IF / News

GWM has officially announced the successful development and activation of its RISC-V automotive-grade MCU chip, the Zijing M100, which was jointly developed with multiple partners. It features a modular architecture with a reconfigurable core and a four-stage pipeline design that enables faster processing speeds and reduced latency, while also supporting future upgrades and expansions. It meets the ASIL-B functional safety requirements, supports Chinese cryptographic standards, and complies with the ISO21434 cybersecurity standard.(CN Beta, Sina, EET-China, Automotive World, GWM)

Amkor Technology and TSMC have announced that the two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate and bring advanced packaging and test capabilities to Arizona, further expanding the region’s semiconductor ecosystem. Under the agreement, TSMC will contract turnkey advanced packaging and test services from Amkor in their planned facility in Peoria, Arizona. TSMC will leverage these services to support its customers, particularly those using TSMC’s advanced wafer fabrication facilities in Phoenix. The close collaboration and proximity of TSMC’s front-end fab and Amkor’s back-end facility will accelerate overall product cycle times.(Apple Insider, Amkor)

Qualcomm has confirmed that hackers exploited a zero-day — meaning a security flaw that was unknown to the hardware maker when it was abused — in dozens of its chipsets found in popular Android devices. The zero-day vulnerability, officially designated CVE-2024-43047, “may be under limited, targeted exploitation”, according to Qualcomm, citing unspecified “indications” from Google’s Threat Analysis Group, the company’s research unit that investigates government hacking threats. Amnesty International’s Security Lab, which works to protect civil society from digital surveillance and spyware threats, confirmed Google’s assessment, Qualcomm said. U.S. cybersecurity agency CISA included the Qualcomm flaw in its list of vulnerabilities that are known to be, or have been, exploited. (Android Authority, TechCrunch, Qualcomm)

Intel has announced its latest generation Core Ultra 200S series of desktop processors based on its new Arrow Lake architecture. This new generation boasts of modest improvements in performance but with much greater advancements in efficiency. Intel is claiming 9% improvement in IPC (instructions per clock) for the P-cores compared to 14th gen, 32% improvement in IPC for the E-cores, which the company claims results in up to 13% improvement in multi-threaded performance compared to the competition. Intel claims 40% reduction in package power this generation and lower temperatures. There are five new SKUs, which includes the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K at the top replacing the previous Core i9-14900K, the Core Ultra 7 265K and 265KF replacing the Core i7-14700K and 14700KF, and the Core Ultra 5 245K and 245KF replacing the Core i5-14600K and 14600KF. (GSM Arena, Intel, Ars Technica)

Mediatek has announced Dimensity 9400, which comes with on-device AI and is packed with all the latest technology, including new ISP, NPU, and improved power efficiency. The SoC is built by TSMC on the 3 nm process (N3E), further enhancing performance and efficiency. The CPU architecture is 1+3+4. The super-performance core is Cortex-X925, and it runs at 3.63 GHz, and then we have 3 Cortex-X4 units with a 3.3 GHz maximum frequency. For efficiency, there are also four Cortex-A720 units at 2.4 GHz. According to Mediatek, the new Dimensity 9400 offers a 15% increase in IPC (Instructions per Cycle), which, alongside the clock speed boost, gives you a 35% gain in single-core performance and a 28% improvement for multiple cores. The GPU is Immortalis-G925, which was announced earlier this year. It runs at 1612 MHz frequency, promising 41% performance improvement, 40% faster ray tracing performance and 44% power savings. (GSM Arena, MediaTek, Liliputing)

AMD and Nvidia are partnering to launch AMD’s 5th-generation Epyc server processor, Turin. Through what AMD has called a “technical partnership”, Nvidia offers expertise to help integrate its HGX and MGX data centre GPU clusters with AMD’s new Epyc processors. While AMD produces its own Instinct  AI accelerators, it’s clear that the companies are acknowledging reality. Many customers prefer to pair Nvidia GPUs with AMD CPUs, and this collaboration aims to ensure they can do so seamlessly. (Digital Trends, TechEDT, Nvidia, TechRadar)

Samsung has had difficulty finding financial success with its chip manufacturing businesses. Samsung’s businesses of designing and manufacturing chips for other clients are incurring billions of dollars of annual losses due to weak demand and have been dragging down the overall performance of Samsung Electronics. Samsung has been expanding into logic chip designing and contract chip manufacturing to lower its reliance on bread-and-butter memory chips. Logic chips are used to process data. the company Chairperson Jay Y. Lee announced his vision in 2019 to overtake TSMC as the world’s largest contract chipmaker by 2030. The company has since announced billions of dollars of investments in contract chip manufacturing, building new plants in South Korea and the United States. However, Samsung has struggled to win big orders from customers to fill up the new capacity. Asked if Samsung was considering carving out the chip manufacturing business called foundry or its System LSI logic chip designing business, Lee has replied that Samsung is not interested in spinning off its contract chip manufacturing business as well as its logic chip designing operation.(The Elec, Android Authority, Reuters)

TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance allegedly plans to develop an AI model trained primarily with chips from Huawei Technologies. ByteDance’s next step in the AI race is to use Huawei’s Ascend 910B chip to train a large-language AI model. ByteDance already uses the Ascend 910B primarily for less computationally intensive inference tasks, which involve pre-trained AI models making predictions. ByteDance has ordered more than 100,000 Ascend 910B chips in 2024 but has received fewer than 30,000 as of Jul 2024, a pace too slow to meet company needs. ByteDance’s current AI technology is used in its flagship large-language model launched in Aug 2023 and rebranded as chatbot Doubao, and in many other applications including a text-to-video tool Jimeng. It has introduced two video-focused Doubao models to compete with OpenAI. (IT Home, Zaobao, Gizmo China, Reuters)

Novatek, Taiwan’s leading display driver IC (DDI) manufacturer, has announced plans to commence mass production of its highly anticipated OLED TDDI technology as early as 2Q25. Speculation suggests that Novatek’s proposed shipping schedule could align with Apple’s next-generation iPhone displays in 2025. Such a development would cement Novatek’s position in Apple’s supply chain, establishing it as a key player in OLED TDDI mass production by 2025. While Novatek’s penetration among Chinese panel makers and smartphone brands is increasing, it still faces fierce competition and growing pressure from low-cost competitors. (Apple Insider, Digitimes, UDN, Twitter)

Apple is said to be still planning the use of microLED in future products such as the Apple Watch Ultra and a rumoured follow-on to the Apple Vision Pro. The report suggests that Apple’s alleged AR glasses using microLED screens will enter mass production sometime in 2026. It also says that a plan to use microLED in a future Apple Watch Ultra will also happen in 2026. Given that the regular Apple Watch was updated to Series 10 in Sept 2024, it would seem more likely that an Apple Watch Ultra Series 3 could arrive at some point in late 2025. (Apple Insider, Twitter)

LG was working on LG Rollable, a smartphone with an extendable screen, but they officially canceled the project sometime years ago. However, a recent patent from LG describes a roll-slide display device. The display would roll out, sort of like a conveyor belt or a moving walkway. The patent also says that the device could roll out to different sizes, going from a compact phone to a larger device like a tablet.(Android Headlines, USPTO, MS Poweruser)

Samsung has announced it has begun mass producing PM9E1, a PCle 5.0 SSD with the industry’s highest performance and largest capacity. Built on its in-house 5nm-based controller and eighth-generation V-NAND (V8) technology, the PM9E1 will provide powerful performance and enhanced power efficiency, making it an optimal solution for on-device AI PCs. Key attributes in SSDs, including performance, storage capacity, power efficiency and security, have all been improved compared to its predecessor (PM9A1a).(GSM Arena, Samsung)

Samsung reportedly expects to ship about 22M units of the Galaxy S25 lineup by 1H25. Of those, 11M units would be the Galaxy S25 Ultra, the most premium and expensive model. The Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+ would account for 6M and 5M units, respectively. The upcoming Galaxy S25 Ultra is expected to feature an even larger display, reaching 6.9”. On the other hand, the base Galaxy S25 will remain a compact model, while the S25+ will be an intermediate variant with a bigger screen and battery than the vanilla one. Samsung will be shaking up its launch policy for the Galaxy S series. Samsung may abandon the base Galaxy S26 in 2026, although this will likely depend on the popularity of its equivalent model in the Galaxy S25 lineup. (Android Headlines, The Elec)

Samsung has announced an important change that all its products will unified under a single software experience called One UI in 2025. Through this, the company aims to make things easier for users of all Samsung devices. Samsung’s software is currently available in different products like mobile devices, TVs, and home appliances, each with its own name. Starting in 2025, Samsung will bring all these under the One UI brand to make things easier for users.(Android Authority, Samsung)

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that Apple is not actively developing a smart ring, and does not have plans to start anytime soon. As Gurman notes, introducing an Apple Ring “would detract from the Apple Watch”. He reveals that Apple has “no reason to cannibalize a product that still has room to grow and is the envy of the fitness-tracking industry”. (Digital Trends, Apple Insider, TechRadar)

OPPO is reportedly working on a new smart ring with a detachable holder. According to the patent details, the smart ring is composed of several key components: a wearable part (the ring itself), a ring holder, and an integrated electronic component. What sets this design apart is that the electronic component is placed on the ring holder, which is detachable from the ring. This configuration allows for a thinner, more comfortable ring body that can be worn alongside other rings. The patent images reveal how the design saves space by positioning the electronic components on the detachable holder rather than directly on the ring itself. This also simplifies the manufacturing process and assembly of the device. By incorporating this modular approach, the smart ring can be customised and made more compact, catering to a broader range of users who seek both style and advanced functionality.(Android Headlines, Mysmartprice)

