the future plans to bring the new gradient lighting technology to additional products in the Philips Hue line, and there's also an upcoming integration with August and Yale smart locks for doing things like turning on the lights right when the lock is activated.

For more information on today's announcements, make sure to check out the Philips Hue website.

Tag: Philips Hue

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TV5 is now powered by Smart 5G network

Smart Communications has equipped media firm TV5 with its Fifth Generation (5G) network.

Smart deploys 5G network to TV5

Smart 5G network at TV5

PLDT's wireless unit said it fired up Smart 5G at the TV5 Media Center in Mandaluyong as part of its goal to further explore the technology's use cases.

It said the broadcasting network can take advantage of mart 5G-certified devices for its reporters' live coverage and newsgathering activities. 

With Smart 5G now up at the TV5 studios, we look forward to working more closely and co-innovating with TV5 to find out how we can further harness 5G together to modernize their news operations, said Alfredo S. Panlilio, Smart President and Chief Executive Officer and PLDT Chief Revenue Officer. 

Only last month, the company made the 5G mobile network commercially available to select areas in Metro Manila: Makati Central Business District (CBD), Bonifacio Global City CBD, Araneta City, SM Megamall, and Mall of Asia Bay Area.

Smart noted the 5G is also being rolled out in key high-traffic areas such North Avenue in Quezon City and Taft Avenue in Manila, as well as in Ortigas CBD, and Clark Green City in Pampanga. 

In order to experience the 5G network, Smart said they must use Smart-certified handsets with 5G-activated SIMs.

Watch: Smart 5G hits over 700 Mbps download speeds

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