5-24: LGD might supply dual-edge OLED panel to Xiaomi and Huawei; Samsung showcasing 5.7″ QHD rollable AMOLED display; Huawei denies rumor of moving out of Shenzhen; etc.
LGD might supply dual-edge OLED panel to Xiaomi and Huawei; Everdisplay supplying OLED to RagenTek, HTC, Huawei and ASUS; Samsung showcasing 5.7″ QHD rollable AMOLED display; Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology (TSST) has stopped making CD, DVD and Blu-ray computer drives; VicoVR is building a full body-tracking system for virtual reality; Huawei denies rumor of moving out of Shenzhen; etc.
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Chipsets |
| The first Loogson robotic controller using Loongson 1C300 SoC is being crowd-funded, and prepared to enter mass production. (CN Beta, 163, My Drivers)
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| Lattice Semiconductor Corporation, the leading provider of customizable smart connectivity solutions, today announced the industry’s first Lattice CrossLink programmable bridging device that supports leading protocols for mobile image sensors and displays. (TechNews, Electro Pages, 4-Traders)
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Touch / Display |
| A major leap in display manufacturing equipment orders may strongly suggest that Apple is preparing to build OLED-equipped iPhones, possibly in time for 2017 models. Applied Materials, recently disclosed a fourfold spike in orders in 2Q16 — nearing what the company would normally witness in an entire year. (CN Beta, Apple Insider, Bloomberg, 9to5Mac) |
| LG Display has developed dual-edge OLED panels that will be supplied to Xiaomi and is going to supply them starting from end of this year. LG Display is also talking to Huawei about supplying its panels. (CN Beta, Android Headlines, ET News) |
| EverDisplay has supplied AMOLED panels for China-based smartphone ODM RagenTek and white-box smartphone vendors. It has also landed orders from overseas white-box vendors as well as HTC and Huawei for use in smartwatches, and ASUS for its smartphone expected this year. (Digitimes, press) |
| Samsung Display showcasing rollable AMOLED display, weighing a mere 5g, boasts 0.3mm in depth and 10 radius of curvature, which means the display can be rolled into a circle with a 10 millimeter radius. (CN Beta, SlashGear, Korea Herald, CET)
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Camera |
| Corydoras Technologies LLC that first sued Samsung in March is now suing Apple with a series of patents that they acquired from Japan which they claim are “presumed valid”. The company claims that 20 specific models of Apple iPhones and iPads infringe on various claims of their patents in respect to cameras, call blocking, FaceTime calling and more. (TechNews, Patently Apple)
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Memory |
| Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology (TSST) has stopped making CD, DVD and Blu-ray computer drives since mid-April this year, leaving only Lite-on and LG-Hitachi as the only optical disk drive (ODD) manufacturers.(CN Beta, MyCE, Kit Guru)
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Battery |
| “RoboBee”, weighs just 0.08g and has a pair of tiny wings that can beat up to 120 times per second, is using static electricity to latch onto the underside of any flat surfaces – a process that uses between 500-1,000 times less power than flying. (TechNews, The Guardian, Science Mag, The Verge, Science)
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Sensors |
| Watch-Bot consists of a 3D sensor, a camera that can pan and tilt, a laptop, and a laser pointer, which can detect humans’ forgotten actions as well as localize the related object in the current scene. (CN Beta, Daily Mail, IEEE, The Verge, Stanford)
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| Leaked Samsung Gear Fit 2 images show that it includes a wider display than the original fit. The device may also sport Samsung’s “Bio-Processor”, intended to improve the general accuracy of fitness tracking. (Apple Insider, Sam Mobile, TechWeb, 163)
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| Researchers at the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona claims Fitbit’s popular heart rate trackers are “highly inaccurate”. The study was commissioned by the Lieff Cabraser, the law firm behind the class action suit that is taking aim at three Fitbit models that use the PurePulse heart monitor. Fitbit defends accuracy of fitness trackers. (NBC News, Android Headlines, CNET, report, Gizmodo, CN Beta, CNN)
