Google has announced new features in its Maps app designed to help electric car drivers find a charge.
Tech
5G will give the iPhone 12 an advantage over Android in an unlikely way: Price – Macworld
Even though the iPhone 12 might not arrive until jack-o-lanterns start appearing on people’s doorsteps, we already know an awful lot about Apple’s plans. Most notably, there will reportedly be a fourth model this year joining the fray to expand the sizing options, with a new 5.4-inch model rumored to slide into the low-end slot and the flagship model expected to grow to 6.7 inches.
However, even with bigger screens and a switch away from LCD on all models, Jon Prosser reported late last month that prices aren’t going to change all that much:
- 5.4-inch iPhone 12: $649
- 6.1-inch iPhone 12: $749
- 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro: $999
- 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max: $1,099
Those prices mean you’re going to be getting more screen for the same amount of money with the Pro models, a better display for just $50 more than the iPhone 11, and a new lower starting price for budget-conscious buyers. On its own, that would be impressive, but the new iPhones are also all rumored to come equipped with 5G modems that will presumably support both T-Mobile’s sub-6GHz and Verizon’s mmWave networks.
Apple would be well within its rights to charge more for a 5G iPhone. Just this year, the Galaxy S20 and OnePlus 8 Pro jumped by hundreds of dollars compared to their prior LTE equivalents, with the S20 climbing to a whopping $1,600 for the highest configuration. Assuming the iPhone capacity pricing stays the same, that’s $150 more than an iPhone 11 Pro Max with the same 512GB of storage. And the 8 Pro was the first OnePlus phone to cross the thousand-dollar barrier.
So why isn’t Apple increasing its prices like its Android peers? We all know that Apple loves its 38 percent profit margins, so it’s not about to take a hit on its biggest-selling device just to be nice. Rather, a combination of timing, smarts, and Apple’s longterm strategy is about to pay off in a big way.
Ready-ish for prime time
When Samsung and others launched the first 5G phones last year, all eyes turned to Apple. But when the iPhone 11 came and went with nary a mention of 5G, it shouldn’t have been a surprise. Not only were the first 5G phones big, expensive, and subject to overheating, the networks that they connected to were unreliable and limited. Apple rarely dives into new tech before it’s viable, and when the iPhone 11 was in development, 5G was anything but.
That’s changed over the past several months. While the effects of the coronavirus pandemic have delayed the rollout, the major carriers all have decent 5G maps across the U.S., with T-Mobile (and by extension, Sprint) boasting coast-to-coast coverage and Verizon expanding to dozens of cities and larger venues. But 5G deployment still pales in comparison to LTE. So even they opt for a 5G plan, most iPhone 12 users will still be using LTE.
So Apple won’t be charging its users a premium for a service that they’re not even going to use. 5G is nice in theory and there’s something to be said for future-proofing, but Android phone makers are basically gouging their customers by adding a feature they don’t need, won’t really use, and might not even want. When the 5G iPhone launches at the same price as the 4G iPhone, the S20, OnePlus 8 Pro, and every other 5G Android phone that launches between now and then is going to seem even more overpriced than they are now.
Qualcomm’s double-dipped chips
It might seem that Samsung and OnePlus are taking advantage of their most loyal customers, but the pricing for their 5G phones aren’t entirely their fault. The top-of-the-line Android phones all use Qualcomm’s latest high-end Snapdragon processor, and this year’s 865 price has entered the stratosphere, according to phone makers.
When asked why the Poco X2 used a Snapdragon 730G chip rather than the Snapdragon 865, general manager Manmohan Chandolu had this to say: “Chipsets right now, all 800-series chipsets, are extremely expensive. And [the Snapdragon 865], being the first 5G generation, is just a lot more expensive.” And there’s a catch. While the 865 is a 5G-generation chip, there isn’t a modem integrated into it for the first time since the Snapdragon 810 in 2015. On top of that, Qualcomm has made it so the two pieces—the Snapdragon 865 and the latest x55 5G modem—need to purchased together even if the phone isn’t a 5G one.
