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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.

  • Samsung arm increases ownership in Vietnam IT firm

    Samsung arm increases ownership in Vietnam IT firm

    South Korea’s Samsung SDS has bought a five- percent stake on the market in leading IT services provider CMC Corporation.

    Its combined 30 percent stake now, after buying a 25 percent stake comprising newly issued shares last month, is reportedly worth over $40 million.

    CMC said it would use most of the proceeds for developing Internet of things (IOT) and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies with Samsung SDS, the systems development subsidiary of Samsung Electronics.

    CMC Chairman and CEO Nguyen Trung Chinh said this commitment from Samsung would propel CMC into the global league in the next five years and double its overseas sales to more than 30 percent of total sales by 2023.

    CMC also aims to integrate its IT systems with Samsung SDS’s and use IOT and AI to automate production lines, a model that would be implemented first in Vietnam before being exported to other markets, he said.

    Samsung SDS had announced in late July it would buy a 25 percent stake in CMC through a private placement, which it hoped would accelerate its foray into Vietnam’s fledgling cloud market and other markets in Southeast Asia.

    Samsung Electronics has two smartphone factories in the northern provinces of Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen, which produce more than 150 million units a year, or half of Samsung’s all global sales.

    It also has a home appliances factory in Ho Chi Minh City. Last year Samsung products accounted for over $60 billion of Vietnam’s exports, or around 25 percent of its total.

    Founded in 1993, CMC is one of Vietnam’s largest IT services companies with revenues of VND5.23 trillion ($224 million) in 2018.

    The Hanoi company has eight subsidiaries and 3,000 employees, and it works mainly in system integration, software development, cloud computing, and IT infrastructure management.

    The strategic partnership would also help CMC’s goal of reaching $1 billion in sales by 2023, Chinh said.

  • Thinkware dash cams opens flagship store in Singapore

    Thinkware dash cams opens flagship store in Singapore

    Dash cam firm Thinkware is opening a flagship store in Singapore.

    The Thinkware Singapore store will provide a suite of services including troubleshooting, warranty services, dash cam maintenance and repairs. In addition to after-sales services, Thinkware will also exhibit its top dash cams at the venue – including the X700 and latest U1000 models that feature the firm’s Cat-M1 Internet of Things technology and Thinkware Cloud. Customers will also be able to access other enhanced recording and supplementary smart car technologies such as alarm systems and Apple carplay head units, among others.

    The Serangoon North Ave launch comes at a time when the company is on its international business expansion phase within the automotive industry.

    “Thinkware has long been a trusted name in dash cam technology and we believe that Singapore is an ideal market with dash cams steadily growing in popularity amidst advancements in connectivity, recording quality and improved vehicle safety,” said Thinkware Singapore MD Kenneth Low. “We are excited to bring the very first Thinkware premium store to Singapore and look forward to serving our customers.”

    Thinkware is the highest selling dash camera company in the competitive Korean market and its devices are available across 800 cities worldwide.

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  • Qualcomm could unveil its next-gen flagship chip on September 24th

    Qualcomm could unveil its next-gen flagship chip on September 24th

    There is speculation that the chip designer will unveil the Snapdragon 865 Mobile Platform. Expected to be found inside high-end Android devices next year, the new chipset will be manufactured by Samsung using its 7nm EUV process. The smaller the process number, the more transistors fit inside the chip making it more powerful and energy-efficient. And extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) is a more precise method of marking up a chip die for transistor placement. Qualcomm’s current top-of-the-line-chipset is the Snapdragon 855+, an overclocked version of the Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform that offers a 15% improvement in graphics capabilities.

    However, there could be another reason for the announcement. As it turns out, some new Android handsets are expected to be unveiled on Tuesday including a pair from Xiaomi (Xiaomi Mi 9 Pro 5G and Xiaomi Mi MIX Alpha), the Sony Xperia 5 and the Realme X2. Taking this into consideration, the buzz around the water cooler suggests that one or more of these devices could be the reason for the teaser that Qualcomm posted yesterday for the upcoming event. All of the aforementioned phones will employ a Snapdragon SoC with the 855+ expected inside the Mi 9 Pro 5G and possibly the Mi MIX Alpha. The regular Snapdragon 855 SoC will power the Xperia 5 with the Snapdragon 730G chip driving the X2. There must be a connection between the number “3” used in Xiaomi’s teaser and the three smartphone manufacturers we’ve been discussing in this paragraph.

