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:
Microsoft in final stages of Windows 10 Snapdragon PC development
http://www.zdnet.com/google-amp/article/microsoft-in-final-stages-of-windows-10-snapdragon-pc-development/
Windows 10 on Snapdragon is coming soon, with the always-connected PCs in the final stages of development and testing while Microsoft and Qualcomm enter discussions with carriers on sales channels.
No new features, phones for Windows 10 Mobile
Microsoft has revealed that it is now in the latter stages of testing the mobile PCs being developed in partnership with Qualcomm, with the two companies already in discussions with mobile carriers as part of the “second half of the dev process” on how to sell and provision connectivity for the Windows 10 Snapdragon-powered PCs.
“The PC space and the phone space have been sort of in parallel universes for a couple of decades … what two better companies to bring those worlds together than Microsoft and Qualcomm?” Pete Bernard, group program manager for Windows at Microsoft, said during the Qualcomm 4G/5G Summit in Hong Kong.
Calling it an opportunity to make the “PC experience even more mobile” — and in what Qualcomm executive VP Cristiano Amon called “one of the most exciting projects” for the chip giant besides 5G — Bernard said the biggest challenge now is figuring out sales channels.
Microsoft’s vision to have the PCs always connected via the integration of an embedded SIM (eSIM) would enable simple activation of the device, Bernard said. However, as pointed out by Bennett, this requires a fundamental shift in operators’ networks.
“eSIM is a fundamental change to the way that operators run their provisioning stacks, so it’s actually been a three-year journey to get our stacks to a state where we can provision eSIMs over the air,” Bennett explained.
With eSIM integration and always-on connectivity having made its way into the PCs, Qualcomm’s efforts to ensure the always-connected PCs also have day-long battery charge are also succeeding, Bernard said.
Microsoft had announced back in December 2016 that Windows 10 would be coming to Qualcomm’s ARM processors in a bid to bring PCs into the 21st century, with a focus on power efficiency, cellular connectivity, and eSIM technology.
At the time, Microsoft said it would “offer Windows 10 on Qualcomm to OEMs across a variety of categories, including 6-, 10-, and 14-inch categories”.
In May, Qualcomm then announced that it would be working with OEMs Asus, Lenovo, and HP on building the range of mobile PCs powered by Snapdragon 835 platforms including the new X16 LTE modem.
Qualcomm said the timeline to PC availability is still looking to be one year on from the initial announcement.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung’s phone-as-desktop concept now runs Linux
https://www.engadget.com/2017/10/19/samsung-introduces-linux-on-galaxy/
Linux on Galaxy and a DeX dock let you work as if you were on a PC.
Samsung’s DeX is a clever way to turn your phone into a desktop computer. However, there’s one overriding problem: you probably don’t have a good reason to use it instead of a PC. And Samsung is trying to fix that. It’s unveiling Linux on Galaxy, an app-based offering that (surprise) lets you run Linux distributions on your phone. Ostensibly, it’s aimed at developers who want to bring their work environment with them wherever they go. You could dock at a remote office knowing that your setup will be the same as usual.
It’s not quite the same as your typical Ubuntu or Debian install. Linux on Galaxy launches through an app, and it’s using the same kernel as Android itself
Linux on Galaxy isn’t available right now — you can sign up for alerts, but it’s not ready for public consumption.
Tomi Engdahl says:
50% of TV Viewing in 2020 Expected to be Mobile
http://www.broadbandtechreport.com/articles/2017/10/50-of-tv-viewing-in-2020-expected-to-be-mobile.html?cmpid=enl_btr_btr_video_technology_2017-10-16
According to Ericsson’s (NASDAQ:ERIC) eighth annual “ConsumerLab TV and Media report,” 50% of all TV viewing will be on mobile devices by 2020, an increase of 85% since 2010, with smartphones making up half of that total.
Ericsson predicts that on-demand viewing will make up almost half of total viewing in 2020, nearly equaling linear viewing. Additionally, a third of consumers are expected to use virtual reality (VR) by 2020.
Other findings indicate:
Approximately 70% of consumers now watch videos on a smartphone – double the amount from 2012 – making up a fifth of total TV and video viewing.
16-19-year-olds watch the most content each week (33 hours), an increase of almost 10 hours a week since 2010. However, more than half of that demographic spend their time watching content on-demand, with more than 60% of their TV and video viewing hours spent on a mobile device screen.
While consumers have more access to TV and video services than ever before, the average time spent on searching for content has increased to almost an hour per day, an increase of 13% since last year. About one in eight consumers believe that they will get lost in the vast amount of available content in the future.
Six in 10 consumers now rank content discovery as “very important” when subscribing to a new service, while 70% want “universal search for all TV and video.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Essential Announces $200 (29%) Discount on Phones — Price Dropped To $499
https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/17/10/23/0514220/essential-announces-200-29-discount-on-phones—-price-dropped-to-499
The heavily hyped, Andy Rubin-backed Essential phone launched late in August. Now, two months later, its price has been cut from $699 to $499.
Essential Phone is now a more reasonable $499
https://www.cnet.com/news/essential-phone-gets-essential-200-price-cut/
The phone is now $200 cheaper, with the company saying it chose the price drop over spending money on marketing.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Qualcomm brings your artificial intelligence to your cellphone circuits
Artificial Intelligence is now the hottest new feature, which has already been introduced to the latest high end smartphones. Therefore, it is expected that Qualcomm, which controls the application processor market, will develop its own artificial intelligence. As a partner, the Sandwich Company has a Chinese SenseTime.
