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The day the physical SIM card disappears is slowly getting closer. Last year, we heard that Samsung, Apple, and various mobile carriers were working to create a new standard for embedded or eSIMs (programmable SIMs that allow you to switch carriers without swapping the physical card in your device). Now, the GSMA has announced a new eSIM specification for smartwatches, fitness trackers, and tablets, with Samsung’s Gear S2 Classic 3G the first device on the market to come equipped with the new technology.

Now, a few caveats are needed. This isn’t the first mobile device to offer a programmable SIM card (certain iPads have this functionality using Apple’s own tech, for example). Nor does the standard apply to smartphones, with the GSMA saying that won’t be coming until June. And while the June eSIM will allow users to store the profiles of multiple carriers on a single phone, this new specification only supports one carrier at a time. However, this is still a big step forward for the eSIM, with the new specification backed by some of world’s largest hardware manufacturers (including Samsung, LG, Microsoft, and Huawei) and mobile carriers (including AT&T, Verizon, Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica, and EE).

Speaking to The Verge, the GSMA’s chief engineer Ian Pannell says that the new specification is all about giving users more control. “We don’t want the consumer to be disadvantaged compared to the current SIM model,” he says, adding that the new specification is a simpler version of the full eSIM, to ease hardware partners into the change: “We’re putting the first specification out for companies that may want to launch products that are very simple.” He adds that the eSIM is also 90 percent smaller than a traditional SIM card, offering “a big saving in space.”

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InVisage has just announced their release of a new Infrared scanner for eye scan security recognition device. Since InVisage also developed and release a new film leveraging Q-Dot technology; the scanner is also leveraging this technology for more accurate readings and imaging.


InVisage’s new image sensor for infrared cameras could help drones avoid trees and could aid virtual reality headsets in seeing where you’re pointing.

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apple-lab-cupertino

“A little over a year ago, Apple had a problem: The iPad Pro was behind schedule. Elements of the hardware, software, and accompanying stylus weren’t going to be ready for a release in the spring. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook and his top lieutenants had to delay the unveiling until the fall. That gave most of Apple’s engineers more time. It gave a little-known executive named Johny Srouji much less.”

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Despite many other telecom companies expecting 5G networks to be rolled out around 2020, AT&T plans to begin testing their 5G network later this year.

American multinational telecommunications company AT&T recently announced that it is planning to test a 5G mobile network, a super fast network that is 100 times faster than our current 3G and LTE connections. Together with American semiconductor Intel and Swedish company Ericsson, the company will begin preliminary tests later this year.

Ahead of the race

Other global telecommunications companies are set to deploy 5G connections by 2020, but AT&T insists on taking the lead. The company envisions this mobile network greatly impacting and benefiting the adoption of new critical technologies as the need to communicate large amounts of data very quickly continues to increase.

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Flexible smartphones were once talked about as being the ‘next big thing’ for the industry, but apart from the occasional limited demonstration at a convention, the hype surrounding the technology has died down – possibly because it’s taking so long to arrive. But now, Canadian researchers have created a device that may be the first step toward a truly flexible smartphone screen.

Created by researchers at Queen’s University Human Media Lab, the prototype ReFlex is the world’s first flexible smartphone to feature a full-color, high-resolution display and wireless technology.

ReFlex uses a 720p LG Display Flexible OLED touchscreen and is powered by an Android 4.0 KitKat board mounted on the side of the display. It also features a voice coil that allows the phone to simulate forces and friction through highly detailed vibrations.

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