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Category: Electronics

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest Electronics news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • Razer to Support Fintech Community

    Razer to Support Fintech Community

    Razer Fintech, the financial technology arm of Singapore gaming and technology brand Razer, is partnering with the Singapore Fintech Association (SFA) to address business continuity concerns, high business costs, funding and employment issues arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.

    The partnership will leverage Razer’s $50 million Covid-19 fund to support business partners and help them tide over the negative impact brought about by the virus outbreak.

    Four pillars of support are being provided: cash flow and marketing support programs; partnerships or investment for best-in-class companies; support for certification, screening and reference checks; and joint networking events, according to an announcement on Thursday.

    Assistance in the form of bridge financing, equity or equity-linked instruments ranging from $100,000 to $1.5 million is also available.

    We look forward to working closely with SFA to achieve the objectives we have in mind, which is to ensure sustainability and growth for the fintech community here in Singapore, said Razer chief strategy officer and Razer Fintech CEO Li Meng Lee said about the partnership.

    Razer Fintech is one of the largest offline-to-online digital payment networks in Southeast Asia and has processed billions of dollars in total payment value since its establishment in 2018. Razer is part of a consortium that is vying for one of five licenses in Singapore’s digital banking regime.

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  • Sales of Galaxy S20 underwhelm amid pandemic

    Sales of Galaxy S20 underwhelm amid pandemic

    Sales of Samsung Electronics’ latest flagship series Galaxy S20 are hovering below those of its predecessor as the global new coronavirus pandemic has led to a slump in demand for consumer products, industry sources say.

    South Korean sales of the Galaxy S20 series, which comes in three models — the S20, S20 Plus and S20 Ultra — are estimated to have accounted for only 60 percent of the sales of the Galaxy S10 series so far, according to sources from local mobile carriers.

    The South Korean tech giant, which has not been providing official numbers, estimated the sales were roughly 80 percent of the Galaxy S10 5G series.

    The decrease apparently came as consumer sentiment was seriously impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to economic jitters around the globe.

    Reflecting the weaker-than-expected performance, Samsung is estimated to have posted an operating profit of around 2.5 trillion won (US$2 billion) or below for the first quarter from the IT & mobile communications division, which oversees the smartphone business.

    The company will report its finalized earnings later this month.

    Samsung’s operating profit from the sector reached 2.9 trillion won in the third quarter of 2019, which slipped to 2.5 trillion won a quarter later

    Industry tracker Strategy Analytics earlier said global shipments of smartphones are estimated to reach 1 billion units, revising down its previous estimate of 1.3 billion units.

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  • Expansion during pandemic: Apple’s services arrive in many new markets and regions

    Expansion during pandemic: Apple’s services arrive in many new markets and regions

    Apple will be expanding Apple Music, the App Store, and other services to a whole trove of new markets in Africa, the Middle East, Oceania, and several nations across the Balkan peninsula in what could be perceived as the largest geographical expansion in nearly a decade. Back in 2012, more than a billion and a half people in India, Russia, and other countries gained access to Apple’s services.

    Cupertino is bringing the App Store to 20 new countries, 8 in Africa (Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Libya, Morocco, Rwanda and Zambia) and a dozen others across the globe, bringing the grand total of supported countries to 179, but wait until you learn of the gains Apple Music is making. The music streaming answer to Spotify is now available in 52 new countries and regions across the world, bringing the toal tally to 167 countries. As a comparison, Spotify only operates in 79 countries. Arriving on most developing markets also commands a pretty important change for Apple Music’s terms and conditions: while the service costs $9.99 a month and offers a three-month free trial in the US and most developed markets, Apple Music will go for $4.99 a month and offer a six-month free trial in most of the new markets.

    The bid here is pretty clear – as global smartphone sales go down and consumers are less likely to upgrade their devices every second year, Apple has put the larger focus onto its services division, which is expected to become the next big revenue gainer for the world’s largest tech company. For the last fiscal year, the services division as accounted for 17.8% of its $260.1 billion in revenue.

