Mobile Trends 2018

Here is my collection of relevant trend for smart phones in 2018:

It seems that crazy growth times in smart phone markets are over at least for some time. The eight-year-long smartphone bubble in China has abruptly come to an end, in yet another warning sign that the global synchronized growth narrative is merely an illusion. China’s smartphone market suffered its first ever annual decline, with shipments down 4 percent from 2016 to 459 million phones in 2017. Canalys blames the weakness on a terrible y/y performance in the industry during the Q4 2017 period, with shipments crashing by over 14 percent to around 113 million phones. Anshul Gupta, a research director at Gartner, said in a statement that customers are choosing higher quality models and keeping them longer, lengthening the replacement cycle for smartphones. 1.9 billion mobile phones were sold in 2017.

Smartphone unit volumes are likely to return to low single-digit percentage growth in 2018 after unit sales declined in the fourth quarter for the first time ever, according to market research firm IDC. Gartner Says Worldwide Device Shipments Will Increase 2.1 Percent in 2018. Overall market is predicted to reach a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.8 percent over period from 2017 to 2022. Taiwan-based IC design houses expect orders from China’s smartphone industry to pick up in the second quarter of 2018, with customer orders likely to register double-digit sequential growth. The processor market is now growing thanks to cell phonescellular processors account for 28 percent of all processor sales.

Apple is the biggest money maker. Apple took over half of all mobile phone revenue in the end of 2017. During October-December, Apple took over 51 percent of the total net sales of its mobile phone through its iPhone. During the quarter, Apple made more sales on its phones than all other manufacturers in total (total net sales of mobile phone manufacturers were $ 120.2 billion and Apple got$ 61.4 billion). Samsung sold for $ 18.9 billion. Huawei sold three million units for $ 8.4 billion. Apple took also the lead from Samsung in smartphone shipments volume: Apple iPhone volumes reached 77.3 million units compared with 74.1 million for Samsung during the last quarter of 2017, according to the Feb. 1 IDC report.

Wireless charging has finally hit the mainstream. At the moment Qi seems to be the winning technology as it is mostly widely adopted and even Apple selected to use it. According to IHS, in 2017 year, 500 million devices with wireless charging were sold (40 percent higher than in the previous year). Mobile phones were the largest single product group. Next year, a billion devices with wireless charging will be introduced, estimates IHS.

New camera features are coming. More lenses to smart phones are coming. A few phones now have four camera lenses, with two on the back and two on the front, but an upcoming Nokia handset could go one better with five. HMD Global isn’t the only company working on the photography-focused smartphone. The Chinese company Huawei is planning to launch its P-20 flagship phone, featuring five cameras in total. Samsung’s upcoming Exynos 7 processor model 9610 is capable of recording slow motion video at 480 frames per second.

Smartphone users seem to be spending less time but more money each time they visit a website. Each time Americans visit retail websites on their phones, they’re spending less time but more money. According to Adobe Analytics the time smartphone users spend on websites per visit has decreased by 10% since 2015 but the amount of money spent per visit has increased by 27%.

People have their phones with them all the time and watch their phones very often. According to Huawei’s Smartphone Relationships survey, 49 percent of respondents think they view their phone several times in one hour. More than half (58%) of the respondents carry the phone with them over 13 hours a day. Most phones are still used to send messages (86%), even though photography (85%) and social media usage (81%) attracted almost the same. 27% of respondents actively use the phone for 3-4 hours a day. 61 percent of users read emails or browse social media first when they are awakened in the morning.

Android and iOS have taken practically almost all of the smart phone OS market. Android 7 is the most common operating system version, as it spins 18.4 percent of all devices on the market. Android 6 is close to the same figures, accounting for 17.6 percent. Of all smartphones, 17.5 percent already run iOS 11. Windows Phone devices accounted for 0.87 percent and is decreasing, so Windows phone is dead. Microsoft has practically ended Windows Phone platform.

Android P brings new features like indoor positioning, privacy features, multi-camera support and easier to support the cutout in the display. Android P developer preview is now available for testing.

There is no more Android Wear. Android Wear has been rebranded as Wear OS to reflect the fact that it works with both Android and iOS smartphone.

Android Go is stripped down version of Android for low-end devices. Android Go phones, which are mostly low-end devices for ~$100 with 1GB RAM or less, were announced at MWC.

Security chip technologies designed for computers are pushing to smart phones. Purism is working on a Librem5 smartphone that can be run on virtually any Linux operating system and all data on the phone will be protected with a Trusted Platofrm Module (TPM).

AI is coming to smart phones with applications like taking decisions, recognizing text, speech and images, or translating foreign languages. Mobile AI Race Unfolds at MWCThe performance of smartphone application processors is constantly increasing, especially in image processing and artificial intelligence. While Apple and Samsung, both armed with home-grown apps processors, have a lock on the premium smartphone market, MediaTek, seeking to rebound in smartphones, is rolling out at the Mobile World Congress its Helio P60 chipset. Samsung develops its own neural network processor (invested last year in China’s DeePhi Technologies). Samsung has not told whether the new Exonys circuit is integrated with a separate neural network processor like Huawei’s Kirin or Apple processors. LG’s opening in AI is the V30S model that is based on the V30 platform. The device is part of LG’s new artificial intelligence ThinQ brand. Telecom operators are looking to artificial intelligence as a potential money-spinner to combat stagnating mobile service revenues. Tirias Research believes that by 2025, 95 percent of all new devices or platforms will leverage artificial intelligence in the cloud or with some form of native machine learning.

5G is coming faster than anyone expected. 5G phones are getting more and more popular in a couple of years. Market research company Gartner predicts that 5G networks will become more common in smart phones in the early 2020s. 5G is coming to newest phones with advanced chip technology. Qualcomm said it will continue to work with longtime foundry supplier Samsung Electronics on Snapdragon 5G chipsets using Samsung’s 7nm Low Power Plus (LPP) process technology with extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. The X24 modem is the first volume-to-output circuit that is manufactured using a 7 nanometer process. Intel, TSMC and Globalfoundries are targeting EUV production sometime in 2019. Gartner says that by 2021, 9 Percent of Smartphones Sold Will Support 5G.