    While Samsung is doing the fab work and manufacturing the Snapdragon 865, Qualcomm will be returning to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) for 2021’s Snapdragon 875 Mobile Platform. The world’s largest independent foundry, TSMC rolls chips off the assembly line for companies that design their own chips, but don’t have the facilities to make them. For example, both Apple and Huawei design their own SoCs like the A13 Bionic and Kirin 990 respectively. But both rely on TSMC to churn out the chips they’ve designed.
    As for the Snapdragon 865, traditionally Samsung’s new Galaxy S phones have been the first with a global release to sport the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset, and that most likely won’t change next year. The very first phone to be powered by the Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform was the Xiaomi Mi 9, but this device was not offered worldwide.
    2019 has been quite a tumultuous year for Qualcomm. It started with the chip designer in the midst of a feud with Apple and both companies were getting ready to square off in court multiple times. Qualcomm also was the defendant in an antitrust case brought by the FTC. The non-jury trial in January was presided over by Judge Lucy Koh (of Samsung v. Apple fame). During the proceedings, Apple and other firms testified against Qualcomm’s sales practices including its “No license, no chips” policy, the computation of royalties based on the retail price of a phone, and its failure to license its standards-essential patents in a Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) manner.
    Things took a turn for the better in April (as far as Qualcomm is concerned) just as a court battle with Apple was wrapping up; the two outfits agreed on a settlement. All legal action between the companies was dropped and Apple paid Qualcomm an undisclosed amount believed to be $4.5 billion; in return, Apple received a six-year license (with a two-year option) and a multi-year chip supply agreement.
    And so Qualcomm sailed along, but only for a month. In May, the verdict was in and Judge Koh ruled that Qualcomm had engaged in anticompetitive behavior. Losing this court case could force the chip designer to overhaul its current business practices. And while Judge Koh refused to grant Qualcomm a stay that would allow it to continue the status quo until all of its appeals have been exhausted, last month the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted the stay.
    If Qualcomm does not get Judge Koh’s ruling overturned on appeal, it faces the long, complex and difficult task of renegotiating all of the current contracts it has with phone manufacturers. The chip designer asked for the stay because it did not want to go through this process, win on appeal, and then have to come to terms on a whole new set of contracts.
  • Noel Leeming launches safety plans

    Noel Leeming launches safety plans

    Technology and appliance retailer Noel Leeming has announced it is now offering enhanced purchase protection for the life cycle of its products.

    The new Noel Leeming Protection service plan offers customers the ability to lock-in accidental damage cover, theft protection, automatic replacement and blockage cover for items under $500, just to name a few.

    “This means that customers can now be covered for most eventualities that can affect the use of their technology and appliances, providing peace of mind that they won’t be without their item for long,” the retailer said.

    Customers can buy the plan as an add-on to their technology or appliance purchase either online or through one of Noel Leeming’s 77 retail stores.

    Tim Edwards, Noel Leeming CEO, said being able to offer customers a full suite of add-ons to their purchase is a great way to enhance customer confidence in their decision-making.

    “We’ve noticed that consumers nowadays are interested in a more holistic solution, looking for protection programs that better support the way they use their technology and appliances,” Edwards said.

    “We’re confident that this product goes over and above any competitor’s offer, is market-leading, and a New Zealand first in consumer purchase protection.”

    Edwards said feedback from customers has been overwhelmingly positive since the product offering was introduced.

    Hemaka Perera, director for Southeast Asia at Assurant, said the new Noel Leeming Protection offering has been built with the customer in mind and goes over and above the industry standard.

    “We are thrilled to partner with Noel Leeming in offering a new product that sets the standard for product protection,” Perera said.

  • HTC Exodus is getting native support for Bitcoin Cash

    HTC Exodus is getting native support for Bitcoin Cash

    HTC has just announced it has partnered with Bitcoin to offer Exodus owners native support for Bitcoin Cash. HTC’s blockchain smartphone is the first phone to provide Bitcoin Cash support without having to download a wallet from an app store.

