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:
Google ARCore brings augmented reality to relatively small audience
At least it doesn’t require a bleeding-edge PC and costly goggles
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/08/31/google_arcore_brings_ar_to_small_audience/
Google on Tuesday released a preview of its augmented reality toolkit, although the company acknowledged that only a small portion of Android’s installed base will be able to use the software.
ARCore is Google’s answer to ARKit, Apple’s software development kit for creating augmented reality (AR) applications. It’s also the heir to Google’s Tango SDK, which was designed for creating AR applications on specialized hardware with sensors for measuring depth.
AR differs from virtual reality, or VR, in that it doesn’t demand expensive headgear that shuts out the real world, isn’t known for inducing nausea, and hasn’t been stigmatized by consumer indifference. AR places computer graphics in photorealistic scenes; VR reimagines the visual world completely.
In theory, ARCore will allow Android developers to join the rush to create apps that mix real and imaginary things, an app store category not presently oversaturated.
In practice, it will be scarce as hen’s teeth.
“ARCore will run on millions of devices, starting today with the Pixel and Samsung’s S8, running 7.0 Nougat and above,” said Dave Burke, Google VP of Android engineering, in a blog post. “We’re targeting 100 million devices at the end of the preview. We’re working with manufacturers like Samsung, Huawei, LG, ASUS and others to make this possible with a consistent bar for quality and high performance.”
Mind you, Burke says there are more than two billion active Android devices, so Google is hoping to reach 5 per cent of its installed base, eventually.
https://developers.google.com/ar/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Detecting Dire Diseases – with a Selfie?
https://hackaday.com/2017/08/30/detecting-dire-diseases-with-a-selfie/
They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. But with a new smartphone app, the eyes may be a diagnostic window into the body that might be used to prevent a horrible disease — pancreatic cancer. A research team at the University of Washington led by [Alex Mariakakis] recently described what they call “BiliScreen,” a smartphone app to detect pancreatic disease by imaging a patient’s eyes.
Pancreatic cancer is particularly deadly because it remains asymptomatic until it’s too late. One early symptom is jaundice, a yellow-green discoloration of the skin and the whites of the eyes as the blood pigment bilirubin accumulates in the body. By the time enough bilirubin accumulates to be visible to the naked eye, things have generally progressed to the inoperable stage.
Detecting Pancreatic Cancer Using Selfies
http://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/detecting-pancreatic-cancer-using-selfies/81254866
Perhaps all that narcissistic picture taking of oneself, which is seemingly so popular with smartphone users these days, can be put to effective use within the medical community, as researchers at the University of Washington (UW) have developed an app that could allow people to easily screen for pancreatic cancer and other diseases just by snapping a selfie. The new app—described in a paper published recently in the Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies in an article entitled “BiliScreen: Smartphone-Based Scleral Jaundice Monitoring for Liver and Pancreatic Disorders”—and is set to be presented to the public at the upcoming Ubicomp 2017, the Association for Computing Machinery’s International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dan Seifert / The Verge:
Sony launches $700 Xperia XZ1 and $600 XZ1 Compact smartphones with Snapdragon 835, Android 8.0 Oreo, and a camera with 3D-scanning and super slo-motion video
Sony’s Xperia XZ1 and XZ1 Compact have refreshed designs and Android Oreo
Snapdragon 835 and a new camera arrive for Sony’s mainstream phones
https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/31/16228234/sony-xperia-xz1-xz1-compact-android-oreo-ifa-2017
Sony is today announcing the new Xperia XZ1 and XZ1 Compact smartphones, which replace the XZ and X Compact released a year ago. The main updates to the new phones are Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 processor and refined designs, which, in the case of the XZ1, include a full metal frame. In addition, the XZ1 pair will be among the first phones to launch with Android 8.0 Oreo already installed.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Peter Bright / Ars Technica:
Microsoft was an early player in AR, thanks to HoloLens, but is being superseded by Apple and Google, who focus on adding AR to software over expensive hardware
Microsoft was leading the world in AR; now it’s at risk of being left behind
HoloLens was inspirational, but it’s ARKit and ARCore that are going to win developers.
Peter Bright – Aug 29, 2017 7:19 pm UTC
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/08/microsoft-was-leading-the-world-in-ar-now-its-at-risk-of-being-left-behind/
Tomi Engdahl says:
SanDisk’s little microSD card sucks up 400GB
iPhone charging and backup base unit also on cards
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/08/31/sandisk_microcard/
WDC has the highest-capacity microSDXC card at 400GB – pumping up mobile device storage space – and has launched a natty little iPhone charger that backs up the phone’s data.
The SanDisk Ultra Plus microSDXC UHS-I card comes in a range of capacities, from 16GB through 32, 64, 128, 200, and 256 to 400GB. The read speed is up to 100MB/sec.
Tomi Engdahl says:
LG Announces V30 Smartphone With ‘FullVision’ OLED Display, Dual Cameras
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/17/08/31/2023229/lg-announces-v30-smartphone-with-fullvision-oled-display-dual-cameras?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Slashdot%2Fslashdot%2Fto+%28%28Title%29Slashdot+%28rdf%29%29
For those interested, GSMArena has a full spec sheet available for the LG V30. Some of the noteworthy specs include a 6-inch LG P-OLED display with an 18:9 aspect ratio and QHD (1440 x 2880) resolution, Snapdragon 835 processor with 4GB RAM, dual 16-megapixel/13-megapixel rear-facing camera sensors, headphone jack, 32-bit/192kHz audio, wireless charging and Android 7.1.2 Nougat.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Say Goodbye to the Blob. Google’s New Emoji Have Arrived
https://www.wired.com/story/google-emoji-redesign
The blobs first appeared in the spring of 2013. They were roundly amorphous, like cookie dough plopped onto a baking sheet. Their faces, a rainbow of emotions, had mouths that turned up and down in imprecise dashes.
For years, the blobs sat on the keyboards of Android phones and Google Hangouts as the goofy counterparts to Apple’s more lifelike emoji. And in that time, they amassed both haters and loyal acolytes. Now, though, that debate is over. As part of its Android Oreo update, Google replaced the blob with symmetrical circles and more human-like figures.
