IF / News

Chipsets

Bosch is introducing a new service called Help Connect, which automatically calls emergency services in case of an accident. Bosch says that Help Connect can “cut response time by up to half”. This will increase the chances of survival for motorcyclists. (Neowin, Auto Blog, Engadget, CN Beta)

Touch Display

The leading OLED manufacturer in China is the Dalian Zhiyun Automation Company and it specializes in the production of LCD, OLED, and mini LED technologies. Xiaomi has invested over CNY143M (USD20M) and gets in return 15.5M shares, which is exactly 5.63% of the company’s total. (Sina, GizChina, GSM Arena, DSB)

LG’s patents indicate that the company is working on a phone with a rollable and foldable display. The idea is that user pulls on the right side of the foldable phone to go from a small screen to a tablet-sized display. (Android Authority, Asia Times, Twitter)

Samsung Display has received an SGS (Société Générale de Surveillance) certification for 2 products – 90Hz and 120Hz OLED screens – trademarked as “Seamless Display”. SGS is established in 1878 and certify components and finished products for wide range of goods, for both consumer and commercial products.  (Android Headlines, Phone Arena)

Apple has yet to introduce its 5G iPhones for 2020, but its supply chain is already developing OLED screens using LTPO (low temperature polycrystalline oxide) backplane technology for 2021 premium iPhone models, according to Digitimes. LTPO will provide more power or energy-efficient backplane. It is responsible for handling individual pixels on the panel. Since the entire display is not lighting up and only the required pixels light up, it serves to save power and ultimately enhances battery life. (Digitimes, Laoyaoba, Ravenalli, WCCFTech)

Camera

The newly announced Honor Play4 Pro, is available with an infrared temperature sensor. Honor says that the sensor works between temperatures of -20ºC and 100ºC (roughly -4 to 212ºF). (The Verge, XDA-Developers)

There are several phones in the works allegedly packing the upcoming Qualcomm Snapdragon 875 processor and an in-display selfie camera. Qualcomm is reportedly planning to launch Snapdragon 875 in Dec 2020. Thus, the first batch of phones with this SoC will be available in 1Q21. (Android Authority, QQ, Techxue, Weibo)

Memory

Wuhan Xinxin Semiconductor Manufacturing (XMC) has started mass production and shipping of its 50nm process, floating-gate NOR flash memory, with capacities ranging from 16Mb to 256Mb, and an operating temperature range of -40ºC to 105ºC. The world’s mainstream NOR flash process is still at 90-65nm. The latest products are mainly Floating Gate SPI NOR Flash wide voltage products. The Series XM25QWxxC Flash memory supports low-power, wide-voltage operation. (CN Beta, Techpost)

China-based Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) reportedly will in 3Q20 launch its own-brand SSDs adopting in-house-developed 64-layer 3D NAND flash, with target outlets including PC OEMs. (Digitimes, CN Beta, CN Gold)

Connectivity

SoftBank Group is launching a USD100M fund to invest in “companies led by founders and entrepreneurs of colour”. Named the “Opportunity Growth Fund” and focused on African Americans and Latinos in the U.S. it is, SoftBank says, the largest fund of its kind. (TechCrunch, Reuters, CNBC)

 

Phone

According to Counterpoint Research, smartphone sales declined 7% YoY and 23% QoQ in Europe during 1Q20 amid COVID-19 outbreak. The impact of the pandemic was relatively stronger for Western Europe, down 9% YoY, than for Eastern Europe, down 5% YoY. Xiaomi and OPPO have benefited from Huawei’s continuing struggles and hence grew more than 150% YoY for the quarter driven by strong performances in Russia, UK, France. (GizChina, Gizmo China, Counterpoint Research)

According to Counterpoint Research, we are seeing the rise of the ‘affordable premium’ in Korea, and launches by major brands could see this become a major category in smartphones. Samsung’s 1Q20 best-seller in Korea was the A90 5G. With an ASP of only USD453, it approaches half the price of 1Q19 best-seller, the Galaxy Note 9. (Android Headlines, Counterpoint Research)

The worldwide smartphone market is forecast to decline 11.9% YoY in 2020 with shipments totaling 1.2B units, according to IDC. The forecast follows the largest year-over-year decline in history in 1Q20. Smartphone shipments are now expected to decline 18.2% in 1H20 as the macroeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect consumer spending. Global smartphone shipments are not expected to return to growth until 1Q21. (GSM Arena, IDC, press)

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) has announced that it is now a Verified Solutions Partner of Unity Technologies, the platform for creating and operating interactive, real-time 3D (RT3D) content. As a Verified Solutions Partner, ASUS ensures its SDK is optimized for the latest version of the Unity Editor, providing a seamless experience for developers using Unity. (GSM Arena, GizChina, Business World)

HTC has confirmed that they will be making another set of staff layoffs as reported by Upload. The company blames the COVID-19 pandemic on these cuts citing reduced revenue and pressure on global economic conditions. (Upload VR, Android Headlines, The Paper)

A 5-month-long investigation by the cybercrime cell unit of Meerut Police uncovered a security breach where more than 13,500 phones manufactured by vivo were found to be running on the same International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number, which is a 15-digit code that is unique to every smartphone. Since tampering of IMEI number is a criminal offence, the police has sent a notice to vivo India’s nodal officer Harmanjit Singh under Section 91 of the CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure). (Indian Express, Live Mint, GizChina, Gizmo China)

Gree Electronics seems all set to launch its first 5G smartphone in the market, which is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G. (Gizmo China, CN Beta)

