IF / News

Chipset

Intel is still rolling out 7th-gen Core chips based on its 14nm “Kaby Lake” architecture, and will continue to do so into 2017. Intel is also expected to roll out next-gen processors based on 2 different chip families in late 2017 and early 2018: Cannon Lake and Coffee Lake (CFL). The former is expected to be the first set of Intel chips manufactured on a 10nm process. (VR-Zone, Hexus, Motley Fool, Liliputing, BenchLife, WCCF Tech, CN Beta)

MediaTek announced the launch of its UltraCast technology, the first chipset-enabled streaming technology on the market that enables users to enjoy the stunning clarity of 4K video content generated by their smartphones and stream it wirelessly to a 4K-ready television or set-top box. (EE Trend, Droid Horizon, Telecom Lead, Yahoo, MediaTek)

Display Touch

DisplayMate Technologies CEO and display expert Raymond Soneira indicates that Apple has taken the iPhone LCD display as far as it can go. Apple really needs to put OLED displays into their next model iPhones in order to stay at the leading edge of smartphone innovation. (CN Beta, Sohu, Forbes, Learn Bonds)

Applied Materials announced that it has won a bid to supply encapsulation equipment for BOE Technology Group’s world’s first Gen 10.5 TFT-LCD production line. Gen 10.5 substrates (3370×2940mm), the largest of any current and planned display fabs announced to date , accommodate six 75” panels. (iTer News, NASDAQ, Applied Materials, 10JQKA, 51Touch)

BOE and a Chinese TV manufacturer called Skyworth have joined forced together and introduced their version of OLED TV. Their plan is to go after both Chinese and European markets at the same time and grab an upper hand in markets for OLED TVs that are currently led by LG. (TechNews, ET News)

Battery

University at Buffalo has discovered a fluorescent dye named boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY) as an ideal material for storing energy in rechargeable, liquid-based batteries that could power cars and homes in the future. (Live Science, AZO Clean Tech, CN Beta)

Apple has announced a battery replacement program for iPhone 6s owners affected by unexpected shutdowns. (TechCrunch, Apple, Engadget, 163)

Connectivity

Ofcom has confirmed to limit BT and EE’s role in upcoming 4G auctions. Ofcom will sell off 190MHz of spectrum in the 2.3GHz and 3.4GHz bands in 2017. Ofcom is worried their involvement “could harm competition in the next few years” if they were allowed to own nearly 50% of the usable spectrum in the market. (Engadget, OfCom)

Smartphones

HTC denies rumors it is selling its smartphone business. Rumor has it that 4 companies have already lined up to buy HTC’s smartphone operations, including a Taiwanese one. An announcement could be made early 2017. (Android Authority, My Drivers, CN Beta)

Huawei is expected to step up its cooperation with Taiwan-based ODMs to ramp up its share in the global smartphone, notebook and tablet markets, according to Digitimes. To counter aggressive overseas expansion projects by OPPO, vivo, Lenovo and Xiaomi, Huawei has also been strengthening its presence in Western Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. (Digitimes, press)

The Foxconn Group is expected to ship over 30M Luna-branded smartphones in Korea and Indonesia in 2016, targeting the medium- to high-end segments. Foxconn serves as an ODM of the Luna smartphones for Korea-based SK Telecom. (Digitimes, press, 163)

Wearables

HTC has signed a strategic cooperation pact with the city government of Shenzhen, southern China to set up a VR research institute, as well as a CNY10B (USD1.47B) Shenzhen VR industry fund to foster the development of the VR industry in the metropolitan area. (CN Beta, VR Focus, Digitimes, UploadVR)

Shipments of the Sony Playstation VR devices are expected to top 1.5M units in 2016, compared to 650K units estimated for the Oculus Rift and 450K units for the HTC Vive, according to Digitimes. Sales of the HTC Vive are likely to account for only 12% of HTC’s total revenues in 2016. (Digitimes, press)

SuperData Research found that, by the end of 2016, the Oculus Rift is projected to sell 355,088 units; the HTC Vive will sell 420,108 units; Google Daydream will sell 450,083 units; and the Sony’s PS VR will sell 2,602,307 units. In addition, the analysis also purports that the Samsung Gear VR — built in collaboration with Oculus — will sell 2,316,632 units.  (VR-Zone, UploadVR, Hexun, SuperData Research, blog)

Oculus parent company Facebook had acquired a company vision company Zurich Eye. Zurich Eye enables machines to independently navigate in any space. (36Kr, TechNews, VentureBeat, Handeszeitung)

Samsung has revealed more than 25,000 units of its Gear S3 smartwatch is sold in South Korea after launched on 11 Nov. 2016. (GSM Arena, The Investor)

Novartis, which is partnering with Alphabet’s Verily Life Sciences on an autofocusing lens that addresses farsightedness, says it will not make its goal of testing the technology in 2016. It is “too early to say” when trials would start. (CN Beta, Engadget, Reuters, VentureBeat)

Internet of Things

Yidao Yongche, of which 70% owned by LeEco, is reportedly owing supplier Hebei Zhongrui Communication Technology up to CNY2M, in addition to owing 5 / 6 suppliers some similar debt. Till Sept. 2016, the debt has amounted to CNY50M. (CN Beta, Sina, JRJ, Economic Times)

NuTonomy, an autonomous vehicle software startup that has been testing its technology in Singapore, announced that it had signed an agreement with officials in Boston to bring its self-driving cars to that city’s streets. (The Verge, Recode)

Chinese brands took a combined 31.9% of the global TV market for 3Q16, up from 28.9% a quarter earlier, according to IHS Technology. In comparison, South Korean firms took a combined 32.2% of the global market for the quarter, down from 35.4% a quarter earlier. (TechNews, Yonhap News)

LeEco TV officially announces price increase in China, due to the up-stream panel supply chain increasing the cost exceeding the subsidy. (CN Beta, iFeng)