The update marks the biggest change Google’s made to its emoji in years. But it didn’t happen overnight. Emoji—like so many of the objects they’re designed to represent—evolve. Transforming the blob’s shape, color, and meaning, was a lengthy process that started, arguably, the moment Google’s blob emoji was born.
Tomi Engdahl says:
With ARCore Google Broadens its AR Development Scope
https://www.designnews.com/design-hardware-software/arcore-google-broadens-its-ar-development-scope/177795113657407?ADTRK=UBM&elq_mid=811&elq_cid=876648
With its new ARCore SDK Google wants to empower developers to create augmented reality apps and experiences that can scale across all types of Android devices.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nat Levy / GeekWire:
Microsoft brings its Mixer Create app to iOS and Android, letting users stream and broadcast games, pair with PC or Xbox, more
Microsoft’s Mixer introduces mobile game streaming apps for iOS and Android
https://www.geekwire.com/2017/microsofts-twitch-rival-mixer-introduces-mobile-streaming-apps-ios-android/
Mixer, the game streaming service that Microsoft acquired last year, unveiled mobile apps for iOS and Android that let players stream on the go and share experiences in their favorite mobile games.
The Mixer Create app, released this morning on the eve of the annual PAX West gaming convention in Seattle, lets people broadcast games, join streams with friends, pair with other devices like a PC or Xbox, engage in text chats and manage profiles. The app was previously in beta testing, but now it is widely available and works with all Android games and iOS games with the “ReplayKit” function enabled.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Corinne Reichert / ZDNet:
Huawei announces Kirin 970 smartphone chipset bound for the upcoming Mate 10, with a dedicated neural processing unit
Huawei unveils Kirin 970 chipset with AI
http://www.zdnet.com/article/huawei-unveils-kirin-970-chipset-with-ai/
Huawei’s Kirin 970 smartphone chipset features mobile artificial intelligence with a dedicated neural processing unit, an 8-core CPU, and a 12-core GPU, along with 5.5 million transistors.
Chinese networking giant Huawei has unveiled its Kirin 970 chipset with built-in artificial intelligence (AI), calling it the “future of smartphones”.
The chipset has a dedicated neural processing unit (NPU), and was built using a 10nm advanced process with 5.5 million transistors contained in an area of just one square centimetre.
The Kirin 970 mobile AI computing platform is powered by an 8-core CPU and a 12-core GPU, which Huawei said delivers 25x greater performance and 50x greater efficiency compared to a quad-core Cortex-A73 CPU cluster.
Limitations in cloud AI necessitated improvements across latency, stability, and privacy, Huawei said, with on-device AI providing this as well as adding sensor data to the offering.
“Sensors produce a large amount of real-time, scenario-specific, and personalised data. Supported by strong chip processing capabilities, devices will become more cognitive of user needs, providing truly personalised and readily accessible services,” Huawei said.
“We hope to use AI in our phones to have more learning capabilities … together with big data, we will be able to understand consumer habits and better incorporate voice and image capabilities into the phone,” Lee told ZDNet.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Huawei Unveils AI Mobile Chipset Said To Rival A11 Processor In Upcoming iPhones
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/17/09/03/1627241/huawei-unveils-ai-mobile-chipset-said-to-rival-a11-processor-in-upcoming-iphones
On Saturday, Chinese mobile maker Huawei unveiled its first artificial intelligence smartphone chipset, which it hopes will lure customers away from Apple’s upcoming range of new iPhones and towards the Asian company’s “most powerful handset yet,” the Mate 10, which is set to debut next month.
Huawei Unveils AI Mobile Chipset Said to Rival A11 Processor in Upcoming iPhones
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/09/03/huawei-ai-mobile-chipset-rival-upcoming-iphones/
On Saturday, Chinese mobile maker Huawei unveiled its first artificial intelligence smartphone chipset, which it hopes will lure customers away from Apple’s upcoming range of new iPhones and towards the Asian company’s “most powerful handset yet”, the Mate 10, which is set to debut next month (via Nikkei Asian Review).
Huawei touted the Kirin 970 AI mobile chipset’s built-in “neural processing unit” at the IFA consumer electronics trade show in Berlin, claiming that the technology is “20 times faster” than a traditional processor.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Memo to Microsoft: Keeping your promises is probably a good idea
Blame SatNad, not NYPD, for the mobile blues
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/01/microsoft_to_blame_for_nypd_phone_shock/
Back in the day, the old IBM was famous for never breaking a promise to customers. For example, when IBM bought Lotus it was to honour a commitment to provide customers with office group productivity software that its own teams of programmers couldn’t keep. IBM kept Token Ring and OS/2 customers happy long after the products were obsoleted.
But when pundits declared that Microsoft was “the new IBM” in the mid-Nineties, it appears that keeping promises was one characteristic it decided not to emulate.
This week one of Microsoft’s customers has been forced to defend its acquisition of 36,000 Windows Phones two years ago amid great fanfare. Throughout 2014 Microsoft and Nokia (the marriage had yet to be formalised) had promoted the consumer phone OS as “truly enterprise grade” boasting of its security and remote management. It’s now dumping them for iPhones.
The deal turned out to be a little more complicated than first pictured by the New York Post (“NYPD needs to replace 36K useless smartphones”), which broke the story.
Customers in finance and telco had also plumped for Windows Phone. Opting for Microsoft wasn’t a dumb decision, but looked a fairly safe one.
A CIO could equip staff with Android and attempt to secure it, with Samsung Knox, but that was still a relatively new and unproven product, and Samsung wasn’t geared up with the enterprise support teams that Microsoft has. It turns out the NYPD got the phones for free, and was exercising a midterm contract option to move on.
The cost of rewriting fewer than a dozen custom apps is certainly much lower than the $12m to $20m (our estimate) of going for Android or iOS. At the time, budget Android meant Landfill Android. iOS would have certainly have been the safe choice – but imagine the outcry from the public if it had spurned 36,000 free phones and paid the Apple tax?
