9-3: IFA continues – new phones from Lenovo, tablet from Archos, VR from Alcatel, etc; Samsung announced global recall of Galaxy Note 7; etc.
|
Chipset |
| AMD has entered into a long-term amendment to its wafer-supply agreement with Globalfoundries for 2016~2020. The amendment establishes a comprehensive framework for technology collaboration between AMD and Globalfoundries for the 7nm technology node. (Digitimes, press, MoneyDJ, Toutiao) |
| Consumer IC vendor Sonix Technology is expected to ship a total of 632 million MCUs in 2016 thanks to increasing demand from the toy and educational sectors, according to Digitimes. (Digitimes, press) |
| China-based Huada Semiconductor, an affiliate of China Electronics Corporation (CEC), aims to become the top supplier of MCU products in the domestic market, according to the company. The MCU market in China reaches about CNY30 billion (USD4.49 billion) a year. (Digitimes, press, EE Focus) |
| Samsung expects 10nm process to be in operation by end of 2016, and indicates that 7nm process will be using advanced extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technology. The low-power 28nm fully depleted silicon on insulator (FD-SOI) will be provided for IoT and automotive semiconductor. There are 3 main locations for Samsung foundry labs—S1 8” wafer fab in Korea, S2 12” fab in Texas, and S3 12” fab in Korea Hwasung. (China Times, OfWeek, CECB2B)
|
|
Touch Display |
| Due to increasing use of display panels in cars, global shipments of automotive display panels will increase from 157 million panels in 2015 to 207 million units in 2019, equivalent to a CAGR of 7.2%, according to Digitimes Research. (Digitimes, press) |
| Innolux has become an OEM of automotive display panels for Europe-based automobile makers including Mercedes Benz, BMW and Porsche and aims to ship 8~9 million such panels in 2016, according to the company. Innolux has become a supplier of 17” CID (central information display) panels for electric vehicle vendor Tesla and has begun to tap the Japan market for automotive panels. (Digitimes, press) |
|
Camera |
| Leaked information states that Apple iPhone 7 Plus will have an LG G5-style 12MP dual-cam module, featuring a driver chipset from Analog Devices and LinX technology. (CN Beta, BGR)
|
|
Memory |
| Fujitsu announced that it has licensed Nantero’s carbon nanotube-based NRAM (Non-volatile RAM) and will participate in a joint development effort to bring a 256Mb 55nm product to market in 2018. (CN Beta, PC World, Tom’s Hardware, EPS News)
|
| Renesas Electronics and TSMC are collaborating on 28nm embedded flash (eFlash) process technology for manufacturing microcontrollers (MCUs) targeted at next-gen green and autonomous vehicles. Automotive MCUs employing this new 28nm process technology are slated for sample shipments and mass production in 2017 and 2020, respectively. (TechNews, Digitimes, press) |
|
Battery |
| Samsung to recall 2.5 million Galaxy Note 7 worldwide. Sales have been suspended, and Samsung is working on preparing replacement units for the affected devices. The process of preparing replacements will take about 2 weeks, according to the company. (Android Authority, NY Times, BGR, The Verge, My Drivers)
|
| Samsung Electronics China officially indicates that Galaxy Note 7 sold in China is not recalled because they are using different suppliers for battery. (CN Beta, GSM Arena, Phone Radar)
|
|
Connectivity |
| Nokia is to introduce 4.5G Pro, an advanced mobile technology that will deliver the significant capacity and speed enhancements. Nokia has also outlined its plans for 4.9G, which will allow users to maintain a continuous 5G service experience using an evolved LTE to complement 5G radio coverage. (CN Beta, Global Telecom Business, Nokia, Wireless-Mag, Mobile World Live) |
|
Smartphones |
| Mizuho Securities’s Abhey Lamba estimates Apple to produce a total of 194 million units of the iPhone in 2016, and to ship 211 million in the year. He also estimates 178~230 million iPhones sold in 2017. (Barron’s, press, CN Beta) |
| Samsung is now selling refurbished smartphones in the US and are now available under Samsung Certified Pre-Owned Phones web page. (Android Headlines, Softpedia, Android Authority, SamMobile, Samsung) |
