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Samsung’s hi-tech flip phone has been a bit of a hit over the past year. Now the Z Flip is back for 2022, with better cameras, a faster chip, longer battery life and more customisation options than ever, as the company attempts to appeal to those bored of flat phones and looking for something more exciting.You still have to pay a pretty penny for that cutting-edge appeal. The Galaxy Z Flip 4 costs £999 ($999/A$1,499), which is roughly in line with what you would pay for a premium standard phone, but it is likely to be frequently found at a discount.Four versions on, the Flip has lost none of its novelty. Opening it to reveal the large 6.7in OLED screen still feels like magic. Its compact pocket size is a welcome relief from massive phones, and its attractive design still very much turns heads. You can even choose a custom colour combo with Samsung’s bespoke studio tool.The two parts of the phone smoothly slide over the metal hinge cover at the back, and it has enough tension to be held open at any angle. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The GuardianA big advance was made last year with water resistance. This year is all about small refinements. The new version is slightly shorter and narrower, with a smaller hinge and thinner bezels around the screen. The sides of the phone are flatter and have a luxurious lustre to them, which with the frosted glass makes the closed Flip 4 a lovely, tactile thing to hold.It feels like a truly premium piece of consumer electronics, which makes it easy to forget that the folding tech at the centre of the Flip 4 is still very much bleeding edge. You can still see and feel the crease in the middle of the display where it bends but it otherwise feels like a normal glass slab in operation.It isn’t normal hardened glass, though, and must be treated more carefully than traditional devices. The Flip 4 is not a phone I would recommend ever handing to your kids.Specifications Main screen: 6.7in FHD+ 120Hz AMOLED Infinity Flex Display (425ppi) Cover screen: 1.9in AMOLED (302ppi) Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 RAM: 8GB of RAM Storage: 128, 256 or 512GB Operating system: One UI 4.1.1 based on Android 12 Camera: dual 12MP rear, 10MP front-facing Connectivity: 5G, nano sim + esim, wifi6, NFC, Bluetooth 5.2 and GNSS Water resistance: IPX8 (1.5-metre depths for 30 minutes) Folded dimensions: 84.9 x 71.9 x 17.1 to 15.9mm Unfolded dimensions: 165.2 x 72.2 x 6.9mm Weight: 187g Top performance, average battery lifeThe two halves of the phone lock into place when fully open. The fingerprint sensor built into the power button is fast and accurate. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The GuardianThe Flip 4 ships with Qualcomm’s latest top processor, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, which is the same chip as used by the very latest Android smartphones such as the OnePlus 10T. As such, it is a snappy and responsive phone with the highest performance available on Android, matching or surpassing normal phone rivals.Battery life is still below average despite the Flip 4 having a larger capacity battery than its predecessor. It lasts about 31 hours between charges with the screen used for under five hours, meaning you will have to charge it each day. It takes about 95 minutes to fully charge with a 25W power adaptor but one isn’t included in the box.SustainabilityThe screen stays on at any angle but turns off when closed so you can simply shut the phone to hang up calls or suspend an app. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The GuardianSamsung does not provide an expected lifespan for the battery but it should last in excess of 500 full charge cycles with at least 80% of its original capacity. The phone is generally repairable, and the battery is replaceable by authorised service centres in the UK. Inner display repairs cost £339. The screen is covered under warranty for two years but Samsung evaluates breakages for “evidence of product misuse” and may charge a fee for repairs. Insurance is recommended.Several internal components are made from 20% recycled nylon or plastic. Samsung offers trade-in and recycling schemes for old devices. The company publishes annual sustainability reports but not impact assessments for individual products.One UI 4.1Fully open, the Z Flip 4 behaves like a standard flat Samsung Android phone. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The GuardianThe Flip 4 ships with One UI 4.1, which is the same software as found on the Galaxy S22 series and based on last year’s Android 12. It is a refined version of Android that offers plenty of customisation options and useful tools including “flex mode”, which splits the screen into different functions when you fold the phone into an L-shape.The Flip 4 will receive at least five years of software updates from release, including four major Android version updates and monthly security patches, making it one of the longest-lasting Android devices available, and just behind Apple’s six-year-plus support for its iPhones.CameraThe camera can be used in various different orientations, including flex mode, which moves the buttons to the bottom of the screen and the viewfinder to the top half. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The GuardianThe dual 12-megapixel camera on the back features a normal lens with optical image stabilisation and an ultra-wide angle. Similar to last year’s model, both cameras shoot very good images in most lighting conditions with slightly improved low and middling light performance. The ultra-wide camera loses a little detail and can look a bit grey in dull light but is still good.The 10-megapixel selfie camera is pretty good, too. But one of the best things about the Flip is the ability to shoot selfies with the rear cameras by using the cover display as a viewfinder. You can use either the normal or ultra-wide camera, which produce much better images than any dedicated selfie camera, particularly in low light or party settings. You can also prop the Flip up half-open for a variety of fun camera-shooting opportunities. Video capture is also very good, and fold the phone into an L-shape and you can pretend you are using a camcorder from the early 2000s.The biggest letdown is a lack of a telephoto camera. Digital zoom is OK at 2x magnification but any more than that and it starts to look horrid.PriceThe Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 costs £999 ($999/A$1,499) with 128GB of storage, £1,059 with 256GB, or £1,199 with 512GB.For comparison, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 costs £1,649, the Galaxy S22 Ultra costs £1,149, the Galaxy S22+ costs £949, the Microsoft Surface Duo 2 costs £860, the Google Pixel 6 Pro costs £649, and the Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max costs £1,049.VerdictThe Galaxy Z Flip 4 is one of the most interesting phones available. Where standard phones have become stale and boring, there’s something fun about unfolding the Flip.While you can do novel things with it propped up, such as taking photos at unusual angles and selfies with the rear camera, for the most part, it behaves like a standard Android phone when open. Just one you can fold in half for a much more compact size to pocket.It is water-resistant but the cutting-edge screen tech is still more fragile than normal hardened glass and needs treating with care. Buying insurance might be wise. You are also trading battery life for the compact size compared with a normal Samsung.Little has moved on since last year’s model – just small refinements across the board. But the Flip 4 is still a fun phone that proves folding screen devices are more than just a novelty. Pros: a great large screen that folds in half, good cover screen, IPX8 water resistant, good camera, different and fun, One UI 4 with five years of updates, nano sim and esim. Cons: less durable than a regular phone, no dust resistance, no telephoto camera, only a day’s battery life, not much of an upgrade since last year. The 1.9in cover display can show the time, date, notifications, various widgets such as your calendar, and can be themed with various designs. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian | Consumer Electronics |
Nothing Phone 2 Launch: Date, Time, What To Expect And Live Streaming Details
Here is all you need to know about the Nothing Phone (2) launch event and the details of the upcoming device
Consumer electronics maker Nothing will unveil the Nothing Phone (2) in India and global markets on Tuesday, July 11. Along with its second smartphone, the company will also launch Nothing Ear (2) earbuds in black colour at an event.
According to media reports, Nothing Phone (2) is already available for pre-orders on Flipkart in India. Gadgets 360 has reported that interested customers will also be able to purchase the Nothing Phone (2) in person via Nothing Drops pop-up stores in Bengaluru.
Here is all you need to know about the Nothing Phone (2) launch event and the details of the upcoming device
Nothing Phone (2) Launch Event: Date And Time
The launch event will begin at 8.30 PM IST on Tuesday.
Nothing Phone (2) Event: Live Streaming
Nothing Phone (2) launch event will be live streamed on company's YouTube channel and social media handles. You can also watch the launch event below:
Nothing Phone 2: Expected Price
Nothing has not yet announed the official price of the device which is the successor to Nothing Phone (1). However, media reports suggest that the smartphone will be launched at a starting price of Rs 42,000.
As per media leaks, the smartphone will be launched in two storage options - 8GB RAM + 256GB and 12GB RAM + 512GB. The 12GB RAM + 512GB variant might be priced at Rs 75,000.
Nothing Phone 2: Specifications
As per the phone's listing on Flipkart, Nothing Phone (2) will be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC. The phone will come with a 6.7-inch full-HD+ display. According to NDTV Gadgets 360, the phone will have a 50-megapixel primary Sony IMX890 sensor, and a 50-megapixel ultra-wide lens. | Consumer Electronics |
Amazon said Disney lovers will soon be able to bring beloved characters into their homes and Disney Resort hotel rooms using Amazon's Alexa. The Hey Disney experience is slated to launch later this year. However, Amazon offered a sneak preview during a demonstration at the Consumer Electronics Show. The voice assistant on Echo smart speakers – complimentary at select Disney Resorts hotels – was built using the Alexa Custom Assistant voice AI foundation.‘CORPORATE KINGDOM’: DESANTIS-BACKED PLAN TO TAKE CONTROL OF DISNEY'S LAND ANNOUNCED Hey Disney! on an Echo smart speaker (Amazon and Disney)The "Disney Magical Companion" voice assistant is the voice of Hey Disney.The service will be available for purchase in the U.S. in the Alexa Skills Store in the coming months, allowing customers to say "Hey Disney!" to experience more than 20 Disney, Pixar and Star Wars characters, as well as hear jokes, listen to soundscapes and play trivia. Hey Disney! features multiple characters (Amazon and Disney)Hey Disney will also feature support for Disney’s MagicBand+, used by visitors at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort to interact with shows, enter the park, redeem Lightning Lane access and more.NYC BANS AI TOOL CHATGPT IN SCHOOLS AMID FEARS OF NEW CHEATING THREATPeople staying at hotels there will be able to ask questions about park hours, request fresh towels and access other features. Kids and parents use Hey Disney (Amazon and Disney)Disney began installing Echo family devices with Hey Disney in limited hotel rooms at Disney's Polynesian Village Resort.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP First announced in 2021, Hey Disney will also be included with an Amazon Kids+ subscription in the coming months. Julia Musto is a reporter for Fox News and Fox Business Digital. | Consumer Electronics |
Amazon Echo users who might be a little too tired of hearing the same, tired old Alexa voice and are looking for a bit more pizzazz from their smart home system are getting a new dash of sparkle from the Magic Kingdom itself. On Thursday, Disney and Amazon announced their “Hey Disney!” voice assistant that uses Alexa is available for all voice-activated Echo devices—at a price, of course.
“Hey Disney!”, as its clunky name suggests, is very much like an Alexa assistant, though it uses Disney characters instead Alexa’s soft robotic tones and has its own simulated personalities. An Echo in House of Mouse mode responds in voices from across Disney, Pixar, and Star Wars properties. Voices include Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Mater, Chewbacca, and R2-D2, though we’d need to have our own demo of that last one to understand how people can best translate the droid’s beeps and boops. The feature is available for those with an Echo Kids Plus Subscription or separately at $5.99 a year.
Users can’t necessarily choose which character responds to inquiries. As the company explained when it first launched Hey Disney! for Disney resorts, Frozen’s Olaf might respond to a query about the cold weather.
Users can have the Alexa assistant perform tasks it normally can such as setting kitchen timers or dimming the lights on other smart home devices, though the feature also comes stock with trivia games and “SoundScapes” for listening to select scenes from around the Disney repertoire. Say you wanted to get into the mood for cooking, so you decide to bust out the accordion sounds from Pixar’s Ratatouille.
There are additional “Play-Along Adventures” and Storybooks enabled using voice commands that might work well for distracting children for a few minutes at a time. Amazon told TechCrunch there are additional “Easter eggs” hidden among the experience, though the company was keeping mum on any surprises awaiting users.
Users who subscribe should only need to set up the feature with the prompt “Alexa, introduce me to Disney” which then changes the wake word to “Hey, Disney.” Notably, According to TechCrunch, the feature isn’t compatible with Fire Tablets, Fire TVs, Echo Show 15, 1st-gen Echos and Echo Auto.
The system was built using the Alexa Custom Assistant program that lets companies create their own system using the Alexa framework. Originally, it was only available at Disney resorts, and the system should also be compatible with Disney Parks’ MagicBand+.
Amazon has been trying to give its Kids brand more oomph since it nixed its strange kids-centric videocalling gadget, Glow. Whether or not this tides over young people for long enough, Alexa sure could use more voice integration, especially as of late. Last month, Amazon recently announced that several celebrity voices would be disappearing from Alexa, including the fabled Samuel L. Jackson.
Want more of Gizmodo’s consumer electronics picks? Check out our guides to the best phones, best laptops, best cameras, best televisions, best printers, and best tablets. If you want to learn about the next big thing, see our guide to everything we know about the iPhone 15. Click here to save on the best deals of the day, courtesy of our friends at The Inventory. | Consumer Electronics |
New code released by Apple as part of its beta program hints the next version of the Mute switch on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max could become a button for quickly accessing a bevy of tools and accessibility features.
The latest version of the iOS 17 beta 4 has the Apple rumor mill ruminating more than it already has on a kind of “Action” button for the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. This button would effectively be a programmable shortcut to access features as simple as the camera or flashlight. According to a report from MacRumors, the code points to users being able to access the Translate and Voice Memos apps and even dive straight into several Accessibility features such as AssistiveTouch, Zoom, and VoiceOver. Or, of course, you can set it to simply put your phone on silent mode, as the toggle previously did.
According to MacRumors, the button could access:
- Accessibility
- Shortcuts
- Silent Mode
- Camera
- Flashlight
- Focus
- Magnifier
- Translate
- Voice Memos
Based on previous CAD leaks, this supposed Action button could replace the current mute toggle seen on older iPhone models. Previous rumors pointed to Apple trying to create solid-state “haptic” buttons for its more expensive iPhone models that would provide rumble feedback when touched, instead of being depressed. Both industry analysts and Apple Suppliers have hinted Apple failed to make their haptic buttons work, and that they’ve returned to the traditional approach to buttons.
A quick access button would be a nifty feature for many users, but for those with disabilities, it could be one of the better features introduced to the new iPhones. Apple has regularly released new accessibility apps such as its recent Point and Speak and text-to-speech features alongside last year’s introduction of live captions.
Gizmodo reached out to Apple for comment, but we did not immediately hear back.
As a former longtime Android user, one thing I miss from my previous phone is the quick access to the camera by pressing the on button twice. iPhone users can already access the camera app through the lock screen, but I find it much faster using a physical button.
The Apple Watch Series 8 Ultra already includes a programmable “Action” button. This lets users access specific features from apps such as Workout, Backtrack, Drive, Flashlight, and more without having to dig through specific menus. It seems more companies are figuring out that users are more than comfortable with a few more physical buttons on their devices. Samsung announced this week it’s bringing back the physical rotating bezel controls on its Galaxy Watch6 Classic.
Want more of Gizmodo’s consumer electronics picks? Check out our guides to the best phones, best laptops, best cameras, best televisions, best printers, and best tablets. If you want to learn about the next big thing, see our guide to everything we know about the iPhone 15. Click here to save on the best deals of the day, courtesy of our friends at The Inventory. | Consumer Electronics |
Chinese Semiconductor Maker Hua Hong Jumps In Shanghai Debut
Shares of China’s Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd. jumped 15% in its trading debut in Shanghai.
(Bloomberg) -- Shares of China’s Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd. jumped 15% in its trading debut in Shanghai after it raised 21.2 billion yuan ($2.96 billion) in the largest sale of new equity in the Asia Pacific region this year.
The stock traded as high as 59.88 yuan in early trade before paring gains. The firm sold 408 million shares, or 24% of its total share capital, at 52 yuan each. Half of the offering was alloted to 30 strategic investors, with the rest distributed among funds and individuals. The company is already listed in Hong Kong.
Hua Hong joins a slew of semiconductor firms to have debuted in mainland China this year. Giving the companies access to public markets is in sync with Beijing’s plans to support the industry in a bid to counter a US-led campaign to block access to cutting-edge technologies. The US has blacklisted Chinese companies and research institutes in diverse fields from chips and supercomputing to cloud and data mining.
Hua Hong’s listing on Shanghai’s Star board follows a 2014 initial public offering in Hong Kong, where it raised about HK$2.6 billion. The company makes semiconductors on 200mm wafers for specialty applications, providing products for consumer electronics, communications and computing.
Meanwhile, China’s domestic market for IPOs, the world’s busiest since last year, has been showing signs of cooling. Proceeds raised in exchanges in Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing have been declining since March amid concerns about the country’s economic growth.
READ: Chinese IPOs Seen Cooling as Beijing Eyes Liquidity: ECM Watch
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P. | Consumer Electronics |
A Qualcomm sign is pictured at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Shanghai, China June 28, 2019. REUTERS/Aly SongRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSept 2 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) signed an agreement to have chip-maker Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) produce custom chipsets for its Quest virtual reality devices, the companies announced at a consumer electronics conference in Berlin on Friday.The companies' engineering and product teams will work together to produce the chips, which will be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon platforms, they said in a statement.The agreement signals an ongoing commitment by Meta, known as Facebook until last year, to Qualcomm's technology even as it tries to develop custom silicon of its own for the array of virtual, augmented and mixed reality devices it has planned.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comFinancial terms of the deal were not disclosed.The chipsets produced through the collaboration will not be exclusive to Meta, but will be optimized specifically for the Quest's system specifications, Meta spokesperson Tyler Yee told Reuters.The agreement covers only virtual reality devices, he said, and Meta will continue working to develop some of its own novel silicon solutions."There could be situations where we use off-the-shelf silicon or work with industry partners on customizations, while also exploring our own novel silicon solutions. There could also be scenarios where we use both partner and custom solutions in the same product," said Yee."It is all about doing what is needed to create the best metaverse experiences possible."Meta has relied on Qualcomm's chips for its virtual reality devices for years, including for its most recent Quest2 headset, which captures about 90% of the virtual reality hardware market, according to market intelligence firm IDC.The company is also investing heavily in technologies like pass-through goggles and augmented reality glasses as it tries to bring to life Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg's vision for the metaverse, a concept involving an immersive set of digital worlds.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Katie Paul in Palo Alto, Calif.
Additional reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco
Editing by Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Consumer Electronics |
CES, also known as the Consumer Electronics Show, is the biggest tech trade show of the year, kicking off the first week of January and setting the stage for trends, announcements, and ascendant product categories we’ll see throughout the rest of 2023. The show will give us an early look at the latest developments in TVs and laptops, useful (and sometimes invasive) smart home gadgets, and plenty of phones, monitors, cars, and smart toilets in between.For 2023, CES runs from January 5th through January 8th. But the news will start coming in before then: Samsung, LG, Sony, and quite a few others will kick things off with a day of press conferences on January 4th. And you can bet that companies eager to get their news out will start sharing announcements even earlier in the week. It’s going to be a busy start to the new year.The Verge will be covering CES on the ground in Las Vegas. You can follow along here for all the latest news and plenty of hands-on video coverage from the show. After a couple of quieter years — CES 2021 was online-only due to the pandemic, and CES 2022 saw just a quarter of the show’s typical attendance due to omicron concerns — the Consumer Technology Association, which organizes CES, expects this year’s show to be more of a return to form, with busier halls and a lot more news to go around.How to watch Samsung’s CES 2023 event.Samsung has already revealed new TVs and monitors, but that was just the beginning for CES. Samsung is holding a CES 2023 press event today, which is expected to last around 45 minutes and will bring “Calm to Our Connected World. Whatever that means. You can tune into Samsung’s live stream at 5PM ET / 2PM PT right here.CES is just a dance-off for nerds.Many CES hardware announcements are same-y, especially (but not limited to) Windows laptops. It’s rare that a single one sticks out since they all have the same chips, so they try their darndest to stand out in other ways, like with a unique design. The result feels a little like a dance-off, and it reminded me of the fun, colorful intro sequence in After Yang where the film’s characters are battling to be the best at various dance routines. We were inspired, to say the least, so our brilliant video, graphics, and social teams whipped up a CES-themed tribute.Alienware’s fresh gaming laptops (and more) from CES 2023 in video form.The big thing happening at CES in the microcosm of gaming laptops is the shift to 16- and 18-inch designs. 15- and 17-inch is very 2022! Oh, and all of those new Intel and Nvidia chips are cool, too.Alienware was one of the first companies to announce its 2023 machines this year, and we shot a video to give you the full rundown of its announcements. So, in between reading our CES coverage, why not take a breather and watch this video?LG’s Signature OLED M is (almost) wireless.A few years ago LG’s gimmick for the highest-end version of its OLED TV was a paper-thin display that you could slap on the wall and connect to its soundbar / base station with a single wire.In 2023, LG’s top-of-the-line 97-inch 4K OLED doesn’t need the connecting wire at all.From wireless to 8K and back to more reasonable options, Verge editor and reviewer Chris Welch is ready to walk you through the entire lineup.I’m hearing Hasbro is scanning people’s faces at CES.With permission, of course! It’s for a custom action figure that should arrive 45 days after the show — and if you want to see what it’s like, perhaps even try or buy one yourself, I’ve got the Verge hands-on story for you:I love that the average desktop speaker has barely changed in decades.Just look at these outrageous new sonic monuments from Drop, which look like evil wizards’ towers. I want to put them on either side of a giant CRT monitor and fire up some “legally obtained” music on Winamp. Hell yeah.Image: DropPanasonic’s CES press conference had everything from EV batteries to Technics turntables to... a cordless shaver that turns into a toothbrush.Who hasn’t looked at a nosehair trimmer and a toothbrush and thought they should be combined?Belkin will make its most popular accessories with recycled plastics.That includes many of its wireless chargers, power banks, wall chargers, and car chargers, which will now consist of 73 to 75 percent post-consumer recycled plastics.But as our science reporter Justine Calma points out, electronics made with recycled plastics still don’t do much to solve the e-waste problem. That’s because companies have to use new plastics to reinforce recycled plastics that have deteriorated over time:All those weaknesses with plastic also make it more difficult to recycle something that’s already been made with recycled materials. There comes a point when plastic can’t even be downcycled anymore. When it reaches that point, it’s typically incinerated or sent to landfills. The exec in charge of Roku’s new TVs came from... TCL.Roku hasn’t said who is building the new TVs it just announced at CES, but it’s fascinating they have ex-TCL exec Chris Larson running things. A little badge engineering goes a long way, I suppose. | Consumer Electronics |
CNN — When Huawei recently teased a new smartwatch in a promotional video, it featured an unusual design: the watch face flipped open to reveal a secret compartment where a pair of magnetic earbuds sat inside charging. While the product might only appeal to some users, the inclusion of the earbuds in the smartwatch speaks to a broader trend in the tech industry: With smartphones and smartwatches looking the same from one year to the next, some companies are hoping to gin up excitement among customers with quirky updates to a different, older product line: headphones. Bone conduction headphones, which rely on sound being transmitted through vibrations on the user’s skull, are gaining popularity. Open-ear earbuds, which similarly don’t block or cover your ears, are suddenly a thing. And one company just launched a $949 pair of air-purifying headphones (yes, you read that right.) “Headphones are becoming more unique and weirder,” said Sachin Mehta, an analyst at ABI Research. Multiple factors are driving the trend. For starters, there’s been an evolution of headphone-related technologies, such as noise cancellation technology and built-in wireless capabilities. And unlike with phones and smartwatches, many people have multiple pairs of headphones that they want tailored specifically for different settings and scenarios. “Now, people own multiple pairs of personal listening products for different locations and use cases; some leave them at the office, others prefer bigger, beefier ones on airplanes,” according to Steve Konig, head of the research department at the Consumer Electronics Association. Taken together, it affords a little extra room for experimentation. Bone conduction headphones, in particular, are “having a moment,” Konig said. Rather than sitting inside or on top of the ear canal, bone conduction headphones rest in front of the ear, leaving it uncovered. They transmit audio along the user’s bones and jaw to the ears instead of directly into the ear canal. The headphones also feature a soft band that runs behind the upper portion of the neck to secure them in place and minimize sound distortions. The exposed ear allows users to pick up on sounds and the environment around them, crucial for safety when doing activities such as riding a bike or jogging. Unlike earbuds, there’s also less concern about it popping out of your ears. “This [bone conduction] technology has been around for a long time, but it is only more recently bringing benefits to consumer headphones,” said Roberta Cozza, senior director analyst at market research firm Gartner. “The main advantage is the ability to transmit sound without plugging anything in your ear, which means users are more aware of the sound of their surroundings which increases safety.” She added: “While they look cumbersome, the latest models are very light, and the fit is more comfortable for longer-term wear versus in-ear hearables that can become painful or uncomfortable quickly after a short period of time.” Although Shokz pioneered bone conduction headphones, a number of brands are now in this market. Beyond consumer appeal, Cozza believes bone conduction headphones could be used by frontline workers who could listen to communications and instruction and at the same time be aware of sounds around them. “It will be interesting to see how this technology might be used in the future in other wearables, like smart glasses for augmented reality (AR), for example,” she added. Open earbuds – such as ones designed by Sony ($180) and Bose ($119) – are also gaining traction. They feature a design similar to bone conduction headphones that leaves the ear canals completely open so that the user can hear the outer noise. But some audiophiles say the sound quality on bone conduction headphones and open earbuds is less than stellar. For everyday use, people still prefer to buy simple wired earphones or open back and closed back headphones; whereas, for sports, people prefer to buy earbuds because they are easy to carry and fit well inside the ear, Mehta said. “There are so many unique and out of the box options available in the market – the earwear industry is still untapped when it comes to the use case, which mostly lies around listening and hearing only,” Mehta said. One of the more off-the-wall concepts, however, comes from household appliances company Dyson, which has famously made headlines with pricey, experimental gadgets (you may remember the $429 hair dryer). Dyson’s air-purifying headphones aim to tackle the dual challenges of noise and air pollution, particularly in Asia, and may interest people who have certain allergic reactions to pollen or dust. But make no mistake, these do not look like ordinary headphones: the product comes with a face visor that filters and blows fresh air into their nose and mouth. The design isn’t the only shocker: At $949, the headphones will cost twice the price of Apple’s AirPods Max when it arrives in the United States in March 2023. “The market for headphones and earbuds is incredibly saturated and even if you stuff every possible feature you can into a pair of these, you still have a device that looks and functions like many others,” said Ramon Llamas, an analyst at IDC. “So how do you differentiate? … Combining it with an air purification system is one company’s approach.” But with its funky design, Llamas believe it’s not for everyone. “I mean, would you like to be seen in public wearing one of these?” | Consumer Electronics |
A person enters a Best Buy store in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 22, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comAug 30 (Reuters) - Consumers stung by decades-high inflation are not shifting to cheaper smartphones, Best Buy Co Inc (BBY.N) said on Tuesday, boding well for Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) upcoming iPhones likely to be unveiled next week.The comments from the largest U.S. consumer electronics retailer come at a time when the soaring prices of gas and groceries have prompted a cutback in non-essential spending.Best Buy Chief Executive Officer Corie Barry said consumers were switching to cheaper alternatives in categories such as televisions, but demand for expensive smartphones was holding strong.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"There are other categories like mobile phones where it is not as much a decision between trading up or trading down. You want a certain brand and you want a certain type of phone," Barry said.Analysts at J.P. Morgan last week raised concerns around the enthusiasm for the new iPhones, citing consumer expectations of a price hike and limited new features.Best Buy also said on Tuesday that cost-conscious shoppers might delay holiday season shopping to the last minute this year in search of the best deals. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Uday Sampath and Mehr Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya SoniOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Consumer Electronics |
get the free app Updated on: August 9, 2022 / 10:14 AM / CBS News CBS News Live CBS News Live Live Washington — President Biden on Tuesday is signing into law legislation that will provide billions of dollars in subsidies for domestic production of semiconductor chips and aims to make the United States more competitive with China.Called the Chips and Science Act, the bill passed both chambers of Congress last month with bipartisan support following months of negotiations. The legislation was a top priority for the Biden administration, with top officials warning lawmakers ahead of its passage that failure to act would have implications for national security and the economy. In addition to remarks delivered by Mr. Biden, representatives from the private sector, as well as state and local elected officials are expected to attend the event marking enactment of the measure. Among those set to attend are the heads of Intel, HP and Lockheed Martin, the governors of Illinois and Pennsylvania, and mayors from Ohio, Michigan, Texas, Idaho and Utah, according to a White House official.Ahead of the bill signing, the White House promoted what it said is nearly $50 billion in additional investments in domestic semiconductor production that was prompted by approval of the legislation by Congress."The CHIPs and Science Act makes the smart investments so that American to compete in and win the future," the White House said in a fact sheet about the legislation.The measure provides more than $52 billion in subsidies for U.S. semiconductors and roughly $24 billion in tax credits for new chip manufacturing facilities. It also includes billions of dollars for boosting investments in research and development and establishing regional innovation and technology hubs to create jobs and catalyze regional economic development.The White House has touted the legislation as a win for the U.S. economy that will reduce the cost of cars, smartphones, consumer electronics and appliances, all of which are require chips. | Consumer Electronics |
Phones, e-readers, keyboards, & more — Parliament approves USB-C rule for 2024, mulls wireless charging interoperability. Enlarge / EU's USB-C charging mandate is moving forward across 13 device cateogories The European Union is moving forward with legislation requiring USB-C charging on a variety of consumer electronics. Today, the EU Parliament formally approved the agreement that it and the EU Council agreed upon in September. The EU Council has to formally approve the agreement next, and it will then be published in the EU's Official Journal.
The Parliament's announcement confirmed a timeline and additional affected device categories. The legislation requires a USB-C port on all phones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones, headsets, earbuds, portable speakers, handheld video game consoles, e-readers, keyboards, mice, and navigation systems that are sold in the EU, use wired charging, and support power delivery of up to 100 W "by the end of 2024," the Parliament said.
Laptops will have to have USB-C charging "from spring 2026," the announcement said.
The legislation also requires all fast-charging devices to use the same charging speed. This rule will be enforced with "dedicated labels" describing charging capabilities.
After the rule is published, EU member states will have one year to transpose the rules, followed by another year to adhere. The law only applies to products released after this time period.
Parliament said the vote passed with 602 votes in favor, 13 against, and eight abstentions.
Wireless charging regulations could follow
When the EU announced plans to require USB-C charging in September 2021, some critics, including Apple, said such a regulation could hinder innovation. The European Commission has said that it would work with vendors to adapt its regulation to new technologies, should it deem the technology worthy. The EU's universal charging mandate could one day require a different type of charging than USB-C, for example. Showing some forward thinking, the EU Parliament's announcement briefly mentioned wireless charging, though it didn't specify how the EU government might attempt to regulate it.
"... The European Commission will have to harmonize interoperability requirements by the end of 2024, to avoid having a negative impact on consumers and the environment," the Parliament's announcement said. "This will also get rid of the so-called technological 'lock-in” effect, whereby a consumer becomes dependent on a single manufacturer."
Wireless charging is one potential route around the EU's USB-C requirement for companies staunchly against using the technology in its products, like Apple and its iPhones. Although there have been rumors of Apple making a USB-C iPhone, the company prefers its Lightning connector, and while the EU's legislation wouldn't ban the proprietary connector, it would require USB-C alongside it. An iPhone solely dependent on wireless charging, however, would be impractical due to cost, data transfer concerns, and chassis durability. Further, it seems that the EU government may eventually regulate wireless charging as well.
For what it's worth, the current iPad Air, iPad Mini, and iPad Pro all charge over USB-C instead of Lightning, so Apple has already shown willingness to embrace the oval-shaped connector.
“Sustainable choices”
The Parliament's announcement reiterated the goals of the EU government to reduce e-waste and "empower consumers to make more sustainable choices" with the USB-C mandate.
The governing body believes the legislation will "lead to more re-use of chargers and will help consumers save up to 250 million euros a year on unnecessary charger purchases."
"Disposed of and unused chargers account for about 11,000 tonnes of e-waste annually (PDF) in the EU," the announcement said.
Following the EU's lead, other parts of the world have started looking at how they regulate electronics charging. Brazil is considering a USB-C policy for phones, and it banned selling iPhones without a charger while encouraging Apple to implement USB-C charging. US lawmakers have pushed for a universal charger policy, too. | Consumer Electronics |
Corsair launched its latest gaming monitor called Xeneon Flex earlier this month that costs $2,000. The 45-inch screen can be bent to create a curved monitor, which can add immersion when gaming. It also includes many ports and a low blue light feature intended to reduce eye strain. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. A new bendable computer screen lets you take matters into your hands, literally, if you want a curved display.Gaming hardware company Corsair unveiled its newest computer monitor earlier this month, the Xeneon Flex. It's the latest addition to its line of gaming monitors which is now available purchase for a whopping $2,000. The 45-inch OLED screen can be bent at a curve up to 800 millimeters by pulling the handles on each side forward, giving you the option to switch between a flat and curved display. Curved displays can make for a more immersive gaming experience, though some people also prefer them when working. Xeneon Flex is built with cutting-edge visual features and customizable lighting effects. Corsair Of course, you might be asking yourself if all that bending takes its toll on the screen, but Corsair said that the monitor can be bent between 10,000 and 15,000 times and is expected to last for more than five years. The Xeneon Flex is an OLED display with a resolution of 3440 by 1440 and 240Hz refresh rate. It also includes features like flicker-free imagery, anti-glare, motion blur cancellation, and low blue light that Corsair says can reduce eye strain after staring at the screen for long periods of time.For further customization, the bendable monitor features an array of ports in the back, including a display port, two HDMI ports, a USB video port, and other USB ports for accessories.However, some reviewers were quick to point out how finicky bending the monitor can be. IGN found that bending the screen is "unsettling" and that the plastic panel "squeaks and squawks while the entire display shakes." Similarly, a reviewer at The Verge found that bending the monitor takes "a nerve wrecking amount of force."You can see the display being bent in a video overview from The Verge below. A post shared by The Verge (@verge) Still, the reviewers concluded that the monitor contains "an impressive display" and "looks great from multiple viewing angles," according to IGN and the Verge respectively. The monitor is now available for pre-order and will begin shipping at the end of December 2022. The Xeneon Flex will be showcased at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show — the world's biggest consumer tech showcase based in Las Vegas — which starts on January 5th. | Consumer Electronics |
The world's biggest tech event - CES - is returning to full operation this week after two years scaled down due to the COVID pandemic.Before the show floor at the Las Vegas Convention Centre has even officially opened, huge Silicon Valley conglomerates and ambitious start-ups alike are already living up to the conference's reputation for showcasing the great and the good - and the just plain weird - of consumer electronics.
Here are some of the product announcements that have caught our eye so far - for all sorts of reasons…Ring in the new yearThe Evie ring is pitched as the first medical grade smart ring designed uniquely for women, offering period and menstrual symptom tracking alongside familiar wearable features like monitoring heart rate and calories burned.Like other wearables, data is displayed in a smartphone app, and its creator - Movano Health - says it will cost less than $300 (£248) when it releases later this year. Image: Renderings of the Evie Ring Livestream your cookingA strong contender for the most ridiculously named product of the show is Samsung's Bespoke AI Wall Oven, which comes equipped with an internal camera, so you can keep a closer eye on your cooking.But Samsung also reckons it is perfect for taking photos and even livestreaming your meals to social media, allowing those with more money than they know what to do with to launch their own cooking show from home. Image: Samsung's Bespoke AI Oven has an internal camera Hug this pulsating cushionIf you need to wind down after a stressful day of work, Fufuly could be just what you need.Shaped like a cloud, tooth or deformed marshmallow (take your pick), Japanese firm Yukai Engineering says the pulsating cushion aims to reduce anxiety in the same way holding a baby or having a cat on your lap might do. Image: Fufuly, an anxiety-reducing robotic cushion This gadget wants you to urinate on itGenerally it's a bad idea to soak electronics in any sort of liquid, but French firm Withings has made a device that it wants you to urinate over.Easy as one, two, pee, U-Scan hooks on to the side of a toilet bowl, and uses an onboard replaceable cartridge to analyse urine for things like detecting a menstrual cycle or giving dietary feedback. It will start at €500 (£440). Image: U-Scan hooks on to a toilet and analyses urine. Pic: Withings Need a hand with your lipstick?Cosmetics giant L'Oreal has developed a gadget to help those with limited mobility apply makeup.HAPTA uses motion controls and a suite of customisable attachments to give the user a range of motion, which the company says will offer the precise control required for the perfect application. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Highlights: Big Ideas Live Mask up!As Britons are advised to once again mask up as cases of scarlet fever and COVID circulate, this rather bulky battery-powered accessory from Airxom has made a well-timed return to CES.First shown off last year, the mask is essentially a wearable air purifier that claims to filter out and destroy airborne particles - including viruses. Image: The Airxom mask offers respiratory protection Knock-knock, who's there?Plenty of us have kitted out our front doors with smart doorbells in recent years, and it turns out that not even birdhouses are safe from the trend.Bird Buddy is a smart bird feeder that snaps pictures of any visitors, sending photos to your phone and identifying the species using an app like a real-life Pokedex from Pokemon. Image: Birdbuddy's connected birdhouse The best of the rest… Image: Lifeaz's home defibrillator claims to be able to analyse a patient's condition to determine the appropriate settings to help the heart start pumping again, making it easier for untrained people to use at home Image: The WT2 Edge Translation Earbuds, priced north of £300, sees you wear one earbud and give the other to someone else, so that they hear your speech translated into their chosen language in real-time Image: HoloLens 2, an augmented reality device from Microsoft, is showcased at CES 2023 Image: Never mind electric cars, Moonbikes Motors has brought the world's first electric snowbike to Las Vegas - allowing visitors to experience it in virtual reality Image: Chef Jackie Joseph poses behind GE Profile's $999 smart mixers, which can measure individual ingredients on the fly without you needing to put them in their own container first Image: The I-Percut smart punching bag cover sends information on a budding boxer's performance to a smartphone Image: A connected Stern Pinball machine, which can recognise the player with a QR code and post scores to a global leaderboard | Consumer Electronics |
Apple Extends Broadcom Pact With Multibillion-Dollar 5G Deal
The collaboration will include wireless connectivity parts and FBAR filters, which help mobile phones focus airwave signals and reduce interference, Apple said in a statement on Tuesday.
