IF / News

Chipsets

SIA announced worldwide sales of semiconductors reached USD31.0B for the month of Nov. 2016, an increase of 7.4% compared to the Nov. 2015 total of USD28.9B and 2.0% more than the Oct. 2016 total of USD30.4B. (TechNews, SIA, press)

Intel is launching Intel Nervana platform for AI in 2017. In collaboration with TSMC, Intel is touting TSMC’s 20nm built Altera Arria 10 FPGA deep learning DLIA, and 28nm built Lake Crest processor for neural network platform. (Laoyaoba, NASDAQ, Bit Billions)

[CES 2017] Spreadtrum already has started collaboration with Alibaba’s YunOS on smartphone segment, and launching collaboration further in IoT segment. Spreadtrum’s LTE chipset SC9830 / 9832 already supports YunOS fully. Spreadtrum is also launching Spreadlink YoC development platform with YunOS. (PR Newswire, Laoyaoba, IT168)

[CES 2017] Mercedes-Benz says it will roll out a production vehicle in the next 12 months powered by Nvidia’s artificial intelligence computer. Nvidia’s original architecture for self-driving cars is based on an AI supercomputer called Drive PX. (CN Beta, Fortune)

Touch / Display

Tanvas touting TanvasTouch, which offers real-time control of the forces acting between a fingertip and the touch surfaces, making it a truly unique experience that cannot be found on ordinary touchscreen displays, even those with haptic feedback. (Ubergizmo, Tanvas, 87870, My Zaker)

Lenovo’s own investment group and wearable displays manufacturer Kopin have formed a joint venture named Lenovo New Vision. The combination of Lenovo Capital and Incubator Group’s (LCIG) global resources and Kopin’s wearable technology expertise hopes to grow the enterprise AR market. (Laoyaoba, 3D VR Central, Road to VR)

Connectivity

Google announced that it has acquired Limes Audio, which is based in Sweden, is in the business of making voice communication systems sound better. Its flagship product called TrueVoice is described as an advanced speech enhancement software that promises to improve voice call quality through acoustic echo cancellation, noise reduction, and automatic microphone mixing.  (Android Authority, Google, 163)

[CES 2017] Kia Mobility’s managing director of connected and mobility, Henry Bzeih indicates that autonomous cars are possible but will never reach their full potential without 5G. There are just too many features that would depend on it. (Android Headlines)

Smartphones

Apple penalized CEO Tim Cook for the iPhone maker’s first sales slump in 15 years with a 15% pay cut. With net sales of USD215.6B and operating income of USD60B, Apple came in slightly short of its respective target goals set by Apple’s compensation committee. (Apple Insider, LA Times, WSJ, iFanr, Sohu, My Drivers, SEC)

Worldwide combined shipments of PCs, tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones are projected to remain flat in 2017, according to Gartner. Worldwide shipments for these devices are projected to total 2.3B in 2017, the same as 2016 estimates. There were nearly 7B phones, tablets and PCs in use in the world by the end of 2016. Gartner does not expect any growth in shipments of traditional devices until 2018. (Laoyaoba, Gartner, press)

Samsung Electronics has reported a 50% profit surge in its guidance for 4q16 despite the fiasco with its flagship Note 7 phone. Samsung Electronics said it expects to post KRW9.2T (USD6.2B) in operating profit for the months from Sept.~Dec. 2016. The prelim beat was driven by higher memory profits and currency, which drove components profit higher. (Barron’s, blog, CN Beta, Phone Arena, Fortune, BBC)

Huawei has achieved its 2016 full year shipment target for smartphones, but its profit capability is a problem to the consumer business division. Huawei consumer business CEO Richard Yu admits that Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei criticising the profit problem. Therefore, in 2017 Huawei needs to control its investment in 2017, reducing cost. (Laoyaoba, CEB2B)

[CES 2017] Lenovo COO Gianfranco Lanci  indicates that the merging of Motorola and Lenovo can be said as 100% completed. Brands, and the whole team basically are mature, and in 2017 the company will act aggressively in the phone industry. (Laoyaoba, Tencent)

