6-16: Rumored Apple iPhone 7 will not be coming with dual-cameras due to technical difficulties; Global shipments of wearable devices are expected to reach 101.9 million units by the end of 2016; etc.
Rumored Apple iPhone 7 will not be coming with dual-cameras due to technical difficulties; LG Electronics has completed the development of a smartphone that supports magnetic resonance-based; The more affordable OnePlus X will not have a follow-up model; Huawei has shipped 2.6 million P9 / P9 Plus worldwide; OPPO has sold 7 million F1 Plus so far; Global shipments of wearable devices are expected to reach 101.9 million units by the end of 2016; etc.
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Camera |
| Foxconn employee leaked that Apple iPhone 7 will not be coming with dual-cameras due to technical difficulties. (CN Beta, Gizmo China, TGBus)
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Sensors |
| Nike AlphaBounce is shaped by ARAMIS, a motion-capture system that helps determine the amount of strain and tension caused by different materials. ARAMIS combines high-speed cameras with flexion sensors to gather information at up to 500fps. (Engadget, MSN)
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| Columbia University has developed a new method to fight VR sickness. The scientists have subtly changed the user’s field of view (FOV) in response to visually perceived motion as the user virtually traverses an environment while remaining physically stationary. (Android Headlines, Times of India, First Post, QuDong, iFeng)
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Battery |
| LG Electronics has completed the development of a smartphone that supports magnetic resonance-based wireless charging at a distance of up to 7cm and is currently mulling over when to release it in the market. (Business Korea, CN Beta, BGR)
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Smartphones |
| According to The Economist’s yearly survey, almost 30% of respondents seeing diminished expectations for Asian markets. However, despite this decline in expectations, it is important to bear in mind that an even larger portion of survey respondents reported that their expectations have improved or remained unchanged. This group, representing more than two-thirds of all respondents, still views Asia as an appealing opportunity to grow their business. (199IT, report)
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| In regards to marketing, global marketing VP for mobile of Samsung Younghee Lee says that “We always relentlessly pursue what we think is right in technology. Our communications program is no different. If we think it is right, we pursue it relentlessly”. (CN Beta, CNET, AdWeek, Phone Arena)
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| Google Android co-founder Andy Rubin indicates that a combination of quantum computing and AI advancements could yield a conscious intelligence that would underpin every piece of technology. He thinks the future of smartphones might be a single AI. (Bloomberg, Inverse, The Verge, CN Beta)
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| OnePlus CEO Pete Lau confirmed that his company’s more affordable offering, the OnePlus X, will not have a follow-up model. (Engadget, CN Beta) |
| Twitter has reportedly invested around USD70 million in the music service SoundCloud, as part of a round that should end up in the USD100 million-range. (Re/Code, Digital Trends) |
| Coolpad denies the rumor of being acquired by LeEco, and that the brands including Coolpad and viv under Yulong will disappear. (CN Beta, 163) |
| Huawei has announced that it has shipped over 2.6 million units of its P9 and P9 Plus smartphones. (GSM Arena, Android Central, Legit Reviews, iFeng) |
| OPPO has announced that the global sales of the F1 Plus averaged 1 sale per 1.1 second, adding up to a 7 million units so far. (GSM Arena, Pocket Now, IB Times) |
| Didi Chuxing, Uber’s main rival in China, has reportedly raised USD7 billion in new funding. (The Verge, WSJ, CN Beta) |
| Xiaomi Redmi 3X is launched with China Unicom – 5” HD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor, 13MP PDAF + 5MP cameras, 2GB RAM, 32GB storage, LTE, dual-SIM, fingerprint sensor, 4100mAh battery, CNY899. (Gizmo China, CN Beta)
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| ASUS Zenfone Pegasus 3 is official – 5.2” HD 2.5D curved glass display, 1.3GHz octa-core processor, 13MP + 5MP cameras, 2GB RAM + 16GB ROM / 3GB RAM + 32GB ROM, Android 6.0 (ZenUI 3.0), LTE, dual-SIM, fingerprint sensor, 4100mAh battery, from CNY1299. (AnandTech, Fonearena, Android Authority, iMobile, Sina)
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| Monohm circular-shaped phone Runcible is accepting pre-orders – 2.5” 640×640 circular display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor, 7MP camera, 1GB RAM, 8GB storage, Android 5.1 (BuniOS), from USD399. (The Verge, TechSpot, Indiegogo, CN Beta)
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Wearables |
| Worldwide shipments of wearable devices are expected to reach 101.9 million units by the end of 2016, representing 29.0% growth over 2015. According to IDC, the market for wearable devices will experience CAGR of 20.3%, culminating in 213.6 million units shipped in 2020. (IDC, press, CN Beta)
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| Creative Strategies President Tim Bajarin indicates that it is not surprising that Apple has not entered the VR space yet, because Apple sees VR in its very early stages and is watching how this market develops. (TechNews, Mashable) |
| Apple has reportedly stepped up procurement of chips and components for the 2nd-gen Apple Watch, which is expected to debut later in 2016. It estimates that about 2 million units of new Apple Watch could be shipped monthly. (CN Beta, Digitimes, press, GSM Arena) |
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Internet of Things |
| Gro.io is an all-inclusive hydro system that’s nearly fully automated. The central Gro.hub is a central computing tower runs an embedded Linux OS on a 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 Processor and processes signals from 10 separate remote sensors. These monitor things like water temperature, level, pH and flow. (Engadget, Gro.io)
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| Alphabet executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, thinks he knows where to look for the next USD100 billion company. According to Schmidt, start-ups that manage to successfully “use the crowd to learn something” could be the next huge market opportunity. (CNBC, CN Beta) |
| A survey of 28,000 consumers in 28 countries released in January 2016 by Accenture LLP found that 47% of respondents pointed to security and privacy as potential obstacles to adopting connected appliances. (EE Times, report)
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| Japanese company TAKARATOMY launching a cute robot “Smapon”, which is of palm size, and when put on the smartphone it could talk, change expression and being interactive to the user. This can be done via an iOS / Android app, and priced at JPY1500. (CN Beta, iFeng)
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| GREE chairwoman Mingzhu Dong indicates that the company smart machine development is good, and it already has the R&D and production capability for automation and industrial equipment, robotic, that in 2016 GREE will continue to focus on smart equipment, tooling and new energy development. (CN Beta, Huanqiu, East Day) |