Microsoft is paying the price for neglecting what any business needs to do: look after your customers. It isn’t just a mobile thing, although over the years mobile seems to have been the most readily disposable problem at Redmond.
Kicking mobile repeatedly has done wonders for Microsoft’s share price: it’s now nearly double what it was when Microsoft completed the acquisition of Nokia’s phone division. But what does it do for Microsoft’s reputation as a low-risk enterprise choice?
Tomi Engdahl says:
With Android Oreo, Google Is Introducing Linux Kernel Requirements
https://linux.slashdot.org/story/17/09/03/1653227/with-android-oreo-google-is-introducing-linux-kernel-requirements
As is easy to tell by comparing versions of Android from different handset manufacturers, developers are — broadly speaking — free to do whatever they want with Android, but with Oreo, one aspect of this is changing. Google is introducing a new requirement that OEMs must meet certain requirements when choosing the Linux kernel they use. Until now, as pointed out by XDA Developers, OEMs have been free to use whatever Linux kernel they wanted to create their own version of Android.
With Android Oreo, Google is introducing Linux kernel requirements
https://betanews.com/2017/09/03/android-oreo-linux-kernel/
Android may be a Linux-based operating system, but the Linux roots are something that few people pay much mind. Regardless of whether it is known or acknowledged by many people, the fact remains that Android is rooted in software regarded as horrendously difficult to use and most-readily associated with the geekier computer users, but also renowned for its security.
Google is introducing a new requirement that OEMs must meet certain requirements when choosing the Linux kernel they use.
Moving forward, Android devices running Oreo must use at least kernel 3.18, but there are more specific requirements to meet as well.
The company goes on to detail the Linux kernel version requirements:
All SoCs productized in 2017 must launch with kernel 4.4 or newer.
All other SoCs launching new Android devices running Android O must use kernel 3.18 or newer.
Regardless of launch date, all SoCs with device launches on Android O remain subject to kernel changes required to enable Treble.
Older Android devices released prior to Android O but that will be upgraded to Android O can continue to use their original base kernel version if desired.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Shows Smartphone AI
Neural nets ride OpenGL on smartphones
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332229
Facebook is using OpenGL to deploy to smartphones’ visual effects created with machine learning. The open API is delivering solid performance across iOS and Android phones; however, a lead developer called for a move to more modern Vulkan or Metal APIs to ease mobile graphics programming.
That was one of several news nuggets from @Scale, the social network’s event targeting software engineers. In other developments, an exhibitor showed a copper alternative to solder, a startup demoed its 16-lens camera, and an academic described progress using DNA for computer storage.
Facebook runs the event in various cities to spawn a collaborative ecosystem using open-source software to solve some of the biggest issues plaguing big data centers.
At one booth, the company showed image recognition and special-effects filters running on smartphone cameras at rates from 30 to 45 frames/second using OpenGL-based inference code that it developed in-house. By contrast, Qualcomm’s new neural-networking SDK for Snapdragon delivers lower frame rates.
Facebook expects to deploy generations of OpenGL-based inference code on smartphones for at least two or three years.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Evolution of Zoom Camera in Smartphones
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1332211&
From early days of the Samsung Galaxy K-zoom, through recent iPhone and Samsung Note8 dual cameras, to the future of folded zoom cameras: the technology evolution explained.
Zoom is a commonly used photography feature; it allows the user to shift smoothly from a long shot to a close-up and vice versa. Optical zoom employs camera optics (a lens) to magnify the object, while digital zoom crops and upscales the input image. Unlike optical zoom, digital zoom reduces resolution and, as a result, diminishes image quality.
In recent years, mobile devices such as smartphones have become ubiquitous. Such devices typically include two compact cameras, a main rear-facing camera, and a secondary front-facing camera. Most compact cameras are designed with the traditional structure of a digital still camera — i.e., they comprise a lens placed on top of an image sensor. The lens focuses the incoming light to create an image of a scene on the sensor.
The dimensions of these cameras are largely determined by the size of the sensor and by the size of the lens.
As smartphone manufacturers are constantly striving to make their products thinner, a compact camera’s height becomes a limiting factor.
the severe height restriction eliminates any distinct performance enhancement — in particular, an optical zoom feature.
This article covers the entire evolution of zoom cameras in smartphones, from early days of the Samsung Galaxy K-zoom, through the latest iPhones and the Samsung Note8, to the future of folded zoom cameras. It also explains some of the mobile photography fundamentals and how vendors strike a fine balance between them.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Windows 10 phones had to be sold off
What to do if a product does not sell? Then you have to put the stuff on the lower right. Microsoft has now done so on the Alcatel IDOL 4S. Initially, the device was sold for EUR 470, but Microsoft sold it for $ 199 in its online store.
In fact, the price of less than 200 barges is really low, as the IDOL 4S features are of a high standard.
It may be that it is also the last Windows 10 smartphone that was launched on the market.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6771&via=n&datum=2017-09-04_16:03:22&mottagare=31202
Tomi Engdahl says:
New Algorithm: The smart clock recognizes everything you do
The smartwatches and activity bracelets recognize the movements well, as long as they know what kind of sport should be played and the start of movement is reported to them. English researchers have developed an algorithm that identifies all our activities without any prior knowledge of the device.
According to researcher at Sussex University, Hristijan Gjoreski, current activity devices only recognize predefined mobility. However, your human movement and activity varies all the time.
The solution obviously benefits from machine learning.
Sussex’s new algorithm monitors activity continuously. It will pay close attention to both the transitions and the activities themselves.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6773&via=n&datum=2017-09-04_16:03:22&mottagare=31202
Tomi Engdahl says:
With Android Oreo, Google Is Introducing Linux Kernel Requirements
https://linux.slashdot.org/story/17/09/03/1653227/with-android-oreo-google-is-introducing-linux-kernel-requirements?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Slashdot%2Fslashdot%2Fto+%28%28Title%29Slashdot+%28rdf%29%29
“Android O mandates a minimum kernel version and kernel configuration and checks them both in VTS as well as during an OTA. Android device kernels must enable the kernel .config support along with the option to read the kernel configuration at runtime through procfs.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple’s AirPods are dominating the wireless headphone market
They account for 85% of the segment’s revenue
https://www.techspot.com/news/70833-apple-airpods-dominating-wireless-headphone-market.html
Apple’s AirPods weren’t exactly hailed a revolutionary, must-have product when they were announced last year, but that hasn’t stopped the wireless headphones from dominating the market. CEO Tim Cook recently admitted that, despite increasing production capacity, Apple is struggling to meet “strong level of demand for AirPods.”