In addition to the inherent higher price, there are also extra engineering expenses. External modems need more space for proper heat dissipation to run properly even if they’re not connected to 5G networks, so phones need to be bigger to accommodate it. And since external modems are less power efficient than integrated ones, internal parts need to be completely retooled to make room for it. Add all that up and you’re getting a phone that’s way more expensive to build.
The iPhone 12 won’t have that problem. For one, Apple makes its own system-on-chip, so it doesn’t rely on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon. For another, it’s been making iPhones with external modems for years, so it’s well aware of the power and heat needs. Even if the x55 5G modem costs more than the Intel XMM7660 in the iPhone 11, it won’t be anywhere near the exorbitant increase Android phone makers are seeing.
Apple can absorb the 5G increase easier than Android phone makers and deliver 5G to all phones at the same time without needing to up the price or relegate it to pro models. It’s a strategy of patience and proprietorship that has long served the iPhone well, but it could give Apple an even bigger advantage with 5G.
Tech
Aaron Sluchinski adds Kyle Doering to lineup for next season – The Grand Slam of Curling
Aaron Sluchinski’s team announced Wednesday on social media that Kyle Doering has joined the club for next season.
Sluchinski was searching for a new player after second Kerr Drummond stepped back from competitive curling late last month. The Airdrie, Alta., team also includes third Jeremy Harty and lead Dylan Webster.
Sluchinski had a breakout season, winning the Boston Pizza Cup to represent Alberta at the Montana’s Brier for the first time and also competed in three Grand Slam of Curling events. The team finished 16th in the world rankings and seventh among Canadian clubs.
Doering has spent the past two years playing with Edmonton’s Karsten Sturmay and was also on the lookout for a new squad after his skip announced his departure from competitive curling.
Winnipegger Doering earned a silver medal at the world men’s curling championship earlier this month as the alternate on Team Canada, skipped by Brad Gushue.
Doering captured the Canadian junior title and a world junior bronze medal in 2016 playing with skip Matt Dunstone.
The Canadian men’s curling landscape has seen several shifts in recent days. Brendan Bottcher’s teammates announced Tuesday they were looking for a new skip and Reid Carruthers’ team revealed Wednesday it has parted ways with skip Brad Jacobs.
Skip Glenn Howard also announced his retirement Tuesday.
Meanwhile, skip John Epping unveiled his new team last week, featuring third Tanner Horgan, second Jacob Horgan and lead Ian McMillan.
Tech
New EV features for Google Maps have arrived. Here’s how to use them. – The Washington Post
The updates include a tool to help drivers find nearby chargers with real-time information about availability and charging speed, the ability to find charging stops on longer road trips and more detailed instructions about how to find chargers within parking lots and garages.
Google expects to start rolling out these features “in the coming months,” according to a blog post. Some will come first to people who drive a car that comes with “Google Built-in,” the company’s driver-assistance software. Google updated its other route-finding app, Waze, with information on EV chargers last month.
The update addresses one of Americans’ top concerns about owning an electric vehicle: finding a place to charge. Range anxiety remains a significant barrier for EV sales — especially for drivers who don’t own a house. Among people who don’t drive an EV, roughly half say they think finding a place to charge would be “extremely” or “very” difficult, according to a 2023 Washington Post-University of Maryland poll.
EVs make up roughly 7 percent of new U.S. car sales, which some experts believe is a tipping point at which electric cars will quickly become popular and take over the market. But lately, the EV market appears to be cooling off. Sales slowed in the first quarter of this year.
In addition to building more charging stations, companies can make driving an EV easier by building apps that help drivers find chargers, said Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of Industry Insights at Cox Automotive. “That could be really helpful with mitigating some of those concerns about charging anxiety,” she said.
Find available EV charging stations
For electric-car drivers who need a last-minute charge, Google is developing a feature that can find nearby chargers with updated information about how many ports are available and their charging speed. The company says this feature will eventually be available to all drivers but will be available first for drivers with Google Built-in.
