IF / News

Chipsets

[CES 2017] Qualcomm Incorporated announced that its subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies, International has introduced active noise cancelling (ANC) technology onto its CSR8675 product platform, making it the world’s first Bluetooth audio system-on-chip (SoC) to integrate such an advanced audio solution. The new feature reduces the complexity and cost of adding active noise cancelling to headphones by eliminating the need for a separate ANC chip. (Laoyaoba, Qualcomm, Liliputing, Telecomlead, TechRadar, BGR)

[CES 2017] Qualcomm Incorporated announced that its subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies International has introduced the Qualcomm TrueWireless Stereo Headset Reference Design. This is to meet growing demand in the headset and hearables markets for much smaller form factor, truly wireless devices. (BGR, PR Newswire, Laoyaoba)

[CES 2017] Intel has announced a new modular compute platform called the Intel Compute Card, which has all the elements of a full computer, including Intel SoC, memory, storage and wireless connectivity with flexible I/O options. Device makers simply design a standard Intel Compute Card slot into their device. (PC World, CN Beta, Huanqiu, Digitimes, IT Home)

Touch / Display

[CES 2017] Visteon is exploring how OLED display technology can be used in cars. They showed off examples of OLED displays designed as car instrument clusters and infotainment interfaces. (CN Beta, CNET)

[CES 2017] Corning has unveiled its glass-enabled concept vehicle, showcasing the breadth of its Gorilla Glass’ automotive applications – A lightweight Gorilla Glass hybrid windshield with augmented reality capabilities, providing real-time updates on traffic and landmarks. Corning also announces a joint venture with glass manufacturer Saint Gobain. (CN Beta, Digitimes, CNET)

Sensory

Xiaomi and Via Licensing, a leading world-wide intellectual property solutions provider, have entered into an agreement granting Xiaomi a license to use the patented technology in Via’s Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) patent pool. (Laoyaoba, CN Beta, GizChina, TMCNet, Business Wire)

Battery

[CES 2017] Energous CEO Steve Rizzone announces that its first wireless transmitters will ship before the end of 2017, and be embedded in “one of the largest consumer electronics companies in the world”. (CN Beta, The Verge, Apple Insider, Forbes)

[CES 2017] Ossia, the wireless pioneers behind over-the-air charging platform Cota, showed an analog clock, a USB charger, and a AA battery charging feet away from a wireless base station. (Digital Trends, Yahoo, iFanr, Gizmodo, Ossia)

Connectivity

[CES 2017] T-Mobile CEO John Legere has noted that T-Mobile added 2.1M customers in 4Q16. For the 2016 full year, this means T-Mobile has added more than 8.2M new customers. About 3.3M of them are postpaid phone customers and 2.5M are prepaid subscribers. (Android Headlines, CNET, Digital Trends, 10JQKA)

It has been 5 months since Verizon agreed to buy Yahoo’s internet business for USD4.8B, but now Verizon’s executive Marni Walden revealed that the company is having doubts about this deal. (Android Headlines, Hollywood Reporter, NY Post, Business Insider, Tencent, ZOL)

[CES 2017] Wi-Fi Alliance has officially unveiled plans to begin certifying a new wireless standard called Wi-Fi TimeSync, a new feature that enables devices to connect with each other through Wi-Fi with sub-microsecond clock synchronization allowing for accurate coordination and synchronization. (CN Beta, Fierce Wireless, PC World, Gizmo China, Wi-Fi Alliance)

HDMI Forum announced key specifications of the HDMI 2.1 standard, which will be published in 2Q17. The new standard will increase link bandwidth to 48Gbps and will enable support for up to 10K resolutions without compression, new color spaces with up to 16bits per component, dynamic HDR, variable refresh rates for gaming applications as well as new audio formats. (AnandTech, HDMI Forum, Tencent, 163)

Smartphones

According to Accenture’s new Dynamic Digital Consumers survey, 54% of consumers surveyed said they plan to buy a smartphone in 2017, up from 48% in last year’s survey. Chinese consumers are the main drivers of this upturn, with 74% of respondents in China saying they intend to purchase a smartphone in the coming 12 months, up from less than 61% in last year’s survey. (CN Beta, Fortune, ZDNet, Business Wire, Accenture, infographic)

Accenture’s new Dynamic Digital Consumers survey reveals consumer demand for specific types of connected devices, such as smartwatches and fitness monitors, will remain sluggish in 2017 due to high prices and persistent concerns about the security and privacy of their personal data. The survey also shows consumers are increasingly embracing artificial intelligence capabilities such as digital voice assistants. (CN Beta, Fortune, ZDNet, Business Wire, Accenture, infographic)

