Tag Archives: benchmark

WebXPRT’s global reach

on April 27, 2023

In our last blog post, we reflected on the 10-year anniversary of the WebXPRT launch by looking at the consistent growth in the number of WebXPRT runs over the last decade. Today, we wrap up our focus on WebXPRT’s anniversary by sharing some data about the benchmark’s truly global reach.

We occasionally update the community on some of the reach metrics we track by publishing a new version of the “XPRTs around the world” infographic. The metrics include completed test runs, benchmark downloads, and mentions of the XPRTs in advertisements, articles, and tech reviews. This information gives us insight into how many people are using the XPRT tools, and publishing the infographic helps readers and community members see the impact the XPRTs are having around the world.

WebXPRT is our most widely used benchmark by far, and is responsible for much of the XPRT’s global reach. Since February 2013, users have run WebXPRT more than 1,176,000 times. Those test runs took place in over 924 cities located in 81 countries on six continents. Some interesting new locations for completed WebXPRT runs include Rajarampur, Bangladesh; Al Muharraq, Bahrain; Manila, The Philippines; Skopje, Macedonia; and Ljubljana, Slovenia.

We’re pleased that WebXPRT has proven to be a useful and reliable performance evaluation tool for so many people in so many geographically distant locations. If you’ve ever run WebXPRT in a country that is not highlighted in the “XPRTs around the world” infographic, we’d love to hear about it!

Justin

Posted in benchmark, Benchmark metrics, BenchmarkXPRT, Browser-based benchmarks, Cross-platform benchmarks, History of benchmarking, Performance benchmarking | Also tagged BenchmarkXPRT, browser benchmark, browser performance, WebXPRT, WebXPRT 2013, WebXPRT 2015, WebXPRT 3, WebXPRT 4

WebXPRT runs: A decade of growth

By Justin Greene

on April 13, 2023

In our last blog post, we celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the WebXPRT launch by looking back on the WebXPRT team’s accomplishments over the last decade. The incremental steps and milestone improvements we discussed all contributed to carving out a lasting place for WebXPRT in the benchmarking world and helped to grow its reputation for being a reliable, effective, and easy to use measurement tool.

WebXPRT’s growth is most evident when we look at the rising number of completed test runs over the last 10 years. Since the first WebXPRT launch in 2013, we’ve seen a steady increase in the number of tests people are running. To put the increase in perspective, we had more runs last month alone (17,300) than we recorded in the first 10 months that WebXPRT was available (11,984).

That growth has helped us to reach and surpass the million-run mark, but the most exciting aspect of seeing a consistent increase in WebXPRT testing is the knowledge that the benchmark is proving to be useful to more people in more places around the world. In our next blog post, we’ll discuss WebXPRT’s truly global reach and some of the surprising cities and countries where people have been using it to test their gear.

We’re grateful for all the testers that have helped WebXPRT grow during the last decade. If you have any questions or comments about using WebXPRT, let us know!

Justin

Posted in benchmark, Benchmarking, BenchmarkXPRT, Browser-based benchmarks, Cross-platform benchmarks, History of benchmarking, Performance benchmarking, WebXPRT, WebXPRT 2013, WebXPRT 2015, WebXPRT 3, WebXPRT 4 | Also tagged BenchmarkXPRT, WebXPRT, WebXPRT 2013, WebXPRT 2015, WebXPRT 3, WebXPRT 4

The Mobile World Congress 2023 recap video is live!

By Justin Greene

on March 14, 2023

Once again, the talented studio team here at Principled Technologies has worked with the XPRT team to put together some great content. This week, we published a recap video of Mark’s recent trip to Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023 in Barcelona. In the video, Mark discusses how “velocity” was the headline theme of this year’s MWC, but infrastructure was the true backbone of the show. The challenges of developing the infrastructure necessary for tomorrow’s tech aren’t limited to obvious topics like 5G deployment, bandwidth, and accessibility; they also include “soft” infrastructure topics like security, management, and reliability. As everything gets faster, we’ll need tools such as the XPRTs to provide reliable information about which devices can handle the increased demands of tomorrow’s tech.