(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. signed a new multiyear, multibillion-dollar deal with Broadcom Inc. to get 5G radio frequency components for its devices, extending a sometimes-contentious relationship between two of the world’s biggest tech companies.
The collaboration will include wireless connectivity parts and FBAR filters, which help mobile phones focus airwave signals and reduce interference, Apple said in a statement on Tuesday. The FBAR filters will be designed and built in several US manufacturing hubs, including Fort Collins, Colorado, where Broadcom has a major facility.
A Broadcom chip inside an older iPhone.Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg
The move offers some reassurance to Broadcom investors worried about Apple reducing its reliance on the chipmaker. For Apple, the deal helps ensure that it gets the supplies it needs after a tumultuous stretch during the pandemic. And the pact lets the iPhone maker point to progress in getting components from US sources, though the company is still overwhelmingly dependent on Asia — and particularly China — for its supply.
The agreement also may help alleviate Apple’s dependence on Qualcomm, the biggest maker of smartphone chips, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Anurag Rana said in a report. It’s another indication of Apple’s “intentions to diversify its supply chain, both from a vendor and geography perspective,” he said.
Shares of San Jose, California-based Broadcom rose about 1% following the announcement, with Apple dipping less than 1%. Qualcomm shares also fell less than 1%.
Apple vowed in 2021 to pump $430 billion into the US economy over the next five years, and this latest deal will help it stay on pace to meet that target. The company already helps support more than 1,000 jobs in Fort Collins, and the partnership will enable Broadcom to continue to invest in automation projects, Apple said.
“We’re thrilled to make commitments that harness the ingenuity, creativity and innovative spirit of American manufacturing,” Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said. “All of Apple’s products depend on technology engineered and built here in the United States, and we’ll continue to deepen our investments in the US economy because we have an unshakable belief in America’s future.”
The iPhone maker is spending tens of billions of dollars to develop 5G technology, which is expected to help power the next generation of consumer electronics. 5G offers quicker response times and 10-fold speed improvements that are needed for features like autonomous vehicles and virtual reality gaming.
In broad strokes, Tuesday’s agreement maintains the status quo. It extends a three-year pact that the companies signed in 2020. But the companies’ relationship has been strained over the years, and Apple is making a long-term push to produce more of its components in-house. That has put its dealings with Broadcom — and Qualcomm — under close scrutiny.
Apple also is putting more emphasis on where supplies are produced, at a time when politicians are focused on boosting domestic manufacturing of vital electronic components.
Apple is Broadcom’s largest customer, accounting for about 20% of the chipmaker’s revenue in the last fiscal year. That amounted to almost $7 billion. Qualcomm got 22% of its annual sales from the iPhone maker, representing nearly $10 billion.
The iPhone is Apple’s top moneymaker, generating more than half of its $394.3 billion in revenue last year. The phone also has helped fuel growth at Broadcom, which refers to Apple as its “large North American customer” during earnings calls. The chipmaker makes a combined component that handles both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth functions on Apple devices.
In addition, Broadcom makes the short-range connectivity for mobile phones and the so-called RF front end, which manages radio signals that the phone needs to transmit and receive cellular communications. Qualcomm is the dominant maker of modems, the chips that take those radio signals from the RF front end and convert them into the data used by the phone. Qualcomm typically supplies the RF front end and modem to its customers, but Apple only uses its modems.
Cupertino, California-based Apple has been pushing to replace the chips inside its devices with homegrown components and is looking to swap out Broadcom with its own Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chip in the coming years, Bloomberg has reported.
As part of the shift, Apple also aims to ready its first cellular modem chip by the end of 2024 or early 2025, letting it replace electronics from Qualcomm too. Apple is also working to develop its own RF component, but that will take years, and the company will need to rely on Broadcom in the meantime.
Hock Tan, the chipmaker’s CEO, has a reputation for tough negotiations and has forced customers to commit to noncancelable orders. But he’s also shown signs of wavering in his commitment to Apple. Prior to the companies’ 2020 agreement, Tan indicated that Broadcom might divest the business that supplies chips to the iPhone.
--With assistance from Scott Moritz.
(Updates with more on deal’s implications starting in third paragraph.)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P. | Consumer Electronics |
Say goodbye to the original 12-inch MacBook. Ride on home now, you beautiful yet flawed darling. According to an internal memo seen by MacRumors, which regularly reports on Apple products becoming obsolete, the 12-inch MacBook will be put to rest after a storied near-eight year career on June 30.
The 12-inch retina screen MacBook debuted in early 2015, but that laptop was quickly replaced the following year by the second-gen model. Both those devices currently sit on the company’s list of vintage products alongside the likes of the 2015 and 2016 MacBook Pro models and the 2015 MacBook Air. Being on the vintage list means users can still receive some parts and repairs from Apple itself, including specific battery-only repairs depending on availability. When the laptop moves to the obsolete list, as the rumors hint, this will no longer be possible.
Apple has recently sent other original devices to the proverbial Elysian fields, including the original iPad Air that was released all the way back in 2013. When a device is made obsolete, Apple is basically saying users won’t be able to receive any official repairs or fixes from any geniuses at any Apple store. Apple products are usually made obsolete once the company stops selling or distributing them for at least seven years, though the company has let some products linger on the Vintage List for longer than that, likely due to their initial popularity.
The super-skinny MacBook design was a way for Apple to reinvent its laptop line, and that thin silhouette has kept consistent all the way until now, with the latest MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs. Its 2015 model also introduced us to the single USB-C port paradigm and the Force Touch trackpad.
Though Apple was keen to delve into this era of thin laptops one sticking point for its laptops would be its horrible, awful, no good butterfly keyboards. The keys were squishy, and any spec of wayward dirt could cause a key to no longer function. The Cupertino, California company abandoned that design in 2020 with the introduction of the Magic Keyboard, and it recently settled a $50 million class action lawsuit regarding its faulty keys.
MacBooks have seen some sales slowdowns as of late, but the company could be trying to re-energize its laptop line at the coming WWDC later this month. There are rumors that a 12-inch MacBook is on Apple’s docket, though it would be interesting to see Apple come out with a laptop that’s more skinny than a 12.9-inch iPad Pro.
Want more of Gizmodo’s consumer electronics picks? Check out our guides to the best phones, best laptops, best cameras, best televisions, best printers, and best tablets. If you want to learn about the next big thing, see our guide to everything we know about the iPhone 15. Click here to save on the best deals of the day, courtesy of our friends at The Inventory. | Consumer Electronics |
People walk past Xiaomi, a Chinese manufacturer of consumer electronics, store in Mumbai, India, May 11, 2022. REUTERS/Francis MascarenhasSHANGHAI, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp (1810.HK) on Wednesday reported quarterly revenue of 70.17 billion yuan, a 9.7% fall year-on-year and a touch below analyst expectations.Net income reached 2.12 billion yuan, down 59.1% year-on-year and slightly above analyst expectations.Reporting by Josh Horwitz, Editing by Louise HeavensOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.Read Next / Editor's Picks | Consumer Electronics |
I just walked out of a long demo session with Apple’s new $3,499 Vision Pro headset, which the company announced at WWDC 2023 as “the world’s most advanced consumer electronics device.” It’s... a really really nice VR headset with impressive displays and video passthrough. And I mean incredibly impressive displays and video passthrough: I was happily using my phone to take notes while wearing the Vision Pro, something no other headset can realistically allow.
That said, while Apple would obviously prefer that people think of the Vision Pro as a “powerful spatial computer” or an augmented reality device, there’s really no getting around the essential VR headset nature of the thing, down to the adjustable headstraps which definitely messed up my hair. It looks, feels, and behaves like a VR headset. If you’ve used a Meta Quest, just imagine the best possible Meta Quest running something very much like iPadOS, and you’ll get it.
Apple held Vision Pro demos in a large white cube-shaped building it built for WWDC called the Fieldhouse. Upon entry, I was handed an iPhone for a quick setup process: a turn-your-face-in-a-circle scan (very much like the Face ID setup that determined what size face mask to use), and then another side-to-side face scan that looked at my ears to calibrate spatial audio. After that, Apple had me visit an “vision specialist” who asked if I wore glasses — I was wearing my contacts, but glasses-wearers had a quick prescription check so Apple could fit the Vision Pros with the appropriate lenses. (The lenses are made by Zeiss; Apple needed a partner that can legally sell prescription lenses. They snap in magnetically and will be sold separately at launch.)
The headset itself weighs a little less than a pound — it’s connected by a braided white power cable to a silver battery pack that offers about two hours of use. The cable detaches from the headset with a mechanical latch, but it’s permanently connected to the battery pack. If you want to plug into the wall you plug a USB-C adapter into the battery pack.
The design language is all brushed aluminum, shiny glass, and soft fabrics; the vibe is closer to iPhone 6 than iPhone 14. That glass on the front is an obviously complex piece of optical engineering: it is perfectly curved but still serves as an appropriate lens for the cameras and the OLED screen that shows your eyes when you’re looking at people. (This feature is called EyeSight; I didn’t get to try it in any way.)
Around the headset itself you’ll count 12 cameras, a LIDAR sensor, and a TrueDepth camera, as well as IR flood illuminators to make sure the cameras can see your hands in dark environments for control purposes. The whole thing runs on a combination of Apple’s M2 and new R1 processors, which unsurprisingly generate a fair amount of heat. The Vision Pro vents that heat by pulling air up through the bottom of the device, and venting it out the top.
The top of the Vision Pro has a button on the left that serves as a shutter button to take 3D videos and photos, which I didn’t get to try. The Digital Crown is on the right; clicking it brings up the home screen of app icons, while turning it changes the level of VR immersion in certain modes. I asked why anyone would want to set the immersion level anywhere other than all-on or all-off, and it appears Apple is thinking of the middle immersion setting as a sort of adjustable desktop workspace for apps while leaving the sides open for you to talk to your colleagues.
When you put on the headset, there’s a quick automatic eye adjustment that’s much quicker and more seamless than on something like the Quest Pro — there are no manual dials or sliders for eye settings at all. Apple wouldn’t say anything specific about its field of view this long before launch, but I definitely saw black in my peripheral vision. The Vision Pro is not as totally immersive as the marketing videos would have you believe.
The display itself is absolutely bonkers: a 4K display for each eye, with pixels just 23 microns in size. In the short time I tried it, it was totally workable for reading text in Safari (I loaded The Verge, of course), looking at photos, and watching movies. It is easily the highest-resolution VR display I have ever seen. There was some green and purple fringing around the edges of the lenses, but I can’t say for certain if that was down to the quick fitment or early demo nature of the device or something else entirely. We’ll have to see when it actually ships.
The video passthrough was similarly impressive. It appeared with zero latency and was sharp, crisp and clear. I happily talked to others, walked around the room, and even took notes on my phone while wearing the headset — something I would never be able to do with something like the Meta Quest Pro. That said, it’s still video passthrough. I could see pretty intense compression at times, and loss of detail when people’s faces moved into shadows. I could see the IR light on the front of my iPhone futilely blink as it attempted to unlock with FaceID to no avail. And the display was dimmer than the room itself, so when I took the headset off my eyes had to adjust to how much brighter the room was in reality.
Similarly, Apple’s ability to do mixed reality is seriously impressive. At one point in a full VR Avatar demo I raised my hands to gesture at something, and the headset automatically detected my hands and overlaid them on the screen, then noticed I was talking to someone and had them appear as well. Reader, I gasped. Apple’s also gotten a lot farther with eye tracking and gesture control: eye tracking was pretty solid, and those IR illuminators and side cameras mean you can tap your thumb and index finger together to select things while they’re down in your lap or at your sides. You don’t need to be pointing at anything. It’s pretty cool.
Apple has clearly solved a bunch of big hardware interaction problems with VR headsets, mostly by out-engineering and out-spending everyone else that’s tried. But it has emphatically not really answered the question of what these things are really for yet: the main interface is very much a grid of icons, and most of the demos were basically projections of giant screens with very familiar apps on them. Safari. Photos. Movies. The Freeform collaboration app. FaceTime video calls. There was one demo with 3D dinosaurs where a butterfly landed on my outstretched hand, but that was as much “augmented reality” as I really experienced. (Yes, mapping the room and projecting the displays is very complex AR work, but there wasn’t so much as a measuring-things app after years of ARKit demos at WWDC. It was odd.)
I did get to see a quick FaceTime call with someone else in a Vision Pro using an AI-generated 3D “persona” (Apple does not like it when you call them “avatars”) which was both impressive and deeply odd. It was immediately obvious that I was talking to a persona in an uncanny-valley sort of way, especially as most of the person’s face was frozen apart from their mouth and eyes. But even that much was convincing after a while, and certainly much nicer than your average Zoom call. You set up a persona by holding the headset in front of you and letting it scan your face, but I wasn’t able to set one up myself and there there’s clearly a lot of refinement yet to come, so I’ll withhold judgement until later.
All of this was basically a greatest hits reel of VR demos, including some old standbys: Apple showed off 180-degree 3D videos with spatial audio in something called the Apple Immersive Video Format, which the company apparently shot with proprietary cameras it may or may not release. (They looked like the 3D videos we’ve been seeing in VR demos forever.) I looked at a 3D photo of some cute kids shot by the headset’s cameras and watched a 3D video of those kids blowing out a birthday candle. (Same.) I did a one-minute Mindfulness meditation in which a voice commanded me to be grateful while the room darkened and a sphere of colorful triangles expanded all around me. (This looked great, but Supernatural exists, has millions of users on the Quest, and has offered guided meditation since 2020.) And I watched Avatar in what looked like a movie theater, which, well, that’s one of the oldest VR demos ever.
Was all this made better by the wildly superior Vision Pro hardware? Without question. But was it made more compelling? I don’t know, and I’m not sure I can know with just a short time wearing the headset. I do know that wearing this thing felt oddly lonely. How do you watch a movie with other people in a Vision Pro? What if you want to collaborate with people in the room with you and people on FaceTime? What does it mean that Apple wants you to wear a headset at your child’s birthday party? There are just more questions than answers here, and some of those questions get at the very nature of what it means for our lives to be literally mediated by screens.
I also know that Apple still has a long list of things it wants to refine between now and next year when the Vision Pro ships. That’s part of the reason it’s being announced at WWDC: to let developers react to it, figure out what kinds of apps they might build, and get started on them. But that’s the same promise we’ve been hearing about VR headsets for years now, from Meta and others. Apple can clearly outpace everyone in the industry when it comes to hardware, especially when cost is apparently no object. But the most perfect headset demo reel of all time is still just a headset demo reel — whether Apple’s famed developer community can generate a killer app for the Vision Pro is still up in the air. | Consumer Electronics |
If new leaked renders are to be believed, Samsung is going back to the classics, literally, with its upcoming Galaxy Watch 6. According to routine leaker OnLeaks, who provided watch renders to MySmartPrice, Samsung’s next smartwatch iteration will go back to designs not seen since the Watch 4, which currently features the most recent iteration of the “Classic” series.
The renders show the supposed smartwatch with a circular display and rotating bezel. In appearance, it most resembles the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. That design came in a 42mm and 45mm stainless steel case. And though it’s hard to tell by renders, the new device seems to fit the same design philosophy with its brushed metal exterior.
Past rumors from Galaxy leaker SuperRoader implied the return of the physical bezel, and that the new watch would come in two different sizes. The rotating bezel allows users to cycle through menu options without using touch controls, similar to the digital crown on an Apple Watch. It was a sorely missed feature on the latest version of the smartwatch, as some users prefer that tactile feeling for selecting menu options.
As much as the Galaxy Watch 5 was a minimal update to its smartwatch brand, Samsung opted to pause its previous line trying to emulate traditional watch faces, the Galaxy Watch Classic series. Instead, the South Korean tech giant went with a “Pro” version. The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro did have pronounced bezels, but to fans’ disappointment, they did not physically rotate. Instead, the watch included a virtual bezel that rotated with gesture controls. Apparently, Samsung has listened to users and gone back to its original design, though it might be bigger than the past Pro. Other rumors have implied the return of the Classic watch could come in two versions, one smaller and one larger, for those who didn’t appreciate the Pro’s lone 45mm casing.
The renders show the bezels rising up over the screen, accompanied by a pair of pronounced buttons located along the right side of the device that could be used for more clickable navigation. The watch renders’ all black design seems to include a magnetic wristband, which would continue along the same lines of the Watch 5 Pro. The bottom sensor also seems to be relatively unchanged from the 5, though without the device strapped to a wrist, it’s impossible to tell if it’s is any more or less uncomfortable. It’s unclear what could change with the watch-to-skin contact, especially considering how long it took the company to enable the temperature sensor that was promised back when the watch first released.
As far as features go, that news is still thin. SamMobile recently reported the Galaxy Watch 6 will include higher-resolution screens and health tracking features like heart rate analysis and a barometer. There’s also rumors of a slightly larger 425mAh battery compared to the Watch 5 and a slightly upgraded Exynos W980 processor. Though, of course, your mileage may vary on those uncited rumors.
Samsung could end up revealing the Galaxy Watch 6 and 6 Classic at its Galaxy Unpacked in August. And with competition from the likes of Google and Oppo muscling in on the foldables business, Samsung might also announce a new Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 within the next few months.
Want more of Gizmodo’s consumer electronics picks? Check out our guides to the best phones, best laptops, best cameras, best televisions, best printers, and best tablets. If you want to learn about the next big thing, see our guide to everything we know about the iPhone 15. Click here to save on the best deals of the day, courtesy of our friends at The Inventory. | Consumer Electronics |
The first-of-its-kind voice assistant will provide customers access to a wide range of Disney magic through Echo devices. This new voice assistant, termed the 'Disney Magical Companion', is the voice of Hey Disney, Amazon said.
Las Vegas, Amazon and Disney have teamed up to launch a new voice assistant called 'Hey Disney!', which was shown with a live demonstration at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023. The "first-of-its-kind" voice assistant will provide customers access to a "wide range of Disney magic through Echo devices at home and as a complimentary service at select Disney Resorts hotels", Amazon said in a blogpost. Disney created this experience using the Alexa Custom Assistant, a voice artificial intelligence (AI) foundation upon which the company could easily build its own custom voice assistant that coexists with Alexa.
"This new voice assistant, termed the 'Disney Magical Companion', is the voice of Hey Disney," Amazon said. This new service will be available for purchase in the US in the coming months.
Customers will be able to access the service through Echo smart speakers at home and in Disney Resort hotel rooms. Moreover, it will feature support for Disney's MagicBand+, which is a smart and interactive wearable device that "visitors use at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort to interact with shows, enter the park", and much more. "As a first-of-its-kind voice assistant, Hey Disney! continues Disney's long tradition of using technology to provide the coolest, most convenient experiences to make your visit better," said Dan Soto, vice president of technology and digital, Disney. SEE ALSO: Early attractions at CES 2023: Here are the best innovations and products from the biggest tech show For the first time in history, an AI bot will reportedly defend a human in court | Consumer Electronics |
Aditya Vision - An Emerging Durables Retailer Spreading Its Wings Outside Core Bihar Market: Systematix
After its success in Bihar, the company is now looking to replicate its model in the adjacent states.
BQ Prime’s special research section collates quality and in-depth equity and economy research reports from across India’s top brokerages, asset managers and research agencies. These reports offer BQ Prime’s subscribers an opportunity to expand their understanding of companies, sectors and the economy.
Systematix Research Report
Aditya Vision Ltd., incorporated in 1999, is an emerging consumer durables retailer, having a dominant presence in India’s Bihar market. The company is now expanding into other geographies in the Hindi heartland.
It enjoys 50% plus market share in Bihar, and has entered the adjacent markets of Jharkhand in FY22 and Uttar Pradesh FY23. An aspiring large population and rise in electrification in tier-II, III markets in the Hindi belt are factors that are driving the strong demand for consumer electronics.
Its strong focus on customer service and shopping experience have helped Aditya Vision in creating strong brand equity and a loyal customer base, which in turn have helped it in attracting more than 100 leading durable brands.
The company enjoys an enviable track record of zero store closures so far and 100% business-to-consumer sales. A key differentiator for the company in our view is the extremely low penetration of durables in the Hindi belt, where most of its customers are first time buyers. This, in addition to the large premiumisation and cross-sell opportunities, make the retailer an attractive client for brands.
After its success in Bihar, the company is now looking to replicate its model in the adjacent states.
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This report is authored by an external party. BQ Prime does not vouch for the accuracy of its contents nor is responsible for them in any way. The contents of this section do not constitute investment advice. For that you must always consult an expert based on your individual needs. The views expressed in the report are that of the author entity and do not represent the views of BQ Prime.
Users have no license to copy, modify, or distribute the content without permission of the Original Owner. | Consumer Electronics |
The latest Samsung Galaxy Unpacked brings us a lot of flash and a lot of folds. Samsung’s latest Z Fold 5 phone may look very similar to last year’s counterpart the Korean electronics giant is betting that a few tweaks to last year’s model will entice a new crowd of buyers. The phone’s next iteration features a near-flat folding design along with UI updates that could make this the best option for the phone-tablet hybrid we’ve seen yet—all for the high (starting) price of $1,800.
The Galaxy Z Fold 5 sure does look a lot like the excellent-though-expensive Fold 4, at least on its rather thin face. Perhaps the biggest difference between the old Fold and the new is the different folding mechanism. Previous versions of the Fold had a sagging display, and the phone did not fold completely flat. The new Z Fold 5 does fold flat…ish. There’s still a very slight gap between the edges closest to the hinge where light gets through. The Z Fold 5 is much, much closer to the ideal, but it’s not all the way there, if it ever could be. Otherwise, the new model, slightly thinner than last year’s, clamped shut at .53 inches compared to the 4’s .62.
As much as Samsung is advertising a ultra-satisfying “clap” sound when closing, it’s more of a light “thud.” That’s because the hinge is stiff enough to keep the device open at multiple angles (a good tradeoff), and the company is promoting this “flex hinge” has fewer moving parts, which is supposed to make it more durable over time. Still, the phone is only IPX8 rated, meaning it’s water resistant up to 3.2 feet in water. You can’t shove it into playground sand and know it will come out completely safe, though.
While some newer foldable devices have tried to expand to a more traditional screen size, the Fold 5 maintains the same, squashed 6.2-inch display when folded. Unfolded, the device includes a 7.6-inch QXGA+ Infinity Flex screen running at 120Hz. The unfolded screen has a small crease, but it’s relatively thin, and it doesn’t catch the light nearly as much as some others. Samsung is also touting the 1750 nits of screen brightness for ease of viewing on the larger screen.
Inside, the Z Fold 5 is packing very similar hardware to its predecessor. You’ll find the same 4,400mAh battery with fast wireless charging and 12GB of memory. Instead of the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, the newer Fold is running on the more powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 which also powers Samsung’s Galaxy S23 line. You also have the same storage options with 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1TB.
The cameras are all virtually the same, with a tri-sensor array including a 12MP ultra wide, 50 MP wide-angle, and a 10MP telephoto lens. The cover camera includes the 10MP selfie sensor, and there’s an additional 4MP under-display camera that could be useful for some minimal video conferencing. The lack of improvement here is especially noticeable since the Google Pixel Fold had one of the best camera arrays of any foldable yet.
All-in-all, these are just moderate iterations on last year’s device. What may be the tipping point for some users is the quality updates to the phone’s open-faced UI. While the Z Fold 5 is running Android 13 and Samsung’s One UI 5.1.1, the main improvements are surrounding opening multiple apps on the unfolded screen.
Unlike the Google Pixel Fold, you can run multiple apps on the extended display of the Z Fold 5. Some apps can take up a quarter of the screen, though some apps like Netflix can only run full-screen, at least for now. You can also drag and drop other apps into a windowed display, and I quickly got the hang of selecting, placing, and expanding multiple apps. There’s a limit of five apps that can run in windowed mode at one time, though if you love chaos you can run eight apps—or potentially more—all on top of each other with very minimal performance loss. We’d need more testing to see just how draining this kind of UI Jenga can get.
Samsung is also promoting a new case that includes a modernized, thinner S Pen specifically designed for the Fold 5. It only works on the internal screen, but it is quite nice to have available for drafting or note taking with a glide and feel akin to a fair quality gel pen. The case does moderately increase the footprint of the Z Fold 5, so those who enjoy thin pants should take that into consideration.
Samsung is finally seeing real competition for the foldable market as it debuts the Z Fold 5. Sure, the Google Pixel Fold wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, but there’s more companies such as OnePlus and Chinese-centric Honor (the company spun off from Huawei) gunning for the title of champion heavyweight foldable. Samsung has had the benefit of time to make its crease small and its hinge more durable, but we’ll need to see if it’s newest, still-pricey iteration will win out as more companies take a crack at the first, real mass-market foldable.
Want more of Gizmodo’s consumer electronics picks? Check out our guides to the best phones, best laptops, best cameras, best televisions, best printers, and best tablets. If you want to learn about the next big thing, see our guide to everything we know about the iPhone 15. Click here to save on the best deals of the day, courtesy of our friends at The Inventory. | Consumer Electronics |
Thank you all for joining us today. In the simplest terms, the right to repair means that when something you own breaks, you should have the right to fix it yourself or to take it to an independent repair shop.
You might ask why we care about the right to repair. President Bident knows kitchen table economics matters most for hardworking Americans, and having the basic right to repair electronic devices alone can save a family $400 a year on average. We will hear today how the basic right to get a product repaired can also save farmers thousands of dollars when their tractor breaks down and create opportunities for small independent repair shops to thrive.
For everything from smartphones, to wheelchairs, to cars, to farm equipment, too often manufacturers make it difficult to access spare parts, manuals, and tools necessary to make fixes. Consumers are compelled to go back to the dealer and pay the dealer’s price or to discard and replace the device entirely. This not only costs consumers money, but it prevents independent repair shops from competing for the business and creates unnecessary waste by shortening the life span of devices.
Research suggests that the ability to repair consumer electronics devices could save American consumers $49.6 billion annually, reduce the nearly 7 million tons of annual electronic waste in the U.S., and support small independent repair shops.
President Biden’s call to action on the right to repair in his Executive Order on Promoting Competition of July 2021 jumpstarted a growing movement. Now federal agencies are taking action to make it easier and cheaper to repair things you own, state legislatures are passing laws across the country, and the private sector is making voluntary commitments, from companies like Apple and Microsoft.
I’m joined today by Chair Khan of the Federal Trade Commission, which voted unanimously to ramp up enforcement of right to repair provisions, taking on cases affecting grills and motorcycles. I’m also joined by Janet McCabe, Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, which issued a letter earlier this year affirming their support for right to repair, including for farm equipment, and its compatibility with protecting our environment and the Clean Air Act.
I’m also joined by Tom Perez, Senior Advisor to the President and Director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affair, along with a bipartisan group of state officials who have all successfully passed right to repair laws in their states—states like California, Colorado, New York and Minnesota. And 30 states beyond those have introduced right to repair bills. Today, the Administration is calling on other states to follow suit and for Congress to pass national right to repair laws, as well.
Today we’ll hear from Apple, which endorsed that new California law. Under the California law, companies will have to make the parts, tools, and documentation needed for repairs of consumer electronic devices and appliances available to independent repair shops and consumers at fair and reasonable prices. California’s new law will help ensure that consumers and independent repair businesses alike have the resources available to safely repair their devices in a manner that does not compromise their privacy or data security. And today, as part of this convening, Apple is announcing that they are going to do this nationwide. That means that whether you are in California, Maine or Michigan, Apple will make the parts, tools, and documentation needed to repair your Apple products available to you at reasonable prices, as outlined in the California law. And Apple is calling for national right to repair legislation.
We’ll also hear from Danny Wood, a Colorado farmer, who will share how a lack of robust right to repair laws can cost farmers thousands of dollars when your tractor breaks down. And Heather Walch, who runs a small business in Minnesota, will share her observations about how promoting the right to repair is important to ensure independent businesses aren’t shut out of the market. Finally, we’ll hear from Allstate on how consumers and businesses stand to save hundreds when they can utilize aftermarket parts.
This is a bipartisan issue that resonates with people all over the country. With that, I will turn to White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, Tom Perez.
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Let’s be honest: TVs have gotten so good that even the small and cheap ones look pretty great. But the decision of what TV to buy is more complicated than ever. There’s OLED screens and QLED and LED, smart TVs and not so smart, 8K and 4K, and a laundry list of inscrutable features like HDR and VRR. Where to start?
We’ll make things simple. In this article, we’ve put together a list of our recommendations for the best TVs you can buy right now.
There’s something exciting about buying the newest and greatest TV in the store, but the truth is, you may not want or need the high-tech innovations offered by the latest TV models. 8K televisions are the current cutting edge, and they’re incredibly impressive, offering four times the resolution of 4K high definition, with approximately 33 million pixels in the display. But they’re also total overkill for most users —in order to get an 8K picture, you have to provide an 8K source, and most streaming sources top out at 4k. So unless you really like to live at the bleeding edge of tech, a 4k screen might be best for you.
You want a crisp and clear picture, you want great sound, you want fluid motion... and all these televisions will deliver that and much more. We’ve tried to cover a number of different price points, too, to give you an option or two whatever your budget.
In late February, Sony introduced the new 2023 L lineup, and we visited the company to untangle all the new information about the latest TVs. You can read that story here to find out what’s coming from Sony, and also what trends are cooking industry-wide, especially in the image processing realm.
Meanwhile, to see what your best options are now, read on. The following options aren’t in order—consider them all recommendations. As for the prices mentioned on each one, they reflect what we’re seeing online at the time of writing, and you may see different deals and offers when you’re doing your own shopping.
- Available sizes: 42, 48, 55, 65, 77, 83 inches
- Display tech: OLED
- Starting price: $1,400
The LG C2 OLED Evo 4K has been earning rave reviews from just about everyone who’s tried it, and it’s easy to see why: You get superb brightness and particularly contrast (as you would expect from an OLED panel), you get a top-end processor for object enhancement and dynamic processing, and you get a super-slimline, minimal design.
Available sizes go from the plenty large enough 42 inch to the simply gigantic 83 inch, with the 4K, 3840 x 2160 pixel resolution consistent throughout. You get some very decent HDR support as well, compatibility with the eARC standard for soundbars, and integrated 2.2-channel audio that offers a total of 40W of output together with Dolby Atmos support.
You’ve got four HDMI 2.1 ports to plug all of your various devices into, and the webOS software that comes on board the television is actually not bad either (you might not even need to plug anything in). For an outstanding picture with a punch, and action that grabs you, the LG C2 OLED Evo 4K is clearly one of the best options out there at the moment.
- Available sizes: 55, 65, 75, 85 inches
- Display tech: QLED
- Starting price: $1,300
Samsung is a name you can rely on when it comes to televisions, and with the Q70A QLED 4K, we have a set that checks a lot of boxes. It offers a 3840 x 2160 pixel resolution, extensive HDR support, eARC compatibility, three HDMI 2.0 ports and one HDMI 2.1 port, and 40W of built-in 2.2 channel audio that intelligently optimizes itself in real time.
The QLED technology is Samsung’s own take on an upgrade to LED, with an extra Quantum attached in front: It’s intended to create superior brightness and contrast through the addition of a quantum dot filter on the standard tech. Here, an extra Dual LED backlighting system also aims to provide deeper contrast and more accurate colors.
One of the key features here—and one that applies particularly to sports—is the way the picture can be adjusted on the fly via the on-board processor to match what you’re watching and the conditions (like brightness) in the room you’ve put it in. Add in the fast 120Hz refresh rate and it’s perfect for anything where images are moving quickly.
- Available sizes: 55, 65, 75 inches
- Display tech: Mini-LED QLED
- Starting price: $950
Stylish and packed with features, the TCL 6-Series Mini-LED QLED 4K scores highly in just about every department, and would be a perfect pick for Super Bowl day. It’s also cheaper than many comparable sets of the same size and resolution, which of course counts in its favor—as does the superior brightness and color you’re going to get from this model.
TCL uses the same QLED technology as Samsung (see the previous TV in our slideshow), while the Mini-LED approach means dimming that’s more precise and sharper across the screen. It all adds up to a vivid and rich 4K (3840 x 2160 pixel) picture, with great HDR standards support and four HDMI ports (two with HDMI 2.0 and two with HDMI 2.1).
This set can actually be found with either Google TV or Roku TV software on board, so take your pick. As far as audio goes, you’ve got two 15W speakers built in, plus options (including eARC) for connecting up separate audio devices. It handles motion very well too—very handy for sports of course—and maxes out at a 120Hz refresh rate.
- Available sizes: 50, 65, 75 inches
- Display tech: QLED
- Starting price: $600
Come for the very affordable price, stay for the quality of the video you’re going to get on this—whether it’s watching movies, games, or sports. The Vizio MQX Series QLED 4K is capable of making almost anything look good on screen, and it’s particularly adept at improving the visual appeal of content from lesser quality sources.
As for key specs, the 4K (3840 x 2160 pixel) resolution tops out at 120Hz (and even more if you’re willing to dial that resolution down), there’s support for Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and AMD FreeSync Premium, and you get four HDMI 2.1 ports to make use of. Support for eARC is included as well, and there are a couple of 10W speakers built into the television too.
Thanks to the QLED technology and the integrated processor, you get very decent contrast and brightness for the price you’re paying, and there’s good uniformity across the screen as well as intelligent HDR handling. That speedy refresh rate means that sports are going to come across as slick and fluid, and the television also handles reflections very well.
- Available sizes: 55, 65, 75 inches
- Display tech: Mini-LED
- Starting price: $650
With fluid motion handling and excellent brightness levels, the Hisense U8H Series 4K is a fine choice when it comes to watching sports—and it handles everything else pretty well too. The Mini-LED technology brings contrast levels that are almost as good as OLED without sacrificing quality in other areas, and Dolby Vision and HDR10 are also supported.
This television set can output up to a 4K (3840 x 2160 pixel) resolution at up to a 120Hz refresh rate, and it’s more than competent at upscaling sources that are coming through at a lower resolution too. There are four HDMI ports (two HDMI 2.0 and two HDMI 2.1), eARC compatibility, and a pair of stereo speakers outputting 20W in total for built-in sound.
The design of the TV is fairly unspectacular, which suits us just fine, and you get the Google TV software on board—one of the better integrated software options on the market at the moment. It’s versatile, it’s fluid, it’s bright, and then there’s the price: This set proves that you don’t necessarily have to pay top dollar to get one of the best TVs.