Wistron is expanding ODM handset production capacity at its existing plant in the suburb of New Delhi from the current 600K~700K units to 2M a month, and it is also building a new handset plant in Bangalore, India, according to Digitimes. (Digitimes, press, ZOL, 163)

Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that Android OEMs are currently offering smartphones for USD100 and USD50, but for emerging markets such as that of India’s, they need smartphones that cost USD30. (Android Central, Mashable, Yahoo, ZOL, Huanqiu)

According to LG CTO Skott Ahn, the LG will be “scaling back the modularity” for its next flagship G6 which is launching 2017. (Gizmo China, WSJ, Engadget, WCCF Tech, 163, Tencent)

[CES 2017] Huawei plans to release its own Tango-based AR smartphone. (Android Authority)

[CES 2017] Huawei Mate 9 sold in US will be the first phone in the world to have Amazon Alexa voice service preinstalled. (Mobile World Live, PC Mag, USA Today, Android Police, Sohu, NewHua)

[CES 2017] Lenovo Group’s CEO Yang Yuanqing discussing 3 strategies and 3 technologies direction of the company. Lenovo spends yearly USD1.5B on focusing on these technologies development. (Laoyaoba, Sina)

[CES 2017] Coolpad Conjr is announced – 5” HD 2.5D curved display, MediaTek MT6735P processor, 13MP + 8MP cameras, 3GB RAM, 16GB storage, Android 6.0, 2500mAh battery, USD179.99. (Android Central, Coolpad)

[CES 2017] HiSense unveils 2 shockproof of IK05 smartphones with Android 7.0: Rock – 5.2” FHD IPS display, 1.4GHz octa-core Qualcomm processor, 16MP + 5MP cameras, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, IP68 certified, 3000mAh battery, EUR350. Rock Mini – 5” FHD IPS display, 1.3GHz octa-core Qualcomm processor, 8MP rear camera, 1GB RAM, 8GB storage, 3900mAh battery, EUR199. (Android Headlines)

[CES 2017] GraalPhone is Windows 10 laptop, Android phone and tablet, and camera in one case. (CN Beta, Liliputing, GraalPhone, Softpedia, PC Mag)

Tablets

[CES 2017] Tablet maker grandPad teamed up with Acer to produce a new custom-built tablet for seniors – 7” 1920×1200 display, Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro MSM8064, 5MP + 1.2MP cameras, 2GB RAM, 32GB storage, 4G LTE, USD75 per month for device and service. (Digital Trends, PRWeb, grandPad)

[CES 2017] Ockel Sirius A is a 6” of Windows 10 device – 6” 1920×1080 display, Intel Atom x7-8750 processor, 4 / 8GB RAM, 64 / 128GB storage, Windows 10, USB Type-C, HDMI port, DisplayPort, 3000mAh battery, from USD699. (CN Beta, SlashGear)

Wearables

[CES 2017] Flir announces 5 new thermal cameras – Flir One for smartphones, Flir Duo / Duo R for drones, and Flir C3 designed for home and building inspections. All 5 are built around Flir’s Lepton thermal micro camera and patented MSX technology for adding visible-light details into thermal images. (Digital Trends, Gizmodo, Yahoo, eNet, 163)

[CES 2017] Vuzix showcasing Blade 3000 Smart Glasses. It is powered by a quad-core ARM CPU, running Android 5.0, has a microSD expansion slot, micro USB port, 8MP camera, supports Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, to be released in 2H17, priced at USD1000. (Android Headlines, Yahoo, PR Newswire, Qudong)

[CES 2017] Pico unveils unthethered VR headset Pico Neo CV – 2×1.5K display at 90Hz, Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, Qualcomm Snapdragon VR SDK, 6DOF (degrees of freedom), built-in Hi-Fi speakers with a spatial rendering engine. (Android Headlines, Upload VR, VentureBeat, Sina)

[CES 2017] Misfit Vapor smartwatch is announced – 1.39” circular AMOLED display, Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor, 4GB storage, accelerometer, altimeter, gyroscope, optical heart rate sensor, GPS and microphone, waterproof up to 50m, priced at USD199. (Android Headlines, Digital Trends, CNET, PC Mag, Fonearena, 163)

[CES 2017] Sennheiser showcasing its AMBEO 3D smart surround in-ear earphones, which allows the wearer to capture the audio world around them in 3D. It can capture binaural audio recordings, to go along with the smartphone video. (SlashGear, IB Times, Android Headlines, 163)

[CES 2017] Earin has unveiled its new M-2 completely wireless Bluetooth earbuds, adding a touch interface to the tip of the earpiece. It  can be used for listening to music and taking phone calls. (Apple Insider, CNET, Yahoo, LinuxIDC, TechNode)