As is the case with the Apple Watch, the iPhone maker has never revealed how many AirPods have been sold since they arrived in December. But according to research firm NPD, over 900,000 totally wireless headphones were sold in the US since the start of the year, and AirPods made up 85 percent of the revenue on those sales.
While NPD doesn’t say exactly how much revenue Apple generated from its headphones (or the precise number of units it has shifted), the AirPods’ $160 price tag means they’re another big earner for Apple.
‘Totally wireless’ is a new segment of the Bluetooth headphone market that refers to products consisting of two wireless earbuds with no connecting cable.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Stop trying to kill the headphone jack
https://thenextweb.com/gadgets/2017/08/31/stop-trying-to-kill-the-headphone-jack/#.tnw_mnDfr18R
Over a year ago, I wrote about how phone makers were starting to do away with headphone jacks. I’ve seen this unfortunate trend – which I hoped would just be a passing fad – continue to plague devices well into 2017, and it looks like we’re still in danger of losing one of the most essential features our phones have to offer today.
Basically, there’s no consensus among brands, or even within them, about whether it’s a good idea to ditch the jack – but I implore hardware makers to keep it around, for all that is holy and good in the world.
For one thing, there’s no real reason to kill it off. Last year, LeEco’s president of R&D Liang Jun told The Verge that ditching the headphone jack and going USB-C only didn’t impact the manufacturing process, or help the Chinese gadget maker save space in its phone design.
If other brands believe this approach can help them make phones slimmer, I’d like to register my protest against the idea. I’m fine with a device that I can literally talk to, connect to the internet and shoot ultra-high-resolution video with being 8mm thick, thanks very much. If there’s any honest justification at all for killing the jack, I haven’t heard it yet.
Sure, you can use a dongle – but you’re sacrificing functionality because you can’t use the mic and buttons on your remote. You’re also introducing a liability – they’re awfully easy to lose, and it’s not likely that you’ll be able to find one easily while traveling.
As for USB-C headphones – it’s been a while since we started talking about headphones that don’t need the 3.5mm jack, and to date, there are hardly any decent options worth considering, whether that’s Lightning or USB-C. That means you can’t easily use your cheap or expensive headphones with jack-less phones, and you can’t even quickly just plug into your friend’s car stereo with an AUX cable.
Counterpoint: Why phone makers are trying to kill the headphone jack
https://thenextweb.com/gadgets/2017/09/01/counterpoint-why-phone-makers-are-trying-to-kill-the-headphone-jack/#.tnw_W8yg42lO
It looks like I ruffled more than a few feathers yesterday with my post urging phone makers to stop trying to kill the headphone jack. Xiaomi India’s product lead, Jai Mani, got in touch to share the manufacturers’ side of the story, which is certainly worth hearing to inform yourself about why this debate even exists.
As we chatted on WhatsApp at 7:30AM this morning, Mani explained:
Headphone jacks are actually pretty big. And the common trends in smartphone design are making other components bigger: dual cameras with bigger pixels, big front cameras, smaller bezels, and waterproofing.
It’s difficult to say exactly which components benefit from the removal of the headphone jack, since mechanical design starts after you define the product – but in general, we can certainly use the space it takes up nowadays.
Mani added that he’s gained some insights from customers on the ground, which lead him to believe that buyers care about devices’ thickness and hand feel a lot:
People often say that nobody is asking for thinner phones. I agree with that–you rarely see people requesting it. However, I’ve been spending a lot of time offline recently and design is an important factor in the offline purchase decision. If you ask people to pick up five different phones and tell you which one has the nicest design, thickness/hand feel tends to be the number one deciding factor for them.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google and Xiaomi partner to launch the Android One Mi A1 smartphone in more than 40 markets
https://venturebeat.com/2017/09/05/xiaomi-and-google-launch-a-234-android-one-smartphone/
Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi has launched its first Android One device in partnership with Google.
The Mi A1 is the latest in a line of Android One devices to hit developing markets over the past few years.
Android One is a software and hardware standard through which Google controls the development and design of the devices while leaving the building to partner manufacturers in each country. The program is essentially designed to bring affordable but good quality mobile phones to more people.
Android One was first launched in India back in 2014, but it has since landed in more developing markets, including Pakistan, Indonesia, the Philippines, a handful of African countries, as well as some developed markets, such as Japan, Spain, and Portugal.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How One Writer Is Battling Tech-Induced Attention Disorder
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/17/09/05/2130242/how-one-writer-is-battling-tech-induced-attention-disorder
Katie Hafner has spent the last 23 days in rehab. Not for alcoholism or gambling, but for a self-inflicted case of episodic partial attention thanks to her iPhone. On Backchannel, Hafner writes about the detrimental effect the constant stream of pings has had on her, and how her life has come to resemble a computer screen. “I sense a constant agitation when I’m doing something,” she says, “as if there is something else out there, beckoning — demanding — my attention. And nothing needs to be deferred.”
“I blame electronics for my affliction,” writes Hafner, who says the devices in her life “teem with squirrels.” “If I pick up my iPhone to send a text, damned if I don’t get knocked off task within a couple of seconds by an alert about Trump’s latest tweet. And my guess is that if you have allowed your mind to be as tyrannized by the demands of your devices as I have, you too suffer to some degree from this condition.”
My iPhone Turned Me Into a Squirrel-Chasing Dog
https://www.wired.com/story/my-iphone-turned-me-into-a-squirrel-chasing-dog/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Android 8.0 version, or Oreo, reports a nasty bug. Many reported the use of mobile data significantly increased after updating Oreo. Google is already working on fixing the issue.
