5-18: Intel will supply up to 50% of the modem chips for use in the new Apple iPhone; EyeSight has developed gesture control that uses phone’s rear camera to allow touch-free input; IBM announced a more efficient way to use PCM; etc.
Intel will supply up to 50% of the modem chips for use in the new Apple iPhone; EyeSight has developed gesture control that uses phone’s rear camera to allow touch-free input; IBM announced a more efficient way to use PCM; The global DRAM industry posted USD8.56 billion in revenue in 1Q16; Sony has invested in AI startup Cogitai; ASUS is planning to launch its smartphone based mobile VR headgear end of 2016; ASU Cast One Smartwatch is the world’s first wearable laser projector watch; etc.
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Chipsets |
| Intel will supply up to 50% of the modem chips for use in the new Apple iPhone slated for launch in September 2016. Intel will itself package the modem chips for the upcoming new iPhones, but have contracted TSMC and tester King Yuan Electronics (KYEC) to manufacture the chips. (Digitimes, press, CN Beta) |
| According to SEMI, total silicon wafer area shipments were 2,538 million square inches during 1Q16, a 1.3% increase from the 2,504 million square inches shipped during the previous quarter. However, new quarterly total area shipments are 3.8% lower than 1Q15 shipments. (SEMI, press, Digitimes)
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Interaction |
| University of Bristol’s Interaction Group has designed the Cubimorph, which is a single display built out of smaller, six-sided display cubes that are daisy-chained together and can be repositioned with flexibility. (Engadget, CNET, Bristol Interactive Group, Gizmodo, Tencent, Sohu)
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| EyeSight Technologies has developed gesture control that uses phone’s rear camera to allow touch-free input. (EyeSight, Engadget, Tuicool)
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Memory |
| TrendForce reports that the global DRAM industry posted USD8.56 billion in revenue in 1Q16, down 16.6% from the previous quarter. Market oversupply and sliding average selling price were the main culprits behind the revenue decline. Samsung securely held its position as the industry’s leader in 1Q16. Although Samsung’s revenue fell 16.6% quarterly to USD3.97 billion, its market share remained constant at 46.4%. (TrendForce, press, TrendForce[cn], press, TechNews)
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| IBM announced a more efficient way to use phase-change memory (PCM) that could help transition electronic devices from standard RAM and flash to a much faster and more reliable type of storage. PCM is a type of non-volatile optical storage that works by manipulating the behavior of chalcogenide glass. A electrical current is applied to change PCM cells from an amorphous to crystalline structure, allowing you to store 0s and 1s in either state while the application of low voltage can read the data back. (EE Times, article, The Verge, PR Newswire, 21CN, My Drivers)
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Battery |
| In the past 4 months, Apple has hired two people from wireless charging firm uBeam, Apple has hired over 12 people with similar expertise in the past 2 years. (CN Beta, CNBC, Apple Insider, The Verge) |
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Sensors |
| Sony has invested in AI startup Cogitai to build intelligent systems that will learn from their own experiences in the world. (PR Newswire, Engadget, ZDNet, Sina) |
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Smartphones |
| T. Michael Walkley, an analyst at Canaccord Genuity believes that consumers continue to delay purchases of new Apple iPhones ahead of the iPhone 7 launch likely in Sept. 2016. iPhone sales in the US market will fall below 50% of total smartphone sales during the June quarter for the first time since the larger screen iPhone 6 products launched. (Bloomberg, ZDNet, Mobile Strategies 360, CN Beta)
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| The Chinese government has reportedly started to increase the number of reviews it carries out into products being sold in the country. These investigations, which target other companies as well as Apple, look into the capability of electronic devices sold in the country, and examine things like encryption and data storage. (Silicon Beat, Business Insider, New York Times, Sina) |
| Huawei sold over 208,000 units of Honor V8 in its first flash sale. (Gizmo China, My Drivers)
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| Xiaomi has announced that it has sold a total of 600,000 Redmi Note 3 units in India within a period of 60 days. (GSM Arena, Facebook, NDTV, IB Times, IT Home, Sohu)
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| “We have to speak up in the marketplace that we are different than Apple and Samsung,” said Chris Yie, LG marketing vice president. “In terms of earnings, we aren’t in the top three, but in terms of product [quality], we are in the top three”, Yie continued. “We cannot follow what they’re doing; we have to be different.” (CN Beta, CNET) |
| Cubot S9 is officially launched – 5.4” FHD Sharp display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 823 processor, 2×16MP + 8MP cameras, 6GB RAM, 128GB storage, Android 6.0, fingerprint sensor, USB Type-C, LTE, 2800mAh battery. (Gizmo China, Phones Review, Cubot)
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| Motorola launches 3 new LTE smartphones in India: Moto G4: 5.5” FHD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor, 13MP + 5MP cameras, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, Android 6.0, 3000mAh battery. Moto G4 Plus: 5.5” FHD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor, 16MP + 5MP cameras, 2/3GB RAM, 16/32GB storage, Android 6.0, 3000mAh battery. Moto G4 Play: 5” HD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor, 8MP + 5MP cameras, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, Android 6.0, 2800mAh battery. (CN Beta, Fone Arena, Indian Express, Tech Report, Motorola)
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| UMI Touch is official with 0.1s fingerprint sensor – 5.5” FHD display, MediaTek MT6753 processor, 13MP + 5MP cameras, 3GB RAM, 16GB storage, Android 6.0, LTE, fingerprint sensor, 4000mAh battery, USD129.99. (Softpedia, CN Beta)
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Tablets |
| Amazon Lab126 is working on a new device with a “tablet-like computer screen” codenamed Knight imbued with virtual assistant Alexa. (Engadget, WSJ, Tech.China) |
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Wearables |
| ASUS is planning to launch its smartphone based mobile VR headgear end of 2016. (TechNews, Sohu, Telecom Paper) |
| ASU Cast One Smartwatch is the world’s first wearable laser projector watch – can project a resolution of 1280×600 image on any surface and supports up to 720p video playback, Qualcomm APQ8026 processor, 768MB RAM, 4GB ROM, Android 5.1, Wi-Fi, 740mAh battery, CNY2999. (Gizmo China, Liliputing, iFeng, East Money)
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| Low-cost carrier Easyjet has prototyped “Sneakairs”,a pair of shoes that have small vibrating motors and Bluetooth links; they work in concert with smartphone’s mapping app, buzzing left or right when it’s time to turn, and twice if it is the wrong way. (Boing Boing, Ubergizmo, WZSee, CN Beta)
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Internet of Things |
| Xiaomi 90 Minutes Smart Suitcase is launched, which is made of 100% aluminum-magnesium alloy, with Bluetooth 4.0, compatible with iOS and Android and priced at CNY1999. (Gizmo China, Toutiao)
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