Cisco projects that by 2020, the average smartphone will generate 4.4GB of network traffic every month (up from less than 1GB per month in 2015). And by 2021, smartphone traffic will exceed PC traffic.

Wireless Technology is becoming The Existential Necessity of Life. Technologies like LTE, 5G, and Wi-Fi are continuing to improve. The wireless technologies we all use daily are cellular LTE and Wi-Fi. LTE is gradually morphing into 5G and Wi-Fi continues to get better. Long Term Evolution is our current 4G worldwide cellular standard. The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is still working on 5G, but concurrently companies are testing 5G New Radio (NR) equipment. Wi-Fi, LTE, and 5G all have one thing in common. Their increases in data rate and user capacity have come primarily from advanced antenna techniques.

Current and future smartphones that combine spectrum from several frequency bands can function without a typical antenna, thanks to a tiny “booster” device that can radiate RF signals from the smartphone itself. Microstrip patch antennas became well received in wireless communications systems due to their low cost of fabrication and effectiveness in those systems. A number of approaches have been developed to overcome the limits of traditional antenna designs.

Electromagnetic Radiation Is Decreasing in New Generations of Smartphones. While there’s no evidence that phone-produced RF radiation is carcinogenic, new phones are emitting less of it.

Traditional SIM will be replaced in the near future. It is expected that the traditional SIM card format becomes unnecessary, as in the coming years, all devices will be manufactured with eSIM capability. ESIM allows many things for both the consumer and the operator. For example the same subscriber contract, it is possible to tie up several devices. Also according to the operators, the current network roaming will disappear within the next 3-5 years.

NFC specifications are updates and usage is increasing. Apple’s iOS 11 announcement last spring opening the iPhone 7 and following models to use NFC technology beyond Apple Pay had significant impact across many markets. The 2017 Technical Specification Release from the NFC Forum is made up of 21 new or updated near field communication (NFC) technical specifications. The new specifications are a big step toward ensuring interoperability between NFC solutions in the market with various existing infrastructures, unifying new and existing specs to ensure interoperability and functionality across all solutions using NFC technology (ISO/IEC 14443 or ISO/IEC 18092 specifications).

Smart Glasses are still not ready to wear. Talks give skeptical takes on AR, 5G. Ans we have this this confusion of Smart Glasses vs. Augmented Reality Goggles vs. Virtual Reality Headsets.

Finger sensor integrated to display tries to push to market. Japan Display Inc. (JDI) unveiled a transparent glass-based capacitive fingerprint sensor. Although its TFT-based fingerprint sensors have certain advantages over silicon-based solutions, JDI might be arriving too late with too little. But it could be too little too late as manufacturers are eyeing to other solutions.

Now that Samsung’s Galaxy S9 is already on the market and Huawei’s P20 announcement is looming large, imaging experts have declared 3D sensing the new battleground for the mobile industry. It is left to be seen whether either Samsung or Huawei will be able to catch up with Apple’s iPhone X. The bar set by Apple’s TrueDepth camera is very high.  According to Digitimes, the TrueDepth module module costs $ 30-50, which makes the component too expensive for a few hundred dollars in Chinese-speaking phones. TrueDepth-like solutions have very few component suppliers, so prices are not yet coming down. The TrueDepth module is based on five subsystems or modules: infrared camera, proximity sensor, infrared light, RGB camera and point the projector.

Large-scale use of biometric authentication is primarily tied to smartphones. The wide-range of sensors built into these handheld and ubiquitous devices make them an ideal tool for face and iris recognition (camera), voice (microphone), and touch (fingerprint)Banks are increasingly using voice and face recognition via smartphones for mobile banking purposes. Biometric authentication has several distinct advantages over passwords, including advantages and disadvantages that they are difficult to change. But Are Biometrics as a Form of Authentication Over-hyped and Unreliable?  “Whether a particular biometric method is useful or not depends on the sensor quality and ease of duplicating a particular biometric,”

Smart phone display size seems to be growing. Now, it looks like the size of the iPhone screen will grow clearly this year. As manufacturers shrink bezels and the front-facing sensors leave a notch on your display, Android P will make it easier to support the cutout in the display.

New display technologies are pushing to replace LCD. The AMOLED display is rapidly expanding on smartphones and in particular a flexible version. Last year, flexible displays in the AMOLED market grew to nearly 55 per cent. The X-model is Apple’s first AMOLED display phone. Samsung, LG Display, BOE and Kunshan Optoelectronics began supplying their own flexible screens for smartphones. In near future is it not just LCD and OLED. Sources detail Apple’s initiative to develop tech to mass-produce MicroLED displays, an OLED successor, still at least two years from shipping in its devices.

Nokia brand has returned to smart phone market. Nokia CEO Suri was surprised at Nokia’s return to success: “I would not have thought it a year ago”. HMD has sold last year 70 million phones. Nokia’s basic phone deliveries last year had some 60 million and around 10 million smartphones. Nokia is now receiving money from HMD Global’s Nokia phone sales in royalties.

Smart phone sensors are used more and more for medical diagnostics applications. Most smartphones include an accelerometer and many other sensors. As almost all of us have a smartphone almost all the time, it gives many opportunities for health monitoring. For example a novel method allows screening of stroke-causing cardiac atrial fibrillation using a standard smartphone was developed by the University of Turku.

Smart phones contains a lot of information that is protected in many ways. Authorities want to take a look at this data sometimes. Getting the data from protected phones has became a business of it’s own. Israeli Cellebrite sells the service to get data from secured smartphone for $ 5,000.  GrayShift is selling for $15,000 a device that opens all iPhones.

