IF / News

Qualcomm Snapdragon 895 will reportedly receive the latest Cortex-X2 core and Adreno 730 graphics processor. The processor is reportedly going to be made by Samsung 4nm process. Its advanced variant (i.e., Snapdragon 895+) is allegedly going to be manufactured by TSMC’s 4nm process. (GizChina, Twitter)

Nexperia, a Dutch chip firm owned by China’s Wingtech, has confirmed that it plans to acquire the U.K.’s largest chip producer, Newport Wafer Fab. The deal reportedly worth around GBP630M (USD87M). NWF produces silicon chips for power applications for the automotive industry, which is particularly hit by the shortage of chips. According to Wingtech’s 2020 annual report, the company’s semiconductor business R&D investment is CNY650M, which has further strengthened its R&D investment in medium and high voltage and compound semiconductor products. It is expected that the R&D investment in 2021 will be CNY890M. (My Drivers, CN Beta, CNBC, SCMP, Nexperia)

An industrial and commercial change occurred in OPPO’s affiliated company Dongguan OPPO Communication Technology, and the company’s business scope added “design, development, sales: semiconductors and their components” and so on. The company is established in 2018 with a registered capital of CNY50M and is 100% controlled by OPPO. (Laoyaoba, Sina, IT Home)

SMIC Shaoxig has started mass production, started to ramp up its production capacity to 70,000 wafers  per month, and mass production reached 99%. The first phase of the SMIC Shaoxing project has a total investment of CNY5.88B, introducing an 8” integrated circuit manufacturing production line with an annual chip shipment of 510,000 chips and a packaging and testing production line with an annual shipment of 1.995B modules. (CN Beta, Sina)

OPPO is allegedly developing its own image signal processor (ISP) in a bid to improve the camera performance of its phones. (Gizmo China, IT Home)

UT Southwestern have developed a new “simple and cost-effective” device capable of capturing multi-angle photos that can be retrofitted onto existing lab microscopes. The team say their solution — which involves inserting a unit of two rotating mirrors in front of a microscope’s camera — is 100 times faster than converting images from 2D to 3D. (Engadget, Nature)

Apple has updated the demo image of a patent related to a side fingerprint sensor. The picture in the patent demonstrates the 3 states from the lock screen to unlock, waiting to be unlocked, then unlocking, and then after unlocking. The patent clearly mentions that the device integrates the power button with the fingerprint recognition sensor. (GizChina, WCCFtech, Patently Apple, My Drivers)

Albemarle (ALB) has announced the opening of its Battery Materials Innovation Center (BMIC) located at its Kings Mountain, NC, facility. The BMIC is expected to be fully operational in Jul 2021 and will support Albemarle’s lithium hydroxide, lithium carbonate and advanced energy storage materials growth platforms. (CN Beta, Green Car Congress, Yahoo, PR Newswire)

NuVolta Technologies has recently launched its second-generation pump fast-charging chip, called the NU2205, which can output 100W power. The NuVolta NU2205 supports dual-cell 4:2 pump fast-charging for segmented batteries, which Xiaomi is projecting. Therefore, it is possible to have a composite charging capacity of 200W, as reported for Xiaomi’s HyperCharge technology for the Mi 11 Pro. (Gizmo China, GSM Arena, My Drivers)

Volvo Group, Daimler Truck and Volkswagon’s AG heavy-truck business the Traton Group have announced a non-binding agreement to build a network of high-performance public charging stations for electric heavy-duty long-haul trucks and buses around Europe. The 3 major European automakers will invest EUR500M (USD593M) to install and operate 1,700 charging points in strategic locations and close to highways.  (TechCrunch, Volvo, Reuters)

Malaysia has appointed Swedish telecommunications giant Ericsson as its partner to develop its 5G network and ecosystem. Under the deal, Ericsson will be responsible for end-to-end development of the network in Malaysia at a total cost of MYR11B (USD2.65B), state owned Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) – which is responsible for the project. (CN Beta, Digital News Asia, Reuters)

OnePlus has revealed that it is merging its OxygenOS with OPPO’s ColorOS. OnePlus also further reiterates that OxygenOS will remain the “global” operating system for OnePlus-branded devices rather than ColorOS. OnePlus will be committing to a stronger Android update schedule that delivers at least 3 years of support to the company’s entire portfolio. (Engadget, OnePlus, 9to5Google)

According to Newzoo, the global game market will grow from USD175.8B in 2021 to more than USD200B in 2024. From 2019 to 2024, the market will grow with a healthy compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.7% to reach USD218.7B in 2024, surpassing the USD200B threshold in 2023. Newzoo forecasts the mobile gaming market will generate USD90.7B in consumer spending in 2021, growing 4.4% from a year ago. (VentureBeat, Newzoo, report)

Worldwide consumer spending in mobile apps reached USD64.9B across the App Store and Google Play in 1H21, according to preliminary Sensor Tower Store Intelligence estimates and projections through 30 Jun 2021. This is 24.8% more than the USD52B generated by both stores in the same period in 2020. In 1H20, the pandemic boosted consumer spending by 28.4% YoY when compared to approximately USD40.5B in 1H19. (VentureBeat, SensorTower)

Samsung Galaxy M32 is launched in UK – 6.4” 1080×2400 FHD+ Super AMOLED u-notch 90Hz, MediaTek Helio G90, rear quad 64MP-8MP ultrawide-2MP macro-2MP depth + front 20MP, 6+128GB, Android 11.0, side fingerprint, 5000mAh 15W, GBP269. (GSM Arena, Samsung)

Samsung Galaxy F22 is launched in India – 6.4” 720×1600 HD+ u-notch Super AMOLED 90Hz, MediaTek Helio G80, rear quad 48MP-8MP ultrawide-2MP macro-2MP depth + front 13MP, 4+64 / 6+128GB, Android 11.0, side fingerprint, 6000mAh 15W, INR12,499 (USD168) / INR14,499 (USD195). (Gizmo China, Android Authority)

Dizo Star 300 and 500 feature phones are listed in Flipkart India: Star 300 – 1.77” 160×120, Unisoc SC6531E, rear VGA camera, 32MB RAM + 32MB storage, 2550mAh, INR1,499 (USD20). Star 500 – 2.8” 320×240 QVGA, Unisoc SC6531E, rear 0.3MPcamera, 32MB RAM + 32MB storage, 1900mAh, INR1,999 (USD27). (CN Beta, GSM Arena, Flipkart, Flipkart, Gizmo China)

OnePlus’ “OnePlus Pad” listing on the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) hints at the launch of a new tablet. (Android Authority, Android Central, MySmartPrice, EUIPO)

Toyota was one of 20 automakers that entered into a voluntary agreement in 2016 with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) that requires Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) on more than 95% of the vehicles an OEM builds by fall 2022. As of fall 2020, Toyota announced it was well ahead of schedule with 97% of its new vehicles sold in the U.S. equipped with AEB. They have surpassed 10M vehicles produced for N.A. equipped with either Toyota Safety Sense (TSS) or Lexus Safety System+ (LSS+) technology.  (CN Beta, Sina, Collision Week)

Croatian electric supercar startup Rimac Automobili is taking over Bugatti. Rimac will own a controlling 55% share in the new company, Bugatti-Rimac, with VW’s Porsche owning the remaining 45%. The company recently unveiled the Nevera, a hypercar powered by a 120kWh battery pack and four motors to achieve a staggering 1.4MW of power, which is about 1,914 horsepower. (TechCrunch, Financial Times)