According to messages sent to Reddit, Oreo’s developer settings have a point where mobile data can always be turned on. This way, the device uses mobile data even if it is connected to a Wi-Fi network.
Bug is annoying in many countries where mobile data has a monthly restriction.
Source: http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/6787-uudessa-androidissa-mobiilidataa-ahmiva-bugi
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple vs Qualcomm: Who Extorted Whom?
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332242
A dispute that has now escalated into an epic legal battle between technology juggernauts, Apple and Qualcomm, is complex and multi-layered, its facets all loosely connected and geographically sprawling.
The simple narrative, told by Apple, is that Qualcomm has illegally maintained a monopoly over the semiconductors used in cellphones.
The U.S. Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has argued that Qualcomm customers “accept elevated patent royalties they otherwise would refuse” because they’re forced “to negotiate in the shadow of Qualcomm’s threat to withhold chips.” As a result, “Qualcomm collects far more in royalties than other licensors in the industry with comparable patent portfolios.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Stealth, lightweight Android breaks cover
Google’s new landfill strategy
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/05/stealth_lightweight_android_breaks_cover/
It’s 16 months since Google declared Android One not dead, so it’s time to declare it not dead all over again.
First announced in 2014 by current Google CEO Pichai, Android One was intended to be Google’s way of bringing order to the anarchic phone market on the Indian subcontinent.
It looked promising; the continent was just turning from durable feature phones to low-cost Android, but fragmentation was the norm. So Google developed a reference platform for devices expected to retail at around $100 and signed up the three big local Indian vendors – Karbon, Micromax and Spice – and notably didn’t deny suggestions that the cheapies would eventually come to the West. That was premature, as it turns out.
But Google ruled Android One with an iron fist, precluded OEM or operator customisation, and deviating from the reference platform was difficult. This made differentiation difficult. There were other issues, we noted last year: lack of language support, dust proofing, and FM or AM radio. And $100 was twice what customers were used to paying.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Huawei Surpasses Apple As the World’s Second Largest Smartphone Brand
https://apple.slashdot.org/story/17/09/06/2252221/huawei-surpasses-apple-as-the-worlds-second-largest-smartphone-brand
According to analysis by consulting firm Counterpoint Research, China’s leading smartphone marker, Huawei, surpassed Apple’s global smartphone sales for the first time in June and July. The company is only behind Samsung in sales.
Huawei has surpassed Apple as the world’s second largest smartphone brand
Sales have overtaken Apple for the first time
https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/6/16259810/huawei-apple-global-smartphone-sales
Figures haven’t been released yet for August, though Counterpoint indicates sales for that month also look strong. However, it’s worth noting that with Apple’s new iPhone releases just around the corner, the iPhone maker is almost certain to get back on top in September.
Researchers at Counterpoint also point out that Huawei has a weak presence in the South Asian, Indian, and North American markets, which “limits Huawei’s potential to the near-to-mid-term to take a sustainable second place position behind Samsung.” Its strongest market is China, and it’s also popular in Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia’s tough mobile network counterpart, Chinese Huawei has quickly added its patenting. This year, the company has been granted almost double the number of patents in the United States compared to Nokia.
In recent years, Huawei has drastically increased its investment in research and product development. Last year its R & D expenditure was about ten billion euros, while Nokia’s figure was 4.9 billion.
The patents granted to Huawe go hand in hand with the company’s growth in research spending. This year, US Patent Office USPTO has issued 1073 patents to the company. Nokia has acquired 652 and the third major mobile network company Ericsson 1114 patent.
The number of patents in Nokia and Ericsson has remained at the same level in recent years, but Huawei’s patents have doubled in two years.
Source: http://www.tivi.fi/Kaikki_uutiset/huawei-satsaa-hurjasti-tutkimukseen-nokia-jai-patenteissa-jalkoihin-6674369
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple’s $1,000 iPhone 8 to offer users more bang for the buck than ever before
http://bgr.com/2017/09/04/iphone-8-price-1000-expensive-worth-it/
Over the past few weeks, there has been a lot of hoopla surrounding the iPhone 8’s rumored $1,000 price point and how the device’s ambitious price might impact sales. While many analysts are of the mind that demand for the iPhone 8 will be incredibly high, others have expressed a more cautious, if not downright pessimistic, point of view. In fact, one analyst last week went so far as to claim that Apple should offer prospective iPhone 8 buyers a free year of Apple Music and iCloud storage in order to offset any buyer trepidation regarding the device’s $1,000 price tag.
In reality, though, there’s a good chance that Apple’s highly anticipated iPhone 8 will help anchor the largest iPhone refresh we’ve seen to date.
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘Librem 5’, Purism plans to develop Linux-based security-focused smartphones
https://www.techworm.net/2017/09/librem-5-purism-plans-develop-linux-based-security-focused-smartphones.html
‘Librem 5’, the World’s First Encrypted, Open Smartphone by Purism
The company is crowdfunding a security focussed “Librem 5” Linux smartphone, which according to Purism, will be the world’s first ever IP-native mobile handset, using end-to-end encrypted decentralized communication in its dialer and messaging app via Matrix. Matrix offers an open ecosystem for interoperable encrypted communication that supports over 2 million users with VoIP and Slack-style messaging.
