10-19: Class action lawsuit is filed against Samsung over Galaxy Note 7 in Korea and US; Samsung may release only one premium model annually to ensure product quality; Huawei Kirin 960 is unveiled; etc.
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Chipset |
| Huawei Kirin 960 is announced, boasts ARM Cortex-A73 cores and Mali-G71 MP8 GPU with CPU 15% more efficient than last generation, and GPU is 180% faster than previous generation Mali-T880. It also supports four component carriers (4CC) for LTE, with peak data speed of 600Mbps. (Android Central, CN Beta, My Drivers, TechWeb)
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| TSMC’s co-CEO, Mark Liu indicates that he is confident the company will win Apple A11 chip orders over Samsung. TSMC’s 10nm chipset will be shipped in 1Q17, slightly later than Samsung. TSMC’s 10nm process has been adopted by MediaTek, Hisilicon, Xilinx, etc. (CN Beta, Market Realist, Electronics Weekly) |
| Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC) has announced an expansion project for its Tianjin facility. Located in the Xiqing Economic Technological Development Area, Tianjin, SMIC runs an 8” fab with monthly capacity of 45,000 wafers. After completion of the expansion project, monthly capacity at the facility will reach 150,000 8” wafers. (Digitimes, PR Newswire, People.cn, eNorth) |
| Intel reported its 3Q16 earnings—revenues increased 9% YoY to USD15.78B, net income increased 9% to USD3.38B. It also said that it would be raising its restructuring charges to USD2.3B, as it continues to shift its business away from PC processors and into chips for the next generation of computing in devices like drones and self-driving cars. (TechCrunch, Business Insider, Forbes, Tencent, 163, CNSN) |
| Baidu is utilizing Xilinx FPGAs to accelerate machine learning applications in their data centers in China. The two companies are collaborating to further expand volume deployment of FPGA-based accelerated platforms. (PR Newswire, Electronics Weekly, iTer News) |
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Touch Display |
| UBI Research foresees the flexible AMOLED market rising from USD4.9B in 2016 to USD40.8B in 2020 — a CAGR of 70%. According to UBI, in 2020 around 1B flexible AMOLEDs will be produced. UBI says that there is a high possibility that a foldable smartphone will be launched in 2017 to observe the market reaction. (OLED-Info, PJTime)
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| UBI Research says that while virtually all flexible OLEDs used in smartphones use an edge-type design (bezel-less), by 2017 Samsung will use a flexible OLED to cover the entire smartphone screen (full-screen). Such bezel-less displays will grab an almost 20% out of all flexible OLED smartphones market share in 2017, and this will grow to over 50% by 2020. (OLED-Info, OLEDNet, PJTime)
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| In regards to Foxconn / Sharp’s investment in OLED, LG Display and Samsung Display are not very worried about this competition from Japan. LG Display estimates that the Japanese maker will not be able to compete with flexible OLEDs by at least 2019 or possibly 2020. Samsung Display indicates that there is nothing to actually discuss at this stage. (Business Korea, OLED-Info) |
| Holovect holographic vector display is launched on Kickstarter. The display is unique in that it creates a holographic display by drawing objects in air with light inn area 12×12×12cm in size. Holovect starts at USD899, but a version that comes with a full color spectrum costs USD1,800. (The Verge, Kickstarter, Geeky Gadgets, CN Beta)
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Memory |
| CompactFlash Association (CFA) announced “CFexpress” storage with theoretical transfer speed limit of 8GBps. (CFA, TechNews, Peta Pixel, Resource, DPReview)
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| Taiwan-based DRAM chipmaker Winbond Electronics will begin volume production of memory chips on a 3x nm process in 4Q16, according to the company president Tung-yi Chan. Sales of memory products to the automotive and industrial control sectors accounted for 16% of Winbond‘s total sales in 2Q16. (Digitimes, OfWeek) |
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Biometrics |
| A new patent published on 13 Oct. 2016 suggests that BlackBerry might include an authentication system based on a touch-sensitive keyboard. (Phone Arena, Fresh Patent, Crack Berry, CN Beta)
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| Microsoft announced that, for the first time, they have managed to get a computer to perform that same transcription task just as well as a person. The technology delivered a word error rate (WER) of 5.9%, which is roughly the same as that of people who were asked to transcribe the same conversation. (Engadget, Microsoft, USA Today, CBS News, Business Insider, ChinaZ)
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| FlexEnable together with ISORG have jointly launched a flexible fingerprint sensor with an image resolution of 500dpi. Only 0.3mm thick, the flexible optical sensor is suitable for applications requiring standard-compliant fingerprint enrollment and/or identification. (EE Times, Biometric Update, AZO Sensors)
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| Apple’s patent titled “capacitive fingerprint sensor including an electrostatic lens” describes a Touch ID sensor which could effectively detect and read a user’s fingerprints through other components of the smartphone, “such as display stacks and touch screens”. (CN Beta, Yahoo, TechXplore, Mac Rumors, USPTO, Apple Insider)
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Connectivity |