[CES 2017] Coolpad CEO Liu Jiangfeng indicates that he thinks current phones are getting “marginalized”, and they are becoming stale and unfashionable. He also indicates that China vendors are facing a lot of pressures, the innovation from Chinese vendors still rare. (Laoyaoba, Sina, Yuncaijing)

ZTE is reportedly planning a layoff that will see up to 5% or 3000 employees of its 60,000 global workforce lose their jobs, including 1/5 of positions in its struggling handset business in China. (CN Beta, CN Beta, India Times, Android Headlines, Gizmo China)

[CES 2017] ZTE US CEO Lixin Cheng indicates that ZTE never pursue a premium product, and its product positioning is “value for money”. He indicates that smartphone is a consumer goods, getting 40%~60% profit from consumers, and then use this money to build a premium brand is a bad cycle. (Laoyaoba, We Tech-Geeks, Digital Trends)

[CES 2017] ZTE Blade V8 is announced – 5.2” FHD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 processor, 13MP + 2MP cameras, 2 / 3GB RAM, 16 / 32GB storage, fingerprint sensor, 2730mAh battery. (Android Authority, Phone Arena)

[CES 2017] Nokia 6 is announced by HMD Global – 5.5” FHD 2.5D curved display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor, 16MP PDAF + 8MP cameras, 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, Android 7.0, LTE (VoLTE), dual-SIM, 3000mAh battery, CNY1699. (CN Beta, Droidmen, Forbes, Nokia, BGR)

Wearables

[CES 2017] Fitbit CEO James Park has revealed that the company wants to launch its own app store “as soon as possible.”

[CES 2017] The Fossil Group announced more than 140 wearable devices across different brands including Armani Exchange, Michael Kors, Diesel, Emporio Armani, Skagen, Misfit, and others. (Android Authority, Fossil Group)

[CES 2017] Fossil announces Q Grant, Q Accomplice, and the Q Modern Pursuit as new entries to the Fossil Q line. They are hybrid smartwatches that offer the both analog and digital watch experiences.  They are priced at USD175~215. (CN Beta, Android Community, Wearable)

Samsung has launched new Gear S and Gear Fit apps that bring iOS compatibility to all of its current wrist-worn devices, including the Gear S3 (both Classic and Frontier), the Gear S2 and the Gear Fit 2. (Engadget, Samsung, 163, HiAPK)

Sony announces 2^nd generation FES using low-power e-paper technology on both the face and wrist band and featuring colours. (SlashGear, CN Beta)

[CES 2017] Samsung SDS, the information technology solutions unit of Samsung Group, unveiled its “Enterprise Mobility Management” solution, designed for application to smartwatches running on Tizen operating system. (Android Headlines, Phone Arena, Business Korea)

Internet of Things

[CES 2017] Microsoft unveiled the Microsoft Connected Vehicle Platform, which is built on top of Azure, to handle everything from predictive maintenance to “in-car productivity” and advanced navigation. Nissan will be the first to bring features built on Microsoft’s platform to market. (TechCrunch, Engadget, Bloomberg, Tencent, 163)

[CES 2017] Volkswagen joins Ford in announcing integration with Amazon Alexa. With Alexa in the vehicle, Volkswagen drivers will be able to do things like control and manage smart home products that are already compatible and interact with Alexa at home. (Engadget, Volkswagen, Tencent, Android Headlines)

[CES 2017] Panasonic has ave unveiled their futuristic self-driving concept car which comes with LED walls and a four 4K touchscreen tablet display table. At the heart of the concept is the Connceted Interactive Tables (CIT), comprised of four 4K touchscreen tablets. (CN Beta, New Atlas, Daily Express)

[CES 2017] Nokia’s Withings working with L’Oreal touting Kérastase Hair Coach, a smart comb with Withings’ advanced sensors and L’Oreal’s patented algorithm, that can provide different analysis to the user’s hair. (TechNews, Unwire HK, Fortune, Digital Trends, PC World, Ubergizmo)