- Available sizes: 55, 65, 83
- Display tech: OLED
- Starting price: $1,800
Sony has been putting out high-quality Bravia TVs for many years now, and the A90J is a really good choice for all your content consumption, assuming you have the budget to afford it. This is a cut above most similar sized sets in terms of price, but it also has enough about it to justify the additional expenditure.
Every aspect of this TV is superbly done, from the real time image processing and optimization, to the fantastic contrast, deep blacks and vivid colors provided by the OLED panel, to the implementation of HDR (HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision are all supported). The picture itself is a 4K, 3840 x 2160 pixel one, with all kinds of customizations available.
Those customizations cover motion smoothing as well as all the usual adjustments to brightness, contrast and so on. The refresh rate goes as high as 120Hz, there’s eARC support as well as the rather unusual option to use the screen itself as a built-in speaker, and four HDMI ports (two with HDMI 2.0 and two with HDMI 2.1), plus Google TV.
- Available sizes: 43, 50, 55 inch
- Display tech: LED
- Starting price: $260
Our next pick is aimed at those who want to spend as little as possible on their TV upgrade, in contrast to the Sony Bravia option we just mentioned. It doesn’t offer the superior screen tech of OLED, QLED or Mini-LED, but it still produces a very decent picture, and it has Amazon Alexa smarts built into it as well.
You do get a 4K, 3840 x 2160 pixel resolution screen with support for HDR 10 and HLG, and a refresh rate up to 60Hz. You’re well covered with ports too, with the set offering three HDMI 2.0 ports and one HDMI 2.1 port with eARC support. As far as integrated audio goes, there are a pair of 8W stereo speakers, and the set is compatible with Dolby Digital Plus.
Amazon makes a bunch of smart TV gear of course, and so the Fire TV OS software is better than most, especially when it comes to app support. There’s even an Ethernet port here if you want to ensure a rock solid connection to the internet for your streaming needs. Not the best TV you can buy at the moment, but one of those that offers the best value.
- Available sizes: 55, 65, 77 inches
- Display tech: QD-OLED
- Starting price: $2,500
This is undoubtedly one of the best TVs that Samsung makes right now, and it combines a whole host of technologies – a Samsung QD-OLED display, VRR and FreeSync Premium support, refresh rates up to 144Hz, and plenty more. If you’re looking to spend a sizable sum and need a larger set, then this is well worth putting on your shortlist.
Of particular note are the brightness levels that the Samsung S95C can reach: AI is used to adjust brightness on a pixel-by-pixel basis in real time, and the contrast levels are superb as well. Whether you’re streaming video or gaming on a console, the Samsung S95C is going to impress, and as an added bonus it can upscale older content as well.
There’s plenty to talk about besides the picture as well, with an integrated 4.2.2 speaker system offering superior sound, and four HDMI 2.1 ports to get all of your gadgets connected up. It runs Samsung’s Tizen OS, which means you get a good selection of smart apps on the television even before you start connecting up any other hardware.
- Available sizes: 24, 32, 40 inches
- Display tech: LED
- Starting price: $150
Not everyone wants the biggest or the most expensive TVs, and the Roku Select Series HD is a fine choice for those looking for something smaller and more modestly priced—it’s ideal for a dorm room or a kid’s room, for example. And with the Roku software on board, you know there’s going to be a vast choice when it comes to streaming apps and content to watch.
You do have to do without the latest and greatest tech, and that includes 4K: But at the smaller sizes these screens have, there’s an argument that you don’t need 4K anyway (you’d also save you some money on your Netflix subscription by going without). HDR is missing too, and the refresh rate is limited to 60Hz, so be aware of these compromises before buying, especially if you’re a gamer or movie buff.
Reading the specs of this TV, you might be tempted to skip the Roku Select Series HD in favor of a beefier but also costlier Roku Plus Series set. But just look at that starting price—cheaper than most smartphones. If you need a simple screen in another room, then you’re looking at excellent value for money, as well as an operating system that’s a level above most of the software currently on televisions. For beefier sets, you start to compete with Amazon’s Fire TVs, while companies like LG are still the reigning champions of premium.
- Available sizes: 55, 65, 75, 85 inches
- Display tech: LED
- Starting price: $550
The Hisense U7H is one of the best value LED TVs you can pick up at the moment, and it covers all the main use cases very well indeed, from sports to gaming to movies. You do miss out on some of the very top-end specs, but there’s definitely enough here to produce a picture that most people will be happy with—and at a very competitive price as well.
When it comes to the key specs and features that you’re going to want to know about, this television set brings with it a 4K resolution, 600 nits of peak brightness, support for the HDR10+ standard, a Dolby Atmos-capable audio system, two HDMI 2.0 ports and two HDMI 2.1 ports. The Ethernet port and the two USB ports are likely to come in handy, too.
The HiSense U7H is also able to adjust its picture brightness based on the ambient light in the room you’re using it in, which is a nice touch. The on-board software comes in the form of Google TV, which is arguably the best option out there right now, and one that will give you access to all of the streaming apps you need as well as Google Assistant.
Overall, this is a great budget set for folks who don’t want to buy into the Amazon or Roku ecosystems.
- Available sizes: 55, 65, 75, 86 inches
- Display tech: Mini-LED
- Starting price: $1,200
We’ve picked out the LG QNED85 series as some of the best Mini-LED TVs available on the market at the moment, and it shows how much improvement there’s been in LED technology in recent years: if you don’t want to go all out for the pricier OLED technology, then you can still get a television with a fantastic-looking picture, as these models prove.
The miniature LEDs in this set are some 40x smaller than standard ones, which means better brightness and contrast across the board. Color performance is good too, as is the 120Hz refresh rate, and you’re well covered for HDR with Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG all supported. For gamers, the set is compatible with both VRR and AMD FreeSync Premium.
LG’s own webOS provides just about all of the smart streaming apps you could possibly want, while there’s also an integrated 2.2 speaker system and four HDMI ports to make use of (two HDMI 2.0 and two HDMI 2.1). It’s a real all-rounder that will do you very well in a variety of different environments and connected up to a multitude of different devices.
- Available sizes: 32 inches
- Display tech: LED
- Starting price: $370
If you want to go compact and low-budget for your next TV—and a lot of people do—then the Sony W830K gives you a set you can rely on for not much money at all. At the smaller 32-inch size, 4K isn’t so much of a priority, and you’re still going to get a superb picture: Sony’s X-Reality Pro upscaling technology is on board to optimize the display quality in real time.
There’s support for HDR10 and HLG in the HDR department, there are integrated speakers with Dolby Audio support and yet more real time optimization technology, and you get three HDMI 2.0 ports to make use of. On the software side, there’s the excellent Google TV, with all the apps that come along with it and of course support for Google Assistant.
It’s not the sleekest or the thinnest television set that you’re going to come across this year, but if you’ve got a smaller space to fill, then there are a shrinking number of top-quality models that are going to be able to squeeze into it (like phones, TVs just keep getting bigger). You might well be able to find this TV at a discounted price, as well.
- Available sizes: 77, 88 inch
- Display tech: OLED
- Starting price: $10,000
You certainly don’t need an 8K TV at the moment, and you probably can’t afford an 8K TV at the moment... but maybe, just maybe... have you just won the lottery? We’re aware that this is prohibitively expensive and way too large for most people, but we think you’ll be interested in the technology that’s coming down the pipe and will one day be the norm.
The LG Z2 puts together the company’s fantastic OLED screen tech with an eye-popping resolution of 7,680 x 4,320 pixels. You’re going to struggle to find any 8K content around at the moment, but the TV set does a fine job of upscaling content at a lower resolution to look great—thanks in part to a custom AI-powered processor working behind the scenes.
The LG Z2 offers support for the Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG flavors of HDR. It also supports a ton of gaming features (Nvidia G-Sync, AMD FreeSync Premium, VRR) and boasts a 1ms response time, and there’s a 120Hz refresh rate here, too. Even without plugging anything in, the model supports a host of streaming apps and Nvidia GeForce Now cloud gaming.
- Projection size: 85-120 inches
- Starting price: $2,300
You always have the option of installing a projector rather than a TV, assuming you’ve got enough wall space or a big enough screen, and the Optoma CinemaX D2 is a superb choice that offers plenty of value for money. It can throw up images up to 120 inches in size and at a 4K (3,840 x 2,160 pixel) resolution, and it offers an impressive 3,000 lumens of brightness.
If you’re a gamer, you can dial down the resolution to 1080p and get a 4ms response rate and a 240Hz refresh rate, so your games should feel smooth when super-sized. In terms of connectivity, there are three HDMI 2.0 ports to make use of. There are some basic speakers included too, though you’ll probably want to use a separate audio system.
The short-throw laser technology used in the projector ensures superior brightness and contrast for your content while reducing the chance for anyone to get in the way of the image, and the CinemaX D2 is rated to have a lifespan of up to 30,000 hours. When it comes to color, there’s support for HDR10, and the device can even automatically adjust the picture it’s projecting based on the underlying shade of your wall.
- Projection size: 50-300 inches
- Starting price: $5,000
If money is no object when it comes to your home theater setup, the Epson Pro Cinema LS12000 is likely to appeal. There’s no doubt that Epson knows what it’s doing when it comes to projector tech—just look at the number of models it offers and the number of years it’s been offering them for—and this offers performance that won’t disappoint.
With this projector’s Laser Array Light Source system, you get brightness up to 2,700 lumens, and there’s support for 4K (3,840 x 2,160 pixel) resolutions at a maximum of 120Hz. Two HDMI 2.1 ports make up the input options, and with a maximum output projection size of 300 inches, you’re not going to be struggling to see your movies, shows or video games with this.
With an on-board picture processor installed, the projector excels in terms of contrast and color, and there’s support for HDR10+ and HLG technologies in the HDR department too. It’s definitely on the more expensive side in terms of this list, but there’s no doubting the quality of the components or the specs that are on offer from the Pro Cinema LS12000.
- Available sizes: Up to 200 inches
- Display tech: Projector
- Starting price: $1,700
We’d be remiss if we didn’t put at least one projector on this list. The one we’re opting for here is on the pricey end, but is competitive with some of the more high-end TVs on the list. What you get in exchange for that cost is a full 4K picture that can stretch up to 200 inches while still staying bright enough to watch during daytime.
You might be tempted to go for a cheaper, ultra short throw projector instead, but those are often so dim during the day that it’ll be hard to see. The XGIMI Horizon Pro can instead hit 2,200 lumens, which should be more than enough to ensure a lively view even in a well-lit room.
Meanwhile, that large screen size and projected image will give your viewings a more cinematic feel, and built-in Google TV compatibility and a solid Harman Kardon speaker system will help you stream with ease while making sure you won’t be distracted by the admittedly minor dim of the projector actually running.
It’s not for everyone, but showing a giant display from a projector might be just the trick you need.
This list is updated regularly with new recommendations and product forecasts. Want more of Gizmodo’s consumer electronics picks? Check our our guides to the best phones, best laptops, best cameras, and best tablets and eReaders. And if you want to know about the next big thing, see our guide to everything we know about the iPhone 15. | Consumer Electronics |
Something isn't loading properly. Please check back later. Watch this color changing BMW in action 01:58 - Source: CNN Business Latest in tech 15 videos Watch this color changing BMW in action 01:58 Now playing - Source: CNN Business See the first electrified and fastest-accelerating Corvette 01:16 Now playing - Source: CNN Business Facebook could soon reinstate Trump. Two former senior staffers debate the decision Experts raising alarm over 'crisis' of TikTok's impact on mental health 03:12 Now playing - Source: CNN See CES 2023's weirdest new technologies 02:25 Now playing - Source: CNN 'The stroller takes care of itself': See how this self-driving stroller works 01:30 Now playing - Source: CNN Artificial Intelligence can write as well as humans. See how it works 02:20 Now playing - Source: CNN Here's what school protocols Bill Gates thinks didn't work during pandemic 01:27 Now playing - Source: CNN What's popular on YouTube in 2022? Here's all you need to know 01:25 Now playing - Source: CNN Business Her ex-boyfriend stalked her using an AirTag. Now, she's suing Apple 03:36 Now playing - Source: CNN Business Is SBF the new Madoff? We asked the former head Madoff prosecutor. 03:23 Now playing - Source: CNN Late night roasts Trump over NFT trading cards 01:12 Now playing - Source: CNN Business CNN reporter explains how shadow banning works 04:49 Now playing - Source: CNN Prosecutor: FTX founder committed 'one of the biggest financial frauds' in US history 02:41 Now playing - Source: CNN Can the Chinese government get your data from TikTok? Analyst weighs in 03:07 Now playing - Source: CNN CNN — A long list of companies once again showed off an assortment of cutting edge technology and oddball gadgets at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week. There were new twists on foldable devices, cars that changed colors and smart ovens that live streamed dinners. There was a self-driving stroller, a pillow that pulsates to reduce anxiety and a locker from LG that claims to deodorize smelly sneakers in less than 40 minutes. At the event, some people gathered in groups, sitting in silence, to test out the latest virtual reality products. While some of these devices may never find their way into households, the products on display offer a glimpse at some of the biggest tech trends companies are anticipating this year and in the years ahead. Here’s a look at some of the buzziest products announced last week: BMW unveiled a wild color-changing concept car with 260 e-panels that can change up to 32 colors. During a demo, different parts of the car, including the wheel covers, flashed in varying hues and swirls of colors. The technology, which relies on panels that receive electrical impulses, isn’t ready for production. (Breaks between panels and what looked like wiring could be seen on the outside of the car.) But just imagine being able to drive a sporty red car on the weekends and then a conservative gray model when you go to work. If you think snapping photos of your meal for Instagram is overdone, now you can livestream your dinner as it cooks in real time and post it to your social feeds. Samsung’s new AI Wall oven features an internal camera that can capture footage of your baking food or allow you to keep tabs on it without ever leaving the couch. The oven, which uses an algorithm to recognize dishes and suggest cooking times and temperatures, also pushes notifications to your phone to prevent you from burning meals. The oven will launch in North America later this year; a price has not yet been announced. Canadian-based baby gear startup Gluxkind was showed off its Ella AI Powered Smart Stroller. It offers much of the same tech seen in autonomous cars and delivery robots, including a dual-motor system for uphill walks and automatic downhill brake assist. It’s meant to serve as an “extra pairs of eyes and an extra set of hands,” according to the company’s website – not a replacement for a caregiver. The Ella stroller is able to drive itself for hands-free strolling – but only when a child is not inside. No gadget at CES this year was as striking as the Mutalk mouthpiece from startup Shiftall. The device, which looks like a muzzle, features a soundproof Bluetooth microphone that makes it difficult for others in the room to hear your voice when you’re on calls. The company thinks the $200 gadget will come in handy for everything from voice chats and playing online games to shouting in VR when you don’t want to disturb anyone else nearby. Instead of hearing you, they will simply see your new mouthpiece; you can decide which is worse. If you ever wanted to hit 15 miles per hour on roller skates, this electric pair from French startup AtmosGear promises to help get you there. With a battery pack that holds an hour charge and the ability to travel over 12 miles, the skates can clip onto any existing roller skates, turning them into motor-propelled footwear. The skates are currently available for pre-order for $525. You’ve probably heard of smartphones that come with headphones, but what about headphones that come with a screen? The JBL Tour Pro 2 earbuds adds a touchscreen to the case to bring smartwatch-like capabilities by allowing users to control its settings, answer calls, set alarms, manage music and check battery life. No launch date has been announced, but the new buds will cost $250 when they eventually go on sale. Some companies offered a new twist on the foldable phone concept. For example, Samsung Display’s Flex Hybrid prototype features a foldable and slidable display (the right side slides to offer more screen space). Meanwhile, the Asus $3500 Zenbook 17 Fold OLED – the world’s first foldable 17-inch laptop – picked up significant buzz on the show floor, acting almost like a large tablet that can be folded in half when on the go. Dubbed “the world’s first awareable,” the $500 Nowatch is a watch… with no clock. The Amsterdam-based startup of the same name launched the device to help users monitor stress, body temperature, heart rate, movement and sleep. But unlike other smartwatches, there’s no watchface – instead, a gemstone sits where the touchscreen display typically goes. “We’ve replaced the traditional watch face with ancient stones, celebrating the belief that time is NOW,” the company said on its website. Honda and Sony have joined forces to create tech-filled electric cars that, they say, will be both fun to drive and filled with the latest entertainment innovation. According to the CEO of Sony Honda Mobility, its cars will recognize your moods and be highly communicative and sensitive to your needs. The car will have screens on the outside so it can “express itself” and share information and will be able to “detect and understand people and society by utilizing sensing and [artificial intelligence] technologies,” according to the company. That’s why the company named its first joint car brand Afeela, in that it just has to “feel” right. But it’s unclear if we’re afeeling that name. While it typically requires a blood panel and a visit to the doctor’s office to learn more about vitamin deficiencies, Withins says its new $500 U-Scan device can tell you similar information right from the comfort of your own toilet. The device attaches to existing toilets and collects data from your urine stream to detect vitamin deficiencies, check hydration and monitor metabolism, according to the company. An additional device called the U-Scan Cycle Sync tracks periods and ovulation cycles. Schlage’s new smart lock is one of the first to work with Apple’s Home Key functionality, which allows users to upload their keys to their Apple Wallet and unlock their deadbolted front door directly from their phone or Apple Watch. The lock also works with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant for voice controlled, hands-free locking. Available in two finishes, the deadbolt can manage access codes, view lock history and handle multiple locks at once. The lock, which will cost $300, will be available for purchase late this spring, according to a company press release. – CNN’s Peter Valdes-Depena contributed to this report | Consumer Electronics |
Consumer electronics giant Apple (AAPL) on Tuesday announced a multiyear, multibillion-dollar agreement with Broadcom (AVGO) for the chipmaker to supply 5G wireless components. Apple stock fell and AVGO stock rose on Tuesday.X
In a news release, Apple said it is collaborating with Broadcom to develop 5G radio-frequency components — including FBAR filters — and "cutting-edge wireless connectivity components." Film Bulk Acoustic Resonator, or FBAR, filters are used to partition frequency bands to capture stronger and more reliable signals.
The companies plan to design and build the FBAR filters in several U.S. manufacturing and technology hubs. Also, that includes Broadcom's manufacturing facility in Fort Collins, Colo.
"We're thrilled to make commitments that harness the ingenuity, creativity, and innovative spirit of American manufacturing," Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said in a written statement. "All of Apple's products depend on technology engineered and built here in the United States, and we'll continue to deepen our investments in the U.S. economy because we have an unshakable belief in America's future."
Apple Stock, AVGO Stock Diverge
In morning trades on the stock market today, Apple stock dipped 0.8% to 172.88. However, AVGO stock climbed 1.7% to 689.80.
The Apple news release about the Broadcom deal was short on details. It did not state which Apple devices would use the components. Those devices presumably would include the iPhone and iPad, but perhaps Apple's rumored mixed-reality headset. Further, analysts expect Apple to announce the headset on June 5.
The wireless components that Broadcom currently makes for Apple are different from the 5G modems supplied by Qualcomm (QCOM). However, Apple hopes to eventually replace Qualcomm with its own modem.
Apple and Broadcom did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Apple, Broadcom On IBD Tech Leaders List
The Apple deal with Broadcom is part of the commitment Apple made in 2021 to invest $430 billion in the U.S. economy over five years. Apple said it is on pace to meet that target through direct spending with U.S. suppliers, data center investments and other capital expenditures.
IBD's Composite Rating combines five separate proprietary ratings into one easy-to-use rating. The best growth stocks have a Composite Rating of 90 or better.
Follow Patrick Seitz on Twitter at @IBD_PSeitz for more stories on consumer technology, software and semiconductor stocks.
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Can John Deere become one of the leading AI and robotics companies in the world alongside Tesla and Silicon Valley technology giants over the next decade?That notion may seem incongruous with the general perception of the 185-year-old company as a heavy-metal manufacturer of tractors, bulldozers and lawnmowers painted in the signature green and yellow colors.But that is what the company sees in its future, according to Jorge Heraud, vice president of automation and autonomy for Moline, Illinois-based Deere, a glimpse of which was showcased at last January's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where Deere unveiled its fully autonomous 8R farm tractor, driven by artificial intelligence rather than a farmer behind the wheel.The autonomous 8R is the culmination of Deere's nearly two decades of strategic planning and investment in automation, data analytics, GPS guidance, internet-of-things connectivity and software engineering. While a good deal of that R&D has been homegrown, the company also has been on a spree of acquisitions and partnerships with agtech startups, harvesting know-how as well as talent."This comes from our realization that technology is going to drive value creation and increase productivity, profitability and sustainability for farmers," Heraud said.While Deere made a big splash at CES and intrigued the investment community, Stephen Volkmann, equity research analyst at Jefferies, said, "We are very, very, very early in this process.""The total global fleet of autonomous Deere tractors is less than 50 today," he added. And even though Deere's goal is to have a fully autonomous farming system for row crops in place by 2030, Volkmann said, "in Wall Street time, that's an eternity."For the time being, Deere is creating value and profits with well-established automated systems that can be retrofitted to its existing tractors, such as GPS-based self-steering and precision seeding that measures how deep and far apart to plant. Those steps have to be in place, Volkmann said, before you can put full autonomy around them.The autonomous 8R represents a giant leap in current agtech, not to mention the marketing benefit. "Prior to its introduction at CES, everybody thought [full autonomy] was pie in the sky," said Scott Shearer, chair of the department of food, agricultural and biological engineering at Ohio State University.Around the world, Shearer said, there are probably 30 different autonomous tractor projects in the works, though none are commercially available. "But when Deere, with 60% of the tractor market share in North America, comes out with one, that's when reality sets in," Shearer said.That reality reflects Deere's autonomy strategy. "The AI we use involves computer vision and machine learning," Heraud said, science that was well underway at Silicon Valley startup Blue River Technology, which Deere bought in 2017 for $305 million — a deal that also brought on Blue River co-founder and CEO Heraud. Blue River's "see and spray" robotics platform utilizes dozens of sophisticated cameras and processors to distinguish weeds from crop plants when applying herbicides.Attached to the autonomous tractor is a 120-foot-wide boom arrayed with six pairs of stereo cameras that can "see" an obstacle in the field — whether it's a rock, a log or a person — and determine its size and relative distance. Images captured by the cameras are passed through a deep neural network that classifies each pixel in approximately 100 milliseconds and decides whether the tractor should keep moving or stop."We've curated hundreds of thousands of images from different farm locations and under various weather and lighting conditions," Heraud said, "so that with machine learning, the tractor can understand what it's seeing and react accordingly. This capability also allows the farmer, instead of being in the tractor, to operate it remotely while doing something else."Heraud was referring to autonomous driving, another piece of Deere's agtech puzzle that came together when it purchased Bear Flag Robotics last year for $250 million. Also a Silicon Valley startup, launched in 2017, Bear Flag's autonomous navigation system can be retrofitted onto existing tractors, in this case Deere's latest 8R model, which went on the market in 2020.Since the CES rollout, Deere has acquired AI assets from two other agtech pioneers. In April, Deere formed a joint venture with GUSS Automation, which has devised semi-autonomous orchard and vineyard sprayers. Using AI and IoT, multiple GUSS (Global Unmanned Spray System) sprayers can be remotely controlled by a single operator, running up to eight sprayers simultaneously from a laptop. GUSS can detect trees and determine how much to spray on each one, regardless of height or canopy size.A month later, Deere announced the acquisition of numerous patents and other intellectual property from AI startup Light, according to The Robot Report. Light's depth-perception platform improves upon existing stereo-vision systems by using additional cameras, mimicking the structure of a human eye to enable more accurate 3D vision. Deere plans to integrate Light's platform into future versions of its autonomous farm equipment.To keep a close eye on other agtech R&D, Deere has established a Startup Collaborator program to test innovative technologies with customers and dealers without a more formal business relationship. "The hope is that they find the diamonds before they become obvious to [competitors] and keep them in the fold," Volkmann said. Among the current crop are Four Growers, a Pittsburgh-based startup providing robotic harvesting and analytics for high-value crops, starting with greenhouse tomatoes, and Philadelphia-based Burro, which is producing small, autonomous robots that can assist farm workers with various conveyance tasks.Not surprisingly, Deere's biggest competitors have been developing automation and autonomy for its farm machinery, too. AGCO, whose brands include Massey Ferguson and Fendt, "has been automating farming operations since the mid-1990s," said Seth Crawford, senior vice president and general manager of the Duluth, Georgia-based company's precision agriculture and digital division. "We're at a stage we call supervised autonomy, where we still have someone in the cab of the machine," he said. "The buzz is around fully autonomous operations, but where farmers are willing to pay for automation is feature by feature."Whereas Deere is focused on adding full autonomy to its own farm equipment, AGCO is eying the wider retrofit market, Crawford said. "In summer 2023, we'll have a performance-enhancing retrofit kit available for multiple brands of machines," he said. "Where others say we bring you autonomy with a half-million-dollar tractor," he said, alluding to the price tag of Deere's 8R, "we have kits that allow you to do that with your existing fleet. We see a huge opportunity with the installed base, where farmers want to adopt technology to enhance their outcomes, and yet don't want to flip their entire fleet and make that massive investment."In 2016, Case IH, a subsidiary of CNH Industrial, headquartered in London, rolled up to the Farm Progress Show with what it called the Autonomous Concept Vehicle. The sleek prototype tractor, minus a driver's cab, hinted at the view of autonomy at the time. Fast forward six years, to September's Farm Progress Show, where Case IH unveiled its Trident 5550 autonomous applicator.Released in 2017, the Trident 5550 — with a cab — is designed for spreading dry and liquid materials in farm fields. The model at the farm show was retrofitted with autonomous technology developed by Raven Industries, which CNH acquired for $2.1 billion in June 2021. Similar to Deere's autonomous 8R, the enhanced Trident employs self-driving capability, advanced cameras and AI to interpret a continuous stream of images to detect obstacles.The company plans to have a limited number of the machines ready for farmers to test before going to market perhaps next year, said Chris Dempsey, global director at Case IH Precision Technology, though the exact release date is to be determined. "We want to get customer feedback and understand their confidence level [in autonomy] before we go commercial," he said.Deere is gearing up for another showcase at the 2023 CES, where CEO John May and other company executives will give a keynote address revealing autonomy for additional farm equipment. "We'll talk about the ability to make combines, harvesters and planters autonomous," Heraud said. "We are moving quite a bit beyond just providing equipment," he said. "We're now providing smart equipment that offers a lot more value." | Consumer Electronics |
Tech policy issues were a key focus at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) on Friday, with three Senate Democrats laying out their priorities for the coming year. Meanwhile, ransomware attacks against the U.S. health care sector doubled in the last few years, a new study shows. This is Hillicon Valley, detailing all you need to know about tech and cyber news from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. Send tips to The Hill’s Rebecca Klar and Ines Kagubare. Subscribe here. Close The latest in politics and policy.
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Sign up for the Hillicon Valley newsletter Lawmakers pitch tech proposals at CES LAS VEGAS — Policy, as well as the ongoing political chaos in the U.S. House, took a more center stage Friday at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Sen. Jackie Rosen (D-Nev.) spoke to the crowd in her home state, alongside Sens. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.), about their tech agenda priorities for the new year. The Democrats said the U.S. needs to invest more in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, advanced engineering and synthetic biology to help compete on a global scale. Warner said the investments should follow the path Congress took in passing the Chips and Science Act last year. The senators also said expanding fast and affordable broadband access needs to be priority for Congress. Tough road forward: Three overarching areas of tech policy kept coming up throughout CES programming: data privacy, content moderation and antitrust law. Warner said a federal data privacy bill, a “long overdue debate” about Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, and legislation about dominant platforms self-preferencing their products and services are also among his priorities this year. But lawmakers face a tough Congress this year, with split control between the Democratic Senate and Republican House. Antitrust may pose some of the toughest battles for supporters looking to reform the law. Even when Democrats controlled both chambers and had support from the Biden White House, two key proposals — including one around self-preferencing — failed to get across the finish line last year. Charlotte Slaiman, competition policy director at Public Knowledge, said she is optimistic about the future path for antitrust reform, especially given the energy built by a coalition of supporters over the past few years. But Tyler Grimm, chief counsel for policy and strategy for House Judiciary Committee Republicans, said the committee under GOP control is largely going to focus on content moderation concerns over antitrust battles. However, he provided a caveat that it’s difficult to tell what the scope of the committee will be given the lack of a consensus on who the Speaker of the House will be after more than a dozen votes failed to garner enough support for Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). Outside of Congress, the tech policy world will also have their eyes on the Supreme Court and two cases that could alter the fate of Section 230. The controversial provision provides a liability shield that protects tech companies over content posted by third parties. Health care sees spike in ransomware The annual number of ransomware attacks against U.S. hospitals, clinics and other care delivery organizations more than doubled from 43 to 91 between 2016 and 2021, new research shows. The security breaches exposed personal health information of an estimated 42 million patients. Findings were published in JAMA Health Forum and include data on 374 attacks throughout the country. During the five years studied, researchers found attacks exposed larger quantities of personal health data over time and became more likely to target large, multi-facility organizations. Ransomware can prevent users from accessing electronic systems while perpetrators demand a ransom to restore access. Unlike other data breaches, the goal of the attacks is to disrupt operations rather than steal data, authors wrote. The software is a major cybersecurity threat and can jeopardize patient outcomes when health organizations are targeted. EV SEES INCREASE IN SALE THIS YEAR U.S. electric vehicle sales jumped by two-thirds in 2022 as sales for the overall auto industry dropped, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. Fully electric vehicles jumped in popularity last year, making up 5.8 percent of all vehicles sold in 2022, an increase from 3.2 percent in 2021, according to The Wall Street Journal. The new data, which the publication gathered from market-research firm Motor Intelligence, comes after the overall U.S. auto industry saw its worst sale year in more than a decade, with sales falling 8 percent in 2022. Tesla made up 65 percent of the electric-vehicle industry sales last year, a significant decrease from its 72 percent in 2021, according to The Wall Street Journal. Ford Motor Co. held the second spot by accounting for 7.6 percent of U.S. electric vehicle sales, and Hyundai Motor Co. and affiliate Kia Corp. held the third top spot by making up 7.1 percent of electric vehicle sales, the report said. SOLAR POWER IN SPACE? Among the many space-bound satellites aboard the SpaceX rocket launched earlier this week was a small prototype designed to harvest the power of the sun. Scientists are hoping to show that space-based solar power is more than a futuristic concept — and potentially the next big thing in clean energy. Weighing in at just 110 pounds, the prototype satellite called the Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD) is part of a larger effort to test out space-based solar power called the Space Solar Power Project (SSPP). Built by engineers at CalTech, the demonstration mission blasted off into space on Tuesday morning. The team is hoping to see if the technology is capable of working in the harsh environment of space, and ultimately launching a constellation of solar panels that would form an orbital power station, beaming energy harvested from the sun back down to Earth. BITS & PIECES An op-ed to chew on: The CHIP Act’s next-generation ambitions require a modern workforce Notable links from around the web: Inventor of the world wide web wants us to reclaim our data from tech giants (CNN / Daniel Renjifo) U.S. national cyber strategy to stress Biden push on regulation (The Washington Post / Ellen Nakashima and Tim Starks) Twitter Promised Them Severance. They Got Nothing (Wired / Vittoria Elliott and Chris Stokel-Walker) One more thing: Court blocks Psaki’s testimony A federal appeals court on Thursday blocked two GOP-led states’ attempt to secure former White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s testimony in their lawsuit claiming the Biden administration unlawfully pressured social media companies into taking down content. A three-judge panel on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court’s ruling authorizing Psaki’s deposition in the case, determining that her testimony did not merit the “extraordinary circumstances” needed to proceed with depositions of current or former high-ranking government officials. Missouri and Louisiana’s attorneys general and a group of private individuals filed the lawsuit in May, accusing the Biden administration of effectively censoring content related to the pandemic, elections and the Hunter Biden laptop story by pressuring social media companies. That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s Technology and Cybersecurity pages for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you Monday. | Consumer Electronics |
- Samsung guided earlier this month that it would report operating profit of 600 billion Korean won ($449 million) for the first quarter.
- If Samsung reports this number, it would be the company's lowest profit since the first quarter of 2009.
- Prices of memory chips have dropped over the past few months due to high inventories and lack of demand. Samsung is the world's largest producer of such semiconductors.
Samsung could report its worst profit in 14 years this week, as prices for memory chips, its biggest business, continue to fall, while demand stays weak.
The South Korean technology giant guided earlier this month that it would post operating profit of 600 billion Korean won ($449 million) for the first quarter. If Samsung reports this number, it would be the company's lowest profit since the first quarter of 2009.
Samsung releases preliminary earnings guidance, but does not give detailed figures. It reports its full first quarter earnings on Thursday.
Samsung is the world's largest maker of memory chips, which go into everything from PCs to servers in data centers.
During the height of the pandemic, demand for consumer electronics was high, as people stayed home. Electronics companies piled up chips to go into these products. But buyers are now cutting back on purchases of these goods due to inflation and macroeconomic concerns, leading to somewhat of a memory chip glut.
For example, PC shipments fell 29% year-on-year in the first quarter, according to IDC data.
Prices of memory chips have dropped over the past few months due to high inventories and lack of demand.
"The memory market is in the midst of its worst slump in decades. Even as EV (electric vehicle) markets grow, consumer electronics and traditional server markets are experiencing some of the most severe slowdowns," CrispIdea said in a research note published last week.
Analysts at Mirae Asset Securities estimate that Samsung's chip division will post a 4.4 trillion Korean won loss in the first quarter.
This month, Samsung said it was cutting production of its memory chips to a "meaningful level," citing a worsening macroeconomic situation and falling consumer demand. Samsung had previously said it would not lower output, but has now followed rivals SK Hynix and Micron in doing so.
Investors hope that a production cut from Samsung, the world's biggest memory chipmaker, will help boost prices, as companies dig into existing inventories.
Analysts at NH Investment and Securities said that Samsung earnings should "begin to rebound in earnest" in the third quarter of this year, adding that production cuts "will positively impact memory supply-demand dynamics."
Mirae Asset Securities meanwhile said that it expects memory chip inventory levels at Samsung to peak in the second quarter, then go down demand for the company's semiconductors picks up.
Still, analysts cautioned that there may be more pressure facing Samsung's business ahead.