| Google confirms that modular Project Ara smartphone project has been suspended. (Android Headlines, The Verge, Venture Beat, Reuters,163, Hexun) |
| Google reportedly to launch Pixel (former Nexus Sailfish) and Pixel XL (former Nexus Marlin) in Oct. 2016. (GSM Arena, Android Police, The Verge, 163, My Drivers, ZOL)
|
| Turing Robotic Industries has detailed plans for its 2017 handset, the Cadenza – 5.8” QHD display, 2×Qualcomm Snapdragon 830 processor, 60MP iMAX 6K quad rear camera with triplet lens/T1.2”, 20MP front camera, 2×6GB LPDDR4X RAM, 1TB storage, Swordfish OS, SIM slots, 2400mAh battery. (Android Central, Phone Radar, First Spot, Android Police, MK25)
|
| [IFA 2016] Lenovo K6, K6 Power and K6 Note are unveiled, powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor: K6 – 5” FHD display, 13MP + 8MP cameras, 2GB RAM, 16/32GB ROM, 3000mAh battery. K6 Power – 5” FHD display, 13MP + 8MP cameras, 2/3GB RAM, 16/32GB ROM, Dolby Atmos, 4000mAh battery. K6 Note – 5.5” FHD display, 16MP + 8MP cameras, 3/4GB RAM, 32GB ROM, 4000mAh battery (GSM Arena, NDTV, Android Headlines, Indian Express, Phone Arena)
|
| [IFA 2016] DJI unveiled the new Osmo Mobile, which is a 3-axis motorized gimbal with an adjustable phone mount. The gimbal uses its motors to counteract any shake or movement to keep all your shots steady. (Engadget, CN Beta, CNET, Slash Gear)
|
| [IFA 2016] TP-Link unveils Neffos X1 and X1 Max smartphones, powered by MediaTek Helio P10 MT6755 processor, 13MP + 5MP cameras: Neffos X1 – 5” HD display, 2GB RAM + 16GB ROM / 3GB RAM + 32GB ROM, LTE, dual-SIM, fingerprint sensor, 2250mAh battery. Neffos X1 Max – 5.5” FHD display, 3GB RAM + 32GB ROM / 4GB RAM + 64GB ROM, LTE, dual-SIM, fingerprint sensor, 3000mAh battery. (Android Headlines, India Times, Gadget House, NDTV)
|
|
Tablets |
| [IFA 2016] Archos 133 Oxygen is unveiled – 13.3” FHD IPS LCD display, Rockchip RK3368, 5MP + 2MP cameras, 2GB RAM, 64GB storage, Android 6.0, 10,000mAh battery, GBP180. (Phone Arena, Archos)
|
|
Wearables |
| [IFA 2016] Alcatel unveils standalone VR headset Vision – 2×3.8” FHD AMOLED display, 120° FoV, octa-core processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, Android 6.0, LTE, accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity sensor, 3000mAh battery. (GSM Arena, PR Newswire, Pocket-Lint, Alcatel, 163, CC Time)
|
|
Internet of Things |
| 80% of organizations have a more positive view of IoT today compared to a year ago, according to a survey of 512 IT and business executives by CompTIA. The number of connected things, from computers to household monitors to cars, is projected to grow at an CAGR of 23.1% between 2014 to 2020, reaching 50.1 billion things in 2020. (CN Beta, Forbes, CompTIA, report)
|
| LG is partnering with Amazon.com on smart-home services, enabling the U.S. company’s services such as the Alexa virtual assistant on some of the electronics maker’s devices, such as SmartThinkQ Hub. (CN Beta, The Verge, Fortune, TechCrunch)
|
| [IFA 2016] TomTom Curfer can tell driver the in-depth information about the car, including details on cornering G-force, acceleration, and even braking efficiency, and priced at GBP60. (Slash Gear, Trusted Reviews, GSM Arena, CN Beta)
|
| Microsoft is announcing their collaboration with Liebherr household appliances division in the development of Liebherr’s new generation of the SmartDeviceBox. With the SmartDevice capability, it can monitor stored groceries using internal cameras and object recognition technology. (Microsoft, MS Poweruser, CN Beta)
|
| [IFA 2016] Sony has reintroduced the Xperia Agent adding some new tricks, including the ability to connect to a smart coffee machine to make you a caffeinated cup. (CN Beta, Mashable, Engadget)
|
| French company Parrot launches 2 new mini drones: Swing – a mini drone that can transition between plane and quad-copter mode, priced at USD139. Mambo – a transforming drone, which works with additional accessories to do things like catch objects or throw projectiles, priced at USD119. (CN Beta, Fast Company, eTekNix)
|