    Those who already own an Exodus 1 smartphone will receive a software update that will give them access to a Bitcoin.com wallet app pre-loaded on their devices. In a statement, HTC’s chief decentralization officer Phil Chen says that this is the first step in a long journey that his company and Bitcoin.com plan to take together.

    The Exodus vision has always aligned itself towards public blockchains and its fundamental transformative nature of the future of money and the Internet. The Zion Vault is happy to support BCH natively in hardware for security to go hand in hand with the BCH blockchain as an alternative to dominant payment rails and platforms.

    HTC and Bitcoin.com have big plans for the future, as the companies want to offer special discounts when paying for phones in BCH, as well a selling the Exodus phones on store.bitcoin.com.

    Last but not least the partnership announced today will enable Bitcoin Cash to be used as peer-to-peer electronics cash for all HTC Exodus users around the world.

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  • One new Apple HomePod feature is coming this month

    One new Apple HomePod feature is coming this month

    Apple had three new iPhones, a refreshed iPad, and an upgraded Watch to showcase at its big Cupertino event earlier this week, but one product that wasn’t even mentioned in passing during a keynote that ran for nearly two hours is the company’s first (and still only) smart speaker. Unveiled in 2017 and commercially released at the beginning of 2018, the HomePod has pretty much been left in a limbo of late from both a hardware upgrade and software update standpoint.

    With no news or rumors of a sequel or spin-off on the horizon, hardcore Apple fans had hoped to at least get an ETA for a few long-overdue features promised all the way back in June. Unfortunately, the company continues to keep things as vague as always, updating the HomePod’s official product webpage with descriptions of the multi-user support and handoff functionality, which are still due to come at some point “later this fall.”

    You probably shouldn’t expect them to roll out in the next month or so, as radio streaming is apparently ready to go live on September 30. That means you’ll be able to tune in to a whopping 100,000 live, local, and global radio stations starting in a couple of weeks just by asking Siri.

    Interestingly, there’s also an all-new feature planned for a HomePod debut “later this fall”, which will allow you to relax by playing soothing pre-loaded “Ambient Sounds” like ocean waves, forest birds, rainstorms, and “more.” Meanwhile, in case you’re not familiar with the multi-user functionality Apple’s competition has pretty much always offered, that’s going to enable a “personalized experience” for “each person in the family”… eventually. In other words, different HomePod users will be able to keep their personal music preferences, messages, reminders, lists, and calendars separate.

    Finally, with the handoff feature, the Siri-powered smart speaker will seamlessly take calls, songs, and podcasts over from your iPhone or iPad simply by holding the two devices close to one another.

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  • Samsung discontinues its mirroring app for smartphones

    Samsung discontinues its mirroring app for smartphones

    Samsung is notifying customers that the SideSync app will be discontinued next month. The South Korean company cites changes “in internal operation policy” for the removal of the app, which has more than 50 millions of downloads in the Google Play Store.

    Ironically, Samsung added support for Android 9.0 Pie early this year, which suggests that the decision to discontinue SideSync was probably taken more recently. For those unaware, the SideSync app lets users share their smartphone’s screen and data with a tablet or PC. Instead of SideSync, Samsung now recommends Galaxy smartphone users to download Samsung Flow, an app that does exactly what the soon to be discontinued SideSync app does.

    Dear SideSync customers, SideSync is no longer available as of [09:00 AM, 15, October 2019, GMT+9], according to a change in internal operation policy. Though SideSync service is no longer running, you can continue to use the mirroring through Samsung Flow. Thank you for using SideSync. We will endeavor to continue providing you with high-quality services.

    Effective October 15, Samsung SideSync will no longer work, so if you want to be able to share your smartphone’s screen with your PC or tablet, you’ll have to switch to Samsung Flow.

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  • Google’s Daydream VR platform is probably dead

    Google’s Daydream VR platform is probably dead

    The Daydream VR platform doesn’t seem to be as popular as Google expected. The Mountain View company has acknowledged the problem and has started to redirect resources to other projects. After shutting down the Play Movies and TV app a few months ago, Daydream VR platform is losing more content providers.

