The use of video calling apps has grown over the past few years, especially during the pandemic when telecommuting became a mainstream model and communication between people became online.

The company intends to extend the beta to Android developers later this year.

Interested developers, regardless of size, can sign up for the beta through T-Mobile’s DevEdge developer platform. Developers in the Seattle area will have the added benefit of joining T-Mobile engineers at the 5G Hub to test and validate this cutting-edge capability in their applications.

T-Mobile plans to expand network coverage to 300 million people by the end of the year.

The FBAR filters will be designed and built at several manufacturing centers in the U.S., including Fort Collins, Colorado, where Apple said it already supports more than 1,100 jobs.

“We’re thrilled to make commitments that harness the ingenuity, creativity, and innovative spirit of American manufacturing. All of Apple’s products depend on technology engineered and built here in the United States, and we’ll continue to deepen our investments in the U.S. economy because we have an unshakable belief in America’s future.”

commented Apple CEO Tim Cook.

This is not the first agreement between Apple and Broadcom. The first deal between the tech companies was providing chips for several Apple devices, such as the AirPort and iPhone 5S. The new collaboration will enable Broadcom to continue investing in critical automation and workforce upskilling projects.

In 2021, Apple pledged to invest $430 billion in the U.S. economy over five years, and today it’s about to deliver with its latest deal.

Xcode enables developers to create apps for Apple platforms such as iOS, macOS and watchOS. This update allows developers to create apps that are fully compatible with Apple’s latest operating systems.

Apple recently warned that as of April 25, 2023, developers will need to use Xcode 14.1 or later to create and submit their apps to the App Store. Apple also recommends that developers update their apps to take advantage of the latest features available in iOS 16 and iPadOS 16.

There are new features in iOS 16.4, including dozens of new emojis, web app notifications, voice isolation for cellular calls, improved VoiceOver support, optimizations for the “Crash Detection” feature to prevent fake calls to emergency services, and 5G Standalone support.

Previously released features as part of iOS 16 include Live Activities – allowing users to be informed of real-time updates in your app, directly from the lock screen or Dynamic Island – App Intents, as well as improvements to MapKit, ARKit, Core ML and more.

New productivity features have been introduced in iPadOS 16 that enable more immersive collaboration experiences and intuitive apps, as well as powerful professional workflows on iPad. Developers can incorporate desktop-level features into their iPad apps, including an editor-style navigation bar, enhanced text editing menus, and support for external displays. Metal 3 also delivers powerful capabilities that allow games and professional applications to fully leverage the potential of Apple’s silicon.

WatchOS 9 offers new communication capabilities for smartwatch apps, including the ability to deliver timely information through rich complications to more Apple Watch faces, app content sharing, the ability to make VoIP calls directly from Apple Watch, and more. Additionally, the simplified structure of watchOS apps makes project management easier than ever.

Asking all about the trends and the future of technology, we reached out to one of the mobile operator enablers, located in Bulgaria – Effortel. Their insight on the business sheds more light on how they see the innovation in technologies and what trends might surprise us in the future.

Effortel is not afraid to innovate and dream big when it comes to inventions in that realm. The company can narrow down the huge list to 5 ones that impact telecommunications and Effortel in particular.

5G

There has not been a greater buzz in telecoms up till now than the one about 5G. It even took some ridiculous forms like being feared by the people, citizens thrashing 5G equipment in several countries, and being caricatured in thousands of memes and jokes throughout the Internet. Still, it is a natural evolution of the radio data transmission technology to address the growing demands for fast and reliable wireless voice and data transfer. It takes advantage of the most recent technologies of the internet world and allows room for integrations with protocols like HTTP and even REST right out-of-the-box for achieving optimization and seamlessness.

To address that, Effortel has started building a new generation OCS system, which is being built around a completely new, freshly patented paradigm and reduces the computational (and therefore energy consumption) footprint of the Rating Engines in the Telecom world with more than 90%. That fact also adds it to the category of the so-called Green (environment-friendly) software.