    With a userbase of 1.5 billion active devices across the world, Apple surely has lots of potential for increasing the subscriber numbers of its Apple TV+, Apple News+, and Apple Music services. Indeed, Apple strives to have a grand total of 600 million subscribers by the end of 2020. Yet, the largest money pig for Apple is the App Store, as it grants Apple between 15 and 30% of all app sales and in-app purchases.

    How would this expansion of services affect a world economy vastly crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic and a userbase isolating itself at home? Logic suggests that Apple should see a steady increase of subscribers across the board, but the jury is still out on the data itself. Moreover, earlier reports suggested that Apple TV+ might not be a smash-hit-video-streaming service just yet, as it reportedly suffered heavy new subscriber losses from sworn rivals Netflix, HBO Now, and Disney+.

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  • Samsung to double down on cheaper 5G phones to tackle sales slump

    Samsung to double down on cheaper 5G phones to tackle sales slump

    Smartphone shipments are expected to fall by over 10% this year because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The situation is affecting all brands yet it seems Samsung is in an even tougher position following the poor reception of the Galaxy S20 series.

    Samsung has been betting heavily on 5G-ready smartphones ever since it announced the premium Galaxy S10 5G in early 2019. That phone was eventually followed by the Galaxy Note 10+ 5G and the Galaxy A90 5G, two very expensive offerings.

    This year the strategy is all about taking the technology mainstream. The South Korean giant has already introduced the Galaxy A51 5G and Galaxy A71 5G, priced at $499 and $599 respectively, but is now expected to double down on next-gen network support.

    The exact plans remain unclear at this stage but Samsung is reportedly working on an updated Galaxy A series that incorporates even more 5G-ready smartphones. Crucially, these will be even cheaper in the hope of attracting consumers on tighter budgets.

    The global financial crisis is going to make selling smartphones this year harder than ever – global sales tumbled a humongous 38% annually in February – and Samsung along with other top manufacturers aren’t under any illusions that the worst is behind them.

    But Samsung does believe that, if something is going to convince people to upgrade in 2020, it will be 5G. After all, next-gen networks grant access to unprecedented upload and download speeds that make cloud gaming and video streaming, among other things, easier and more seamless than ever.

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  • Apple could use powerful 5nm A14X Bionic chipset for 5G iPad Pro in 2020-2021

    Apple could use powerful 5nm A14X Bionic chipset for 5G iPad Pro in 2020-2021

    When Apple introduced the new 2020 iPad Pro tablets last month, we were surprised to find that instead of an A13X Bionic chipset, both the 11-inch and 12.9-inch models were equipped with the A12Z Bionic SoC. Apple quickly stated that the new slates deliver the “highest performance ever in an iPad.” And that may be true, but a tweet disseminated the other day by TechInsights states that the GPU architecture used on the A12Z Bionic is the same as the one used on the A12X Bionic found inside the 2018 iPad Pro units.

    The A12X Bionic and A12Z Bionic are both built with the same 7nm process node by TSMC and have the same octa-core configuration (four high-performance CPU cores and four energy efficient-cores) and memory. The only difference is that seven of the eight GPU cores on the A12X Bionic were activated while all eight are activated on the A12Z Bionic. Both chips have a maximum CPU clock speed of 2.49GHz.

    >Perhaps we will see an A13 Bionic chipset on a new iPad mini that might surface later this year. TF International’s Ming-Chi-Kuo says that in 2020, Apple will unveil a 7.9-inch iPad mini tablet sporting a mini-LED display. The latter will be used as Apple slowly transitions to micro-LED screens; mini-LED screens are similar to AMOLED displays in that they offer a wide color gamut and do not require the use of a backlight. This means that like OLED panels, the color black is created by turning off pixels in the appropriate area. Dark Mode reverses the look of the UI from black text on a white background to white text on a black background; this prevents the blinding white background from hurting and irritating eyes in a dark room or at night. Those using Dark Mode will see a slight improvement in the battery life of their tablet since pixels turned off do not draw on the device’s battery.