    Variety reports Hulu confirmed it has removed Daydream support from its Android app in recent weeks, so if you’re wondering why you can access Daydream VR content any longer, that’s the reason.

    There’s a workaround that will allow Daydream VR users to continue to watch Hulu content, but that requires them to downgrade to the previous version of the Android app if they’ve already updated to the latest iteration.

    The VR experience with Google Daydream is no longer supported for Android mobile devices running version 3.55 or newer of the Hulu app. That said, it is still available on Daydream-capable Android devices running version 3.54.1 or older of the Hulu app.

    One of Google’s original partners for Daydream VR, Hulu still offers VR content on other headsets like Oculus Go, Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Rift, and PlayStation VR. It’s also worth mentioning that Hulu is the second major video streaming service that drops support for Daydream VR after HBO Now and HBO Go VR.

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  • Google One paid storage service gets more phone backup features

    Google One paid storage service gets more phone backup features

    If you don’t have a Google One membership yet, you might consider one after the latest improvements the paid storage service has just received. The Mountain View company has just announced that Google One is now getting additional phone backup features on Android devices.

    Google has taken the standard Android backup, which includes texts, contacts, and apps, and improved with additional features like automatic phone backup. On top of that, Google One subscribers will be able to back up original quality photos, videos, and multimedia messages (MMS).

    Furthermore, users will be given the option to manage their backups directly from the Google One app. The storage service will allow users to get everything they need to be restored when they set up their next Android phone.

    Google One subscribers should expect the new automatic phone backup feature to become available to them this week. Simply open the Google One app and head to the “Device Backup” section to check out the new improvements.

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  • DJI Introduces P4 Multispectral For Precision Agriculture andLand Management

    DJI Introduces P4 Multispectral For Precision Agriculture andLand Management

    DJI, the world’s leader in civilian drones and aerial imaging technology, is setting a new standard for easy-to-use agricultural drone applications with P4 Multispectral, the world’s first fully-integrated multispectral imaging drone designed for precision agriculture and environmental management.

    P4 Multispectral combines data from six separate sensors to measure the health of crops, from individual plants to entire fields, as well as weeds, insects and a variety of soil conditions. With the agriculture drone market expected to grow from $1.2 billion USD in 2019 to 4.8 billion by 2020, P4 Multispectral provides farmers and agronomists with a new tool to improve crop yields, cut costs and helps environmental professionals easily monitor vegetation on the land they manage.

    “P4 Multispectral has the promise to transform the agriculture and land management industries by collecting precise plant-level data without having to send personnel into the field for manual surveys,” said Jan Gasparic, Director of Strategic Partnerships at DJI. “By combining multispectral imaging into a trusted, efficient and affordable tool, DJI is making this transformative technology more accessible to professionals around the world who are pioneering the adoption of drones in their industries.”

    Precise Multispectral Imaging

    P4 Multispectral features a gimbal-stabilized imaging system composed of one RGB camera and a multispectral camera array with five narrow band sensors – including red edge and near-infrared – that are capable of capturing visible and invisible light. This data gives trained professionals unique insights into vegetation stress, soil composition as well as water salinity and contamination. An additional integrated spectral sunlight sensor maximizes the accuracy and consistency of data collection during missions flown at different times of the day.

    Seamless integration into the DJI Ground Station Pro flight planning app allows pilots to switch between real-time views of the drone’s RGB video camera and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) output for immediate insights while in the field. An integrated RTK positioning module and TimeSync system support real-time, accurate positioning data for each image, optimizing photogrammetric results and providing centimeter-level accurate measurements.

    Industry Workflow Compatibility

    P4 Multispectral is compatible with standard industry workflows including flight programming, mapping, and analytics software from DJI and other leading providers. Using the DJI GS Pro application, users can create automated and repeatable missions including flight planning, mission execution, and flight data management. Data collected can be easily imported into DJI Terra or a suite of third-party software including Pix4D Mapper and DroneDeploy, for analysis and to generate additional vegetation index maps. In addition, P4 Multispectral users can enhance the accuracy of RTK positioning without an internet connection by using DJI’s D-RTK 2 High-Precision GNSS Mobile Station, which supports all major global satellite navigation systems, or using a third-party network RTK via an iPad with an internet connection.

