A few weeks ago, T-Mobile USA and Sprint Corporation jointly announced their intent to merge into a singular company, going under the name of "The New T-Mobile." This new combined company is said to be owned more directly by the German company Deutsche Telekom, the current partial owner of the current iteration of T-Mobile USA (T-Mobile). It is not confirmed yet as to whether Softbank, the Japanese partial owner of Sprint, will own a stake in the new company.
In a video released by T-Mobile, the combined company will focus on trying to be the first and most effective to be able to provide 5G networks to the American people by 2025. They also stated that only the combined company will effectively be able to do so, and state their plan is more effective than that planned by Verizon Communications. The combined company would have a portfolio of brands owned by the company, including, but not limited to, T-Mobile, Sprint, MetroPCS, Boost Mobile, and Virgin Mobile.
The plans for this company are not completely confirmed yet, and the companies will have to pass their new agreement through the various legal departments, and will have to get their merger approved. It has been stated that the two companies will continue competing against each other in the same manner as before, both advertising unlimited networks and no contracts, until the merger is completed in 2019.
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
Nest Labs will re-join Google
As apart of Google LLC's plan to strengthen its hardware division, the Mountain View-based company plans to re-obtain the home automation company, Nest Labs, from its parent company, Alphabet Inc. Google originally purchased Nest Labs back in 2014.
Google is attempting to better compete against the likes of Amazon, who currently owns the home automation market, with Alexa-enabled devices. Google's own hardware division has grown in recent years, going from collaborating with partners for hardware to designing it in-house. Their smartphones are currently being manufactured by HTC, with a few exceptions. At the end of last year, Google began purchasing the mobile division of the Taiwanese company, which concluded in the beginning of this year.
This new combined division of Google is currently one of the largest divisions of the company. It will comprise of Nest Labs, which will retain its name, HTC's former mobile division, and Google's Pixel team.
Google is attempting to better compete against the likes of Amazon, who currently owns the home automation market, with Alexa-enabled devices. Google's own hardware division has grown in recent years, going from collaborating with partners for hardware to designing it in-house. Their smartphones are currently being manufactured by HTC, with a few exceptions. At the end of last year, Google began purchasing the mobile division of the Taiwanese company, which concluded in the beginning of this year.
This new combined division of Google is currently one of the largest divisions of the company. It will comprise of Nest Labs, which will retain its name, HTC's former mobile division, and Google's Pixel team.
HMD Global launched their new wave of devices
HMD Global Oy today in Moscow, Russia, announced their newest wave of Android smartphones. These are each successors to last year's mid-to-low range devices. These devices are the Nokia 2.1, Nokia 3.1, and Nokia 5.1. These succeed last February's Nokia 3 and Nokia 5, and October's Nokia 2. While these are welcome changes, there are a few changes.
One of the biggest changes include that the Nokia 3.1 and 5.1 run the Android One version of Android Oreo, while the Nokia 2.1 has the Go Edition. While the Nokia-branded smartphones from HMD Global have always had a stock and clean version of Android, they more recently committed to the Android One and Go programs from Google.
Each of these devices contain a micro USB port, headphone jack, and micro SD card slot for expansion. All of these devices also lack support for near field communication (NFC), which makes it unable to use mobile payments or share a picture by tapping together devices. Another aspect of this device is that they all will have two years of software updates, and five of security patches, a commitment of HMD for their Nokia-branded Android devices.
The devices also are study in their build-quality, an aspect of which Nokia and HMD Global are both now known for with their devices, using the common Nokia brand. The Nokia 2.1 has a 4000 mAh battery, similar to the original, which is said to last two days on a single charge. The Nokia 3.1 is designed to be a well-rounded device, now with a wider screen. The Nokia 5.1 also now has a wider screen, at an 18:9 aspect ratio and a higher-end design than the previous model.
Similar to a majority of HMD's devices, these will be released in more developing markets before it comes to more established ones.
One of the biggest changes include that the Nokia 3.1 and 5.1 run the Android One version of Android Oreo, while the Nokia 2.1 has the Go Edition. While the Nokia-branded smartphones from HMD Global have always had a stock and clean version of Android, they more recently committed to the Android One and Go programs from Google.
Each of these devices contain a micro USB port, headphone jack, and micro SD card slot for expansion. All of these devices also lack support for near field communication (NFC), which makes it unable to use mobile payments or share a picture by tapping together devices. Another aspect of this device is that they all will have two years of software updates, and five of security patches, a commitment of HMD for their Nokia-branded Android devices.
The devices also are study in their build-quality, an aspect of which Nokia and HMD Global are both now known for with their devices, using the common Nokia brand. The Nokia 2.1 has a 4000 mAh battery, similar to the original, which is said to last two days on a single charge. The Nokia 3.1 is designed to be a well-rounded device, now with a wider screen. The Nokia 5.1 also now has a wider screen, at an 18:9 aspect ratio and a higher-end design than the previous model.
Similar to a majority of HMD's devices, these will be released in more developing markets before it comes to more established ones.
Friday, May 11, 2018
Alexa and Cortana finally team up
Last year, in August 2017, Microsoft and Amazon jointly announced that their respective virtual personal assistants, Cortana and Alexa, would be joining forces. This would allow for users to be able to use the other assistant where the normal assistants are normally present. For example, Cortana would now be available as a guest on Amazon Echo devices, while Alexa would do the same on Windows 10 devices. Microsoft stated that this functionality would be present by the end of 2017. However, this never actually happened, and by March, Amazon Alexa has no mention of this functionality even coming.
This year at Microsoft Build 2018, a Microsoft representative, as well as one representing Amazon's Alexa developers, demonstrated how this will benefit their users. It showed that Cortana can work the best for productivity, while Alexa is better for reminders across devices, as well as controlling your smart home.
Back in August and at Build 2018, Microsoft stated that this is hopefully just the first of many different virtual personal assistants talking to each other and working to create a more powerful ecosystem. Since the times of the original announcement, both of the Washington based companies, Microsoft from Redmond and Amazon from Seattle, has partnered on other various tasks.
This year at Microsoft Build 2018, a Microsoft representative, as well as one representing Amazon's Alexa developers, demonstrated how this will benefit their users. It showed that Cortana can work the best for productivity, while Alexa is better for reminders across devices, as well as controlling your smart home.
Back in August and at Build 2018, Microsoft stated that this is hopefully just the first of many different virtual personal assistants talking to each other and working to create a more powerful ecosystem. Since the times of the original announcement, both of the Washington based companies, Microsoft from Redmond and Amazon from Seattle, has partnered on other various tasks.
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