Bizarrely, there weren’t any new important launches last week. However, there were lots of interesting happenings. We have complied some of these stories in this article. Before we proceed, we would like you to know that the stories selected here are based on our opinion. Since your picks may vary, we would like to know them. Make sure to mention them in the comment section below.

Top Stories From Last Week

 

Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion

Out of nowhere, Microsoft made a huge announcement on January 18. The company has decided to acquire the struggling game studio Activision Blizzard for a whopping $68.7 billion.

For the unaware, Activision Blizzard is the studio behind some of the popular franchises like Call of Duty, Overwatch, World of Warcraft, Candy Crush, and others. If this deal goes through, it will be the biggest acquisition of both Microsoft and in the gaming industry.

Unsurprisingly, the titles from the studio will be offered on Xbox/PC Game Pass. Having said that, it’s not known how Microsoft is planning to solve Activision Blizard’s sexual harassment and discrimination issues.

 

Samsung quietly announces Exynos 2200 flagship mobile SoC

Samsung was supposed to unveil its new generation of premium mobile SoC called Exynos 2200 on January 11. However, that didn’t happen. But anyway, the company did announce the chipset quietly on January 18.

Interestingly, the press release does not properly mention the specifications of the latest chipset. The only takeaway is that the chip features an AMD RDNA 2 GPU called Xclipse with support for ray tracing and variable rate shading.

The company is yet to officially disclose the SoC’s improvements in performance over its predecessor.

 

Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2022 event announced for the next Galaxy S

Samsung has officially confirmed to hold the Galaxy Unpacked 2022 even in February. The company has also revealed that it will be debuting the ‘most noteworthy S’ devices ever created.

Though the company has not disclosed, we all know that it will be unveiling the Galaxy S22 lineup. The Galaxy S22 Ultra is expected to merge the Galaxy Note series with the Galaxy S via the introduction of a built-in S Pen. The firm is also anticipated to announce the Galaxy Tab S8 series.

According to an official Instagram ad by Samsung, the event is scheduled for February 9 at 10 AM EST.

 

MediaTek demos WiFi 7 technology

On January 19, MediaTek made an announcement on the world’s first live demo of WiFi 7 technology. The Taiwanese chipmaker showcased the tech to key customers and industry collaborators.

WiFi 7 will be able to use 320MHz channels, and therefore, it will offer 2.4 times more speed than WiFi 6 and WiFi 6E. MediaTek will offer the tech via its new range of Filogic chips.

Consumer products with WiFi 7 will hit the markets in 2023.

 

OPPO envisions a future with battery-less IoT devices

Not very long ago, Samsung announced a new version of its eco-friendly SolarCell TV remote control with support for radio wave charging at CES 2022. Last week, OPPO published a research paper on this very same technology with a broader vision.

OPPO says that we can use radio frequency (RF) wave charging technology to create a system of IoT products without batteries. The paper says that the company has successfully built the so-called ‘Zero Power Consumption Communication’ system.

Since Samsung already has a consumer product based on this tech, we think that OPPO’s vision could come true in the near future.

 

Google Pixel Notepad could be the company’s first foldable smartphone

A report revealed that Google’s first foldable smartphone will be called ‘Pixel Notebook’. That’s not all, this device is also said to cost cheaper than the Galaxy Z Fold3, which is priced at $1,799. Unfortunately, we still don’t have a launch timeline.

According to previous reports, the device may look like an OPPO Fold. It is expected to arrive with Google Tensor (GS101) chipset, up to 12GB RAM/512GB storage, and an outdated main camera.

 

OnePlus ends software support for OnePlus 6, 6T

The then-popular OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 6T will no longer receive system updates as the brand has officially ended software support for them. The duo was released in 2018 and they currently run OxygenOS 11 based on Android 11.

The OnePlus 6 debuted with Android 8.1 Oreo, and therefore, it has received a total of three Android updates. On the other hand, as the OnePlus 6T hit the markets with Android 9.0 Pie, it has only got two Android updates.

Anyway, users can install Android 12 and upcoming Android releases if they are into custom ROMs.

 

Upcoming Qualcomm flagship mobile SoC could debut on a Motorola phone

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (SM8450) by Qualcomm is the chipmaker’s current latest flagship mobile SoC. This chipset is manufactured by Samsung and it has performance issues due to throttling.

Hence, Qualcomm is said to release a new version (SM8475) of this silicon manufactured by TSMC. According to a well-known tipster, the new one will also debut on a Motorola smartphone, just like the current chip.

 

MIUI gets a taste of Material You

MIUI 13 does not offer the dynamic theming system called Monet that’s found in Android 12. But last week, the latest MIUI beta build added support for it.

But unfortunately, it appears to be in the development stage. Because it only works with Google applications and not the first-party MIUI apps. Hopefully, Xiaomi implements it well in future beta releases.

 

Realme ships over 40 million units of number series smartphones

Realme entered the smartphone market with its number series. Ahead of Realme 9i’s launch in India, the brand officially revealed that it had shipped over 40 million units of Realme numbers series smartphones to date.

The Realme number series includes multiple models like vanilla, Pro, i, s, and 5G. Currently, it is in the 9th generation.

 

 

 

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