Here is some aggregating of the data and then throwing out some predictions:
Mobile is eating the world also in 2017. As we pass 2.5bn smartphones on earth and head towards 5bn, and mobile moves from creation to deployment.
IHS research institute of the market next year will be 139 million a flexible screens, most of which are in smartphones. Vivo and Xiaomi have already released smart phones with flexible AMOLED screens. Progress has been slowed by the capacity of the display manufacturers, but Samsung Display and LG Display are already building new factories. It is expected that in 2020 the number of flexible screens will be 417 million.
Today’s smartphones utilize a wide array of sensors (accelerometers, gyroscopes and various other). New sensors will be added in 2017. Barometric pressure sensor, which measures air pressure, is currently being integrated into premium-grade smartphones and IoT applications. Air pressure sensors in smartphones are useful in navigation and fitness tracking applications but also in weather forecasting.
Rumors surrounding the next iPhone 8 keep coming in 2017. Analysts and market researchers have also predicted a big iPhone update from Apple. Let’s wait to see if this is evolution or revolution. A brief report in The Korea Economic Daily claims that Apple is working with LG on a new dual camera module “which enables 3D photographing. I would be surprised if Apple could come up with something that really revolutionary in 2017.
Virtual Reality Will Stay Hot in 2017. VR is the heaviest heterogeneous workload we encounter in mobile—there’s a lot going on. VR requires high refresh rates with new content every frame. It also needs to calculate data from multiple sensors and respond to it with updated visuals in less than 18 ms to keep up with the viewer’s head motions. To achieve these goals, the phone needs a fast-switching AMOLED display at nearly full brightness running constantly. The skyrocketing popularity of augmented reality (Pokemon Go) and virtual reality (Google VR) may be the boost microelecromechanical systems (MEMS) projectors into the mass market. Integrating micro-lidar (3-D imaging system using invisible infrared beams) to smart phone can become feasible.
Smart phone markets will be still almost completely be in the hands of Apple (iOS) and Google (Android) also in 2017. Microsoft’s Windows phone OS is practically dead in. But that does not stop other player trying to get their spot. For example Samsung wants developers to build apps for its homegrown Tizen mobile operating system, and it is offering cash prizes to do so. Samsung will launch further Tizen-powered smartphones in 2017, but the company is unlikely to swap Android for its home-grown software on high-end devices.
Mobile Video to Grow 50% a Year also n 2017. According to Ericsson’s Mobility Report, mobile data traffic continues to grow, driven both by increased smartphone subscriptions and a continued increase in average data volume per subscription, fueled primarily by more viewing of video content. Ericsson forecasts mobile video traffic to grow by around 50% annually through 2022.
Even though smart watch market has done much worse than expected in 2016, is not forgotter in 2017. Companies need to put effort to convince consumers that wearables — smartwatches specifically — are still in demand. For this Google says it will launch two flagship OEM-branded smartwatches and Android Wear 2.0 in early 2017. The new platform brings a number of new features.
Smartphone is already widely used mobile payment, a person identifying itself and a wide range of services in place, so it is only a matter of time until the driver’s license is transferred to smart phone. In fact, the trend is already on the move, as piloted by Gemalto digital driver’s license in Colorado, Idaho, Maryland and Washington. In the early stages of the digital card functions as a conventional physical card partner.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Virtual Reality by the Numbers: 5 Things You Need to Know in 2017
Who are the big players? Where are the opportunities? How does the general public feel? We look at the major trends in VR to be aware of in the coming year.
https://www.designnews.com/electronics-test/virtual-reality-numbers-5-things-you-need-know-2017/76796037847189?cid=nl.x.dn14.edt.aud.dn.20161229.tst004c
Virtual Reality (VR) has finally arrived. Questions of affordabilty aside, 2016 was the year that VR products finally hit store shelves in a major way. But now that the products are out there, the big test is whether consumers will actually use them. And if they do what will they use them for? So will VR hardware become as popular as smartphones? Or will this be a trend we see fizzling out sooner than later? We took at look at some of the numbers and came up with five things everyone should know about VR in 2017
1.) Most Americans Don’t Understand VR
2.) No One Agrees How Much the VR Market Will be Worth
3.) VR Hardware Comes in 3 Categories
4.) There’s Big Market Potential Beyond Gaming
5.) There are 11 Major Players in VR to Watch
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nielsen also took a brief glimpse into the state of smartphone penetration in the U.S., noting that 88 percent of mobile subscribers now use a smartphone, up from 86 percent at the beginning of the year.
Over half (53%) are on Android, with 45 percent on iOS, and just 2 percent on Windows Phone. Blackberry is somehow still on the charts with a 1 percent share.
Source: https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/28/facebook-google-dominate-the-list-of-2016s-top-apps/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple Sued After iPhone Driver Using FaceTime Caused Fatal Accident
Cupertino failed to add driving restrictions to iPhones, the suit claims, and this makes the phone defective
http://news.softpedia.com/news/apple-sued-after-iphone-driver-using-facetime-caused-fatal-accident-511407.shtml
Apple is being sued by two parents whose daughter was killed in a car accident for not implementing limitations on its iPhones when being used behind the wheel.
