8-13: Russia’s Federal Anti-monopoly Service (FAS) has fined Google USD6.75mln; Huawei will launch more entry-level and mid-range smartphones for sale in the China market; etc.
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Chipset |
| Intel’s Atom chips are on their way out of mobile devices, and the next generation of the chip line will instead be targeted toward drones, self-driving cars, and IoT devices. (CN Beta, Slash Gear, PC World, Liliputing) |
| IBM’s TrueNorth is a “neuromorphic computing” chip. It has 4,096 computer cores that support about a million digital brain cells and 256 million connections. Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology has shown off how TrueNorth could help a computer be better at recognizing hand gestures while using one-tenth of the power used by typical phones. (CN Beta, The Verge, CNET)
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| NVIDIA is reportedly switching its next-gen graphics processing production from TSMC’s 16nm node to Samsung’s 14nm node. (Android Headlines, Reuters, PCGamesN, Chosun Biz, CNFOL, 163, Hexun) |
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Touch Display |
| Samsung Display reportedly cannot supply sufficient OLEDs due to huge demands. Facility investments are expected to take place until 2018, Samsung Display will ultimately secure a capability to produce 180,000 flexible OLEDs per month. (ET News, TechNews, CN Beta)
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| Samsung denies allegations of keeping workers in the dark about use of chemicals at its factories. (CN Beta, IB Times) |
| Foxconn said China’s anti-monopoly authorities approved its acquisition of Sharp, paving the way for the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer to seal a USD3.8 billion deal. (CN Beta, Reuters, WSJ) |
| OLED microdisplay maker eMagin reports its financial results for 2Q16. Revenues were USD5.5 million (down 21% compared to 2Q15 – mostly due to lower volumes and manufacturing issues that has been resolved). Net loss was USD2.2 million (up from USD66,000 in 2Q15). (OLED-Info, Seeking Alpha, Investors Hub) |
| MIT, in partnership with Microsoft, created a new touch interface, DuoSkin, that allows temporary tattoos to interact with smartphones or computers, display output based on body temperature changes and even transmit data using NFC. (TNW, Geeks Lab, Mashable, CN Beta)
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| Researchers have developed a touchpad made of hydrogel, a network of hydrophilic polymers that are soft and very stretchable. They used a polyacrylamide hydrogel containing lithium chloride salts, which act as a conductor and help retain water in the hydrogel. The touchpad is highly stretchable. (Engadget, Phys, Sohu,KUV8)
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Memory |
| According to TrendForce, compared with the prior quarter, the global ASP DRAM for all applications fell by more than 5% in 2Q16. On the other hand, the global DRAM revenue for 2Q16 rose 6.3% sequentially to USUSD9.1 billion due to the expansion of bit supply. Increased output from Micron’s 20nm and SK Hynix’s 21nm processes were the drivers of this bit supply growth. (TechNews, TrendForce, press, TrendForce[cn], press)
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Battery |
| Battery maker Simplo Technology reported net profits of NTD644 million 2Q16. For 1H16, net profits totaled NTD1.286 billion. Simplo Technology expects sales to reach NTD14.06-14.6 billion in 3Q16. (Digitimes, press, China Times) |
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Biometrics |
| Anthony Rose and Ben Ramsey from Merculite Security focused on smart locks. They were able to access multiple BLE locks from manufacturers Quicklock, iBlulock, Plantraco, Ceomate, Elecycle, Vians, Okidokey and Mesh Motion — with roughly USD100 worth of hacking tools. (CN Beta, CNET, DEFCON, Digital Trends)
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| Rapid7 security firm’s Weston Hecker has demonstrated how an ATM machine or point-of-sale (POS) terminal can be used to intercept that onetime-use key and other information about the card. (Engadget, Rapid7, PC World, Sohu)
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Connectivity |
| China Mobile has reported 1H16 operating revenues of CNY370.351 billion (USD56.68 billion) increasing 7.1% on year, operating profit CNY66.131 billion up 5.5% and net profit CNY60.618 billion up 5.6%. (Digitimes, press, CN Beta) |