    If Apple decides to introduce a new iPad mini this fall, it would probably be equipped with the same A13 Bionic that currently powers the iPhone 11 family. After all, Apple equipped last year’s iPad mini with the A12 Bionic.

    There is speculation that Apple decided not to create an A13X Bionic for the new iPad Pro units because outside of adding the LiDar depth sensor and the improved camera setup on the back, nothing on the updated units require additional heavy lifting by the processor. It also gives Apple the chance to design its first chipsets for the iPad that will be produced using TSMC’s 5nm process node (the A14X Bionic).

    The 2020 iPhone 12 series will be powered by the 5nm A14 Bionic. With an 84% increase in transistor density, the A14 Bionic could contain as many as 15 billion transistors each compared to the 8.5 billion shoehorned into the A13 Bionic and the 10 billion transistors found in the A12X Bionic. While this much power would seem to be overkill for a new iPad mini, it would be perfect for the next variant of the iPad Pro. And the latter could be coming later this year if Apple decides to ship a 5G version of its top-of-the-line tablet. The A14X Bionic could make its debut on 5G versions of the 11-inch  and 12.9-inch iPad Pro tablets.

    While tablet sales have been struggling for years, the iPad had a couple of good quarters during the second half of fiscal 2019. And thanks to the coronavirus outbreak, game-playing teens, those taking classes or working from home, and people who enjoy viewing streamed content are now in the market to buy their first tablet or to upgrade an older model.

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  • Apple starts registering COVID-19 testing locations

    Apple starts registering COVID-19 testing locations

    Testing for COVID-19 is still a tough endeavor, as finding testing facilities can be difficult. You have to do extensive research or rely on dubious third-party apps to guide you to the nearest testing center. Apple will make things easier, however, with a new Apple Maps feature. The company has launched a dedicated web page that allows hospitals, labs, and healthcare centers to register as COVID-19 testing locations.

    The process is pretty simple. A hospital that performs COVID-19 testing has to download and fill a template form, then email it to Apple. The latter will review the application and reach out to verify the details if necessary. The idea is for confirmed locations to be displayed on Apple Maps to help people find a nearby COVID-19 testing center.

    Apart from contact information about testing facilities, Apple Maps will list other useful details like working hours, referral or appointment requirements, the specific kind of COVID-19 testing being performed, as well as the type of the facility – building, drive-through, lab, etc.

    It will probably take some time before you start seeing those locations on your phone, however. Healthcare organizations have to apply and get verified, which takes time. Nevertheless, offering such integration within Apple Maps will give people a secure and easy way to find the nearest testing site if they feel their condition requires a test.

    Last month, Apple released a free COVID-19 app that includes a self-testing tool from the CDC that tells you whether you need to see a doctor or get tested. When testing locations start to show on Apple Maps, it will be even easier for people to react if they feel sick or uneasy about the current COVID-19 situation.

  • Samsung Display workers asked to be quarantined in Vietnam

    Samsung Display workers asked to be quarantined in Vietnam

    Based on a statement released by the anti-COVID-19 task force of Vietnam’s Bac Giang province, a worker at the Samsung Display factory’s EQC-SI unit, age 25, had tested COVID-19 positive on Sunday.

    This led to the quarantine of all 44 people in that unit, while the factory, located in the province of Bac Ninh, and buses used for transporting workers have been additionally sprayed with disinfectants. Samsung has confirmed the case, while noting that Samsung Display’s production lines in the country have not been affected.

    Samsung is Vietnam’s largest foreign investor, and the world’s largest OLED screen manufacturer, holding over 90% of the entire market.

    Worldwide, most smartphone companies have been experiencing various setbacks due to the coronavirus pandemic. Phone sales hit a 10-year low in sales, as people are increasingly reluctant to update their older smartphones or purchase expensive new flagships due to the financial uncertainty the virus brings.

    We recently reported that an Apple supply partner in Taiwan prepared for decreased production in the upcoming months, while COVID-19 is also expected to delay the manufacturing processes of many other companies’ upcoming flagship and 5G smartphones.

    Several tech companies took measures towards supporting their customers and various affected groups around the world during the coronavirus pandemic. Apple is letting Apple Card users skip monthly payments without occurring interest, and is donating millions of dollars towards the fight against COVID-19. Samsung began offering door-to-door servicing of their Galaxy products in some regions, encouraging customers to remain safely at home. In addition, Google recently made its Premium Google Meet service free until the end of this year, in an effort to help businesses and schools remain connected.

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  • iPhone maker Foxconn reports that March revenue is 60% up

    iPhone maker Foxconn reports that March revenue is 60% up

    The notorious electronics manufacturer has reported a rise in revenue for March 2020, equating to 59.9%. After having to stop most of its production during the initial breakout of coronavirus in China, Foxconn has been steadily going back to its normal working capacity in recent weeks. Initially suffering losses in revenue, particularly in the first three months of 2020, it appears that the company is recovering. Some of its products though is still being affected by travel restrictions, causing delays in product testing and other assistance from its clients.

    Half of the world’s iPhones are made at Foxconn, with other popular products such as iPad, iPod, and game consoles Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation and Xbox also being partly or fully manufactured at their facilities.

    2020 has expectedly been a difficult year for businesses, with almost all smartphone companies suffering losses in revenue. Apple, however, has reportedly enjoyed a $56 billion revenue in the first quarter of 2020, 8% higher than last year, with its upcoming 5G iPhones expected to prove even more profitable for the Cupertino company. All of this, of course, equates to more business for its partner, Foxconn.

    Foxconn has been the subject of many controversies over the years, most notably allegations over appalling working conditions. In 2012, during its production of Wii U consoles, the company was found in violation of Nintendo’s Corporate Social Responsibility Procurement Guidelines, confessing to the employment of children under the age of 16 in one of its factories.

    Despite the waves of negative attention, Foxconn remains the world’s largest provider of electronics manufacturing services.

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  • Samsung Internet Browser beta shows privacy and interface improvements

    Samsung Internet Browser beta shows privacy and interface improvements

    Samsung devices come with the South Korean giant’s own app ecosystem, including an email client and an internet browser app. And although most Android users usually stick with Google’s offerings, namely Gmail and Google Chrome, Samsung’s own internet browser is becoming a respectable alternative to the latter.

    In its new beta version, the Samsung Internet app brings a number of security and privacy-related updates, including support for DuckDuckGo, which is a search engine that’s primarily focused on user privacy, its tagline being “The Search Engine That Doesn’t Track You.”

    Another great addition is support for third party content (advertising) blockers. SamMobile also reports that a new feature called “Block unwanted pages” will combat shady websites that would normally be a hassle to get out of, requiring several back button taps.

    The Samsung Internet Beta app also introduces some convenient customizations, such as the ability to add shortcuts to actions like Share or activating Secret Mode (an alternative to Incognito in Chrome) to the menu bar.

    Its other notable features include support for progressive web apps, allowing for certain websites to be installed as apps. Samsung’s Video Assistant also made a return recently, letting users switch between viewing modes while watching videos. 360° video support and an Amazon Shopping assistant, allowing for comparing products and finding deals, are also available.

    The browser itself is based on the open-source Chromium project, much like Chrome and Microsoft’s new Edge browser, so web pages should load and behave as they do in those alternatives, with no issues.

    It’s not certain if all of the features seen in the beta will make it to the main Samsung Internet Browser app, and when, though generally a jump from beta shouldn’t take too long.

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  • Leak reveals that iOS 14 will include Android features that iPhone users have long wanted

    Leak reveals that iOS 14 will include Android features that iPhone users have long wanted

    In the long-running smartphone OS war known as iOS vs. Android, one of the biggest complaints about Apple’s mobile OS is that it is not as customizable as Android. But Twitter tipster @DongleBookPro has shared some screenshots allegedly showing some changes to iOS 14. These changes could be included in the next version of the software that could drop this coming September. Google gave its Pixel phones a huge advantage over iOS in this department by adding its Styles & wallpapers feature last year. This allows Pixel users to change the shape and color of the icons on their phone.