“Apple patented tech in 2008″
In the lawsuit, the two explain that Apple has already patented technology that would allow restricting the use of iPhones behind the wheel, but say that Apple never implemented it on its devices, which makes the existing generations “defective.”
“Apple’s 2008 patent application reveals that Apple expressly knew and/or should have known of the risks to human life and safety associated with, and created by, the intended or reasonably foreseeable use and misuse of certain functions available on the iPhone.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Specs of Qualcomm’s first ARM processor capable of running Windows 10 leaked
https://mspoweruser.com/specs-qualcomms-first-arm-processor-capable-running-windows-10-leaked/
Qualcomm is set to launch its next-gen Snapdragon processor at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The company’s upcoming Snapdragon processor, the Snapdragon 835 will be its flagship processor that will also be the first ARM processor capable of running full Windows 10.
According to the leaked press release, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 sports the Qualcomm Kryo 280 CPU (quad-core), Qualcomm Adreno 540 GPU, and Qualcomm Hexagon DSP to manage the different workloads.
Microsoft to bring full Windows 10 to ARM devices, and we should start seeing Windows 10 devices powered by the Snapdragon 835 later this year.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Abner Li / 9to5Google:
Qualcomm inadvertently reveals ASUS ZenFone AR, Tango-enabled and Daydream-ready, and powered by Snapdragon 821
Qualcomm inadvertently reveals ASUS ZenFone AR, the second Tango-enabled consumer smartphone
https://9to5google.com/2017/01/02/qualcomm-asus-zenfone-ar-tango-daydream/
Qualcomm has inadvertently published a press release today about the yet-to-be-announced ASUS ZenFone AR. Billed as the world’s first device to be both Tango-enabled and Daydream-ready, it is powered by the Snapdragon 821.
This follows a leak yesterday that revealed the majority of specs and performance details for the forthcoming Snapdragon 835, and a tweet earlier today from ASUS suggesting that it will launch a phone with the new SoC…
https://www.qualcomm.com/news/snapdragon/2017/01/04/asus-zenfone-ar-worlds-first-snapdragon-821-powered-tango-enabled
Tomi Engdahl says:
BlackBerry branded phones with physical keyboard to drop at CES
http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2017/01/03/blackberry-keyboard-launch-ces/
Last September, the once lauded handset manufacturer BlackBerry Limited confirmed it will no longer be building its own mobile devices, outsourcing all of its internal hardware efforts to third-party phone-makers like China’s TCL Corporation.
Today, TCL President Steve Cistulli teased a brief preview of the long-awaited BlackBerry Mercury device. Slated to launch at CES, the handset will sport a physical keyboard and will be entirely designed, built and overseen by the Chinese corporation.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel Tips Plans for 5G Modem
Smartphone chip samples this year
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1331083&
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Hoping to accelerate its resurgence in mobile, Intel announced plans at CES for a 5G modem for smartphones that will sample in the second half of this year. The x86 giant aims to attract design wins in top 2018 smartphones for the first modem made in its 14 nm process.
The plan is an aggressive effort to be early with a chip that supports 3GPP 5G standards. Engineers attending those meetings say the first phase of the 5G standard won’t be formally approved until at least May 2018.
Intel is not alone in the rush to 5G. Its archrival, Qualcomm, announced late last year its X50 5G modem will sample in 2017. It uses eight 100-MHz channels, a 2×2 MIMO antenna array, adaptive beamforming techniques and 64 QAM to achieve a 90dB link budget and works with separate 28 GHz transceiver and power management chips.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The first Android-Nokia is an aggressive opening
The Nokia brand name licensed HMD Global has published the first of a new generation of Android-smartphone. Succinct model name 6 received the device will go on sale first in China only. The device is priced aggressively EUR 230.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5645:ensimmainen-android-nokia-on-aggressiivinen-avaus&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jon Fingas / Engadget:
Samsung launches Gear S and Gear Fit apps on iOS, allowing Gear S3, Gear S2, and Gear Fit 2 wearables to work with iPhones — Did you sigh wistfully at Samsung’s Gear S3, knowing you couldn’t use it because you have an iPhone? Relax. Samsung has launched new Gear S and Gear Fit apps …
Samsung’s smartwatch lineup now works with your iPhone
The Gear S3, Gear S2 and Gear Fit 2 are no longer tied to Android
https://www.engadget.com/2017/01/07/samsung-smartwatch-ios-support/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Electronic Device Markets Seen as Stagnant in 2017
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1331097&
SAN FRANCISCO—Combined shipments of PCs, mobile handsets and tablets—the drivers of much of the electronics supply chain over the past few years—are projected to remain flat in 2017, according to market research firm Gartner Inc.
Combined shipments of such devices are forecast to be 2.3 billion in 2017, roughly the same as the estimated total for 2016, Gartner said this week.
“The global devices market is stagnating,” said Ranjit Atwal, a research director at Gartner, in a statement. “Mobile phone shipments are only growing in emerging Asia/Pacific markets, and the PC market is just reaching the bottom of its decline.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smartphone Senses Anything
U.S., Israel, China Collaborate
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1331100&
A smartphone with a built-in spectrometer that can sense nearly any substance is promising to bring to the masses a whole new category of capabilities. The phone’s makers say it can, for example, sense spoiled milk, a drink’s alcohol content, a food’s ingredients, counterfeit pills, poison and nearly anything else.
