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Comment Complete BS (Score 4, Informative) 50

I was at the Global Foundries event and the keynote, no such thing was said. The Keynote recordings did not say that either, Tesla was mentioned as an example but the article is badly off base, so badly that it seems intentional. I checked with the speakers in question, other journalists, and the PR people at the show, ALL confirmed the story was not true and what was claimed to have been said was not.

            -Charlie

Comment Also.... (Score 5, Insightful) 160

Also, no known useful software works on Windows 10 S either. Quite the tradeoff.

Before you scoff at this as random trolling, think about what the odds are that Adobe, Autocad, and any real software packages are going to take a 30% haircut required by the MS store to run on this turkey. Sure MS programs will be there but Steam worn't be, nor will much else useful other than a sub-section of Windows Phone apps.

But no malware as of today will run. They said the same thing about Windows 8.x upon release. And Windows 7, and.....

Comment One up side (Score 5, Funny) 327

There is one real up side to this. Microsoft as you know only puts out small, efficient updates in the minimal needed package sizes. This should be great comfort to users on metered connections, they are only being lovingly graced with the minimum needed amount of bytes. Can you imagine if Microsoft was one of those companies that pushed out near-daily 100+MB behemoths to update a spelling error in notepad's FAQ? Luckily they don't do this, and we all win!

                    -Charlie

Note: Yes this is sarcasm. If you didn't get that by the 19th word, go play with some tiles.

Comment Smart cables (Score 1) 90

The cables have an ID chip in them that will specify their rating as to amps and voltage, plus a few other things. If you read my USB-PD story linked above, you will get the details. In short both ends start at the USB base and negotiate up their capabilities for voltage and amperage for send, receive, or both. They will do this within the bounds of the cable connecting them, and while both sides have limited capabilities to sense the cable properties, they really depend on the USB-PD ID chip.

This ID chip is of course counterfeit-proof, something we know that low end manufacturers are not capable of cloning or getting around in, oh, say, 12 seconds. So in short DO NOT BUY CHEAP/NO-NAME USB-PD CABLES FROM EVEN A POSSIBLY QUESTIONABLE SOURCE. Amazon, I am looking at you. Really. 100W = big fire quickly.

            -Charlie

Comment Re:Google is being dumb (Score 1) 90

Basically yes, but not necessarily operating the phone circuit at optimal efficiency. I think it is engineered to charge the battery as quickly as possible while minimizing damage/degradation to the cells. The charger circuitry efficiency is a big concern too, but secondary to preserving the cell life. That said this problem is optimization on a dozen axis or more, not just A vs B.

              -Charlie

Comment Re:Never fast enough will lead to disaster. (Score 1) 90

The GN7 used QC2 from what I understand, likely because of their decision to split the GS7's SoC between QC and Samsung parts. I know that the phone version used QC2 because of lowest common denominator support and I am fairly sure that carried over to the Note.

That said the problem with the GN7's fires was not a battery defect but a manufacturing/assembly problem where the batteries were physically damaged and 'crimped' to the point where they internally shorted. I should be talking to someone today who probably knows if the QC-like tech has the ability to detect and stop this. I doubt it, but I am going to ask anyway.

                  -Charlie

Comment Re:Google is being dumb (Score 1) 90

Yes. First see what the guy below said (currently ranked 0 but worth a read), and then there is the responsiveness. USB-PD doesn't have the granularity and speed to deliver power in a way that won't hurt the battery. It can't shift quickly enough of finely enough to avoid hurting the battery. Could you do the same with USB-PD? Eventually yes, but it is really designed for charging laptops and powering big monitors, not for careful charging of mobile devices.

As was said below, you effectively have to dissipate the pressure of the firehose from USB-PD, QC3 and possibly others allow you to modify the inputs to your requirements from the source. This allows you to both match your input requirements precisely and to avoid generating heat at the source (charger) rather than on the device itself. Heat is REALLY bad for battery life, that alone makes schemes like QC3 worth it.

              -Charlie

Comment Google is being dumb (Score 2) 90

Both are fine but they don't actually address what QC3 does, they just deliver more juice. QC3 will change voltage in 200mV increments on the fly, allow 2 chargers for lower temps and better heat distribution, and actively monitor the battery for conditions which degrade life. There is a lot more to it, but pushing more wattage through USB-PD is REALLY BAD FOR BATTERY LIFE. I wrote up some pretty in-depth articles on both USB-PD and QC3 lined below if you care.

This is the long way of saying what Google is asking for is idiotic. If you look at the size of modern batteries and the rate at which USB-C can deliver power, we are bordering on all-night charges already. If you up the delivered power via PD, you will not meet the 500 charge minimum life carriers demand thus not sell any phones. Worse yet that number is about to go to 800 really soon if it is not already there. Plus you will have people pissed off that their phone is drawing more current than the charger is supplying while plugged in and being used.

In short I question Google's sanity on this one. I am asking around to see what the official take on this is from involved parties, but I suspect the original article's take is way off base. I won't say why yet, I like to know before I mouth off publicly.

              -Charlie

http://semiaccurate.com/2012/0...

http://semiaccurate.com/2015/0...

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