According to Qualcomm, its future performance Snapdragon circuits include SenseTime machine learning and AI algorithms. This brings local intelligence applications to future Snapdragon-based smartphones.
The first intelligence-based smart phones are Apple’s iPhone X and Huawein Mate 10, where artificial intelligence is used for image recognition and image processing, for example. Both have their own neural network processor.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7040&via=n&datum=2017-10-23_15:07:30&mottagare=30929
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft surprised: a new upgrade tool for Windows smartphones
Windows Mobile is dead, according to Microsoft’s own statements. That is why it is a bit surprising that the company has released a new update tool. Because your device can be easily upgraded to the latest version of the operating system.
In a way, Windows phones ended already in July when MS announced that it would cease technical support on the Windows Phone platform. At its best, Windows Phone’s share of the mobile market was in summer 2012, when it was 5.2 percent. Even in 2014, IDC estimated that the market share would increase from the current 3.9% to 7% in 2018.
Last year, 6.1 million pieces of Windows Phone smartphones were sold. This meant a market share of 0.4%. IDC has previously predicted that only 1.1 million Windows Phone devices will be sold this year.
the new “Over-the-Cable Updater Tool” makes it easy to update Windows
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7043&via=n&datum=2017-10-23_15:07:30&mottagare=30929
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Virtual Android
http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/virtual-android?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+linuxjournalcom+%28Linux+Journal+-+The+Original+Magazine+of+the+Linux+Community%29
I really wanted a simple way to demo Android apps, and I figured an emulator would be the way to go. The problem is, running Android isn’t as simple as booting an Ubuntu ISO in VirtualBox. Thankfully, it’s actually not much more difficult than that either! There are several different ways to emulate Android on a computer, at least one of which actually does use VirtualBox. Since I’m currently sitting in front of an OS X machine, I needed something I could install easily on an Apple. Enter: Xamarin’s Android Player. Only after I started using it did I discover that Xamarin is a Microsoft-owned company. For some reason, emulating Android on a Macintosh using Microsoft software made me giggle.
Anyway, if you want to run Android on Windows or OS X, head here and grab a copy of Xamarin Android Player. The interface makes it easy to get the version of Android you want, and you even get a nice GUI for choosing the form factor of the Android device being emulated. Unfortunately, the Google Play Store doesn’t come by default and must be added after installing Android.
https://developer.xamarin.com/releases/android/android-player/
Tomi Engdahl says:
A secure linux mobile phone is implemented
If you do not want to share your information with Google or Apple, you may be tricked into a fully open linux smartphone. Known for Linux laptops, Purism has been collecting more than $ 1.5 million worth of money. The delivery of the Librem5 smartphone will begin in January 2019.
According to Purism, Librem5 is a “smartphone from people to people”.
In Librem5, you can run a PureOS operating system or any open source Linux-based application. The device is the first natively fully IP-based smartphone where all traffic is encrypted.
Librem5 works on all networks, including LTE networks. Many others – maybe all? – Unlike smartphones, the device has a physical kill switch for both camera, microphone, bluetooth, wifi and baseband.
A five-screen display phone is not cheap, as the price is $ 599. For the 1400, the same package includes a 24-inch screen, keyboard, and mouse, making it a computer.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6999&via=n&datum=2017-10-13_16:02:24&mottagare=31202
More:
Librem 5 – A Security and Privacy Focused Phone
https://puri.sm/shop/librem-5/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung smartphones can run Linux
Samsung’s DeX is a telecommunications station that transforms smartphones into computers. Now, the company says it will develop an application that will enable the newer models of the Galaxy series to use the linux operating system.
It’s an application called Linux on Galaxy. According to Samsung, the app is intended primarily for developers who can now encode their software on the mobile phone and then continue on a larger screen through the DeX interface.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7032&via=n&datum=2017-10-20_15:46:48&mottagare=31202
Tomi Engdahl says:
The smartphone is dead – live an artificial intelligence phone
This is not a smartphone. That thinks. This learns. Like you. This is an intelligent machine. Thus enthused President and CEO of Huawei Consumer half Richar Yu new flagship model, ie Mate 10 phone as its global launch event in Munich’s Olympic Park.
Yu was anxious, above all, that Mate 10 and its big brother Mate 10 Pro are the first smartphones that hijack the NPU artificial intelligence processor. Consumers, however, are not very interested in what’s inside the machine, but about what it can do. How does Mate 10 respond to screams?
In fact, pretty well. The NPU processor is excellent for processing image processing, for example. According to Richard Yun, Mate 10 Pro is nearly twice as fast as the iPhone 8 Plus in image processing. Samsung Note 8 was already 20 times slower.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7006&via=n&datum=2017-10-17_15:28:25&mottagare=31202
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft is now killing Lumia phones
When Microsoft has finally admitted that Windows 10 Mobile will be a platform for death, the company has begun a list of old Windows mobile phones. Now the company says that Lumia 640 and its big brother Lumia 640 XL will be left without the Fall Creators Update update.