Plan a road trip with EV charging stops
The Maps update will allow EV owners with Google Built-in to plan where they can power up when taking long trips with multiple stops, such as a cross-country road trip. The feature will access information about your car’s battery life to suggest the best places to charge up.
The company also announced a search feature that allows travelers to look for hotels with electric car chargers.
Locate hard-to-find EV charging stations
Some EV chargers are tucked in hard-to-find corners of parking garages. The Maps update will crowdsource information from Google reviewers to generate more detailed instructions about how to get to a charger. According to the company’s blog post, the instructions might read something like, “Enter the underground parking lot and follow the signs toward the exit. Just before exiting, turn right.”
Tech
Cytiva Showcases Single-Use Mixing System at INTERPHEX 2024 – BioPharm International
The Xcellerex magnetic mixer, single-use mixing system was designed to address challenges in large-scale mAb, vaccine, and genomic medicine manufacturing processes.
Cytiva unveiled the Xcellerex single-use magnetic mixer at INTERPHEX 2024 in New York City on April 16, 2024. The single-use mixing system was designed to combat challenges in large-scale monoclonal antibody (mAb), vaccine, and genomic medicine manufacturing processes. The mixer is offered in 2000 L and 3000 L capacities and can be configured in several ways to accommodate diverse mixing processes. Its compact size benefits facilities with space constraints or complicated installation of large-scale consumables.
According to the company, minor leaks may cause significant delays and losses. “When dealing with a 3000 L batch of cell culture media, the estimated financial loss can cost between $60k to upwards of $100k” (1). The system helps prevent expensive leaks with a novel mixer biocontainer that incorporates user-centered design elements to improve durability and ease of use. The design provides enhanced safeguards and added protection from leaks that may occur during shipping, storage, and operation.
Time taken to mix batches can inhibit product development times, specifically the challenge of mixing floating powders such as cell culture media. Current systems have underpowered impellers with circular or cubical shapes that make producing large volumes challenging, according to Cytiva. This new single-use system “has a powerful impeller that when combined with the mixer’s hexagonal shape creates a vortex, enhancing the interaction at the liquid surface. This vortex effectively pulls down the floating powders into the main body of the liquid to allow for a more efficient and shorter mixing process,” the company stated in a press release.
“We’re tapping into our differentiated portfolio to solve a wide range of challenges for our customers. Our new magnetic mixing system is flexible and capable of meeting the many demands and constraints during buffer and cell culture media preparation,” said Amanda Halford, president, Bioprocess at Cytiva in the release. “By reimagining the design, we’ve tackled some of the biggest obstacles to downtime.”
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Cytiva is also working to advance messenger RNA (mRNA) manufacturing. In an interview with Pharmaceutical Technology EuropeTM , Scott Ripley, general manager, Nucleic Acid Therapeutics and Precision Nanosystems at Cytiva, discussed technology that enables the “democratization” of mRNA manufacturing (2). Many mRNA therapies and other types of genetic medicines in clinical development are designed to be delivered with the help of lipid nanoparticles. One such platform is Cytiva’s Precision Nanosystems NanoAssemblr microfluidic-based nanoparticle manufacturing platform, which enables the development of genetic medicines with potentially increased stability, efficacy, yield, and quality of non-viral genetic medicines, according to Ripley.
Ripley was enthusiastic about this platform’s ability to “democratize” the good manufacturing practice (GMP) manufacturing aspects for advanced therapies, while managing to cope with the increased molecular diversity of the molecules being handled.
“For example,” Ripley says, “the mRNA platform is unique in that, on one end of the spectrum, it is vaccinating the planet, on the other end, it’s personalized cancer vaccines.”
Reference
1. Cytiva. Cytiva Unveils Latest Innovation for Large Scale Mab, Vaccine, and Advanced Therapy Manufacturing Processes–The Xcellerex Compact Single-Use Magnetic Mixing System. Press Release. April 16, 2024.
2. Spivey, C. Democratizing GMP Manufacturing for the New Therapeutic Pipeline. PharmTech.com. Nov. 21, 2023.
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