Traditional 3.5 mm audio jack seems to be disappearing from smart phones. Overwhelming impression from CES 2018 was that headphone companies have, without exception, bid a silent goodbye to the 3.5mm audio plug. Many manufacturers are leaving 3.5 mm audio jacks out of their high end phones while mainly offering wireless audio and USB-C and Lightning as the alternatives.  The ACI headphone jack plugged into a traditional 3,5 mm audio connector with data features challenges USB-C. The Austrian ams company has now developed a new interface standard for 3.5 mm audio socket, offering full compatibility backwards to the current 3.5-mm sockets. The new Accessory Communication Interface (ACI) uses the microphone MIC signal line to provide additional features and turn it into a bidirectional digital connection. Sony’s working hard on promoting a new 4.4mm Pentaconn connector as the next wired standard for dedicated audio lovers. But maybe the battle with 3.5 mm audio jack is already lost to USB-C? Let’s see. The future of headphones seems to be messy. Buying headphones in 2018 is going to be a fragmented mess.

Mobile Malware Attacks Surged in 2017. Machine learning is used to fight against harmful Android Apps. According to Google’s Android Security 2017 Year in Review report 60.3 percent of Potentially Harmful Apps (PHAs) were detected via machine learning. The detection is done by a service called Google Play Protect, which is enabled on over 2 billion devices (running Android 4.3 and up) to constantly scan Android apps for malicious activity. Play Protect reviews 50B+ apps every day.

We will start experiencing the fundamental flaw of too many listening devices. A “first world problem,” at least for the moment is that all kinds of devices capable of acting as a voice-powered digital assistant expands, and as they’re sold over an expanding footprint of the overall international market, it’ll increasingly become an “all-world problem.” For example when you say “Ok Google,” all several widgets can wake up and respond to what you say next.

Sources:

https://www.androidcentral.com/android-p

https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/18/16903516/headphones-wireless-analog-jack-future-ces-2018

http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7477&via=n&datum=2018-01-30_15:32:36

https://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3849063

http://marketing.berktek.us/acton/fs/blocks/showLandingPage/a/2338/p/p-0045/t/page/fm/0/r/l-01db:15f8/s/l-01db?aoRefEmail=s-0141-1801&sid=TV2:JTHpE7KvL

https://www.tivi.fi/Kaikki_uutiset/5g-puhelimet-yleistyvat-vauhdilla-parin-vuoden-paasta-alkuun-niita-nakee-vain-harvoille-6699145

http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/7544-huawei-puhelintaa-katsotaan-useita-kertoja-tunnissa

http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7568&via=n&datum=2018-02-15_15:01:17

https://www.is.fi/digitoday/mobiili/art-2000005600539.html?ref=rss

https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/7/17088394/android-p-developer-preview-notifications-kotlin-microphone

http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7560&via=n&datum=2018-02-14_15:22:43

https://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1332970

http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/7509-prosessorimarkkina-kasvaa-nyt-kannykoiden-ansiosta

https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332930

http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7544&via=n&datum=2018-02-12_14:23:45

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20180222PD208.html

http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7570&via=n&datum=2018-02-16_15:00:38

http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/7616-lg-hyppasi-tekoalyjunaan

http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/7618-rajeev-suri-5g-tulee-nopeammin-kuin-kukaan-odotti

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-telecoms-mobileworld-samsung/samsung-launches-galaxy-s9-with-focus-on-social-media-idUSKCN1G90RB

https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1333009

http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7752&via=n&datum=2018-03-23_14:10:57

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http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7579&via=n&datum=2018-02-19_14:48:02

https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1333021

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/02/new-android-go-phones-show-how-much-you-can-get-for-100/

https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332996

https://www.recode.net/2018/2/28/17058560/smartphone-users-spending-money-website-visits-adobe

http://www.securityweek.com/can-biometrics-solve-authentication-problem

http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/mobile-tabs/nokia-hmd-global-smartphone-with-penta-lens-camera-to-launch-this-year-report-5033469/

https://www.is.fi/digitoday/mobiili/art-2000005535369.html

http://www.techradar.com/news/next-nokia-flagship-could-have-five-camera-lenses

http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7429&via=n&datum=2018-01-19_15:53:09

http://www.mwrf.com/systems/wireless-technology-existential-necessity-life?NL=MWRF-001&Issue=MWRF-001_20180123_MWRF-001_472&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_2_b&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=15036&utm_medium=email&elq2=783f31ec516d4c7d8bd0cd1f46359e43

http://www.mwrf.com/components/tiny-microstrip-antenna-covers-wlan-lte-and-wimax?NL=MWRF-001&Issue=MWRF-001_20180123_MWRF-001_472&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1_b&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=15036&utm_medium=email&elq2=783f31ec516d4c7d8bd0cd1f46359e43

https://www.allaboutcircuits.com/news/electromagnetic-radiation-is-decreasing-in-new-generations-of-smartphones/

https://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/brians-brain/4460269/The-fundamental-flaw-of-too-many-listening-devices

http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7449&via=n&datum=2018-01-24_15:29:17

https://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1332898

https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332890

http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7653&via=n&datum=2018-03-05_15:39:52

http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7683&via=n&datum=2018-03-09_14:55:36

https://www.eeweb.com/profile/max-maxfield/articles/smart-glasses-vs-augmented-reality-goggles-vs-virtual-reality-headsets

https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332879

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-01-28/did-smartphone-bubble-china-just-pop

http://investmentwatchblog.com/did-the-chinese-smartphone-bubble-just-pop/

http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/7467-iphonen-naytto-kasvaa

https://www.securityweek.com/mobile-malware-attacks-surged-2017-kaspersky

http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/7686-taman-takia-iphonen-face-id-ei-tule-androidiin

https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/15/17124448/google-wear-os-announced-android-wear-rebranding-smartwatch

https://venturebeat.com/2018/03/15/google-60-3-of-potentially-harmful-android-apps-in-2017-were-detected-via-machine-learning/

http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/7714-vanha-audioplugi-haastaa-usb-c-n-digitalisoituna

http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7719&via=n&datum=2018-03-16_14:56:07&mottagare=31202

https://www.mikrobitti.fi/2018/03/turkulaiskeksinto-korvaa-alypuhelimella-kalliit-laaketieteelliset-laitteet-diagnoosissa-96-tarkkuus/

https://mobiili.fi/2018/03/19/hs-nokian-toimitusjohtaja-suri-yllattyi-nokia-puhelinten-paluun-menestyksesta-en-olisi-vuosi-sitten-uskonut/?utm_source=highfi&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=generic

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-19/apple-is-said-to-develop-displays-to-replace-samsung-screens

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531 Comments

  1. Tomi Engdahl says:

    How Have Smartphone Cameras Gotten So Good?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd9rovdMNNo

    Smartphone cameras have improved dramatically over the last few years. How are these tiny cameras suddenly capable of so much?