Therefore, the latest Windows 10 upgrade is only available with Lumia models 550, 650, 950 and 950 XL. The latest update can also be obtained by a few other manufacturers.
All in all, the latest version of Widnows 10 comes as an upgrade to only 13 different phone models.
Microsoft terminated technical support for the Windows Phone platform in July.
Last year, 6.1 million pieces of Windows Phone smartphones were sold. This meant a market share of 0.4%. IDC now predicts that only 1.1 million Windows Phone devices will be sold this year.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7024&via=n&datum=2017-10-19_15:28:06&mottagare=31202
Tomi Engdahl says:
CEVA brings artificial intelligence to smartphones
Apple’s iPhone X and Huawein Mate 10 Pro are perhaps the first AI phones in the market, but in 2020, every third smartphone has some sort of artificial intelligence processor. And if your device does not use Qualcomm Snapdragon, this artificial intelligence will be implemented by CEVA with a licensed signal processor.
Richard Kingston is in charge of CEVA marketing. According to him, the artificial intelligence brings us the fourth industrial revolution with some scary features. – The fact that computer algorithms control all systems will have to change everything.
At present, artificial intelligence is mainly used in data centers, i.e. in a cloud where massive data can be calculated by heavy calculations to reveal new and unexpected conclusions. This model obviously does not work at the edge of the network. – Intelligent devices, “on the edge” as they say, artificial intelligence must be local, Kingston says.
This means in practice that some kind of artificial intelligence processor must be introduced. On servers many use Nvidia’s graphics processors, but a $ 400 payload and 7.5 watt-consuming circuit is not suitable for the phone.
With the CEVA DSP technology, the smartphone receives about one of the TOPS (terafile per second) computing power by one watts of power. In the fully autonomous robot car, the need for AI computing power is otherwise 50 to 150 TOPSs.
This AI processor can then be called NPU, VPU (virtual processor), or NNP, a neural network processor.
- Our DSP technology, for example, is able to achieve 20x computational power compared to Nvidia’s graphics processors at the same power consumption. We also have our own neural network framework, which can run any neural network. It can be transferred to our Vision Signal Processor without the designer having any knowledge of neural networks.
The problem with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon and Meditek application processors is that customers do not have access to the core of the circuit. Snapdragon can not run any own IP. However, this has to change in the future.
- Qualcomm is forced to open Snapdragon. For them, the problem is that it’s hard to charge $ 40 a barrel when it does not want to use all of its standard features, Kingston says.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/7060-ceva-tuo-tekoaelyn-aelypuhelimiin
Tomi Engdahl says:
The iPhone’s performance has grown 120-fold
The first iPhone was introduced in 2007. Over the next ten years, the device’s performance has grown 120 times. Electronics development has been really fast.
At the same time, Apple has managed to slowly increase its smartphone’s operating time by one charge. This is a very tough achievement
The first iPhone had a battery of 1,400 milliamps. In iPhone 4S, the battery grew to 1430 mAh, iPhone 6 to 1810 mAh and Last year iPhone 7 to 1960 milliamps.
In the latest iPhone X, the battery pack is 2716 milliampe
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7062&via=n&datum=2017-10-26_14:58:30&mottagare=30929
Tomi Engdahl says:
Goodbye, Digital Camera; It Was Fun, But We’re Done
https://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1332503&
Change comes quickly and can make a hit new product obsolete faster than we anticipated, as the digital camera clearly demonstrates.
What really struck me was the speed at which smartphones have changed things and the speed at which the smartphones themselves have changed. It seems that in the 10 years since the iPhone’s introduction, so much of what we do, and what the phone does, has morphed with new features (some useful, some of dubious benefit), new ideas, new apps, and potential for new approaches.
One graph in the article really made clear the iPhone impact. It showed the sharp growth and then rapid decline in sales of standalone digital cameras, largely due to the use of smartphones as still-image and video-capture devices in place of those cameras
The early consensus was that the image quality of the smartphone camera, with its tiny lens and mediocre CMOS image sensor, would not rival better digital cameras for the foreseeable future. But as we have seen so often with modern technology, that so-called “foreseeable future” doesn’t last as long as we think it will.
It wasn’t that many years ago when pundits and market researchers were forecasting exponential growth of the digital cameras, which, as you know, killed the film-based photo business and helped drive venerable Kodak into bankruptcy. All these seers criticized Kodak, saying that if only the company had been quicker to react and adopt the digital camera concept, they wouldn’t have lost out. Sorry: Even if Kodak had followed these sages, the company would have only bought a few years of grace and would still be in trouble because the window for the digital camera as business savior didn’t last very long.
It’s a similar story for the standalone GPS navigation units, as their sales rocketed, plateaued, and now have dropped sharply.
This integration story itself is not unique to the smartphone; it’s just that the impact has reached a much wider span of people.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why Samsung doesn’t beat Apple where it matters
https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/24/why-samsung-doesnt-beat-apple-where-it-matters/?ncid=rss&utm_source=tcfbpage&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29&utm_content=FaceBook&sr_share=facebook
Samsung’s competition with Apple is on premium phone ($400+) market share, and Apple is crushing Samsung in this market.
Other market share metrics don’t really matter all that much because of the simple fact that, according to Counterpoint , Apple dominated the global profit share of mobile phones, holding 65 percent of the global profits with just 9 percent (!!) of the total handset shipments during Q2 2017. Counterpoint also reports that over the summer of 2016, Apple was selling just over 50 percent of the global premium smartphones, and Samsung was selling just under 25 percent
Tomi Engdahl says:
India overtakes the US to become the world’s second largest smartphone market
https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/27/india-second-largest-smartphone-market/?ncid=rss&utm_source=tcfbpage&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29&utm_content=FaceBook&sr_share=facebook
Move over America, India is now the world’s second largest smartphone market.
That’s according to a new report from Canalys which claims smartphone shipments in India crossed the 40 million mark for the first time in Q3 2017 courtesy of 23 percent annual growth. That means that India has overtaken the U.S. on sales with only China ahead of it.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Economic Times:
Canalys and Counterpoint Research say India overtook US to become world’s second largest smartphone market in Q3
With 23% Q3 growth, India pips US to become second-largest smartphone market
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/hardware/with-23-q3-growth-india-pips-us-to-become-second-largest-smartphone-market/articleshow/61278932.cms
NEW DELHI: India has pipped the US to become the world’s second-largest smartphone market at the end of the third quarter, according to two research firms, which also said China’s Xiaomi is expected to end Korean major Samsung’s four and-a-half year reign at the top soon.
Singapore-based Canalys said in a report that the Indian smartphone market grew by 23% year-on-year in the July-September quarter to top 40 million units, fuelled mainly by Xiaomi, which logged an over 290% increase in shipments from a year ago to 9.2 million units. Xiaomi further narrowed its market share gap with leader Samsung, which shipped 9.4 million units in the period, about 30% more than a year ago.
Tomi Engdahl says:
iPhone X is in trouble for one component
Apple will have to get its first iPhone X smartphone this week, but delivery volumes will still be difficult to estimate. According to the Bloomberg news agency, Apple’s delivery difficulties relate to one component in the X-model’s new TrueDepth camera module.
The TrueDepth module is the most important single module for the new iPhone X, as it allows Face ID recognition. The module consists of an infrared sensor, a face with a flood flood sensor, a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor, a point projector, a loudspeaker, a microphone and a camera.
According to Bloomberg, a dot projector would have been a problem. It is a VCSEL-based light source that shoots 30,000 infrared points on the face surface, forming a 3D model that is compared to the face image database of the device.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/7074-iphone-x-vaikeuksissa-yhden-komponentin-takia
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple fired an iPhone X engineer after his daughter’s hands-on video went viral
http://nordic.businessinsider.com/apple-fires-iphone-x-engineer-viral-video-2017-10?r=US&IR=T
A YouTube vlogger named Brooke Amelia Peterson got her hands on a brand new iPhone X last week. She got the phone directly from her father, an engineer who worked at Apple. Apple has since fired the engineer, and the video was taken down.
The engineer who let his daughter show off an iPhone X on YouTube was fired by Apple this week.
Earlier this week, a YouTube vlogger named Brooke Amelia Peterson posted a video showing off her dad’s new iPhone X. The video was even shot from within Apple’s cafeteria, and showcased a number of features of the new phone.
The video blew up, landing on YouTube’s top trending videos list. It was subsequently removed without explanation.
In a new video posted this weekend, Peterson explains that the video was removed at the request of Apple and that her father – an engineer named Ken Bauer – was fired.
“Apple let him go,” Peterson says in the video. “At the end of the day, when you work for Apple, it doesn’t matter how good of a person you are. If you break a rule, they just have no tolerance.”
Though Apple’s new iPhone X is already available for pre-order, and Apple held an event where media was able to use it and shoot video and take photos, the video from Peterson was a rare, candid look into an unreleased Apple device from within Apple’s own staff.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Every marketer wants the perfect story to tell. But if you’re in medicine, you don’t want it to be about yourself.
Earlier this year, vascular surgeon John Martin was testing a pocket-sized ultrasound device developed by Butterfly Network, a startup based in Guilford, Connecticut, that he’d just joined as chief medical officer.
He’d been having an uncomfortable feeling of thickness on his throat. So he oozed out some gel and ran the probe, which is the size and shape of an electric razor, along his neck.
On his smartphone, to which the device is connected, black-and gray images quickly appeared. Martin is not a cancer specialist. But he knew that the dark, three-centimeter mass he saw did not belong there. “I was enough of a doctor to know I was in trouble,” he says. It was squamous-cell cancer.
Tomi Engdahl says:
This Doctor Diagnosed His Own Cancer with an iPhone Ultrasound
Can a smartphone-enabled ultrasound machine become medicine’s next stethoscope?
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/609195/this-doctor-diagnosed-his-own-cancer-with-an-iphone-ultrasound/
Every marketer wants the perfect story to tell. But if you’re in medicine, you don’t want it to be about yourself.
Earlier this year, vascular surgeon John Martin was testing a pocket-sized ultrasound device developed by Butterfly Network, a startup based in Guilford, Connecticut, that he’d just joined as chief medical officer.
He’d been having an uncomfortable feeling of thickness on his throat. So he oozed out some gel and ran the probe, which is the size and shape of an electric razor, along his neck.
On his smartphone, to which the device is connected, black-and gray images quickly appeared. Martin is not a cancer specialist. But he knew that the dark, three-centimeter mass he saw did not belong there. “I was enough of a doctor to know I was in trouble,” he says. It was squamous-cell cancer.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google CEO makes fixing hamburger emoji his top priority
Bun, salad, patty, CHEESE, bun… WTF
https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/30/16569346/burgergate-emoji-google-apple
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Samsung Gear Sport review: sharp, vibrant display with a fun and intuitive interface, but has few third-party apps, and S Voice digital assistant is useless — Samsung’s latest smartwatch is good at the basics, but lacks excitement — The latest is the new Gear Sport …
Samsung Gear Sport review: running in circles
Samsung’s latest smartwatch is good at the basics, but lacks excitement
https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/30/16568382/samsung-gear-sport-smartwatch-fitness-tracker-review
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple reportedly looking to ditch Qualcomm components
https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-reportedly-looking-to-ditch-qualcomm-components/
Next year’s iPhones and iPads could be sporting components from another source, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Apple may be looking to squeeze Qualcomm out of its devices entirely.
Apple, which is locked in a fierce battle with Qualcomm over patents and licensing fees, is designing iPhones and iPads for next year that would ditch the chipmaker’s components, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday. The company is instead looking to get its modem chips from Intel and possibly MediaTek, sources told the newspaper.
The two companies have been fighting over patents since January, when Apple filed suit against Qualcomm for roughly $1 billion, saying the wireless chipmaker didn’t give fair licensing terms for its technology. It wants to pay a lower amount for using Qualcomm technology in its devices.
Qualcomm, the world’s biggest provider of mobile chips, responded by suing Apple for patent infringement and seeking a ban on iPhone sales. The company maintains that no modern handset — including the iPhone — would have been possible without its cellular technologies.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung posts record Q3 profits driven by chips
http://www.zdnet.com/article/samsung-posts-record-q3-profits-driven-by-chips/
A record performance from its memory business and a boost from the Galaxy Note 8 have seen Samsung post record quarterly profits for Q3 2017.
Samsung has reported an operating profit of 14.53 trillion won and revenues of 62.05 trillion won for Q3 2017, both its highest ever for a quarter.
Operating profit is triple that of last year’s and slightly higher than this year’s second quarter, its previous record.
Recovered smartphone sales and high profitability of memory chips were the main contributors, the company said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Surprise! Your iPhone Knows What You Look Like Wearing a Bra
Well, the algorithm is looking for bra selfies. But it’s finding nudes also.
https://www.inc.com/sonya-mann/apple-pervy-image-recognition.html
On Monday, many Twitter users who have iPhones were surprised to discover that Apple has been quietly categorizing their bikini photos, bra selfies, and various nude pictures and making them easily searchable under the tag “Brassiere.”
The feature appears to have innocent-ish origins. It uses image-recognition capabilities that have been part of Apple Photos since summer 2016. “The Photos app makes it easy to find photos of an exact person, place, or thing. Advanced face recognition and computer vision technology lets you search your photos by who and what’s in them,” according to Apple’s support page. “Photos recognizes scenes or specific objects in your photos, so you can search for things like dogs, mountains, or flowers.”
This reporter has picture of her cats and dog, but wasn’t able to pull up “Cats” or “Dogs” category. A male editor didn’t have the “Brassiere” category on his own phone, while on his wife’s phone it pulled up a video of their infant daughter wearing a diaper.
Clearly the algorithm could use some work; its precision is lacking.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Google Firebase gets AI-powered predictions, Crashlytics integration, redesigned console, and new A/B testing service
Google Firebase gets predictions, Crashlytics integration and a new A/B testing service
https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/31/google-firebase-gets-predictions-crashlytics-integration-and-a-new-ab-testing-service/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google’s phone woes: The Pixel and the damage done
Hardware is called hardware for a reason
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/10/30/google_pixel_2_woes/
Analysis In recent years, China’s high-tech production miracle and globalisation have made it easy – perhaps too easy – for an outsider or newcomer to dabble in hardware.
The ease of producing hardware with your brand on it might have been too seductive, tempting companies into doing the rest of the operation on the cheap. There’s more to becoming a hardware manufacturer than having a design brainstorm on beanbags, signing an outsourcing contract with someone in Shenzhen, and then blowing a shed load of money on ads.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Super Mario Run Hits 200 Million Downloads But Nintendo Says Its Profit Is Still Unacceptable
Nintendo also reports that the new 3.0 update helped reinvigorate the game.
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/super-mario-run-hits-200-million-downloads-but-nin/1100-6454506/
Super Mario Run has now passed 200 million downloads worldwide, up from 150 million. That’s a massive number, but Nintendo doesn’t see the game as having an acceptable level of financial success yet. As part of its latest earnings report today, Nintendo said that Super Mario Run has “not yet reached an acceptable profit point.” This follows comments from Nintendo about how the game had not made the kind of money that it hoped.
Despite that, Nintendo said the game has helped the company learn “a lot” about mobile game development, knowledge it will use with its other projects going forward.
Super Mario Run is a “free to start” game that lets you play some levels, before asking you to pay $10 to unlock the rest.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Adi Robertson / The Verge:
Google announces Poly 3D object library for ARCore, ARKit, and other VR development platforms
Google is launching an AR and VR object library called Poly
https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/1/16591868/google-poly-platform-augmented-virtual-reality-models
Google is opening a new platform called Poly where people can find and distribute virtual and augmented reality objects. The tool is integrated with Tilt Brush and Blocks, respectively Google’s VR painting and sculpting apps, and is meant to provide an art library for people building with Google’s ARCore, Apple’s ARKit, or various VR development platforms.
