On April 9 2019, American technology company Qualcomm added three new chipsets to its mobile SoC lineup which include the Snapdragon 665, Snapdragon 730 and the Snapdragon 730G. The ‘G’ suffix in the newly launched chipset stands for ‘Gaming’, which means that the Snapdragon 730G is intended for gaming smartphones. Overall, the company claims that the aforementioned chipsets will primarily focus on Artificial Intelligence, Camera and Gaming.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 665
The Snapdragon 665 chipset is the base model in the lineup unveiled on April 9, however, it has significant improvements over the Snapdragon 660. The new 11nm chipset comprises of an octa-core Kryo 260 CPU. Four cores of the aforementioned 8 cores are dedicated to performance, while the other cores enhance the efficiency of the device, the company claims. For graphics, the chipset packs an Adreno 610 GPU with the Vulkan 1.1 graphics driver. Furthermore, the chipset features Qualcomm aptX Adaptive Audio and Aqstic to improve the gaming experience of the user.
The company has included the Spectra 165 ISP, which integrates support for triple cameras and AI while capturing images. Also, the chipset enables features such as Hybrid autofocus, zero shutter lag and optical zoom, in addition to 48-megapixel image support. The SoC has the third-generation Qualcomm AI Engine, providing support for features such as 3D Face Unlock. Qualcomm claims that the chipset will deliver almost 2x faster AI device processing than the Snapdragon 660. Moreover, the SoC is enabled with Quick Charge 3.0 Fast Charge technology.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 and 730G
Qualcomm made it quite clear that the Snapdragon 665 will be targeted towards smartphones lying in the entry-level segment. For mid-range segment devices, the San-Diego company unveiled the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730, which is built on an 8nm process. Some features that were previously only present on Snapdragon’s 8xx series have been carried over to the Snapdragon 730. The SoC comprises of Kryo 470 octa-core CPU, which have a maximum clock speed of 2.2 GHz. Six cores are dedicated to regulating the power and efficiency of the smartphone, whereas the other two cores are dedicated solely to performance. The chipset has the Adreno 618 GPU, which is claimed by the company to provide a 25% performance boost over its predecessor.
In addition to Qualcomm aptX Adaptive audio and Qualcomm Aqstic audio, the chipset has the Spectra 350 ISP, which features a dedicated Computer Vision ISP. This will enable the capture of 4K HDR videos in portrait mode, that can be further mingled with bokeh effects. The Snapdragon 730 SoC has an inbuilt X15 LTE modem which claims to provide downloads up to 800Mbps. The chipset is Wi-Fi 6 ready and features Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+ technology.
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The Snapdragon 730G shares most of its features and specifications with the 730, but as mentioned before, the ‘G’ means that it has significant upgrades with regard to mobile gaming support. For instance, it features an overclocked version of the Adreno 618 GPU, providing a 15% graphic rendering boost over the Snapdragon 730. The company claims that the gaming-focused chipset can offer True HDR gaming, with more than 1 billion shades of colours. Other features include a “Jank-Reducer” (which reduces game-quality-drops by almost 90 percent during the game), Anti Cheating extensions and an integration to manage Wi-Fi Latency to provide lag-free gameplay experience. Furthermore, the chipset includes support for HD super-slow-motion video recording at 960 fps.
The new lineup includes 2nd Gen AMD Ryzen PRO Mobile Processors (with Radeon Vega GPU) and AMD Athlon PRO mobile processors with a similar VEGA GPU. The primary incorporation of these processors would include premium professional notebooks and everyday-usage notebooks. Also, the company is planning to introduce its new lineup in the upcoming HP and Lenovo notebooks, which will make their way into the market in the second quarter this year. Updates for the same are expected to be released later in the year 2019.
The 12nm mobile processors claim to increase productivity and deliver best-in-class performance. Also, the company states that the AMD Ryzen PRO 3000 series processors offer up to 16% more multi-threader processor performance than other similar processors in the market. Further claims include up to 12 hours of office usage, 14% faster content creation and best-in-grade security features. 
