The mobile world might be talking about the newly-launched Snapdragon 820, powering the latest devices like the LG G5 and some variants of the Samsung Galaxy S7, but today Qualcomm made the promise of real desktop-rivalling power in its next-gen Snapdragon chipset.


There's a big divide in virtual reality devices at the moment. There are mobile devices powered by your smartphone, like Samsung's Gear VR, and then there's desktop solution, like Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

The former is compact and mobile, using the power of a smartphone chipset to power the experience, the latter connected to a desktop computer.

Talking about HTC Vive, Chet Faliszek from Valve told us that he expected it to be tethered "for a long time", saying that you needed dual streams of 90fps content heading to the displays for each eye and that an untethered solution couldn't deliver that. Most smartphone displays run at 60fps.

Qualcomm today claimed that they would be able to cut the umbilical to the desktop computer with next-generation Qualcomm Snapdragon hardware.

Talking in a Q&A session at the opening of Mobile World Congress 2016, Steve Mollenkopf, Qualcomm CEO, said that "next-gen snapdragon will bring a lot of desktop type scenarios in mobile devices," and that Qualcomm recognised that in many cases, GPU enhancement was more important that CPU.

He continued, saying that a system on chip, i.e., like a Snapdragon chipset, has an advantage because it can more easily synchronise audio and video, something that's important for an immersive VR experience.

"We see no limitation," said Christiano Amon, executive vice president, Qualcomm.

However, today's top-tier virtual reality system, like HTC Vive, isn't necessarily the end point for VR. Qualcomm might be able to power a similar system with its next-gen mobile hardware, but VR will probably keep moving apace.

Every year Samsung uses the MWC to launch its latest smart-phones. And this year is no exception. Samsung unveiled its new flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S7, at this year's show. The Galaxy S7 sports a 5.1-inch display with curved edges.

The fifth-generation mobile network technology will amp up transmission speeds. In fact, 4G lets us stream our Internet videos but the 5G will make virtual reality go mainstream. Huawei and Ericsson both are vying for large contracts to upgrade existing operator networks. That's despite the fact that the new 5G technology won't be widely available for several years.

Lenovo always has a strong presence at MWC, and this year the electronics giant is showing off a slew of new laptops, tablets and smart phones. Huawei's MWC exhibit includes smart phones, wearables and even a hybrid laptop-tablet. Huawei has declared its ambition to overtake Apple in the smartphone market and eventually to become the world's largest smartphone maker.

Xiaomi Global Vice President Hugo Barra took to the stage to introduce the new Mi 5, which will arrive in three versions, the most expensive of which will have a ceramic body and house 4 GB of RAM.

Sony: Xperia X series and new gadgets 

X series smartphones

Sony gave us some big news at its MWC event. It revealed three new smartphones that form the Xperia X series. They are called the Xperia X, the Xperia XA and the Xperia X Performance, and all three were unveiled in a short and sweet press event with few theatrics.

All the Xperia X series smartphones all have 5-inch 1,080p screens. The Xperia X is designed to appeal to smartphone photography enthusiasts, with its 23 MP main camera and a 13 MP front camera, both of which have fast auto-focus and a quick launch feature. The Xperia X could be released at the end of May.

Design is the big draw of the Xperia XA. It looks similar to the Z3+, with its rounded frame, slim profile (7.9 mm) and almost edge-free display. The camera and hardware are not as exciting as the Xperia X's but, with its price predicted to be as low as US$330, it costs about half as much. It's suspected that the Xperia XA release date will fall in late March. 

LG: G5

The LG G5 was made official at MWC 2016. The G5 introduced a number of new and interesting features including the so-called 'magic slot' for quickly switching out its removable battery, and the always-on display, which allows you to see notifications (and more) without unlocking the device.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the launch of Start-up India, Stand-up India initiative last year in the 69th Independence Day address. More recently, on January 16, PM Modi unveiled the action plan for this initiative urging the youth of the country to become job-creators instead of job-seekers.

The highlights of the Start-up India Action plan can be important for your upcoming competitive exams. Therefore, in today's article let us take a look at some of the key points of the Start -up India Action Plan.

Background:

On January 16, Prime Minster Modi unveiled a 19 point Start -up India Action Plan at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi, with the view to boost entrepreneurship at the grass-root level in India. As per data released by NASSCOM, 80,000 jobs had been created in the country by Start-up's last year alone and the number of investors too, doubled from 220 to 490. Taking a cue from these developments, the Start-up India Action Plan included creation of 100 billion rupee fund, tax breaks, and steps to enhance ease of doing business for companies and investors among other concessions.