While you could already browse objects made in Google Blocks, this is a more formal project that’s aimed at making it easier to whip together a VR or AR app.
https://poly.google.com/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The speed of charging accelerates
Charging the smartphone battery is indispensable, but it takes everyone to surprise it for too long. Qualcomm’s fourth knee speed boosting technology luckily brings relief to the problem.
Diodes Incorporated and Weltrend Semiconductor are now introducing the industry’s first reference design to support the company’s Quick Charge 4.0 technology.
QC is a major enhancement to the previous three-speed quick-start technology. The charging speed will improve by 20 percent, energy efficiency up to 30 percent, and the charger will operate at five percent cooler than third-generation technology.
In addition, QC 4 supports USB PD specifications, meaning that it provides full power through the USBC interface. In reference design, this means 27 watts of charging power.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7092&via=n&datum=2017-11-01_15:10:36&mottagare=30929
Tomi Engdahl says:
Software enables cars to auto-report diagnostics
https://semiengineering.com/system-bits-oct-31/
Thanks to researchers at MIT, it may soon be possible to hop into a ride-share car, glance at a smartphone app, and tell the driver that the car’s left front tire needs air, its air filter should be replaced next week, and its engine needs two new spark plugs.
A new smartphone app analyzes a car’s sounds and vibrations, as measured by the phone’s microphone and accelerometers. “We’re listening to the car’s breathing, and listening for when it starts to snore,” MIT research scientist Joshua Siegel says. Source: MIT
This capability may be available within the next year or two, in any car someone happens to be in, based on analysis of the car’s sounds and vibrations, as measured by the phone’s microphone and accelerometers.
Let your car tell you what it needs
MIT team develops software that can tell if tires need air, spark plugs are bad, or air filter needs replacing.
http://news.mit.edu/2017/software-let-your-car-tell-you-what-it-needs-1026
Imagine hopping into a ride-share car, glancing at your smartphone, and telling the driver that the car’s left front tire needs air, its air filter should be replaced next week, and its engine needs two new spark plugs.
Within the next year or two, people may be able to get that kind of diagnostic information in just a few minutes, in their own cars or any car they happen to be in. They wouldn’t need to know anything about the car’s history or to connect to it in any way; the information would be derived from analyzing the car’s sounds and vibrations, as measured by the phone’s microphone and accelerometers.
The MIT research behind this idea has been reported in a series of papers, most recently in the November issue of the journal Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence. The new paper’s co-authors include research scientist Joshua Siegel PhD ’16; Sanjay Sarma, the Fred Fort Flowers and Daniel Fort Flowers Professor of Mechanical Engineering and vice president of open learning at MIT; and two others.
A smartphone app combining the various diagnostic systems the team developed could save the average driver $125 a year and improve their overall gas mileage by a few percentage points, Siegel says. For trucks, the savings could run to $600 a year, not counting the benefits of avoiding breakdowns that could result in lost income.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Razer Unveils Gaming Smartphone With 120Hz UltraMotion Display, 8GB RAM and No Headphone Jack
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/17/11/01/2136208/razer-unveils-gaming-smartphone-with-120hz-ultramotion-display-8gb-ram-and-no-headphone-jack?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Slashdot%2Fslashdot%2Fto+%28%28Title%29Slashdot+%28rdf%29%29
Computer hardware company Razer has unveiled its first smartphone. While the design doesn’t appear to be up to par with the competition, it does pack some impressive specifications under the hood. The Razer Phone features a 5.7-inch, 2,560×1,440-resolution display, Snapdragon 835 chipset with 8GB of RAM, 12-megapixel dual camera with a wide-angle lens and 2x optical zoom, 4,000mAh battery, dual front-facing stereo speakers, and Android 7.1.1 Nougat running out of the box.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Stephanie Condon / ZDNet:
Qualcomm reports Q4 revenue of $5.96B, vs $5.8B est., down from $6.17B a year ago, amid costly Apple patent battle that hit its licensing business hardest
Qualcomm beats Q4 estimates
http://www.zdnet.com/article/qualcomm-beats-q4-estimates/
The semiconductor giant’s licensing business took a hit as its dispute with Apple continues, but its core business saw decent growth.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Was the Top Media Source for App Marketers in the First Half of 2017
http://www.adweek.com/digital/facebook-was-the-top-media-source-for-app-marketers-in-the-first-half-of-2017/
AppsFlyer released the fifth edition of its Performance Index Report
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple Reports Records, Mum on X
CEO bullish despite challenging iPhone ramp
https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332551&
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Mobile Internet Is the Internet
https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/17/11/02/0548202/the-mobile-internet-is-the-internet
Think back to the mobile phone you had in 2010. It could access the internet, but it wasn’t such a great experience. On average, people only spent 20% of their time online on their phones back then, according to Zenith, a media agency. Today, by contrast, we spend around 70% of our time on the internet on phones, based on estimates and forecasts for more than 50 countries covering two-thirds of the world’s population. By 2019, Zenith says this will rise to close to 80%. What used to be called “mobile internet” is now just the internet.