The company stated that there is a huge amount of untapped data and that the company will design hardware that enables its systems to process the generated data in a way that efficiency is maintained. Moreover, Intel believes that new systems are also required to manage the ever-changing workloads and deployment models that drive data-based infrastructure. Consequently, OCP and Intel are working together for the same. Intel claims that it’s expertise in the field of AI and engineering will enable it to produce products and technologies that will lay the foundation for innovation in the aforementioned field.
As per the event, Intel’s new cloud-optimized setup for the Xeon processors will have a 4-socket reference design. This will enable the processor to get its core count up to 112 in a singular 2U platform and greatly boost memory bandwidth. Companies like Dell, HP, Lenovo and Quanta will probably deliver new cloud-optimized Xeon processors based on the preceding reference design. They might make their way into markets by the end of the year 2019.
Intel has announced that it will team up with online social media and networking giant, Facebook to work on Intel’s upcoming Cooper Lake 14nm Intel Xeon processor family, which will sport Bfloat 16. Bfloat 16 is a 16-bit floating representation which will boost the performance of deep learning systems by offering a similar dynamic range to the basic 32-bit representations. Doing so will greatly improve the speed of AI deep learning, which in turn will help develop new systems such as recommendation engines, speech recognition and machine translation.
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The ASUS FX705 features a 17.3-inch FHD display, with a 60Hz refresh rate, AMD’s FreeSync and a resolution of 1920 x 1080 px. The laptop runs on the AMD Ryzen 5 3550H, coupled with the Radeon RX 560X GPU. In terms of storage, the FX505 has a 1 TB FireCuda SSHD and up to 512 GB of SSD. The gaming laptop supports up to 32 GB of Dual Channel SDRAM.
The ASUS FX505 is slightly toned down from the FX705. It features a smaller 15.6-inch FHD display, with a 60Hz refresh rate, AMD’s FreeSync (optional) and a resolution of 1920 x 1080 px. The laptop runs on the same AMD Ryzen 5 3550H, paired with the Radeon RX 560X GPU. The FX505 has a 1 TB FireCuda SSHD and up to 512 GB of SSD as per the user’s choice. It also supports up to 32 GB of dual-channel SDRAM. 
Both the laptops have the option of choosing between an illuminated chiclet keyboard or a non-illuminated one. The FX305 and the SX505 have 2W speakers with array microphones to improve sound capturing while streaming. The laptops also have an HD 720p webcam for video calling and streaming. Noteworthy, the FX505 has a 3-cell 48 Wh battery, whereas the FX705 has a 4-cell 64 Wh battery. The gaming laptops meet military-grade MIL-STD-810G standards, which renders them tougher as compared to similarly priced laptops. Also, the FX705 weighs almost 0.4 kg more than the FX505, which weighs at 2.2 kilograms.
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The Jetson Nano sports the CUDA-X AI computer, which brings accelerated computing to the platform. CUDA-X AI is a collection of software acceleration libraries designed on the NVIDIA’s programming model. The company claims that it delivers 472 GFLOPS of performance for AI-based computing. Remarkably, the CUDA-X consumes only 5 watts of power for operation.
The company also states that the chip has upgraded power management, clocking, memory and accessible input/outputs. It features Jetpack SDK, which is also designed on CUDA-X and has libraries for deep learning, computer vision, graphics and multimedia processing. It runs the Linux OS, which is fully compatible with NVIDIA’s AI platform. Moreover, NVIDIA includes a reference platform called JetBot to reduce the time taken for initial hardware assembly. All of the aforementioned source codes are available on Github, the company says.
The Jetson Nano runs on the quad-core ARM A57 CPU and a 128 core NVIDIA Maxwell based GPU. It supports 4K/60fps video modules. It has support for 4GB LPDDR4 memory with transfer rates of up to 25.6 Gbps, and a Gigabit Ethernet port for connectivity. As mentioned before, it runs Linux for Tegra. The module measures at 70mm x 45mm, whereas the whole devkit measures at 100mm x 80mm. 