"Memory chip losses are expected to persist in the coming quarters as inventories remain at all-time highs, putting further downward pressure on chip prices," CrispIdea analysts said. "Following the pandemic-era surge, tech demand has remained muted in the face of inflation and higher interest rates." | Consumer Electronics |
You can now stick a smart device in your toilet that will monitor your metabolic and reproductive health when you wee on it.Withings, known for its smartwatches, has branched out with its latest product, dubbed the U-Scan, which was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week. It is described as a 'miniaturized health lab that hygienically sits within any toilet bowl', with the results being sent to an app on your phone.The device is made up of two parts - a reader and a replaceable cartridge that contains a thermal sensor to differentiate between urine and toilet water. Withings has launched its latest device at 'miniaturized health lab that hygienically sits within any toilet bowl', with the results being sent to an app on your phoneU-Scan questions answered U-Scan will be available next year and will use biomarkers to track everything from hormone levels to Vitamin C.Is U-Scan a medical device?No - the U-Scan Nutri Balance and Cycle Sync cartridges are to help maintain and encourage a healthy life style.Who can use U-Scan?It is recommended that those under the age of 18 do not use U-Scan as urine biomarkers have different ranges for babies, children and teenagers.Is U-Scan accurate?The device has been validated by a third-party lab accuracy study. How man biomarkers can be analysed per cartridge? As it is designed to last three months, each cartridge contains 100 biomarkers.How can you clean a U-Scan device?U-Scan is splash and water resistant device, so that germs from toilets or urine cannot get inside.It is designed like the ceramic bowl of a toilet, so can be rinsed with every flush.It is made with glass-fiber to make sure it can with stand the environment inside a toilet. How does the U-Scan transfer data to my phone?The device will transfer results to the app when connected to WiFi. Impressively, the low energy radars installed can detect who is urinating by the movement and distance of an individual's unique urine stream signature.All a user needs to do is urinate onto the device directly - but there is no activation required.The reader is set off when you begin to wee, sparking a microfluidic circuit to get a sample.After collection, the urine is injected into a test pod where it is read and analysed by an optical module.The device is then cleaned when you flush. Users do not have to touch the reader until it is time to recharge it or change the cartridges.Each cartridge holds around 100 tests, lasting around three months. While the average human urinates around seven times a day, they only have their urine analysed by health care workers once a year. The device could offer a noninvasive way, unlike blood tests, to work out any health issues. It looks into two main aspects - reproductive health and nutrition - using its biomarkers.These include checking LH (Luteinizing Hormone), urine specific water gravity and pH.By analysing LH levels, the device will be able to work out the precise menstrual cycle prediction and ovulation cycle of women.However, there are restrictions on who can use the U-Scan Cycle Sync.It is unsuitable for those on birth control, taking hormonal supplements, those who are breastfeeding and those with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).Urine specific gravity looks into how hydrated you are, and your urine concentration levels whereas the pH indicator will indicate where your diet does not contain enough vegetables, as is acidic, or not enough protein.It also will analyse Ketone levels for energy metabolism and levels of Vitamin C.The U-Scan will be available in Europe in the second quarter of 2023, with a starter kit costing a whopping £439.78 (€499.95). The U-Scan will be available in Europe in the second quarter of 2023, with a starter kit costing a whopping £439.78 (€499.95)It is not for sale in the United States currently, however, plans are underway assuming FDA clearance.Speaking to The Verge, CEO Mathieu Letombe said: 'We have this vision of this dream where you can have a lab at home that wouldn't require any effort or process where you send something to someone.'Mr Letcombe added that he plans to pitch the new technology to medical markets.These could then be used in clinical trials, research and even remote patient monitoring.Withings also hopes to collaborate with Institut Curie, one of the leading cancer research centres in the world, to monitor bladder and ovarian cancer relapses and screenings.There are concerns though, particularly in the US regarding the collection of menstrual health data following the controversial overturning of Roe v Wade.But the CEO said the U-Scan is GDPR complaint. He told The Verge: 'It's our company guideline not to allow anyone to look at that data. We still need to look at the details regarding law enforcement, but at some point, we would rather not sell something than to be at risk of sharing intimate data.'Last month, scientists revealed they had developed a device they hope detects cancer by listening to sounds in the bathrooms. Different sounds produced through urination, flatulence, solid defecation, and diarrhea are all influenced by the pathways in your body and can indicate something is wrong. Pictured: The prototype of a device that can listen for diseases when you use the toiletIt uses artificial intelligence (AI) to look for subtle changes in noise when someone farts, urinates or defecates.Researchers from the Georgia Tech University, who helped make the device, said the audio and video samples could then detect healthy patients from unwell patients.David Ancalle, the lead researcher from Georgia Tech University who helped make the device said: 'We're trying to find a non-invasive way where people can get a notification on whether or not they should go get checked out. 'Like 'Hey, your urine is not flowing at the rate that it should. Your farts are not sounding the way they should. You should check it out.' If you enjoyed this article ...Smart toilet gadget recognises users by their 'anal print' and analyses deposits to detect early warning signs of cancer, heart disease and diabetesThe bathroom of the future? Alexa-enabled toilet plays music and mood lighting while you go - but it has an eye-watering price tagAI toilets which scan your urine and faeces before you flush could one day 'pick up on diseases earlier' | Consumer Electronics |
It’ll be a while before Google reprises its flagship Pixel series. Until then, we have Pixel 7a leaks to tide us over. The latest hints from overseas include a look at the phone itself and hint as to what kind of specs might be inside it. Google’s next mid-range Pixel could have more memory than its predecessor and a faster refresh rate.
This leak comes from the Vietnamese site Zing News, which claims it got its hands on a “test” version of the Pixel 7a meant “for programmers.” But our ears are perked up. In about four months, it’ll have been a year since the launch of the Pixel 6a. The hardware in the post looks similar to the last-gen Pixel A-series, down to the rear camera bar on the back. It’s got a 6.1-inch display, with seemingly “high-end” materials and a few more matte touches than the last-gen version.
This particular supposed Pixel 7a was reportedly remotely locked down by Google. Zing News could only launch in Android’s fast boot mode, akin to the BIOS modes on Windows machines in that it’ll display the device’s specifications without needing to access to OS proper. This menu revealed that the Pixel 7a could be equipped with 8GB of RAM rather than the 6GB in last year’s release. The owner of the Pixel 7a unit, who leaked the device to Zing News, says the settings panel also showed an upgraded 90Hz refresh rate option for the display. That bump-up in memory might be to support that refresh rate, to ensure a smoother experience across the board. Indeed, one of the biggest complaints about the Pixel 6a is that even at its price point, it doesn’t offer a refresh rate akin to Samsung’s A-series, with some models boasting 120Hz refresh rates.
Overall, the supposed Pixel 7a specifications leaked here align with our expectations. It still has two 12-MP cameras on the back, like the Pixel 6a, though one camera is a standard lens and the other is wide-angle. There’s evidence of water resistance, which the Pixel 6a introduced with IP67 certification. But we still need details on charging capacity and battery size. The Pixel 6a’s 60Hz refresh rate helped it with battery life, and it’ll be interesting to see if the Pixel 7a can maintain that kind of longevity while pushing out more frames.
This isn’t the first Pixel 7a leak to circulate. We recently had a Pixel-like device pass through the FCC, though some folks are crossing their fingers it’s for a foldable instead of a mid-range device. Regardless, we should know more by Google I/O, when the company will release its next-generation mid-range device.
Update 4/10/2023 at 12:19 PM:
It looks like Google is also going blue for the next mid-tier Pixel release. Google I/O 2023 is fast approaching, and so is the chatter about what the Pixel 7a will look like. Renders of the phone recently popped up on a website called MySmartPrice via noted leaker OnLeaks, who has typically been on the mark about things like phone chassis hues. The Pixel 7a may be available in three colorways: gray, white, and a new sky blue. There may also be a new blue color of the Pixel Buds A-series to match.
Want more of Gizmodo’s consumer electronics picks? Check out our guides to the best phones, best laptops, best cameras, best televisions, best printers, and best tablets. And if you want to learn about the next big thing, see our guide to everything we know about the iPhone 15. | Consumer Electronics |
Two American scientists and a Russian have been awarded the 2023 Nobel prize in chemistry for their work on quantum dots, a fundamental discovery in nanotechnology.
The prize is shared equally between Moungi Bawendi, Louis Brus and Alexey Ekimov for their discoveries that went on to revolutionise industries from consumer electronics to healthcare.
Bawendi is an American chemist of French and Tunisian descent, based at MIT, Brus is based at Columbia University and Ekimov is chief scientist at Nanocrystals Technology, a New York-based company.
The official announcement came after the three names were leaked in an email to a Swedish newspaper earlier on Wednesday morning, in an embarrassing incident for the academy. Johan Åqvist, the chair of the academy’s Nobel committee for chemistry, claimed the winners had not been selected, but the names were confirmed at the official announcement.
Bawendi said that on learning of his award through an overnight phone call, he felt “very surprised, shocked, sleepy and very honoured”, adding that he had been unaware of the leak. “I was awakened by the Swedish academy, I was sound asleep.”
The academy did not respond to questions about how the leak had happened or whether an investigation would be launched into who was responsible. | Consumer Electronics |
Analysts have been debating the demand for Apple's iPhone 14 models amid a backdrop of rampant inflation, rising interest rates and fears of a global recession.Getty ImagesFoxconn, a major supplier of Apple, warned Tuesday it is "cautiously positive" on the outlook for the fourth quarter after record September sales.The Taiwanese company's comments add further fuel to the debate over demand for iPhones in the coming months, given its outsized role in assembling Apple's flagship device.Foxconn said September revenue totaled 822.3 billion new Taiwan dollars ($25.9 billion), up 40.4% year-on-year and 83.2% higher than August, a monthly sales record for the company.That massive revenue growth was driven by a "new product launch and smooth mass production" as well as strong performance of its smart consumer electronics products division, which includes its key smartphone business. Foxconn does not name its customers, including Apple, in its earnings releases.Neil Shah, a partner at Counterpoint Research, said Foxconn's record revenue came on the back of "storming demand" for the higher priced iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models, which were launched last month.While Foxconn maintained its full-year outlook, the company said Tuesday it is "cautiously positive" on the outlook for the fourth quarter."The dynamics of inflation, the pandemic, and the supply chain still need to be closely monitored," Foxconn said. | Consumer Electronics |
Every person needs good WiFi in their homes, but a lot of domestic WiFi setups suck for countless reasons. Maybe the hardware your ISP gave you isn’t great, or your walls aren’t friendly to wireless signals. Or perhaps the signals from your all-in-one wireless modem and router just can’t reach everywhere from its spot in a far corner of your house. It’s these maladies that mesh systems deal with, a distributed set of smaller WiFi nodes that are spread around your home, pushing internet into every corner. Mesh routers aren’t new, and we’ve reviewed plenty, but now we’re building a one-stop shop for everything you need to know. That’s because WiFi 6E is mature and affordable enough to offer transformative wireless performance for everyone.
WiFi
WiFi is governed by the International Standard IEEE 802.11, and every few years the standards evolve. Until 2018, routers were sold under their IEEE designation, leaving consumers to deal with the word soup of products labeled 802.11 b/a/g/n/ac et cetera. Mercifully, wiser heads opted to rebrand the standards with numbers: WiFi 4, WiFi 5 and WiFi 6. We’re presently between two WiFi generations, WiFi 6 and 6E, which relates to the frequencies the standard uses. WiFi 6 covers routers which operate on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, while the latter means it can also use the 6GHz band.
Each WiFi band has tradeoffs, because the slower radio frequencies have greater range but less speed. 2.4GHz signals will travel a long way in your home but aren’t quick, while 6GHz is blisteringly fast, but can be defeated by a sturdy brick wall. A lot of WiFi-enabled gear, like a lot of smart home products, only use 2.4GHz because the range is better and it’s a lot cheaper. But it means that the band is also overcrowded and slow.
Linksys’ CEO Jonathan Bettino told Engadget why mesh systems are an “advancement in WiFi technology” over buying a single point router. With one transmitter, the signal can degrade the further away from the router you go, or the local environment isn’t ideal. “You can have a small [home], but there’s thick walls [...] or things in the way that just interfere with your wireless signal,” he said.
Historically, the solution to a home’s WiFi dead zone was to buy a WiFi Range Extender but Bettino said the hardware has both a “terrible user experience” and one of the highest return rates of any consumer electronics product. Mesh WiFi, by comparison, offers “multiple nodes that can be placed anywhere in your home,” says Bettino, resulting in “ubiquitous WiFi” that feels as if you have a “router in every room.”
Having a “router in every room” is the biggest selling point for mesh WiFi given how reliant we all are on the internet. Each node is in constant contact with each other, broadcasting a single, seamless network to all of your devices. There’s no separate network for the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, just a single name that you connect to.
What to look for
It’s a pretty good time to buy a mesh WiFi system, since WiFi 6E represents a fairly significant leap in the technology. Matt MacPherson, Cisco’s Chief Technology Officer for Wireless, said that WiFi 6E is a substantial “inflection point” and can take advantage of a much broader chunk of the wireless spectrum than its predecessors. “If you’re using that spectrum with a WiFi 6 [device],” he said, “you’re going to get significant gains [in speed.]”
MacPherson added that WiFi 6E will likely “carry you for a long time,” thanks to the fact that its “top throughputs now typically exceed what people can actually connect their home to.” In short, with a top theoretical per-stream speed of 1.2 Gbps, WiFi 6E is fast enough to outrun all but the fastest internet connection. (You may also see talk of WiFi 7 devices, some of which have been released already before the standard is officially launched next year. Given that it will take a generation for all of the devices in your home to be compatible with WiFi 7, it’s not worth thinking about this for several years yet.)
Range and speed
Every mesh product will boast of its theoretical broadcast range in square feet, as well as its theoretical top speed. Given there are so many factors outside of the manufacturer’s control, these numbers don’t really mean much in the real world. Your internet provider’s real speed, the construction materials and layout of your home, amongst other things, will all affect your WiFi.
It’s worth saying that raw speed isn’t everything, and that for most normal users, you probably need a lot less than you’re paying for. Netflix recommends a minimum speed of just 15 Mbps to stream a 4K video to a single device. Naturally, that’s just for one connection, so you’ll need some more capacity if you’ve got other devices all running at the same time. As cool as it is to say you’ve got 100, 200 or 500 Mbps download speed, factors like latency and reliability are way more crucial.
Backhaul
Mesh WiFi systems work by connecting every hardware node to a single wireless network, letting them all communicate with each other. Imagine four people in a busy, noisy restaurant all trying to order their dinner from a weary staff member, all at once. Now imagine, while this is going on, that four more people at that same table are also trying to tell a funny anecdote. It’s no surprise that it might take a long while for the right information to reach its intended destination.
To combat this, higher-end mesh systems offer dedicated wireless backhaul; a slice of the spectrum for node-to-node communication. So rather than everyone talking at once in the same space, the conversations are essentially separated, reducing the invisible clutter in the air. Because there’s less confusing cross-chatter, everything moves faster, offering a significant performance boost to those systems.
Connectivity
These days, even your washing machine has a wireless connection, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore the joys of wired internet. No matter how fast WiFi is, a hard line will always be faster, and some gear, like Philips’ Hue bridge, still needs an ethernet connection. Plenty of routers can also use these hard connections as backhaul, eliminating further wireless clutter. It’s convenient for spread-out systems and power users, but it will mean running more wires through your home. The most common standard is Cat 5e, or gigabit ethernet which, unsurprisingly, has a top speed of 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps).
Flexibility and scalability
Mesh enables you to add (or subtract) modules from your network to suit your needs. D-Link’s Alan Jones said users should “check how scalable the prospective product is” before you buy. This sense of scale doesn’t just apply to the number of nodes on the network, but how many simultaneous connections it can handle.
Placement
Modern mesh networking products offer one, two or three (or more) pieces of equipment that are commonly the same hardware inside and out. It normally doesn’t matter which module you make the primary one to connect to your modem, usually over ethernet. You’ll then set up the other, secondary nodes around your home, which is often just a case of adding them to the existing mesh network.
When installing your hardware, remember that every physical obstacle between nodes may hurt your performance. The ideal spot is, at the very least, at waist height on a piece of furniture without too many obstructions. Tables, sideboards, free-standing cupboards, and bookcases make for a good home. The rule of thumb is to place each node no more than two rooms away from the last one.
How we tested
My home covers around 2,200 square feet across three stories, with my office on the third floor. It’s relatively long and thin, with the living room at the front of the house, the kitchen at the back and three bedrooms on the second floor. Its age means there are a lot of solid brick walls, old school lathe and plaster, as well as aluminum foil-backed insulation boards to help with energy efficiency. There are two major WiFi dead zones in the house, the bathroom and the bedroom behind it, since there’s lots of old and new pipework in the walls and floors.
For sets that have two nodes, I placed the first in my living room, connected via ethernet to my cable modem, with the second on the first-floor landing in the (ostensible) center of the house. For three-node sets, the third went in my kitchen, which I’ve found is the optimal layout to get the bulk of my house covered in WiFi.
Each mesh is judged on ease of setup, coverage, reliability, speed and any additional features. I looked at how user-friendly each companion app is from the perspective of a novice, as well. My tests included checking for dead zones, moving from room to room to measure consistency, and streaming multiple videos at once.
The best mesh WiFi systems for 2023
The best mesh WiFi system for most people: TP-Link Deco XE75
There’s no single glitzy feature that sets TP-Link’s Deco XE75 apart from its competition. Instead it just expertly balances raw power and user-friendliness.
It’s not perfect, but many of my biggest gripes could also be described as nitpicking. I’m annoyed by the slightly shorter power cable length, compared to some of the other devices I tested. Similarly, I wish the app had a little more polish, but it’s not an unusable eyesore by any means.
But, while I dock it a few points for that stuff, I still think it’s the best for most people. Even in my spacious and wireless-hostile home, the $400 three pack was probably overkill. And if the $300 two pack can cover your home, then it’s a more wallet-friendly proposition than some of its rivals.
The best mesh WiFi system for novice users: Google Nest WiFi Pro
The Nest WIFi Pro offers a simple experience for folks who want to set their network up and then forget about it. It’s not as powerful or customizable as many of its competitors, but it should be more than suitable for streaming movies and plain old web browsing. And it’s not that pricey, so while I have reservations about its long-term potential, it’s a good deal in the short term.
If you’re already inside Google’s smart home world, then the various integrations Assistant already offers, as well as support for Matter and Thread, will be a bonus. That, combined with the promise of regular updates and support from Google should mean that you can pick this up and not think about your WiFi again for several years.
The best mesh WiFi system for power users: ASUS ZenWiFi Pro ET12
The ASUS ZenWiFi Pro ET12 is a great option for folks who want something that justifies a Pro suffix. Each individual node has the power to cover your home in WiFi, and those extra gigabit and 2.5 Gbps ethernet ports will let you add fast backhaul or a speedy NAS. I’d say that both pro users and gamers will find things to love in this package. Hell, it might even be good enough to support a small office without too much stress.
And that’s before you get to the unique expandability that ASUS’ AiMesh offers, letting you add more ZenWiFi nodes or, more importantly, compatible standalone ASUS routers. That’ll help you evolve your network in a cost-effective way as you and your home’s needs change over time. Power users will be better-equipped to deal with some of its more idiosyncratic control options, and they’re more likely to take advantage of the 160MHz band support. The upfront cost is pretty expensive, that’s for sure, and it’s certainly not for general users, but it’s a very attractive package for the right person. | Consumer Electronics |
The next Samsung Unpacked event will come alive July 26 at 7 a.m. ET/10 a.m. PT, with the company hosting a live event at its headquarters in Seoul, South Korea. At the same time, Unpacked should be livestreamed on the company’s website and YouTube channel. Based on the artwork for the event (and online rumors and leaks), it looks like Samsung is promoting that something big is going to—ahem—unfold for the Galaxy brand later this month.
After taking time earlier this year to unveil the Galaxy S23, S23+, and S23 Ultra among a slew of new laptops, Samsung’s latest tech demo seems to be more than a little dedicated to upcoming foldables. The teaser’s hint of “Join the flip side” makes an obvious hint of the upcoming Galaxy Z Flip 5, though it does leave out the much more expensive cousin the Z Fold 5 which is expected to also debut.
Samsung is already hoping you’ll be willing to drop money on its phone, though we still don’t have official word of its ticket price. The company is promoting to customers they get $50 credit on the next Galaxy device if they preorder.
The Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 have seen their fair share of leaks recently, including some early renders that showed the device folded much flatter than earlier Z Fold 4 devices, something that could remove unsightly gaps and reduce internal screen crease. Rumors have also mentioned the Flip could hold a much larger external screen than previous renditions. Other leaks claim the specs on the Fold 5 will be only a slight jump from the Fold 4, with the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor. The phone could even maintain the same 6.2-inch size, which if true could be disappointing for anybody hoping for a slightly smaller device.
Google unveiled its $1,800 Pixel Fold at its I/O conference earlier this year. While we found the Pixel Fold was passable as far as high-end devices go, it didn’t manage to win out in many categories against Samsung, although we liked its overall design and and camera. While the fourth generation of Samsung’s foldables increased screen fidelity and survivability, the Fold 4 still cost a whopping $1,800. These devices devices need to come down in price before most consumers consider them as anything more than a novelty.
While brick-sized foldables remain on the high end, the next big advance for foldables could be the clamshell design. Earlier this year OnePlus revealed its Oppo Find N2 Flip while Motorola released its $1,000 Razr+ flip phone with plans to sell a cheaper version with a smaller external screen sometime later this year.
With other companies hot on its heels, Samsung may be hoping to prove that it’s been able to iterate and innovate with its next release.
Want more of Gizmodo’s consumer electronics picks? Check out our guides to the best phones, best laptops, best cameras, best televisions, best printers, and best tablets. If you want to learn about the next big thing, see our guide to everything we know about the iPhone 15. Click here to save on the best deals of the day, courtesy of our friends at The Inventory. | Consumer Electronics |
Bending 2D nanomaterial could 'switch on' future technologies
Rice University materials scientist Boris Yakobson and collaborators uncovered a property of ferroelectric 2D materials that could be exploited as a feature in future devices.
Because they bend in response to an electrical stimulus, single-layer ferroelectric materials can be controlled to act as a nano-scale switch or even a motor, according to the study published in ACS Nano.
Single-layer or 2D materials are typically made up of a single layer of atoms, meaning they are only a few nanometers thick. They have received significant attention in recent years due to their physical, electrical, chemical and optical properties, which makes them useful in applications ranging from consumer electronics to medical and industrial technologies.
"2D materials are very thin and very flexible," Yakobson said. "In single-layer ferroelectrics, this produces an unexpected spontaneous, active bending behavior."
"The novelty we found in this study is that there is a connection or coupling between the ferroelectric state and the bending or flexing of the material. This work combines the discovery or prediction of a fundamental property of a class of 2D materials with a practical application angle."
"The interesting thing is that the atoms are not identical," explains Jun-Jie Zhang, a Rice postdoctoral research associate and lead author on the study. "Some of them are larger, and some are smaller, so the layer symmetry is broken."
Polarization drives the larger atoms to one side of the 2D-material layer and the smaller atoms to the other side. This asymmetrical distribution of the atoms or ions causes the material surface to bend in ferroelectric state.
"So instead of remaining flat, in ferroelectric state the material will bend," Yakobson said. "If you switch the polarization—and you can switch it by applying electrical voltage—you can control the direction in which it will bend. This controllable behavior means you have an actuator.
"An actuator is any device that translates a signal—in many cases an electrical signal, but it can be a different kind of signal—into mechanical displacement or, in other words, movement or work."
The study looked at 2D indium phosphide (InP) as a representative of the class of ferroelectrics for which it predicts this property.
"This new property or flexing behavior has to be tested in a laboratory for specific substances," Yakobson said. "Its most likely use will be as a type of switch. This behavior is very fast, very sensitive, which means that with a very tiny local signal you can maybe switch on a turbine or electrical engine, or control adaptive-optics telescopes' mirrors. That's basically the essence of these actuators.
"When you drive your car, you have a lot of knobs and switches and it makes everything really easy. You don't have to crank open your car window anymore, you can just turn on a switch."
More information: Jun-Jie Zhang et al, Flexo-Ferroelectricity and a Work Cycle of a Two-Dimensional-Monolayer Actuator, ACS Nano (2023). DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.3c00492
Journal information: ACS Nano
Provided by Rice University | Consumer Electronics |
After numerous delays, the Apple’s Reality Pro headset is reportedly set for an official unveil at WWDC in June, alongside new software platforms and developer tools. In a new investor note today, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says Apple’s announcement “is the last hope” for the AR/VR headset market.
Will Apple’s Reality Pro headset be a ‘star product’?
In his report, Kuo outlines that both Sony and Meta have faced significant struggles in gaining widespread adoption with their respective AR and VR headset products. “The product lifecycle shipment for Meta’s Quest Pro is only around 300,000 units,” Kuo says.
Sony, meanwhile, has reportedly slashed its 2023 production plan for the PlayStation VR2 headset by about 20%. Finally, China’s largest AR/VR headset brand, Pico, saw its shipments for 2022 come in 40% lower than initially expected.
With these data points in mind, Kuo predicts that the future of the AR/VR headset market rests solely in the hands of Apple’s Reality Pro headset.
“There is currently insufficient evidence to suggest that AR/VR headsets can become the next star product in consumer electronics in the foreseeable future,” Kuo explains. “Apple’s announcement event is likely the last hope for convincing investors that the AR/MR headset device could have a chance to be the next star product in consumer electronics.”
According to the analyst, the market might currently be overestimating the impact that AR and VR headset devices will have on “key component suppliers over the next few years, particularly in the optical-related.”
Apple’s first Reality Pro headset is expected to be an ultra-premium product priced at around $3,000. It will feature top-of-the-line specifications, including an “innovative three-display configuration” with two 4K Micro-LED panels. Apple is also currently working on a more affordable headset product, but it’s not expected to be ready for mass production until at least 2025.
Despite the impressive specifications, there is a lot of doubt surrounding Apple’s headset product. Even internally at Apple, there has reportedly been strife as to whether Apple should ship this version of the product. Apple CEO Tim Cook and COO Jeff Williams have reportedly pushed for releasing this device, even though it’s not as well-rounded as designers and engineers would like it to be.
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Rendering courtesy Redwood MaterialsBattery company Redwood Materials is investing $3.5 billion in a gigantic new South Carolina recycling and manufacturing campus that will produce enough components to power a million electric vehicles. Why it matters: It's the latest in a wave of huge investments across America's emerging "battery belt," spurred on by new government policies and tax credits designed to promote development of a domestic EV supply chain.Where it stands: At least 21 U.S. battery "gigafactories," worth $54.3 billion overall, have been announced since the beginning of 2021, according to Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas research.Domestic capacity is expected to grow more than fivefold from 2021 to 2026, projects Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, a battery research firm. By 2031, U.S. capacity is expected to expand another 86%.What they're saying: "The federal government has put together a pretty clear set of pretty substantial incentives that guide the direction of this transition, and it's really benefiting the country right now," Redwood Materials CEO JB Straubel, a Tesla co-founder, tells Axios."There are incredibly large amounts of investment and economic activity coming straight to the U.S., which is a testament that it's working," he says.Driving the news: Redwood's new battery materials campus, announced today, will be built on a 600-acre site near Charleston, South Carolina.A total of 1,500 jobs will be created, with operations beginning in phases starting by the end of 2023. For now, Redwood plans to produce 100 GWh of battery components per year. But the sprawling site has room to expand to "several hundred GWh annually" to meet future demand, says Straubel. Between the lines: Redwood's technology fills a particular gap in the battery supply chain — the company recycles and processes expensive anode and cathode materials now made almost exclusively in China.Those U.S.-made components are in high demand, as carmakers now need domestically-made parts to qualify for government incentives.How it works: Redwood recycles, refines and remanufactures battery materials, with the goal of eventually creating a sustainable, closed-loop supply chain.The company collects end-of-life batteries from EVs — as well as consumer electronics like phones and laptops — and breaks them down to their basic metals, such as nickel, copper, cobalt and lithium. It then reprocesses those materials into new battery cathodes and anodes — EVs' most critical and expensive components. "If we recycle a battery in the U.S., it's equivalent to basically mining that material in the U.S. We can do this faster than starting a new lithium, cobalt or nickel mine in the U.S.," says Straubel. The bottom line: The more batteries produced or recycled in the U.S., the less geopolitical risk the country faces from relying on foreign supply chains.Yes, but: Even with all the recent investments, the U.S. still won't have enough battery capacity to meet expected EV demand by the end of the decade. | Consumer Electronics |
IPhone Maker Foxconn Aims To Double India Investment, Employment
Apple Inc. partner Foxconn Technology Group plans to double its investment and employment in India, highlighting an accelerating manufacturing shift away from China as Washington-Beijing tensions grow.
(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. partner Foxconn Technology Group plans to double its investment and employment in India, highlighting an accelerating manufacturing shift away from China as Washington-Beijing tensions grow.
V Lee, a Foxconn representative in India, said in a LinkedIn posting Sunday the Taiwanese company plans to double the size of its business in the South Asian country, as he congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his birthday. He didn’t give details.
“We will work even harder to present you with a greater birthday gift next year, aiming for another doubling of employment, FDI, and business size in India,” Lee said.
The investment plans of the Taiwanese company, also known for its flagship unit Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., include a 300-acre site close to the airport in Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka, Bloomberg News previously reported. That plant is likely to assemble iPhones and expected to create about 100,000 jobs.
Foxconn’s expansion in India underscores how China’s at risk of losing its status as the world’s largest producer of consumer electronics. Apple and other US brands are leaning on their Chinese-based suppliers to explore alternative locations such as India and Vietnam. It’s a rethink of the global supply chain that’s accelerated during the pandemic and the war in Ukraine and could reshape the way global electronics are made.
Hon Hai Chairman Young Liu last month reaffirmed Foxconn’s intention to increase investments in India, where it already operates nine production campuses and more than 30 factories employing tens of thousands of people. The company is in the early stages of expanding further in the country, where it takes in around $10 billion of revenue annually, Liu said.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P. | Consumer Electronics |
Here’s a dirty little secret: Consumer electronics can be boring sometimes. Hardware scaling is hard and people love the familiar, both things that have a tendency to disincentive adventurous product design. So it’s worth acknowledging when big companies try something a bit different.
From a purely design perspective, there’s a lot to love about the HT-AX7. Sony’s new modular wireless speaker system is clean but warm, symmetrical and generally pleasing to the eyes. The fabric-covered minimalism wouldn’t look out of place in most homes. The system also takes advantage of a handful of commonplace features to present an outside-the-box approach to Bluetooth audio.
Unless your place is decked out with Sonos speakers in every room, you likely understand the experience of dragging Bluetooth speakers around your home. HT-AX7 is effectively a trio of speakers. The oblong base serves as the front speaker, while the detachable circular pair up top are the left and right rear. Pair it with a tablet, and suddenly you’ve got an immersive surround sound experience.
Place the components around you, and the system goes to work, determining the optimal sound footprint based on positioning. These sorts of algorithms are generally a mixed bag, but Sony’s got a solid track record with this stuff.
“360 Spatial Sound Mapping, our unique 3D audio technology, synthesizes the wavefronts of sound from three speakers and generates multiple phantom speakers (virtual sound sources) to create a three-dimensional sound field that surrounds the viewer,” writes Sony. “You don’t have to do anything special, such as installing speakers on the ceiling, but you can enjoy 3D sound anywhere just by placing three speakers around you.”
Indeed, $499 isn’t cheap by any stretch, which means the product is likely to be something of a niche device. Surround sound is great and all, but that’s a significant premium over standard Bluetooth speakers. It’s more competitive with soundbar systems — take Sony’s own Sony HTA300, which you can currently pick up for the same price. For folks who prefer a little more freedom with their systems however, the HT-AX7 scratches an interesting itch.
The system starts shipping in a couple of weeks. | Consumer Electronics |
Cooling Appliance Makers Bet On Summer Heat To Revive Fortunes
The white goods industry is expected to grow 15-20% in FY24.
Manufacturers of appliances, particularly cooling products, are betting on a surge in summer demand to revive their fortunes, as consumers face unusually early heatwaves even as concerns of scorching weather in the coming months looms.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the average maximum temperatures in February shattered records across India. The weather office has further predicted extreme heatwaves between March and May, with central and northern states likely to be hardest hit.
A heatwave for the second straight year may add an extra burden to the ongoing challenges many people already face from inflation to high energy costs. But for appliance manufacturers, this is good news as they prepare for increased demand for coolers, fans, air conditioners and refrigerators.
Executives of several companies told BQ Prime that they are launching new products, building inventory and rushing to stock retail shelves well ahead of time.
“With the summer setting in early, we could see a surge in demand for all cooling products,” said Eric Braganza, president of the Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA), the apex industry body representing the sector in India. He expects air-conditioner sales to grow by 20% and refrigerator sales by 10% this year compared to the previous year.
In FY24, the white goods industry is expected to clock a growth of 15-20%, said Braganza.
According to Gurmeet Singh, chairman and managing director at Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning India Ltd., consumers have begun purchasing air-conditioners earlier than usual this year in response to changing weather patterns.
"We are targeting growth to the tune of 25% in the first of this year, betting big on volume sales and market share in the room AC category," he said.
Among new product launches, Orient Electric Ltd. has unveiled Cloud 3 fans, which according to the company is blend of a fan, an air cooler and an air conditioner.
“Fans usually become less effective as temperatures go beyond 34°, and thus the idea of developing this product was born with cloudchill technology,” said Rakesh Khanna, managing director and chief executive officer at the company.
The Cloud 3 fan is priced at Rs 15,999, hefty tag for a fan, given the current inflationary environment. However, Khanna is not concerned. According to him, wealthy individuals are relatively more insulated from the impact of inflation and continue to purchase high-end goods.
Several companies like Godrej Appliances, Haier, Hitachi, Panasonic, Voltas, Lloyd are also ready with new launches anticipating higher sales this year.
The new line-up of air-conditioners is not just equipped with technology and higher cooling capacity but also five-star rating for efficient energy savings, according to Satish NS, president, Haier Appliances India Pvt. Ltd.
Also, several companies are rethinking strategies to revive rural demand, which has been reeling under pressure for the past few quarters.
Voltas Ltd., for example, is strengthening its distribution reach, beefing up marketing efforts and rolling out more inclusive after-sales-service support to drive consumption, according to managing director & chief executive officer Pradeep Bakshi.
"We are already witnessing demand picking up for air-coolers and we expect a sizable business coming in from the tier-II and tier-III markets," Bakshi said.
"From the middle of February, we have seen a significant increase in primary demand for electric fans, particularly table, pedestal, decorative, BLDC fans, and premium ceiling fans," Sashi Prabhu, vice-president and business unit head, indoor air quality business, Panasonic Life Solutions India Pvt. Ltd. said. The company intends to increase inventory this year compared to last year.
The mandatory star-rating norms for ceiling fans have led to an increase in the consumption of commodities like steel, aluminum, aluminum alloy, and copper, according to Prabhu. Due to this, the company is facing cost pressures as the input prices remain inflated compared to the previous year's figures for November and December.
Despite the challenges, the company is looking to absorb the cost and not pass it on to customers, indicating intense competition in the market and stagnant demand.
Kamal Nandi, business head and executive vice-president, Godrej Appliances, is aiming for 40% growth this year for its range of cooling appliances.
"Other than prolonged summer, we also expect some upswing in discretionary spending with the recent announcement of tax relief," Nandi said.
While the general consensus is that a scorching summer will lead to a significant valuation upgrade for fan, cooler or air-conditioner companies, analysts at ICICI Securities Ltd. hold a different view. They believe there is stiff competition among air-conditioner companies, and most of them are operating at a higher cost of capital compared to the return on capital employed.
"Market leader Voltas has not raised prices in the second half of FY23 in spite of higher cost pressures. We believe growth with low profitability might not lead to any valuation upgrade," the brokerage said in note on Feb. 28.
It also said that its channel check suggests there is no material change in consumer offtake. "Higher trade discounts (and not necessarily heatwave) are leading to slightly higher volume growth," it said. | Consumer Electronics |
A Qualcomm sign is pictured at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Shanghai, China June 28, 2019. REUTERS/Aly SongRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSept 2 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) signed an agreement to have chip-maker Qualcomm Inc (QCOM.O) produce custom chipsets for its Quest virtual reality (VR) devices, the companies announced at a consumer electronics conference in Berlin on Friday.Engineering and product teams of both companies will work together to produce the chips, powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon platforms, they said in a statement.The agreement shows the dependency of Meta, known as Facebook until last year, on Qualcomm's technology even as it tries to develop custom silicon of its own for its virtual, augmented and mixed reality devices.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"Unlike mobile phones, building VR brings novel multidimensional challenges in spatial computing, cost and form factor," Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a video message."We are still in the early stages of the metaverse and this sort of deep technical integration will help VR move towards being a multifunctional computing platform," he said.Meta has been investing heavily in technologies like pass-through goggles and augmented reality glasses as it tries to bring to life Zuckerberg's vision for the metaverse, a concept involving an immersive set of digital worlds.It has relied on Qualcomm's chips for its VR devices for years, including for its latest Quest2 headset.The chipsets produced through the collaboration will not be exclusive to Meta, but will be optimized specifically for Quest's system specifications, Meta spokesperson Tyler Yee told Reuters.Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.The agreement covers only VR devices, Yee said, and Meta will continue working to develop some of its own silicon solutions."There could be situations where we use off-the-shelf silicon or work with industry partners on customizations, while also exploring our own novel silicon solutions. There could also be scenarios where we use both partner and custom solutions in the same product," said Yee.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Katie Paul in Palo Alto, Calif.
Additional reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco and Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm
Editing by Matthew Lewis and Philippa FletcherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Consumer Electronics |
Seeing as how 700 is the largest number known to humankind, Bose has shifted into Ultra mode for its top of the line QuietComfort wireless headphones. The QuietComfort 700s were received (as high-end Bose headphones tend to be), but it’s been four years since they hit the market, making them roughly 250 in consumer electronics years.