We encourage you to check out the video, along with Mark’s blog post from the show and MWC-related photos on social media. To view the video, you can follow this link or click the screenshot below. If you attended or followed MWC this year and have any thoughts about how the XPRTs can help to evaluate cutting-edge technologies, we’d love to hear from you!

Justin

Posted in 5G, Benchmarking, BenchmarkXPRT, Future of performance evaluation, Mobile data, Mobile devices, Mobile World Congress, Trade Shows | Also tagged 5G, Barcelona, BenchmarkXPRT, infrastructure, Mobile World Congress, MWC, MWC23, video

Mobile World Congress 2023: Infrastructure led the way

By Mark Van Name

on March 3, 2023

When the tech industry is at its best, a virtuous cycle of capabilities and use cases chases its own tail to produce ever-better tech for us all. Faster CPUs drive new usage models, which in turn emerge and swamp the CPUs, which then must get faster. Better screens make us want higher-quality video, which requires more bandwidth to deliver and causes us to desire even better displays. Apps connect us in more ways, but those connections require more bandwidth, which leads to new apps that can take advantage of those faster connections. And on and on.

Put a finger on the cycle at any given moment, and you’ll see that while all the elements are in motion, some are the stars of the moment. To keep the cycle going, it’s crucial for these areas to improve the most. At Mobile World Congress 2023 (#MWC23), that distinction belonged to infrastructure. Yes, some new mobile phones were on display, Lenovo showed off new ThinkPads, and other mobile devices were in abundance, but as I walked the eight huge halls, I couldn’t help but notice the heavy emphasis on infrastructure.

5G, for example, is real now—but it’s far from everywhere. Telecom providers have to figure out how to profitably build out the networks necessary to support it. The whole industry must solve the problems of delivering 5G at huge scale, handle the traffic increases it will bring, switch and route the data, and ultimately make sure the end devices can take full advantage of that data. Management and security remain vital whenever data is flying around, so those softer pieces of infrastructure also matter greatly.

Inevitably and always, to know if we as an industry are meeting these challenges, we must measure performance—both in the raw speed sense and in the broader sense of the word. Are we seeing the full bandwidth we expect? Are devices handling the data properly and at speed? Where’s the bottleneck now? Are we delivering on the schedules we promised? Questions such as these are key concerns in every tech cycle—and some of them are exactly what the XPRTs focus on.

As we improve our infrastructure, we hope to see the benefits at a personal level. When you’re using a device—whether it’s a smart watch, a mobile phone, or a laptop—you need it to do its job well, respond to you quickly, and show you what you want when you want it. When your device makes you wait, it can be helpful to know if the bandwidth feeding data to the device is the bottleneck or if the device simply can’t keep up with the flow of data it’s receiving. The XPRTs can help you figure out what’s going on, and they will continue to be useful and important as the tech cycle spins on. If history is our guide, the infrastructure focus of MWC23 will lead to greater capabilities that require even better devices down the line. We look forward to testing them.

Posted in 5G, benchmark, Benchmark metrics, BenchmarkXPRT, Future of performance evaluation, Laptops, Mobile devices, Mobile World Congress, Performance benchmarking, Phones, Trade Shows | Also tagged 5G, Barcelona, BenchmarkXPRT, CPU, infrastructure, laptop, Lenovo, mobile, mobile devices, Mobile World Congress, MWC, MWC23, ThinkPad

Check out our CES 2023 recap video!

By Justin Greene

on January 13, 2023

We have a very talented studio team here at Principled Technologies, and this week, the team worked with the XPRTs to put together a CES 2023 recap video. In it, I discuss why we traveled to CES, my overall impressions from the show, and how the ideas and technologies presented at the show may influence the development of future XPRT benchmarks. If you missed last week’s post about my initial thoughts on the advances in AR and VR technology at the show, or you didn’t get a chance to see some of our photos from the show on social media, this week’s video provides a good summary of our CES-related activity.