    Powerful Performance

    Built on the iconic Phantom airframe, P4 Multispectral leverages DJI’s powerful OcuSync transmission system for a smooth flight experience with less signal interference, enhanced video transmission, and a 7km maximum transmission range. Each of its 2-megapixel cameras features a global shutter for precise imaging during flight with a maximum 27 minutes of flight time per battery.

    Availability

    DJI P4 Multispectral will be available in October through authorized DJI Enterprise dealers worldwide. The P4 Multispectral costs $6,499 USD and comes with a 1-year free license to DJI Terra (Basic) Windows software and a 1-year free license to DJI GS Pro (Team-Professional) iPad app. Customers can also purchase the P4 Multispectral with the D-RTK 2 Mobile Base Station for a total of $9,100 USD. All purchases of a P4 Multispectral in the United States, Canada, China, Australia, Japan, United Kingdom and the European Union will enjoy a 1-year Enterprise Shield Basic coverage on their new drone, at no additional cost.

    P4 Multispectral was announced at AirWorks 2019, DJI’s annual commercial drone conference that brings together DJI customers and its ecosystem of drone solution providers for three days to inspire, connect and energize attendees about the beneficial drone applications available to enterprises today as well as the future of the global commercial drone industry. As part of the introduction of P4 Multispectral, DJI was joined on-stage by DroneDeploy’s CEO, Mike Winn and Corteva Agriscience’s U.S. Digital Ag Lead, Jeremy Groeteke to share their insights on drone technology in agriculture.

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  • Apple’s iPhone 11 Pro is unlikely to catch up to the best Androids

    Apple’s iPhone 11 Pro is unlikely to catch up to the best Androids

    Apple doesn’t like to hype the specifications of its new devices much, focusing more on the real-life capabilities and features enabled by various display, camera, processor, or battery upgrades than things like resolution, clock speed, cell size, or memory count. But theoretical numbers often correlate with the concrete user experience, which is why it’s definitely important to know what the hot new iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max can do in terms of 4G LTE speeds, for instance.

    Unsurprisingly, no cellular speed tests were performed on stage at the September 10 launch event in Cupertino, while the official iPhone 11 Pro spec sheet keeps things as vague as always, listing Gigabit-class LTE support with 4×4 MIMO and LAA for “all models.” That’s all iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max models, mind you, with the “regular” iPhone 11 listed as including slightly humbler Gigabit-class LTE technology with 2×2 MIMO.

    In case you’re wondering, the iPhone XS and XS Max also came with “Gigabit-class” LTE modems and 4×4 MIMO, while the iPhone XR featured a similarly downgraded 2×2 MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) antenna design in combination with a generic Gigabit-class LTE chipset. That seems to suggest nothing has changed, but according to one company specialized in independent evaluations of download and upload speeds, that might not be the case after all.

    Based on nationwide data collected from August 9 to September 9, the LTE modems inside Apple’s latest high-end handsets make the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max faster than last year’s XS and XS Max by an average of around 13 percent. To reach that conclusion, SpeedSmart examined all big four carriers, also declaring T-Mobile the best of the bunch for both downloads and uploads, closely followed by Verizon. AT&T ranked third at a substantial distance, with Sprint dead last (as usual) and pretty much impossible to include in the same league as T-Mobile, especially in terms of upload speed.

    Talking numbers, it looks like you can expect the iPhone 11 Pro to reach anywhere between 37 and 49 Mbps in downloads, up from 32 to 42 Mbps for the XS and XS Max. Of course, these are theoretical nationwide averages, so depending on where you live… and about a dozen other factors, your real-world figures will often be significantly lower.

    Another thing we need to highlight is that it’s not entirely clear where SpeedSmart got its iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max units from to be able to perform these tests starting August 9. After all, the handsets are only scheduled to go up for pre-order on September 13, with deliveries kicking off 7 days later. Now, we’re not saying these tests didn’t happen, but it might be wise to wait and see if other sources confirm the data and apparent LTE improvement.