    Will iOS 14 brings more customization to iPhone users? It appears from the screenshots that iPhone users will be able to browse through default wallpaper separated into collections with choices like “Classic Stripes,” “Earth & Moon,” and “Flowers.” Another screenshot shows a “Home Screen Appearance” feature similar to the one found on the Apple Watch. Users will be able to create smart dynamic wallpaper for the home screen. But even more exciting for iPhone users is the possibility that Android-style widgets could be coming to the iPhone.

    Another feature on iOS 14 that is being called “Avocado” internally and is related to the SpringBoard app that controls the Home screen on iOS. If Apple decides to implement this on iOS 14, iPhone and iPad users will be able to select widgets from selected apps and add them to the Home screen, moving them around at will. And this would also suggest that at last iOS users will be able to move around app icons at will rather in a left to the right format. Otherwise, you would see app icons on the Home screen placed around widgets, some of which might take up a more significant portion of the screen than others.

    It’s not like Apple hasn’t listened to its customers-eventually. Remember, iOS 13 finally got rid of that clunky volume heads-up display (HUD) that covered much of the center of the screen. The point being, of course, that while iOS users might have been hoping for more app icon customization and Android-style widgets for some time, eventually the complaints do make it through to the ears of the appropriate people in Cupertino.

    Keep in mind though, that there is always the possibility that Apple will decide not to keep any of the aforementioned features in the final version of iOS 14. If that is the case, it simply could mean that Apple plans on offering all of this customization in a future version of the operating system. Speaking of iOS 14, we probably will see Apple introduce it online during its annual WWDC Developers Conference. Held every June in San Jose, Apple had no choice but to move the conference online after the coronavirus outbreak.

    With a redesign for the iPhone and the addition of 5G connectivity, this might be a good time for Apple to add some long-desired customization features to iOS. Still, some iOS users might not be terribly happy to see blank icon slots on their iPhone screens. On Android, this is quite common because when an app is uninstalled, it doesn’t call for a seismic shift with all of the remaining app icons. When an app is uninstalled on the iPhone, the remaining icons all move in order to prevent that one blank spot from appearing on the display. If Apple does add “Avocado” to iOS 14, blank spots just might be the price that users have to pay to get that customizable app icon grid that they have been jealously watching Android users mess around with with going back so many years.

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  • Samsung beats first-quarter estimates, despite virus-driven retail slump

    Samsung beats first-quarter estimates, despite virus-driven retail slump

    Samsung Electronics has delivered better-than-expected first-quarter earnings as robust demand for chips apparently offset a slump in smartphone and home appliance sales amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

    But analysts warned that the company may feel the pinch of the COVID-19 outbreak during the current quarter.

    The South Korean tech giant put its March-quarter operating profit at 6.4 trillion won (US$5.2 billion), up 2.73 percent from 6.23 trillion won a year ago.

    It beat the market consensus of 6.19 trillion won in operating profit in the survey conducted by Yonhap Infomax, the financial arm of Yonhap News Agency, on 20 Korean brokerage houses.

    Samsung recorded an 11.6-per-cent operating margin in the first quarter, the lowest since the third quarter of 2016.

    Samsung, the world’s leading memory chip and smartphone vendor, did not break down performances of its respective business divisions, saying it will announce the detailed earnings later this month.

    Analysts in Seoul said Samsung’s semiconductor business may have helped the company stay afloat amid the novel coronavirus crisis on the back of increased demand for server chips for data centers and a steady rise in memory-chip prices.

    “Increased non-face-to-face activities prompted by the COVID-19 outbreak has led to a surge in data traffic and server expansion,” Kim Dong-won, an analyst at KB Securities, said.

    “It pushed up the average selling prices of memory chips.”

    However, smartphone and home-appliance sales may have slumped in the face of weak demand amid the COVID-19 outbreak around the globe, the analysts said.

