We are on the second day of the Mobile World Congress 2024, which is ongoing in Barcelona, Spain. With most announcements around generative AI, we have also seen some interesting concepts like the new Xiaomi SU7 electric car and Motorola’s bendable phone. Today, we look at the latest innovations from Samsung, Intel, AMD, and MediaTek from Day 2 of MWC 2024.
Samsung’s New Foldable That Bends Both Ways
With its Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Flip devices, Samsung is the undisputed market leader in the foldable smartphone segment. After developing five generations of foldable, Samsung showcased a new smartphone that can fold both ways — the Flex in and out. While neither we nor the Samsung demo guys were allowed to touch it, the concept seemed unique. It is similar to 360-degree laptops that can swivel freely.
Following Motorola’s announcement yesterday, Samsung also showcased its bendable smartphone, which you can wrap around your wrist like a bracelet. Unlike Motorola, Samsung’s bendable does not need any additional wristband, and you can directly slap the phone on your wrist and fold it accordingly.
Samsung also unveiled its rollable display at its MWC booth. However, the company did not disclose the commercial availability of these under-development devices.
MediaTek’s On-Device Stable Diffusion
MediaTek showcased its upcoming stable diffusion technology on-device called SDXL Turbo. It can generate images from text input using AI locally on the smartphone without connecting to cloud servers. The most impressive part of SDXL was the speed at which it could create images from text prompts in real-time with no delay whatsoever. We gave the AI prompt of Cristiano Ronaldo wearing an Indian Cricket Jersey, and it worked like a charm.
Interestingly, the company demonstrated this new technology on the Dimensity 9300 chipset, which is already available on devices like the Vivo X100 Pro. While there’s no word on when this will be made commercially available, this demo made us realise that the potential of smartphone chipsets has not been fully explored yet.
Intel’s AI Prowess in Object Tracking and Power Saving
Chipmaker Intel unveiled a new AI algorithm co-developed with Samsung — vRAN (virtual RAN). It can reduce the power consumption of wireless network management servers by up to 25%. The system can actively monitor the bandwidth consumption and adjust the power supply in real-time.
Intel says that this new technology will be really helpful for the industry as electricity is one of the major operational costs for technology service providers. As the world moves towards more applications of AI and cloud services, Intel’s new power-saving features will help companies lower running costs and also become more environmentally friendly.
Another highlight from Intel’s announcement was a new AI-powered fitness analyzer that can scan your workouts in real time using a camera. First, the system shows the user a demo of the exercise and asks them to repeat it. Intel’s AI systems then scan your workout and create a score based on your performance. It can also share tips and suggestions for areas that need improvements in the workouts. This should be helpful for athletes.
AMD’s Alveo V70 AI GPU
AMD showcased the powers of its new Alveo A70 AI accelerator, specially designed for analyzing videos in real time. With active monitoring, it can identify human subjects and objects like bags from video feeds. This system can be highly effective in surveillance and security applications, especially in large places like malls, stadiums, and more.
The Alveo A70 is based on AMD’s XDNA architecture. It has an internal memory bandwidth of up to 47.6 TB/s and an external DDR bandwidth of over 76.8GB/s. The GPU can process 96 channels of individual 1080p video feeds simultaneously.
Tecno’s Rollable Smartphone
Tecno showcased its concept rollable smartphone, the Tecno Phantom Ultimate at its MWC booth. Unlike traditional foldable devices that fold into two parts, the screen on Tecno’s concept phone rolls inside, just like an ancient scroll. It’s an automatic mechanism which can be activated with the push of a button.
The Tecno Phantom Ultimate was previously unveiled by the company in September 2023 on social media. However, Tecno has not disclosed any launch date for its rollable phone.
Xiaomi Pipi Desk Lamp
After witnessing several concept smartphones and laptops, the Xiaomi Pipi Desk lamp is exactly what one can ask for as a refreshing change. At first, it looks like a regular desk lamp, but it’s actually a mini robot of a kind. The lamp can track you with motion sensing and move its head where the light is required.
You can also adjust the movements of the lamp using the companion app. The best way to describe the Xiaomi Pipi desk lamp is like asking your friend to hold a light near your desk and then giving them instructions to adjust the angle of the light.