To view the video, you can follow this link or click the screenshot below. If you followed CES this year and have any thoughts about how the XPRTs can help to evaluate emerging technologies, we’d love to hear from you!

Justin

Posted in AR, Augmented reality, benchmark, Benchmarking, BenchmarkXPRT, CES, Consumer Electronics Show, Las Vegas, Trade Shows, Virtual reality, VR | Also tagged AR, augmented reality, BenchmarkXPRT, CES, Consumer Electronics Show, Las Vegas, virtual reality, VR

CES 2023: Adapting to changing realities

By Justin Greene

on January 6, 2023

The last time the XPRTs attended the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was in January 2020, shortly before shutdowns due to the global pandemic began. More than 171,000 people attended that year’s show, the 2021 show was totally virtual, and CES shortened the 2022 show after many exhibitors and media pulled out during the Omicron surge. While some aspects of the event are returning to normal this year, about one-third of the typically jam-packed Las Vegas Convention Center space is empty, and only about 100,000 people are likely to attend. Nevertheless, the show is still enormous and full of fascinating new technology.

Just one day into the show, I’ve already noticed some interesting changes in the virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) areas since I last attended in 2020. One change is a significant expansion in the sensory capabilities of VR equipment. For a long time, VR technologies have focused almost solely on visual and audio input technology and the graphics-rendering capabilities necessary for lag-free, immersive experiences. In 2020, I saw companies working on various types of haptic feedback gear, including full-body suits, that pushed the boundaries of VR beyond sight and sound. Now, several companies are demonstrating significant progress in “real-feel touch” technologies for VR. One such company is HaptX, which is developing a set of gloves (see the picture below) that pump air through “microfluidic actuators” so that users can feel the size and shape of virtual objects they interact with in a VR environment. While we often think of VR being used for gaming and entertainment, advances in realistic, multi-sensory capabilities can lead to VR becoming a valuable tool for all kinds of industrial and professional training applications.

Another change I’ve noticed is how AR seems poised to move from demos to everyday life by means of integration with all types of smartphone apps. I enjoyed speaking with a representative from a Korean AR company called Arbeon. Arbeon is developing an app that will allow users to point their phone’s camera at an object (a wine bottle in the picture below), and see an array of customizable, interactive AR animations surrounding the object. You’ll be able to find product info, see and leave feedback similar to “likes” and reviews, attach emojis, tag friends, and even purchase the product, all from your phone’s AR-enhanced camera and screen. It’s an interesting concept with limitless applications. While VR is here to stay and getting better all the time, I personally think that AR will become much more integrated into everyday life in the coming years. I also think AR apps for phones will allow the technology to take off more quickly in the near term than clunkier options like AR eyeglasses.

The large screen displays how Arbeon’s AR phone app interacts with objects like a wine bottle.

Of course, thinking about AR has led me to wonder if we’ll be able to incorporate AR-related workloads into future XPRTs. As new technologies place new and unprecedented levels of processing demand on our computing hardware, the need for objective performance evaluation will continue. Providing reliable, objective performance data is why the XPRTs exist, and planning for the future of the XPRTs is why we’re at CES 2023. If you have any thoughts about how the XPRTs can help to evaluate new technologies, we’d love to hear from you!

Justin

Posted in AR, Augmented reality, Benchmarking, CES, Consumer Electronics Show, Future of performance evaluation, graphics, Las Vegas, Performance benchmarking, Trade Shows, Virtual reality, VR Demo | Also tagged AR, Arbeon, augmented reality, BenchmarkXPRT, CES, Consumer Electronics Show, HaptX, Las Vegas, virtual reality, VR

Tag Archives: benchmark

WebXPRT’s global reach

WebXPRT runs: A decade of growth

The Mobile World Congress 2023 recap video is live!

Mobile World Congress 2023: Infrastructure led the way

Check out our CES 2023 recap video!

CES 2023: Adapting to changing realities

Check out the other XPRTs: