3-22: Apple new 4″ iPhone and 9.7″ iPad Pro; MediaTek Helio product gross margin 35-40%; Samsung is Apple first OLED supplier; etc.
Apple new 4″ iPhone and 9.7″ iPad Pro; 360 Mobile three series — F, N, Q; LG LTE enabled smartwatch back on AT&T for sales; MediaTek Helio products gross margin 35-40%; Samsung is Apple first OLED supplier; Samsung introducing Dual Pixel technology; Wuhan XMC building new NAND factory; etc.
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Chipsets |
| Morgan Stanley’s analyst Charlie Chan indicates that the MediaTek Helio products gross margin could be only 35-40% and may not be accretive to MediaTek’s margin. According to their survey during the MWC 2016, Qualcomm had been adopted by 70% of new smartphones at the MWC, while MediaTek Helio X20 and X10 had been adopted by only 20% of the products. (TechNews, Barron’s, press) |
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Display |
| Samsung Display and Apple reportedly signed off on an official contract and decided on amount of supply for this year. Markets are estimating that Samsung Display has secured production capability of 60,000 Flexible OLED Panels per month this year and will supply them to Apple. Competition becomes the secondary supplier is becoming more fierce among LG, JDI and Hon Hai. (ET News, TechNews) |
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Camera |
| Samsung is looking at Dual Pixel as a stepping stone towards a brighter phone camera future, saying that this tech will be an “established infrastructure in which a smartphone camera can further evolve”, and will be used to offer scenes and modes that were so far thought impossible, at least for a tiny handset camera. (Phone Arena, Samsung, Android Headlines, Toutiao)
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Memory |
| China Wuhan XMC is building a new memory factory, and it is reportedly to start construction on Mar 28. However, the new factory reportedly is for NAND flash, not DRAM. (TechNews) |
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Battery |
| The Toyohashi University of Technology in Japan has unveiled the prototype of an electric vehicle that operates without batteries. The vehicle receives energy from the road through individual steel paths embedded in the road network. The energy is then safely transmitted to the vehicle through the tires, which feature unique steel plates in the road. (CN Beta, Auto Evolution, RT)
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Material |
| Apple next generation iPhone 7 is rumoured to feature ceramic body material, and 5.5” iPhone 7 Plus to have dual-camera. (TechNews, Tencent, iClarified)
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Connectivity |
| US President Barack Obama has announced that Google will start providing Cuba with internet service. (CN Beta, Gizmodo, Reuters) |
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Smartphones |
| China UnionPay and Huawei announce that the former will support the Huawei Pay service enabled on Huawei devices. (CN Beta, UnionPay, Reuters)
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| Mozilla is laying off a portion of its Connected Devices team, which worked on Firefox OS and Firefox phones before recently shifting over to more experimental products. (The Verge) |
| 360 Mobile executive Fanghao Zu announced that 360 Mobile is going to be the one synergy brand for QiKu, Dazen and 360 phones, with 3 product lines: F, comfortable and value-for-money; N, high-spec for fans; and Q, representing high-tech and premium. (CN Beta, 163, HC360)
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| Apple and US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are currently debating encryption issues, which will have a huge impact on the future of privacy and security issues. On one hand, FBI wants to get the information from the iPhone to help them preventing any terrorist attacks, while on the other hand, Apple is worried that this would open a back door that will trigger a terrible chain reaction. (Phone Arena, Bloomberg, CN Beta, Sina)
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| The U.S. Supreme Court stepped into the patent fight between Apple and Samsung, agreeing to hear Samsung’s appeal of what it contends were excessive penalties for copying the patented designs of the iPhone. (CN Beta, NY Times, Yahoo) |
| According to Apple CEO Tim Cook, 1 billion Apple devices are currently in use worldwide. (GSM Arena, 21CN, ZOL, CNMO)
