7-3: Chinese brand iuni rumored bankrupt; LG announced a major shake-up of senior executives in its mobile business division; Sony to defocus US, India, China and Brazil; etc.
Chinese brand iuni rumored bankrupt; CLSA estimates in 2016 smartphones with dual-camera would be shipped with 77 million units; Rumored BlackBerry 10 smartphones stop production; LG announced a major shake-up of senior executives in its mobile business division; Sony to defocus US, India, China and Brazil; etc.
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Chipset |
| The security researcher Gal Beniamini has identified a security liability that affects millions of Android devices, specifically those that are equipped with Qualcomm processors. The risk comes in the form of the theoretically safe Full Disk Encryption (FDE). The full encryption can be found on Android devices packing Android 5.0 Lollipop and newer. (CN Beta, SlashGear, Tech Times, India Times, Phone Arena) |
| BMW announced a partnership with Intel and computer vision / sensing company Mobileye to “bring solutions for highly and fully automated driving into series production” by 2021. (The Verge, Engadget, BMW, CN Beta, Xinmin)
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Camera |
| 3D cameras are expensive in part because they need two of almost everything, but a new method developed by Toshiba replaces that expensive second lens with something much simpler: a set of colored filters. (Digital Trends, China Tech, Toshiba, Tencent)
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| CLSA’s Nicholas Baratte expects 4% of phones to have dual cameras this year, or 77 million units, and in 2018 it could reach 490 million units. Photonics Industry and Technology Development Association (PIDA) expects the penetration of dual-camera smartphone could reach 16% in 2017. (TechNews, Barron’s, blog)
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Sensory |
| Greg Corrado, the co-founder of Google’s deep learning project dubbed Google Brain indicates that in 10 years, it will be possible to have a meeting where everyone speaks a different language, but can understand one another by wearing special earbuds. (CN Beta, Tech Insider) |
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Connectivity |
| KPN has announced that its LoRa network has been activated across the Netherlands, with 1.5 million IoT connections under contract. (ZDNet, CN Beta, Digital Trends, PhysOrg, DNA India)
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Smartphones |
| Chinese vendor iuni is rumored bankrupt, the official website only has a poster with a after-sale service number. Gionee used to support iuni. (CN Beta, TechWeb, 163) |
| BlackBerry reportedly has informed Verizon and AT&T that production of all BlackBerry OS 10 devices (Q10, Z10, Z30, Passport, and Classic) has been discontinued. Future carrier order fulfilment will not be guaranteed due to limited remaining stock. However, BlackBerry has denied this rumor. (CN Beta, PC Mag, CNET, GSM Arena) |
| BlackBerry sees 4 new smartphones in its future, according to leak – “innovation” Passport, “luxurious” Khan, “classic” Q20 and “affordable” Manitoba Z3 LTE. (Digital Trends, Pop Herald, Pocket-Lint, Ubergizmo, Venture Beat)
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| LG Electronics has announced a major shake-up of senior executives in its mobile business division, as it struggles to rebrand itself in the highly competitive smartphone market. (Android Authority, Korea Times, iFeng, CJN) |
| Sony Mobile has officially confirmed that they will be lessening their focus in markets such as India, China, and the US. Apparently this is because Sony expects considerably less growth compared to last year’s estimates (0.3% versus last year’s estimate of 8.1%). (Ubergizmo, GSM Arena, Sony Xperia Blog, Tencent, China Tech)
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| Android Nougat is officially Android 7.0. (Android Central, 163) |
| Xiaomi is in talks with some state governments to set up handset manufacturing plants in collaboration with contract manufacturer Foxconn. (Android Headlines, India Times, BGR) |
| Sharp Aquos mini SH-M03 is officially launched in Japan with bezel-less display – 4.7” FHD IGZO display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor, 1300MP + 500MP cameras, 3GB RAM, 16GB storage, IPX68 waterproof, 2810mAh battery, JPY44800. (CN Beta, Android Headlines, The Verge)
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Wearables |
| According to Apple watcher Neil Cybart, the Apple Watch has reached USD10 billion business in 14 months. He added that since the Apple Watch premiered in April 2015, he believes Apple has sold 12.1 million units and generated USD5.7 billion in revenue. (Fortune, ZDNet, AboveAvalon, article, iFeng, CNFOL)
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Internet of Things |
| Authorities in the U.S. have begun investigating the death of a man after he collided with a lorry in his Tesla Model S while it was using the autopilot mode. (Kit Guru, CN Beta) |