The key component is a tiny near-infrared spectrometer which is made by Analog Devices Inc. (Norwood, Mass.), designed by Consumer Physics Inc. (Tel-Aviv, Israel) and integrated into an iPhone-lookalike made by Sichuan Changhong Electric Co. (China).
Tomi Engdahl says:
IoT Trumps Mobile App Debates
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1331119&
While the debate over native versus Web apps continues, the Internet of Things is raising more important questions about the future of software development.
The fact is, while native apps may have come to dominate the marketplace, Web apps still have their merits.
We’re also seeing markets converge, enabling a hybrid approach to app development. Third-party W3C HTML5 frameworks such as Phonegap from Cordova can allow developers to use the best of both approaches. What’s more, cross-platform coding enables apps that have access to the full spectrum of functionality exposed by the underlying platform and device, including platform-specific capabilities like Apple Pay and Android Wear.
As mobile has become the major player in brand engagement, so native apps have become the preferred option. It’s not just the fact that they can be controlled and sold exclusively through online sites such as Apple’s App Store and Google Play, creating potentially huge revenue streams for developers and service providers. Because they’re developed specifically for each platform, they can easily access hardware in the device such as Bluetooth and generally run faster than Web apps, delivering a better user experience too. They also can take advantage of native gestures such as inertial scrolling and share data such as contacts and photos. What’s more, they don’t need to be downloaded every time they’re launched.
At Google I/O 2016, Google launched an Android upgrade that enables the operating system to run native apps through the browser without downloading them.
The next big thing is, of course, the Internet of Things (IoT), which could well be the catalyst that drives further industry convergence. To move forward and truly realize the potential of IoT, we need to adopt a standard set of protocols, something that has so far proved very difficult to achieve. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) wants to adopt common standards across IoT development. However, HTML doesn’t currently have the technology to run and connect with IoT devices.
Tomi Engdahl says:
the biggest winner in the waning sale of Microsoft’s Windows phones seems to beApple’s iOS.
The research firm Kantar publication of figures showing the plight of Windows smartphones. due to uncertainties of continuity of Microsoft’s phone business with Android and iOS flourish.
Windows phones are losing share in continuous feed, which is bad news for Redmond partners.
Microsoft’s paucity in terms of the future of Windows phones endanger the entire continuum. If and when Microsoft finally decides to return the phone to become a market rumor Surface phones, it may already be too late.
Source: http://www.tivi.fi/Kaikki_uutiset/apple-valtaa-microsoftin-jattaman-paikan-6614597
More:
Smartphone OS sales market share
Kantar Worldpanel ComTech
http://www.kantarworldpanel.com/global/smartphone-os-market-share/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Xiaomi stops disclosing annual sales figures as CEO admits the company grew too fast
https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/11/xiaomi-2016-to-2017/
Xiaomi has forgone its tradition of revealing how many smartphones it sold the previous year. The strategy yielded many headlines for the highly-regarded Chinese outfit, but today its CEO admitted that Xiaomi has been in transition after growing “too fast”.
The writing was on the cards, even as early as January 2016 when Xiaomi revealed it had sold “over 70 million” devices in 2015.
This Is How Xiaomi Keeps The Cost Of Its Smartphones So Low
https://techcrunch.com/2015/01/19/xiaomi-secret-sauce/
Xiaomi is able to make price concessions thanks to the combination of a small portfolio and longer average selling time per device
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung Electronics probe finds battery was main cause of Note 7 fires: source
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-samsung-elec-smartphones-idUSKBN150019
A Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) investigation into what caused some Galaxy Note 7 smartphones to catch fire has concluded that the battery was the main reason, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday.
The results of the investigation will likely be announced on Jan. 23,
Tomi Engdahl says:
AI-Enhanced Wearables Offer Personal Fitness Coaching
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=216&doc_id=1331117&
We could all benefit from having personal coaches to keep track of the food we eat and the exercise we take, to praise us for our efforts, and to cajole us into doing more.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Using FPGAs in Mobile Heterogeneous Computing Architectures
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1331184&
Since “context-aware” systems must be “always on” to track changes in the environment, these capabilities represent a potentially significant drain on system power.
Today’s mobile systems are more intelligent than ever. As users demand more functionality, designers are continually adding to a growing list of embedded sensors. Image sensors support functions such as gesture and facial recognition, eye tracking, proximity, depth, and movement perception. Health sensors monitor the user’s EKG, EEG, EMG, and temperature. Audio sensors add voice recognition, phrase detection, and location-sensing services.
To address this problem, a growing number of developers are adopting Mobile Heterogeneous Computing (MHC) architectures. As the name implies, heterogeneous architectures employ different types of processors. Instead of using just a single CPU or GPU, a heterogeneous architecture might add an ASIC or FPGA to perform highly dedicated processing tasks.
One of the primary reasons system designers are moving to MHC is the ability it gives developers to move repetitive computation tasks to the most efficient processing resources so as to lower power consumption. For example, one key distinction between GPUs, CPUs, and FPGAs is how they process data.
FPGAs, on the other hand, enable a system to perform calculations in parallel, which — in turn — reduces power consumption, particularly in compute-intensive repetitive applications.
The fact that FPGAs have, thus far, been used sparingly for these tasks can be attributed to a common misconception — many designers think of FPGAs as relatively large devices. However, this is not necessarily the case.
Low-density FPGAs offer a number of other advantages in the current generation of intelligent systems. The rapid proliferation of sensors and displays in today’s mobile devices presents new challenges from an I/O interface perspective.
Data is an increasingly valuable commodity in today’s “context-aware” systems. More than ever before, systems rely on a rapidly expanding array of sensors to support an ever-growing list of functions. But data is only useful if can be captured, transferred, and analyzed quickly and efficiently.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Qualcomm Accused of Forcing Deal on Apple to Thwart Rivals
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-17/qualcomm-forced-apple-to-exclusively-use-modem-chips-ftc-says
Qualcomm Inc. forced Apple Inc. to use its chips exclusively in return for lower licensing fees, unfairly cutting out competitors, the U.S. said in a lawsuit against the biggest maker of mobile phone chips.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Qualcomm:
Qualcomm responds to FTC charge, says will contest complaint and that it has not withheld or threatened to withhold chip supply — The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a complaint today against Qualcomm in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California.
https://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2017/01/17/qualcomm-responds-complaint-us-federal-trade-commission
Tomi Engdahl says:
Josh Constine / TechCrunch:
Google acquires Fabric, Twitter’s mobile app development tool suite, and its team; Fabric will join Google’s Developer Products Group — Google is taking over Twitter’s mobile app developer platform Fabric, as well as its Crashlytics crash reporting system, Answers mobile app analytics …
Google acquires Fabric developer platform and team from Twitter
https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/18/google-twitter-fabric/
Google is taking over Twitter’s mobile app developer platform Fabric, as well as its Crashlytics crash reporting system, Answers mobile app analytics, Digits SMS login system and FastLane development automation system. Twitter launched Fabric as a modular SDK in 2014 to allow developers to pick and choose different tools to improve their apps, and it now serves apps reaching 2.5 billion users built by 580,000 developers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Farhad Manjoo / New York Times:
The centralization of the internet via app stores has made government censorship easier, as shown by the removal of LinkedIn and NYT apps in Russia and China
Clearing Out the App Stores: Government Censorship Made Easier
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/18/technology/clearing-out-the-app-stores-government-censorship-made-easier.html
There’s a new form of digital censorship sweeping the globe, and it could be the start of something devastating.
In the last few weeks, the Chinese government compelled Apple to remove New York Times apps from the Chinese version of the App Store. Then the Russian government had Apple and Google pull the app for LinkedIn, the professional social network, after the network declined to relocate its data on Russian citizens to servers in that country. Finally, last week, a Chinese regulator asked app stores operating in the country to register with the government, an apparent precursor to wider restrictions on app marketplaces.
Here’s the thing: It’s a more effective form of censorship.
Blocking a website is like trying to stop lots of trucks from delivering a banned book; it requires an infrastructure of technical tools (things like China’s “Great Firewall”), and enterprising users can often find a way around it. Banning an app from an app store, by contrast, is like shutting down the printing press before the book is ever published. If the app isn’t in a country’s app store, it effectively doesn’t exist. The censorship is nearly total and inescapable.
But that’s not the end of this story. The banning of apps highlights a deeper flaw in our modern communications architecture: It’s the centralization of information, stupid.
“I think the app store censorship issue is one layer of ice on the surface of the iceberg above the waterline,”
For more than a decade, we users of digital devices have actively championed an online infrastructure that now looks uniquely vulnerable to the sanctions of despots and others who seek to control information.
Compared with older forms of distributing software, apps downloaded from app stores are more convenient for users and often more secure from malware, and they can be more lucrative for creators.
The internet’s earliest boosters considered it a magical tool to liberate people from restrictions on speech. The easy banning of apps suggests that if we let it, the internet could instead become something quite the opposite — one of the most efficient choke points of communication the world has ever seen.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rambus’ Aharon Etengoff says to expect mobile proximity payments to keep on growing, reaching $92 billion by 2019.
http://www.rambusblog.com/2017/01/11/mobile-proximity-payments-to-hit-92-billion-by-2019/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google loses Android friends with Pixel exclusivity
Maybe it doesn’t need friends? But it should worry about fragmenting Android further
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/01/19/google_loses_android_friends_with_pixel_exclusivity/
Google’s decision to keep premium Android features for itself attracted surprisingly little comment last year – but the dangers are heaving into view. By declaring war on its most important customers, Google risks losing a degree of control over Android, further fragmenting the platform.
Platform providers like Google have always shied away from the taboo of competing with their own licensees. But it’s no longer such a taboo. Microsoft entered the premium devices business with what became a successful niche product, the Surface Pro, and grumbling PC OEMs were obliged to raise their game. Phone OEMs were never happy with Google making Google-brand Nexus phones in 2010. As one Google OEM told us back then when the first Nexus was launched: “They don’t know what hurt they’re doing, and they don’t care.”
But the Nexus turned out not to be the “superphone” that the hype led us to believe it would be.