Meta’s latest AR glasses and cheaper mixed-reality headset add pressure on Apple to make its Vision push work. Apple wants to turn the product into a line of devices — with different features and price points. As of now, the company’s Vision Products Group is evaluating a few different options. Apple could bring down the cost with cheaper materials, lesser internal technologies, and lower-quality displays. Apple would remove the on-board computer and external battery from the Vision Pro and shift many of the internal functions over to the iPhone. Apple could use its expertise in chips and audio, as well as its growing collection of AI tools, to make a compelling smart glass without display. Apple is working on a new version of the AirPods Pro that uses external cameras and artificial intelligence to understand the outside world and provide information to the user, which would essentially be the smart glasses without display path. The ultimate goal is standalone augmented reality spectacles that come with high-performing lenses, a battery system, on-board computer, cameras, eye tracking and other components built-in— all while still being the size and weight of normal glasses.(Apple Insider, Bloomberg, Tom’s Guide)

Apple may ship the long-rumored HomePod with display in two versions in 2025, and at the same time rebrand tvOS for a wider focus on home automation and similar products. A forthcoming version of the HomePod with a built-in display could be coming as early as 2025 and may come in two versions. Apple will rebrand its existing tvOS — the OS used in current HomePods — to homeOS. This could happen when the higher-end HomePod, which features with a larger display and the robotic arm, debuts. Both versions of the future HomePod are likely to run at least the A18 chip to support Apple Intelligence, and a camera for FaceTime use. Some Apple patents have suggested that the revamped HomePods might not resemble the present form factor of existing HomePods.(Apple Insider, Bloomberg)

Samsung has showcased how it is planning to improve its smart home platform, SmartThings, with AI. One of those new features is SmartThings Home Insight. Home Insight analyses user data, usage patterns, device history and home stats collected in real time to offer a better home experience. It also recommends features to optimize the home, such as powering off idle devices while away during a specific time of day or season. SmartThings is also getting integration with YouTube Music, bringing the ability to sync a smart home’s lights with the music that is currently being played. This feature works with smart lights from Lifx, Philips Hue, Wiz, and Yeelight. Samsung has also showcased a SmartThings Home Insight widget, which offers smart suggestions and showcases the status of all user’s favorite smart home devices.(Android Central, Samsung, SamMobile)

Waymo and Hyundai Motor have announced they have entered into a multi-year, strategic partnership. In the first phase of this partnership, the companies will integrate Waymo’s sixth-generation fully autonomous technology – the Waymo Driver – into Hyundai’s all-electric IONIQ 5 SUV, which will be added to the Waymo One fleet over time. The IONIQ 5 vehicles destined for the Waymo fleet will be assembled at the new Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America (HMGMA) EV manufacturing facility in Georgia and then integrated with Waymo’s autonomous technology. Initial on-road testing with Waymo-enabled IONIQ 5s will begin by late 2025 and become available to Waymo One riders in the years to follow.(Digital Trends, Waymo)

Samsung may start charging for certain Galaxy AI features in 2025. Samsung’s press releases for the Galaxy Tab S10 series and Galaxy S24 FE include footnotes regarding the future of Galaxy AI. Samsung says, “Fees may apply to certain AI features at the end of 2025”.(GSM Arena, SamMobile, LiveMint)

Infinix has launched Infinix AI. Central to this platform is Folax, an virtual assistant powered by a combination of Infinix’s proprietary models and advanced external models such as GPT-4o and Gemini. This assistant supports text, voice, and image inputs, offering real-time responses and personalized recommendations for seamless and intuitive interactions. Live Texts allows users to instantly extract and summarize information from images and documents, making data retrieval faster and more efficient. Writing Tools enhances professional communication by providing real-time grammar checks, content rewriting, and style improvements. Magic Create assists in turning ideas into reality. Whether crafting social media posts, writing songs, or developing storyboards, this feature supports users through the entire creative process, making it accessible to everyone. Travelers can benefit from Visual Look Up, which provides detailed information about landmarks and cultural sites from a single photo, enhancing their travel experiences with rich, contextual insights.(Gizmo China, PR Newswire)

ByteDance is laying off more than 700 employees in Malaysia. The company’s TikTok is replacing the roles of all these employees with artificial intelligence (AI) instead. Most of the workers who lost their jobs were involved in checking and moderating content on TikTok. These employees were responsible for ensuring that videos followed TikTok’s community guidelines. However, ByteDance is now automating this process. The company says it found that about 80% of the content that violates its guidelines can be removed automatically by AI systems. ByteDance hopes that this can make content moderation faster and more efficient. The layoffs are not just happening in Malaysia. The company has confirmed that job cuts will also occur in other countries as it plans to use AI to moderate content globally.(TechCrunch, Neowin, Reuters)