10-8: Back to work! Oculus’ series of announcement; vivo 2016 75mln shipment, next year targeting 100mln; Sharp showcasing Corner R; etc.
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Chipset |
| Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory research team led by Ali Javey has crafted a transistor with 1nm gate. They have used molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) to achieve this result. (TechNews, Engadget, University of California Berkeley, Hacked, Science)
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| NXP is finally getting ready to launch its i.MX8 processor family—i.MX 8 QuadMax, iMX 8 QuadPlus and i.MX 8 Quad. NXP says samples of the new chips should be available starting in 1Q17. (Liliputing, NXP, CNX Software, EE Times)
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Touch Display |
| Panasonic has demoed an “invisible TV”. By employing an HDTV with an OLED panel instead of an LED screen, Panasonic managed to create an HDTV that, when turned off, is completely transparent. (eTeknix, HC360, ZOL, 163, Daily Mail, Yahoo, Engadget)
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| Sharp unveils Corner R smartphone concept, which uses Sharp Free Form Display created using the recently unveiled IGZO display technology which is said to come with 1000ppi. Corner R features 5.2” FHD display. (TechNews, Gizmo China)
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| Even its Chinese rivals will be rolling out new phones equipped with curved OLED screens in 2017. LG will make all-out efforts to adopt its own, says Yi Choong-hoon, chief analyst at UBI Research. (TechNews, Korea Herald) |
| In a patent document, LG is envisioning a book-shaped device that is capable of folding in on itself. The left half of it appears to be a transparent touchscreen, showing multimedia controls. The patent suggests the 2017 deadline is achievable. (CN Beta, GSM Arena)
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Memory |
| Shipments of SSDs in 2Q16 hit 33.705 million units, which is nearly 10 million units higher than in the same period a year ago and up 9.5% from 1Q16, according to TrendFocus. In 2Q16 average contract prices of 128 and 256 GB SSDs dropped to USD37.20 and USD60.80 per unit, respectively, according to DRAMeXchange. The total capacity of all SSDs sold in 2Q16 achieved 12.47 Exabytes, up 93% YoY and 24.1% QoQ, based on TrendFocus. (AnandTech, article, CN Beta, TrendForce, press)
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| Plextor has introduced its new family of entry-level SSDs, which could become the most affordable drives in the company’s lineup in the coming months. The S2C SSDs use TLC NAND flash memory made by SK Hynix using 16 nm process technology as well as a controller from Silicon Motion. (AnandTech, Plextor, 163)
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Camera |
| Samsung is reportedly preparing a massive redesign of the Galaxy S8 including – dual rear cameras, no physical home button, and full-screen display (no buttons or borders). (Patently Apple, CNET, BGR, Techno Buffalo, ET News, NY Times, 163) |
| ExoLens has announced 2 new ranges of iPhone accessory lenses to add versatility to the cameras of the iPhone. The Pro range comes with ‘professional-grade’ Zeiss optics, while Prime lenses aim to meet a more modest promise to assist those ‘looking to create unique, artistic and candid snapshots’. (GSM Arena, DP Review, 163)
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| Sony will bring production of image sensors to full capacity in the October-March half-year. The combined monthly production would rise to 73,000 units at Sony’s 5 image sensor plants, from 70,000 units now. (CN Beta, Geo.TV, Reuters) |
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Battery |
| Electric car startup Faraday Future has formed a partnership with LG Chem for the supply of lithium-ion batteries to power its cars. The two are also collaborating on next-generation battery technology. LG Chem has already forged ties with 20 automakers including Audi and General Motors Company. (iTer News, PC Mag, Motor Authority, Hybrid Cars, OfWeek) |
| LG Chem has begun construction on a new lithium-ion battery production facility outside of Wrocław, Poland. LG Chem will invest approximately USD360 million in the new factory. Once completed by end of 2018, the facility is expected to produce 100,000 batteries a year. (iTer News, Clean Technica, HC360, iGeek) |
| A new patent application titled “battery can” shows Apple is studying ways to make its future batteries even more efficient while also ensuring that they remain safe. The patent focuses on the battery enclosure rather than the battery cell. (CN Beta, BGR, USPTO, Patently Apple, Silicon Beat)
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Smartphones |
| Xiaomi has opened it first overseas store outside Greater China and that too in the Asian financial hub — Singapore. The Mi Home store is situated at shopping mall Suntec City. Xiaomi is also turning to regional online retailer Lazada to manage its online sales. (CN Beta, CNET, Pocket Now, The Tech Portal)