    It’s obviously hard to answer that question without relevant data provided by the same company, but it just so happens that OpenSignal released a very comprehensive report on this topic earlier this week. In it, the iPhone XS and XS Max were ranked a shameful 47 and 43 respectively for US download speeds, with averages of between 25 and 26 Mbps. That’s lower than what SpeedSmart got in the last month, but even assuming the latter’s 13 percent upgrade would translate into a 13 percent iPhone 11 speed bump in the former’s rankings, that’s not enough to challenge the OnePlus 7 Pro, LG V35 ThinQ, Samsung Galaxy S10+, and the rest of the Android heavyweights.

    In other words, Apple still has plenty of catching up to do as far as LTE capabilities are concerned. Then again, the next iPhone generation could make the 5G jump en masse, possibly leveling the field all of a sudden if Apple and Qualcomm can bury the hatchet. Until then, it will be interesting to see if the cheaper iPhone 11 is moderately upgraded too. While insiders pointed in that direction several times over the last few months, we’ll have to wait for a different set of tests to confirm or refute that particular rumor.

    For what it’s worth, the iPhone XS and XS Max can typically upload stuff on 4G at a pretty decent pace, and according to SpeedSmart, the mysterious new LTE modems on board of the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max deliver a solid improvement in that area as well, which might be enough to close the gap to Huawei, OnePlus, and Google reported by OpenSignal.

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  • Samsung PlayGalaxy Link for Android now available for download

    Samsung PlayGalaxy Link for Android now available for download

    Samsung is advertising Galaxy Note 10’s gaming features just like it did with the previous Note series phone. This time, however, some of these features were not available at launch. The PlayGalaxy Link is a game streaming app that allows users to connect to their PC over Wi-Fi or mobile data and stream their library of games on a Samsung phone or tablet.

    The PlayGalaxy Link app must be installed on a PC and Android smartphone to make the game streaming work, but it wasn’t available along with the Galaxy Note 10 at launch. The good news is Samsung announced gamers can now download the PlayGalaxy Link app if they want to start streaming their games.

    The app supports third-party Bluetooth controllers, mice, and keyboard, but players can also use on-screen controls if they don’t want to attach any peripherals to their phones. Of course, downloading and using PlayGalaxy Link is completely free, although you will only find it in the Galaxy Store.

    The PlayGalaxy Link game streaming app is still in beta and, for the time being, it’s only available in the United States and South Korea. You can download the PC version directly from the PlayGalaxy Link website, while the Android app can be downloaded via Galaxy Store on your Samsung smartphone.

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  • Apple unveils cheaper iPhones to combat market decline

    Apple unveils cheaper iPhones to combat market decline

    Apple this week unveiled a cheaper generation of smartphones after several consecutive quarters of declining iPhone sales.

    So far this fiscal year, iPhone sales have fallen 15 per cent in Apple’s first quarter, a further 17 per cent in its second quarter and 12 per cent in its third quarter.

    The cheapest version of the new iPhone 11 model starts at $1199 – below the retail price of its predecessor, the iPhone X, which at full price sells for almost $1500. Customers can trade in their old model phone at Apple stores to receive a discounted price of $849.

    Apple is also launching a ‘pro’ version of the phone with extra features, which starts at $1749, or $1899 for the ‘pro max’ version with a larger screen.

    While the pro and pro max phones are geared toward high-end buyers, the comparably cheap iPhone 11 could go some way toward converting customers who have postponed purchasing a new phone for the past year or two.

    Australian retailers have been feeling the sting of falling consumer spending, as shoppers become more selective about how they spend their money, and are scrutinising high-cost, low-margin products that fail to move.

    Myer stopped selling Apple phones in May as part of its shift towards profitable sales.

    “Myer has made it clear that it will not chase unprofitable sales, and has made this decision as we could not reach acceptable commercial terms that were in the best interest of the company and shareholders,” a Myer spokesman told SMH at the time.

    “This decision is also about ensuring space in our stores is utilised in the most productive and effective way for the company.”

    Apple earlier this year said slowing sales of its flagship phones were largely due to economic weakness in some emerging markets, noticeably Greater China.

