active

Galaxy Watch Active, and Galaxy Fit: A hands-on look at Samsung's new health features

The new Galaxy Watch Active will soon be able monitor your blood pressure.

Angela Lang/CNET

Samsung announced a new line of fitness wearables at its Unpacked event Wednesday in San Francisco; the Galaxy Watch Active smartwatch and the Galaxy Fit and Fit E sports bands. Like the Gear Sport smartwatch that Samsung released in 2017, the new Galaxy Active puts fitness features at the forefront with the ability to monitor blood pressure. But unlike its predecessors, it lacks the signature rotating bezel that was a staple of previous Galaxy smartwatches.

The new Galaxy Fit  and Fit E are similar in design and function to the Gear Fit2 Pro bands, with a rectangular screen that curves around the band. Samsung inadvertently leaked the watch, bands and earbuds in an update to the company's Galaxy Wearable app the week before the Feb. 20 event and have been making their rounds online.

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The new Galaxy Watch Active can charge wirelessly on the back of the new Galaxy S10 and S10 Plus.

James Martin/CNET Design and UI

The Galaxy Watch Active looks and feels like a slimmed-down version of last year's Galaxy Watch -- just without the rotating bezel. It has two buttons on the side and a thin aluminum frame that comes in four different metallic finishes: black, silver, rose gold and sea green with swappable rubber bands.

It has a slightly smaller footprint than previous Galaxy smartwatches with a 40mm watch face. The color 1.1-inch (28mm) always-on display has a 360x360-pixel resolution. Like previous Galaxy smartwatches, the Active runs Samsung's own Tizen-based wearable operating system 4.0 that's compatible with both Android and IOS devices.

During my hands-on time in the demo room, I was able to compare the Galaxy Watch Active to the traditional Galaxy Watch, and though the screen felt smaller and I missed the rotating bezel, it did feel a lot lighter and more comfortable on my wrist. I would definitely prefer it over the regular Watch for working out. The interface looked very similar to that of the Galaxy Watch with the same customizable widgets, swipe, long press, and tap to control, minus the option to scroll with the bezel, which I didn't mind too much. In fact it was easier to swipe on the screen without the metal bezel getting in the way. 

The Galaxy Fit comes in black and silver finishes and has full-color AMOLED display. The  Fit E is smaller and comes in black, white and yellow. Both run a stripped-down version of Samsung's wearable operating system.

Health and fitness features

The Galaxy Watch Active comes loaded with health and fitness tools to help you take charge of your well-being and will be the first Samsung wearable with the ability to monitor blood pressure. Starting March 15, you'll be able to download Samsung's My BP Lab App, a research app  that first showed up on last year on the Galaxy S9, S9+ and Note 9  and was developed in partnership with the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) to track blood pressure. Once you download the app, you'll be asked to opt in to be part of their research study and share your data. Samsung hasn't provided any more details on how it'll actually work on the Watch, but we'll be updating this article with more information in the coming weeks. 

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The Active automatically detect six different activities such as cycling, running and swimming without the need to start them manually from the workout app. It call also track 39 more, ranging from outdoor activities to gym routines. It also lets you install third-party apps such as Strava and Under Armour to track activities. You can also download Spotify and other music apps to add some beats to your sweat sessions.

The new Galaxy Watch Active (left) compared to the original Galaxy Watch (right). 

Angela Lang/CNET

The Galaxy Fit and Fit E have a similar automatic workout detection feature or you can chose from one of 90 different workout options manually from the Samsung Health app on your phone. 

The Watch Active, Fit and Fit E have a 5 ATM rating so you can safely take them for a dip in the pool or ocean and theoretically submerge them up to 50 meters (165 feet). But they shouldn't be used for scuba diving.

Like previous Galaxy wearables, the Watch Active and the Fit have optical heart rate sensors on their back used for calculating calories and continuous monitoring heart-rate during exercise. Both devices can also use the heart-rate monitor to keep tabs on stress levels and include breathing exercises. You can even wear them to bed to track both the quality and duration of your slumber.

Under the hood Processor and battery

The Galaxy Watch Active has a dual-core 9110 Exynos chipset with 4GB of onboard storage, 728MB of RAM and a 230mAh battery. The Galaxy Fit has a 120mAh battery, which Samsung says can last up to a week on a single charge.