However, the Pixel is a very different beast to Nexus, which was really a hobby for Google. Google is serious, and really wants you to think of Pixel as a “superphone”. It has a price to match the iPhone, and it launched globally, with a staggering figure marketing budget. It’s directly competing with Samsung.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia 6 Entirely Sold out in Just a Minute in First Flash Sale
http://www.gizmochina.com/2017/01/18/nokia-6-entirely-sold-just-minute-first-flash-sale/
The much awaited Nokia 6 mid-range smartphone today went on its first flash sales in China and as was expected, the device was sold out in just a minute. The Nokia 6 was already headed to being a hot selling smartphone, considering the over 1 million persons that registered their intention to have the 1699 yuan smartphone.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jez Corden / Windows Central:
Sources: Minecraft Pocket Edition will no longer receive updates for Windows mobile devices
http://www.windowscentral.com/minecraft-pocket-edition-will-no-longer-receive-updates-windows-mobile-devices
We received a tip earlier today that Minecraft Pocket Edition will no longer be supported on Windows mobile devices.
Since receiving the tip, we have confirmed with sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans that Minecraft Pocket Edition will no longer receive updates for Windows Phone 8.1 or 10 Mobile, but it will still be available in the store.
users spending time in Minecraft PE for Windows 8.1 and 10 Mobile is reportedly very low
At this point, I’d say it’s pretty clear that the future of Windows on mobile devices lies with full Windows 10 on ARM, recently announced for future handsets powered by the Snapdragon 835 processor.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Samsung starts rolling out Android 7.0 Nougat to unlocked Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge devices in the US, UK, China, and elsewhere
Samsung starts rolling out Android 7.0 Nougat to Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge devices
http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/19/14321980/samsung-galaxy-s7-edge-android-nougat-update
Samsung has officially started rolling out the latest Android 7.0 Nougat update to existing Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge handsets. While beta testers of the software update have had access to the final bits for around a week, unlocked devices in the UK, US, China, and elsewhere are starting to see the Nougat update appear over-the-air (OTA).
Tomi Engdahl says:
FTC Slaps Qualcomm with Suit
Apple precluded from other basebands, it says
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1331200&
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against Qualcomm, seeking a court order against what it alleges are unfair licensing practices for its cellular baseband patents. The complaint alleges among other things the company “precluded Apple from sourcing baseband processors from Qualcomm’s competitors from 2011 to 2016.”
The FTC also charged Qualcomm maintains a “no license, no chips” policy that requires handset makers to agree to Qualcomm’s licensing terms to get supplies of its baseband chips. The company also refuses to license standard-essential patents to competitors, the FTC said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
MediaTek Expects Slow Q1 Growth
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1331268&
MediaTek, Qualcomm’s largest rival in the smartphone silicon business, is forecasting slow growth during the first quarter this year as the overall market remains in the doldrums.
Taiwan’s biggest semiconductor design house expects to ship about 105 million to 115 million chips for smartphones and tablets during the first three months this year. That compares with the company’s forecast of 100 million to 110 million unit shipments during the same period last year.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Patent Suits Hit Q’comm Profits
Foxconn in the middle of Apple suit
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1331259&
Qualcomm’s latest quarterly earnings showed first blood in a set of five court actions now alleging its patent licensing terms are unfair. Wall Street analysts fear it could be just the beginning of financial hits in disputes Qualcomm said are driven by Apple.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bittium has signed an agreement with the Finnish Defence Forces Confidential (Confidential) for the supply of Bittium protection level and operating LTE network Tough Mobile smartphones and related Bittium Secure Suite back end.
Bittium Tough Mobile smartphone includes a back-Katakri 2015 Hardened in accordance with the requirements functionalities, such as a hardened operating system, hardened user authentication and data transfer.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/5743-armeijalle-kotimainen-turvapuhelin
Tomi Engdahl says:
Reversing 25 Years of Antenna Degradation
http://mwrf.com/passive-components/reversing-25-years-antenna-degradation?NL=MWRF-001&Issue=MWRF-001_20170126_MWRF-001_67&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1_b&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=9411&utm_medium=email&elq2=c841eede91d641aa9c7b959246558fa8
As mobile communication ramps up in complexity, smarter antenna tuning could prove to be a game-changer in meeting demands.
Does anyone remember pulling out the antenna on your first mobile phone to make a call? Over the past 25 years, antenna design has changed radically for cell phones. While transitioning from 2G to 3G to LTE, we have incrementally and gradually sacrificed as much as 10 dB of link budget in some cases. It’s shocking but true: The network has improved dramatically, so we’ve been able to compromise performance in the handset antenna without much backlash from consumers
Multiple factors come into play here:
• The elimination of the extended antenna
• Metal-backed phone cases
• Multi-band antenna requirements, with carrier aggregation, Licensed Authorized Access (LAA), and multiple input, multiple output (MIMO)
• Smaller antenna form factors
• Time-to-market pressure that leaves little time for optimization
What’s Coming Next
The industry pattern has started to change. Ten years ago, handset OEMs recognized the inferior performance of some antenna choices they were making, but they were not willing to spend another two dollars per handset to fix the problems. Today, handset OEMs are voluntarily choosing to use tuning solutions. These solutions have been simplified and “systemized” so that the cost is much lower than before. New handsets employ a combination of diversity and tuning to improve everyday performance by 4 dB—and up to 10 dB for some cases.