    According to Apple chief executive Tim Cook, while the retailer anticipated challenges, it didn’t foresee the magnitude of economic deceleration seen in these markets, and experienced lesser sales even in larger markets.

    “While Greater China and other emerging markets accounted for the vast majority of the year-over-year iPhone revenue decline, in some developed markets iPhone upgrades were also not as strong as we thought they we would be,” Cook said.

    “While macroeconomic challenges in some markets were a key contributor to this trend, we believe there are other factors broadly impacting our iPhone performance, including consumers adapting to a world with fewer carrier subsidies, US dollar strength-related price increases, and some customers taking advantage of significantly reduced pricing for iPhone battery replacements.”

    Apple also announced revisions of its iPad and Apple Watch products, alongside the announcement that its TV streaming service, Apple TV+, will be available November 1st.

    Apple’s stock price rose 1.1 per cent after the announcements to US$216.7 per share.

  • Motorola to return to the premium flagship market with a 5G phone

    Motorola to return to the premium flagship market with a 5G phone

    Heading into 2009, it seemed that iOS and the iPhone were on an unstoppable path to the top of the smartphone world. But then on January 8th of that year, a new phone was unveiled that was aimed directly at the iPhone. It featured a new operating system and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. But somehow, the Palm Pre never caught on with consumers. Instead, that November, the iPhone finally met its match with the Motorola DROID. The first phone to carry Android 2.0, the DROID became a huge hit and Android now reportedly has 85% of the global market.

    Motorola continued to build flagship models, including the popular DROID X with its massive 4.3-inch display (for 2010, anyway). But Motorola soon lost the early leadership of the Android market. Despite developing the modular Moto Mods and the ShatterSheld display on 2016’s Moto Z Force, by 2018 the Moto Z line no longer included a flagship model and Motorola was making its bread from the low-end budget-priced models it was selling. The company is now the fourth-largest smartphone manufacturer in the U.S., turning a profit and is beginning to feel its oats. The new mid-range Motorola One phones offer some interesting camera specs including the Ultra-wide camera on the Moto One Action that records video in portrait for viewing in landscape.

    Motorola is so confident that it plans on returning to the premium flagship market again. Motorola’s global marketing chief Francoise LaFlamme says that the company is going to offer a 5G phone, but it won’t be sold at budget prices. As the executive points out, “If you put out a $399 5G phone, you’re going to have to sacrifice a lot of the elements that people value,” LaFlamme says. Right now, the Moto Z4 and Moto Z3 can support 5G but both require the purchase of a 5G Moto Mod. At Verizon, you can buy the former for 24 monthly payments of $10 if you add a new line; otherwise, the handset will cost you $500. Toss in another $350 for the 5G Moto Mod and you’re up to $850. You can buy the 5G upgradeable Moto Z3 instead of the Moto Z4 for $480, but that works out to a small $20 savings. With this in mind, we could see Motorola offer a 5G premium flagship in the range of $800-$900. That certainly would be very competitive compared to the $1,300 that the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G and Galaxy Note 10+ 5G cost. It would also be a challenger to the $1,000 LG V50 ThinQ 5G and $840 OnePlus 7 Pro 5G offered by Sprint.

    Of course, the Motorola phone that everyone in the states is looking forward to this year is the rumored foldable Motorola RAZR. One of the most popular phones in the pre-smartphone era, the Motorola RAZR was the clamshell feature phone that everyone had to have. Sometime this year we could see a smartphone version of the RAZR driven by Android. Instead of turning from a smartphone into a tablet, the RAZR will open from a pocketable device into a tall and thin 6.2-inch or 6.5-inch smartphone with an aspect ratio of 22:9.

    Motorola is making a shrewd move by capitalizing on the warm and fuzzy nostalgic feelings brought on by the original RAZR. And if production is limited to 200,000 units as rumored, Motorola is almost guaranteeing that the device will be sold out. Pricing of the new RAZR is expected to be in the neighborhood of $1,500.