    Reply
  2. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Google’s secret to a healthy phone? Remote-controlling your apps
    Look Ma, no not much malware!
    https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/11/09/google_play_protect_report/

    Google has claimed to have cut Android malware by half.

    The number is derived from malware detected by Google Play Protect scans, which covers both applications distributed through its Play Store, other app stores, and sideloaded apps. The figures appear in Google’s first Android Ecosystem Security Transparency Report.

    On average, reckoned Google, only 0.09 per cent of devices that used Google’s own Play Store had a piece of malware on board in 2017. That translates to 1.8 million phones.

    Google attributes the decline in malware to remote control. Since 2017, when the Play Protect scan finds a PHA, it disables it by default: shoot first, ask the user questions (“re-enable or delete?”) later.

    Google made Play Protect scanning one of the selling points of its Android One programme, which brings order and uniformity to low-end and mid-range ‘Droids. Phone makers lose the ability to customise their phones, but buyers get two years of scanning.

    Reply
  3. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 Service Launches on Android and iOS
    https://yro.slashdot.org/story/18/11/11/1843203/cloudflares-1111-service-launches-on-android-and-ios?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Slashdot%2Fslashdot%2Fto+%28%28Title%29Slashdot+%28rdf%29%29

    Content-distribution network Cloudflare has introduced iOS and Android versions of 1.1.1.1, a free service which helps shield you from snoops by replacing your standard DNS with its encrypted (and speedy) alternative.

    This incredibly simple privacy app helps protect your phone from snoops with one click
    https://www.fastcompany.com/90265744/this-incredibly-simple-privacy-app-helps-protect-your-phone-from-snoops-with-one-click

    In the United States and many other countries, there are no legal protections to stop internet service providers–landline or mobile–from tracking where you go online. (A 2017 act of Congress enshrined that right to snoop in the U.S.) They can use the info to market to you directly, or sell the data to other marketing companies. New laws, spearheaded by efforts in the EU and California, may someday prevent that–emphasis on may someday.

    Meanwhile, you can throw a wrench in the schemes of ISPs, or snoopy governments or hackers, with a new, incredibly simple, and free app that encrypts the identity of the servers your mobile apps access. That partially obscures not only your web surfing, but also whether Spotify, Instagram, Fox News, MLB, or any other apps are pinging their respective servers.

    The new app, from Cloudflare, is called 1.1.1.1–the name of the internet server it uses.
    But Cloudflare also operates what’s called a DNS service.

    Forgoing the default DNS server that your ISP provides and using an alternate one like Cloudflare’s (or others) makes it a lot harder for your ISP to log all the sites you go to. (They have to dig a lot deeper into your web traffic to get the info.)

    A cool feature of Cloudflare’s service, at the IP address 1.1.1.1, is that it supports encryption. So an ISP, government, or hacker also can’t read the requests you send to Cloudflare’s server by trying to intercept the traffic.

    Reply
  4. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central:
    Samsung unveils 8nm Exynos 9820 chipset with a dedicated NPU for on-device AI and 8K video recording, likely to be used in next year’s Galaxy S10 — Samsung is betting on a dedicated NPU to introduce a host of AI-enabled features in its upcoming flagship. — Huawei was the first to roll …

    Samsung’s 8nm Exynos 9820 unveiled with dedicated NPU, 8K video recording
    https://www.androidcentral.com/samsungs-8nm-ai-enabled-exynos-9820-chipset-will-power-galaxy-s10

    Samsung is betting on a dedicated NPU to introduce a host of AI-enabled features in its upcoming flagship.

    Reply
  5. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Kaitlyn Tiffany / Vox:
    Most period-tracking apps are designed more to aid marketers and medical companies in collecting health data for ad targeting than for women

    Period-tracking apps are not for women
    https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/11/13/18079458/menstrual-tracking-surveillance-glow-clue-apple-health

    The golden age of menstrual surveillance is great for men, marketers, and medical companies.

    Reply
  6. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Samsung’s foldable smartphone reportedly costs $1,770, launches in March
    https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/11/samsungs-foldable-smartphone-reportedly-costs-1770-launches-in-march/

    Samsung’s futuristic smartphone gets a name, price, and some specs revealed.

    Reply
  7. Tomi Engdahl says:

    AAPL falls 5% on pessimistic supplier and analyst reports, Dow slides 600 points [U]
    https://9to5mac.com/2018/11/13/aapl-fall/

    AAPL’s stock price fell 5% in a single day yesterday in response to pessimistic supplier and analyst reports.

    Noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo yesterday slashed his earlier iPhone XR shipment estimates from 100M to 70M units.

    Update: The stock dropped further this morning on Foxconn reporting weaker than expected profit growth

    Reply
  8. Tomi Engdahl says:

    The Keyword:
    Google adds business messaging to Google Maps for iOS and Android, helps keep track of conversations with local businesses

    See your messages with local businesses in Google Maps
    https://www.blog.google/products/maps/see-your-messages-local-businesses-google-maps/

    Last year we enabled users in select countries to message businesses from the Business Profiles on Google. Sending messages to businesses gives you the opportunity to ask questions without having to make a phone call so that you can order a cake for your mom’s birthday while on the bus or find out if a shoe store has your size without having to wait on hold.