Data Science

While data science is not a new thing, we can see organizations are still inventing ways of implementing it in their businesses to achieve new goals, which are increasingly sophisticated. In their business, Effortel is using it to identify patterns of customer/system behavior, and on that basis, predict various events, which need to be avoided, or, on the contrary, facilitated. For example the Business Intelligence department in Effortel experiments with and trains models to successfully achieve customer churn prevention, predictive system scaling, etc.

Robotic Process Automation

The company took a very unorthodox approach when envisioning and developing the EMS, their flagship product – they thought of it as a living organism. Every component of the system has an ever-expanding set of virtual sensors, which emit events in an ultra-fast clustered event bus, which in turn, acts like its neuro system. This provides a firm foundation to configure native pre-programmed reactions that act like instincts of the system and ensure its adequate function to any of the internal and external events. This renders the EMS a virtual robot of sorts. Next step is connecting it with the aforementioned predictive engine from the previous section, and have it make its own decisions on which reaction to an event is most optimal and take care of its own configuration.

Another manifestation of that theme in Effortel is the development of chat bots that are connected to the EMS system and provide automated help to its human peers. One can simply write a few simple words in the chat to the bot and have it execute a complex command for them.

Full Stack Development

It’s listed on the internet as an emerging trend, but it’s more of a natural evolution path of a professional since the dawn of personal computers. Effortel is very contented that their developers choose to grow in that direction on their own.

Edge Computing

This also is an old paradigm, which recently received a new name to become trendy, and it basically means to provide the components of data capture with the rules and pieces of logic to have the data be (pre)processed at the moment of its emergence. Effortel has put that foundation at the human interaction layer of the system, mainly to optimize the processing by having it executed on the client’s CPU. Later, a broader set of capabilities was identified and taken advantage of.

Challenges

The biggest challenge in the post-covid time and the Great Resignation is related to human resources, and at the moment, every company is having it. Lately, it is increasingly hard to find good developers, and here Effortel also took an unorthodox path – they started helping Bulgarian universities by providing time to their best professionals to teach the students all the bleeding-edge technologies of today and help them graduate with the most recent battle-tested knowledge under their belts. That way their skills are relevant to the labor market and they can integrate into their or any other technological company faster and easier.

Effortel’s Model

Effortel has never been afraid to innovate and create new frameworks, new paradigms or whatever is needed to achieve their dream goals. What they deliver as software is aimed at solving their clients’ challenges and easing their day-to-day work life, by walking in their shoes as a real end-user of their own software, because Effortel runs their own telecom operations in a number of European countries just like their clients do. It is very important to have the right culture in the company to achieve that. In the last 2 years tremendous efforts have been undertaken to (re)design and (re)build the company from within in accordance with the right target culture.

So now, internally, Effortel is like one big family, in which people trust each other, strive towards mutual growth, and help each other become the best version of themselves possible. Even when there are frictions, which is inevitable, they are all in the name of finding the optimum path for development together, because every employee’s viewpoint matters and deserves to be heard and pondered on. Employees like working and growing together, and take common pride in everyone’s individual achievements.

Stellantis N.V. and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. today announced a multi-year technology collaboration to utilize the latest Snapdragon Digital Chassis advancements to deliver intelligent, customizable and immersive in-vehicle experiences to millions of vehicles across Stellantis’ 14 iconic automotive brands beginning in 2024. Leveraging the Snapdragon Cockpit Platforms and 5G capabilities for telematics systems, Stellantis will have the capability to meet customers’ evolving expectations for personalized and cutting-edge experiences that are continually upgradeable.

This agreement will facilitate Stellantis’ plan to merge all software domains into High Performance Computers, leveraging the high-performance, low-power Snapdragon Automotive Platforms across all major vehicle domains as well as contribute to securing Stellantis’ supply chain on strategic components.

