07-05: Micron has received a preliminary injunction stopping sales of 26 products in China; Samsung has announced that its strategic foundry collaboration with ARM will be expanded to 7nm / 5nm FinFET; etc.
Chipsets
Makerwit Technology has announced that its subsidy Jaguar Wave has signed strategic collaboration with MediaTek. Both companies will jointly develop 5G core technology and products. Jaguar Wave is formed by Tinno Mobile Technology and Shenzhen government, surrounding the 5G communication and mmWave technologies. (Laoyaoba, Laoyaoba, East Day, Reado1)
Applied Materials has celebrated the 20th anniversary and 5,000th shipment of the Producer platform, a manufacturing system that helps make virtually every chip in the world. The Producer platform was launched in July of 1998 to help enable chips to run faster by changing their wiring from aluminum to copper, which is a better conductor. (Laoyaoba, EE Trend, NASDAQ, Applied Materials)
Apple has allegedly informed Intel that it will not use the chipmaker’s 5G mobile modem in its 2020 iPhone. Further development of the modem component internally called “Sunny Peak” is halted and Intel’s team working on the product will be redirected to other efforts. (CN Beta, CTech, Mac Rumors)
Samsung Electronics has announced that its strategic foundry collaboration with ARM will be expanded to 7nm / 5nm FinFET process technology to remain a step ahead in the era of high-performance computing. Based on Samsung Foundry’s 7LPP (7nm Low Power Plus) and 5LPE (5nm Low Power Early) process technologies, the ARM Artisan physical IP platform will enable 3GHz+ computing performance for ARM’s Cortex-A76 processor. (GSM Arena, Samsung, Laoyaoba)
Touch Display
LG’s foldable phone patent depicts a regular smartphone that can be folded in half. LG has opted for a new hinge mechanism that allows the display to be folded at certain angles. Additionally, this should help avoid any damage to the display. (Phone Arena, LetsGoDigital, iFeng, Elecfans)
Memory
Micron Technology, which has been caught up in dueling intellectual property lawsuits with United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) has received a preliminary injunction from the Fuzhou Intermediate People’s Court in Fujian province stopping sales of 26 products. The order includes DRAM memory and NAND flash memory chips. (My Drivers, Laoyaoba, CNBC, Bloomberg, Bloomberg)
Sensory
The University of Texas at Arlington has been awarded a patent for a revolutionary new technology that is able to scan a user’s eye movements and enable them to navigate mobile platforms, such as electric wheelchairs, without the use of hands. The technology would also allow users to communicate to a robotic platform when they would like to use an object, such as a glass of water. This new technology, called a 3-D point of gaze headset. (CN Beta, Eureka Alert, New Atlas)
Biometrics
Samsung has been granted a patent for its 2014 filing of a biometric camera by the US Patent Office, and it will feature iris recognition as well as 3D face recognition. (Android Headlines, CNET, Patently Apple, CN Beta)
Connectivity
Ericsson has announced the launch of a 5G innovation lab in India, saying it will encourage collaboration on 5G technologies and applications between telecommunications carriers, industry, startups, and academia. The Center of Excellence and Innovation Lab for 5G is located at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, and is currently demonstrating 5G beamforming and beam-tracking technologies using the 3.5GHz spectrum band. (ZDNet, Laoyaoba, Economic Times)
Samsung Electronics and SK Telecom have announced that it has successfully tested the 5G Next-Generation Core (5G NC) network technology that the two companies jointly developed. The 5G NC technology of the two companies is based on the 3GPP Release-15 standards, and it is independent of the 4G LTE network. (Android Headlines, Samsung, Telecom Paper, OfWeek)
China Telecom has signed official commercial contracts with 14 mobile virtual network operators (MVNO). Earlier China Unicom has already signed the similar contracts with 16 MVNOs. (CN Beta, JRJ, Sina)
Nokia and Tencent collaborate to develop new 5G applications while exploring 5G’s potential in transportation, finance, energy, intelligent manufacturing and entertainment. The joint lab will be established in Shenzhen for development and end-to-end testing. (TechCrunch, Globe Newswire, Sina, Xinhuanet)
Phone
According to Fubon Securities analyst Arthur Liao, Hon Hai has been selected to assemble the bulk of Apple’s new iPhones, including all of the premium 5.8” OLED model and 90% of the 6.5” OLED phones, as well as 75% of the 6.1” LCD model, with the remainder given to Pegatron. (CN Beta, UDN, Taipei Times)
TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo readjusts its 2H18 Apple’s new iPhone shipment forecast, from previously 75M~85M units to 80M~90M units. In particular, 6.1” LCD iPhone shipment would be 50%~55% of the overall shipment. For the overall forecast, 3Q18 new iPhone shipment would be 15M~20M units, and 4Q18 shipment would be 60M~70M units. (Laoyaoba, Mac Rumors, UDN, Apple Insider, First Post)
JioPhone 2 is launched by Reliance in India – 2.4” QWVGA, dual-core processor, rear 2MP + front VGA, 512MB+4GB, KaiOS, dual-SIM, LTE, VoLTE, NFC, 2000mAh. (GizChina, Economic Times, Hindustan Times)
Automotive
Volkswagen said it is launching a “zero-emission” car-sharing service called WE in 2019, a move that could accelerate its battery-powered car production. The VW brand, which makes up about half of revenue for the Volkswagen Group, said it plans to launch the WE service in Germany in 2019, with an international rollout to begin as early as 2020 “in major cities in Europe, North America and Asia.” (CN Beta, TechCrunch, Electrek, Financial Times)
Artificial Intelligence
Google has filed a patent application which showcases an idea of how AI-driven features can help users in meeting their daily fitness goals. (GSM Arena, My Smart Price)
Albert Technologies has raised USD18M in funding from institutional investors including Schroder Investment Management, Hargreave Hale, and Old Mutual Global Investors. Albert Technologies is to disrupt the digital marketing sphere with a AI platform that automatically generates campaigns for brands around the world. (VentureBeat)
Fintech
SONM uses blockchain to create a decentralized computing power marketplace. SONM allows users to connect their personal devices to one virtual space, creating a decentralized platform where consumers and suppliers can rent and purchase computing power from one another. (VentureBeat, Bitcoin Exchange, Sohu, TechWeb)