    Reply
  9. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Jon Porter / The Verge:
    Cortana’s mobile redesign, in beta last month, is out now for iOS, adding conversational experiences, the ability to play music and podcasts, and more — A voice assistant for those entrenched in the Microsoft ecosystem — Cortana’s version 3.0 redesign, which we first saw released in beta last month …

    Cortana’s redesign is now available for iOS
    https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/14/18095216/cortana-version-3-2018-redesign-ios-release

    A voice assistant for those entrenched in the Microsoft ecosystem

    Reply
  10. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Why Windows Phone Failed – And How They Could’ve Saved It
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m60m25m3sD8

    Android: How Google Conquered the Smartphone Industry
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWWBn9XXZoc

    Android is a mobile operating system developed by Google, based on the Linux kernel and designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Android’s user interface is mainly based on direct manipulation, using touch gestures that loosely correspond to real-world actions, such as swiping, tapping and pinching, to manipulate on-screen objects, along with a virtual keyboard for text input. In addition to touchscreen devices, Google has further developed Android TV for televisions, Android Auto for cars, and Android Wear for wrist watches, each with a specialized user interface. Variants of Android are also used on game consoles, digital cameras, PCs and other electronics.

    Reply
  11. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Ben Schoon / 9to5Google:
    Google announces new naming convention for Wear OS, details System Version H with enhanced battery life and app switching, rolling out over the coming months

    Wear OS version ‘H’ update improves battery saver and standby, better app switching, more
    https://9to5google.com/2018/11/15/wear-os-version-h-battery-saver-app-switching/

    This year has seen some big improvements to Google’s Wear OS ecosystem. There’s been a ton of new hardware, major updates to the software, and even a new chipset with big promises. Today, Google is announcing Wear OS version H, and it delivers some big improvements for the OS.

    Detailed on the company’s support forums, Google is preparing to roll out a new update to Wear OS which is called “System Version H.”

    https://support.google.com/wearos/thread/563800?hl=en

    Reply
  12. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Qualcomm unveils Snapdragon Wear 3100 for next-gen Wear OS w/ improved battery life, performance
    https://9to5google.com/2018/09/10/snapdragon-wear-3100-qualcomm-wear-os/

    Reply
  13. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Makena Kelly / The Verge:
    FCC approves an order that will let some US phones access EU’s Galileo satellite system, potentially improving GPS

    FCC paves the way for improved GPS accuracy
    https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/15/18097154/fcc-ajit-pai-gps-location-accuracy-galileo

    The commission approved an order that will allow consumer devices to tap into a European satellite system

    The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) paved the way for improved GPS and location accuracy today, approving an order that will allow US phones to access a European satellite system.

    The order allows non-federal consumer devices to access the European Union’s version of GPS, which is also known as Galileo. The system is available globally, and it officially went live in 2016. By opening up access, devices that can retrieve a signal from both Galileo and the US GPS system will see improved timing estimates and location reliability. The iPhone 8 was the first Apple product to support it. Other phone models from Huawei and Samsung support the system, too.

    Reply
  14. Tomi Engdahl says:

    MiSafes’ child-tracking smartwatches are ‘easy to hack’
    https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-46195189

    A location-tracking smartwatch worn by thousands of children has proven relatively easy to hack.

    A security researcher found the devices neither encrypted the data they used nor secured each child’s account.

    As a result, he said, he could track children’s movements, surreptitiously listen in to their activities and make spoof calls to the watches that appeared to be from parents.

    Experts say the issues are so severe that the product should be discarded.

    Sales ban

    The Norwegian Consumer Council highlighted other cases of child-targeted smartwatches with security flaws last year.

    It said the MiSafes products appeared to be “even more problematic” than the examples it had flagged.

    “This is another example of unsecure products that should never have reached the market,” said Gro Mette Moen, the watchdog’s acting director of digital services.

    “Our advice is to refrain from buying these smartwatches until the sellers can prove that their features and security standards are satisfactory.”

    In the UK, Amazon used to sell the watches but has not had stock for some time.

    MiSafes previously made headlines in February when an Austrian cyber-security company discovered several flaws with its Mi-Cam baby monitors.

    Reply
  15. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Samsung Unrolls Foldable Display
    Devcon also launches tools for Bixby voice assistant
    https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1333949

    Samsung is months away from making a foldable display that will enable a smartphone to expand into a 7.3-inch tablet. The Korean giant aims to leapfrog Apple with the new form factor running a redesigned user interface now in beta.

    Samsung is expected to keep the displays proprietary to its Galaxy devices for at least the first year. The company makes higher profit margins on displays than mobile devices, creating pressure to release the components as merchant products, said analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy, predicting that the first foldable phones could sell for $1,599.

    “The appeal of a foldable is immediately evident to anyone who has seen or heard of it,” said Mike Feibus, analyst with Feibus Tech. “The natural number of personal devices is two — one you carry in a pocket and one put in a bag — so when a third one shows up, it’s because of a shortcoming in one or both of the other two.”

    Reply
  16. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Apple Said to Inspire Intel 5G Chip
    Integrated part leaves 2019 market to Qualcomm
    https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1333966

    Intel announced plans for an integrated 5G modem, targeting 2020, when the market is expected to be in full gear. The news could accelerate work on an integrated chipset from Qualcomm, which is expected to pick up the vast majority of the few sockets for 5G-only modems through 2019.

    Intel said that its XMM 8160, a 5G modem chipset also supporting LTE and 2G/3G, will ship in the second half of 2019, six months earlier than first planned. It will support data rates up to 6 Gbits/s and come in versions for millimeter-wave and sub-6-GHz bands, supporting standalone and non-standalone 5G modes.

    An earlier 5G-only modem, the XMM 8060, “is becoming a development platform” rather than a commercial product, said an Intel spokeswoman. Thus, Intel “will miss the 2019 5G launches, but it is targeting large-scale rollouts from customers such as Apple and [partner] Spreadtrum,” said Malik Saadi, vice president of strategic technologies for market watcher ABI Research.

    The commitment to an integrated part early in the 5G ramp suggests that Intel got backing from Apple, one or more large China handset makers, or both. “Intel could potentially secure at least 300 million-unit shipments for this first commercial 5G chip across its lifetime — not all chipset suppliers could claim such a performance,” said Saadi.

    ABI expects that as many as 728.7 million 5G devices will ship by the end of 2023. The market will start off slowly next year, with sales of about 18.5 million devices, it estimates.

    Reply
  17. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Startup Beats Samsung in Foldables
    Royole will sell handsets using its flex display in December
    https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1333956

    Samsung grabbed world headlines on Wednesday when it announced plans to ship a foldable smartphone sometime next year. But a little-known rival was actually first to announce such a product a few weeks ago and aims to beat the South Korean giant again by shipping it in December.