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| Apple introduces the open source software framework CareKit, which can be used to develop healthcare apps. (Apple Insider, Ars Technica, Engadget, Sohu, iFeng)
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| Apple releases iOS 9.3 with Night Shift, Touch ID integration with the Notes app, new iPhone 6s 3D Touch functions, and much more. (Apple Insider, Sina, 91, ZOL) |
| Apple unveils 4” iPhone SE – 4” 1136×640 Retina display, Apple A9 processor (1.85GHz dual-core) + M9 motion coprocessor, 12MP iSight + 1.2MP Retina Flash cameras, Apple iOS 9.3, NFC, Touch ID fingerprint, LTE, USD399 (16GB) / USD499 (64GB). (Apple Insider, Economic Times, GSM Arena)
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| 360 F4 is announced – 5” HD display, MediaTek MT6753 processor, 13MP PDAF + 5MP cameras, 2GB RAM + 16GB storage /3GB RAM + 32GB storage, 360 OS (Android 5.1), fingerprint sensor, LTE, VoLTE, 2500mAh battery, from CNY599. (NDTV, Android Headlines, ZOL)
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Tablets |
| Apple announces 9.7” iPad Pro – 9.7” 2048×2732 True Tone display, Apple A9X processor + M9 motion coprocessor, 12MP + 5MP Retina Flash cameras, Apple iOS 9.3, Apple Pencil, 9.7” Smart Keyboard, USD599 (32GB) / USD749 (128GB) / USD899 (256GB). (Ubergizmo, Apple Insider, GSM Arena, Xinhua Net, China Daily)
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Wearables |
| After being removed from store shelves last year, LG LTE-enabled Watch Urbane 2nd Edition is now back up for sale, with pre-orders kicking off at AT&T. (Android Central, AT&T, CN Beta)
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| Optoma VR is a wireless headgear for PC – 5.46” FHD AMOLED display, 90º field view, using a proprietary wireless signal operating at the 60GHz band. (CN Beta, PC World)
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| Apple watchOS 2.2 is now available to install via the official Apple Watch app on an iPhone. (CN Beta, 9to5Mac, Apple Insider)
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| Apple introduces a range of new band options for the Apple Watch, including a new material choice, woven nylon. (CN Beta, Apple Insider) |
| Microsoft announced it is partnering with the home improvement chain Lowe’s to launch HoloLens-powered kitchen remodel demonstrations. (eWeek, PC Mag, CN Beta)
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Internet of Things |
| In China Zhejiang province, there are about 210 manufactures of hoverboard, nearly 200 of those are in Jinhua district Yongkang city. Currently there are more than 500 manufacturers for hoverboard in China, and nearly half of those are in Yongkang city. Last year, according to Zhejiang Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, there were about 2.1 million hoverboard being exported, and according to Guangdong province, the export exceeded 10 million units. (Tencent, CN Beta, article) |
| Innovation Works founder and CEO Kai-fu Lee indicates that it will focus on infotainment, online education, AI and smart devices, as well as O2O and B2B. (CN Beta, Sohu)
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| Uber reportedly orders 100,000 autonomous cars from Mercedes in quest for self-driving car service. (IB Times, Android Headlines, HNGN, CN Beta, Fox Business) |
| Domino New Zealand has introduced the world’s first autonomous pizza delivery vehicle called Domino’s Robotic Unit (DRU). Inside of DRU is a complex sensory system that utilizes lasers to help maneuver the unit around roads, bike paths and natural trails to the delivery destination at 20kmph. (TechNews, CNN, Inquisitr)
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| According to designer Juan Contreras, Kiwano is using Samsung batteries (18650 lithium Ion battery cell) and components, thus claims it is a safe hoverboard that will not explode. (CN Beta, CNET, Kiwano) |
| Developed by 65Sensor Lab, Nima can test food for gluten on the go in just 2 minutes. Simply drop in a piece food into the single use capsule and screw the cap on. That action also grinds up the food inside and releases a solution to extract protein. Inserting the capsule inside Nima itself triggers chemicals that react to gluten. (CN Beta, Slash Gear, Nima)
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| Apple vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives Lisa Jackson discusses the company’s environmental initiatives, and debut its latest device: a robot Liam designed in-house specifically to dismantle iPhone into useful materials. (Apple Insider, CN Beta)
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