The privacy-focused company shares, “As increasing concern among Android and iOS users grow around personal data they give up through WiFi connections, application installations and basic location services, Purism hopes to address those concerns by manufacturing phones that will operate with free/libre and open source software within the kernel, the operating system, and all software applications.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Neil Hughes / AppleInsider:
KGI’s Ming-Chi Kuo says iPhone 8′s Samsung-made OLED display costs $120-$130 per unit, over double the current LCD’s $45-$55 per unit cost
Samsung is sole supplier of costly ‘iPhone 8′ OLED, putting Apple in ‘urgent need’ of alternatives
By Neil Hughes
Wednesday, September 06, 2017, 09:34 am PT (12:34 pm ET)
http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/09/06/samsung-is-sole-supplier-of-costly-iphone-8-oled-putting-apple-in-urgent-need-of-alternatives
The upcoming launch of the “iPhone 8″ will reportedly see Apple in a precarious position in terms of parts, as the only company currently capable of producing OLED panels for the new edge-to-edge display is said to be rival Samsung.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bringing Back the iPhone7 Headphone Jack
https://hackaday.com/2017/09/07/bringing-back-the-iphone7-headphone-jack/
Plenty of people bemoaned Apple’s choice to drop the 1/8″ headphone jack from the iPhone 7. [Scotty Allen] wasn’t happy about it either, but he decided to do something about it: he designed a custom flex circuit and brought the jack back. If you don’t recognize [Scotty], he’s the same guy who built an iPhone 6 from parts obtained in Shenzhen markets. Those same markets were now used to design, and prototype an entirely new circuit.
The iPhone 7 features a barometric vent, which sits exactly where the headphone jack lived in the iPhone 6.
Making everything fit wasn’t easy. Two iPhone screens perished in the process. But ultimately, [Scotty] was successful. He’s open sourced his design so the world can build and improve on it.
Bringing Back the iPhone Headphone Jack – in China
http://strangeparts.com/bringing-back-the-iphone-headphone-jack-in-china/
Flexible circuit board design for adding a headphone jack to an iPhone 7 http://strangeparts.com
https://github.com/strangeparts/niubi-headphones
Tomi Engdahl says:
One Company’s Quest to Build the Perfect Phone For Gamers
https://www.wired.com/story/wonders-quest-to-build-the-perfect-phone-for-gamers
When Andy Kleinman, CEO of the startup Wonder, called the famous industrial designer Yves Behar to solicit his services, Behar offered a warning. “You don’t realize how hard it is to do this stuff,” Behar said. He asked Kleinman to remember, in a year, when everything would seem impossible, that Behar had told him this. Kleinman, a long-time gaming software executive with companies like Zynga and Disney, said he was up for it. And he had a big idea: to build a smartphone made just gamers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
ST, MediaTek Enter NFC Partnership
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332253&
TAIPEI — STMicroelectronics has said that it will integrate its contactless NFC technology with MediaTek’s silicon, allowing smartphone makers to design handsets supporting mobile services, including payments and other online transactions.
By integrating ST’s NFC chipset with MediaTek’s SoCs, the partners aim to help mobile OEMs overcome technical challenges such as antenna design, integration, and miniaturization while cutting bill-of-material costs and enabling interoperability with payment terminals at retailers and transportation hubs.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A DIY Hero Added a Working Headphone Jack to an iPhone 7 Plus
It works, and he showed it to me.
https://motherboard.vice.com/amp/en_us/article/j557j3/a-diy-hero-added-a-working-headphone-jack-to-an-iphone-7-plus
Soon after the iPhone 7 launched, a popular genre of YouTube video was that of false DIY experts who took drills to their devices to create a “headphone jack” by boring holes in the bottom of their iPhones.
This, of course, did not work, and a non-zero number of phones were destroyed in the process. Wednesday afternoon, I got an email from Scotty Allen, a Shenzhen-based software engineer who I had spoken to a few months ago after he “made” an iPhone out of spare parts he’d found in Shenzhen electronics markets. Like those early phone modders, Allen told me he took a drill to his iPhone 7, added a headphone jack—and everything in the phone still worked.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Zac Hall / 9to5Mac:
iOS 11 GM leak reveals details about new iPhone features including Face ID, animated emoji, 4K at 60fps, possibility of True Tone display, revised AirPods, more — Here we go. We’re digging through the iOS 11 GM we received this evening to unpack what we can learn about the D22 ‘iPhone 8 …
iOS 11 GM leak confirms D22 ‘iPhone 8’ features: Portrait Lighting, True Tone Display, revised AirPods, much more
https://9to5mac.com/2017/09/08/ios-11-gm-d22-iphone-8-details/
Here we go. We’re digging through the iOS 11 GM we received this evening to unpack what we can learn about the D22 ‘iPhone 8’ and the rest of the lineup ahead of Apple’s big unveiling on Tuesday. It looks like the infamous HomePod leak left a few surprises for us after all.
The first discovery is a stunning set of new wallpapers coming with iOS 11 and the first look at the LTE Apple Watch. Next up: new and confirmed features coming to the OLED iPhone…
Tomi Engdahl says:
As Hurricane Irma Devastates, Walkie Talkie App Zello Adds 6 Million Users In A Week
https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexkantrowitz/as-hurricane-irma-devastates-walkie-talkie-app-zello-adds-6?utm_term=.jp3NAaePnW#.ipBr9QMW0R
Zello, used heavily for Harvey search and rescue, is now the top free app on the iOS App Store.
The walkie talkie app Zello, which played a major role in volunteer efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, is being downloaded by millions as Hurricane Irma approaches South Florida.
Zello is used almost exactly like a walkie talkie, except it relies on wifi and cell service, so it can support big groups of people in dispersed locations. When Harvey caused widespread devastation in and around Houston, volunteers leaned on Zello to coordinate search and rescue efforts. And people in the path of Irma seem to believe they can put the app to similar uses in this storm too.
Holly Hartman / Houston Chronicle:
A first-person account of using the walkie talkie app Zello during Hurricane Harvey; app was used by the volunteer group Cajun Navy to coordinate rescues
I downloaded an app. And suddenly, was part of the Cajun Navy.
After two minutes of training, I was talking to people desperate for help
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/gray-matters/article/I-downloaded-an-app-And-suddenly-I-was-talking-12172506.php
I finally turned off the TV and picked up my phone to do a quick check of email and Facebook. I read an article about the Cajun Navy and the thousands of selfless volunteers who have shown up to this city en masse. The article explained they were using a walkie-talkie-type app called Zello to communicate with each other, locate victims, get directions, etc. I downloaded the app, found the Cajun Navy channel and started listening.
I was completely enthralled. Voice after voice after voice coming though my phone in the dark, some asking for help, some saying they were on their way.