Here's a list of 19 key points of the Start -up India Action Plan:

1. Start-up Fund: A dedicated start-up fund to promote start-ups would be established with an initial corpus of Rs. 2,500 crore and total corpus of Rs.10,000 crore over the four years. The fund would be managed by private professionals from the industry while LIC will be a co-investor in the fund.

2. Simplified process for Start-up: Start-ups will be able to set up by simply filling short forms though mobile app and online portal. The mobile app is to go live in April 2016, and act as a window for information exchange and interaction with government and regulatory bodies. It would help start a new company in a single day as all paperwork would be filed through the mobile app and portal.

3. Start-up Hub: A start-up India Hub will be created, which will serve as a single point of contact for the entire start-up ecosystem and facilitate access to funding and exchange of knowledge.

4.Compliance regime based on self certification: A self-certification based compliance system for start-ups would be introduced for 9 labour and environment laws. The objective is to reduce the regulatory burden on startups and would apply to laws like payment of gratuity, contract labour, employees provident fund, water and air pollution acts.

5.Credit Guarantee Fund: A credit guarantee mechanism through National Credit Guarantee Trust Company/SIDBI is being envisaged with a budgetary allocation of Rs 500 crore per year for the next four years to promote entrepreneurship.

6.Tax Exemption for Start-ups: No Income tax for the first three years for start-ups set up after April 1st, 2016.

7.Exemption from Capital Gains Tax: Start-ups would be taxed at a lower rate on long-term capital gains in unlisted entities.

8.Tax exemption on investments above Fair Market Value: Exemption would be available to venture capital funds to invest in start-ups above fair market value (FMV). It would also include investments made by incubators above FMV.

9. Fast track Patent protection application for start-ups: The Government will generate awareness regarding adoption of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) by startups and will help them protect and commercialise IPRs. Also, patent applications of start-ups will be fast tracked for examination and disposal.

10. Panel to aid in legal support and assist in filing patent application: A panel will aid start-ups with legal support and assistance in filing of patent application. Government appointed facilitators shall help start-ups in filing and disposal of patent application and the cost would be borne by the government.

11. 35 new incubators in institutions: A maximum, funding support of 40 % or Rs 10 crore would be given by the Central Government to develop new incubators in existing institutions. The rest 40% of funding would come from the respective state government and another 20% from private sector.

12. 7 new research parks: Modelled on the research parks in IIT- Madras, 7 such new parks would be set up. Of these parks, six in IITs, one in IISc with an initial investment of Rs 100 crore each. These research parks will enable companies with research focus on setting up base and leverage the expertise of academic/research institution.

13.Promote entrepreneurship in biotechnology: Five new bio clusters, 50 new bio incubators, 150 technology transfer offices and 20 bio connect offices will be established.

14. Innovation focused programmes for students: Innovation core program would be initiated to target school kids from five lakh schools. A Grand Challenge Program would be held to support and award Rs 10 lakhs to 20 student innovations from Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centres. With the view to promote innovation among students, Uchhattar Avishkar Yojana, has been earmarked with Rs 250 crore per annum aimed at fostering 'very high quality' research.

15. Atal Innovation Mission: The Mission is aimed at entrepreneurship promotion via:

* Establishment of sector specific incubators

* Establishment of 500 tinkering labs with 3D printers in universities

* Pre-incubation training to potential entrepreneurs

* Strengthening of existing incubation facilities

* Seed funding to high growth startups

16. Relaxed norms of public procurement for start-ups: With regards to public procurement start-ups (especially in the manufacturing sector) start-ups will get a level playing field with experienced companies.

17. 80 per cent rebate on filing patent applications by start-ups: With the view to enable start-ups to reduce costs in their formative years, start-ups would be provided with an 80% rebate in filing patents vis-a-vis other companies.

18. Start-up fest: Start-up fest will be organised with the view to showcase innovation and provide a platform for collaboration to start-ups.

19. Faster Exit for Start-ups: With the view to facilitate easy exit for start-ups, provisions for fast-tracking closure of businesses have been included in the insolvency and Bankruptcy Bill, 2015. Start-ups, who have simple debt structures, can be allowed to wind up within a period of 90 days after filing an application

At present, India has 4,200 start-ups and is ranked 3rd globally in terms of number of start-ups. The Start-up India initiative has been launched not just to ensure ease of doing business or to clear regulatory hurdles alone but also to act as a catalyst in the Indian start-up ecosystem and to promote cutting edge innovation in India.