Google announced that 4 more new or recent phones also work with Daydream namely ASUS ZenFone AR, Huawei Mate 9 Pro / Porsche Design and ZTE Axon 7. (Liliputing, Reuters, Android Central, Google)

[CES 2017] Altia Systems reveals PanaCast 2s and PanaCast 3D VR Kit, a camera system and a technology designed for recording and broadcasting 180-degree virtual reality content in 4K resolution. (Android Headlines, TMCNet)

[CES 2017] Avagant’s Glyph is a portable movie theater powered by smartphone. Inside each Glyph is two small eye pieces, chock-full of millions of ‘micro mirrors’ that provide resolution comparable to that of a high-end movie theater. (CN Beta, The Next Web, Avegant)

[CES 2017] Under Armour has partnered with New England Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady to design Athlete Recovery Sleepwear. The key to the garment is a special pattern on the inside lining that is meant to absorb heat and create something called “far infrared”, which the sleepwear transfers back to the body. It is priced at USD200. (CN Beta, CNET)

[CES 2017] Supported by a USD45M investment, AR glasses company Lumus is announcing 2 new prototypes Maximus (with 55DFOV) and Sleek designs, one of which is designed to appeal to “casual everyday users”. (VentureBeat, Digital Trends, The Verge, 163)

[CES 2017] Other than Lenovo, Microsoft showed off the Windows 10 VR headsets that HP, Dell, Acer and 3Glasses are working on. (Engadget, Baidu VR)

Internet of Things

[CES 2017] Invoxia announces new Triby IO smart speaker. It serves as a versatile smart hub capable of audio streaming and home automation. It also supports Amazon Alexa AI assistant and a broad range of third-party IoT devices and services. It is priced at USD199.99. (Android Headlines, Xinhuanet)

[CES 2017] Nvidia unveils Nvidia Spot, which has a microphone built-in, and allows users to issue voice commands to Google Assistant. (CN Beta, CNET, Talk Android, Geeky Gadgets, Nvidia, VentureBeat)

[CES 2017] Honda showcasing NeuV (New Electric Urban Vehicle) electric automated mini vehicle. It can provide ride sharing for others when not being used by the owner. It also comes with Honda Automated Network Assistant (HANA), a personal and adaptive AI assistant. (CN Beta, Auto Guide, Auto Blog)

[CES 2017] Honda demonstrates Riding Assist Motorcycle, which  uses robotics technology for self-leveling capabilities, meaning the bike can balance itself. (CN Beta, CN Beta, Auto Blog, IGN)

[CES 2017] BMW showcases i Inside Future concept focusing on the interior layout featuring BMW’s HoloActive Touch system. It “fuses the advantages of the BMW Head-Up Display, BMW gesture control and intuitive touchscreen functionality with revolutionary technology.” (CN Beta, DriveSpark, SlashGear)

[CES 2017] Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn confirmed plans for a follow-up to his company’s flagship EV, the Leaf, which represents “the next chapter of Nissan Intelligent Power” and will include ProPilot autonomous technology.  (Engadget, Nissan, Autoblog, Tencent, Chexun)

[CES 2017] Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn announces a new driverless system called Seamless Autonomous Mobility (SAM). It addresses the problem of situations that can’t be – or shouldn’t be, as Nissan stresses – handled by autonomous systems alone. (CN Beta, SlashGear, CNN)

[CES 2017] Chrysler unveiled an all-electric concept car (van) – the Portal. Autonomous driving technology, long-range (100 kWh battery and 250 miles of real world range), as well as 350 kW charging capability are just a few of the major features of Portal. (CN Beta, Yahoo, Inside EVs)

[CES 2017] Baidu and Ainemo jointly unveiled  “Little Fish”, a voice-controlled family robot powered by Baidu’s AI. It is powered by DuerOS, Baidu’s AI assistant platform, and will be released in spring 2017 priced at USD300. (CN Beta, Android Headlines, Yahoo)

[CES 2017] LG announces Hub Robot robotic assistant. It uses Amazon Alexa’s voice recognition technology to connect with IoT devices in a user’s home or office. (Laoyaoba, Yahoo, LG, TechRepublic, Tech Hive)

[CES 2017] Lenovo Group Senior VP and CTO Rui Yong indicates that Lenovo wants to build an AI team. (Laoyaoba, 163)

Didi Chuxing announced that it is making an investment in Brazil-based taxi on-demand service 99 (formerly known as 99Taxi). Didi has led a new round the value of which is undisclosed, though a 99 spokesperson said it is in excess of USD100M. (TechCrunch, 99, 163, Sina)