Being electrically short causes poor efficiency in general for the antenna, forcing system engineers to rely on a more resonant antenna with more narrowband performance to reduce electrical losses. As the 600-MHz band comes onto the market and CA is required with 700- or 850-MHz bands, we can expect much more sophisticated use of “systemized” tuners that can optimize for multiple bands in a dynamic environment
The key lies in considering the antenna as a system, not a component.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Japan Display is a Full Active Flex screen, which is the first Full HD LCD display, on both sides of the substrate is made of plastic. entering the market next year will display enables flexible, smart phones equipped with 5.5-inch screen.
Smartphone use of JDI’s new display is a great feature, because the refresh rate can be changed (60-30-15 Hertz). At the lowest frequency of the smartphone by far the most power-hungry component of the electricity consumption drops to one quarter.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/5753-uutuusnaeyttoe-osoittaa-taipuva-aelypuhelin-on-laehellae
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jordan Novet / VentureBeat:
Apple reports Q1 revenue of $78.4B, up from $75.9B a year ago, as profit reaches $17.9B; 78.3M iPhones sold, up 5% YoY, as iPad sales declined 19% YoY to 13.08M — Apple today disclosed that it produced a $17.8 billion profit, or $3.36 in earnings per diluted share, on $78.35 billion in sales …
Apple returns to revenue growth in Q1 2017 with $17.8 billion profit
http://venturebeat.com/2017/01/31/apple-returns-to-revenue-growth-in-q1-2017-with-17-8-billion-profit/
Apple today disclosed that it produced a $17.8 billion profit, or $3.36 in earnings per diluted share, on $78.35 billion in sales in the first quarter of its 2017 fiscal year, which ended on December 31. Analysts were expecting an average of $3.22 in earnings per share on $77.38 billion in revenue.
Today, Apple’s earnings are riding on the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus that were unveiled in September. While dual cameras and water resistance did distinguish the new models from their predecessors, they bore resemblance to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and 6S and 6S Plus; now consumers are looking toward a major revamp for the iPhone’s 10-year anniversary this coming September.
And yet, iPhone unit sales for the past quarter were 78.29 million, which is up 5 percent year over year. That translates to $54.37 billion in sales for the iPhone in the quarter.
The average selling price (ASP) of the iPhone for the quarter was a record-high $695
Apple sold 13.08 million iPads in the quarter, which is down 19 percent year over year. Revenue for the iPad was down 22 percent year to year.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Juli Clover / MacRumors:
Apple Watch set an all time revenue record in Q1 according to Tim Cook, but the “Other” category revenue as a whole was $4.02B, down from $4.35B last year
Apple Watch Sets All Time Revenue Record in Q1 2017
http://www.macrumors.com/2017/01/31/apple-watch-revenue-record-q1-2017/
Apple does not break out sales of the Apple Watch like it does for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, but according to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the Apple Watch set all time unit and revenue records during the first fiscal quarter of 2017, suggesting significant sales during the holidays.
Cook said holiday demand was “so strong” that Apple “couldn’t make enough.” He went on to say the company is thrilled with the response its seen to the wearable device.
Tomi Engdahl says:
For most people the smart phone is used as a memory extension
Then when cell phones did not yet have, the more memory easily dozens of my friends phone numbers. Not anymore, after all, is the smart phone in a safe place. The study shows that already 85 percent of Finnish people consider the internet and smart phone as an extension of the memory.
Problems can, of course, come in, if a smartphone is lost or a network outage. running errands becomes difficult. This phenomenon is called the digital amnesia.
In Finland, about half (53 per cent) to remember your home phone number at the age of 10, however, say relatives and friends of current numbers are no longer resembles the mind as well.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/5751-useimmilla-aelypuhelin-on-muistin-jatke
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung had time before Apple: MEMS circuit to prevent dropped calls
LTE phone is troublesome RF device, because it must support more clearly larger number of frequencies. This has fortunately come to help the new technique. Samsung had time to take advantage of the first major manufacturers of MEMS-type of RF tuners.
Until now, the antenna is kept tuned to the right frequency of SOI-based filters.
A much better solution is to MEMS-based tuner, because it allows to adjust the frequency is much more accurate and reliable, and it virtually eliminates the losses in the antenna signal.
Last year, ZTE took the Cavendish tuner along with a top model.
The company’s component is used in the Samsung Galaxy A8 model and all the design gains of more than 40 ten different manufacturer’s products.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/5765-samsung-ehti-ennen-applea-mems-piiri-estaeae-puhelun-katkeamisen
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung, Apple Remain Top Chip Buyers
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1331288&
Electronics heavyweights Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. were the top buyers of semiconductors worldwide for the sixth consecutive year in 2016, accounting for a combined 18 percent of all chip sales, according to a report by market research firm Gartner Inc.
The two companies, which are the runaway leaders in smartphone sales, consumed a combined $61.7 billion worth of chips last year, up slightly from 2015, Gartner (Stamford, Conn.) said.
“While [Samsung and Apple] continue to exert considerable influence on technology and price trends for the wider semiconductor industry, their impact has lessened due to falling expectations for future growth,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
MIT built a wearable app to detect emotion in conversation
Are you saying what you mean, or just saying it mean?
http://www.theverge.com/2017/2/1/14476372/mit-research-wearable-app-detect-emotion-speech
How a person tells a story could be interpreted in a multitude of ways — telling your friend about your awesome new car can come across as excitement or a brag, depending on the listener. To help detect the sentiment behind speech, a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology built a wearable app that can parse conversation to identify the emotion behind each part of the story.