Call after call from citizens saying they were trapped in their houses and needed boat rescue. None of the volunteer rescuers had made it to that area from Houston, but as soon as the calls started coming in, they were moving out, driving as fast as they could into the middle of Harvey.
As I was listening, I quickly figured out that there were a few moderators on the app that were in charge and very experienced in using this method of communication during emergencies.
As I was listening, I quickly figured out that there were a few moderators on the app that were in charge and very experienced in using this method of communication during emergencies.
I GOT a two-minute “training” session and a “good luck!” One of the key suggestions of the training session was that when I received a rescue request, I needed to try to call the person making the request if possible to get more details and to ensure that it was a legitimate request. Unfortunately, there had been reports of people calling in fake rescue requests and then robbing the volunteers when they arrived. Despicable.
After I received each request and had called the person making the request, I was to log their information on a designated website, let the requester know the ID number they’d been assigned and move on to the next call.
I took several more calls and quickly realized there was no way I could call to verify every request. They were coming in faster than I could type them into the website data bank.
No wonder we had so many people desperately begging for rescue. No one was coming for them.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The next Apple Watch will have LTE cell service
https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/09/the-next-apple-watch-will-have-lte-cell-service/?ncid=rss&utm_source=tcfbpage&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29&utm_content=FaceBook&sr_share=facebook
Last night an iOS 11 GM download link made its way onto Reddit, which 9to5Mac discovered and has been digging through.
You can check out the full list of discoveries here, but one big thing that stood out is that the next Apple Watch (or at least one version of it) will finally have LTE cell service, meaning it doesn’t need to be tethered to your phone at all times. The leaked screenshot above shows a LTE signal strength indicator in the top left corner of the watch.
Tomi Engdahl says:
These apps are dominating because of Hurricane Irma
http://mashable.com/2017/09/07/hurricane-irma-zello-gasbuddy-app-store/#ksQdiWptpOqS
Two of the most popular apps in the country right now owe their current popularity to an unlikely cause: hurricanes.
The extreme situation faced by people affected by Hurricane Harvey and, now, Irma is causing some lesser-known apps to rise to the top of the App Store.
On Thursday Florida Gov. Rick Scott urged people looking for gas, stations around the state have been running out of fuel, to download the app “Go Buddy.” The app he was actually referring to was “GasBuddy,” an app that helps people track gas station locations and prices. It had earlier rolled out an update that allowed users to see which Florida gas stations still had fuel.
Even though he misspoke the name, Scott’s plug was apparently effective because within hours, the app, which had already been on the rise following Hurricane Harvey, was shooting up the App Store. Within hours, it had risen from #26 to #2, according to app analytics from Sensor Tower.
GasBuddy isn’t the only app to gain notoriety in the wake of Harvey and, now, Hurricane Irma. Zello, a walkie-talkie app, has been sitting in the top spot in the U.S App Store, after it took a central role in rescue efforts in Texas.
Even for those not on the ground in Texas, the app proved to be an important resource as remote volunteers could use the app to pitch in as dispatchers and help organize the seemingly never-ending flow of chatter.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Huawei Tops Apple in Smartphones, Analyst Says
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332263
Huawei has surpassed Apple for the first time in global smartphone sales to become the new number two, according to a Hong Kong-based analyst.
China’s largest smartphone maker has led Apple in worldwide sales during June and July this year mainly on the strength of consumer demand in its home market, according to market research firm Counterpoint, in a September 5 report. China has the world’s largest smartphone market, with about one-third of the world’s 1.9 billion users, according to data provider Statista.
“The global scale Huawei has been able to achieve can be attributed to its consistent investment in R&D and manufacturing, coupled with aggressive marketing and sales channel expansion,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
IOS 11 GM LEAKED, REVEALS NEW IPHONE NAMES, WALLPAPERS, CELLULAR APPLE WATCH DETAILS, AND MORE
https://daringfireball.net/linked/2017/09/09/ios-11-gm
Latest Leak Suggests Apple Will Announce ‘iPhone 8′, ‘iPhone 8 Plus’, and ‘iPhone X’ on Tuesday
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/09/09/appl-iphone-8-iphone-8-plus-iphone-x/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple suffers ‘major iPhone X leak’
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-41220517
Details of new iPhones and other forthcoming Apple devices have been revealed via an apparent leak.
Two news sites were given access to an as-yet-unreleased version of the iOS operating system.
The code refers to an iPhone X in addition to two new iPhone 8 handsets. It also details facial recognition tech that acts both as an ID system and maps users’ expressions onto emojis.
One tech writer said it was the biggest leak of its kind to hit the firm.
What to Expect at Apple’s Biggest Event in Years
Look for the iPhone X, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and a bunch of other iProducts on Tuesday.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-10/what-to-expect-at-apple-s-biggest-event-in-years
Tomi Engdahl says:
Billions of Bluetooth devices could get hit by this attack
https://www.cnet.com/news/bluetooth-devices-vulnerable-to-hack-blueborne-armis-labs/
More than 5 billion devices are vulnerable to a “highly infectious” malware attack. Go ahead, blame the internet of things.
More than 5.3 billion devices with Bluetooth signals are at risk of a malware attack newly identified by an internet of things security company.
If you’re not keeping count, that’s most of the estimated 8.2 billion devices that use Bluetooth, which allows for our gadgets to connect and communicate wirelessly. Nearly every connected device out there has Bluetooth capability. Your phones, laptops, speakers, car entertainment systems — the list goes on and on to even the most mundane gadgets.
With BlueBorne, all hackers need to spread malware is for their victims’ devices to have Bluetooth turned on, said Nadir Izrael, Armis’ chief technology officer.
And once one device has been infected, the malware can spread to other devices nearby with the Bluetooth turned on. By scattering over the airwaves, BlueBorne is “highly infectious,” Armis Labs said.
“We’ve run through scenarios where you can walk into a bank and it basically starts spreading around everything,” Izrael said.
The attack echoes the way the WannaCry ransomware spread earlier this year.