The Alienware Area 51m has a modern design, which is referred to by the company as a “Legend” design. The RGB enabled laptop supports customizable lighting, which means that users can adjust the colour scheme of the keyboard, mousepad, the power button, the logo and the rear air vents separately. Using AlienFX lighting, users can design custom profiles and assign them to hotkeys for convenient switching.
Dell states that Alienware Area 51m uses the company’s proprietary cooling technology called Cryo-Tech v2.0, which sports a dual-intake design, high voltage driving fans and load-balancing heat pipes to optimize component cooling. The laptop also has a honeycomb thermal pattern which helps in increasing airflow, the company claims. Moreover, the laptop is made out of magnesium alloy to increase rigidity.
Users can upgrade their drives while customizing the laptop online to include even more memory options. The company claims that the level of customization present in the Area 51m is unlike any other gaming laptop in the market.
The Area 51m has the following ports
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The GX531 features a 15.6 inch Full HD IPS display, with 144 Hz refresh rate, 3 ms response time and full VR compatibility. It packs an Intel Core i7-8750H hexa-core processor clocked at 2.2 GHz, which can be overclocked to 3.9 GHz. The laptop is kitted with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, which has 8 GB of GDDR6 VRAM. Furthermore, the GX531 has 8 GB of onboard DDR4 RAM, with expansion support up to 24 GB. It has two M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 slots and a 512 GB SSD.
The gaming laptop doesn’t sport a mechanical keyboard, however, it has a Backlit Chiclet Keyboard with N key rollover. The Zephyrus S GX531 supports Aura Sync, using which users can synchronize RGB lighting patterns across the supported peripherals. It has two 2W speakers with an Array Microphone. Interestingly, the laptop is bundled with a webcam (for streaming or video calling) that can be attached to any part of the laptop for preferred angle capturing. In terms of ports, it is fitted with 1 x USB3.1 Gen2 Type-C port, 1x USB3.1 Gen 1 Type C port, 1x USB3.1 Gen2 Type A port, 2x USB 2.0 Type A ports, 1x HDMI 2.0b port, 1x 3.5mm headphone and microphone combo jack and 1x Kensington lock. The laptop weighs at 2.1 kilograms
The GX701 gaming laptop sports a 17.3 inch Full HD IPS display, with 144 Hz refresh rate, 3 ms response time and VR compatibility. Under the hood, It packs an Intel Core i7-8750H hexa-core processor clocked at 2.2 GHz, which can be overclocked to 3.9 GHz. For graphics, the laptop is kitted with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080, which has 8 GB of GDDR6 VRAM. The GX701 has 8 GB of onboard DDR4 SDRAM, with expansion support up to 24 GB. It has four M.2 NVMe PCI-E 3.0 slots and a 1TB SSD. 
The ROG Strix SCAR II laptops are specifically designed for Esports, the company states. It has a 15.6 inch Non-Glare Full HD IPS Panel with 144 Hz Refresh rate and 3 ms response time. It packs an Intel Core i7-8750H hexa-core processor clocked at 2.2 GHz, which can be overclocked to 3.9 GHz. The laptop features the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, which has 8 GB of GDDR6 VRAM. The GX701 has 8 GB of onboard (dual channel) DDR4 SDRAM, with expansion support up to 32 GB. It has a M.2 NVMe PCIE 3.0 slot and a 512GB SSD, along with a 1TB FireCuda SSHD (Solid State Hybrid Drive).
In addition to a backlit chiclet keyboard, the SCAR II’s keyboard has 4 extra hotkeys, which can be used to increase/decrease volume, mute the microphone and launching the ROG Armoury Crate (ASUS software to optimize games and save RGB profiles). The laptop has two 3.5W speakers with Smart AMP technology and features a similar webcam attachment to the GX531 and GX701. In terms of ports, it houses 1x USB3.1 Gen2 Type-C port, 2x USB3.1 Gen 1 Type C port, 1x USB3.1 Gen2 Type A port, 1 x mDP 1.2 port, 2x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type A ports, 1x HDMI 2.0b port, 1x RJ-45 Jack, 1x SD card reader, 1x 3.5mm headphone and microphone combo jack and 1x Kensington lock. It weighs at 2.4kg.