| Google has been testing a new wireless-transmission technology using the 3.5-GHz band in Kansas City for its wireless Google Fiber, but the FCC filing suggests that it wants to dramatically expand to testing “experimental transmitters” at up to 24 US locations, including Provo, Utah, Omaha, Nebraska, and Boulder, Colorado, for a period of 24 months. (Android Authority, 163, Business Insider)
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Smartphones |
| Russia’s Federal Anti-monopoly Service (FAS) has fined Google USD 6.75 million for pre-installing apps in Russia. (Android Authority, The Verge, Tencent, CNFOL) |
| The latest smartphone OS data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech shows that Apple iOS returned to growth in the US and EU5, accounting for 31.8% and 18.2% of smartphone sales, respectively, in 2Q16. (Kantar Worldpanel, press, press[cn], TechNews, Digitimes)
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| China-based vendors shipped 145.9 million smartphones globally in total during 2Q16, rising 13% on quarter and 22.9% on year and accounting for 44.1% of the global total, according to Digitimes Research. (TechNews, Digitimes, press)
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| According to Digitimes, Huawei will launch more entry-level and mid-range smartphones for sale in the China market to fend off increasing competition from local rivals OPPO and vivo in the two segments. The new strategy aims to prevent its market share in the domestic market from being further grabbed by OPPO and vivo. (Digitimes, press) |
| Huawei reportedly might learn from OPPO or vivo, launching a new series namely Nova (in addition to P and Mate series), targeting offline channel and women consumer market. (Qudong, 163, Kejixun, Xiaomi Today)
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| Google is reportedly working on a new operating system dubbed Fuchsia OS, and it may be meant for mobile phones, computers, and other devices. (Digital Trends, Fuchsia, Linux IDC, My Drivers) |
| Sharp Aquos M1 to be unveiled in Taiwan – 5.5” FHD display, MediaTek MT6753 processor, 13MP + 13MP cameras, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, Android 6.0, LTE, dual-SIM, 2600mAh battery, NTD8990. (CN Beta, Phones Review, Blog of Mobile)
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| A new Canadian mobile retailer K-Mobile launches new smarpthone K2 – 5” HD display, MediaTek MT6592 processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, 13MP + 5MP cameras, Android 4.4, 2350mAh battery, CAD299. (Android Headlines, Mobile Syrup, Digital Home)
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Tablets |
| Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), which split from HP, announced that it has acquired SGI that makes servers, storage, and software for high-performance computing, for USD275 million. (CN Beta, Venture Beat) |
| NVIDIA has dropped plans to continue its Shield Tablet gaming brand with a rumored upgrade, announcing in an FCC filing this week that “for business reasons, the product has been canceled”. (FCC, Digital Trends, Tencent, CN Beta) |
| Micromax launches 2 series of Windows 10 laptop in India: Alpha LI351568 – 15.6” 1366×768 display, Intel 5th-gen Core i3 processor, 6GB RAM, 500GB storage, INR26,990. Ignite LPQ61408W – 14” 1366×768 display, Intel Pentium N3700 processor, 4GB RAM, 1TB storage, 4500mAh battery, INR18,990. (CN Beta, India Times, Fone Arena, WinBeta)
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Wearables |
| Titan in partnership with HP Inc. launches JUXT Pro smartwatch in India – 1.3” 360×360 circular IPS LCD display, 1GHz dual-core processor, 512MB RAM, 4GB storage, compatible with Android and iOS, water-resistant, 450mAh battery, INR22995. (Android Authority)
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Internet of Things |
| Kodak launches Smart LED TVs in India starting at INR13,500, manufactured by Kodak’s licensed partner Super Plastronics, come in 32”, 40”, and 53” screen sizes. (Android Authority, Trak.in)
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| According to the report from U.S.-based market information firm IP Watchdog, Samsung owned 3.9% of all infotainment-related patents registered in the U.S. The U.S. automaker General Motors (GM) had the largest share of 21.4%, followed by German carmaker Porsche AG with 12.3%. (Android Headlines, Android Truth, Yonhap News, 163, Huanqiu)
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| IDC forecasts global revenues for the 3D printing market to reach USD35.4 billion in 2020. This is more than double the USD15.9 billion in revenues forecast for 2016 and represents a CAGR of 24.1% over the 2015-2020 forecast period. (IDC, press, CN Beta) |