The app, built into a fitness tracker for this research, collects physical and speech data to analyze the overall tone of the story in real time.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Chaos, Progress In Mobile Payment Security
http://semiengineering.com/chaos-progress-in-mobile-payment-security/
Rapid transitions have stalled some development efforts, limited others, but improved security is on the way.
Semiconductor suppliers and their embedded software partners, internally and externally, have made tremendous strides in recent years supporting secure mobile payment processing.
It hasn’t been easy. Or simple. And it’s still evolving.
The result of those efforts, which is now set to play an increasingly important and widespread commercial role in 2017, are trusted execution environment technologies that physically separate and isolate transaction data and processing from the rest of a device’s hardware and software.
“Mobile payments is driving so much of the technologies in security today,”
A complex ecosystem
Within this ecosystem are a number of well-known and lesser-known players:
• The largest banks, including Barclaycard and Bank of America;
• EMVCo the standards and specifications consortium for the world’s credit card processors, including MasterCard, VISA and American Express/Discover;
• A long list of wireless communications carriers;
• “Wallets” such as ApplePay, SamsungPay and AndroidPay;
• “Over-the-top” payment modes, including TM, AliPay, WeChatPay, JioMoney and Pay, which are becoming a huge factor in China and India.
“The infrastructure and technology is complex,”
Trusted execution environments
Trustonic provides the trusted execution environment (TEE) in 800 million mobile devices, and can support “anything with an ARM chip in it.”
“One, how do you make that app, the digital wallet or the banking app, how you make that more secure? Two, how do you securely authenticate the user?… and three, and this is the more emerging area, how do you attest that the device is what you think it is, that it hasn’t been compromised in any way?” said Choudhury.
Conclusion
Trying to pick a winner in this market and develop semiconductor technology to tap that formula has been extremely difficult. There are too many companies with a stake in this market, and the technology itself is evolving too quickly.
But there is a widespread recognition that something needs to be done, as well as a number of competing technologies that show merit. Many of these will begin rolling out this year, at which point they can be market-tested to see whether they can withstand an increasingly devious and highly advanced network of hackers — and for how long.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple Watch Dominates as Smartwatches Return to Growth
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1331301&
Apple Inc.’s Apple Watch logged 63 percent market share in the fourth quarter of 2016 as the global smartwatch market returned to modest growth after two consecutive quarters of declines, according to market research firm Strategy Analytics.
Strategy analytics also recently released estimates for the smartphone and tablet market in 2016, saying smartphone shipments increased by 9 percent while tablet shipments declined by 9 percent.
Shipments of smartwatches increased by 1 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2015, reaching 8.2 million units, Strategy Analytics said. Apple shipped some 5.2 million Apple Watch units during the quarter, the firm said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Record iPhone Sales Lift Apple
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1331284
Apple Inc. returned to growth in the quarter ended Dec. 31 following three consecutive quarters of sales declines. The company’s record quarterly revenue was lifted by strong iPhone sales, paced by strong demand for the iPhone 7+.
While both iPhone and Mac sales fared better than expected, sales of iPads and declined versus the year ago quarter, Apple said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
HMD: Nokia Phones will always use latest Android OS, to get timely updates
http://nokiapoweruser.com/hmd-nokia-phones-will-always-use-safest-android-os-provide-timely-update/
Many of you have asked us about how HMD‘s plans to keep Nokia Android Phones updated. Most of the questions were around Android OS updates and till what time a new phone will get updates after launch.
So, it seems Nokia Android Phones will get timely updates and as stated “latest and safest Android OS” is what one can expect. Again more will be shared around MWC 2017, more specifically on Feb 26.
Nokia’s Android phones probably won’t live up to the company’s hype
http://bgr.com/2017/02/02/nokia-android-software-updates/
The new Nokia is already selling the kind of Android phones we wanted to see years ago from the old Finnish company, but only in China. HMD, the company which is making these Nokia Android handsets, is expected to launch a variety of Nokia devices this year in various markets.
Nokia made an ambitious statement about its Android phones, one that sounds amazing. But it’s probably a promise it won’t be able to keep.
“Our ambition is to always use the latest and safest Android OS,” HMD told NokiaPowerUser in an email. “That also includes providing timely updates. We will have more to share in first half of 2017. Stay tuned.”
HMD’s “timely updates” promise doesn’t explain the meaning of “timely.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Gartner has listed electronic component main buyers of last year. Samsung and Apple fighting over the number one spot in the flat, this time the Korean company rose by a small margin to first spot.
Samsung bought last year components of 31.7 billion dollars, or 9.3 percent of all purchased components. Apple’s figures were 29.9 billion and 8.8 per cent.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/5784-samsung-nousi-applen-ohi-ostajana
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smart watches are too expensive wearable
In October-December, was sold a total of 8.2 million wearable. The figure is according to Strategy Analytics percent higher than a year earlier. A small recovery can be seen, but in the opinion of watches are too expensive.
