AMD Announces Partnership With MediaTek With Development Of RZ600 Series Wi-Fi 6E Modules

AMD and MediaTek recently confirmed their partnership with each other by announcing that they are currently developing a new series of Wi-Fi 6E modules, dubbed the RZ600 series. The new Wi-Fi modules are expected to appear in next-generation Ryzen-powered laptops, as well as desktop PC components, starting in 2022 and well into the future.

The RZ600 Series Wi-Fi 6E modules will comprise two models: the RZ616 and RZ608, and both modules will house MediaTek’s Fliogic 330P chipset. Specs-wise, both modules will support the latest Wi-Fi 6E 2×2 and the latest Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity standards. What sets the two apart lies in the supported channels: the RZ616 module will support the new 6GHz spectrum at 160MHz channel bandwidths, with PHY rates of up to 2.4Gbps. The RZ608 module, on the other hand, supports the 6GHz spectrum at bandwidths up to 80MHz, and just half the maximum PHY rate of the RZ616, at 1.2Gbps.

On top of that, the new RZ600 series modules are small and M.2-ready, with the RZ616 available in two sizes, 2230 and 1216, while the RZ608 is only available in the 2230 configuration.

We’ve mentioned in the past that this isn’t the first AMD and MediaTek have gotten into bed together. To that end, the RZ608 module has already been around for a while and was ultimately rebranded as the MediaTek MT7921K. On that note, it is possible that the RZ608 module being listed here is an updated version of the original that only supported Wi-Fi 6 and not Wi-Fi 6E.

Also, in the case of MediaTek, the semiconductor maker has been around the block with several other major technology brands, including NVIDIA and Google.

Rumour Suggests Huawei And Leica Partnership To End After P50 Series’ Release

The newly established partnership between Sharp and Leica that was revealed earlier, along with the unveiling of the Aquos R6 smartphone may come as a surprise for many. This is the first time for the German camera maker to collaborate with another smartphone brand after exclusively partnering with Huawei since 2016. However, Leica’s contract with the Chinese tech giant may finally come to an end later this year, according to a recent rumour.

This information comes from Finnish leakster Teme (aka @RODENT50) via Twitter, who said that the partnership will end after the release of Huawei’s P50 flagships which are said to be officially unveiled in July. The most possible reason that comes to mind to why Leica may be considering ending this deal is the ongoing US sanctions imposed on the Chinese company. This has drastically impacted Huawei, causing it to cut down on smartphone production due to the shortage of supplies, especially semiconductors. This is quite apparent as aside from the upcoming P50 series, the company has not unveiled or released any other smartphone model in 2021.

Although this may seem like an impending end of a six-year partnership between the two companies, there’s a chance that Teme’s information is inaccurate. Interestingly, the leakster followed-up on this tweet a few days after, stating that the Leica-Huawei collaboration could still continue even after the release of the P50 series. He also noted that the camera maker’s new partnership with Sharp will not affect its relationship with the Chinese giant as multi-branded deals are quite common in the smartphone industry. For instance, optical systems manufacturer Zeiss to this date has partnered with three smartphone makers, namely Sony, Vivo and Nokia.

Regardless, we highly advise our readers to take this information with a pinch of salt. And this isn’t the first time that the Leica-Huawei partnership is rumoured to be expired either. Chinese tech insider Digital Chat Station also suggested the same insight on Weibo in late 2020, which was shot down by both companies in their own respective statements. This then resulted in the leakster to delete his post on the Chinese social media platform soon after.

Facebook Expands Partnership With Spotify Through Project Boombox

Facebook is reportedly interested in expanding its partnership with the online music streaming service, Spotify, through a new initiative, known simply as “Project Boombox”.

According to Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, the social network plans on building an “in-line” audio player, designed to allow listeners to hear songs or playlists, shared directly from its own platform, instead of redirecting them to the Spotify app or webpage. Further, Zuckerberg says that Project Boombox will also be designed for creators on the platform, while giving musicians the ability to share their work.

Other details suggest that Project Boombox will support both music and podcasts, and has already been tested in countries outside of the US, including Mexico and Thailand. As for when the new platform will be available, sources says that Facebook and Spotify could launch the new player, possibly by the end of the month.

Facebook enhancing Spotify’s service on the latter’s platform isn’t groundbreaking. Prior to this, the streaming service also integrated its service with Facebook’s Instagram Stories, which itself is a carry forward from Facebook Stories.

OnePlus 9 Series Launching On 23 March; Hasselblad Partnership Confirmed

OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has announced via the brand’s official forums that the latest OnePlus 9 series will be launching on 23 March. Lau also confirmed that OnePlus has signed a three-year partnership with Swedish camera maker Hasselblad to co-develop the imaging system for the upcoming smartphones as well as its future flagship devices.

Hasselblad is known to manufacture medium format cameras for both photography and video production. As emphasised in the recent promotional material for the upcoming OnePlus 9 series, the camera maker’s biggest accomplishment is the use of its 500 EL Data Camera models in several NASA moon missions – producing iconic photographs such as “Earthrise” by US astronaut William Anders during the Apollo 8 moon orbiter mission, and “First Footprint on the Moon” by Buzz Aldrin during the historical Apollo 11 moon landing mission.

According to Lau, both OnePlus and Hasselblad have been working closely together to create a new colour solution known as Natural Color Calibration with Hasselblad, which will serve as a new standard for all future OnePlus smartphone camera systems – starting with the OnePlus 9 series. The CEO promises that the new joint-developed imaging system on the new flagships will produce images with higher quality, sharper detail, and accurate colours.

While three years does seem pretty short for a major partnership such as this, the duration makes sense in a business and development perspective. OnePlus isn’t particularly known for the photography performance of its smartphones, and Hasselblad’s first foray into the mobile scene with Motorola in 2017 wasn’t as groundbreaking as most would’ve hoped. Therefore, playing it safe with a three-year deal is sufficient for both companies in order to determine whether the results of their collaboration are deemed significant, let alone profitable. Of course, we can expect the partnership to be extended longer should this end up being a success.

In the same forum post, Lau also confirmed that the upcoming OnePlus 9 series’ cameras will feature a custom Sony IMX789 for the main sensor, 12-bit RAW support for stills, a panoramic camera with 140-degree FOV (field of view), and a freeform lens for its ultra-wide camera that eliminates edge distortion. Video-wise, the series is capable of recording 4K footage at 120 fps and 8K at 30 fps, and also better HDR videos via the Hasselblad Camera for Mobile solution.

Aside from featuring the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset, other specifications of the OnePlus 9 series are still kept under wraps at this time. Unofficial sources suggest that the flagships may come with a 6.55-inch display with 120Hz refresh rate, dual stereo speakers, and a 4,500mAh battery with fast charging support at 65W for wired and 40W wireless.

The company will reveal more details regarding the upcoming OnePlus 9 series and its partnership with Hasselblad via a virtual launch on 23 March at 10pm. The event will be streamed live through the company’s official website, as well as its social media channels.