IF / News

Apple frequently introduces new offerings to its collection of services, as well as expanding the features of existing products. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has indicated that two of the most immediate services Apple could offer are a potential iPhone hardware subscription and a “buy now, pay later” financing program for Apple Pay. He believes that this could help make buying an iPhone “on par” with paying for any other Apple subscription services. Hardware subscriptions are thought to be planned for a late 2022 launch, but could be pushed into 2023. A third way is a potential rival to Instacart, a service for buying groceries and meals and delivering them to customers. While there are many companies offering such services on the market, Apple’s version could offer a new element: nutrition tracking. It is said that such a service could integrate with the Health app, adding nutritional data directly. (Apple Insider, CN Beta)

Apple and Google, and the Australian industry group advocating for tech giants have unsurprisingly raised concerns about the proposed measures that were outlined in the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) discussion paper for the Digital Platforms Services inquiry. Apple has formally told Australian authorities that it has “serious concerns” with proposed App Store antitrust conclusions, while Google says they could cause “unintended harm”.(CN Beta, Apple Insider, ZDNet)

A study from SellCell showed that the Samsung Galaxy S22 phones dropped anywhere from 41.7% to 53.8% in resell value after just one month of ownership. The Galaxy S22+ was the worst performer at 53.8% value lost after one month, while the Google Pixel 6 only dropped 37.2% after one month. Apple iPhone 13 models depreciated between 6.3% and 19.9% in the same period. Conversely, all of Apple’s iPhone 13 models depreciated far less than either of Samsung or Google’s latest flagship phones. (Android Headlines, Phone Arena, SellCell, Android Central, ZDNet)

According to IDC, India smartphone shipments declined for the third consecutive quarter, shipping 37M smartphone units in 1Q22, a drop of 5% YoY. The opening of the year was relatively slower as compared with 1Q21, due to the impact of the third wave of COVID, tight supplies especially for the low-end price segments, and rising inflation leading to increasing end consumer prices. 5G accounted for 31% of shipments with an ASP of USD375 in 1Q22. IDC estimates that shipments beyond USD300 will be fully 5G by the end of 2022. (GSM Arena, IDC)

ZTE Axon 40 Pro and Ultra are announced:

• Axon 40 Pro – 6.67” 1080×2400 FHD+ HiD AMOLED 144Hz, Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 5G, rear quad 100MP-8MP ultrawide-2MP macro-2MP depth + front 16MP, 8+256 / 12+512GB, Android 12.0, fingerprint on display, stereo speakers, 5000mAh 66W, no pricing yet.
• Axon 40 Ultra – 6.8” 1116×2480 FHD+ CuD AMOLED 120Hz, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, rear tri 64MP OIS-64MP periscope telephoto OIS-64MP ultrawide + front 16MP under display, 8+256 / 12+256GB, Android 12.0, fingerprint on display, stereo speakers, 5000mAh 80W, CNY5,000 (USD745) / CNY5,300 (USD787).

(GSM Arena, Android Police, Gizmo China, ZTE)

Sharp AQUOS R7 is announced – 6.6” WUXGA+ 1260×2730 Pro IGZO OLED HiD 1-240Hz, Qualcomm Snapdragon 888, rear 47.2MP 1” f/1.9 Leica Sumicron lens + front 12.6MP, 12+256GB, Android 12.0, ultrasonic FoD, IP68 rated, 5000mAh, pricing not yet known.  (GSM Arena, GizChina)

Sony Xperia 1 IV is announced – 6.5” 1644×3840 21:9 OLED 120Hz, Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, rear quad 12MP 1.8µm 1/1.7” OIS-12MP telephoto 3.5x-5.2x optical zoom OIS-12MP ultrawide-0.3MP 3D ToF + front 12MP, 12+512GB, Android 12.0, side fingerprint, 5000mAh 30W, fast wireless charging, IP68 / IP65, EUR1,599. (Android Headlines, GSM Arena, The Verge)

Sony Xperia 10 IV is announced – 6.0” 1080×2520 FHD+ 21:9 OLED, Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G, rear tri 12MP 1/2.8” OIS-8MP telephoto2x optical zoom-8MP ultrawide + front 8MP, 6+128GB, Android 12.0, side fingerprint, 5000mAh 30W, EUR499. (Android Headlines, GSM Arena)

