Part 1. Vocabulary
|
abate (abating) |
/əˈbāt/ v. - to
reduce in amount, degree, intensity, etc.; lessen; diminish: to abate a
tax; to abate
one's enthusiasm. |
|
sniper |
/ˈsnīpər/ n. - a person
who shoots from a hiding place, especially accurately and at long range: He was shot and fatally injured by
a sniper. |
|
deja vu |
/ˌdāZHä
ˈvo͞o/ n. - the strange feeling that
in some way you have already experienced what is happening now: When I met her,
I had a strange feeling of déjà vu. |
|
ramp |
/ramp/ n. - an artificial slope: I pushed the wheelchair up
the ramp and into the supermarket. |
|
latency |
/ˈlātənsē/ n. - the
time it takes for data to pass from one point on a network to another. [delay] "poor
performance due to network latency" |
Part 2. Comprehension Questions
What is the long-standing competition between Samsung
Electronics and Apple?
What is Apple unveiling about its new products?
How did Samsung respond to Apple’s new products?
What are the refresh rates for premium smartphones?
What is the recent data by market tracker Display Supply
Chain Consultants regarding smartphones?
Part 3. Article
The long-standing competition between mobile device
manufacturing giants Samsung Electronics and Apple shows no signs of abating as
both companies are bringing high-end smartphones to market.
At Apple's event to unveil its new iPhones, iPads and Apple Watch held Sept.
14, the company said its new A15 "Bionic processor" performs better
than its competitors.
In response, Samsung seems to have indirectly criticized Apple by posting a sniper
post via its social media channel claiming the new iPhone 13 comes with no
innovation.
"Anyone else feeling deja vu? Just us?" Samsung Electronics' U.S.
branch said on Twitter as Apple was announcing its new phones.
Samsung's U.S. branch added, "Now how much cooler would that be if it
could fold in half?" pointing to the relative lack of design innovation
from previous iPhones.
The tweet was interpreted by some as Samsung using criticism of the new Apple
products as an opportunity to draw customer attention to its newly launched
foldable phones ― the Galaxy Z Fold3 and the Galaxy Z Flip3, which were
released in August.
Samsung further mentioned that the new iPhone's ProMotion display feature that
can ramp up the device's display refresh rate to up to 120 hertz (Hz), or down
to a lower rate for text and still images, saying "We've been refreshing
at 120Hz for a while now…" Samsung has offered 120 hertz refresh rate
displays on its devices since the Galaxy S20 smartphone that was released last
year.
As a high refresh rate enables smoother scrolling and clearer images while
decreasing signal latency, refresh rates of 90Hz or higher have become the
standard for premium smartphones.
Apple said of its new iPhone, equipped with the A15 Bionic
processor ― that has nearly 15 billion transistors ― "It's the fastest CPU
in any smartphone, up to 50 percent faster than our leading competitor. For
graphics intensive tasks like advanced games, the A15 Bionic features our
latest 4-core GPU, enabling more eye-catching visuals and lighting effects. It
delivers up to 30 percent faster graphics versus our leading competitor,"
the company said.
It remains to be seen whether Samsung will be able to rebuild its status as a
premium phone smartphone maker with its new foldable phones. In Korea, the
Galaxy Z Flip3 has been drawing huge popularity for its distinguished exterior
design and convenient folding feature.
According to recent data by market tracker Display Supply Chain Consultants,
shipments of foldable smartphones are expected to reach 2.6 million in the
third quarter, a whopping 480 percent increase compared to the same period last
year.
By Baek Byung-yeul. https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/tech/2021/09/133_315725.html