03-13: Xiaomi reportedly plans to launch at least 6 smartphone models in India in 2018; President Trump has issued an order blocking Broadcom’s proposed takeover of Qualcomm; etc.
Chipsets
President Trump has issued an order blocking Broadcom’s proposed takeover of Qualcomm and anything “substantially equivalent” to it over concerns that it might “impair the national security” of the country. The order also disqualifies all 15 of Broadcom’s proposed directors for Qualcomm. (Engadget, CNBC, Broadcom, Qualcomm, White House, iFeng, Sohu)
Touch Display
The supply and demand of the global flat panel industry will remain roughly in a balanced state in 2018, as the business climate for the industry is expected to hit bottom at the end of 2Q18 before rebounding in 3Q18, according to Michael Tsai, president of AU Optronics (AUO). (Digitimes, press, TechNews, Money DJ, OfWeek)
Camera
Essential has patented “camera integrated into a display”. The phone’s front-facing camera would be hidden behind the display and it would snap pictures by gathering light that shines through the screen and display. (Liliputing, TechCrunch, USPTO)
Battery
LG Chem’s revenue will grow 40% in the next 2 years, driven by rising demand on batteries, particularly batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage systems. LG Chem CEO Park Jin-soo said that batteries will account for “about half” of the KRW10T (USD9.3B) in revenue growth for the company over the next 2 years. (CN Beta, Reuters, Korea Herald)
Connectivity
Marvell Semiconductor is the first semiconductor to ship networking chips Alaska C 88X7129 supporting the 802.3cd standard that will pump up Ethernet ports to 400Gbps max. The 802.3cd standard is designed to eventually replace the current physical Ethernet ports, which run at 25Gbps to 100Gpbs, with ports that will run at 50Gbps, 200Gbps, and 400Gbps. (CN Beta, Network World)
Low frequency spectrum, like the 600MHz and 700MHz airwaves owned by T-Mobile, can travel farther and penetrate buildings better than the high frequency kind. And according to the carrier’s CTO Neville Ray, T-Mobile added more “lowband LTE” to hundreds of sites in Mar 2018. (Phone Arena, Facebook)
Phones
A newly leaked document has appeared online and it features the specific models that Meizu will release in 2018. The flagship Meizu series models are coloured in Red while the Blue Charm models are colour-coded blue. The Blue Charm series models expected to launch this year incles the M6s, E3, M8 Note, as well as the M8. (Gizmo China, IT Home)
Samsung reportedly plans to ship 12M units in 1Q18 followed by 13M, 10M and 8M in 2Q18, 3Q18 and 4Q18, respectively. Which means Samsung aims to ship 43M Galaxy S9 devices which is 2M more than the Galaxy S8 shipments in 2017. (Android Headlines, GSM Arena, The Bell, Go Android, Tencent)
Apple has announced that Apple streaming music service now has 38M paid subscribers, up from 36M in Feb 2018. The leading streaming music provider remains Spotify, which has 71M paid customers for its premium service. (Phone Arena, Reuters, Sohu, Donews)
Apple has uncovered 44 “core violations” of its labour and environmental policies, while auditing 756 of its suppliers across 30 countries. Despite running one of the world’s largest manufacturing chains, the majority of Apple’s production processes are reportedly completed by contractors. (Channel News, Reuters, VentureBeat, ESM China, Apple)
Xiaomi reportedly plans to launch at least 6 smartphone models in India in 2018, open 100 exclusive stores, release more new product categories in the near term and build out a big, non-smartphone business from its new range of televisions. (Laoyaoba, Live Mint, TechRadar)
Huawei Honor 7C is officially announced – 5.99” 1440×720 HD+ 2.5D curved, Qualcomm Snapdragon 450, rear dual 13MP-2MP + front 8MP, 3GB+32GB / 4GB+64GB, Android 8.0, 3000mAh, CNY899 / 1299. (GizChina, CN Beta)
Wearables
Toshiba has revealed a new wearable solution targeted at businesses which consists of a mobile ‘edge computing’ device coupled with a pair of smart glasses. The dynaEdge DE-100 edge computing device is driven by Windows 10, and when combined with the Assisted Reality AR100 Viewer glasses (developed in conjunction with Vuzix) forms a hands-free wearable solution that targets manufacturing, logistics and maintenance staff across a range of industries. (Engadget, The Verge, TechRadar, CN Beta)
VR Education Holdings, a virtual reality (VR) software and technology company, has raised EUR6.75M. VR Education is dedicated to transforming the delivery methods of education and corporate training by utilising VR technologies to deliver immersive virtual experiences. (CN Beta, Irish Times)
StarVR, a VR device joint venture between Acer and Sweden-based Starbreeze, plans to roll out a new head-mounted display (HMD) VR series with Tobii eye tracking capability in 2018 targeting high-end enterprise sector, according to StarVR vice chairman Jerry Kao. (Digitimes, press)
The AliveCor KardiaBand is a new sensor compatible with the Apple Watch that can detect dangerous levels of potassium in the blood with extremely high accuracy. Claiming the ability to detect potassium levels with a 94 percent accuracy, it may be the first of many steps towards technology that can give us vital health information without the use of invasive needles. (CN Beta, Apple Insider, The Verge, 9to5Mac, Value Walk)
Internet of Things
Philips has announced the Hue outdoor range of smart lights. Included in the new range of outdoor lighting systems are a the Philips Hue Lily spot light, the Philips Hue Calla path light, and various other outdoor lights called the Hue Tuar, Hue Turaco, Hue Ludere, and Hue Lucca. (Android Headlines, Engadget, Philips, iFeng)
Xiaomi has recently revealed that it has sold a record-breaking 1M units of the Xiaomi Mi TV 4A 32” version in less than a year, in 8 months to be precise. (GizChina, 163, Xuehua, Sohu)
Baidu chairman and CEO Robin Li reveals that Baidu will launch a smart speaker with a display in Apr 2018, which according to him, can provide more user interaction in addition to voice control. (Laoyaoba, Leiphone, Sina)
Beijing-based bike-sharing startup Ofo has raised USD866M in new financing led by Alibaba Group to fuel its expensive competition with Mobike, which is backed by Tencent, one of Alibaba’s biggest rivals. (TechCrunch, My Drivers)