Honor Play 30 is announced – 6.5” 720×1600 HD+ v-notch 90Hz, Qualcomm Snapdragon 480+ 5G, rear 13MP + front 5MP, 4+128 / 8+128GB, Android 11.0 (no GMS), no fingerprint scanner, 5000mAh 10W, price yet unknown (expected to be around CNY1,000). (GSM Arena, Honor, IT Home)

vivo Y15c is announced in India – 6.51” 720×1600 HD+ v-notch, MediaTek Helio P35, rear dual 13MP-2MP macro + front 8MP, 3+32GB / 3+64GB, Android 12.0, side fingerprint, 5000mAh 10W, from INR14,490 (USD188).  (Gizmo China, vivo, BGR, Gadget Times)

Sony says over 19.3M PS5 consoles have been shipped in 1Q22. This is up 2M from the prior quarter, where Sony had confirmed that the PS5 reached 17.3M PS5 consoles shipped. Sony also shared that there are currently 47.4M PlayStation Plus subscriptions, down slightly YoY. Sony is investing in a revamp for PlayStation Plus that’s set to launch in June 2022, reorganizing the service and integrating PlayStation Now across three tiers, alongside additional benefits such as timed game trials.(Android Headlines, Android Central, Sony)

BMW is temporarily shipping some new vehicles without support for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay after changing chip suppliers. The chips from the new supplier reportedly are not compatible with Android Auto and CarPlay yet, and require an update for the software to work. BMW plans on rolling out an over-the-air (OTA) update to make the functionality available “by the end of Jun 2022 at the latest”. (The Verge, Apple Insider, Auto News)

Ford has released a new electric vehicle called the E-Transit Custom, the first of four electric vans the Blue Oval will release by 2024. The E-Transit uses unique LED lights with a light bar running through the front of the car. It has a range of up to 236 miles. Production of the E-Transit Custom will begin in 2023 at Ford’s plant in Kocaeli, Turkey, where most of Ford’s other vans are built.(Auto Car, Ford, CN Beta)

DJI has announced DJI Mini 3 Pro, which is ultra-lightweight and has a 48MP camera capable of rotating to capture portrait video and photos. It has a 48MP 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensor with 2.4-micrometer pixels and an f/1.7 aperture. The larger pixel size provides improved low light and night performance and users can shoot video at up to 4K/60fps.The camera’s upgraded gimbal can rotate 90 degrees for capturing vertical, portrait orientation shots — ideal for creating mobile-first content. It has new sensors that enable Tri-Directional Obstacle Sensing. The drone will watch forward, backward, and downward with the first two having a larger field of view. Advanced Pilot Assistance Systems (APAS) 4.0 is enabled by these sensors which can automatically find a safe way around obstacles during flight. The drone without the remote runs USD669, the bundle with the RC-N1 is USD759, and the bundle with the RD is USD909. (Apple Insider, CN Beta, My Drivers)

Flowcopter promises an extraordinary 900 km (560 miles) of range and more than 6 hours of endurance, as well as a huge 150 kg (330 lb) max payload. It is built for an ultra-long range niche, particularly targeted at making deliveries to super-remote settlements and offshore oil rigs, as well as extended search and rescue missions and long-endurance agricultural use. Flowcopter’s solution is to run a Rotax aviation engine through a digital displacement pump that can quickly and precisely regulate pressure out to low-cost, high-torque hydraulic motors driving each propeller.(CN Beta, New Atlas, Flowcopter)

TSMC will allegedly raise the wafer foundry quotation in an all-round way from 2023, an increase of about 6%, covering various processes, which is the first time that TSMC has raised prices twice within a year. In the past, TSMC almost never “raised prices”, and at most canceled the sales discount. In Aug 2021, there was a rare report of a comprehensive price increase. At that time, the customer disclosed that the mature process of TSMC increased by 20%, and the advanced process increased by 7%-10%. It is said that TSMC and customers communicate that the price will increase by 6% in 2023. According to external assessments, the price increase of TSMC’s advanced process and mature process prices in 2023 has been leveled. The IC design factory revealed that the reason for TSMC’s price increase this time is related to comprehensive considerations such as the continuous shortage of production capacity, inflation and production cost increases. (UDN, UDN, TechNews, LTN, CN Beta, Focus Taiwan, Taipei Times, Asia Nikkei)

TCL CSOT will soon mass-produce 2.1” 1512 PPI LCD-VR screens, which have significantly improved the screen window effect. This PPI level is the highest mass-produced level in the world. At the same time, the screen also adopts Fast LCD technology, which has the advantages of fast response, and will be mass-produced in 2Q22. It is understood that the PPI of the mainstream VR mass production panels on the market is currently 1000PPI, and only a few companies have entered the trial production stage with 1200PPI. TCL CSOT has said that the 1512 Real RGB high PPI specification can effectively alleviate the graininess, and Fast LCD has fast response + high refresh rate to improve the smear delay problem. (CN Beta, My Drivers, IT Home)