    Startup Royole started ramping a Gen6 fab for flexible displays at its Shenzhen headquarters in June. Its whopping $1.7 billion in private financing and staff of 2,000+ is matched by its outsized ambitions to become a conglomerate like Samsung selling both leading-edge displays and consumer devices that use them.

    Reply
  18. Tomi Engdahl says:

    http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/8716-seuraavaksi-alypuhelimeen-tulee-spektrianturi

    Nyt tulollaan on spektrianturi. Sillä voidaan esimerkiksi mitata verenpainetta tai aistia ruuan pilaantuminen. Sekö on älypuhelimeen seuraavaksi tulossa?

    Tähän Everke ei halua vastata. – Spektrianturin integroiminen pieneen laitteeseen onnistuu nopeastikin, mutta toisaalta lääketieteelliset hyväksynnät vievät aikaa.

    Älypuhelimessa anturin ei tarvitse saada lääketieteellistä hyväksyntää. Vaikka Everke ei sitä myönnäkään, voidaan ennustaa, että parissa kolmessa vuodessa älypuhelimemme aistii selvästi nykyistä enemmän.

    - Aloimme puhua 3D-kasvontunnistuksesta pari vuotta sitten. Nyt se on pian perustekniikkaa

    Reply
  19. Tomi Engdahl says:

    The WT2 in-ear translator arrives in January, with real-time feedback coming soon
    https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/19/the-wt2-in-ear-translator-arrives-in-january-with-real-time-feedback-coming-soon/?sr_share=facebook&utm_source=tcfbpage

    Timekettle was eager to show us the progress it’s made on the WT2 since it first showed us its wearable translation device at TechCrunch Shenzhen, this time last year. Unlike their 3D printed state at last year’s event, the crowdfunded earpieces are now ready to ship.

    The set up looks a bit like an oversized AirPods case that snaps together magnetically. The idea is to pull it apart and hand one side to the person you want to talk to.

    You choose the language via the app and each of you put one in your ear.

    The idea is create a translation product that allows wearers to actively engage one another through eye contact and body language — which remain important insight even when you don’t share a language.

    In plenty of situations, it’s probably a bridge to far to ask a stranger to jam your earpiece in their ear.

    Reply
  20. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Is Blue Light Actually Bad For You?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX7VFG524ZA

    Does blue light from your phone or computer negatively affect your ability to sleep?

    Reply
  21. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Wall Street Journal:
    Sources: Apple reduced production orders for all new iPhone models in recent weeks; iPhone XR production was slashed by up to one third of the initial 70M

    Apple Suppliers Suffer With Uncertainty Around iPhone Demand
    https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-suppliers-suffer-as-it-struggles-to-forecast-iphone-demand-1542618587

    In recent weeks, Apple slashed production orders for all three iPhone models that it unveiled in September

    Lower-than-expected demand for Apple Inc.’s AAPL -5.19% new iPhones and the company’s decision to offer more models have created turmoil along its supply chain and made it harder for Apple to predict the number of components and phones it needs, people familiar with the situation said.

    In recent weeks, Apple slashed production orders for all three of the iPhone models it unveiled in September, these people said, frustrating executives at Apple suppliers as well as workers who assemble the phones and their components.

    Forecasts have been especially problematic for the iPhone XR, Apple’s new lower-price model.

    The slowdown has ripped throughout Apple’s supply chain.

    Last week, big suppliers of iPhone components including Qorvo Inc., Lumentum Holdings Inc. and Japan Display Inc. cut their quarterly profit estimates, citing a reduction in previously placed orders from a large customer. Apple wasn’t named, but it accounts for a third to half of revenue for these companies

    At Foxconn Technology Co. , Apple’s largest iPhone assembler, thousands of workers have voluntarily left its Chinese plants earlier

    “The more choice you introduce, the harder it is to pinpoint who will buy what,”

    “Growth fixes a lot of sins,” the executive at an Apple supplier said. “When it slows, rocks start to show up in the bottom of the ocean.”

    Reply
  22. Tomi Engdahl says:

    http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/8747-kannykan-reunuksen-paksuus-riippuu-anturista

    TMD3702VC Color Light Sensor
    https://ams.com/TMD3702VC

    3-in-1 color light sensor, proximity sensor and IR VCSEL in a narrow 1.44mm optical module 1.8V I2C

    Reply
  23. Tomi Engdahl says:

    How to Find a Lost Smartphone
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXSjDGol_rs

    Losing your smartphone can feel like a catastrophe. How can you get it back?

    Reply
  24. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Ron Amadeo / Ars Technica:
    Google adds indoor positioning to Find My Device for Android 9 Pie phones, making it possible to find lost phones in places like malls, airports, and stadiums

    Google adds indoor positioning to Android’s Find My Device
    Get your lost phone’s pinpoint location, provided Google has the right map data.
    https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/11/googles-find-my-device-now-works-with-indoor-maps/

    Reply
  25. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Jon Porter / The Verge:
    Report: Apple has resumed production of iPhone X due to cuts in XS and XS Max orders and an obligation to buy certain amount of OLED panels from Samsung Display — Turning to the past to meet its OLED quotas — Apple has resumed production of the iPhone X due to weaker than expected demand …

    Apple resumes iPhone X production in face of weak XS sales, report claims
    312 comments
    Turning to the past to meet its OLED quotas
    https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/22/18107795/iphone-x-production-resumed-weak-demand-2018-models-rumor

    Takashi Mochizuki / Wall Street Journal:
    Sources: Apple is offering subsidies to network operators in Japan to shore up sales of iPhone XR, after an underwhelming launch of its least expensive phone

    Not So Big in Japan: Apple Cuts Price of iPhone XR to Boost Sales
    https://www.wsj.com/articles/not-so-big-in-japan-apple-cuts-price-of-iphone-xr-to-boost-sales-1542896625?tesla=y

    Japanese carriers will use subsidies from Apple to discount the cheapest new iPhone, after an underwhelming launch

    Reply
  26. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Andrew Orlowski / The Register:
    OpenSignal: average data speeds on mobile networks now outpace customer’s Wi-Fi connection, on average, in 33 countries like Australia, France, Turkey, Lebanon — And that means smartphones will need to get smarter — Ofcom’s top tech bod, Mansoor Hanif, recently gave the Wi-Fi industry a roasting …

    Mobile networks are killing Wi-Fi for speed around the world
    And that means smartphones will need to get smarter
    https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/11/23/mobile_v_wifi_speed_report/

    Ofcom’s top tech bod, Mansoor Hanif, recently gave the Wi-Fi industry a roasting, telling them to shape up to 5G or face sliding into irrelevance. New network data from around the world shows that slide has already begun.