Throughout the past year, wearable went to sell 20.8 million. Apple is the clear market leader in Watchillaan 13.6 million, will come after Samung Gear Watches of.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/5780-aelykellot-ovat-liian-kalliita
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wearable Predicts Tone of Conversation from Speech, Vital Signs
http://hackaday.com/2017/02/05/wearable-predicts-tone-of-conversation-from-speech-vital-signs/
If you’ve ever wondered how people are really feeling during a conversation, you’re not alone. By and large, we rely on a huge number of cues — body language, speech, eye contact, and a million others — to determine the feelings of others. It’s an inexact science to say the least. Now, researchers at MIT have developed a wearable system to analyze the tone of a conversation.
The system uses Samsung Simband wearables, which are capable of measuring several physiological markers — heart rate, blood pressure, blood flow, and skin temperature — as well as movement thanks to an on-board accelerometer. This data is fed into a neural network which was trained to classify a conversation as “happy” or “sad”.
http://news.mit.edu/2017/wearable-ai-can-detect-tone-conversation-0201
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hold Your iPhone — Pizza Style
Chinese ‘get’ voice assistants far better than the rest of the world
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1331313&
Last year, when I was covering the Mobile World Congress, I noticed my Chinese colleague constantly holding her phone horizontally – pizza-style – and addressing the microphone.
Picture yourself in Shenzhen airport, he said. As you wait for your flight, you spot a lot of Asian businessmen and tourists holding their phones flat (parallel to the floor, like a slice of pizza) and talking into the microphone. These people pretty much all Chinese. You rarely see Japanese people talking into a smartphone mike.
As my ex-colleague was explaining this, suddenly everything made sense.
Last year, when I was covering the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, I also noticed my Chinese colleague, Alice Sun, EE Times China’s esteemed mobile technology analyst, constantly holding her phone horizontally — pizza-style – and addressing the microphone, unlike the rest of us pressing our phones to our ears.
Alice wasn’t talking to a person. She was talking to her “device” to look up places on a map or her next appointment, searching for contact information, etc.
Why the behavioral difference?
For the moment, as far as I can tell, smartphones offer a much better clue.
More important, this behavioral difference — how you use your smartphone — reveals the revolutionary changes Chinese consumers are bringing to user-interface technology. Smartphone users in China are clearly way ahead of the rest of the world in embracing the voice-first UI and taking advantage of its genuine effectiveness.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Se Young Lee / Reuters:
South Korean regulator will strengthen battery safety requirements, increase inspections, and monitor Samsung’s QA process improvements, following Note 7 fiasco — South Korea said on Monday it will strengthen lithium-ion battery safety requirements and conduct regular inspections …
South Korea to strengthen battery safety rules after Note 7 fires
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-batteries-idUSKBN15L05Z
South Korea said on Monday it will strengthen lithium-ion battery safety requirements and conduct regular inspections to avoid repeats of fires which forced Samsung Electronics Co Ltd to withdraw its premium Galaxy Note 7 handset.
Manufacturers of lithium-ion batteries, commonly used in portable devices, would be subjected to greater oversight and regular inspections
Tomi Engdahl says:
The third largest smart phone manufacturer, which no one does not know
OnePlus addition, the same company responsible for the Oppo and Vivo-characters, which are currently the world’s fourth and fifth top-sellers smartphone brands.
In fact, BBK’s smartphone manufactured by a combined market share at the end of last year, more than 15 per cent. This is clearly more than 10.6 percent and Huawei already pretty close to Samsung and Apple’s 18 percent market share.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/5790-kolmanneksi-suurin-aelypuhelinvalmistaja-jota-kukaan-ei-tunne
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mobile will bring us soon artificial intelligence
Future largest technology innovation is relatively unnoticeable at first. Familiar devices faster and more efficient, but completely new laitelanseeraukset are low, says Deloitte in its report. And yet a growing number of mobile phone is already associated with machine learning capabilities and a fingerprint reader already has more than a billion devices.
Source: http://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2017/02/06/kannykka-tuo-meille-pian-tekoalyn/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Google and H&M’s Ivyrevel announce an Android app that can design a dress using your personal data from Awareness and Snapshot APIs
Google & H&M’s Ivyrevel will make you a dress customized using your personal data
https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/06/google-hms-ivyrevel-will-make-you-a-dress-customized-using-your-personal-data/
At last year’s Google I/O developer conference, Google introduced a new Awareness API that would allow for smarter applications that could understand where you were, what you were doing, what’s nearby, and even the weather, in order to more intelligently react to your current situation. Today, Google introduced a new application that’s taking advantage of this sort of data in order to…design you a dress.
Yes, a dress.
Uhhh???
Google says it teamed up with H&M’s digital fashion house Ivyrevel on a project dubbed “Coded Couture.”
Through a forthcoming Android application, users can consent to have their activity and lifestyle data monitored – by way of the Awareness API – to create a their own, personalized, custom-made dress that’s ordered through the app. Excuse me, it’s officially called the “Data Dress,” says Google.
information is collected over a week’s time, then used to create a digitally tailored dress that can be bought within the app.
The idea is that you can translate your life and your lifestyle into a unique, wearable look. But in reality, the resulting creation mainly displays your routes and routines as lines on map, sans street labels and points of interest.