Apple has begun the development of an OLED panel that does not use a polarizer. The removable of the polarizer on the panel will allow them to be made thinner, which makes them more optimal for foldable panels. Polarizers are used to allow only lights in certain directions to pass through, thereby improving the visibility of the display. Samsung Display is the first to supply an OLED panel without a polarizer. It has supplied them to parent company Samsung Electronics for the Galaxy Z Fold 3. Instead of using a polarizer film, Samsung Display printed a color filter on the thin film encapsulation (abbreviated as CF on TFE) and added a black pixel define layer. This allows the foldable panel to offer clearer colors through the color filter. Samsung Display is calling its CF on TFE technology ECO2 (Eco Square). The company has claimed that this technology can increase light transmittance by 33% and lower power consumption by 25% more than its previous display panels. (GSM Arena, The Elec, Samsung Display)

Western Digital is announcing a host of products under the SanDisk and SanDisk Professional brands today at its What’s Next Western Digital Event. The company also provided a second look at products introduced during the recently concluded NAB show – the G-DRIVE PRO STUDIO SSD with a 7.68TB enterprise-class desktop SSD inside, and the addition of 20TB Ultrastar drives to the G-RAID SHUTTLE 8 (driving up the top capacity to 160TB). Western Digital has created a compact enclosure for its PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSDs (with a custom, but not proprietary connector). Two options are provided to connect this PRO-BLADE SSD Mag to a host system – the PRO-BLADE TRANSPORT is the portable sleeve with support for a single mag, while the PRO-BLADE STATION is the JBOD desktop version with support for up to four mags.(CN Beta, AnandTech, Western Digital, PC Mag)

Samsung has announced its development of the industry’s first 512-gigabyte (GB) Compute Express Link (CXL) DRAM. The new CXL DRAM is built with an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) CXL controller and is the first to pack 512GB of DDR5 DRAM, featuring 4 times the memory capacity and one-fifth the system latency over the previous Samsung CXL offering. Samsung’s 512GB CXL DRAM will be the first memory device that supports the PCIe 5.0 interface and will come in an EDSFF (E3.S) form factor — especially suitable for next-generation high-capacity enterprise servers and data centers.(CN Beta, Samsung)

Montage Technology has announced that it has delivered the world’s first Compute Express Link (CXL) Memory eXpander Controller (MXC). The MXC is a Type 3 CXL DRAM memory controller. The MXC supports and is compliant with both DDR4 & DDR5 JEDEC standards. It is also designed to the CXL 2.0 specification and supports PCIe 5.0 specification speeds. The MXC provides high-bandwidth and low-latency interconnect between the CPU and the CXL-based devices.(CN Beta, Montage-Tech, Yahoo)

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 and Flip4 have been listed on Chinese 3C (or CCC) Certification with 25W fast charging. The Galaxy Z Fold4 carries the model number “SM-F9360,” while the Galaxy Z Flip4 has “SM-F7210.” Moreover, the model number also denotes that these models belong to the Chinese variant. It is expected that the Galaxy Z Fold4 and Z Flip4 will feature 4400mAh and 3400mAh batteries, respectively.(GSM Arena, MyFixGuide)

An “Apple Car” could sport MagSafe technology in its charging system as hinted at by a newly granted Apple patent dubbed “charging station with passive alignment mechanism”. The company’s idea is for a charging plug connected to a passive alignment mechanism (a charging station) by a rotationally compliant connector that allows motion of the charging plug in at least one degree of rotational freedom. The rotationally compliant connector may include a ball joint. The patent describes a charging station for an electric vehicle includes a passive alignment mechanism that includes a longitudinal translation stage that allows motion in a longitudinal direction, a charging plug connected to the passive alignment mechanism, and a releasable connector.(CN Beta, Apple World, Inotgo)

Panasonic is allegedly considering building a new battery plant in the U.S. to supply electric car maker Tesla with the latest 4680 battery cell for upcoming models such as the Tesla Semi and the Cybertruck. The plant is expected to start operation as early as 2024. While Panasonic plans to run the new facility independently, the decision will eventually be based on the profitability of new lithium-ion batteries manufactured at the Wakayama plant in Japan. (CN Beta, Asia Nikkei, AA Stock, MoneyDJ)