IF / News

Chipsets

TSMC CEO CC Wei has confirmed that development of the 3nm node is on-track, with risk production scheduled for 2021 and volume production commencing in 2H22. TSMC has revealed that its future 3nm silicon fabrication node has a development target of 250M transistors per mm². Called N3, the next-generation silicon fabrication node succeeds TSMC’s N5 family of 5nm-class nodes (that is N5 and any possible refinements). (My Drivers, GizChina, Tech Power Up, eTeknik, Digitimes, press, DRAMx)

Touch Display

Apple’s patent specifically relates to protective cover layer structures for smartphones, and more particularly for flexible displays that could fold while being crack resistant. The patent describes display modules and protective cover layer structures that may be implemented in curved, flexible, conformable and foldable display modules, and in particular with curved, flexible, conformable and foldable display panels. (Laoyaoba, Patently Apple)

Foxconn has announced that it is assembling medical masks at its Mt. Pleasant facility, which is supposed to produce panels. The masks are made under the Sharp brand, a subsidiary of Foxconn. The company is assembling the masks in response to the coronavirus outbreak. (CN Beta, WISN)

Camera

Samsung’s Yongin Park, Head of Sensor Business Team, has revealed that the company’s plans to deliver small camera sensors capable of matching and exceeding the resolution of the human eye, said to be around 500MP. Samsung notes that the jump to 108MP is a mere 6 months after the company’s industry-first 64MP sensor. (Phone Arena, Samsung, CN Beta)

Memory

Samsung is reportedly close to finishing the development of the industry’s first 160-layer or higher NAND flash memory chips. The company is using the double-stack technology to create 160 layers or higher in its V-NAND (also known as 3D NAND) flash memory chips. (CN Beta, Sam Mobile, ET News)

Kioxia Corporation (previously known as Toshiba Memory), the world leader in memory solutions, has announced the launch of “KIOXIA” branded consumer products, including microSD/SD memory cards, USB memory and SSDs. (My Drivers, Tech Power Up, Yahoo)

Material

South Dakota School of Mines & Technology research scientist Govind Chilkoor has looked to the use of graphene as a coating. In lab tests, he found that even a single layer of graphene – measuring less than 1 nanometer thick – was highly effective at keeping sulfate-reducing bacteria from latching onto the inside surface of metal pipes. Graphene can be very antimicrobial, he explains. It can induce oxidative stress and the bacteria will die. (CN Beta, New Atlas, News Wise)

Phone

OnePlus will allegedly release ODM orders in 2020, including 4G and 5G projects. It already has suppliers for 4G projects. However, OnePlus is still evaluating participants for 5G projects. With the recent development, the OnePlus smartphone market is undergoing major changes. The company will no longer focus on the high-end flagship market. It will now gradually carve a niche for itself in the low-end market. (Laoyaoba, GizChina, TechWeb)

realme has revealed that that the launch of Narzo smartphones has been suspended until further notice. The sudden change in the launch timeline is due to the current ongoing COVID-19 outbreak in the country. (GizChina, GSM Arena, NDTV)

Facebook is putting its wealth of data and reach to help researchers build models that can predict the hotspots of COVID-19. It has partnered with the Carnegie Mellon University Delphi Research Center to disseminate a U.S. based survey in early Apr 2020. (Android Authority, Facebook)

Facebook has launched a dedicated app called Facebook Gaming, , where people will be able to create and watch live gameplay. Facebook Gaming also features a function called “Go Live”, which lets users livestream mobile games directly from their smartphone to Facebook. (Pocket-Lint, The Verge, CNBC)

There is evidence that Apple is planning to assemble iPhone SE (2020) in Brazil. The Brazilian Apple website showed some images of the iPhone that contained the engraving “Indústria Brasileira” (or “Brazilian Industry”) on the back, which is used for products that are manufactured or assembled in the country. Apple has removed the images from the website. ANATEL mentions Foxconn Brazil as one of the product’s manufacturing units, which is located in Jundiaí, São Paulo. (CN Beta, 9to5Mac, Apple Insider)

Loup Venture believes Apple’s new iPhone SE will account for about 20% of total iPhone units over 2021, compared to their estimate that last year’s SE versions accounted for 13% of units. This means the SE will likely be the second best-selling iPhone model behind the iPhone 11. They are modeling for 153M total iPhones over the next 12 months and expect the new SE to account for about 30M units. (Laoyaoba, 199IT, Loup Ventures)