    Samsung had to temporarily shut down about one-fourth of its global manufacturing bases, including those in India, Brazil and Russia, amid the spread of COVID-19. Last month, it even shifted some of its premium smartphone production from South Korea to Vietnam.

    Samsung also had to close its home-appliance stores in North America and other countries and asked consumers to buy products online.

    Analysts said Samsung is expected to have shipped only 60 million smartphones in the first quarter, down from 72 million units a year ago, despite the launch of its new flagship smartphone line, the Galaxy S20, last month, as COVID-19 limited marketing activities.

    Postponement of major sporting events, such as the Tokyo Summer Olympics and the UEFA Euro Championship, also dealt a hard blow to Samsung’s TV sales, they added.

    Analysts predicted Samsung’s mobile and consumer-electronics units to have posted an operating profit of 2.4 trillion won and 400 billion won, respectively, in the first quarter.

    In particular, Samsung’s display business may have suffered an operating loss in the January-March period due to the double whammy of projected slumps in mobile and TV sales, according to analysts.

    Analysts expected Samsung’s mobile and TV businesses to take a heavier toll in the second quarter as the pandemic is likely to further dampen demand for mobile handsets and home appliances in advanced markets like North America and Europe.

    “Samsung’s smartphone business suffered relatively little impact from COVID-19 in the first quarter as it does not rely much on the Chinese market,” Yoo Jong-woo, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities, said.

    “The company started to see its smartphone shipments taking COVID-19 impact from mid-March as it spread across the US and Europe.”

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  • Samsung responds to critics over Exynos 990-Snapdragon 865 performance gap

    Samsung responds to critics over Exynos 990-Snapdragon 865 performance gap

    Just a day or so ago, we told you that some members of Samsung’s chip unit were feeling “humiliated.” That’s because Samsung decided to power its three new flagship models with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Mobile Platform everywhere except Europe. On that continent, the Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20+, and Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G are equipped with the Exynos 990 SoC produced by Samsung. This is the opposite of Sammy’s traditional processor pairings; historically, Galaxy S phones sold in the U.S. and China would be equipped with a Snapdragon chipset while the rest of the world would find an Exynos SoC under the hood.

    The lone exception to this setup (prior to this year) took place in 2015 when the Samsung Galaxy S6 was powered by the Exynos 7420 worldwide. Fears that the Snapdragon 810 was prone to overheating lead Samsung to make this move. So imagine that you work on the Exynos 990 in South Korea for Samsung and you discover that in that market, the only versions of the Galaxy S20 models available are those powered by the Snapdragon 865 Mobile Platform. That might humiliate you.

    Samsung said on Friday that “the Galaxy S20 is a smartphone that’s been reimagined to change the way you experience the world and depending on the region, the Galaxy S20 will either ship with the Exynos 990 or the Snapdragon 865. Both the Exynos and Snapdragon processors go through the same strict and rigorous, real-life testing scenarios in order to deliver consistent and optimal performance over the entire lifecycle of the smartphone.”

    Some Samsung fans in Europe are upset because they feel like they are paying more for what they consider an inferior product. That’s because they don’t consider the Exynos 990 to be a match for the Snapdragon 865. There are some who note that the Exynos 990 has a habit of throttling the GPU, negatively impacting the frame rate when playing a game; that can result in choppy looking animation.

    In addition, the Snapdragon 865 Mobile Platform uses ARM Holdings’ Cortex-A77 CPU cores providing it with a 20% performance advantage over the Exynos 990 chipset which uses the older Cortex-A76 CPU cores. And the GPU paired with Qualcomm’s SoC, the Adreno 650, outperforms the ARM Mali G77 GPU used with the Exynos 990.

    Last month, we told you that a petition was started on the Change.org website asking Samsung to stop selling flagship phones powered by its own Exynos chips. The petition has a goal of 35,000 signatures and as of this morning, it has attracted 34,222 leaving it just 778 short of the target.