Other features

The new wearables are Wi-Fi only and need to be paired with a phone (Android or iOS). They include Samsung Pay for mobile payments with NFC (not MST technology), which means they'll only work on NFC-enabled credit card terminals. The Gear Sport and Galaxy Watch were also NFC-only, but the previous Gear S3 and Samsung's smartphones were equipped with MST technology allowing you to use them with any regular credit card terminal with a magnetic strip.

The Watch Active will be able to charge wirelessly on the back of the new Galaxy S10.

Price and availability

Perhaps one of the most impressive Galaxy Watch Active features is the $200 price tag. That's about $100 cheaper than the Gear Sport and Galaxy Watch were at launch, neither of which monitored blood pressure. The cheapest Apple Watch (the Series 3 from 2017) retails for about $279 in the Apple store.

The Galaxy Watch Active will be available for preorder starting Feb. 21 and will ship March 8. If you preorder the Watch you'll receive a free wireless charging pad with your purchase.

The Galaxy Fit is $99, but it won't be available until this spring.

02

Nokia and Vodafone collaborate on active antennas to boost 5G radio capacity and reduce costs

 Press Release 

·  Real-world network measurement data verifies ability of Machine Learning to boost 5G massive MIMO capacity and RFIC based massive MIMO active antenna applicability to urban macro coverage.

             

24 February 2019

Espoo, Finland - At Mobile World Congress 2019, Nokia and Vodafone will demonstrate two massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (mMIMO) innovations to improve 5G capacity and performance. The companies will jointly showcase how 5G services can be delivered using low power, compact form factor and more easily deployed RFIC based mMIMO antennas, which reduce Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) compared to conventional mMIMO antennas. They will also demonstrate an industry-first Machine Learning powered scheduler for 5G massive MIMO, which can improve radio resource management and boost 5G radio performance.

Massive MIMO active antennas are essential for achieving the very high capacity potential of 5G radio. However, deploying the initial Massive MIMO products might be challenging on typical busy base station sites due to their size, weight and power consumption. Furthermore, optimizing the operation and performance of multiple antenna elements is extremely complex.

Vodafone and Nokia have jointly conducted extensive simulation studies concluding that the RFIC1 based Nokia mMIMO active antenna is a more suitable solution to those challenges than the other radio solutions like for example using passive antennas and remote radio heads. The RFIC based Nokia mMIMO active antenna is an industry first solution to implement mass-manufactured terminal technology for more flexible, lower impact mMIMO antenna solutions. Vodafone will be the first mobile operator in Europe to field-test the Nokia active antennas incorporating RFIC.

Rapid mobile data traffic growth and 5G's ability to prioritize different performance parameters, such as capacity, coverage, reliability and latency, make optimization and radio resource management (RRM) a constantly changing challenge. Machine Learning (ML) algorithms reduce the complexity as well as the amount of processing capacity and other resources needed.

The ML-powered mMIMO scheduler for RRM and optimization can substantially improve 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) performance by optimally allocating radio resources (e. g. large numbers of antennas/beams/layers) to users and simplify the operation of 5G mMIMO. Nokia has developed the ML-powered scheduler and supporting architecture in collaboration with Vodafone, which provided relevant anonymized real-world data from its network. The scheduler solves the highly complex task of mMIMO scheduling in real-time to provide superior 5G user experiences.

The fruitful collaboration between Nokia and Vodafone started a year ago, initially focusing on enhanced RRM using ML for Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) optimization. This has now reached a proof of concept using Nokia commercial hardware and leveraging analysis of anonymized data provided from Vodafone network.

Santiago Tenorio, Head of network strategy and architecture, Vodafone Group said: "Vodafone is a technology leader in the development of 5G. These demonstrations of the first intelligent 5G mMIMO scheduler and compact RFIC mMIMO active antenna underline the importance of our strategic collaboration with Nokia. The technologies will help us to accelerate Vodafone 5G in global markets to provide superior customer experiences by introducing new services based on high capacity, extreme reliability and ultra-low latency."   Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia said: "Implementing the ML-powered 5G mMIMO scheduler and RFIC mMIMO adaptive antenna, as part of the Nokia end-to-end 5G portfolio, will ultimately help our customers achieve wider coverage, higher capacity and easier operations of their 5G service deployments. Both innovations are applicable to Nokia radio network hardware, such as AirScale Base Stations and AirScale Active Antennas."

Notes1 Part of the Nokia Reefshark chipset family, RFIC (Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit) introduces a higher level of RF integration in a single System on Chip (SoC), which supports ML automation via analog sensing and digital logic for optimized real-time active antennas.