The mobile internet is the internet
https://qz.com/1116469/we-now-spend-70-of-time-online-on-our-phones/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Chinese Android handhelds are not used in security companies – “the easiest way to reduce security risks”
The security of mobile phones in the Android platform continues to question IT specialists and other security managers at the company.
Finnish F-Secure does not currently allow any Chinese Android phone for work use.
F-Secure Cyber Security Director Erka Koivunen says that the company has a limited range of allowed phones because the updates for all devices and the privacy practices are not at a high enough level.
“We’ve been stepping up controls because we want everyone to have phones that get the latest updates fast.”
According to Koivusen, there are currently no Chinese smartphone manufacturers in the list of allowed phones. If the security practices of Chinese manufacturers improve, they may also get access to the allowed list, says Koivunen.
Some of the cheaper Android phones have not come up with operating system updates after Android 4.0. This security expert is particularly worried.
The F-Secure is licensed on iPhone phones and some Android models. “Apple iPhone is the best option when it comes to security.”
Source: http://www.tivi.fi/Kaikki_uutiset/kiinalaiset-android-luurit-ovat-tietoturvayhtioissa-pannassa-helpoin-tapa-vahentaa-tietoturvariskeja-6685661
Tomi Engdahl says:
Phone 8 does not sell well
Many analysts have wondered whether Apple had introduced two new iPhone 8 models and a new flagship phone, the iPhone X, at the same time. The figures published at night suggest that the error might have occurred.
Apple sold a record number of iPhone handsets, a total of 46.6 million copies. This is just over a million more than a year earlier, so the market share is not growing.
Less than 10 percent of the devices sold were the new iPhone 8.
Today, however, the upcoming X-model has attracted tremendous attention, even though the cheapest X costs $ 999. In euros, the price approximates 1200 euros. All pre-sales items were sold at a fast pace, including in Finland. Analysts say Apple’s current delivery time for iPhone X is 5-6 weeks.
Otherwise, Apple’s performance was again incomprehensible. With a turnover of $ 52.6 billion, it made a profit of $ 10.7 billion. No other company is capable of this.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/7106-apple-porskuttaa-mutta-iphone-8-ei-myy
Tomi Engdahl says:
People are keeping their cell phones a lot longer
https://www.axios.com/people-are-keeping-their-cell-phones-a-lot-longer-2504972354.html
TOP STORIES
Ina Fried Nov 1
People are keeping their cell phones a lot longer
The average number of months U.S. consumers hold onto their cellphones. Graphic: Chetan Sharma Consulting
The average American is now hanging on to their cell phone nearly three years, according to new data from Chetan Sharma Consulting. That’s up from about a two-year upgrade cycle in 2014.
The big culprits: The end of two-year contracts and a maturing cell phone market have been the key factors.
“Consumers are treating phone purchase akin to a computer buy and given that there are only minor hardware changes from model to model [with exceptions], there is less incentive for consumers to upgrade,” CEO Chetan Sharma told Axios.
Tomi Engdahl says:
What ever happened to the long-awaited smartphone or tablet that was supposed to incorporate a foldable display?
The technology was promised for years. Samsung, Apple and others have been developing folding-display smartphone designs. “The major stumbling block has been the durability of the display and its ability to fold and unfold thousands of times without damage,” according to a report from Strategy Analytics. “That hurdle appears to have been cleared and we anticipate small volumes of foldable single-display smartphones will come to market in 2018.”
True Foldable-Display Smartphones to Come in 2018
https://www.strategyanalytics.com/strategy-analytics/blogs/devices/emerging-devices/emerging-devices/2017/10/26/true-foldable-display-smartphones-to-come-in-2018#.WftWH2fn_IU
Tomi Engdahl says:
Driver’s license comes to smart phone in Finland
Trafi starts testing the mobile license card before the turn of the year. A mobile phone card is available next to a traditional card next year.
Driving license is coming up next year as a mobile application. Traido’s Unit Manager Simo Karppinen tells Ilta-Sanomat Digitoday that the pilot of a mobile gaming card will be started with about a thousand test teams before the turn of the year.
If the tests go well, the mobile driver card can be deployed more widely next year. Karppinen says this could happen next summer.
This morning, Lännen Media told the mobile radio card schedule.
The mobile driver card does not, at least in the early stages, override the traditional plastic card, but is alongside it.
- The EU directive defines the driving license as a physical one so it would not be possible for a mere mobile license card alone. Several years will go before the physical card disappears, Karppinen explains.
Getting a mobile license card does not cost you extra. When ordering, identity is identified by bank identifier or mobile certificate.
Source: https://www.is.fi/digitoday/art-2000005438412.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Elisa announced last week that she will be launching gigabit mobile connections in the center of Tampere and in the Helsinki corner store in Finland. Not many gigabit speeds can still be enjoyed, as gigabit data is currently receiving only one smartphone: Huawein Mate 10 Pro.
The Mate 10 Pro modem supports 3GPP class 18 LTE speeds. When the three carriers are connected to the link and the data is transmitted with 256 QAM-modulated 4×4 MIMO (with four antennas), theoretically it reaches 1.2 gigabits per second.
Sami Komulainen, Senior Vice President, Elisa Mobile Network Services, says that all gigabit connections are using Elisa’s all frequencies: 800, 1800, 2100 and 2600 megaherts. Of these, a total of 10 + 20 + 10 + 20 megaherts are available for the link.