| Nokia has partnered with SK Broadband to wire an apartment complex in Seoul, South Korea with fiber optics delivering aggregate speeds of 52.5Gbps. (Engadget, Nokia, OfWeek) |
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Smartphones |
| Steve Milunovich of UBS Research expects to see “mid-single digit growth” in Apple iPhone unit sales in 2016 with about an 8% growth in 2017. However, the firm expects a larger upgrade cycle similar to that of the iPhone 6 popularity in 2018 with a new design. UBS expects Apple to hit revenue of USD46.6B in 4Q16. UBS expects that Apple will sell through 74M iPhones with orders from suppliers to ship 89M in 2016. (Apple Insider, CN Beta)
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| A survey by 451 Research polling smartphone buyers purchase intentions after the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 incidents show 17% of Samsung owners and 50% of those not devoted to a platform saying that they were less likely to buy a Samsung device in the future. (Apple Insider, CN Beta)
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| In a recent email sent to Samsung executives and employees, the company emphasized that “leaks of operational secrets can cause irreversible ramifications, posing a great financial risk on the company and leading to broken partnerships and loss of trust”, urging its executives and employees to tighten up security. (CN Beta, Android Headlines, Korea Herald) |
| Samsung Electronics is reportedly planning to ditch its existing smartphone marketing strategy and may release only one premium model annually to ensure product quality. (Ubergizmo, Korea Herald, CN Beta) |
| First class-action lawsuit has been filed against Samsung over exploding Galaxy Note 7s. (CN Beta, Ubergizmo, NBC News)
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| 38 Galaxy Note 7 smartphone owners in South Korea are poised to file a class action lawsuit against Samsung for alleged inconvenience, a law firm said on Oct. 19. (GSM Arena, Korea Herald, Dahe) |
| Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun internal email indicates that after 18 days in Oct. 2016, Xiaomi smartphone sales has exceeded 1M units. (91.com, CN Beta) |
| Huawei Honor 6X with dual-camera is announced – 5.5” FHD 2.5D curved display, Hisilicon Kirin 655 processor, dual 12MP-2MP + 8MP cameras, 3 / 4GB RAM, 32 / 64GB storage, Android 6.0, LTE, dual-SIM, 3340mAh battery, from CNY999. (Android Authority, Android Headlines, Sohu)
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| Smartisan M1 and M1L are announced with by Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, 23MP PDAF OIS + 4MP cameras, Android (Smartisan OS 3.0), fingerprint sensor at Home button: M1 – 5.15” FHD display (JDI in-cell), 4GB RAM, 32GB storage, 3050mAh battery, CNY2499. M1L – 5.7” QHD display (Sharp in-cell), 4 / 6GB RAM, 32 / 64GB storage, 4080mAh battery, from CNY2799. (CN Beta, IT168, Phone Radar)
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| UMi Diamond is unveiled – 5” HD 2.5D curved display, MediaTek MT6753 processor, 8MP + 2MP cameras, 3GB RAM, 16GB storage, Android 6.0, LTE, 2650mAh battery, USD120. (Gizmo China)
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Tablets |
| According to Digitimes Research, worldwide notebook shipments are expected to drop 7.2% on year to reach less than 150M units in 2016 because Microsoft’s free Windows 10 upgrade program caused many consumers to postpone their new PC purchasing plans, while Apple’s late releases of its new MacBooks will be another reason for the decline. (Digitimes, press, iFeng, CN Beta) |
| Huawei Honor Pad 2 is unveiled – 8” 1920×1200 IPS LCD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 processor, 8MP + 2MP cameras, 3GB RAM, 16 / 32GB storage, Android 6.0, LTE optional, 4800mAh battery, from CNY999. (Android Headlines, BGR, Phones Review, YeSky, Fonearena)
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Wearables |
| Coocaa from Skyworth launching all-in-one VR headset Wondergate G1 and G1s, powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 and 821 respectively, equipped with Sharp 2.89” dual display with 410ppi, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, 4700mAh battery that supports QC 3.0. G1 is priced at CNY3999. (CN Beta, 163, IT168, Tencent, 163, Leiphone)
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| Misfit Phase is a “hybrid” smartwatch – combines activity tracking and smartphone-connected features, but does so without a touchscreen display, having a 6-month battery life and water-proof up to 50m, priced from USD175. (Android Headlines, Android Authority, Misfit, 163, Ars Technica)
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| Huawei Honor Watch S1 smartwatch is unveiled – battery life is up to 6 days, 1.04” 208×208 black and white display, heart-rate sensor, water-resistant up to 50m, compatible with iOS and Android, CNY699. (Android Headlines, BGR, GSM Arena, Fonearena, Phones Review, 163)
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Internet of Things |
| Tesla has updated its Model 3 website, letting new pre-order customers know that any orders placed from now on will ship by mid-2018 or beyond. (TechCrunch, USA Today, WSJ, 163, Tencent) |
| Police in the wealthy United Arab Emirates plan to introduce interactive patrolling bots by 2017, and says “fully intelligent robots” could be on the force by the end of the decade. (CN Beta, Inc. Arabia, Slaq)
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| Dublin and Berlin-based Internet of Things (IoT) startup Smartfrog has raised EUR20M in further funding, meaning that the smart cam maker has managed to pull in EUR28M in total despite only launching roughly a year ago. (TechCrunch, EU Startsup) |