The new QuietComfort Ultra arrives with improved sound, noise canceling and a $430 price tag. That’s $20 more than Sony’s flagship WH-1000XM5, but a downright bargain compared to Apple’s AirPods Max, which retail for $549.
The new over ear headphones are part of a broader QuietComfort refresh that includes new earbuds, which also get the Ultra distinction and a $299 price tag – same as the WF-1000XM5 (Sony really must do something about that nomenclature) and $50 more than the latest generation of AirPods Pro.
Bose long ago established itself as one of – if not the – leaders in the over-ear space. QuietComfort in particular has become a ubiquitous sight on flights, though increased competition has eaten into its market share in recent years. The QuietComfort 45 have been a popular alternative, and while an MSRP of $330 hardly qualifies them as affordable, they deliver a great experience at $100 less than Ultra.
Those, too, are getting a revamp in the form of the simply titled Bose QuietComfort Headphones. The numbers are gone now, which is a little confusing at first glance, but makes sense in the broader context of the brand revamp. At $350, they’re $20 more than their predecessors.
Like the 700 before them, the Ultra have a big task ahead of them in terms of justifying that price gap. Bose promises an upgraded design, coupled with improved tuning via CustomTune.
It’s been more difficult for Bose to distinguish itself in the extremely crowded earbuds space, where handset makers like Apple and Samsung have a decided leg up. The QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds replace the QC Earbuds II. They promise six hours of battery on a charge, and an optional wireless charging case is available separately.
The Quiet Comfort Headphones will be available September 21. The Ultras (both of them), meanwhile, arrive in October. | Consumer Electronics |
Apple, once a perpetual thorn in the side of frustrated repair technicians across the country, now says it supports federal right-to-repair legislation. The Right to Repair movement’s Darth Vader is continuing its surprising redemption arch.
Apple Vice President Brian S. Naumann made the shocking proclamation during an online right-to-repair event hosted by the Biden Administration Tuesday afternoon. Naumann, who recently echoed support for California’s newly passed right-to-repair law, said both consumers and businesses alike would benefit from clear federal legislation that makes it easier for consumers to repair products while maintaining device security.
“Apple supports a uniform federal law that balances repairability with product integrity, data security, usability, and physical safety,” Naumann said.
Lawmakers have introduced several federal right-to-repair bills in recent years vying to increase the repairability of consumer electronics as well as automobile and agricultural equipment. At least four states have passed their own local laws. The Biden White House and the Federal Trade Commission have vocally supported those efforts both on the state and federal levels.
But Apple isn’t sitting on its hands while Congress deliberates. Moving forward, Naumann says Apple will honor provisions in California’s nation-leading right-to-repair legislation for Apple customers nationwide, a move that could make it easier for millions of Apple consumers to repair their iPhones, MacBooks, and other devices.
Apple has some ideas on what a federal right-to-repair law should look like too. Speaking to an audience of reporters on a live stream, Naumann said a federal law should maintain consumer privacy and device security features as well as ensure transparency about the types of parts used in a repair. If implemented properly, Naumann says a federal law could save consumers money, reduce electronic waste from discarded devices, and “reduce the confusion created by potentially confusing state approach.”
Still, Apple made it clear it would rather avoid having its customers seek out repairs in the first palace. During the event, Naumann said the company’s ultimate goal is to design for product longevity through improved durability and ongoing support for devices.
“The very best repair is the repair that isn’t needed,” Naumann added.
That’s all a major shift in approach for Apple, who only a few years ago lobbied to kill the budding right-to-repair legislation. Kyle Wiens, a major advocate for right-to-repair laws and chief executive of iFixit once called the company “the biggest opponent” to legislative efforts around the country. That all started to change in 2021 when Apple announced it would begin accommodating DIY repairs by selling customers the parts and tools as part of its Self-Service Repair program. The company followed through, and soon began shipping repair technicians comically large repair toolboxes.
But oversized gift boxes and accountable legislation are two separate things.
Earlier this year, Apple shocked many by shouting its support for California’s now-passed Right to Repair Act, which many advocates regard as the strongest consumer electronics repair legislation in the country. Starting in July 2024, electronics manufacturers selling devices in the state will be legally required to make repair parts, tools, documentation, and software available to consumers and independent repair shops. Supporters say it’s the most expansive, consumer-friendly right-to-repair legislation passed to date. In some cases, the law will require manufacturers to provide repair resources for devices up to seven years after they are sold. Apple, according to an August letter sent to California Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman, said it supported the bill because it “includes requirements that protect individual users’ safety and security, as well as product manufacturers’ intellectual property.”
Apple evolved its position on repairs even further today with its vocal support of a federal law, something few device manufacturers have been willing to do so far. So why now? In some ways, Apple’s seemingly newfound enlightenment regarding the right to repair isn’t all that surprising. As of October 23, New York, California, and Minnesota have all already passed strong right-to-repair laws targeting Apple and other device makers. Around 45 other states have similarly considered some form of right-to-repair legislation, according to Repair.org. At least some of those are likely to pass.
If even a handful of those proposed right-to-repair laws pass, Apple and other device manufacturers may find themselves in the same confusing policy many social media companies have had to wade through with patchwork data privacy laws. After a certain point, it simply makes more business sense to favor one clean, national framework. Apple, in other words, likely sees which way the wind is blowing. | Consumer Electronics |
As fact-based movies go, “Tetris” plays like a Cold War espionage thriller, which merely underscores the crazy amount of globetrotting intrigue that surrounded the introduction of this very popular game. Starring Taron Egerton, this Apple TV+ movie, like the game, is colorful and engaging enough that it’s hard to take your eyes off the screen.
Hewing pretty closely to what actually happened, the film casts Egerton (who also headlined Apple’s “Black Bird”) as Henk Rogers, who is introduced discovering Tetris at the Consumer Electronics Show in 1988, instantly becoming obsessed with acquiring the rights to what he sees as “a license to print money.”
Unfortunately for him, the road to that hoped-for payday leads to Moscow, where an inventor named Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Efremov) created the game in his spare time, placing its stewardship in the hands of Soviet authorities, through an organization known as ELORG.
A P.T. Barnum type, Rogers leaves his skeptical wife (Ayane Nabaguchi) and family behind, embarking on a perilous quest that includes corrupt Russian officials, the equally shady British mogul Robert Maxwell (Robert Allam) – who later died under mysterious circumstances – and another acquirer of such games, Robert Stein (Toby Jones), who first came across the Tetris rights.
Rogers at first seems blissfully unaware of the danger to which he’s exposing himself, or the watchful eyes that could cause trouble for Pajitnov. The plot does become a bit convoluted in places dealing with the wonky question of who owns what, from hand-held games to the arcade and computer versions.
Still, “Tetris” manages to conjure considerable tension in the unexpected twists that arise as Rogers undergoes various contortions to navigate this intricate maze, in a story that unfolds with the collapse of the Soviet Union looming large in its near future. Add to that Russia’s current war in Ukraine and the film possesses a timeliness that goes beyond just another “The Americans”-style trip down memory lane.
Director Jon S. Baird (“Stan and Ollie”) and writer Noah Pink wisely don’t overplay their hand or make Rogers ridiculously heroic, though he is so determined to land the rights as to ignore the collateral damage he might unleash. Egerton helps hold it all together as a believable everyman, straddling the line between nerve and pigheaded foolishness.
Adding to this is the realization that the abundant drama deals with what was, after all, a game, one with which many no doubt have their own nostalgic associations. The business aspect and the ’80s framing in some respects mirrors another movie arriving soon, “Air,” built around Nike’s pursuit of another lucrative commodity – namely, an association with basketball legend Michael Jordan.
In both films, the protagonist has a kind of epiphany, whether that’s watching Jordan play or Rogers playing Tetris, which he quickly dubs “a perfect game.”
“Tetris” isn’t a perfect movie, but for the purposes of justifying Apple TV+’s investment, it stacks up just fine.
“Tetris” premieres March 31 on Apple TV+. It’s rated R. (Disclosure: Lowry’s wife works for a division of Apple.) | Consumer Electronics |
By David Kirton
SHENZHEN, China (Reuters) - China's Huawei Technologies is plotting a return to the 5G smartphone industry by the end of this year, according to research firms, signalling a comeback after a U.S. ban on equipment sales decimated its consumer electronics business.
Huawei should be able to procure 5G chips domestically using its own advances in semiconductor design tools along with chipmaking from Semiconductor Manufacturing International Co (SMIC), three third-party technology research firms covering China's smartphone sector told Reuters.
The firms, citing industry sources including Huawei suppliers, spoke on condition of anonymity because of confidentiality agreements with clients.
Huawei declined to comment. SMIC did not respond to a request for comment.
A return to the 5G phone market would mark a victory for the company that for almost three years said it was in "survival" mode. Huawei's consumer business revenue peaked at 483 billion yuan ($67 billion) in 2020, before plummeting by almost 50% a year later.
The Shenzhen-based tech giant once vied with Apple and Samsung to be the world's biggest handset maker until rounds of U.S. restrictions beginning in 2019 cut its access to chipmaking tools essential for producing its most advanced models.
The U.S. and European governments have labelled Huawei a security risk, a charge the company denies. Since then, Huawei has only sold limited batches of 5G models using stockpiled chips.
Stuck selling last-generation 4G handsets, Huawei fell from most rankings worldwide last year, when sales reached a low point, though it rose to a 10% market share in China in the first quarter, according to consultancy Canalys.
5G FORECASTS
One of the research firms said it expected Huawei to use SMIC's N+1 manufacturing process, though with a forecast yield rate of usable chips below 50%, 5G shipments would be limited to around 2 million to 4 million units. A second firm estimated shipments could reach 10 million units, without providing further details.
Huawei shipped 240.6 million smartphones worldwide in 2019, its peak year, according to Canalys, before selling its Honor unit that accounted for nearly a fifth of shipments that year.
The state-backed China Securities Journal newspaper this month reported Huawei had raised its 2023 mobile shipment target to 40 million units from 30 million at the start of the year, without referencing a return to 5G phones.
Huawei could produce 5G versions of flagship models like the iPhone rival P60 this year, with new launches likely in early 2024, the three research firms said, adding they were basing such predictions on information they had received via checks with contacts in Huawei's supply chain and recent company announcements.
However, U.S. restrictions cut Huawei off from Google's Android operating system and the bundle of developer services upon which most Android apps are based, limiting Huawei handsets' appeal outside of China.
CHIP DESIGN TOOLS
The research firms noted Huawei in March announced it had made breakthroughs in electronic design automation (EDA) tools for chips produced at and above 14 nanometre (nm) technology.
Chip design companies use EDA software to produce the blueprints for chips before they are mass manufactured at fabs.
The research firms, citing their own industry sources, believe Huawei's EDA software could be used with SMIC's N+1 manufacturing process to make chips at the equivalent of 7 nm, the powerful semiconductors typically used in 5G phones.
Washington barred SMIC from obtaining an advanced chipmaking tool called an EUV machine from Dutch firm ASML that is critical in the process of making 7 nm chips.
But some analysts have found signs SMIC has nevertheless managed to produce 7 nm chips by tweaking simpler DUV machines it could still purchase freely from ASML.
The second research firm said it noticed Huawei had asked SMIC to produce chip components below 14 nm this year for 5G products.
The forecast yield rate of less than 50% means that 5G chips are "going to be costly", said Doug Fuller who researches chips at the Copenhagen Business School.
"I guess if Huawei wants to eat the cost they can do this, but I don't see such chips as price competitive," Fuller said.
($1 = 7.2023 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by David Kirton; Editing by Jamie Freed) | Consumer Electronics |
If you think the best budget TV on the market is small and low quality with no good features, you'd be surprised by the spacious screens you can buy for just a few hundred dollars. Even the most basic models offer razor-sharp 4K resolution, onboard Wi-Fi wireless connectivity and built-in streaming software; some add voice controls and Dolby-powered audio to the mix. For a bit more, you can get a so-called budget TV with a screen that fills even the biggest living room.
Insignia F30 Series 4K UHD Smart Fire TV
TCL 65S455 4-Series UHD Roku TV
Amazon Fire TV Omni Series
LG 65NANO90UPA 4K Ultra HD TV
Below I've rounded up my picks for the best 65-inch budget TVs you can buy right now. That size represents the current "sweet spot" in terms of bang for the buck: Dropping down to a 55-inch model wouldn't save you much, but jumping to a 70- or 75-inch would cost a fair bit more. Plus, I think a 65-inch is "just right" for the average living room, offering a really good viewing experience for movies, sports, video games and the like without overwhelming the space.
What to look for in a budget TV
On paper, most modern 65-inch TVs may look the same: 4K ultra-high definition (aka UHD), HDR10, Wi-Fi, Dolby this-or-that, 3-4 HDMI inputs and so on. OLED TV display technology will yield the best possible image quality, but that's hard to find in budget models. Thankfully, QLED and ULED tech, which definitely raises the image-quality game versus a standard LED TV, is available in some of the models listed here.
Speaking of games, anyone planning to connect a current-generation PlayStation or Xbox should look for a TV with a 120Hz refresh rate and, if possible, support for HDMI 2.1. That will ensure you get the best visual experience your game console has to offer.
Crazy though it may sound, the first thing I look for in any budget TV is the built-in software. Does it run Amazon's Fire TV operating system? Google's Android TV? Roku? Or perhaps there's a proprietary operating system like the ones found in LG and Samsung TVs.
This didn't matter in the old days, when you just flipped channels or used the cable-box TV guide. Now, the OS dictates the look, feel and features of the TV, particularly the streaming apps like Netflix and Hulu. Some interfaces are easier to use than others; some can go beyond basic streaming (like offering games or Zoom calls).
Of course, if you decide you're not happy with the built-in OS, you can easily plug in a different one: There are streaming sticks and boxes available from Amazon, Apple, Google and Roku, among others. Most game consoles have streaming capabilities as well. So while it's wise to choose a TV with the operating system you like best, it's not a forever decision.
Read more: The best streaming devices of 2023
But that does bring us back to the number of HDMI inputs, something to think about before buying. If you decide to plug in, say, an Apple TV, that's one. A cable box? That's two. Game console? Three. Sound bar? That can plug into an optical audio port, but HDMI is the better option. And that would mean you'd need four HDMI inputs to cover your bases. Figure out how much hardware you're bringing to the TV table, because running out of ports is no fun.
Beyond that, I'd definitely look for hands-free voice controls, and if you're planning to add surround-sound speakers, consider a model offering Dolby Atmos.
Best budget TV picks (65-inch) for 2023
Proof-positive that a big screen doesn't have to break the bank, Best Buy's Insignia F30 is currently priced at just $342. And if you think this model means compromises, think again: It earned a 4.5-star average rating from around 1,800 buyers.
Make no mistake, it doesn't have fancy features like QLED or Dolby Atmos, but it delivers a solid 4K viewing experience — which is all that matters for many buyers, especially those upgrading from an older and/or smaller TV.
The F30 uses Amazon's Fire TV OS, which gives access to not only streaming apps but also some pretty cool games. There's Apple AirPlay support as well, great for viewing iPhone photos and the like on your big screen. Plus, press a button on the remote and you've got Alexa at your disposal, ready to act on your spoken commands.
I'd argue that the Roku TV interface is the easiest to use, and therefore the most novice-friendly pick for best budget TV. That's something to think about if you're fairly new to streaming or haven't used a TV like this before. Roku makes it a breeze to switch between different inputs, and the built-in Roku Channel provides access to a wealth of free movies and TV shows.
This model is also notable for including four HDMI inputs, one of them supporting eARC — important if you plan to connect, say, a sound bar or audio receiver. And although the included infrared remote doesn't support voice commands, the Roku app (for Android and iOS) does. It also makes for a good backup remote in case the regular one gets lost in the couch cushions. I especially like the app's Private Listening feature, which routes TV audio to your favorite earbuds or headphones.
This is definitely the budget TV in TCL's lineup, so don't expect features like quantum dot or local dimming. But user ratings on Amazon, Best Buy and elsewhere are overwhelmingly positive, so if you just want a basic 4K TV with an excellent interface, look no further.
I first reviewed Amazon's Fire TV Omni Series last year, and I remain impressed by the picture quality and breadth of features — not the least of which is webcam support, which allows for big-screen Zoom calls. Just plug in a compatible camera and you can enjoy video chats from the comfort of your couch.
Beyond that, the Fire TV operating system — which I dinged in my review for its somewhat unintuitive design — is newly overhauled and better organized than ever. And it plays very nicely with any other Alexa-capable devices you might have in your home, though you certainly don't need any. On its own, it has very handy voice-powered TV controls (and hands-free at that).
And you can't help taking into account Amazon customer ratings, which currently number over 21,000 and average out to 4.5 stars. That means most buyers have been extremely happy with the TV, good to know when you're making a major purchase.
However, here's the really important part: Like most Amazon-branded hardware, this frequently goes on sale. It's rare to see it at $760, the list price; right now, for example, it's down to $540, but I've seen it as low as $500. Bottom line: If you want this TV (and it's definitely worth considering), wait for a sale.
If you're a Google-ecosystem fan (Android phone, Nest smart speakers, etc.), it might make sense to choose a TV with the familiar Google TV operating system baked in. That's what you get from the Hisense U6H Series, which is notable not just for its Google TV features, but also for frequently discounted pricing and the surprising inclusion of quantum dot technology (which promises a wider color spectrum than you get from standard 4K HDR).
In addition, the U6H offers local dimming for picture quality, which helps improve the contrast in individual areas of the screen (rather than just "across the board"). There's also Dolby Atmos sound support, great if you're planning to pair your budget TV with a surround speaker system. Dolby Vision and variable refresh rate (VRR) round out the impressive feature set — the latter important for gaming.
Hisense backs the U6H series with a two-year warranty, which is double what you get with most TVs (and, for that matter, most consumer electronics).
I've owned a similar version of this TV for nearly a year and can't think of a bad thing to say about it. (OK, it's not as bright as a few other models I've tested, but in a vacuum it's plenty bright.) I continue to consider it a remarkable "budget" TV, especially when you're able to get it on sale.
Good things come to those who wait: The LG 65NANO90UPA (more commonly referred to as the NanoCell 90) originally sold for $1,500, but you can now scoop one up for hundreds less. That feels like getting a premium smart TV at a budget price, or at least budget-friendlier.
Indeed, LG isn't typically known as a budget brand, and the NanoCell 90 reflects that with features like Dolby Atmos, full-array local-dimming backlights (which improve contrast), two HDMI 2.1 inputs (out of four total) and an in-plane switching (IPS) panel that delivers wider viewing angles than most. It has special modes for movies and gaming and support for both Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands.
Take note, however, that LG relies on WebOS, an interface that some people love and some don't. Similarly, LG's Magic Remote, which employs a motion sensor for a mouse-like onscreen cursor, is divisive: loved by some, hated by others.
Although I haven't had the chance to test this LG TV model myself, user reviews tend to be overwhelmingly positive: 4.6-star average at Best Buy and 4.7 at Walmart. This is despite a few professional reviews that have been critical of the TV's black levels. (There's a lesson here: TV reviewers tend to obsess over things that aren't super-important to the average viewer.)
What about a budget projector?
Before you pull the trigger on buying the best budget TV for your needs, should you look at a projector instead? For about the same money (anywhere from $500 to $800), you can enjoy an image of up to 100 inches or even larger, provided you have a blank wall available (or you hang a screen). I'm a big fan of this option, but there's one key consideration: resolution.
As noted above, all modern TVs are capable of 4K resolution, or 3,840 x 2,160 pixels. The vast majority of under-$1,000 projectors top out at 1080p resolution, or 1,920 x 1,080 pixels. That's not bad, but it simply doesn't measure up to 4K. And the bigger your projection, the more pixels you want.
Plus, brightness is always a concern: If you're looking for something for your living room, a projector may not be bright enough for daytime viewing with the curtains open.
That said, if you want to give this a try, consider the ViewSonic PX701-4K, a native-4K projector that normally sells for $900 but is currently marked down to $800. (Remember, you want native 4K resolution, not simply "supported," which is the marketing language used with a lot of low-cost projectors.) It's superbright and features dedicated modes for movies and gaming. | Consumer Electronics |
In February 2023, OnePlus officially announced that it would be getting into the foldable market later this year. Clearly, foldable screen technology has come leaps and bounds since 2020, when CEO Pete Lau said on The Vergecast that the technology wasn’t mature enough for the company to enter the market. OnePlus has also changed a lot in the intervening three years; the company is now much more tightly integrated with parent company Oppo and has effectively become its sub-brand.
The OnePlus foldable, which is rumored to be called the OnePlus Open, is being pitched as a collaboration between OnePlus and Oppo and will carry the sub-brand’s name in some markets and Oppo’s branding in others. Oppo is no stranger to the foldable market, having already released several generations of Find N devices since 2021.
Read on for all the rumors and announcements about OnePlus’ debut foldable.
Oct 2
OnePlus and Oppo are releasing the same foldable phone under different names, OnePlus confirmed in an announcement emailed to The Verge today. The company says that Oppo chief product officer Peter Lau, who co-founded OnePlus, directed teams at both companies to develop the phone in tandem to be released under both brands in different markets, though the email did not say which phone will go where.Read Article >
OnePlus didn’t name the phones in the announcement, but they’re the phones rumored to be called the OnePlus Open and the Oppo Find N3.
Jun 28
After OnePlus confirmed that it’s launching a foldable phone earlier this year, now we finally have some information about what to expect. A set of leaked specs provided to MySmartPrice by OnLeaks reveals that the device, which may be called the OnePlus V Fold, could come with an impressive 7.8-inch inner display.Read Article >
That’s larger than the 7.6-inch inner screens on both the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Google Pixel Fold, but it still doesn’t beat the China-exclusive Xiaomi Mix Fold 2, which comes with an 8-inch inner display.
Feb 28
This year’s Mobile World Congress is shaping up to be a real fiesta for unconventional form factors, and OnePlus is the latest company to join the celebration. At a panel discussion today, the company announced its intentions to launch a foldable phone in the second half of 2023. That’s about the extent of the details we have for now, though it seems like a safe assumption that the device will look a lot like one of the existing foldables on the market from Oppo — OnePlus’ parent company.Read Article >
With companies like Apple and Google yet to enter the foldable market, Oppo is now on its second round of folding phones — though they’ve mostly been limited to China. The Find N was a tablet-style foldable released in 2021 with a surprisingly refined design for a first-gen product. Oppo followed it up in late 2022 with the Find N2 and Find N2 Flip. The latter is a clamshell-style device in the vein of Samsung’s Z Flip series, and it’ll be Oppo’s first foldable available in Europe when it goes on sale in just a couple of days.
Jan 14, 2020
Last week at CES 2020, The Verge’s Nilay Patel and Dieter Bohn sat down with OnePlus CEO Pete Lau on The Vergecast for his first official podcast appearance.Read Article >
OnePlus debuted a new concept phone, the OnePlus Concept One McLaren Edition, at the Consumer Electronics Show this year, so Lau came on the show to discuss what the design of the phone means for the future of the OnePlus smartphone line as well as his thoughts on newer technologies in the mobile world, like 5G and folding phones. | Consumer Electronics |
Sony finally has a date for its so-called “Remote Player” that’s definitely not a handheld console. The $200 PlayStation Portal, the company’s new Wi-Fi-only streaming device, is set to hit player’s hands on November 15th, and now prospective players can pre-order the device from Sony’s PlayStation Direct website.
According to the company’s updated blog post, the device is limited to only one per customer and will launch in the U.S., U.K., and several countries in Europe on November 15 through Sony directly. The Portal will also be available through select retailers in Canada and Japan.
Sony’s pre-order limitations seem to point either at limited supply or at high sales expectations. But since the company first offered us details about the device last month, we were surprised more by what it couldn’t do than what it could. For starters, the $200 device won’t accept PlayStation’s nascent attempt at cloud game streaming. On top of that, the PlayStation Plus Premium tier, which allows access to cloud streaming, is being hiked by $40 a year.
The Portal is a DualSense controller attached to an 8-inch LCD screen. It includes all the functionality of the company’s main PlayStation 5 controller, though it’s wifi only, meaning there’s no real gaming on the go except for if you find a spot with at least 5 Mbps of connectivity. Still, you’ll likely want high-speed 15 Mbps internet to get the most out of remote play.
Then you get to the issues it has with third-party headphones. There is a typical 3.5mm headphone jack, but the device does not support Bluetooth. Instead, the company uses its own proprietary PlayStation Link to connect to the company’s new Pulse Explore earbuds and Pulse Elite headset. The Elite costs $150, while the Explore costs the same as the Portal at $200.
The Elite and Explore should work with other devices as well because they support Bluetooth, but they need to stick a USB dongle inside the PlayStation 5 to operate with Sony’s mainline console. Otherwise, users wanting a truly wireless experience with the portal will need to spend at least $350 for Sony’s proprietary tech. For that price, players could instead look at the growing mountain of streaming handhelds like AYN’s recently announced Odin 2, If they want to spend an extra $50 to $100, they could look into getting one of the cheaper Steam Decks.
Want more of Gizmodo’s consumer electronics picks? Check out our guides to the best phones, best laptops, best cameras, best televisions, best printers, and best tablets. If you want to learn about the next big thing, see our guide to everything we know about the iPhone 15. Click here to save on the best deals of the day, courtesy of our friends at The Inventory. | Consumer Electronics |
Can John Deere become one of the leading AI and robotics companies in the world alongside Tesla and Silicon Valley technology giants over the next decade?That statement may seem incongruous with the general perception of the 185-year-old company as a heavy-metal manufacturer of tractors, bulldozers and lawnmowers painted in the signature green and yellow colors.But that is what the company sees in its future, according to Jorge Heraud, vice president of automation and autonomy for Moline, Illinois-based Deere, an glimpse of which was showcased at last January's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where Deere unveiled its fully autonomous 8R farm tractor, driven by artificial intelligence rather than a farmer behind the wheel.The autonomous 8R is the culmination of Deere's nearly two decades of strategic planning and investment in automation, data analytics, GPS guidance, internet-of-things connectivity and software engineering. While a good deal of that R&D has been homegrown, the company also has been on a spree of acquisitions and partnerships with agtech startups, harvesting know-how as well as talent."This comes from our realization that technology is going to drive value creation and increase productivity, profitability and sustainability for farmers," Heraud said.While Deere made a big splash at CES and intrigued the investment community, Stephen Volkmann, equity research analyst at Jefferies, said, "We are very, very, very early in this process.""The total global fleet of autonomous Deere tractors is less than 50 today," he added. And even though Deere's goal is to have a fully autonomous farming system for row crops in place by 2030, Volkmann said, "in Wall Street time, that's an eternity."For the time being, Deere is creating value and profits with well-established automated systems that can be retrofitted to its existing tractors, such as GPS-based self-steering and precision seeding that measures how deep and far apart to plant. Those steps have to be in place, Volkmann said, before you can put full autonomy around them.The autonomous 8R represents a giant leap in current agtech, not to mention the marketing benefit. "Prior to its introduction at CES, everybody thought [full autonomy] was pie in the sky," said Scott Shearer, chair of the department of food, agricultural and biological engineering at Ohio State University.Around the world, Shearer said, there are probably 30 different autonomous tractor projects in the works, though none are commercially available. "But when Deere, with 60% of the tractor market share in North America, comes out with one, that's when reality sets in," Shearer said.That reality reflects Deere's autonomy strategy. "The AI we use involves computer vision and machine learning," Heraud said, science that was well underway at Silicon Valley startup Blue River Technology, which Deere bought in 2017 for $305 million — a deal that also brought on Blue River co-founder and CEO Heraud. Blue River's "see and spray" robotics platform utilizes dozens of sophisticated cameras and processors to distinguish weeds from crop plants when applying herbicides.Attached to the autonomous tractor is a 120-foot-wide boom arrayed with six pairs of stereo cameras that can "see" an obstacle in the field — whether it's a rock, a log or a person — and determine its size and relative distance. Images captured by the cameras are passed through a deep neural network that classifies each pixel in approximately 100 milliseconds and decides whether the tractor should keep moving or stop."We've curated hundreds of thousands of images from different farm locations and under various weather and lighting conditions," Heraud said, "so that with machine learning, the tractor can understand what it's seeing and react accordingly. This capability also allows the farmer, instead of being in the tractor, to operate it remotely while doing something else."Heraud was referring to autonomous driving, another piece of Deere's agtech puzzle that came together when it purchased Bear Flag Robotics last year for $250 million. Also a Silicon Valley startup, launched in 2017, Bear Flag's autonomous navigation system can be retrofitted onto existing tractors, in this case Deere's latest 8R model, which went on the market in 2020.Since the CES rollout, Deere has acquired AI assets from two other agtech pioneers. In April, Deere formed a joint venture with GUSS Automation, which has devised semi-autonomous orchard and vineyard sprayers. Using AI and IoT, multiple GUSS (Global Unmanned Spray System) sprayers can be remotely controlled by a single operator, running up to eight sprayers simultaneously from a laptop. GUSS can detect trees and determine how much to spray on each one, regardless of height or canopy size.A month later, Deere announced the acquisition of numerous patents and other intellectual property from AI startup Light, according to The Robot Report. Light's depth-perception platform improves upon existing stereo-vision systems by using additional cameras, mimicking the structure of a human eye to enable more accurate 3D vision. Deere plans to integrate Light's platform into future versions of its autonomous farm equipment.To keep a close eye on other agtech R&D, Deere has established a Startup Collaborator program to test innovative technologies with customers and dealers without a more formal business relationship. "The hope is that they find the diamonds before they become obvious to [competitors] and keep them in the fold," Volkmann said. Among the current crop are Four Growers, a Pittsburgh-based startup providing robotic harvesting and analytics for high-value crops, starting with greenhouse tomatoes, and Philadelphia-based Burro, which is producing small, autonomous robots that can assist farm workers with various conveyance tasks.Not surprisingly, Deere's biggest competitors have been developing automation and autonomy for its farm machinery, too. AGCO, whose brands include Massey Ferguson and Fendt, "has been automating farming operations since the mid-1990s," said Seth Crawford, senior vice president and general manager of the Duluth, Georgia-based company's precision agriculture and digital division. "We're at a stage we call supervised autonomy, where we still have someone in the cab of the machine," he said. "The buzz is around fully autonomous operations, but where farmers are willing to pay for automation is feature by feature."Whereas Deere is focused on adding full autonomy to its own farm equipment, AGCO is eying the wider retrofit market, Crawford said. "In summer 2023, we'll have a performance-enhancing retrofit kit available for multiple brands of machines," he said. "Where others say we bring you autonomy with a half-million-dollar tractor," he said, alluding to the price tag of Deere's 8R, "we have kits that allow you to do that with your existing fleet. We see a huge opportunity with the installed base, where farmers want to adopt technology to enhance their outcomes, and yet don't want to flip their entire fleet and make that massive investment."In 2016, Case IH, a subsidiary of CNH Industrial, headquartered in London, rolled up to the Farm Progress Show with what it called the Autonomous Concept Vehicle. The sleek prototype tractor, minus a driver's cab, hinted at the view of autonomy at the time. Fast forward six years, to September's Farm Progress Show, where Case IH unveiled its Trident 5550 autonomous applicator.Released in 2017, the Trident 5550 — with a cab — is designed for spreading dry and liquid materials in farm fields. The model at the farm show was retrofitted with autonomous technology developed by Raven Industries, which CNH acquired for $2.1 billion in June 2021. Similar to Deere's autonomous 8R, the enhanced Trident employs self-driving capability, advanced cameras and AI to interpret a continuous stream of images to detect obstacles.The company plans to have a limited number of the machines ready for farmers to test before going to market perhaps next year, said Chris Dempsey, global director at Case IH Precision Technology, though the exact release date is to be determined. "We want to get customer feedback and understand their confidence level [in autonomy] before we go commercial," he said.Deere is gearing up for another showcase at the 2023 CES, where CEO John May and other company executives will give a keynote address revealing autonomy for additional farm equipment. "We'll talk about the ability to make combines, harvesters and planters autonomous," Heraud said. "We are moving quite a bit beyond just providing equipment," he said. "We're now providing smart equipment that offers a lot more value." | Consumer Electronics |
Thomson To Invest Rs 200 Crore To Set Up Washing Machine Plant
Thomson, on Thursday announced an investment of Rs 200 crore for a washing machine plant.
French consumer electronics brand Thomson, which is operating in India through its brand licensee, Super Plastronics Pvt. Ltd., announced on Thursday an investment of Rs 200 crore for a washing machine plant.
As per the new announcement, the company will set up a state-of-the-art plant for semi-automatic washing machines.
Besides, the company also launched a new series of TVs and washing machines for its Indian consumers, which would be available on the online marketplace Flipkart.
SPPL CEO Avneet Singh Marwah said, "With our new investment of Rs 200 crore towards the wash plant and our collaboration with Flipkart, we are confident to strengthen our presence in the category further. We are always very enthused to offer new products with the best of technology to our customers, and Thomson has a huge lineup of 25 models that we plan to launch in the rest of the year."
This is the fifth year of operation for the Thomson brand in India. The brand re-entered the Indian market in 2018 with its line-up of smart TVs. Since then, it has expanded into several verticals.
"Thomson will continue its efforts to tap the vast untapped market potential that India presents," it said.
On Thursday, Thomson launched an all-new FA series of TVs with Realtek processors, Google TVs with 4K displays, and an all-new series of semi-automatic washing machines in 9 kg, 10 kg, 11 kg, and 12 kg categories. | Consumer Electronics |
OTTAWA - Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says a new lithium mine in northern Quebec can go ahead with more than 270 conditions to protect wildlife and respect Indigenous use of the lands for traditional purposes. The 36-page approval uses the boilerplate language for Impact Assessment Act decisions, indicating that the minister has determined following a review that the project is "not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects." In a tweet publicizing the approval Guilbeault said the mine will go ahead in partnership with local Cree communities. "This is what a good project is all about and these critical minerals are key to building a low-carbon economy," he said. The James Bay mine is expected to produce lithium for up to two decades, mainly for use in North America's electric vehicle and battery manufacturing industries. Demand has soared for lithium used in lithium-ion batteries to charge consumer electronics and for renewable energy supplies and storage. More than half the world's lithium supply in 2021 went to electric vehicles, an amount expected to triple by 2025. By 2030, demand for lithium is expected to grow at least 500 per cent. Lithium is one of the six critical minerals identified as a priority in the federal government's new critical minerals strategy, which aims to make Canada a global mining powerhouse for the metals and minerals used in the electric vehicle industry. The only active lithium mine in Canada today is owned and operated by China's Sinomine Resource Group in northern Manitoba and all of that lithium is shipped to China. China is the dominant player in lithium processing, and processed two-thirds of the world's supply in 2021. China doesn't have stable or large domestic supplies of lithium and relies on imports from mines elsewhere, including in Africa, South America and now Canada. Chile, Australia and Argentina together hold about 75 per cent of the world's known lithium reserves, and China about nine per cent. Natural Resources Canada says this country holds about 2.5 per cent. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other western allies have indicated a desire to cut China's dominance in the critical minerals industry and develop a supply chain that is more reliable and less vulnerable to global political disputes. There are several proposed projects for additional lithium mines, as well as plans to restart production at a Quebec mine that went bankrupt and was sold. The James Bay project is the first Canadian project for Australia's Allkem and is supposed to start producing lithium in 2024. The project is supposed to create 280 jobs during the construction phase and about 160 on average once in operation. Conditions for the approval include monitoring and reporting on environmental conditions such as soil conditions and tailings, as well as preparing and executing plans to mitigate impacts on local fish and other wildlife, such as woodland caribou. The mine is expected to produce about 846,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide or its equivalent in other greenhouse gas emissions over its two-decade lifespan, including construction. Annually its emissions will max out at 48,000 tonnes, or about what is produced over one year by 10,000 passenger vehicles. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 16, 2023. | Consumer Electronics |
They say a bad carpenter always blames their tools, but you can’t build a table with a knife and spoon. A lot of times, a good tool can enhance a user’s skills. That’s definitely the case with gaming, so 8BitDo has created an updated version of its Arcade Stick with a facelift and support for recent Xbox models.