    OpenSignal has found that mobile networks already outpace a customer’s Wi-Fi connection, on average, in 33 countries.

    Ian Fogg, VP of Analysis at OpenSignal, urged mobile networks and smartphone platforms to rethink some basic assumptions. Currently a phone gloms onto a Wi-Fi network whenever it can, assuming this provides the user with a superior internet connection. But increasingly, this not the case. All things being equal, more phones will be pushing more users to a worse experience.

    Huawei this week further illustrated the case for abandoning home broadband over 5G, something called 5G-FWA – we discussed the state of the art, and the pros and cons, here this week.

    But, wait! There’s a natural tension here for networks as 5G emerges. Every network is a constrained resource: if someone else’s is less constrained than yours, why not dump traffic there? Offloading the traffic onto a decent Wi-Fi connection makes sense for an operator.

    And it might be a necessity for a while.

    ensuring good coverage indoors in 5G’s early days will almost be as complicated as calling up the Cable Guy.

    “At 26/28GHz, there will need to be an outdoor unit, connected to an indoor Wi-Fi-enabled hub. But it will need power, either way. So either people need to run an electricity cable up the wall of the building, or drill a hole for a power-over-Ethernet cable between them. And install the outdoor antenna on a bracket (like satellite dishes of yore). Not self-install, and not great if you live in an apartment or rented house.”

    Note the reliance on Wi-Fi – still.

    Huawei is the only phone maker we can think of who performs a sanity check, switching your connection from a slow Wi-Fi link to a faster cellular connection.

    Reply
  27. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Karl Bode / Motherboard:
    Study of developed markets: US has the 5th highest per gigabyte prices in 4G smartphone plans and is the most expensive market in wireless home broadband plans — US consumers pay “excessive” prices for mobile data, research firm warns, adding that with looming mergers—it could soon get worse.

    US Wireless Data Prices Are Among the Most Expensive on Earth
    https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/j5zpw7/us-wireless-data-prices-are-among-the-most-expensive-on-earth

    US consumers pay “excessive” prices for mobile data, research firm warns, adding that with looming mergers—it could soon get worse.

    A new study has found that US wireless consumers pay some of the highest prices for mobile data in the developed world. According to a new study from Finnish research firm Rewheel, the US mobile data market has the fifth most expensive price per gigabyte smartphone plans among developed nations, and was the most expensive for mobile data overall.

    While the report notes that mobile data prices have dropped 11 percent during the last six months in the States, US mobile data pricing remained significantly higher than 41 countries in the European Union and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

    Reply
  28. Tomi Engdahl says:

    TikTok App Nears 80 Million U.S. Downloads After Phasing Out Musical.ly, Lands Jimmy Fallon as Fan
    https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/tiktok-jimmy-fallon-musically-app-downloads-1203032629/

    A little over three months ago, short-form social video app Musical.ly was shut down — and millions of users were forced to switch to TikTok, a similar app from Chinese internet giant Bytedance, which acquired Musical.ly last year.

    Since then, TikTok has been gaining momentum in the U.S. and across the globe. The app, which lets users create and share 15-second videos, has been downloaded and installed nearly 80 million times in the U.S. — including a record 3.8 million first-time downloads in October — and has about 795 million total installs to date (not including Android uses in China), per research firm Sensor Tower.

    Reply
  29. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Abby Ohlheiser / Washington Post:
    How lip-syncing video app TikTok got to 6M+ users in the US, in part by relieving job stress for workers like firefighters, military, and nurses
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/11/23/inside-tiktok-premier-app-firefighters-who-enjoy-lip-syncing-baby-shark/

    Reply
  30. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Laughable report suggests most iPhones in China bought by the ‘invisible poor’
    https://9to5mac.com/2018/11/22/iphones-in-china/

    A local research agency claims that most iPhones sold in China are bought by the ‘invisible poor’ – people who who are struggling financially but hide the fact.

    It claims that iPhone owners earn less, are less likely to own their own homes, and are less well educated …

    Reply
  31. Tomi Engdahl says:

    MEMs oscillator sensitivity to helium (helium kills iPhones)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvzWaVvB908

    I tested the 32KHz MEMs oscillator used in some phones, and discovered that just a 2% helium environment will cause the oscillator to fail. I also do a teardown of the MEMs device, and inspect it under the electron microscope.

    Reply
  32. Tomi Engdahl says:

    http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/8768-alypuhelin-netin-selva-ykkosalusta

    Britannian viestintäviraston eli Ofcomin tilastojen mukaan PC on menettänyt paikkansa webbiselailun ykköslaitteena ja alustana. Lähes puolet selaa webbiä älypuhelimella, mikä asettaa vaatimuksensa kaikille verkossa toimiville palveluille kaupoista uutissaitteihin.

    Reply
  33. Tomi Engdahl says:

    http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/8765-lg-patentoi-16-linssin-alypuhelinkameran

    Viimeistään nyt jokaiselle on selvää, että älypuhelin on tärkein kuvausväline ja itse asiassa kamera on hyvin usein laitteen tärkein osa. Hollantilainen LetsGoDigital raportoi, että korealainen LG on patentoinut älypuhelimen kamerarakenteen, jossa on peräti 16 linssiä.