Resources             About Nokia

We create the technology to connect the world. We develop and deliver the industry's only end-to-end portfolio of network equipment, software, services and licensing that is available globally. Our customers include communications service providers whose combined networks support 5.7 billion subscriptions, as well as enterprises in the private and public sector that use our network portfolio to increase productivity and enrich lives.

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Through our research teams, including the world-renowned Nokia Bell Labs, we are leading the world to adopt end-to-end 5G networks that are faster, more secure and capable of revolutionizing lives, economies and societies. Nokia adheres to the highest ethical business standards as we create technology with social purpose, quality and integrity. www.nokia.com

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Media Inquiries:NokiaCommunicationsPhone: +358 10 448 4900Email: press.services@nokia.com

03

Vatican sex abuse summit organizer unsure if accused priests still active

© Alessandra Tarantino/Associated Press Sex abuse survivors and members of the group Ending Clergy Abuse hold a wooden cross as they march in downtown Rome on Saturday.

A dramatic feature of the sex abuse summit now underway at the Vatican has been the testimony of eight victims from around the world anonymously recounting their experience of abuse.

But the Vatican has no idea of if the victims' abusers are still active as priests, a main organizer of the summit told CBC News.

Father Hans Zollner told CBC that none of the people who gave testimony at the four-day conference told the Vatican who their abusers were or where their cases had been dealt with.

When asked if the Vatican had looked into whether the priests accused by the victims are still in active ministry, Zollner, a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and president of the Center for the Protection of Minors at the Pontifical Gregorian University, said: "No, they [the victims] have not disclosed it to me and my understanding is that maybe they don't know [if the priests are still active in the Church]. But I can't say because I don't know it."

Zollner said all but one of the victims the Vatican chose to provide testimony to a closed-door room of bishops wanted to protect their anonymity.

"They went to great effort not to reveal any detail," Zollner said. "In some cases the family doesn't know that they have been abused. In some places it would destroy the family. It would destroy their professional career and so forth."

When CBC sent a text message later asking Zollner if he wanted to further comment on his statement that the Vatican had not verified the victims' accounts since none had identified an abuser to the Vatican, he responded that was "not accurate."

When asked to be more specific, his answers were vague.

He said the victims he was in contact with "did not disclose where their proceedings are," adding that the victims were "verified by the people on the ground who had first contact with them."

When asked what that meant, he did not respond.

Marie Collins, an Irish sexual abuse survivor and former member of the Pontifical Commission for Protection of Minors, says the fact that the Vatican does not know if the predatory priests of these eight victims are still active in the Catholic Church undermines the credibility of the whole event.

© Gregorio Borgia/Associated Press Gregorio Borgia/Associated Press

"I find it beyond belief that they could put forward eight survivors and not know who the perpetrators are," said Collins.

"It's not that I'm doubting any of these people. From what I've heard, it sounds like they are genuine survivors," said Collins. "But I'm just totally thrown at the idea that the Vatican would present eight survivors to a conference at this level and not have taken any interest whether their abusers have been removed from ministry or the church or in any way sanctioned. It's mind-boggling."

Survivors' groups have been critical of the way in which the Vatican selected sexual abuse victims to testify at the conference, which has as its theme bringing responsibility, accountability and transparency to how the Catholic Church and its bishops around the world deal with sexual abuse of children by priests.

Pope Francis called the unprecedented meeting of some 200 top bishops, Vatican officials and a small number of nuns to help the church hierarchy confront what he has called the scourge of sexual abuse by the clergy.

© Andrew Medichini/Associated Press Andrew Medichini/Associated Press

Survivors who have gathered outside the conference in Rome this week have called the Vatican's process of selecting victims to testify of their abuse secretive. They've asked why the Vatican presented most survivors in recorded form rather than in person and why organizers chose only people who wished to remain anonymous to recount their abuse by priests.

Marie Collins added she is also concerned about the mental and emotional health of the people the Vatican chose to provide video testimony of their assaults.

"If victims are at the point in their coming to terms with their abuse that they're still unable to name their perpetrator, then in no way should they be asked to do something like this," she said.

When asked by CBC if all the priests accused by the Vatican's selected victims had been permanently removed from active ministry in the Catholic Church, another organizer of the bishops' summit, Archbishop of Malta Charles Scicluna, a former top prosecutor for sex abuse at the Vatican, said, "I do not have that information."

"I will try to find out because that's a very important point," he said. "But I don't know."

He said Zollner was the one who contacted and selected the victims who provided testimony for the first three days of the meetings that ended late Saturday.