    The actual petition reads, “Outside of the US, Samsung sells phones that use their own-branded Exynos SoC chips, instead of using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon. Samsung also use (sic) their own-brand camera sensors, whereas in the US, they use parts from specialists Sony. Based on experience, and studies from numerous sources online, we believe Samsung’s parts to be inferior to their US counterparts. Phones with Exynos SoC chips are shown to perform slower, have less battery life, use inferior camera sensors and processing, overheat and throttle faster, amongst other issues.”

    It goes on to say, “At the very least, we would appreciate if Samsung were transparent about their inconsistencies. Alternatively, for Samsung to ensure we weren’t paying the exact same price or even higher than our US friends. We have had to accept this over many years over different iterations of the flagship phones. Every year we have hoped for Samsung to either give us the same device or make their own parts perform on par with the competition. They have failed to deliver on these requests over and over again and the performance gap only seems to widen over time. In the age of transparency, it is time for a change and for us consumers to have the right to choose what we spend our hard-earned money on.

    Samsung, please hear us! We love your devices and want to be treated fairly so that we can continue to enjoy them.” Even if the manufacturer takes the time to read the petition, there is no guarantee that it will follow through on the request with future flagship models.

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  • Apple accidentally confirms the AirTags name for its tracking accessory

    Apple accidentally confirms the AirTags name for its tracking accessory

    Yesterday we told you that there was speculation about when Apple might finally unveil its Apple AirTags item tracker. The latest rumor has the AirTags being announced during the online version of WWDC. As you might know, the COVID-19 outbreak has forced Apple to move its annual developer’s conference to the internet although it has yet to release a date for it to be streamed. Since this is a whole new product category for the company, Apple would prefer to have it introduced and demonstrated by a company executive online instead of merely issuing a press release.

    Throughout last summer, there was a strong sense that Apple would announce the tags at its annual September iPhone event, and when it wasn’t, many figured that the project had been 86’d. But leaked images soon made it apparent that the AirTags project was still alive. AirTags are said to be circular tags with a removable battery that can be attached to items such as a keychain, a pet collar, bicycle, luggage, and more. Heck, it can even be used to track an untrustworthy spouse.

    The AirTags will work in conjunction with the Find My app and will rely on the U1 ultra-wideband, or UWB chip that was quietly included with the 2019 iPhone models. The chip sends out short-distance radio waves using Time of Flight; these radio waves bounce off the subject and return to the phone to help deliver a more precise location where a missing item might be found. The chip might also be used with the CarKey feature expected to arrive in iOS 14; CarKey will allow an iPhone user to open his/her car door and start the engine remotely with the phone. UWB can reportedly locate a tagged item within four inches of its actual location.

    A video that Apple left on the internet today for 15 minutes before removing (it received 1,500 views) revealed that the accessory will indeed be called AirTags. The video was created to show iPhone users how to wipe their handset (and we don’t mean wiping with an antibiotic cleaner). In the video, we can see a menu with a section called “Enable Offline Finding.” Under that listing, it reads, “Offline finding enables this device and AirTags to be found when not connected to Wi-Fi or cellular,” So this pretty much confirms the AirTags name. This also endorses the use of the USB U1 chip for the tracking system.

    A string of code discovered last year revealed some directions for finding a tagged item using AirTags. The code said, “Walk around several feet and move your iPhone up and down until a balloon comes into view.” Leaked images showed a 3D red balloon and a 2D orange balloon that will apparently surface when an AirTags user moves closer to a tagged item. If an item is missing, the tag it is connected to can be put in “Lost Mode.” With this setting enabled, an iPhone user who stumbles across the tag will be able to send an iMessage to the owner to work out a way to address the missing item back to its rightful owner.

    Earlier this year, reliable TF International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo called for the AirTags to be unveiled during the second or third quarter of this year.  At this point, it would appear that he is going to be correct. He also forecasts that 10 million AirTags will be produced before the end of this year.