    LetsGoDigital muistuttaa, että Nokia 9 Pureview -puhelimessa huhutaan olevan peräti viisi kamerakennoa.

    https://nl.letsgodigital.org/smartphones/lg-smartphone-camera/

    Reply
  34. Tomi Engdahl says:

    http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/8776-samsung-lisasi-tekoalyn-kannykkapiirilleen

    Applen ja Huawein puhelimien uudet tekoälyominaisuudet ovat ihastuttaneet monia käyttäjiä. Nyt suurin valmistaja Samsung vastaa haasteeseen uusimmalla Exynos-sarjan sovellusprosessorillaan

    Samsungin mukaan Exynos 9820-piiri suoriutuu tekoälylaskennasta uuden NPU-yksikön voimalla jopa seitsemän kertaa edeltäjäänsä nopeammin. Tämä tarkoittaa esimerkiksi selvästi nopeampaa kuvan tunnistusta tai kameran asetusten muokkaamista ympäristön mukaan.

    Reply
  35. Tomi Engdahl says:

    US mobile app stores had their biggest day ever on Black Friday 2018
    https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/30/u-s-mobile-app-stores-had-their-biggest-day-ever-on-black-friday-2018/?sr_share=facebook&utm_source=tcfbpage

    Black Friday wasn’t just a boon for e-commerce retailers, it helped the mobile app stores break new records, too.

    the combined consumer spending across the U.S. Apple App Store and Google Play on Black Friday 2018 reached $75.9 million

    Reply
  36. Tomi Engdahl says:

    PayPal: Black Friday & Cyber Monday broke records with $1B+ in mobile payment volume
    https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/30/paypal-black-friday-cyber-monday-broke-records-with-1b-in-mobile-payment-volume/?sr_share=facebook&utm_source=tcfbpage

    Black Friday broke records in terms of sales made from mobile devices, according to reports last week from Adobe. This week, PayPal said it saw a similar trend during the Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday shopping event. PayPal saw a record-breaking $1 billion+ in mobile payment volume for the first time ever on Black Friday

    Reply
  37. Tomi Engdahl says:

    http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/8794-alysormuksilla-ja-rannekkeilla-voi-pian-maksaa

    ABI Research ennustaa, että vuoteen 2021 mennessä puettavien laitteiden markkinat kasvavat 500 miljoonaan myytyyn laitteeseen vuodessa. Joka viidennellä näistä pystytään ennusteen mukaan tuolloin tekemään ostoksia. Tämä tarkoittaa sataa miljoonaa laitetta.

    Reply
  38. Tomi Engdahl says:

    http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/8792-virtuaalilasit-yleistyvat-edelleen-hitaasti

    Erilaiset VR- ja AR-sovellukset näyttävät hienolta ja niille löytyy yhä enemmän käyttöä myös ammattisovelluksissa, mutta lasien markkinat ovat edelleen aika ohuet. Tänä vuonna virtuaalilaseja myydään 28,4 miljoonaa kappaletta. Ensi vuonna määrä kasvaa 34,8 miljoonaan, ennustaa Gertner.

    Kaikkiaan puettavia laitteita myydään tänä vuonna 225 miljoonaa kappaletta. Näistä 53 miljoonaa on älykelloja, ja lähes 40 miljoonaa erilaisia aktiivisuusrannekkeita.

    Reply
  39. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Why Are Apple Products So Expensive?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQYVvaYGBf8

    Apple is known for charging a premium for its products. Why do they do this, and can they justify the cost?

    Reply
  40. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Apple Will Wait Until at Least 2020 to Release a 5G iPhone
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-03/apple-is-said-to-miss-rapid-5g-takeoff-sitting-out-tech-shift

    Next IPhone won’t connect to new faster networks, people say
    Company risks falling behind as rivals push speedier service

    Apple Inc. plans to hold off until at least 2020 before offering an iPhone that can connect to the next generation of high-speed phone services coming next year, according to people familiar with its plans.

    Reply
  41. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Shara Tibken / CNET:
    Samsung and Verizon will partner to release a 5G smartphone using Qualcomm processors in the first half of 2019, plan to show a concept device this week — One of the world’s first 5G phones will be coming to the US from Samsung and Verizon. — The two companies on Monday said they plan …

    Samsung, Verizon will partner on 5G smartphone in first half of 2019
    https://www.cnet.com/news/samsung-verizon-will-partner-on-5g-smartphone-in-first-half-of-2019/?ftag=COS-05-10aaa0b&linkId=60493856

    The device will use processors from Qualcomm, which is hosting a conference this week in Hawaii.

    Reply
  42. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Kyle Wiggers / VentureBeat:
    Gartner: 389M smartphones were sold to end users in Q3, up 1.4% YoY, but market leader Samsung dropped 14% YoY to 73M units, now at 18.9% marketshare — The global smartphone market’s continuing on a slow but steady uptick. That’s according to research firm Gartner, which today published …

    Gartner: Global smartphone shipments grew 1.4% in Q3 2018
    https://venturebeat.com/2018/12/03/gartner-global-smartphone-shipments-grew-1-4-in-q3-2018/

    “Led by low-price smartphones, enhanced camera features, and high-quality resolution displays, top Chinese mobile phone manufacturers boosted their sales across emerging markets in the third quarter of 2018,” Gupta said. “The gap between Samsung and Huawei continues to shrink

    Meanwhile, Apple’s performance was flat in Q3 2018, with an estimated 0.7 percent growth.

    “Apple’s iPhones are facing a saturated premium smartphone market, with slowing growth rates and increased competition in China,”

    Reply
  43. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Ultrasonic Tracking are Beacons on the Rise: Are There Threats?
    https://www.eeweb.com/profile/kilpatrickharold/articles/ultrasonic-tracking-are-beacons-on-the-rise-are-there-threats?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=ad&utm_medium=EDNFunFriday-20181130

    There are numerous scenarios in which ultrasonic tracking beacons can be surreptitiously used and misused

    An ultrasonic beacon is a relatively new technology that various institutions use to track consumers. It is an inaudible sound with encoded data that can be used on a listening device to receive information. This information could be just about anything, and such beacons are finding an ever-growing range of potential uses. For example, an ultrasonic beacon could be installed inside a place of business for beaming out promotional information to passersby. Likewise, museums and other similar institutions can use ultrasonic beacons to augment guided tours.

    Reply

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