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| VicoVR is building a full body-tracking system for virtual reality. VicoVR is a sensor bar that can detect up to 19 body points. VicoVR connects wirelessly to any Android or iOS device being used with a HMD. (The Verge, VicoVR, VR Focus, Sohu, 36kr)
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Smartphones |
| Apple has reportedly asked its suppliers to produce 72-78 million new iPhones by the end of 2016, the highest production target in about two years. However, Wall Street has expected only 65 million iPhone 7s to be produced this year. (Barron’s, blog, CN Beta) |
| Apple CEO Tim Cook does think the iPhone might be priced too high in India, and he said the company would consider lowering it. (Business Insider, TechCrunch, YouTube, CN Beta)
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| Huawei responds to the rumor of moving out of Shenzhen, saying that the company has never had any plan to move its headquarter out of Shenzhen. (CN Beta, Global Times, Sina, SZ News) |
| Xiaomi, the second highest-valued startup in the world at USD45 billion, barely grew sales at all in 2015. Revenue for 2015 reached CNY78 billion (USD12.5 billion), a 5% rise from 2014’s CNY74.3 billion,. Taking into account the falling value of the Chinese currency, the CNY, sales rose 3% in USD terms. (CN Beta, CNET, Fortune) |
| Samsung recorded the best profit for its mobile business in 2 years in 1Q16. Samsung does not religiously believe in “high spec” with its 12MP camera for Galaxy S7 (instead of 16MP), and also reducing its smartphone models to streamline production. According to IBK Investment & Securities Kim Hyun-su, Galaxy Note 6 will be attached with more innovations launched in 2H16. Also, Counterpoint Research pointed out that Samsung has cut nearly one-third of phone models. (Phone Arena, Reuters, First Post, CN Beta, TechNews) |
| Freetel Wireless launches Kiwami – 6” QHD display, MediaTek Helio X10 MT6795 processor, 21MP + 8MP cameras, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, Android 5.1, LTE, 3400mAh battery, USD350. (Phone Arena, Phone Scoop, Freetel, CNMO)
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Tablets |
| Richard Edwards, principal analyst for Enterprise ICT at Ovum, has recently explained that most businesses, many of them still on Windows 7, aren’t expected to move to Windows 10 in the coming months, especially because Microsoft is working to release the Redstone update this summer. (CN Beta, Softpedia, Tech Republic) |
| IDC analyst Jay Chou delivered carefully couched statements to IDG’s Gregg Keizer, noting that Chromebooks had out-shipped Macs in the U.S. for the first time during 1Q16. Apple shipped an estimated 1.17 million Mac in the U.S. during 1Q16; IDC said 1.6 million Chrome OS notebooks shipped in the same span. (Apple Insider, Computer World, The Verge, IDC, 163, Tencent) |
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Wearables |
| OnePlus announces Loop VR headset, and giving away first 30,000 for free. (CN Beta, iFeng, Redmond Pie, Android Central)
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| Facebook has purchased immersive audio company Two Big Ears and will be making their technology free as a part of their new Facebook 360 Spatial Workshop.Two Big Ears specializes in spatial 3D audio in cinematic and gaming experiences. (CN Beta, TechCrunch, PC Mag, Facebook, Two Big Ears)
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| JayBird unveiled new Freedom Wireless Bluetooth Buds, which has a tiny tapered earbuds that re about 20% thinner than the earbuds on the earlier models. It also comes with a portable battery charger that offers an extra 4 hours. (Android Authority, Engadget, JayBird, The Verge, 163, Yesky)
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Internet of Things |
| UPS recently entered into a partnership with Zipline, a medical drone delivery startup, to begin aerial transport of healthcare supplies in Rwanda. Included in the deal is Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, a Gates Foundation supported non-profit specializing in immunizations. (CN Beta, TechCrunch, Business Insider)
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| Hyundai is prepping a 250-mile electric vehicle for 2020. Byung Ki Ahn, Hyundai’s director, eco-vehicle performance development group, also confirmed a 200-mile EV for 2018. (Auto Blog, CN Beta)
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