Samsung Galaxy A31 is launched in India – 6.4” 1080×2400 FHD+ Super AMOLED Infinity-U, MediaTek Helio P65, rear quad 48MP-8MP ultrawide-5MP macro-5MP depth + front 20MP, 6+128GB, Android 10.0, under display fingerprint, 5000mAh 15W, INR21,999 (USD290). (Android Central, GSM Arena)

OPPO Reno4 5G and Reno4 Pro 5G are announced in China: Reno4 5G – 6.43” 1080×2400 FHD+ AMOLED 2xHiD, Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G, rear tri 48MP-8MP ultrawide-2MP depth + front dual 32MP-2MP depth, 8+128 / 8+256GB, Android 10.0, under display fingerprint, 4000mAh 65W, CNY2,999 (USD422) / CNY3,299 (USD465). Reno4 Pro 5G – 6.55” 1080×2400 FHD+ curved AMOLED HiD, Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G, rear tri 48MP OIS-13MP telephoto 2x optical zoom-12MP ultrawide dedicated video camera + front 32MP, 8+128 / 12+256GB, Android 10.0, under display fingerprint, 4000mAh 65W, CNY3,799 (USD535) / CNY4,299 (USD606). (GSM Arena, CN Beta)

Moto G Fast and Moto E (2020) are announced in US: Moto G Fast – 6.4” 720×1560 HD+ IPS HiD, Qualcomm Snapdragon 665, rear tri 16MP-8MP ultrawide-2MP macro + front 8MP, 3+32GB, Android 10.0, rear fingerprint, 4000mAh 10W, USD300. Moto E (2020) – 6.2” 720×1520 HD+ IPS u-notch, Qualcomm Snapdragon 632, rear dual 13MP-2MP depth + front 5MP, 2+32GB, Android 10.0, rear fingerprint, 3550mAh, USD150. (GSM Arena, Android Central, Motorola)

Coolpad COOL10 is launched in China – 6.51” 720×1600 HD+ v-notch, MediaTek Helio P30 MT6758, rear tri 16MP main camera + front 8MP, 6+128GB, Android 10.0, side fingerprint, 4900mAh, CNY899 (USD125). (GSM Arena, My Drivers)

Honor 8S 2020 is launched in Great Britain – 5.71” 1520×720 HD+ u-notch, MediaTek Helio A22, rear dual 13MP  + front 5MP, 3+64GB, Android 9.0, no fingerprint scanner, 3020mAh, GBP100. (GizChina, Honor)

Wearables

Singapore is developing a wearable tracking device that will reveal if citizens come into contact with COVID-19 infected people. The government is developing and will soon roll out a portable wearable device that will achieve the same objectives as Trace Together but will not depend on possession of a smartphone. Trace Together is Singapore’s contact tracing app for iPhone and Android. (CN Beta, CN Beta, Straits Times, Forbes, Reuters)

Timex launches the lifestyle focused Metropolitan smart watch collection featuring software that was developed in partnership with Huami. The second watch in the Timex Smart portfolio features an impressive high-resolution AMOLED touch display with vibrant colors that look bright in any light and 2 weeks of battery life, making it a standout among competitors. (CN Beta, Phone Arena, PR Newswire)

Augmented / Virtual Reality

Tobii Pro, the global leader in eye tracking research solutions, has launched Tobii Pro Glasses 3 – its next-generation of wearable eye tracker built for measuring attention in any real-world scenario. Users can now get unbiased insights into human behavior more easily. (VentureBeat, Tobii Pro, Tobii)

Samsung’s patent indicates the Samsung AR glasses will be able to show the turn-by-turn navigation on its transparent display. It works just like the head-up display (HUD), but comes built into the smart glasses that the company is working on. Along with the AR glasses, the setup also includes three external cameras. (Patently Apple, Android Headlines）

Automotive

Samsung has reportedly decided to kill off its Android Auto Alternative service. This sees the end for users that could normally enable a dedicated car mode. Samsung has also recently decided to discontinue its S Voice alongside other applications. (Android Headlines, Auto Evolution)

Self-driving cars, long touted by developers as a way to eliminate road deaths, could likely only prevent 1/3 of all U.S. road crashes, which are believed the exclusive result of sensing and perception errors, or driver incapacitation. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), a research group financed by U.S. insurers, has found the remaining crashes were caused by mistakes that self-driving systems are not equipped to handle any better than human drivers. (VentureBeat, IIHS)

Nidec, the world’s largest motor manufacturer, will set up a new research and development facility in China for drive motors used in electric vehicles. The company plans to also develop motors for use in elderly care robots and home appliances. The new R&D center is scheduled to come into operation in 2021 and will be inside its new factory in the northeastern city of Dalian that is under construction with investment of about JPY100B (USD920.64M). (Laoyaoba, Nikkei)

Chinese automaker BYD will use Huawei Technologies’ 5G wireless network technology in its new vehicle models to be introduced at the end of Jun 2020, making it the world’s first mass-produced car to use the 5G technology. (Laoyaoba, Yicai Global)

Artificial Intelligence

M3, a medical web portal backed by Sony, claims Alibaba’s AI technology has allowed it to develop a powerful COVID-19 diagnosis tool. The AI-powered tool is able to analyse CT scans for signs of COVID-19 infection to help quickly diagnose the novel coronavirus which has caused havoc around the world. The system is awaiting approval from the health ministry. (Laoyaoba, Asia Nikkei, AI News)