Carlos Tavares, Stellantis CEO said:

“Our technology collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies is another example of how we are identifying industry leaders to work alongside our passionate and talented internal teams as we transform our vehicles through a software-defined approach. This will ultimately better meet the needs of our customers’ lifestyles through safe, personalized, and always-connected features. Qualcomm Technologies’ broad experience in automotive and scale as a semiconductor leader will enable us to vertically integrate key elements of our new platforms and more closely manage the complete electronics supply chain to provide access to the best technologies, enable the fulfillment of Stellantis’ volume potential and achieve our Dare Forward 2030 ambition.”

Cristiano Amon, President and CEO, Qualcomm Incorporated said:

“Qualcomm is honored to expand our work with Stellantis to redefine vehicles in the 21st century by bringing Snapdragon Digital Chassis solutions to their future vehicles. By creating open, scalable, and comprehensive automotive platforms that encompass semiconductors, systems, software, and services, we are empowering Stellantis, as well as the broader automotive ecosystem, to lead the transformation to the digital era of automobiles.”

Taking the driver-vehicle relationship to the next level, Stellantis will use next-generation Snapdragon Cockpit Platforms to power the in-car communication and infotainment systems for STLA SmartCockpit, which is being designed and engineered together with Amazon and Foxconn. Snapdragon Cockpit Platforms are not only engineered to deliver high-definition graphics to touch and voice-controlled cockpit console, but to also deliver a fully immersive in-cabin experience, enabling premium audio and crystal-clear voice communications throughout the vehicle’s cabin.

Snapdragon Cockpit Platforms will also be used to enhance STLA Brain, bringing a new level of digital intelligence for convenience and safety, and helping to enhance the in-vehicle personal assistant capabilities with highly intuitive artificial intelligence (AI) features, which includes:

• Over-the-air (OTA) updates that will allow the vehicle to naturally evolve and improve over time by being constantly updated, upgraded and enhanced, as well as features on demand and instant vehicle upgrades, such as additional horsepower or drive modes
• Personalized experiences, leveraging AI to adapt to a wide variety of customer preferences
• Improved user experiences, thanks to faster communication with connected features and higher computation power to support future upgrades
• Continuous exciting new services and solutions
• Always-connected experiences
• Improved ownership experiences with diagnostics and repair completed over the air for all major vehicle systems

The first application will be in the Maserati brand to power the next generation Stellantis infotainment system.

However, the companies have already switched on the UK’s first 5G Open RAN site which is carrying live customer traffic. This site, which is located in Bath, UK, is the beginning of Vodafone’s scaled Open RAN network architecture in Europe. Andrea Dona, Chief Network Officer, Vodafone UK:

“Open RAN can radically evolve the telecoms industry, and we are excited to champion the technology in the UK.”

He also added:

“This is an ecosystem which is only a few years old but the progress we have made so far is quite remarkable. Not only have we begun the first scaled deployment in the UK, but we have also installed the first 5G Open RAN site. Open RAN is now a real-world technology and it is truly exciting to see this technology flourish.”

Thomas Riedal, Head of Samsung Networks Europe at Samsung Electronics, said:

“Samsung is proud to collaborate with Vodafone UK to switch on the UK’s first 5G Open RAN site”.

According to him, this will help deliver the benefits of their carrier-grade 5G vRAN solutions to millions of Vodafone UK customers.

That’s the reason why some Boeing 787 passenger jets should take extra care when landing in wet or snowy conditions at airports near 5G towers.  The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) said:

“The presence of 5G C-Band interference can result in degraded deceleration performance, increased landing distance, and runway excursion.”

This means that interference could lead, in the worst case, to a plane running off the end of the runway.

The FAA’s advice relates to a specific set of circumstances that could occur in bad weather at airports in areas with C-Band 5G service.

5G signals operate on a portion of the radio frequency spectrum relatively similar to that used by the radio altimeters in some aircraft. Pilots rely on altimeters to land when visibility is low.

According to aircraft maker Boeing, data from the devices is used to switch 787 aircraft from air to ground mode. Without that switch, key functions like automatic thrust reverser deployment might not happen, meaning the plane would need more room to land safely.

In a notification to airlines, the FAA said that Boeing 787s operated by over 80 international airlines including Air France, British Airways, KLM, LOT, and holiday operator TUI could be affected by interference when landing at airports in the United States.