8BitDo’s original Arcade Stick debuted back in the Summer of 2020, bringing with it the same type of controls typically found on an arcade machine, with over-sized action buttons and a stubby, ball-capped eight-way joystick in lieu of a four-way directional pad or an analog thumbstick.
Although arcade machines are few and far between now, their legacy endures, with many gamers preferring their controls over gamepads and modern controllers, particularly when playing fighting games. That’s because their digital-only joysticks make performing certain moves much easier than on an analog stick (though most players will be fine sticking with a d-pad instead—that’s a whole debate we’re not going to get into here). It’s clearly no coincidence that the 8BitDo Wireless Arcade Stick for Xbox’s arrival coincides with today’s launch of Street Fighter 6 on Microsoft’s console.
Aside from new black or white monochromatic colorways, the 8BitDo Wireless Arcade Stick for Xbox looks nearly identical to 8BitDo’s original Arcade Stick, although instead of supporting the Nintendo Switch and PCs, the Xbox version is specifically designed to support the Xbox Series X|S, the Xbox One, and Windows-based PCs.
Under the hood, the 8BitDo Wireless Arcade Stick for Xbox also carries over the easily upgradeable design of its predecessor, allowing the buttons to be replaced with third-party alternatives, while the mounting plate for the joystick “supports virtually every arcade stick ever made: Sanwa JLF / Sanwa JLW Seimitsu / L3 33, 55, 56, 58.” But dig a little deeper and you’ll find that the original 8BitDo Arcade Stick’s Bluetooth support is gone. The new version wirelessly connects to a PC or Xbox console using an included 2.4Ghz dongle stored in the controller for minimal lag. Alternately, you can use a wired USB-C connection.
The 8BitDo Wireless Arcade Stick for Xbox carries over the same 1,000 mAh rechargeable battery as the previous version, promising up to 30 hours of playtime on a single charge. But the Xbox version of the Arcade Stick gains a headphone jack for voice chatting during online gameplay sessions, at the cost of about 10 hours of battery life when using the audio functions.
The new Arcade Stick can also be customized on the software side using the 8BitDo Ultimate Software, allowing for easy remapping. But without built-in support for Bluetooth, you’ll need to use a cable to connect the stick to a device with the Ultimate Software app installed in order to make changes. The 8BitDo Wireless Arcade Stick for Xbox also has a slightly different arrangement of function buttons in its upper left corner, including a dedicated Xbox ‘Home’ button, a dial for muting connected gaming headphones or just their microphone, and a switch for gamepad or joystick modes.
Despite a lack of Bluetooth, the 8BitDo Wireless Arcade Stick for Xbox actually arrives with a slightly higher price tag than the original Arcade Stick. When officially released and available starting on June 30 (you can pre-order either the white or black version through Amazon starting today), it will sell for $120 instead of $90, which is how much the Switch version of the stick costs.
Want more of Gizmodo’s consumer electronics picks? Check out our guides to the best phones, best laptops, best cameras, best televisions, best printers, and best tablets. If you want to learn about the next big thing, see our guide to everything we know about the iPhone 15. Click here to save on the best deals of the day, courtesy of our friends at The Inventory. | Consumer Electronics |
The European Union (EU) has another piece of legislation in the works that will impact the tech world significantly, Apple’s iPhone included. We learned back in December that the region’s governing body wants new regulations for batteries. Specifically, the EU wants users to be able to easily replace a smartphone battery in the future. The same goes for any electronic device that’s powered by a battery.
Fast-forward to mid-June and the EU parliament voted in favor of the new plan. While there’s certainly merit here, I absolutely don’t want to replace the iPhone battery by myself, regardless of regulations. And I think the EU should consider the massive impact such a law would have on consumer devices like the iPhone.
The reason the EU wants new battery regulations concerns the environment. The ability to replace batteries with ease would prolong the life of devices. This could reduce waste and improve how used batteries are collected and recycled. That’s all great, but it’s still a bad idea for the EU to force companies like Apple to make smartphones with user-replaceable batteries.
The new EU proposal
The language of the proposed law makes it clear that the EU envisions a world where end-users would be able to replace batteries themselves:
A portable battery should be considered to be removable by the end-user when it can be removed with the use of commercially available tools and without requiring the use of specialised tools, unless they are provided free of charge, or proprietary tools, thermal energy or solvents to disassemble it.
Commercially available tools are considered to be tools available on the market to all end-users without the need for them to provide evidence of any proprietary rights and that can be used with no restriction, except health and safety-related restrictions.
One might argue that Apple is already complying with the upcoming regulation. Apple has a repair program in place that lets you perform various types of iPhone repairs. Replacing the battery at home shouldn’t be that complicated via Apple’s Self-Service Repair program, as long as it’s available in your market.
But the process isn’t easy. I already advised against repairing your iPhone at home if you lack the experience. That was well before the news about the EU’s new battery legislation.
I still think people shouldn’t repair smartphones at home just because they can. The same goes for iPhone batteries, regardless of whether the EU enforces the law.
Why I don’t want to replace my iPhone battery
I have multiple reasons why I wouldn’t want to replace an iPhone battery myself.
First, I don’t want to accidentally break anything in the process. Secondly, I want the iPhone to continue to be as water-resistant as possible. And I don’t have the experience to be sure of that, even with Apple’s expensive equipment that the company ships to your home to perform the repairs.
But the way Apple handles the self-repair program might not meet the EU’s requirements. As you can see above in the EU’s wording, you should be able to replace your iPhone’s battery without specialized tools.
The iPhone never had a user-replaceable battery, and hopefully, it never will. Apple meticulously plans the internal design of the iPhone to make the most of the space available. Those design optimizations allow it to use as much space as possible for the battery.
Also, Apple designs the iPhone in such a way that it can offer dust- and water resistance. I appreciate these features, and I’d hate to see the EU impact any of them.
It’s possible that Apple might be able to continue doing that while also adhering to strict EU laws regarding battery replacement. It most certainly can. Or it will develop tech to make it possible. But then, it would likely pass those research and development costs to the consumer.
The same applies to Android phones, by the way. I wouldn’t want to dismantle an Android handset to replace the battery. And many Android devices offer dust and water resistance. Let’s remember that early Android designs from Samsung and other companies came with removable batteries. But now, all the high-end Android handsets lack user-replaceable batteries.
The EU initiative isn’t necessarily bad
If the EU ends up enforcing the new law, there will be at least one immediate benefit. iPhone battery replacement should be even faster at Apple stores. And that’s the only way I’ll replace iPhone batteries.
Better management of battery recycling would be another benefit.
Recent history shows that the EU can enforce regulations that will lead to significant changes in consumer electronics. The EU wants USB-C to be the new charging standard for mobile devices, so the iPhone 15 will most likely get a USB-C port. Similarly, the EU wants device users to install apps from any source, and iOS 17 should support sideloading in the region.
Should the proposed battery legislation become law, Apple and everyone else must find ways to design smartphones with easy-to-replace batteries. The new initiative now awaits EU Council endorsement. Then, it’ll be published in the EU Official Journal.
But, as with any other proposals, it might be years until Apple and other handset vendors will have to abide by it. | Consumer Electronics |
- Arm, which is owned by SoftBank, filed on Monday to list on the Nasdaq.
- The U.K.-based chipmaker is looking to go public during a historically slow period for U.S. IPOs.
- SoftBank agreed to acquire Arm for $32 billion in 2016.
Arm, the chipmaker owned by Japan's SoftBank, filed for a Nasdaq listing on Monday, positioning itself to go public during a historically slow period for tech IPOs.
The company wants to trade under the ticker symbol "ARM."
Arm reported $524 million in net income on $2.68 billion in revenue in its fiscal 2023, which ended in March, according to the filing. Arm's 2023 revenue was slightly down from the company's 2022 sales.
The U.K.-based company filed confidentially for a listing in the U.S. earlier this year after previously announcing it would go public in the U.S. over the U.K., dealing a blow to the London Stock Exchange.
SoftBank originally sought to sell Arm to chip giant Nvidia, but the deal faced major pushback from regulators, who raised concerns over competition and national security. SoftBank took Arm private in 2016 in a deal valued at $32 billion.
Arm plays a pivotal role in the world of consumer electronics, designing the architecture of chips that are found in 99% of all smartphones, making it a key provider of technology to Apple, Google and Qualcomm.
But the company is also facing headwinds from a slowdown in demand for products like smartphones, which has hit chip firms across the board. Arm's net sales fell 4.6% year-on-year in the second quarter, while the unit swung to a loss, according to SoftBank's earnings release. SoftBanks' beleaguered Vision Fund, meanwhile, has racked up billions of dollars in losses of late due to tech bets that soured in a high interest rate environment.
ARM is poised to hit the market at a time when investors are flocking to next-generation semiconductors because of the demand spurred by artificial intelligence, most notably the soaring popularity of generative AI applications. Nvidia, the chipmaker most at the heart of the generative AI boom, has seen its stock price triple this year.
However, the tech IPO market has been largely dormant for the past 20 months, with no notable venture-backed deals since Dec. 2021. Last October, Intel spun out self-driving car technology company Mobileye. That stock is up just 17% since its first day close.
Some tech investors may be looking to ARM's offering as an indication of demand for new offerings. Grocery delivery company Instacart is among late-stage startups that are reportedly preparing to submit IPO paperwork to the SEC.
This is a breaking news story and is being updated. | Consumer Electronics |
Zachary Zirlin / Eyeem | Eyeem | Getty ImagesIn a year of soaring inflation across the broad U.S. economy, some corners of the consumer market did the opposite: They deflated in price.The largest declines, on a percentage basis, were concentrated in categories like consumer electronics, beef, and cars and trucks, according to the consumer price index.related investing newsHere are the goods that deflated the most in 2022.Consumer electronicsSeveral consumer electronics topped the list: smartphones; televisions; "other" video goods excluding TVs; and computers, peripherals, and smart home assistants. Their respective prices fell by 22.2%, 14.4%, 8.6% and 5.8% in 2022.Consumer electronics generally fall in price over time, as measured by the CPI and other inflation metrics. That's largely been the trend since 2006, according to CPI data for information technology, hardware and services, for example.The pandemic era was an exception, as households upgraded and bought new tech devices amid stay-at-home orders, thereby buoying demand while important parts like semiconductor chips were in short supply.Consumers might find the idea of this broad deflation trend odd, though, when sticker prices for popular items like smartphones, televisions and computers don't seem to have fallen.The deflationary dynamic is more a measurement quirk than a reflection of what consumers pay out of pocket, according to economists. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics adjusts technology prices for quality — improvements in microchips, software and screen resolution, for example — that gives the illusion of a falling price on paper.In other words: Better quality for the same money yields deflation in the eyes of federal statisticians."You're getting more bang for your buck," said Tim Mahedy, senior economist at KPMG. "You're still paying $800 for an iPhone, but your iPhone is a lot better."This economic modeling is known as a "hedonic quality adjustment." The BLS uses this method for consumer appliances, electronics and apparel items, for example.That measurement dynamic coincides with weaker demand, which is partly a function of consumers not having to stay indoors as they did during the pandemic era, and the easing of supply shortages."It has been the same story for past 20 years," Andrew Hunter, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said of the general deflationary trend for consumer electronics. "It now looks to be returning over the past six months or so."More from Personal Finance:Don't forget about your old 401(k) if you quit a job or are laid off4 key money moves in an uncertain economyLife expectancy can have a greater impact than inflation on retirement savingsUsed cars and trucks, rental vehiclesA used car dealership in New York on Jan. 19, 2022.Pablo Monsalve | View Press | Corbis News | Getty ImagesPrices for used cars and trucks were among the first to spike as inflation took hold in early 2021. The category inflated by 37.3% that year — the most of any item outside of energy commodities like gasoline and fuel oil, according to the consumer price index.Now, used car and truck prices are in retreat. They deflated by 8.8% in 2022. Only prices for smartphones and TVs fell at a faster rate.Prices for rental cars and trucks have followed a similar trajectory. They declined 4.9% in 2022, after spiking 36% the prior year.A shortage of semiconductor chips — a key vehicle component — brought the global production of new vehicles to a halt during the pandemic. Car inventories collapsed to record lows, sending vehicle prices soaring in 2021.You're getting more bang for your buck. You're still paying $800 for an iPhone, but your iPhone is a lot better.Tim Mahedysenior economist at KPMGThe supply shortage pushed more buyers into the used vehicle market, driving up prices. Those buyers included rental car companies, which needed to restock fleets they had culled earlier in the pandemic as consumer demand tanked.Supply shortages ran headlong into burgeoning demand from American travelers who wanted to hit the road in 2021 as Covid vaccines rolled out but travel outside U.S. borders was somewhat constrained.Now, however, global auto production has increased as supply chains are normalizing, economists said. That's led prices for used vehicles to decline."Rental car companies were buying — and now completely stopped buying — used vehicles," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics.Higher interest rates have also crimped consumer demand.Beef, baconBlack Angus cows at a farm in Pleasureville, Kentucky.Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesUncooked beef steaks, beef roasts, and other types of beef and veal fell in price last year — 5.4%, 3.5% and 6.7%, respectively.Meanwhile, bacon prices declined 3.7%.That occurred as consumers saw overall grocery prices move the opposite way, swelling by nearly 12% in 2022, according to CPI data.The beef pricing trend is largely a result of U.S. drought conditions and the associated economics of beef production, said Amy Smith, vice president at Advanced Economic Solutions, a consulting firm specializing in food economics.Over 78% of the U.S. was experiencing some level of drought as of Dec. 6, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. About 69% of the U.S. cattle herd is in those drought-stricken areas, an increase of 33 percentage points over a year earlier, the USDA said. This is important because drought shrinks pasture and forage areas; at the same time, corn and wheat prices have been high, making it expensive to supplement pasture feeding with animal feed, Smith said. As a result, many farmers have opted to slaughter cows early for beef production, increasing the available supply of beef and reducing prices at the grocery store, Smith said.The USDA described cattle slaughter in the first half of 2022 as an "aggressive culling," predominantly due to "pasture conditions and increased operating costs." The pace of beef-cow slaughter in July was the fastest recorded since the USDA started tracking data in 1986.Meanwhile, lower bacon prices are partly due to a higher domestic supply of pork amid reduced exports to other nations, Smith said. The USDA estimates total U.S. pork exports at 6.3 billion pounds in 2022, down 10% from 2021. | Consumer Electronics |
BuzzFeed may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page if you decide to shop from them. All products were independently selected by our editors, and the prices were accurate and items in stock at the time of publication.For those who are not familiar, the Consumer Electronics Show (aka CES) is kind of a tech mecca: an enormous conference held annually in Las Vegas where more than 3,700 companies exhibit the latest and greatest in consumer electronics. This year, I attended to scope out everything new and cool that consumers can buy for health and wellness.I was able to demo some tech that isn’t actually available yet (don’t worry, I’ll still tell you about it) and learn about a bunch of new products that you can buy right now. And after three days of browsing and listening and trying, I have some ideas about the trends in health tech that are poised to take off in 2023.AI applications for health and wellnessArtificial intelligence was everywhere at CES. From my first demo of a new app by Nourished x Neutrogena that results in a personalized 3D-printed skin supplement to a program that scans your face to evaluate vital signs, companies are increasingly creative with AI as it relates to proactive health and wellness.We’ve all seen the TikTok filter that shows you where to put your makeup based on your face shape, but this Skin360 app from Neutrogena is one of many that analyzes your facial skin to determine problem areas and guide you in treatments. Their solution is to print a Skin Stack – or gummy supplement designed to target your biggest concerns. Since my lowest scores were in clearness and smoothness, I was advised to purchase a month’s supply of clear skin gummies for around $50 to treat my skin from the inside out. While I’m still skeptical about the accuracy of this sort of AI, I visited two other exhibitors who analyzed my skin with wildly variable results — one told me I had a skin age of 25, and the other 42. The latter scolded me specifically about my eye bags but gave me higher ratings for clarity and smoothness, and then recommended products for a full skincare routine catered to my skin type. I don’t know whom to trust, if anyone.Similar technology can also monitor internal health. I tested a platform that scans your face to determine risk level for various health problems (including mental health) from your estimated blood pressure, heart rate, and other vital signs. I have nothing to compare it with, so it’s hard to say how accurate it was, but it’s another sign that we’ll be seeing more options to evaluate our health from home to share with doctors or receive AI-generated feedback.At-home smart tools for proactive healthcareSpeaking of evaluating our health from home, I predict that smart devices for monitoring health and fitness are going to skyrocket even higher in 2023.We’ve already seen an influx of wearable devices that monitor fitness, sleep, heart rate, blood pressure, and even blood oxygen levels – which can all be used to alert us to potential problems before a visit to the doctor. I attended a session where the CEO of Oura Ring spoke about the utility of the smart ring, particularly for sleep and “digital birth control” or cycle tracking via wearable devices, which he believes will become even more prominent in the future.Taking wearables even further, a medical officer from Healthify explained how people can use their CGM, or continuous glucose monitor, along with an app-facilitated human or AI coach to help them understand their metabolic panel and how best to eat and work out for their bodies. Beyond wearables, I explored several other kinds of smart devices on the expo floor that promise to take the market by storm in spring 2023: a mirror for your bathroom that uses AI to evaluate your health every morning while you brush your teeth, a bath mat that is essentially a hidden smart scale for monitoring your weight, BMI, body fat, posture, and balance (along with many other smart scales already on the market), and even a toilet that analyzes your urine every time you pee.I think there has to be a balance: while proactive healthcare allows us to check in on our own health in between doctor’s visits, over-monitoring can become problematic for those of us with health anxiety and a proclivity for body scanning. I don’t always want to know what’s going on inside my body because I have a feeling it will trigger a lot of unnecessary panic. So while there are an influx of smart home health monitors debuting this year, I don’t know how many I would personally buy.Devices targeting sexual health for people with penises Sexual health and pleasure are finally becoming a part of the mainstream health conversation, and while the (necessary) focus has definitely been on the female experience, people with penises have their own concerns. Of course, there are sex toys that cater to men, but the market seems to be smaller. Companies like Hims have made huge strides in easier access to medication that can help with penile performance problems, but I don’t often see physical retail products with the same goal.I didn’t see any sex toys or sexual pleasure products designed for people with vaginas at CES this year, but I stumbled upon multiple booths with supplies for the penis’s agenda— MyHixel, which looks like a basic masturbation sleeve but is actually intended to improve ejaculatory control, and the FirmTech performance ring, which slows blood leaving the penis for sustained erections and delayed orgasms. It made me think that we’ll be seeing more companies emerge that normalize male sex toys and other smart tech that aids in penile pleasure and performance, and that similar products will hit the market this year.Direct-to-consumer LED light therapy > expensive spa visitsThis transition has been happening for a while: products that were once used only by estheticians and skincare professionals are increasingly available at a price point that makes them attainable for the average spa-goer, so you can perform the same treatments from your couch. That also means the technology has evolved to make these devices compact, rechargeable, and generally easier to use.We’ve seen everything from gua shas and ice rollers to the NuFace already becoming popular. CES also introduced me to Droplette, a micro infuser for deeper product penetration. But most of what I saw in at-home treatments focused on LED light therapy.You’re likely not a stranger to LED skincare — the Omnilux mask and Solawave wand have done the rounds on social media (I got the wand for Hanukkah and panic-bought the acne spot treatment from Solawave from an Instagram ad), but based on what I saw at the conference, the tsunami of LED light therapy products is about to arrive. Solawave is coming out with its own LED mask similar to the Omnilux, as are at least five other companies that exhibited. I also learned about LED light helmets intended to combat hair loss. I’ll be keeping my eye out as more of those become available and try to figure out if they’re worth buying. Until then, if you want to dip your toe into the LED pool, I’ve been very much enjoying my Solawave. incomingYour weekday morning guide to breaking news, cultural analysis, and everything in between | Consumer Electronics |
UPDATED: Best Buy is checking out of the DVD business.
The consumer-electronics retailer will phase out sales of DVDs and Blu-ray discs both in-store and online in early 2024, according to industry sources familiar with the company’s plans. Best Buy made the initial decision to end DVD sales nine months ago, according to one source.
Best Buy confirmed Friday that it is ending sales of DVDs. “To state the obvious, the way we watch movies and TV shows is much different today than it was decades ago,” a Best Buy spokesperson said in a statement to Variety. “Making this change gives us more space and opportunity to bring customers new and innovative tech for them to explore, discover and enjoy.”
Best Buy will continue to sell movies and TV shows on physical discs through the 2023 holiday shopping season online and in stores, before discontinuing sales in the new year. The company will continue to sell video games. As of mid-2023, Best Buy had 1,129 store locations, with 969 of those in the U.S.
News of Best Buy’s ending DVD sales was first reported by home-entertainment blog The Digital Bits.
The move comes as Netflix, 25 years after launching its pioneering DVD-by-mail service, shipped out its last DVDs to customers on Sept. 29 (and let them keep their final discs if they chose to).
Best Buy’s exit from the market will leave Walmart, Amazon and Target as the top retailers in the U.S. stocking DVDs and Blu-ray discs. Also still in the physical-disc game is Redbox, now owned by Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, which maintains a network of about 29,000 DVD rental kiosks nationwide.
Amid the ascent of streaming video, sales of DVDs and Blu-Ray discs have been shrinking for years. U.S. physical media revenue in the first half of 2023 dropped 28%, to $754 million, compared with $1.05 billion in the year-earlier period, according to data from trade association DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group.
Ingram Entertainment, a leading DVD distributor, recently announced that it would wind down operations after more than 35 years in business. The company said it will “continue to provide catalog product” to customers into the fourth quarter of 2023.
Meanwhile, Walmart has been in talks with DVD distributor Studio Distribution Services (SDS), a joint venture of Universal Pictures and Warner Bros., to assume management of portions of its physical-media operations, Media Play News reported this summer. | Consumer Electronics |
Layered lithium cobalt oxide, a key component of lithium-ion batteries, has been synthesized at temperatures as low as 300°C and durations as short as 30 minutes.
Lithium ion batteries (LIB) are the most commonly used type of battery in consumer electronics and electric vehicles. Lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2) is the compound used for the cathode in LIB for handheld electronics. Traditionally, the synthesis of this compound requires temperatures over 800°C and takes 10 to 20 hours to complete.
A team of researchers at Hokkaido University and Kobe University, led by Professor Masaki Matsui at Hokkaido University's Faculty of Science, have developed a new method to synthesize lithium cobalt oxide at temperatures as low as 300°C and durations as short as 30 minutes. Their findings were published in the journal Inorganic Chemistry.
"Lithium cobalt oxide can typically be synthesized in two forms," Matsui explains. "One form is layered rocksalt structure, called the high-temperature phase, and the other form is spinel-framework structure, called the low-temperature phase. The layered LiCoO2 is used in Li-ion batteries."
Using cobalt hydroxide and lithium hydroxide as starting materials, with sodium or potassium hydroxide as an additive, the team conducted a series of high-precision experiments under varying conditions to synthesize layered LiCoO2 crystals. The process was called the "hydroflux process." They were also able to determine the reaction pathway that led to the formation of the layered crystals.
"By understanding the reaction pathway, we were able to identify the factors that promoted the crystal growth of layered LiCoO2," Matsui said. "Specifically, the presence of water molecules in the starting materials significantly improved crystallinity of the end product."
The team also measured the electrochemical properties of the layered LiCoO2, showing that they were only marginally inferior to that of commercially available LiCoO2 synthesized by the traditional high temperature method.
"This work is the first experimental demonstration of the thermochemical stability of layered LiCoO2 at low temperatures under ambient pressure," concludes Matsui. "Our development of this hydroflux process will enable energy saving measures in various ceramic production processes. Our immediate next steps will be the improvement of the hydroflux process based on our understanding of the reaction pathway."
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For the most part, the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas doesn’t really concern Apple fans. Ever since Apple stopped delivering Macworld expo keynotes in 2009, January has traditionally been a very quiet month for Apple, and the flurry of CES announcements doesn’t do much to change that. Sure there are announcements that pertain to Apple users, such as the Otterbox OtterGrip that gives you MagSafe and a built-in grip or Plugable’s new Thunderbolt 4 dock for the MacBook Pro, but most of the CES announcements won’t register on Apple fans’ radars. But maybe they should. Among all the laptops, TVs, and sounders are some CES trends that Apple fans should definitely know. Apple Display imitators are looking good They may be a little pricey, but Apple’s Studio Display and Pro Display XDR are two of the best and best-looking monitors you can buy. A pair of Thunderbolt-compatible CES products seem designed to change that. Samsung’s ViewFinity S9 could be appealing to Mac users if the price is right.Samsung Samsung’s 27-inch 5K ViewFinity S9 is a direct Studio Display competitor with a gorgeous metal frame, a 4K camera, and a matte finish to reduce glare. And Dell’s new UltraSharp monitor has the same 32-inch 6K size and resolution as the Pro Display XDR but also adds a 4K camera and a height-adjustable stand with “intuitive easy access to ports so you can connect your accessories and devices easily.” We don’t know how much these monitors will cost when they ship in the first half of the year—or what display upgrades Apple has up its sleeve for 2023—but Mac users looking for an attractive monitor should have a few more options soon. MagSafe is about to be everywhere MagSafe hasn’t changed much since it arrived on the iPhone 12, but 2023 could be its breakout year. During CES, the Wireless Power Consortium announced a new Qi2 standard with a new Magnetic Power Profile built on Apple’s MagSafe tech. That means MagSafe should get better as the consortium promises “significant future increases in wireless charging speeds” and hopefully spur a lot more accessories. A folding iPhone is slightly more realistic We’re probably still a long way off from a folding iPhone, mainly because the benefits are dubious. At CES, however, Samsung showed off two new flexible OLED displays—the Flex Hybrid that can both slide and fold from a 10.5-inch display to a 12.4-inch one, and Flex Slidable Duet that expands in both directions from 13.5 inches to 17 inches. Samsung’s new Flex Hybrid concept folds and slides.Samsung Display Both displays are concepts that are probably years away from mass production, but it shows how the tech is progressing. A folding iPad makes a lot more sense for Apple than a folding iPhone, and these new displays are sure to pique Apple’s interest. Apple is living rent-free in PC chipmakers’ heads Apple didn’t unveil a new chip or a new laptop at WWDC, but you wouldn’t know that by listening to Intel and AMD. Intel announced its 13th Gen Intel Core mobile processor family by boasting it has the highest clock speed available for the laptop market. Meanwhile, AMD claimed its new Ryzen 7040 Series Mobile processors “outperform the Apple M2 CPU by up to 20 percent while being up to 50 percent more energy efficient” while the Ryzen 7040HS Series Mobile processors offer “up to 34 percent faster multithreaded performance” over an M1 Pro MacBook Pro with 32GB of RAM. For two companies that should be fighting each other, they’re paying an awful lot of attention to Apple and its 15 percent market share. Apple has just two Mac chips and hasn’t unveiled its most powerful machine yet, and it’s already getting the biggest PC chipmakers to stand up and take notice. If that’s not a sign that Apple’s doing things right, I don’t know what is. The Apple Car suddenly isn’t so far-fetched We’ve been hearing about the Apple Car for the better part of 10 years now; a company that makes portable gadgets and computers building an automobile seems as implausible as ever. But we saw some things at CES that made us think twice. The Afeela from Sony and Honda has a very Apple-like feel to it.Afeela Sony is teaming up with Honda to bring its electric car vision to fruition with Afeela, which is targeting a 2025 launch. The car has futuristic stylings and a slick interior that is reminiscent of Apple’s next-gen CarPlay system. Also making its debut at CES was BMW’s i Vision Dee which can change colors thanks to 240 individual E Ink panels as well as a touch-sensitive steering wheel and a windshield display controlled by a Mixed Reality Slider. It’s a far-flung concept, though BMW says some of the i Vision Dee’s features will be available by 2025. Both concepts are less about the car than the tech, and it’s hard not to see them as a preemptive strike against a mythical Apple Car. It’s also not hard to see how Apple could shock the world with it own vehicle one day, especially if it partners with an existing manufacturer as Sony did. | Consumer Electronics |
- The $54 billion CHIPS Act is designed to get companies to make semiconductors in the U.S., but the law can't make chips cheap.
- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has told investors that U.S. chip plants will cost much more than the same plants in Taiwan.
- From the iPhone to the Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel, chips are a big part of the embedded cost, but smartphone makers have ways to limit any pass-through to consumer prices.
President Joe Biden's big push to get more semiconductors made in the U.S. is designed with many broad economic and industrial policy aims — adding high-wage American jobs; securing supply of a key technology material with national security implications in a widening geopolitical-technological rivalry with China; revitalizing domestic manufacturing; and setting new terms for lucrative tax incentives with corporations.
But there's another potential consequence: the CHIPS Act may also raise prices across a wide range of consumer electronics devices.
The $54 billion Chips and Science Act, signed by the president on Aug. 9, has been in the news because of the long list of rules the Biden administration proposed Feb. 28 to attach to applications for aid to build factories – everything from limits on foreign investment to stock buybacks, and requirements that chip companies provide child care to workers. So far, the law has spurred $200 billion of announced investment in U.S. chip manufacturing, the Semiconductor Industry Association said in December.
But analysts say one catch is that shifting manufacturing to the U.S. will raise the price of chipmaking — and, perhaps, the prices of popular devices that use chips, like smartphones and game consoles. Exactly how much prices might rise depends on how much companies, including Apple, Alphabet and Samsung, and other phonemakers, tweak designs, supply chains and processes to cut other costs, says CFRA Research analyst Angelo Zino.
How much of phone cost is in the chips
On its face, a significant hike in chip prices has implications for consumers because chips are such a big component in overall phone manufacturing cost.
About 54% of the estimated $527 manufacturing cost of an iPhone 14 Plus represents the cost of semiconductors in the phone, said Narinder Lall, who directs so-called "teardown analyses" of technology devices for Ottawa-based semiconductor information TechInsights. An estimated $81 of that represents the cost of the phone's core A15 processor, designed by Apple and manufactured by TSMC, Lall said. Other chips in the world's most ubiquitous electronic device run the iPhone's communications and memory, he said.
Semiconductors comprise the biggest component cost of an iPhone, whose display screen costs about $64, with another $98 spent on cameras, which themselves contain chips made by Sony, TechInsights says.
The Tensor chip in the competing Google Pixel 7 phone costs $101, according to Lall. The phone's camera costs an estimate $88.
For Samsung , the combined 5G modem and core apps processor add up to $193 of the $618 manufacturing cost of an S-22 Plus phone.
Some telecom executives are worried about a major increase in cost. Robert Morcos, CEO of Social Mobile, a provider of business mobile-communication services, cites estimates he has seen that the cost of chip making could rise by as much as 40%.
Using the iPhone as an example, that could equate to over $100 in new cost.
Bringing chip manufacturing to the U.S. is expensive in many respects. For starters, it's more expensive to build operations and source labor and equipment.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Chief Financial Officer Wendell Huang said on the company's most recent earnings call that chip factories in the U.S. are far more expensive to build than in Taiwan, the leading source of chips today.
"The major reason for the cost gap is the construction costs of building and facilities, which can be four to five times greater for a U.S. fab versus a fab in Taiwan," Huang said. "The high costs of construction includes labor costs, costs of permits, cost of occupational safety and health regulations, inflationary costs in recent years, and people and learning curve costs."
A recent New York Times report on the CHIPS Act quoted a supplier to TMSC as saying the cost of an Arizona factory construction was "far beyond" his client's expectation.
Debating how much an all-U.S. made iPhone might cost has been a parlor game for years, with claims that the cost could skyrocket as high as $30,000. But more mainstream analyses have concluded that the price would rise about $100 if the phone's parts were all made in the U.S. And tech analysts thinking through the CHIPS Act implications say device manufacturers like Apple won't pass along significant price hikes related to the cost of chips.
"Apple won't increase the price of an iPhone by $100; they're great at finding other ways to restrain costs," Zino said.
Samsung might have more ability to keep any costs passed onto the consumer down, according to Zino, because it's believed to make phones in large part to provide a market for its giant chip and device display manufacturing businesses. "They control a bigger percentage of the supply chain than any other hardware company on the planet," he said.
Apple's hefty margins will help blunt any impact.
"We don't expect Apple will fully transfer the possible chipset cost increase to the consumer side," TechInsights senior director of smartphone strategies Linda Sui said, arguing that Apple's nearly 40% hardware profit margins give it room to absorb chip price increases and hold iPhone wholesale price hikes this year to about 2%. "Given the strong user loyalty and stickiness of iPhone users…we expect the impact on the consumer side would be minimal," Sui said.
The new law includes $39 billion in manufacturing incentives to offset some of the higher costs, according to the White House. Another $13.2 billion was allocated for research and development and workforce development. The law provides a 25% investment tax credit for capital expenses for manufacturing of semiconductors and related equipment.
Apple already designs products and chips in the U.S., Zino noted. And it has committed to get about a third of its chips made at Arizona plants that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. is building, set to open beginning next year.
China and issues in reshoring tech supply chain
Apple's move toward U.S.-made chips will take time, Zino said, because Apple has had to prod its partner to make its most advanced products in the states. The most advanced devices use 3-nanometer chips that TSM is not expected to produce in Arizona until 2026, but has been making in Taiwan since last year, he said.
"They will continue to use [offshore factories] for years to come to make the next-generation phones," Zino said.
Apple did not respond to a request for comment, but CEO Tim Cook was asked by an analyst on a recent earnings call about whether it had studied the "elasticity of demand relative to small price increases" that could occur related to the CHIPS Act. Cook did not offer a direct answer. "We don't know at this point exactly what that will be, but we're all in, in terms of being the largest customer for TSMC in Arizona. I'm very proud to take part in that. That's what I would say about that," he said.
Apple's moves to diversify away from China will be gradual because it needs to stay on good terms with the government in Beijing, said Jeff Fieldhack, a research director at Counterpoint Research. The world's most valuable company makes an estimated 90% to 95% of iPhones in China, and got 43% of sales in fiscal 2023 from Greater China, including Taiwan.
"It's a tough dance for Apple," Fieldhack said.
Morcos says a top concern of his is the narrowness of the CHIPS Act. Without bringing related device manufacturing back to the U.S., such as device batteries, sensors, cameras, antennas, and hundreds of other components, the manufacturing process could require the most critical component to be produced stateside, then shipped overseas to be assembled with hundreds of other components into a device that is then shipped back to the U.S. for the American consumer.
Nonetheless, the work on planning U.S. factories is well under way. Samsung is considering $200 billion in U.S. investment in chips plants after committing to a $17 billion factory near Austin, Texas, with planning of up to 11 fabs in the area. Companies including Intel, Micron, Global Foundries and Qualcomm have also announced plans to expand manufacturing in the U.S.
To fulfill the act's broader purpose of reshoring tech production, Morcos said, more action will be needed to lure plants that produce device batteries and the devices themselves.