  • Huawei CEO would like Google to submit its apps on Huawei’s AppGallery store

    Huawei CEO would like Google to submit its apps on Huawei’s AppGallery store

    Huawei just released its new flagship line, the P40 series, and with it promised some appealing camera-related features for smartphone photography. Unfortunately for Huawei though, last year, the US government added the China-based company to a trade blacklist, making the company unable to do business with American companies and therefore, there are no Google apps on its new flagship devices.

    However, Huawei’s CEO, Eric Xu, stated that the company hopes Google’s apps would be available in the AppGallery Store, Huawei’s version of the Google Play Store. He compared it with the case of Apple’s App Store, where Google submits its apps for Apple’s approval. If Google submits its apps on the AppGallery, this could make them available for download on Huawei smartphones.

    Although the lack of Google apps on Huawei smartphones might not be a problem for the company’s home market, given the fact that Google apps are prohibited in China, this seems like a big minus for international customers. Eric Xu said that the blacklist caused Huawei a $10 billion benefit shortfall for 2019, meaning the company’s revenue was $10 billion lower than its target.

    Last month, Google submitted a request for permission to work with Huawei, but it can take quite some time for such procedures to be completed, even if the US government was to approve Google’s request. For now, there is no prospect that Google’s apps will come pre-installed on Huawei smartphones in the near future.

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  • Apple Store workers are being asked to work from home

    Apple Store workers are being asked to work from home

    Last month, a leaked internal memo revealed that Apple plans on reopening on a staggered basis, the 458 retail stores it owns outside of China. Apple hoped to start opening these locations during the first two weeks of this month, although whether this happens remains to be seen. In China, the company has reopened all 42 Apple Store locations as the country claims to be on the mend.

    While the Apple employees that man the 458 closed stores are stuck at home, Bloomberg reports that the company is asking some of them to work from home answering technical support questions as part of the AppleCare team. Those who want to participate must set up a workspace in a quiet room in their home with the ability to accommodate the 27-inch Mac that Apple will send to workers. These makeshift workspaces also must have a strong internet connection, and the employees need to go through a two-week virtual training course.

    The report notes that Apple Store employees were sent forms to fill out in order to apply for the technical support jobs. Those who aren’t interested in answering these calls from home are asked to explain why. Despite this, Apple claims that the program is not mandatory and that all of its retail employees are still getting paid their full paychecks and receiving their benefits whether they participate in the program or not.

    But those who cannot work from home have concerns. They worry that by not agreeing to answer AppleCare and technical support calls from their home, they will look bad in the eyes of their managers. To be sure, there are Apple Store employees happy to help out during the crisis although others don’t understand why they are being asked to do this work. This latter group notes that Apple already promised them their full pay and benefits just for staying home.

    While Apple had started the work from the home program a few weeks ago, over the last week it has reached out in earnest to Apple Store employees seeking to fill the gaps in the AppleCare system. On Friday, the tech giant’s retail chief, Deirdre O’Brien, said that the recruiting “has been going great.”

    Most of Apple’s engineers are working from home and Apple has been reimbursing these employees for desks and computer monitors needed to set up a home office. Apple is also sending tips to employees on how best to create an ergonomic environment. And it also is allowing, with permission from those in the higher ranks of the company, some engineers to take home unfinished hardware and software to work on. The COVID-19 pandemic is resulting in the delay of new products. Apple did launch its two new iPad Pro tablets a couple of weeks ago, although they reportedly were manufactured back in January. The budget-priced iPhone 9, originally rumored to be introduced on March 31st, is now expected to first see the light of day on April 15th with its release a week later. And today, contract manufacturer Foxconn said that it still hopes to have the upcoming 5G 2020 iPhone models ready in time for the holiday shopping season.< Apple originally closed its Apple Stores in China on February 3rd. As new domestic infections started to decline sharply in the country, Apple reopened these locations on March 13th. The very next day, all of the firm's brick and mortar stores outside of China were shuttered. At first, Apple said that those stores would be closed until March 27th, but that was later revised to "until further notice." And while the aforementioned leaked memo from O’Brien discusses reopening all closed stores this month, Apple might take a more conservative path and keep the stores closed for a few additional weeks.