The FAA’s guidance comes right ahead of the launch of the dedicated C-band 5G service by US mobile operators on Wednesday.

In December last year, Europe’s air safety regulator the EASA responded to the FAA’s concerns over 5G interference, concluding that “at this stage, no risk of unsafe interference has been identified in Europe”.

The satellites named Intelsat 41 (IS-41) and Intelsat 44 (IS-44)  are about to be in service in 2025 and they will join two Airbus constructed software-defined satellites – Intelsat 42 (IS-42) and Intelsat 43 (IS-43).

The new satellites will be based on the Thales Alenia Space’s innovative Space Inspire product line. This will give an opportunity for a perfect telecommunication as well as remarkable broadcasting performance. Stephen Spengler, CEO of Intelsat, says:

“Intelsat’s standard-based, open-architecture network design facilitates the incorporation of the best technology at any given time, further bolstering network resiliency. With the addition of Intelsat 41 and Intelsat 44, in partnership with Thales Alenia Space, Intelsat will blanket the earth with software-defined satellites, progressing the world’s first global 5G software-defined network, designed to unify the global telecoms ecosystem.”

The contract is supposed to give an opportunity for the advancement to continue while adding high-speed dynamically-allocated connectivity across Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Hervé Derrey, CEO of Thales Alenia Space, commented:

“Our relationship with Intelsat has been so meaningful knowing that our attractive Space Inspire software-defined solution will contribute to the realization of Intelsat’s global 5G software-defined unified network,”

He also added that they are proud that their advanced satellite technology will play a significant role in Intelsat’s vision to reimagine the global telecoms ecosystem.

“We saw an incredible response to the Galaxy S20 FE and Galaxy S21 lineup. So we applied the same approach with S21 FE 5G, equipping it with the premium features that matter most to our loyal Galaxy fans — because we’re focused on delivering a smartphone that meets their most important needs.”

The handset sports a 6.4-inch display with a 120Hz refresh rate, powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 processor, as its successor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, is starting rollout on flagships from companies like Xiaomi. There’s a triple camera system with a 12-megapixel main, 32-megapixel ultrawide and 12-megapixel telephoto.

The system comes with either 6 or 8GB of RAM and 128 or 256GB of storage, along with a solid 4,500mAh battery.  There’s also 5G on-board.

The design borrows plenty of cues from the standard S21, though the premium build has been swapped out for a lower-cost plastic construction.

The S21 FE starts shipping January 11.

• 5G and high-speed networks

Have you remembered 2G technology, which has enabled customers to get in touch with everyone they want? Then comes both 3G and 4G tech that has helped us to browse the internet and stream audio and video without any interruptions.

Well, amongst the most important changes from 2022 will be the easily accessible and available high bandwidth data. What is more, high-speed internet will give us the ability to stream in extremely high resolution like 8K.

• Artificial intelligence and machine learning

AI and ML gained a lot of popularity when manufacturers started implementing them everywhere- in smartphones, virtual assistance, image and speech recognition, smartwatches, smart TVs, navigation apps, etc. The AI market is expected to grow to a $190 billion industry by 2025 and the upcoming year will definitely be very important for achieving this.

• Internet of Things

We should be ready for the emergence of faster networks, advanced AI & ML, and cloud computing, and more devices connecting together in a seamless way.

• Cloud computing

What comes with super-fast networks?

Cloud computing- another technological trend that we will see in the year 2022. Cloud computing will give us the ability to run heavy applications and software directly on the cloud servers which will also open up gates for lighter devices.

• Mobile photography

One of the most promising trends for the upcoming 2022 will be the retractable cameras on smartphones.

Putting three different lenses of different focal lengths was just an alternate option to achieve different focal lengths. In 2020 Xiaomi and Oppo showed the concept phone in which we saw three different lenses of different focal lengths and it looks like we will be able to see how this feature will come true in 2022.

• Mixing of realities

AR and VR have been a big trend for a while and in 2022, we will see major leaps in this field. Metaverse is one of the indicators of how fast the digital world is developing.