"$54 billion is a ton of money," O'Donnell said. "Adding that kind of money to the economy is going to affect the economy. But it's a drop in the bucket compared to the other money that went around.'' | Consumer Electronics |
This story is part of Amazon Prime Day, CNET's guide for everything you need to know and how to find the best deals. Short answer: Yes, you should buy an Apple Pencil if it's $70 or less and the Apple Pencil 2 if it's $99 or less. Prime Day is a great time to buy an Apple Pencil as it's the rare example of a sale with a bunch of steep discounts on Apple products. Should you buy an Apple Pencil on Prime Day?Whether you're thinking of buying an Apple Pencil on Prime Day or planning some other tech purchase in the next few weeks, we're definitely at a time of year where it's worth waiting to see what Prime Day has to offer. Prime Day always has a focus on consumer electronics and it's a rare opportunity to save on Apple gear in particular. That being said, unlike Apple's hero products such as the iPhone, iPad and Mac, peripheral products and accessories like the Apple Pencil can see discounts periodically throughout the year. In fact, the Apple Pencil 2 has returned to its record-low price at Amazon as recently as June which may be an indication of the types of Apple Pencil discounts we'll see during Prime Day 2022. Apple Pencil price trackingWe track Apple Pencil pricing throughout the year and alert our readers whenever a noteworthy deal comes around. The lowest we have seen the original model go at Amazon is $70, down from its $99 retail price, and the Apple Pencil 2 has hit its record low price of $99 a few times in the past. Hopefully we will see similar savings for Prime Day. Which Apple Pencil is right for my iPad?You may already know there are two different Apple Pencil models available, but you may be less clear on exactly which one is right to use with your iPad. To help make it easier for you to snag the right Apple Pencil on Prime Day, we've outlined the compatibility below. First-gen Apple PenciliPad Mini (5th Generation)iPad (6th Generation and later)iPad Air (3rd Generation)iPad Pro 12.9-inch (1st and 2nd Generation)iPad Pro 10.5-inchiPad Pro 9.7-inch
Second-gen Apple PenciliPad mini (6th Generation)iPad Air (4th Generation and later)iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd Generation and later)iPad Pro 11-inch (1st Generation and later)
If you're struggling to identify which iPad model you have, Apple has an easy guide to help you figure it out. | Consumer Electronics |
Graphical abstract. Credit: Matter (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.matt.2022.11.003 Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries power phones, laptops, other personal electronics and electric cars, and are even used to store energy generated by solar panels. But if the temperature of these batteries rises too high, they stop working and can catch fire. That's in part because the electrolyte inside of them, which ferries lithium ions between the two electrodes as the battery charges and discharges, is flammable. "One of the biggest challenges in the battery industry is this safety issue, so there's a lot of effort going into trying to make a battery electrolyte that is safe," said Rachel Z Huang, a graduate student at Stanford University and first author of a report published in Matter.
Huang developed a non-flammable electrolyte for lithium-ion batteries with 19 other researchers at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University. Their work demonstrated that batteries containing this electrolyte continue to function at high temperatures without starting a fire.
Their secret? More salt. Salty SAFEty
Conventional lithium-ion battery electrolytes are made of a lithium salt dissolved in a liquid organic solvent, such as ether or carbonate. While this solvent improves battery performance by helping to move lithium ions around, it's also a potential firestarter. Batteries generate heat as they operate. And if there are punctures or defects in a battery, it will heat up rapidly. At temperatures above 140 degrees F, the small molecules of solvent in the electrolyte start to evaporate, transforming from liquid to gas and inflating a battery like a balloon—until the gas catches fire and the whole thing goes up in flames. Over the past 30 years researchers have developed non-flammable electrolytes, such as polymer electrolytes, which use a polymer matrix instead of the classic salt-solvent solution to move ions around. However, these safer alternatives don't move ions as efficiently as liquid solvents do, so their performance has not measured up to that of conventional electrolytes. The team wanted to produce a polymer-based electrolyte that could offer both safety and performance. And Huang had an idea. She decided to add as much as she could of a lithium salt called LiFSI to a polymer-based electrolyte designed and synthesized by Jian-Cheng Lai, a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University and co-first author on the paper. "I just wanted to see how much I could add and test the limit," Huang said. Usually, less than 50% of a polymer-based electrolyte's weight is salt. Huang bumped that number to 63%, creating one of the saltiest polymer-based electrolytes ever. Unlike other polymer-based electrolytes, this one also contained flammable solvent molecules. However, the overall electrolyte, known as Solvent-Anchored non-Flammable Electrolyte (SAFE), proved non-flammable at high temperatures during tests in a lithium-ion battery.
SAFE works because the solvents and salt work together. The solvent molecules help conduct ions, resulting in performance comparable to that of batteries containing conventional electrolytes. But, instead of failing at high temperatures like most lithium-ion batteries, batteries containing SAFE continue to operate at temperatures between 77–212 degrees F. Meanwhile, the ample added salts act as anchors for the solvent molecules, preventing them from evaporating and catching fire.
"This new finding points out a new way of thinking for polymer-based electrolyte design," said Zhenan Bao, a professor at Stanford University and investigator with the Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences (SIMES) who advises Huang. "This electrolyte is important for developing future batteries that are both high energy density and safe."
Staying gooey
Polymer-based electrolytes can be solid or liquid. Importantly, the solvents and salt in SAFE plasticize its polymer matrix to make it a goo-like liquid, just like conventional electrolytes. One benefit: A gooey electrolyte can fit into existing, commercially available lithium-ion battery parts, unlike other non-flammable electrolytes that have emerged. Solid-state ceramic electrolytes, for example, must use specially designed electrodes, making them costly to produce.
"With SAFE there's no need to change any of the manufacturing setup," Huang said. "Of course, if it is ever used for production there are optimizations needed for the electrolyte to fit into the production line, but the work is a lot less than any of the other systems."
Yi Cui, a professor at SLAC and Stanford and a SIMES investigator who also advises Huang, said, "This very exciting new battery electrolyte is compatible with the existing lithium ion-battery cell technology and would make big impacts on consumer electronics and electrical transportation."
One application of SAFE may be in electric cars. If the multiple lithium-ion batteries in an electric car sit too close together, they can heat each other up, which could eventually lead to overheating and fire. But, if an electric car contains batteries filled with an electrolyte like SAFE that is stable at high temperatures, its batteries can be packed close together without worry of overheating. In addition to mitigating fire risk, this means less space occupied by cooling systems and more space for batteries. More batteries increase the overall energy density, meaning the car could go longer between charging. "So it's not just a safety benefit," said Huang. "This electrolyte could also allow you to pack in a lot more batteries." More information: Zhuojun Huang et al, A solvent-anchored non-flammable electrolyte, Matter (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.matt.2022.11.003 Citation: Flameproofing lithium-ion batteries with salt (2022, December 7) retrieved 8 December 2022 from https://techxplore.com/news/2022-12-flameproofing-lithium-ion-batteries-salt.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only. | Consumer Electronics |
Europe looks to virtual factories in new industrial revolution
EU manufacturers are increasingly embracing digital technologies to improve agility.
A plant that makes electric shavers in the northern Dutch town of Drachten is gearing up for a test meant to help European industry thrive in increasingly competitive international markets.
The plant run by consumer-electronics company Philips is part of a research project that received funding from the EU to spur manufacturers to make use of "digital twins"—virtual factories created through technologies that promise to streamline actual production.
Virtual and real
The idea is to harness techniques such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, robotics and blockchain technology to create models of whole manufacturing processes and pinpoint where improvements can be made.
'Industry is in a transition phase and digital technologies can help,' said Dr. Cécile Girardot, coordinator of the DIMOFAC initiative running through March 2024. 'With digital twins, real-time data can show in the virtual world how machines are performing in the real one.'
Europe's €5 billion manufacturing sector, which includes global heavyweights in areas ranging from aviation and steel to cars and chemicals, faces export-minded producers abroad and tougher environmental rules at home.
To these two underlying challenges have been added energy-price spikes following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and supply-chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that struck two years earlier.
The EU has created a €1.15 billion public-private partnership called Factories of the Future to advance manufacturing research and innovation, signaling how high the issue is on the European policy agenda.
At stake is European companies' ability to navigate through what is widely called the Fourth Industrial Revolution, or "Industry 4.0", an age marked by automation and connectivity.
The virtual-factory idea is gaining ground in Europe. Manufacturers ranging from aircraft maker Airbus to electrical equipment specialist Schneider Electric are exploring digital-twin concepts and setting up virtual manufacturing facilities.
Plug and produce
DIMOFAC, which began in late 2019, has developed a system to make manufacturing more agile.
Called "Plug and Produce", it renders reconfiguring production lines easier by linking real machines with digital twins.
Using the system, a manufacturer could simulate a new set-up virtually and iron out any troubles online before installing the equipment in an actual factory.
Production problems can arise, for example, from using recycled raw materials because their properties aren't always identical, according to Girardot, who is European project coordinator in advanced materials and manufacturing at French research institute CEA-Liten.
'In this case you have to adapt your production,' she said. 'The faster you do that, the better it is. The main objective is to reduce reconfiguration times.'
The project's "Plug and Produce" system will be tested in five actual production facilities around Europe. Besides electric shavers in the Netherlands, examples include aerospace components made by Éirecomposites in Ireland and interactive displays produced by Schaltag in Switzerland.
The technology is being put in place at the five sites and results are due during the first quarter of 2024.
DIMOFAC has been able to draw on a wide range of industrial expertise through 30 partners that also include Siemens Industry Software (France), mechanical-engineering company FILL of Austria and EXOM Engineering in Spain.
Closer collaboration
Another EU-funded project to advance the prospect of digital factories, FIRST, explored how they could be used to increase efficiency at production sites spread across different locations.
New designs and processes developed by FIRST will facilitate collaboration, according to Lai Xu, who coordinated the initiative that ended in December 2022 after six years.
'Traditionally, manufacturing sites can be quite isolated,' said Xu, an associate professor at Bournemouth University in the UK who works on collaborative business processes and virtual enterprises.
FIRST set out to identify the challenges and obstacles in the way of using virtual factory technologies and develop ways to overcome them, according to Xu.
The project's partners numbered seven and included manufacturers, software companies and universities from countries including Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and China.
Xu is upbeat about what digital twins can offer industry on both the business and environmental fronts.
For example, using a digital model of the whole production process, a fashion company could design a pair of shoes in Paris or Milan while coordinating manufacturing and sales globally.
An information-technology network would connect all the partners—shops, designers, logistics and manufacturers—and send information about what is needed where and when using blockchain technology.
'The customized shoe can be designed elsewhere but made locally, resulting in a more efficient and flexible manufacturing process and with less environmental impact,' Xu said.
A la carte
Virtual-factory technologies aren't all or nothing. Manufacturers can embrace parts to improve processes without committing to the whole, according to Xu.
This could be an important consideration for the many small and medium-sized enterprises that are part of Europe's manufacturing sector and that may lack the resources to revamp their systems from A to Z.
Virtual-factory technologies can also help companies more efficiently manage the maintenance of complex machines, saving costs as a result.
'Sensors around the machine collect data allowing you to schedule when to fly an engineer out for service,' said Xu.
In a sign that virtual manufacturing technologies are set to become increasingly important, she said the FIRST consortium is actively seeking new EU and national funding to make further advances in the field.
This article was originally published in Horizon, the EU Research and Innovation Magazine. | Consumer Electronics |
BuzzFeed may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page if you decide to shop from them. All products were independently selected by our editors, and the prices were accurate and items in stock at the time of publication.For those who are not familiar, the Consumer Electronics Show (aka CES) is kind of a tech mecca: an enormous conference held annually in Las Vegas where more than 3,700 companies exhibit the latest and greatest in consumer electronics. This year, I attended to scope out everything new and cool that consumers can buy for health and wellness.I was able to demo some tech that isn’t actually available yet (don’t worry, I’ll still tell you about it) and learn about a bunch of new products that you can buy right now. And after three days of browsing and listening and trying, I have some ideas about the trends in health tech that are poised to take off in 2023.AI applications for health and wellnessArtificial intelligence was everywhere at CES. From my first demo of the Nourished x Neutrogena SKINSTACKS that results in a personalized 3D-printed skin supplement to a program that scans your face to evaluate vital signs, companies are increasingly creative with AI as it relates to proactive health and wellness.We’ve all seen the TikTok filter that shows you where to put your makeup based on your face shape, but this Skin360 app from Neutrogena is one of many that analyzes your facial skin to determine problem areas and guide you in treatments. Their solution is to print a Skin Stack – or gummy supplement designed to target your biggest concerns. Since my lowest scores were in clearness and smoothness, I was advised to purchase a month’s supply of clear skin gummies for around $50 to treat my skin from the inside out. While I’m still skeptical about the accuracy of this sort of AI, I visited two other exhibitors who analyzed my skin with wildly variable results — one told me I had a skin age of 25, and the other 42. The latter scolded me specifically about my eye bags but gave me higher ratings for clarity and smoothness, and then recommended products for a full skincare routine catered to my skin type. I don’t know whom to trust, if anyone.Similar technology can also monitor internal health. I tested a platform that scans your face to determine risk level for various health problems (including mental health) from your estimated blood pressure, heart rate, and other vital signs. I have nothing to compare it with, so it’s hard to say how accurate it was, but it’s another sign that we’ll be seeing more options to evaluate our health from home to share with doctors or receive AI-generated feedback.At-home smart tools for proactive healthcareSpeaking of evaluating our health from home, I predict that smart devices for monitoring health and fitness are going to skyrocket even higher in 2023.We’ve already seen an influx of wearable devices that monitor fitness, sleep, heart rate, blood pressure, and even blood oxygen levels – which can all be used to alert us to potential problems before a visit to the doctor. I attended a session where the CEO of Oura Ring spoke about the utility of the smart ring, particularly for sleep and “digital birth control” or cycle tracking via wearable devices, which he believes will become even more prominent in the future.Taking wearables even further, a medical officer from Healthify explained how people can use their CGM, or continuous glucose monitor, along with an app-facilitated human or AI coach to help them understand their metabolic panel and how best to eat and work out for their bodies. Beyond wearables, I explored several other kinds of smart devices on the expo floor that promise to take the market by storm in spring 2023: a mirror for your bathroom that uses AI to evaluate your health every morning while you brush your teeth, a bath mat that is essentially a hidden smart scale for monitoring your weight, BMI, body fat, posture, and balance (along with many other smart scales already on the market), and even a toilet that analyzes your urine every time you pee.I think there has to be a balance: while proactive healthcare allows us to check in on our own health in between doctor’s visits, over-monitoring can become problematic for those of us with health anxiety and a proclivity for body scanning. I don’t always want to know what’s going on inside my body because I have a feeling it will trigger a lot of unnecessary panic. So while there are an influx of smart home health monitors debuting this year, I don’t know how many I would personally buy.Devices targeting sexual health for people with penises Sexual health and pleasure are finally becoming a part of the mainstream health conversation, and while the (necessary) focus has definitely been on the female experience, people with penises have their own concerns. Of course, there are sex toys that cater to men, but the market seems to be smaller. Companies like Hims have made huge strides in easier access to medication that can help with penile performance problems, but I don’t often see physical retail products with the same goal.I didn’t see any sex toys or sexual pleasure products designed for people with vaginas at CES this year, but I stumbled upon multiple booths with supplies for the penis’s agenda— MyHixel, which looks like a basic masturbation sleeve but is actually intended to improve ejaculatory control, and the FirmTech performance ring, which slows blood leaving the penis for sustained erections and delayed orgasms. It made me think that we’ll be seeing more companies emerge that normalize male sex toys and other smart tech that aids in penile pleasure and performance, and that similar products will hit the market this year.Direct-to-consumer LED light therapy > expensive spa visitsThis transition has been happening for a while: products that were once used only by estheticians and skincare professionals are increasingly available at a price point that makes them attainable for the average spa-goer, so you can perform the same treatments from your couch. That also means the technology has evolved to make these devices compact, rechargeable, and generally easier to use.We’ve seen everything from gua shas and ice rollers to the NuFace already becoming popular. CES also introduced me to Droplette, a micro infuser for deeper product penetration. But most of what I saw in at-home treatments focused on LED light therapy.You’re likely not a stranger to LED skincare — the Omnilux mask and Solawave wand have done the rounds on social media (I got the wand for Hanukkah and panic-bought the acne spot treatment from Solawave from an Instagram ad), but based on what I saw at the conference, the tsunami of LED light therapy products is about to arrive. Solawave is coming out with its own LED mask similar to the Omnilux, as are at least five other companies that exhibited. I also learned about LED light helmets intended to combat hair loss. I’ll be keeping my eye out as more of those become available and try to figure out if they’re worth buying. Until then, if you want to dip your toe into the LED pool, I’ve been very much enjoying my Solawave. incomingYour weekday morning guide to breaking news, cultural analysis, and everything in between | Consumer Electronics |
Nvidia has started emailing out press invites for a “special address” at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. The event invitations come just days after rumors suggested Nvidia’s RTX 40-series Super cards will debut at CES 2024, including an RTX 4070 Super and RTX 4080 Super.
Nvidia’s invite doesn’t mention GeForce, nor who will be presenting at the keynote on January 8th at 11 AM ET / 8AM PT. Nvidia’s event will take place on a busy day of press conferences at CES, so we’re definitely expecting some news here.
Hardware leakers have been revealing details about RTX 4080 and RTX 4070 Super cards for weeks now, with the more powerful RTX 4080 Super rumored to include 20GB of VRAM instead of the 16GB that ships with RTX 4080 models right now. Both the rumored RTX 4070 / 4080 Super cards are also expected to include a higher memory bus over existing equivalents.
If Nvidia is ready to launch new Super cards for the RTX 40-series, it will be the first time we’ve seen Super versions of Nvidia GPUs since the 20-series in 2019. All eyes will now be on the price of these GPUs and the performance gap over the existing models. We’ll be covering Nvidia’s keynote and many more CES announcements from January 8th onwards, so stayed tuned for all the latest CES news. | Consumer Electronics |
Zachary Zirlin / Eyeem | Eyeem | Getty ImagesIn a year of soaring inflation across the broad U.S. economy, some corners of the consumer market did the opposite: They deflated in price.The largest declines, on a percentage basis, were concentrated in categories like consumer electronics, beef, and cars and trucks, according to the consumer price index.Here are the goods that deflated the most in 2022.Consumer electronicsSeveral consumer electronics topped the list: smartphones; televisions; "other" video goods excluding TVs; and computers, peripherals, and smart home assistants. Their respective prices fell by 22.2%, 14.4%, 8.6% and 5.8% in 2022.Consumer electronics generally fall in price over time, as measured by the CPI and other inflation metrics. That's largely been the trend since 2006, according to CPI data for information technology, hardware and services, for example.The pandemic era was an exception, as households upgraded and bought new tech devices amid stay-at-home orders, thereby buoying demand while important parts like semiconductor chips were in short supply.Consumers might find the idea of this broad deflation trend odd, though, when sticker prices for popular items like smartphones, televisions and computers don't seem to have fallen.The deflationary dynamic is more a measurement quirk than a reflection of what consumers pay out of pocket, according to economists. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics adjusts technology prices for quality — improvements in microchips, software and screen resolution, for example — that gives the illusion of a falling price on paper.In other words: Better quality for the same money yields deflation in the eyes of federal statisticians."You're getting more bang for your buck," said Tim Mahedy, senior economist at KPMG. "You're still paying $800 for an iPhone, but your iPhone is a lot better."This economic modeling is known as a "hedonic quality adjustment." The BLS uses this method for consumer appliances, electronics and apparel items, for example.That measurement dynamic coincides with weaker demand, which is partly a function of consumers not having to stay indoors as they did during the pandemic era, and the easing of supply shortages."It has been the same story for past 20 years," Andrew Hunter, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said of the general deflationary trend for consumer electronics. "It now looks to be returning over the past six months or so."More from Personal Finance:Don't forget about your old 401(k) if you quit a job or are laid off4 key money moves in an uncertain economyLife expectancy can have a greater impact than inflation on retirement savingsUsed cars and trucks, rental vehiclesA used car dealership in New York on Jan. 19, 2022.Pablo Monsalve | View Press | Corbis News | Getty ImagesPrices for used cars and trucks were among the first to spike as inflation took hold in early 2021. The category inflated by 37.3% that year — the most of any item outside of energy commodities like gasoline and fuel oil, according to the consumer price index.Now, used car and truck prices are in retreat. They deflated by 8.8% in 2022. Only prices for smartphones and TVs fell at a faster rate.Prices for rental cars and trucks have followed a similar trajectory. They declined 4.9% in 2022, after spiking 36% the prior year.A shortage of semiconductor chips — a key vehicle component — brought the global production of new vehicles to a halt during the pandemic. Car inventories collapsed to record lows, sending vehicle prices soaring in 2021.You're getting more bang for your buck. You're still paying $800 for an iPhone, but your iPhone is a lot better.Tim Mahedysenior economist at KPMGThe supply shortage pushed more buyers into the used vehicle market, driving up prices. Those buyers included rental car companies, which needed to restock fleets they had culled earlier in the pandemic as consumer demand tanked.Supply shortages ran headlong into burgeoning demand from American travelers who wanted to hit the road in 2021 as Covid vaccines rolled out but travel outside U.S. borders was somewhat constrained.Now, however, global auto production has increased as supply chains are normalizing, economists said. That's led prices for used vehicles to decline."Rental car companies were buying — and now completely stopped buying — used vehicles," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics.Higher interest rates have also crimped consumer demand.Beef, baconBlack Angus cows at a farm in Pleasureville, Kentucky.Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesUncooked beef steaks, beef roasts, and other types of beef and veal fell in price last year — 5.4%, 3.5% and 6.7%, respectively.Meanwhile, bacon prices declined 3.7%.That occurred as consumers saw overall grocery prices move the opposite way, swelling by nearly 12% in 2022, according to CPI data.The beef pricing trend is largely a result of U.S. drought conditions and the associated economics of beef production, said Amy Smith, vice president at Advanced Economic Solutions, a consulting firm specializing in food economics.Over 78% of the U.S. was experiencing some level of drought as of Dec. 6, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. About 69% of the U.S. cattle herd is in those drought-stricken areas, an increase of 33 percentage points over a year earlier, the USDA said. This is important because drought shrinks pasture and forage areas; at the same time, corn and wheat prices have been high, making it expensive to supplement pasture feeding with animal feed, Smith said. As a result, many farmers have opted to slaughter cows early for beef production, increasing the available supply of beef and reducing prices at the grocery store, Smith said.The USDA described cattle slaughter in the first half of 2022 as an "aggressive culling," predominantly due to "pasture conditions and increased operating costs." The pace of beef-cow slaughter in July was the fastest recorded since the USDA started tracking data in 1986.Meanwhile, lower bacon prices are partly due to a higher domestic supply of pork amid reduced exports to other nations, Smith said. The USDA estimates total U.S. pork exports at 6.3 billion pounds in 2022, down 10% from 2021. | Consumer Electronics |
CES 2023 is all about the buzzy, headline-grabbing products of the week, whether it's a toilet sensor that can read your pee or a color-changing car with AI sass like Knight Rider's KITT. Truthfully, these are products you likely aren't buying soon. The real value of the world's largest consumer electronics trade show is how it lays out a vision for where tech may go in the coming months and years. This show marked the first "real" year that CES was back in full swing. Yes, the show had a physical presence in 2022, but a lot of companies and media (CNET included) canceled their trips at the last minute as the omicron variant of COVID-19 surged. The Consumer Technology Association, which puts on CES, estimated ahead of the show that it would have about 100,000 attendees, making it the biggest such public gathering since the pandemic hit and more than double its 2022 attendance. This year's edition didn't disappoint, with a flood of interesting products and announcements (you can check them out in our live blog). The regular big players like Samsung and Sony showed up with impressive TVs and concept cars, while newer entrants like Neutrogena and John Deere impressed as they made their pitches for innovation. The most fun part about CES, however, is reading the tea leaves and seeing where the tech world is going and how those changes affect you. Here are the big themes from we'll be talking about long after the bright lights of the CES booths fade. Sustainability is the buzzword on everyone's lipsIf there's one thing everyone at CES can agree on, it's that sustainability is a priority. Virtually every company talked about how its products would be more sustainable, from Samsung's partnership with Patagonia to reduce microplastics in the water supply to Asus' boast that it has used 1,500 tons of recycled plastic in its products since 2017. One of the CTA's key priorities this year was highlighting the social and environmental impact on tech, and companies got the message. Companies often led with sustainability as the first topic out of the gate during their keynote presentations. AMD Lisa Su used her keynote to stress the energy efficiency that comes with her company's more powerful processors. John Deere's new robot planter is designed to reduce fertilizer and chemical use. The list goes on. Talk about sustainability was all over the show. James Martin/CNET The climate crisis has emerged as one of the most pressing issues of our time, so it's no surprise that it's all over CES. That so many companies are taking this more seriously is another indication that consumers are starting to care. But this represents only the first steps for the tech industry. "Sustainability is a key pillar for most consumer electronics organizations, but we're just at the beginning of the journey," said Maribel Lopez, an analyst for Lopez Research. To learn more about sustainability and tech's role in finding solutions to the climate crisis, check out our CNET Zero series. There's a race to own the car experienceCES has increasingly turned into an auto show, with carmakers like GM and BMW routinely showing off concept cars in a bid to let us know that they're actually tech companies too. But CES 2023 saw a number of traditional consumer electronics players make a bid to define how you'll spend your time in a car going forward. Perennial South Korean rivals Samsung and LG each pitched their own smart car platforms. Samsung's system will be called ICX, powered by a platform called Ready Care from its Harman International business. The system uses sensors to measure driver drowsiness and will employ driver-facing infrared cameras to monitor their status. Naturally, the system is expected to work with Samsung's family of products like its Galaxy Watch. LG's Cockpit Computer likewise focuses on optimizing the driving experience, with Gene Cho, vice president of product strategy and planning for LG, talking about how the platform will let you check on your stove at home or call roadside assistance. Inside the Sony Honda Afeela car. James Martin/CNET Taking a more ambitious approach to cars is Sony, which used its keynote to show off its Afeela electric vehicle, built in partnership with Honda. Afeela boasts 45 cameras and sensors both on the exterior and interior of the vehicle, again with the theme of detecting and understanding people. The automakers weren't going to be outdone. BMW used its keynote to show off the i Vision Dee (or "digital emotional experience"). The car talks like Knight Rider's KITT (which was also in attendance), changes color using E Ink and features an AR display that wraps around the windshield. Volantis showed off its futuristic Ram Revolution Concept vehicle, complete with AR display, massive moonroof and jumbo 28-inch touchscreen.These companies are all scrambling to paint a picture of how your relationship with your car may change, especially with the rise of self-driving cars. They're also looking to wrest some of the control back from Apple and Google, which have become the dominant car platforms with CarPlay and Android Auto, respectively. LG and Samsung, in particular, are likely hoping to become viable alternatives for the automakers. TVs shed most of their gimmicks Remember just a few years ago when it seemed every TV manufacturer every year was scraping the bottom of the useless-to-most-people features barrel to try to sell you their latest model? Remember how 3D TVs seemed like a thing for a minute and then just suddenly weren't? Remember LG's roll-up TV that cost $60,000? We remember. So given high-end TVs' not too distant history, we were pleasantly surprised that TV manufacturers have seemingly (for now, at least) learned their lesson and have shifted their focus to practical real value. LG probably made the biggest splash at CES with its 97-inch OLED TV capable of a high 4K resolution picture and an ultrasmooth 120Hz presentation of games and movies. That's a huge TV using LG's awesome OLED implementation, but the real selling point here is the fact that the TV is entirely wireless. That's right, no more fiddling with a million cables behind your home theater setup with zip ties and the like, trying to make your setup look nice. Now there's nothing to tie at all.LG managed to kill one more cord going into the television. James Martin/CNET Samsung also showed up with a 77-inch QD-OLED. QD-OLED is widely considered the best picture technology and this is the first we've seen it implemented at this screen size, which should help Samsung compete with LG TVs and hopefully bring prices down across the board. Lastly, while not a TV, Samsung's 8K projector called The Premiere can basically turn any wall into a screen as large as 150 inches. The short throw projector is designed to sit just a few inches from the wall, so even those in small apartments can have access to a high-quality projector without needing much room. Home entertainment devices that are practical and directly address the needs of most consumers is a trend we can get behind. Let's hope it's not short lived.Foldables beat 5GCES has never been a strong phone show – you'll need to wait until next month's Mobile World Congress for more handset reveals -- but Samsung managed to create a little buzz with a foldable concept device that flexes in more than one way. It's actually Samsung Display, and not Samsung Electronics, that drew some early attention by showing off its Flex Hybrid, which folds and slides. But don't expect this to show up at your local carrier store any time soon, since this is from Samsung's display arm, and it's the electronics business that deals with producing and selling actual phones. Now playing: Watch this: Samsung Display's Rollable, Foldable Concepts Show the... 2:41 But as with most things at CES, the Flex Hybrid sheds light on where our phones can go, and just how crazy these foldables can actually get. It was enough to impress CNET Editor Eli Blumenthal, shattering his jadedness and reminding him that phones can be cool again -- some day. That other once ubiquitous mobile buzzword, 5G, on the other hand, barely made a blip at the show. We're a few years into the technology, and while it's faster (in some areas), it hasn't really shown itself to be the gamechanger it was hyped up to be. The CTA believes 5G will still be important, but with less buzzy business applications and devices. Smart home setup is getting simplerAfter years of buildup and a handful of delays during the pandemic, Matter, an open-source, universal smart home protocol backed by Amazon, Apple, Google, Samsung and countless others is finally live. The pitch is promising: a single, Wi-Fi-based standard that bundles together compatibility with Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri and SmartThings, among others.Sure enough, we saw plenty of gadgets at CES rushing for the bandwagon, including new, Matter-compatible smart lights and smart plugs, connected roller blinds, and a new SmartThings hub. Later in the year, when Matter's next release arrives, additional device types like robot vacuums and smart home cameras should come on board too.That said, the most interesting part of the Matter march-out might not have been the new devices, but the old ones -- specifically, the previous-gen gadgets from the brands embracing the new standard. Some companies, like Eve, told CNET that they're going to be able to bring those older devices on board with Matter with a simple software update, if they haven't already. In other cases, like with GE Lighting or Govee, smart-home users will need to buy brand new, Matter-compliant devices in order to reap Matter's multilingual benefits. That could irk an awful lot of consumers who like the devices they've already bought, so Matter will need to deliver on its promise of smart home harmony in what's shaping up to be another interesting year for the category.Get ready to spend more time on the toiletIf you remember only one thing about health tech at CES, it's that the next frontier for tracking and managing your health is in your bathroom. Specifically, your toilet. Withings and Vivoo came to the show with sensors that attach to your toilet bowl to analyze your urine. These sensors can keep tabs on nutrient levels, hormones and more.Meanwhile, The Heart Seat from Casana aims to keep tabs on your heart rate, blood oxygen and blood pressure while you do your business. All you have to do is sit on the smart toilet seat.Withings created a sensor in the toilet that scans your pee for health reasons. Withings Like in previous years, using AI to monitor your health was omnipresent. While sensors can give us precise information, algorhythms that are fed massive data sets can help provide health metrics when sensors aren't available. For example, Nuralogix announced plans at the show to use its AI to measure blood pressure, heart rate and more by analyzing your face from a selfie.Artificial intelligence also makes it possible for Valencell's new fingertip blood pressure sensor to give you accurate readings without the need to calibrate it with a traditional cuff. We've seen blood pressure sensors in watches, but this is the first time we've seen a finger clip version.Following the FDA's approval of over-the-counter hearing aids last year, we also saw a good deal of hearing tech at the show, including the Jabra Enhance Plus earbuds that double as a hearing aid. Expect this market to explode in 2023, as more brands release OTC hearing aids.From everything we've seen at CES 2023, expect more and more home health monitoring products to hit the market this year. From the traditional wrist-worn trackers and smart rings to sensor-filled toilet seats and bathmats, there's no shortage of ways to keep tabs on your health. | Consumer Electronics |
Lisa Su, president and chief executive officer of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), holds a 3rd generation Ryzen desktop processor while speaking during a keynote session at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Jan. 9, 2019.David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesAMD shares were down more than 7% on Friday as investors digest the semiconductor's disappointing preliminary third-quarter results Thursday that were well below its initial guidance.The chipmaker cut its sales forecast on Thursday for the third quarter, blaming a larger-than-expected decline in the personal computer market and supply chain issues.AMD now expects preliminary quarterly revenue of about $5.6 billion thanks to "reduced processor shipments." That's more than $1 billion below the $6.7 billion it had previously forecast as the midpoint of its revenue expectations for the quarter.The company also said that its non-GAAP gross margin is expected to come in around 50%, while it had previously expected gross margin to be closer to 54%.Several firms, including Piper Sandler, Stifel, KeyBanc Capital Markets and Mizuho Securities cut their price targets for AMD in notes to clients on Friday, though each of those maintained a buy or overweight rating. Shares of other chipmakers like Intel and Nvidia were also down, each around 4%, as weak PC demand and supply chain issues could weigh on other semiconductor players.WATCH: AMD's third quarter cut was deeper than the market expected, says Bernstein's Stacy Rasgon | Consumer Electronics |
Apple has new plans to use more recycled metals in its devices. By 2025, the company plans to use 100 percent recycled cobalt in the batteries it designs. By the same date, it says magnets in its devices will contain entirely recycled rare earth elements. And circuit boards Apple designs will also be made with entirely recycled tin soldering and gold plating.
The tech industry has been under scrutiny for years for its hunger for mined materials, which inflicts harm on people and the environment. Apple and other companies have struggled with allegations of human rights violations along their supply chains for cobalt in particular, called “the blood diamond of batteries.”
The tech industry has been under scrutiny for years for its hunger for mined materials
Investigations by Amnesty International and Sky News in 2016 and 2017 discovered children working under dangerous conditions to mine cobalt that likely made its way into Apple products and other consumer electronics. Tesla and several other tech companies faced a lawsuit over allegations of child labor in 2019, although a federal court dismissed the case in 2021.
Apple did not respond on the record to a press inquiry from The Verge. But its announcement yesterday says, “Apple sources primary minerals responsibly.” And in a 2021 New Yorker report on cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the company said that it was “constantly working to raise the bar for ourselves, and the industry.”
The company says it has worked with the Material Recovery Lab in Austin, Texas, to research ways to reuse more of the materials in its products. Apple revealed its iPhone-recycling robot, Daisy, in 2018. Since then, 11,000 kilograms (roughly 24,251 pounds) of cobalt has been recovered from batteries Daisy has extracted. The robot is also able to recover rare earth elements that would otherwise be lost in more traditional electronics recycling, Apple says.
Last year, a quarter of all cobalt used in Apple products came from recycled materials, the company said in its announcement yesterday. The percentage of rare earth elements in its products grew from 45 percent to 73 percent from 2021 to 2022. And recycled tin made up 38 percent of the tin the company used last year. Apple didn’t share specific numbers for gold but said that it has expanded its use of the recycled precious metal from the main logic board of the iPhone 13 to more components in the iPhone 14 and its other products.
Discarded phones, computers, and tablets ultimately add to piles of e-waste that are a growing problem around the world. Recycling can make a dent in some of that trash. But it’s not a cure-all for the problems stemming from how a device is made and then ultimately discarded. Hanging on to gadgets for longer, by making them easier to repair, for instance, is crucial.
“Using recycled materials in manufacturing is important ... [but] it misses a really important thing, which is that recycling enables disposability,” says Josh Lepawsky, a professor who studies e-waste. “Recycling companies figured out that instead of just getting stuff into people’s homes or into their hands, they can move stuff through their homes or through their hands.” | Consumer Electronics |
Amazon has teamed up with Boost Infinite, a wireless carrier owned by Dish Wireless, and has launched a storefront to make the latter's SIM kits more accessible. While Amazon sells SIM cards from a variety of providers, this is a genuine tie-up that automatically pre-qualifies Prime members for the carrier's $25-per-month postpaid wireless plan. Subscribers can purchase Boost Infinite's Unlimited $25 SIM kit from the Amazon store with a 20 percent discount. And if they do, they're also getting a $25 bill credit that will go towards their first month of service, provided that they've activated their SIM within 30 days of receiving it.
Dish first introduced Boost Infinite in mid-2022 with a plan that offers "unlimited data, talk and text." The plan also provides users with 5G internet, which uses AT&T's, T-Mobile's and Dish's own network, though it will get throttled after the first 30GB of the month. Subscribers can add up to five lines per account, as well. Boost Infinite promises a wireless service with no surprise, or even planned, price hikes. It says members can expect to pay $25 a month for as long as they're active.
Customers who purchase a SIM kit from Amazon don't have to walk into a store to activate their account. They simply need to complete their registration via the carrier's app, after which it will pair them up with a customer support rep — a "real person," the company emphasizes — to help them with setup and activation. To note, new subscribers can bring in their (unlocked) phones or get a new one from Boost Infinite, and they can keep or change their number. Boost Infinite's network is compatible with both unlocked iPhones and Android devices, and it also comes with eSIM support for Apple's mobile phones.