- There are currently few alternatives in the market for gigabit speeds. Huawein Mate 10 Pro gets close to it. Early next year, users will have more choice, Komulainen says.
Next year, more frequencies will be allocated to operators in the 3.5GHz band, so the situation is improving again.
In practice, the situation for Finnish operators is that after 1-2 years, many people offer – albeit limited – gigabit mobile broadband for their users.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/7111-elisan-gigabittiin-yltaeae-nyt-vain-yksi-puhelin
Tomi Engdahl says:
DisplayMate:
DisplayMate: iPhone X display has the best color accuracy of “any display we have ever tested”, top full screen brightness of OLED-equipped phones at 634 nits — Dr. Raymond M. Soneira President, DisplayMate Technologies Corporation Copyright © 1990-2017 by DisplayMate Technologies Corporation.
iPhone X OLED Display Technology Shoot-Out
http://displaymate.com/iPhoneX_ShootOut_1a.htm
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple Reports Records, Mum on X
CEO bullish despite challenging iPhone ramp
https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332551&
Apple reported record quarterly and annual results as revenues rose 12 percent with its biggest growth in services. Apple’s tablet and Mac sales were up strongly, but iPhone sales — which make up the brunt of its business — were nearly flat in units and revenues compared to last year.
Analysts asked multiple questions about reports Apple is having trouble ramping the iPhone X and expectations for its sales, but executives gave no fresh insights. CEO Tom Cook repeatedly noted it’s the first time Apple is releasing three high-end iPhones and has a staggered launch of multiple handsets.
“Some customers couldn’t look at [all three new iPhone models] until today,” said Cook, noting sales in Australia started during the quarterly call with analysts. “The truth is we don’t know [what will happen but] we are very bullish…we’re going to learn something,” he said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The NichePhone-S is a tiny little Android phone
https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/11/6/16615720/nichephone-s-is-a-tiny-little-android-phone
As Apple brings smartphones to bold new places, another company is trying to take us back to a simpler, calmer, and much cheaper time. FutureModel plans to release a surprisingly accurately named device called the NichePhone-S later this month that runs Android but doesn’t seem to do much more than make calls, send texts, and stream music. It’s similar in shape to a credit card and looks like an odd little calculator.
Engadget Japan called our attention to the device and has some hands on photos with it. According to the report, the phone will come out in Japan on November 10th and sell for around $95.
The phone is supposedly running Android 4.2
The whole thing looks reminiscent of the Light Phone, another super-minimalist device announced earlier this year.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Artificial Intelligence Is Putting Ultrasound on Your Phone
https://www.wired.com/story/artificial-intelligence-is-putting-ultrasound-on-your-phone/
If Jonathan Rothberg has a superpower, it’s cramming million-dollar, mainframe-sized machines onto single semiconductor circuit boards. The entrepreneurial engineer got famous (and rich) inventing the world’s first DNA sequencer on a chip. And he’s spent the last eight years sinking that expertise (and sizeable startup capital) into a new venture: making your smartphone screen a window into the human body.
Last month, Rothberg’s startup Butterfly Network unveiled the iQ, a cheap, handheld ultrasound tool that plugs right into an iPhone’s lightning jack. You don’t have to be a technician to use one—its machine learning algorithms guide the user to find what they might be looking for. With FDA clearance for 13 clinical applications, including obstetric exams, musculoskeletal checks, and cardiac scans, Rothberg says the new device is poised to disrupt and democratize the medical imaging industry in the same way the Ion Torrent, his DNA sequencer, once made inroads against genomics giant Illumina.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Neil Mawston / Smartphone Blog:
Strategy Analytics: Apple captured 30% of smartphone marketshare in Q3 2017, Samsung took 25%, LG 17%, ZTE 12% and Motorola returned to top 5 with 5%
Motorola Returns as US Smartphone Shipments Hit 40 Million in Q3 2017
https://www.strategyanalytics.com/strategy-analytics/blogs/devices/smartphones/smart-phones/2017/11/07/motorola-returns-as-us-smartphone-shipments-hit-40-million-in-q3-2017
Tomi Engdahl says:
ARM will deliver IP to enable a Cortex-A55 geared for midrange smartphones to run up to 2.35 GHz or down to 0.45V in its so-called 22FFL process. ARM is already helping make in Intel’s flagship 10nm process a test chip due out before the end of the year using a next-gen Cortex-A SoC running at 3.5 GHz or 0.5V and delivering 0.25mW/MHz.
Source: https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332527&page_number=2
Tomi Engdahl says:
Qualcomm touts deal with Chinese giants to really consider using $12bn of its chips
Non-binding ‘memorandum of understanding’ inked with four smartphone builders
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/11/10/qualcomm_chinese_mou/
Qualcomm says it has struck a deal, of sorts, with four major smartphone vendors in China that could possibly be worth $12bn.
Emphasis on the “possibly”.
The chip designer says the non-binding ‘memorandum of understanding’ agreements will bring Xiaomi, Guangdong OPPO, and Vivo Communications to the table in an attempt to hammer out licensing deals to use Qualcomm chips in its mobile phone designs.
The announcement was made as part of President Trump’s visit to China, where Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf attended as part of the White House trade delegation tagging along for the trip.