06-03: OPPO has shown off in-display camera technology; Xiaomi is highlighting its own in-display camera technology; Huawei is reportedly launching a new smart mobility business unit; etc.
Chipsets
Infineon Technologies and Cypress Semiconductor have announced that the companies have signed a definitive agreement under which Infineon will acquire Cypress for EUR9B (USD10.06B). (Digitimes, CN Beta, Bloomberg, WSJ, Market Watch)
NXP Semiconductors has agreed to buy the Wi-Fi connectivity business of Marvell Technology in a deal valued at USD1.76B. NXP will sell Marvell’s connectivity products such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth along with its edge computing platforms to its clients in industrial, automotive and communication infrastructure markets. (My Drivers, Reuters, AnandTech, Bloomberg)
Touch Display
Royale has opened the world’s first Gen-6 flexible OLED production line, demonstrating the production of flexible OLED coating, cutting and adding touch module lighting. Fan Junchao, Royale’s VP, has said that currently Royale is not considering the cooperation with other mobile phone manufacturers for flexible display products on mobile phones. He believes that foldable phone will be a direction for mobile phone development in the next decade. (CN Beta, Sina, Sohu, N1mobile)
Camera
OPPO has shown off in-display camera technology. An OPPO employee activates the selfie camera, takes a photo, and then obscures the camera with their finger. (Android Authority, Twitter, Android Headlines, CN Beta)
Xiaomi is highlighting its own in-display camera technology. Xiaomi president Lin Bin has shown off Xiaomi Mi 9 with a front facing camera concealed entirely behind the phone’s screen. (Android Central, Gizmo China, The Verge, Engadget CN)
Phone
Xiaomi’s MIUI Team has officially announced the Xiaomi Mi 6, the Redmi Note 7, the Xiaomi Mi 9SE, and the Redmi Note 7 Pro now support the screen wake up function via XiaoAi voice assistant. (GizChina, IT Home)
vivo announced the iQOO gaming smartphone on 1 Mar 2019. The brand VP Feng Yufei has announced that they have sold 1M units as at 1 Jun 2019. (Gizmo China, Weibo, IT Home)
Augmented / Virtual Reality
Farshid Fallah, Samsung’s director of developer relations for XR and gaming, has indicated that the company has plans to release “multiple AR and VR products” over the coming months. The company launched Gear VR in 2015, and then follows up with 2 VR headset based on Microsoft Windows Mixed Reality platform. The company even introduced an experimental augmented reality headset at its developer conference in 2018. (CN Beta, The Verge, Sam Mobile, Variety)
Automotive
Lyft has announce that they have provided over 50,000 self-driving rides to Lyft passengers, which makes Lyft and Aptiv the largest commercial self-driving program in the US. Lyft has partnered with vehicle technology firm Aptiv to launch the service, with locals and tourists able to request a ride in the usual way, via the Lyft app. It uses 30 modified BMW 540i cars, all kitted out with Aptiv-made sensor, cameras, and software to ensure a safe ride. (Digital Trends, Lyft, HKET, Sina)
Huawei is reportedly launching a new smart mobility business unit to produce electronics parts and software for autos, including cloud services. The newly formed BU will offer end-to-end smart mobility solutions including information and communication technology (ICT) equipment and applications to car manufacturers. (My Drivers, TechNode, Business Times, AWTMT, Equal Ocean)