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  • Shapeshifting smartphone cameras may be the next big thing

    Shapeshifting smartphone cameras may be the next big thing

    Over the past couple of years, we’ve been talking about how hardware innovation in smartphone cameras has taken a back seat in favor of new software developments. Despite small camera sensor sizes, limited by the slim profiles of modern phones and ever-increasing battery capacities, smartphone cameras have been able to deliver miraculously good results, almost exclusively thanks to improvements in how raw image and video dta is processed by software.

    However, during this time of amazing software developments, companies like Huawei kept pushing camera hardware innovations forward, albeit at a slower pace, by introducing larger sensors and impressive optical zoom solutions. In comparison, the likes of Samsung and Apple, who are considered leaders in their own market segments, have seemingly fallen behind in terms of bringing new camera innovations to the table. Recently, an infographic started doing rounds online, comparing camera sensors in Samsung and Huawei phones over the past couple of years. As you can see, while the sensors in Samsung phones have remained the same size since the release of the Galaxy S7 in 2016, Huawei has been upping its camera game the whole time.

    And though Samsung may seem like it’s got quite comfortable in its leading position in the premium Android market, hence less willing to introduce drastic new hardware innovations, next year’s Samsung flagship models may actually usher in a radical new camera technology that could make smartphone cameras even more versatile, with quicker focus, and even smaller optical parts.

    Samsung has been working with a company called Varioptic, since around 2005, on a liquid lens camera solution for smartphones. Actually, Varioptic is the company that created this type of lens way back in 2002, but Samsung was evidently interested in implementing it in a smartphone 14 years ago.

    Digging through news and press-releases from 2005, I stumbled across many reports that Samsung wanted to use a liquid lens to create a phone camera with optical zoom capabilities. At that time, motorized solutions were too big and too expensive for what Samsung wanted to achieve in mobile device, so Varioptic’s liquid lens—which had no moving parts, and was small and very durable—seemed like the perfect vessel to carry out the company’s vision.

    Something went wrong, however—or it must have—because, according to an official press-release from that time, Samsung phones with liquid lens cameras were supposed to be “commercially available by the last quarter of [2005].”

    But the technology wasn’t just written off. On the contrary. In 2017, Varioptic became a part of Corning, the maker of your phone’s Gorilla Glass, through an acquisition that included Varioptic and Invenios technologies for packaging and stabilizing liquid lenses. Coincidentally, Samsung has a strategic partnership with Corning.

    Recent “leaks” about the Galaxy S11 mentioned that Samsung’s next S-series flagship will bring something that’s “never been seen before” in relation to the camera. Now, this may very well be in part your usual leaker mumbo-jumbo get-on-the-hype-train-thing, but considering Samsung’s past relations with Varioptics and its current partnership with Corning, there may be something in the pipeline relating to liquid lenses on smartphones.

    Liquid lens showcase by Corning and Varioptic from 2018. This footage was slowed down thousands of times. Liquid lenses are capable of changing their shape on the order of milliseconds

    Traditional camera lenses are made from glass, while liquid lenses are, well… liquid. To be precise, they are composed of an optical liquid that is capable of changing its shape at a very rapid pace. The focal length of a glass lens is dependent on the material it’s made of, and the radius of its curvature. The same holds true for liquid lenses, though they are capable of altering the radius of their curvature, thus changing their focal length at a whim. This shape-shifting is controlled electronically and can occur extremely fast. As in, milliseconds fast.

    Imaging lenses are usually comprised of multiple optical elements because a single optical lens can rarely provide sufficient resolving power. For this same reason, using a liquid lens by itself is not likely to be done on a smartphone. However, by introducing a liquid lens to multi-element lens design, the speed and flexibility of the camera can be greatly improved. Having the ability to focus both up close and to optical infinity in milliseconds makes integrating liquid lenses an ideal choice for applications that require focusing at multiple distances where the objects are different sizes or are at different distances away from the lens.

    And herein lies the “problem” that may have deterred Samsung from using liquid lenses back in 2005. On their own, liquid lenses may be very compact and extremely quick, but they have nowhere near the imaging performance of traditional, multi-element lenses. Combining the two can, potentially, lead to some interesting developments, but 14 years ago, this wasn’t enough of an incentive. In 2020, however, the time may be ripe for the marriage between liquid and glass in smartphone cameras.

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