IF / News

Touch Display

TCL’s CSOT has officially released the world’s first “MLED-Star” display – HDR up to 1000nits, contrast ratio of 1000000:1, NTSC up to 100%. It uses the new AM-Mini LED technology, and the Mini LED refers to the LED chip with a die size of about 100 microns. The LED chip can be used as a backlight for the display, mobile phone and TV. (CN Beta, My Drivers)

Microsoft has won 2 technology patents that enable dual-display devices to achieve 360° free folding. In the first patent, Microsoft describes how the hinge works: The displays can rotate with respect to each other through 360°. In the second patent, the company describes the device’s magnetic closure feature: The described technology provides multi-sided magnetic access to an electromagnetic coil of a multi-configuration computing device in the presence of one or more metal structures.  (CN Beta, Neowin, WIPO, WIPO)

Memory

Tsinghua Unigroup will set up a 12” DRAM manufacturing fab in Chongqing’s Liangjiang New Area, with construction to kick off by the end of 2019 and official production set for 2021.  (Laoyaoba, UDN, Caixin Global, Laoyaoba, Digitimes, press)

Biometrics

CSOT will strengthen its biometrics segment. Currently, it has a fixed single-point under display fingerprint solution. In 2020, CSOT will launch a full-screen single-point under display fingerprint solution. In 2021, it will launch a full-screen multi-point under display fingerprint solution. (Laoyaoba, Sohu)

Connectivity

According to ABI Research, the base station antenna is an increasingly complex and essential part of the mobile network, and that complexity is growing as networks evolve to 5G. Considering there will potentially be 850M 5G subscribers by 2025, competition in the mobile cellular antenna arena is intense. While the top antenna vendors battle it out, Huawei and Kathrein remain the top two base station antenna vendors worldwide. (ABI Research, Laoyaoba, Sohu)

IHS Markit’s teardown data shows that Sub-6GHz 5G RFFE carries a cost premium of around half of the cost of existing LTE RFFE.  While the mmWave solution (illustrated by the Samsung device) represent a staggering twice the cost of existing LTE RFFE.  We must caution that these early results were expected to be high since first-generation design always carry a cost premium.  Note that the cost of 5G basebands are excluded in this selective BOM cost analysis. Only components from the RF transceiver to the antenna are used for LTE and 5G RFFE cost comparisons. (VentureBeat, IHS Markit, press)

ZTE Corp has has partnered with Smartfren to support the Ministry of Communication and Informatics of Indonesia to demonstrate the 5G applications in the manufacturing industry, in a bid to improve efficiency and workplace safety, as well as product accuracy and quality. (Laoyaoba, IT Web, Yicai Global)

Phone

Lei Jun, founder, chairman and CEO of Xiaomi, has revealed that in the past 3 years, Xiaomi has invested a total of CNY11.1B in R&D expenses, and it was CNY5.8B in 2018 alone. Xiaomi’s 1H19 cash and cash equivalents CNY34.92B, an increase of 134.5%, total cash reserves of CNY51.1B. (CN Beta, Sohu, SCMP)

PC Tablet

Huawei has allegedly begun talks with Russia about installing Russian operating system (OS) Aurora on 360,000 of its tablets to conduct Russia’s population census in 2020. (Laoyaoba, Extreme Tech, XDA-Developers, Reuters)

Wearables

When it hit shelves in 1991, Nike Huarache introduced a radical new approach to containing the foot. The neoprene bootie and exoskeletal upper offered a snug feel and a deft balance between a constant hug and lace-based customization. With the introduction of the Nike Adapt Huarache, those traits are augmented by Nike FitAdapt technology, an intelligent platform that updates and evolves along with the user. (Apple Insider, Nike, Say DigiTech)

Insta360 is launching GO stabilized camera, which builds on that legacy and extends some of the tech it has built into the category of more traditional, non-360° footage. The GO is all about quick action grabs, with a 30s cap on clip recording. It is priced at USD200. (TechCrunch, Insta360, Engadget, CN Beta)

Augmented / Virtual Reality

In a patent application titled “Scanning Mirror Display Devices”, Apple envisions replacing the usual display panel within a VR headset with an alternate system involving lasers and mirrors. Apple proposes the use of a laser light source that emits onto a waveguide, which can be diffracted and passed through to a mirror element within a scanning mirror system. (Apple Insider, USPTO, Phone Arena, 36Kr, CN Beta)

Shanghai-headquartered augmented reality (AR) solution provider HiScene has raised CNY250M (USD35M) in its Series C financing. The Series C round announcement comes only 3 months after HiScene closed a CNY120M (USD17.7M) Series B+round in May 2019. (Laoyaoba, PRNasia, Sohu, Kr Asia)

VRGO Mini is a device that sits on top of a chair, which lets user  locomote through VR by using a ’tilt-to-move’ scheme. It uses an inertial measurement unit (IMU), which is necessarily comprised of an accelerometer, gyroscope and magnometer, which tells the game which direction the user is turning or tilting. (Upload VR, Road to VR, TechNode)

Home

Samsung has quietly announced a new Bixby-powered smart speaker called the Galaxy Home Mini, and it is inviting Galaxy smartphone owners in South Korea to sign up to beta-test the new device.  (The Verge, Sam Mobile, Samsung)

Automotive

Didi Chuxing CTO Zhang Bo has revealed that the company plans to start using self-driving vehicles to pick up passengers in a district of Shanghai city and hopes to expand the scheme outside China by 2021. (TechCrunch, Reuters, CN Beta, Sina)

A bill in California’s Legislature could soon force ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft to treat their drivers as employees instead of independent contractors. However, both companies are each putting in USD30M to fund a 2020 ballot initiative that would enable them to keep their drivers as independent contractors. After their announcement, DoorDash, the food delivery service, said it would contribute an additional USD30M. (TechCrunch, NY Times, Robot Sky, KK News)

Robotics

MIT and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS Institute) have created robotic boats (or roboats), which are autonomous platforms designed to “shapeshift” at will by reassembling into different configurations. In the near future, roboats could sail in a continuous circle across the canal of Amsterdam, picking up and dropping off passengers at docks and stopping or rerouting when they detect anything in the way. (VentureBeat, MIT, CN Beta)

San Francisc based Elroy Air hopes to transform bulk air cargo shipping with its “Chaparral” vertical take-off and landing craft, the first version of which will be able to carry 250 pounds of cargo as far as 300 miles.  (TechCrunch, Elroy Air, CN Beta)

MIT has developed robotic thread that could make even the least invasive current brain surgery techniques even less so, and potentially make it easier and more accessible to treat brain blood vessel issues like blockages and lesions that can cause aneurysms and strokes. (TechCrunch, MIT, The Paper, Sina)