Apple and Google have announced a joint contact-tracing program “to harness the power of technology to help countries slow the spread of COVID-19”. However, according to Counterpoint Research, as many as 2B mobile phone owners around the world will be unable to use the contract-tracing program. The figure includes many poorer and older people — who are also among the most vulnerable to Covid-19 — demonstrating a “digital divide” within a system that the two tech firms have designed to reach the largest possible number of people while also protecting individuals’ privacy. (Forbes, Ars Technica, Financial Times, My Drivers)

Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei has talked about the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on Huawei. He has said that the outbreak had a certain impact on Huawei’s production, sales and delivery, and lowered its revenue target for 1Q20, but it will not affect the plan for the whole year of 2020. He has also revealed that in 2020 Huawei’s R&D expenditure will increase by USD5.8B from 2019, whichi is about USD15B.Thus, in 2020 it may exceed USD20B. (Laoyaoba, WSJ, SCMP)

OPPO has announced that Liu Lie has been appointed as global marketing president and concurrently serves as CMO in China. He is responsible for OPPO marketing and reports to CEO Chen Mingyong. Due to personal health reasons, the original OPPO global marketing president Shen Yiren resigns from this position. (GSM Arena, OPPO, Sparrow News, Yicai, CN Beta)

OPPO A12 is launched in Indonesia – 6.22” 720×1520 HD+ IPS, MediaTek Helio P35 MT6765, rear dual 13MP-2MP depth + front 5MP, 3+32 / 4+64GB, Android 9.0, rear fingerprint, 4230mAh, IDR2.499M (USD160) for 4+64GB. (Gizmo China, GSM Arena, OPPO)

OPPO A52 is launched in China – 6.5” 1080×2400 FHD+ IPS HiD, Qualcomm Snapdragon 665, rear quad 12MP-8MP ultrawide-2MP macro-2MP depth + front 8MP, 8+128GB, Android 10.0, rear fingerprint scanner, 5000mAh 18W, CNY1,599 (USD225). (GizChina, GSM Arena, OPPO)

HiSense F50 5G is announced in China – 6.52” 720×1560 HD+ IPS, UNISOC Tiger T7510, rear quad 48MP-8MP ultrawide-2MP macro-2MP depth + front 8MP, 6+128GB, Android 10.0, rear fingerprint, 5010mAh 18W, CNY2,199 (USD310). (Gizmo China, PRN Asia, CNMO, CN Beta)

Wearables

Samsung has announced that the Samsung Health Monitor app has been cleared by South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS), as a Software as a Medical Device (SaMD), making it a government-cleared, over-the-counter and cuffless blood pressure monitoring application. The app, when paired with advanced sensor technology on the Galaxy Watch Active2, enables users to easily and more conveniently measure and track blood pressure. (CN Beta, Samsung, Sam Mobile)

Home

Sony has announced pricing and availability for its new 2020 LED and OLED televisions, which supports AirPlay 2. Select Sony TVs will also be getting the Apple TV app at some point in 2020, but Sony has yet to confirm a date for that launch. (CN Beta, Mac Rumors, 9to5Mac, PR Newswire)

Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics have decided to extend their factory shutdowns in Mexico over the novel coronavirus outbreak. Samsung has said its TV plant in Tijuana, northwestern Mexico, will be closed until 3 May 2020. (Laoyaoba, YNA)

Universal Electronics claims TVs, streaming devices, set-top boxes and remote controls infringe six patents, according to complaint filed at U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in Washington. In addition to Roku, complaint cites Roku TVs made by TCL, Hisense and Funai. Universal Electronics seeks an order to block imports of products that infringe its patents. (Laoyaoba, iam, Bloomberg Law)

Healthcare

Google has announced the launch in general availability of Cloud Healthcare API, a service that facilitates the exchange of data between health care applications and solutions built on Google Cloud. The API allows organizations to ingest and manage data from a range of inputs and systems, and then to analyze that data through the use of privacy-preserving AI and machine learning. (CN Beta, VentureBeat, Google)

E-Commerce

Alibaba Cloud has announced that it will invest another CNY200B (or about USD28B) into its infrastructure over the next three years, prompted in part by increased demand for services like video conferencing and live streaming as businesses adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Synergy Research Group, Alibaba is “substantially outpacing overall market growth” and “gaining market share”, along with Tencent and Google. (TechCrunch, Laoyaoba)