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| Software developer Nexedi is so keen to see Apple improve the rendering engine in its iPhone browser that it has filed suit against Apple in a French court. Nexedi develops cross-platform business apps in HTML5 that can run unchanged on Windows, Linux, and Android. (CN Beta, PC World, CNET) |
| A US circuit appeals court overturned the USD120 million victory awarded to Apple in 2014, claiming that Samsung did not infringe on patents for swipe to unlock and an quick-link feature that turns information like addresses or phone numbers into links. Now a different federal appeals court reinstating the case’s first decision awarding USD120 million to Apple. (Engadget, The Verge, Bloomberg, CN Beta) |
| AT&T is allegedly “considering” stopping sales of Samsung Galaxy Note 7 based on that battery incident. (Engadget, Bloomberg, Caijing, 163) |
| Google has revealed on their “Made by Google” website that they are setting up shop in New York City. Google is calling it a “pop-up” store, which seems to indicate that it is going to be a temporary setup. (Android Authority, Google, Engadget)
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| vivo is targeting 90~100 million phone shipments in 2017. Industry analyst Sun Changxu projects that vivo’s phone sales could even clock up to 75 million units before the end of 2016. (My Drivers, Gizmo China)
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| vivo Y55L is official in India – 5.2” HD 2.5D curved display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor, 8MP + 5MP cameras, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, Android 6.0 (Funtouch OS 2.6), 4G (VoLTE), 2650mAh battery, INR11980. (GizChina, PC Mag)
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| Blackview E7S and E7 are officially announced: E7S – 5.5” HD 2.5D curved display, MediaTek MT6580 processor, 8MP + 2MP cameras, 2GB RAM, 16GB ROM, Android 6.0, 2700mAh battery. E7 – 5.5” HD display, MediaTek MT6737 processor, 8MP + 2MP cameras, 1GB RAM, 16GB ROM, Android 6.0, LTE, 2700mAh battery. (Gizmo China, Blackview, GizChina)
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Tablets |
| Dell Technologies confirmed that it is conducting layoffs, yet Dell did not reveal which business units are being affected or which cities where the layoffs are primarily taking place. (CN Beta, Fortune, 512Tech) |
| Lenovo is reportedly interested in spending quite a bit of money on Fujitsu’s PC business. (Ubergizmo, Asia Nikkei, CNFOL, Sohu) |
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Wearables |
| Pebble announces Pebble 2 and Pebble 2 SE – Includes a heart rate monitor (Pebble 2), a microphone, water resistant up to 30m, 7-day battery life, Pebble 2 is priced at USD130, and SE is priced at USD100. (GSM Arena, Pebble, ZDNET, PC Mag, Slash Gear, Android Community, Sina)
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Oculus Earphones is announced – said to offer “solid bass response while maintaining excellent mid/high levels for a well-balanced sound signature”, priced at USD49. (Pocket-Lint, Oculus, Fone Arena, 3D VR Central, Road to VR, 163, Huahou)
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| Oculus Touch controllers add hand-tracking to the virtual reality headset. The controllers feature analog sticks, triggers, and face buttons which allow users to naturally control their avatar’s hands in virtual reality. Finger gestures such as thumbs up or more complex gestures like waving and picking up objects in VR is possible using the Touch controllers. (Pocket-Lint, Ubergizmo, Fone Arena, USA Today, Sina)
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| Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Oculus is working on a mid-range standalone virtual reality headset which would eliminate the need for users to be tethered to a PC. The prototype “Santa Cruz” is a newly announced standalone VR headset. (Ubergizmo, USA Today, Engadget, Leiphone)
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Internet of Things |
| Given the emergence of IoT companies with products aimed specifically at retail, CB Insights database identifies 40+ IoT startups in the space. The startups in this market map have raised USD900 million in aggregate to bring IoT into retail. (CB Insights, press)
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| In the light of increased investor interest in deep learning and a wave of new startups applying deep learning technology to verticals like healthcare, cybersecurity, and business intelligence, CB Insights database identifies 60+ startups in the space. (CB Insights, press)
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| The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the National Safety Council announced plans to eliminate traffic fatalities within the next 30 years. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and other government agencies will work together toward the ultimate goal via autonomous vehicles. DOT is committing USD1 million a year for the next 3 years toward grants for safety programs. (CN Beta, Detroit News, NPR, Motor Trend, Energy Fuse)
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