7-20: TSMC indicates that SoftBank’s acquisition of ARM no impact on TSMC collaboration with ARM; Samsung adoption of AMOLED might lead to around 70% of its smartphones to feature AMOLED panels; etc.
TSMC indicates that SoftBank’s acquisition of ARM no impact on TSMC collaboration with ARM; Samsung adoption of AMOLED might lead to around 70% of its smartphones to feature AMOLED panels; Toshiba is planning to start the manufacturing of the world’s first 64-layer 3D NAND flash memory chip; World’s first flexible MRAM; 2 months after it first went on sales, Xiaomi Mi Max has recorded over 1.5 million; etc.
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Chipset |
| TSMC indicates that SoftBank’s acquisition of ARM will have no impact on TSMC’s ongoing collaboration with ARM. TSMC added it expects to further enhance ties with ARM following SoftBank’s takeover. (52RD, Digitimes, press) |
| According to Digitimes, chip shipments for VR (virtual reality) devices are expected to surge during the year-end shopping season in Europe and the US. (Digitimes, press) |
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Touch Display |
| An Apple patent application suggests interest in a haptic feedback motor that could vibrate in different directions, depending on a device’s orientation. The filing would require the use of two haptic modules, able to vibrate vertically and horizontally respectively. (Apple Insider, USPTO, Feng)
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| Samsung has taken the initiative to adopt AMOLED panels for its high-end Galaxy S and Galaxy Note as well as its mid-range models, with around 70% of its smartphones to feature AMOLED panels. (Digitimes, press, OfWeek) |
| The market for LEDs used in mobile phones – including backlighting behind the display, keypad illumination and camera flash – will decline at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.6% from 2015 to 2021, according to IHS. Increased penetration of organic LEDs (OLED) is a primary reason for this decline. (Digitimes, press) |
| According to UBI Research, LG shipped 140,000 65” OLED TV panels in 2Q16, up 5 times from the 1Q16 (in which the company shipped 28,000 panels). UBI says that the number of 65” OLED TVs almost doubled from 2Q15. (OLED-Info, Korea Herald) |
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Memory |
| Seagate announced 3 new 10TB hard drives: the Barracuda Pro, the IronWolf and SkyHawk. (Engadget, Seagate, PC Mag, CNET, IT Home)
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| National University of Singapore (NUS) has demonstrated the world’s first flexible MRAM memory device. NUS now talking to companies regarding the possibility of commercializing the new flexible MRAM devices. (OLED-Info, MRAM-Info, Strait Times)
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| Toshiba is planning to start the manufacturing of the world’s first 64-layer 3D NAND flash memory chips in 3Q16 with Samsung being expected to release the same type of products in the following quarter. (Business Korea, 163, EEPW, Nikkei) |
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Smartphones |
| Analyst Steven Milunovich of UBS reveals the results of a 500-person survey conducted in the U.S. by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP). It found that about 9% of domestic Apple iPhone sales were of the 64GB SE model, while another 7% came in the 16GB capacity. (Barron’s, blog, Mac Rumors, Apple Insider, CN Beta)
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| The Tenet Partners U.S. CoreBrand Index is compiled annually. In 2016, Apple is standing fast for a 2nd consecutive year as the 5th most powerful brand in the U.S. and the top ranked technology company, beating rivals Microsoft, Google and Sony. (Apple Insider, Tenet Partners, report, iFeng)
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| IHS analyst Kevin Wang reveals that 2 months after it first went on sales, Xiaomi Mi Max has recorded over 1.5 million sales during this period. (Gizmo China, TechWeb)
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| A survey conducted by Quartz found that less than 10% of Apple iPhone owners will upgrade to the next iteration of the device if the model is not re-designed, as is likely. Nearly 80% will not buy the new iPhone 7 if it looks like the current model, which leaves about 10% not so sure what they are going to do. (Quartz, article, Phone Arena, TechWeb)