Ben Seri, Armis Labs’ head of research, fears that BlueBorne will lead to a similar massive outbreak. In several trials testing out BlueBorne, researchers were able to create botnets and install ransomware using Bluetooth, all under the radar of most protection.
“Imagine there’s a WannaCry on Bluetooth, where attackers can deposit ransomware on the device, and tell it to find other devices on Bluetooth and spread it automatically,” said Michael Parker, the company’s vice president of marketing.
BlueBorne is a collection of eight zero-day vulnerabilities that Armis Labs discovered.
It does this by taking advantage of how your Bluetooth uses tethering to share data, the company said. It’s able to spread through “improper validation,” Izrael said. The vulnerability affects devices on most operating systems, including those run by Google, Microsoft and Apple.
The three companies have released patches for the vulnerability. Apple confirmed that BlueBorne is not an issue for its mobile operating system, iOS 10, or later, but Armis noted that all iOS devices with 9.3.5 or older versions are vulnerable. Microsoft released a patch for its computers in July, and anybody who updated would be protected automatically, a spokesman said. Google said Android partners received the patch in early August, but it’s up to the carriers to release the updates. Pixel devices have already received the updates.
Of the 2 billion devices using Android, about 180 million are running on versions that will not be patched, according to Armis.
Of the potentially impacted devices, Armis Labs estimated that 40 percent are not going to be patched. That’s more than 2 billion devices that will be left vulnerable to attacks, they warned.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dawn of the $1,000 Smartphone Era
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=40&doc_id=1332287&
While nearly all consumer electronics goods decline in price over time and most of the smartphone industry is scraping by on razor-thin margins, Apple and rival Samsung are upping the ante with flagship handsets that cost $1,000 and up.
Apple’s introduction of a smartphone with a $1,000 had been widely predicted. Even so, it’s still a bit of a bombshell.
While prices for nearly all consumer electronics goods are in constant decline and while the vast majority of smartphone vendors scrap by on razor thin margins, Apple and rival Samsung — which together account for nearly all smartphone profits — are upping the ante.
Why? Because they can.
“Apple, more than any other tech company, has been able to create a premium brand for its products, and according to the laws of supply and demand, there is a certain demand at every price point,” said Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tirias Research.
The iPhone X is not ticketed for the mainstream. Despite the near universal appeal of the iPhone, $1,000 is a bridge too far for the vast majority of smartphone buyers — even existing iPhone users.
“If you are buying iPhone X, you are already part of the iPhone ecosystem. And if you want to stay in the ecosystem, this is the best you can get,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Multichip LED improves camera flash
http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4458799/Multichip-LED-improves-camera-flash
he latest addition to Osram’s Oslux family of LEDs, the S2.1 comprises two LED chips and a lens integrated into a single compact module aimed at camera flash applications. With a brightness of 125 lux, the Oslux S2.1 delivers uniform illumination for photos and video recordings from mobile devices, such as smart phones.
http://www.osram-os.com/osram_os/en/products/product-catalog/led-light-emitting-diodes/oslux/index.jsp
Tomi Engdahl says:
Youkyung Lee / Associated Press:
Samsung says it aims to launch a foldable smartphone next year under its Galaxy Note brand and is working with Harman on speaker assistant
Samsung eyes foldable smartphone, voice-controlled speake
https://www.apnews.com/195363f168574a139fa9c703bdc214f7
Tomi Engdahl says:
This battery-free cellphone runs on light and radio waves
https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/13/this-battery-free-cellphone-runs-on-light-and-radio-waves/
Who cares about an OLED and a notch when your phone can sip power from its surroundings, allowing you to make calls without ever having to charge your phone.
This wild cellphone is part of a Google Faculty Research program and received three U.S. National Science Foundation grants for total investment of about $2 million. For that money, the creator, Vamsi Talla, built a single-board cellphone that can make regular phone calls connect you to emergency services. The team is commercializing the product at Jeeva Wireless.
According to IEEE, this thing can even make Skype calls:
The phone receives power from sunlight or RF waves sent from a nearby base station, a fixed point of communication for customer cellular phones on a carrier network. With a technique called backscattering, the phone can make a voice call by modifying and reflecting the same waves back to the base station.
We also were able to make Skype voice calls, proving that the prototype—made of commercial, off-the-shelf components—can communicate with a base station and applications like Skype.
https://www.jeevawireless.com/about/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch:
Snapchat debuts new 3D Bitmoji World Lenses, which project Bitmoji avatars on real-world scenes, rolling out globally on iOS and Android — Snapchat’s World Lens feature applies filters intelligently to the world around you using augmented reality and your smartphone’s camera …
Snapchat brings Bitmoji to the real world with World Lenses
https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/14/snapchat-brings-bitmoji-to-the-real-world-with-world-lenses/
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘All-screen display’? But surely every display is all-screen… or is a screen not a display?
Sounds like a good idea but looks can be deceptive
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/15/allscreen_display_but_surely_every_display_is_allscreen_or_is_a_screen_not_a_display/
Tomi Engdahl says:
17 Views of Mobile World Congress
The 5G, cellular IoT races are on
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332307
The view from Mobile World Congress Americas here was of two parallel races among carriers — to Gbit+ LTE and 5G services at one end and Kbit cellular IoT services at the other. The event was a sampler of OEM systems to power and devices to run on those emerging networks.
T-Mobile said it will use the new 600 MHz spectrum it bought for a whopping $8 billion to deliver this year Gbit/second LTE on LG and Samsung handsets and even faster 5G services in 2019. At the other end of the spectrum, AT&T said it is now running a nationwide LTE-M service for IoT in the U.S. that will expand to Mexico by June.
Rounding out the 5G picture, AT&T and Verizon talked about using 28 and 39 GHz bands to deliver wireless Internet access to homes before the end of 2018 while Sprint is expected to focus on mobile broadband at 2.5 GHz. In cellular IoT, T-Mobile is gearing up a Narrowband IoT service while Verizon is in trials with both it and LTE-M and Sprint has yet to declare its plans.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google debuts Tez, a mobile payments app for India
https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/17/google-debuts-tez-a-mobile-wallet-and-payments-app-for-india/