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| Meizu executives, Bai Yongxiang (CEO) and Li Nan (VP) indicate that the company currently has no plans for a notebook PC, also add that a curved screen smartphone from the company is possible in the future. (Gizmo China, IT Home, TechWeb)
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| Meizu MX6 is announced – 5.5” FHD Sharp in-cell TDDI display, MediaTek Helio X20 MT6797 processor, 12MP + 5MP cameras, 4GB RAM, 32GB storage, Android 6.0, LTE (VoLTE), dual-SIM, fingerprint sensor, USB Type-C, 3060mAh battery, CNY1999. (CN Beta, Android Authority, 163, Android Headlines, Phone Dog)
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| LG X Screen with dual display launched in India – 4.93” HD TFT LDC display + 1.76” 520×80 Always-On LCD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor, 13MP + 8MP cameras, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, Android 6.0, 2300mAh battery, INR12990. (CN Beta, Android Central, India Times)
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Tablets |
| Following its landing of orders for 1 million Asustek entry-level notebooks, China-based BYD has been trying to land orders from Huawei for its MateBook 2-in-1 devices and is even willing to suffer some losses as first-tier ODMs have been aggressively seeking small-volume orders from vendors to fill their capacity which has seriously impacted second-tier ODMs’ performances. (Digitimes, press) |
| Microsoft announced quarterly operating profits of just USD3.1 billion on revenues of USD20.6 billion, hit hard by slow sales of Office, a 17% drop in cloud profits, an USD870 million decline (70% decline YoY) from Windows Phone and tepid Surface sales that grew by 9% YoY but remained below USD1 billion. (Apple Insider, Microsoft, Phone Arena, Mobile Syrup, CN Beta)
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Wearables |
| The latest data from Valve’s latest Steam Hardware & Software survey indicates that HTC Vive ends up at 66.6% by the time the third survey rolled around. In the fourth survey, however, they had dropped to 66% flat. The consumer version of the Oculus Rift was slowly on the rise, jumping from 4.7% to 18.8% in the span of one survey. (CN Beta, Road to VR, Android Headlines)
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| Samsung could be working on a new VR headset that’s currently codenamed Odyssey. (CN Beta, Tom’s Guide, Neowin, Digital Trends)
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| Nike has recently been granted a patent for a new AR system that lets people design clothes. According to the document’s description, the system allows a person to virtually modify articles of clothing using a head-mounted display. Artificial designs would show up over “a proxy located in a real-world environment”. (CN Beta, Upload VR, USPTO, Sole Collector)
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| LG Action Cam is announced – 1/2.3” 12.3MP CIS with large 1.55µm pixels, wide-angle 150° lens, can capture UHD at 30fps / FHD at 60fps, Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 chipset, 2GB RAM, 4GB storage, LTE support, GPS, measuring 35 × 35 × 79.7mm, weighing 99g, IP67 certified, 1400mAh battery. (Android Central, Slash Gear, Pocket-Lint, Droid-Life, 163)
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Internet of Things |
| General Motor (GM) plans to launches its first driverless on the Lyft platform, Pam Fletcher, executive chief engineer of autonomous tech at GM. (CN Beta, MSN, Tech Insider) |
| A robot capable of giving targeted physiotherapy massages to relieve muscle strains and injuries has been developed by local start-up AiTreat. The Expert Manipulative Massage Automation (EMMA) was created by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) graduate and AiTreat CEO Albert Zhang. (Medical Express, Channel News Asia, CN Beta)
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| Mercedes-Benz revealed the world’s first self-driving city bus known as the Future Bus. This vehicle took a 12-mile trek through the streets of the Dutch city using Mercedes’ autonomous driving system CityPilot. (Digital Trends, Mercedes-Benz, ET Today)
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| In China, auto industry is reportedly working with police to create new regulations for autonomous vehicles and automakers are told to keep self-driving vehicles off the road until they go into effect. (Bloomberg, Engadget, CN Beta) |