Steve Downer, Vice President of Consumer Electronics at Amazon, said:
"Amazon has always been about providing convenience, value, and selection to customers. Part of that is making it easier for customers to access wireless plans that are compatible with a variety of devices and can be set up from home. The Boost Infinite Unlimited SIM kit gives Prime members an exclusive deal to access affordable postpaid wireless service on one of the top networks in the U.S. at a great value." | Consumer Electronics |
We’ve got one last addition to Thursday’s Hardware Stage, and it’s a good one. Robin Liu, OnePlus’ North American CEO, will round out the lineup. After a stint at Chinese TV manufacturer Skyworth, Liu joined OnePlus in 2018 to run the smartphone maker’s television and supply chain teams.
The executive spent two years heading up the company’s India sales team, before stepping into his current role in January of last year. That trio of roles gives Liu unique insight into the current consumer electronics landscape.
Currently the world’s second largest smartphone market, India has long been a big focus for OnePlus. Liu will also speak to the on-going supply chain constraints that have hamstrung global manufacturing.
After its 2013 founding, OnePlus managed a notoriously difficult feat, gaining a foothold in the traditionally carrier-controlled U.S. market. The smartphone maker quickly made a name for itself by building high quality Android handsets at a reasonable price point. We’ll discuss what makes the third-largest smartphone market unique, and broader issues around declining global smartphone sales.
It’s been an interesting few years for OnePlus. The company was folded into long time backer, the electronics giant, Oppo. It has also expanded its product offerings to include the budget Nord line, smart TVs and even a mechanical keyboard. OnePlus is also currently readying the release of its first foldable.
We’ve got a lot to discuss. I hope we’ll see you there.
Is your company interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at TechCrunch Disrupt 2023? Contact our sponsorship sales team by filling out this form. | Consumer Electronics |
The European Union has made its ruling: If Apple wants to sell new iPhones in the region, those devices will need to have a USB-C port before the end of 2024. That means Apple's proprietary Lightning connector, which has existed for more than a decade and established itself as a considerable money-maker for the tech giant, will need to be phased out of future iPhones. At least the ones going to the EU. "We have no choice -- as we do around the world, [Apple will] comply with local laws," Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, said at a Wall Street Journal tech conference on Oct. 25 when asked if Apple will adhere to the EU's common charging law."We think it would have been better environmentally and better for our customers to not have a government be that prescriptive."While the legislation technically only applies to consumer electronics sold within the European Union, Apple may be forced to decide on the fate of the Lightning port for iPhones bound for overseas. Most commercial phones charge and connect to accessories using the USB-C standard, but iPhones don't. Could this mean future iPhones sold outside the European Union will also transition to a USB-C charging port? Or will Apple make hardware changes by geography: Producing two iPhone variants to accommodate USB-C and Lightning -- one for the EU and the other for the rest of the world? Apple already modifies iPhone models regionally, as it has done with the iPhone 14. The US version only has an electronic SIM, while other variants retain the SIM slot, as Avi Greengart, analyst at Techsponential, points out. But he also thinks Apple has good reasons to move all iPhones to USB-C moving forward."...There are larger ecosystem, security, and accessory considerations with the power/data connector, so I think it is more likely that Apple moves all iPhones [globally] to USB-C in the iPhone 16 timeframe to comply with European regulations."Most commercially available smartphones have a USB-C port, but the iPhone does not. It uses Apple's proprietary lightning port connector. Mkeke For more than a decade, European lawmakers have pushed for electronic devices to include a standardized charger in a bid to reduce cable clutter and e-waste. The legislation, part of the amended Radio Equipment Directive, was finalized in June before the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of the rule in October. Its approval is widely seen as a victory for consumers, who will soon be able to use just one single USB-C charger across a range of accessories and devices, including higher-wattage ones like gaming laptops and 4K monitors. Its adoption was also viewed as a win for the environment. A European think tank estimates chargers put up to 13,000 tons of e-waste per year in the EU and have associated life cycle emissions of around 600 to 900 kilotons in carbon dioxide equivalents.Apple has vociferously lobbied against the idea of a common phone charger. The tech giant argues such legislation could stifle innovation and exacerbate the e-waste problem since it would presumably render the Lightning cable obsolete for possibly a billion people worldwide. Apple, which collects fees from third-party companies that manufacture made-for-iPhone accessories, would potentially miss out on the earnings generated from every Lightning cable and accessory that's compatible with the iPhone.Despite Apple's pushback, the tech giant has reportedly put a USB-C iPhone to the test. Noted Apple analyst Ming Chi Kuo predicts Apple will beat the EU mandate by a year, equipping a new iPhone with a USB-C port in 2023."USB-C could improve iPhone's transfer and charging speed in hardware designs, but the final spec details still depend on iOS support," Kuo wrote in a May post on Twitter.Ahead of the EU's then-looming vote, the tech giant had steadily transitioned to USB-C on other products. It was built into MacBooks in 2015, the iPad Pro in 2018, the iPad Air in 2020 and iPad Mini in 2021. In addition to the iPhone 15, Kuo expects several other Apple accessories, including AirPods, Magic Keyboard and MagSafe Battery Pack, to switch over to USB-C, but he didn't offer a specific timeline. Read More: Will a USB-C iPhone make Apple's Lightning Cable Obsolete? Not Yet In the long run, the iPhone's shift to USB-C is poised to benefit Apple customers -- just as the legislation intended. Since most of the company's iPads and Macs already use USB-C rather than Lightning, the move will streamline the charging experience for customers. Apple loyalists currently need three different types of chargers to power their iPhones, MacBooks, iPhones and Apple Watches. For a company that prides itself on its ecosystem, Apple offers a cumbersome charging experience that runs counter to its ethos of simplicity.Apple reintroduced its MagSafe charging technology with the iPhone 12 lineup. Here's an Apple MagSafe Battery Pack snapped onto the iPhone 12 Pro. Patrick Holland/CNET "It does make sense for Apple to [switch to a USB-C iPhone] across markets, as it will not only enhance the experience of the users, who are also using iPads or Macs, but will also simplify the processes in the supply chain," Will Wong, a research manager for the International Data Corporation, told CNET.Read More: Apple's Dream For iPhones Could Actually Be A NightmareEven if Apple eventually makes the switch to a USB-C iPhone for all models, there are valid arguments saying it'll be a short-lived solution. Rumors point to Apple abandoning ports on its iPhones altogether, leaving the traditional plug-in charger in the past. That potentially means USB-C could be a stop-gap measure before Apple enters a wireless future. "Portless is likely to be one of the developments Apple is looking at as we saw the introduction of the MagSafe wireless charger," Wong said. "Nevertheless, there are hurdles like slower charging speed to overcome before fully going portless," | Consumer Electronics |
Let’s start with an obvious truth: hardware is hard. We’ve all heard the cliché – and implicitly understand it to be truth. The good news is such difficulties give us a lot to talk about – and as it happens, for the first time ever, hardware is getting its own stage at Disrupt 2023.
The event, which is hitting San Francisco’s Moscone Center September 19-21, 2023, will shake up the show you know and love. That’s right folks, Disrupt is getting disrupted, and we are its disruptors. We’re adding six industry stages to the show, each focused on a distinct aspect of TechCrunch’s coverage: AI, fintech, hardware, SaaS, security and sustainability.
What that means, in practical terms, is that each of these categories is getting a full day of stage programming – panels, firesides, the whole nine. By now you’re probably saying, “Brian, first of all, this is exciting news, and second of all, it’s impossible to cover the entirety of hardware in a single do. That I say, first of all, thank you, and second of all, yes that is a very astute and well-reasoned question, but as problems go, it’s a good one to have.
As with any broad category, excitement tends to ebb and flow. I would argue that we’re currently barreling toward the latter. It’s been a rough couple of years for hardware broadly – and like everything else in this world, it’s coming out the other end transformed. Trust me, you’re going to want to tune in for this one.
Robotics has been top of mind in recent years – in fact, the last three have been among the most exciting in the category’s history. Automation is on the verge of transforming every aspect of our lives, for better and worse. It’s a revolution that’s already well under way, and we’ll be exploring the topic from some novel angles.
I’m equally excited to finally give consumer electronics the love they deserve on the Disrupt stage. We’re talking mobile. We’re talking AR/VR/MR. We’re talking space. We’re talking hardware investing, design and manufacturing. Like the rest of you, we’d really love to discuss what’s next for smartphones after several down years. With Apple expected to announce a headset in June, the XR scene is set to be blown wide open.
Meanwhile, supply chain constraints and security concerns have caused many to rethink how the world manufacturers. And as for space, it’s big, cold and ever expanding, apparently. There’s quite literally more of it to talk about with each passing day.
Disrupt runs September 19-21 at Disrupt 2023 in SF. Early Bird passes are currently on sale — save $800 when you book by May 14. Seriously, what are you waiting for? | Consumer Electronics |
Facepalm: Samsung is informing its UK clients of a security breach that affected the company's systems for almost a year. The criminals were able to access customers' personal data, but Samsung hasn't provided further details beyond this statement.
Between July 1, 2019, and June 30, 2020, UK customers who purchased Samsung gear through the company's official e-commerce stores had their data compromised by an "unauthorized individual." Samsung discovered the breach on November 13, 2023, confirming that the unknown hackers were able to access its systems by exploiting a security vulnerability in a third-party business application the company uses.
The hackers had access to "some" personal information from an unspecified number of users for a year, Samsung states in its email. According to the company's own investigation, the compromised data "may" include a customer's name, phone number, home address, and email address. Passwords or "financial" information such as bank or credit card details were unaffected, the Korean corporation says.
The new cyber-security incident was limited to the UK region, Samsung confirmed, while customers, employees, retailers and other parties in the US and elsewhere in the world should be safe this time. Soon after discovering the breach, Samsung reported the incident to the UK's Information Commissioner's Office.
An ICO spokesperson confirmed that the consumer electronics giant had reported the issue to the UK's data protection agency, and that ICO investigators are now "making inquiries." Both Samsung Electronics representatives and ICO have provided no further details about a data breach that could have affected a significant number of UK citizens.
Samsung's recent history with security breaches is concerning, as this is the third major incident suffered by the company in the past few years. In September 2022, the Korean corporation said that hackers were able to access some information from its US systems.
A third incident affected the company in March 2022, after Lapsus$ hackers leaked almost 200 gigabytes of confidential data taken from Samsung's servers. The huge trove of data included source code for various technology components belonging to Galaxy smartphones, algorithms for biometric unlock methods, and more. Samsung confirmed that "certain internal data" had been "stolen" by unauthorized parties. | Consumer Electronics |
Envisics, a UK-based holographics company building in-car technology that projects navigation, safety alerts and other data onto the inside of a windscreen, has closed a $100 million Series C round.
The company announced the round’s first $50 million tranche in March, which brought Envisics up to a $500 million valuation. Envisics didn’t share an updated valuation with the closing of its Series C, but the startup did bring on new investors like M&G Investments.
The previous $50 million round was led by Hyundai Mobis, with participation from InMotion Ventures, the investment arm of Jaguar Land Rover, and Stellantis.
The closing of its Series C comes as Envisics gets nearer to commercializing its augmented reality heads-up display (AR HUD). General Motors has confirmed that Envisics’ second-generation displays will be available in the electric Cadillac Lyriq, but could not be reached in time to provide a timeline or additional details.
Dr. Jamieson Christmas, founder and CEO of Envisics, told TechCrunch in March that its first HUDs with GM are “remarkably, absolutely on track to be released this year.”
Christmas also said that Envisics is “working with just about everybody” at the moment, but didn’t name names beyond JLR (formerly Jaguar Land Rover) and GM. However, given the startup’s backers, it’s possible we’ll begin to see automakers like Stellantis, Hyundai and SAIC Motor start announcing similar tech.
Aside from automakers, Envisics has also partnered with Panasonic Automotive Systems, a major automotive supplier under consumer electronics giant Panasonic, which suggests rollouts across a wider range of vehicles at various price points in the future.
Automakers seem to be embracing AR HUDs as a means of relaying important information to the driver. Typically, navigation data and vehicle information can be seen on LED display screens, which are placed above a vehicle’s center console. But engaging with those displays requires the driver to take their eyes off the road, which could be a safety hazard.
For its part, BMW has unveiled two concept cars — Dee and Vision Neue Klasse — that both feature AR HUDs. The automaker didn’t say with which AR company it would work to power its HUDs, but in the past, BMW has partnered with Finnish company Basemark to bring the tech into BMW iX models.
The adoption of AR HUDs come as automakers also press ahead to advance advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and other forms of autonomous driving — see Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” beta advanced driver assistance system (ADAS); Polestar’s use of Mobileye’s hands-off, eyes-off ADAS; XPeng’s XNGP. | Consumer Electronics |
US President Joe Biden arrives to speak on rebuilding US manufacturing through the CHIPS and Science Act at the groundbreaking of the new Intel semiconductor manufacturing facility near New Albany, Ohio, on September 9, 2022.Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty ImagesPresident Joe Biden is joining the founder of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. on Tuesday to announce the opening of a second chip plant in Arizona, raising the company's investment in the state from $12 billion to $40 billion.The company will also announce it will be producing more technically advanced chips than originally proposed. The investment by TSMC is one of the largest foreign investments in U.S. history, and the largest in the state of Arizona.Semiconductor chips are used in everything from computers and smartphones to cars, microwaves and health care devices. The Covid-19 pandemic shined a bright light on U.S. dependence on Chinese manufacturers as lockdowns led to a global shortage of the high-tech chips.Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law in early August, allocating billions to lure manufacturers to produce the widely used chips domestically. The law includes $52.7 billion in loans, grants and other incentives as well as billions more in tax credits to encourage investment in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing.Once the TSMC plants open, they will produce enough chips to meet the U.S. annual demand, 600,000 wafers per year, according to Ronnie Chatterji, National Economic Council acting deputy director for Industrial Policy who oversees CHIPS implementation."It's the foundation of our personal electronics, and also the future of quantum computing and AI," Chatterji said. "At scale, these two [factories] could meet the entire U.S. demand for U.S. chips when they're completed. That's the definition of supply chain resilience. We won't have to rely on anyone else to make the chips we need.""The passage of the CHIPS and Science Act was absolutely critical in providing the long term certainty for companies like TSMC to expand their footprint and expand their commitment to the United States," said Brian Deese, National Economic Council director.The goal of the legislation was to spur private investment in chip manufacturing. CEOs from companies who will benefit from U.S. chip production, like Apple CEO Tim Cook, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, will also be in attendance."Whether it's in electric vehicles or consumer electronics, CEOs of major companies are making decisions about their plans 18 to 24 months forward," Deese said. "The build out in the United States gives them more confidence to operate as well."Biden is visiting the first plant in Phoenix which is expected to begin producing chips by 2024. It was initially slated to produce 5 nanometer chips, but now will create 4 nanometer chips. The second plant will open in 2026 and produce 3 nanometer chips, the most cutting-edge chips currently available.The opening of the plants will further help boost Arizona's economy which was hard hit by the pandemic. Phoenix had an unemployment rate of 6.5% in 2020 when over 9,000 of the city's residents filed for bankruptcy. Phoenix's unemployment rate has since dropped to 3.2%. The state's economy grew by 6.3% in 2021, the most in 16 years. | Consumer Electronics |
After more than a decade of use, Apple’s new iPhone 15 will retire the company’s proprietary Lightning connector in favor of the USB-C port. The long-rumored change comes ahead of a December 2024 European Union deadline requiring all new phones sold in the region to ship with a USB-C connector for their charging port. For iPhone users, it’s already better late than never. Android phones have charged via USB-C for the better part of a decade.
Images of the iPhone 15 shown at its event Tuesday show the USB-C connector appearing in the same slot as the Lightning before it. Apple said the industry-favored chord would allow charging, data transfers, and playing audio. It’s also capable of achieving USB 3 speeds, which Apple says is up to 20X faster than USB 2.
Moments after revealing the iPhone’s switch to USB-C, Apple doubled up and revealed its new AirPods would also utilize USB-C charging as well. Moving forward, users will also be able to charge both their AirPods and Apple Watch devices simply by connecting them to their iPhones.
The switch marks the end of an era for a connector type Apple first introduced back in 2012. In the decade since, Apple has loaded Lightning on every incremental iPhone upgrade and created an entire mini-business based on licensing fees for third parties that make accessories that use the connector.
The iPhone was one of Apple’s last major products to defy the trend towards USB-C in recent years. Since its introduction in 2014, USB-C has swept over consumer electronics and quickly become a de facto standard, a designation long sought but never quite realized by other charging methods. Apple’s MacBooks, iPads, and Watch devices all embraced USB-C prior to the company’s flagship device, leading to millions of Apple customers frustratingly keeping track of two seemingly similar but utterly incompatible connectors.
Plenty of iPhone customers have demanded a USB-C standard over the years, a point made painfully clear two years ago when a modified iPhone X equipped with the charging port sold at auction for $86,001. But there’s some evidence to suggest the switch to USB-C could even attract some new customers previously on the fence. Around half (44%) of Android users polled in a recent SellCell survey said they would consider switching over to an iPhone 15 if it introduced USB-C charging.
Apple’s decision to switch iPhones over to USB-C was likely hastened by a recently passed EU directive making USB-C ports mandatory for mobile phones, tablets, headphones, games consoles, and other electronic devices by Fall, 2024. As part of that standard, European customers will also be given the choice to purchase new devices with or without a charger. That standardization effort was pursued with the goal of reducing the growing glut of e-waste and reducing the number of annoying cables consumers have to sort through. In total, the European Parliament estimates discarded or unused chargers are responsible for around 11,00 metric tons of e-waste annually. And that’s just in Europe.
Of course, it wouldn’t be Apple if there wasn’t an important interoperability caveat to mention. Recent rumors suggest iPhone users looking to charge their devices in the fastest time possible will need to buy a USB-C cable that’s gone through the company’s Mi-Fi certification. iPhone users can still use a USB-C charger from an Android user, but it may not put out the best performance unless it gets Apple’s stamp of approval.
The iPhone isn’t the only Apple gadget reportedly eyeing USB-C either. A report earlier this year from credible Apple Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggests Apple may ship a version of its second-generation AirPod Pro headphones with a USB-C case. Those could shart shipping in the second and third quarter of 2024. Pretty soon, Apple, the committed odd one out, will be all-in on USB-C. | Consumer Electronics |
On July 11, a distribution center located in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa was looted and an unknown number of Samsung televisions were stolen. However, all of those TVs are now useless as Samsung has revealed they are fitted with remote blocking technology.What you may be surprised to hear is that Samsung can do this to any of its TVs, regardless of where they are in the world. The company admitted as much in its latest Samsung Newsroom post(Opens in a new window) detailing how the TVs in South Africa were stolen and then disabled.The technology is called TV Block and it's "pre-loaded on all Samsung TV products." Whenever a TV is confirmed as being stolen, Samsung logs the serial number of the TV and then waits for it to be connected to the internet. At that point a Samsung server is connected to by default, the serial number is checked, and if it's on the list, "the blocking system is implemented, disabling all the television functions." Mike Van Lier, Director of Consumer Electronics at Samsung South Africa, explained:"In keeping with our values to leverage the power of technology to resolve societal challenges, we will continuously develop and expand strategic products in our consumer electronics division with defence-grade security, purpose-built, with innovative and intuitive business tools designed for a new world. This technology can have a positive impact at this time, and will also be of use to both the industry and customers in the future."Although Samsung is promoting TV Block as a positive piece of technology, it will be disconcerting for at least some consumers who own a Samsung TV knowing at any point in the future it could be remotely disabled. It may not even be Samsung who insitgates the block. Imagine Samsung gets hacked and the hacker manages to trigger the function for all TVs connected to the internet worldwide.
Recommended by Our Editors Of course, you can prevent this from ever happening by not allowing your Samsung TV to connect to the internet and instead purchasing a separate streaming device to access different services. This does render a major advantage of owning a Smart TV useless, though. LG C1 Reviewed: The Best TV We've Tested Get Our Best Stories!
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CNN — Sony and Honda, which announced a joint venture last year to develop and build electric cars, have revealed the name of their new car brand. It will be called Afeela. At a presentation during the Consumer Electronics Show, Sony Honda Mobility chief executive Yasuhide Mizuno revealed a prototype of the company’s first car, which looked like a mid-sized sedan, but he revealed little detail about it. The car will be available to order and even purchase in 2025, he said, but the first deliveries of the car would not take place in North America until 2026, he said. The car will be built at one of Honda’s factories. “At the heart of this mobility experience is the word ‘feel,’” Mizuno said, explaining that focus will be on sensing and interacting with people. The car will have safety and driver assistance systems from Honda along with entrainment and interactive features from Sony, Mizuno said. When developing the car, the emphasis has been on software and user interface technology as much as on driving dynamics and performance, he said. Running above the car’s front bumper is a narrow exterior display screen the company calls the media bar. It will allow the vehicle to show information and interact with people outside the vehicle, Mizuno said. Inside, the company is working with Unreal Engine graphics technology from Epic Games, the company that produces Fortnite, to design interfaces for the vehicle. Unreal Engine’s technology has also been used by other auto brands including General Motors, which used the technology in the Hummer EV. The car will come with a wealth of entertainment options, he said. Mizuno also boasted of the 45 cameras and sensors inside and outside the vehicle, some of which are used to detect the condition of the driver to help ensure alertness and safety. | Consumer Electronics |
Can John Deere become one of the leading AI and robotics companies in the world alongside Tesla and Silicon Valley technology giants over the next decade?That notion may seem incongruous with the general perception of the 185-year-old company as a heavy-metal manufacturer of tractors, bulldozers and lawnmowers painted in the signature green and yellow colors.But that is what the company sees in its future, according to Jorge Heraud, vice president of automation and autonomy for Moline, Illinois-based Deere, a glimpse of which was showcased at last January's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where Deere unveiled its fully autonomous 8R farm tractor, driven by artificial intelligence rather than a farmer behind the wheel.The autonomous 8R is the culmination of Deere's nearly two decades of strategic planning and investment in automation, data analytics, GPS guidance, internet-of-things connectivity and software engineering. While a good deal of that R&D has been homegrown, the company also has been on a spree of acquisitions and partnerships with agtech startups, harvesting know-how as well as talent."This comes from our realization that technology is going to drive value creation and increase productivity, profitability and sustainability for farmers," Heraud said.While Deere made a big splash at CES and intrigued the investment community, Stephen Volkmann, equity research analyst at Jefferies, said, "We are very, very, very early in this process.""The total global fleet of autonomous Deere tractors is less than 50 today," he added. And even though Deere's goal is to have a fully autonomous farming system for row crops in place by 2030, Volkmann said, "in Wall Street time, that's an eternity."For the time being, Deere is creating value and profits with well-established automated systems that can be retrofitted to its existing tractors, such as GPS-based self-steering and precision seeding that measures how deep and far apart to plant. Those steps have to be in place, Volkmann said, before you can put full autonomy around them.The autonomous 8R represents a giant leap in current agtech, not to mention the marketing benefit. "Prior to its introduction at CES, everybody thought [full autonomy] was pie in the sky," said Scott Shearer, chair of the department of food, agricultural and biological engineering at Ohio State University.Around the world, Shearer said, there are probably 30 different autonomous tractor projects in the works, though none are commercially available. "But when Deere, with 60% of the tractor market share in North America, comes out with one, that's when reality sets in," Shearer said.That reality reflects Deere's autonomy strategy. "The AI we use involves computer vision and machine learning," Heraud said, science that was well underway at Silicon Valley startup Blue River Technology, which Deere bought in 2017 for $305 million — a deal that also brought on Blue River co-founder and CEO Heraud. Blue River's "see and spray" robotics platform utilizes dozens of sophisticated cameras and processors to distinguish weeds from crop plants when applying herbicides.Attached to the autonomous tractor is a 120-foot-wide boom arrayed with six pairs of stereo cameras that can "see" an obstacle in the field — whether it's a rock, a log or a person — and determine its size and relative distance. Images captured by the cameras are passed through a deep neural network that classifies each pixel in approximately 100 milliseconds and decides whether the tractor should keep moving or stop."We've curated hundreds of thousands of images from different farm locations and under various weather and lighting conditions," Heraud said, "so that with machine learning, the tractor can understand what it's seeing and react accordingly. This capability also allows the farmer, instead of being in the tractor, to operate it remotely while doing something else."Heraud was referring to autonomous driving, another piece of Deere's agtech puzzle that came together when it purchased Bear Flag Robotics last year for $250 million. Also a Silicon Valley startup, launched in 2017, Bear Flag's autonomous navigation system can be retrofitted onto existing tractors, in this case Deere's latest 8R model, which went on the market in 2020.Since the CES rollout, Deere has acquired AI assets from two other agtech pioneers. In April, Deere formed a joint venture with GUSS Automation, which has devised semi-autonomous orchard and vineyard sprayers. Using AI and IoT, multiple GUSS (Global Unmanned Spray System) sprayers can be remotely controlled by a single operator, running up to eight sprayers simultaneously from a laptop. GUSS can detect trees and determine how much to spray on each one, regardless of height or canopy size.A month later, Deere announced the acquisition of numerous patents and other intellectual property from AI startup Light, according to The Robot Report. Light's depth-perception platform improves upon existing stereo-vision systems by using additional cameras, mimicking the structure of a human eye to enable more accurate 3D vision. Deere plans to integrate Light's platform into future versions of its autonomous farm equipment.To keep a close eye on other agtech R&D, Deere has established a Startup Collaborator program to test innovative technologies with customers and dealers without a more formal business relationship. "The hope is that they find the diamonds before they become obvious to [competitors] and keep them in the fold," Volkmann said. Among the current crop are Four Growers, a Pittsburgh-based startup providing robotic harvesting and analytics for high-value crops, starting with greenhouse tomatoes, and Philadelphia-based Burro, which is producing small, autonomous robots that can assist farm workers with various conveyance tasks.Not surprisingly, Deere's biggest competitors have been developing automation and autonomy for its farm machinery, too. AGCO, whose brands include Massey Ferguson and Fendt, "has been automating farming operations since the mid-1990s," said Seth Crawford, senior vice president and general manager of the Duluth, Georgia-based company's precision agriculture and digital division. "We're at a stage we call supervised autonomy, where we still have someone in the cab of the machine," he said. "The buzz is around fully autonomous operations, but where farmers are willing to pay for automation is feature by feature."Whereas Deere is focused on adding full autonomy to its own farm equipment, AGCO is eying the wider retrofit market, Crawford said. "In summer 2023, we'll have a performance-enhancing retrofit kit available for multiple brands of machines," he said. "Where others say we bring you autonomy with a half-million-dollar tractor," he said, alluding to the price tag of Deere's 8R, "we have kits that allow you to do that with your existing fleet. We see a huge opportunity with the installed base, where farmers want to adopt technology to enhance their outcomes, and yet don't want to flip their entire fleet and make that massive investment."In 2016, Case IH, a subsidiary of CNH Industrial, headquartered in London, rolled up to the Farm Progress Show with what it called the Autonomous Concept Vehicle. The sleek prototype tractor, minus a driver's cab, hinted at the view of autonomy at the time. Fast forward six years, to September's Farm Progress Show, where Case IH unveiled its Trident 5550 autonomous applicator.Released in 2017, the Trident 5550 — with a cab — is designed for spreading dry and liquid materials in farm fields. The model at the farm show was retrofitted with autonomous technology developed by Raven Industries, which CNH acquired for $2.1 billion in June 2021. Similar to Deere's autonomous 8R, the enhanced Trident employs self-driving capability, advanced cameras and AI to interpret a continuous stream of images to detect obstacles.The company plans to have a limited number of the machines ready for farmers to test before going to market perhaps next year, said Chris Dempsey, global director at Case IH Precision Technology, though the exact release date is to be determined. "We want to get customer feedback and understand their confidence level [in autonomy] before we go commercial," he said. | Consumer Electronics |
Apple is embracing AI for to grant a new suite of accessibility features to its phones, tablets, and laptops. Though the tech giant had previously announced new accessibility features in May including last year’s on-device live captions, these bevy of new features could help those with cognitive, speech, and mobility disabilities. There’s even a new AI detection feature that could make it much easier for those with vision issues to select the right options on a microwave or the right floor on an elevator, as well as an AI that can learn how to mimic your voice.
On Tuesday, Apple announced it planned to add several new features to some of its most-common apps on iPhone and iPad. Though the Cupertino company did not provide dates for these upcoming quality of life improvements, there’s new planned accessibility options both big and small coming to iPhone, iPads, and Macs.
Front and center is a new Assistive Access feature that takes some of the iPhone’s most common apps including Photos, Phone, Messages, Camera, Music, and FaceTime, then drastically simplifies the UI.
Messages will include a new, larger emoji-only keyboard and a new option to record video messages. The home screen and apps also feature new, optional grid-based layouts. For instance, Camera with Assistive Access enabled will showcase the view through the lens with a large “Take Photo” button highlighted in yellow at the bottom of the screen. Apple’s Photos app will display two rows of photo tiles, while Calls will highlight recent conversations with large names and profile images displayed directly on the screen. Apple Music is also getting a facelift under this new setting, highlighting songs and their album covers in an easy-to-read, tiled format.
In addition, the company is introducing several smaller changes, such as more adjustable text size in app like Finder, Mail, Messages, Calendar, and Notes. Users can now more easily pause moving images such as GIFs in Messages and Safari, and there will soon be more phonetic suggestions for users trying to emphasize the right command (it’s “do,” not “dew) when using Voice Control. Apple will also now allow users to pair hearing devices compatible with iPhones to Macs.
Apple is utilizing modern machine learning-based AI with a new Point and Speak feature in the Magnifier app. Essentially, the feature tracks users’ finger movements in front of the camera lens, then reads off the text the user is pointing to. As you can see in the GIF at the top of the page, Apple used the example of a microwave, where the app read off each button every time a finger hovered in front of it.
Apple said this new feature uses the phone’s camera as well as LiDAR and AI to read and then pronounce the text. The new feature should also work with current Magnifier features that describe images and detect people and doors.
Apple said it’s drastically improving its text-to-speech capabilities across its user-end platforms for users with speech impairments. This upcoming Live Speech feature will work during phone and FaceTime calls, as well as for when users need it during in-person conversations.
Users should also be able to record some of their more commonly-used expressions for quick access. The Cupertino company is also adding the ability for users to record their speech patterns, a way to—in the company’s words—“create a voice that sounds like them” for when they are at risk of eventually losing their speech. The Personal Voice app asks users to read a random assortment of text prompts equaling about 15 minutes of audio. The system uses AI to then generate speech that’s equivalent to your personal style of speaking.
The system could be similar to existing platforms like ElevenLabs. While those AI systems have been awash in allegations of people stealing and replicating other people’s voices, this new feature is tied to the users’ iPhone, and it should also work with Live Speech once it’s eventually released.
As we mentioned before, Apple has made multiple accessibility announcements in the past in time for Global Accessibility Awareness Day. Past efforts have included gesture controls and ASL support and even a few so-called “accessibility emojis.”
What’s interesting about this year is how much of the new features are centered around machine learning, or more succinctly modern artificial intelligence systems. The company has been pretty mum on any of its AI initiatives, especially on if it was working on any first-party generative AI systems. These new features could point to how Apple is trying a different tact than the likes of Google and Microsoft, which are shoving language models and text-to-image generators into practically every user-end product.
These features could become just a few AI highlights at Apple’s upcoming WWDC in June.
Want more of Gizmodo’s consumer electronics picks? Check out our guides to the best phones, best laptops, best cameras, best televisions, best printers, and best tablets. If you want to learn about the next big thing, see our guide to everything we know about the iPhone 15. Click here to save on the best deals of the day, courtesy of our friends at The Inventory. | Consumer Electronics |
End of squeezing fruit to check its ripeness? Supermarket gadget can reveal if bananas and avocados have gone off in under a secondThree UK retailers are in talks to install new state-of-the-art scanners Customers will be able to simply pick up an item and put it under a machineIt scans with an infra-red beam, estimating the number of days until it goes off Published: 13:22 EST, 4 January 2023 | Updated: 13:26 EST, 4 January 2023 Shoppers will no longer have to squeeze their fruit and veg in British supermarkets to guess how ripe it is.Three of the UK's biggest retailers are in talks to install new state-of-the-art scanners that predict the shelf life to within a day.Customers will be able to simply pick up an item - such as an avocado or mango – and put it under a machine that scans it with an infra-red beam.In under a second, a screen above will flash up with a score out of a 100 revealing how ripe it is and estimate the number of days until it goes off. Three of the UK's biggest retailers are in talks to install new state-of-the-art scanners that predict the shelf life to within a day. Pictured, what the product will look like in shops The 'ripeness checker' will be used for soft, exotic, and stone fruit and vegetables, which are particularly prone to spoilageDutch company OneThird say their invention will stop the huge levels of food waste that cost retailers and consumers billions of pounds every year globally.The 'ripeness checker' will be used for soft, exotic, and stone fruit and vegetables, which are particularly prone to spoilage.Using infra-red, the machine scans the product on a molecular level, for example its water, sugar, and starch content.Sophisticated AI then compares this to hundreds of thousands of other examples on its database and see how similar items fared.The accuracy of the machine – which is expected to be able to predict the shelf life of ten fruit and vegetables by the end of the year - depends on what is being tested.For avocados, a score will appear on the screen from zero to 100 – with those scoring over 70 likely to go off in four to five days for example and those in the mid-range around two to three days.For strawberries however the machine will be able to narrow its estimate down to a day.OneThird founder Marco Snikkers told the Daily Mail they were in talks with three major British retailers to install the machines, though he would not reveal exactly who.But he said all were already using the machines in their supply chains.The firm is named after the amount of food that goes to waste every year. Around 40 per cent of this is fresh produce – largely due to spoilage.The device is ready to work with avocados, tomatoes, strawberries, and blueberries. By the end of 2023, the company is extending it to grapes, bananas, mangoes and raspberries.Speaking at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Mr Snikkers said: 'The astronomical volume of food that goes to waste each year is heartbreaking, particularly since so much is wasted in affluent countries. The device is ready to work with avocados, tomatoes, strawberries, and blueberries. By the end of 2023, the company is extending it to grapes, bananas, mangoes and raspberries. Pictured, a handheld version of the scanner'We've worked hard to create technology that helps to address this persistent, global challenge which directly impacts food scarcity.'In other related news...Say goodbye to painful high heels: Ex-Balmain footwear designer develops a smart insole that distributes pressure and promises to make wearing stilettos a 'walk in the park' You're taking the p***! Withings unveils a smart device that you stick in your toilet and WEE on to monitor your metabolic and reproductive healthWhy is your baby crying? New AI-powered device knows if your child is hungry, tired or has a dirty diaper in just 10 seconds of analyzing their noises - and it is 95% accurate Advertisement | Consumer Electronics |
IPhone Maker Plans $700 Million India Plant In Shift From China
Apple Inc. partner Foxconn Technology Group plans to invest about $700 million on a new plant in India to ramp up local production, people familiar with the matter said, underscoring an accelerating shift of manufacturing away from China as Washington-Beijing tensions grow.
(Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. partner Foxconn Technology Group plans to invest about $700 million on a new plant in India to ramp up local production, people familiar with the matter said, underscoring an accelerating shift of manufacturing away from China as Washington-Beijing tensions grow.
The Taiwanese company, also known for its flagship unit Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., plans to build the plant to make iPhone parts on a 300-acre site close to the airport in Bengaluru, the capital of the southern Indian state of Karnataka, according to the people, who asked not to be named as the information is not public. The factory may also assemble Apple’s handsets, some of the people said, and Foxconn may also use the site to produce some parts for its nascent electric vehicle business.
The investment is one of Foxconn’s biggest single outlays to date in India and underscores how China’s at risk of losing its status as the world’s largest producer of consumer electronics. Apple and other US brands are leaning on their Chinese-based suppliers to explore alternative locations such as India and Vietnam. It’s a rethink of the global supply chain that’s accelerated during the pandemic and the war in Ukraine and could reshape the way global electronics are made.
The new production site in India is expected to create about 100,000 jobs, the people said. The company’s sprawling iPhone assembly complex in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou employs some 200,000 at the moment, although that number surges during peak production season.
Output at the Zhengzhou plant plunged ahead of the year-end holidays due to Covid-related disruptions, spurring Apple to re-examine its China-reliant supply chain. Foxconn’s decision is the latest move that suggests suppliers may move capacity out of China far faster than expected.
The plans could still change as Foxconn is in the process of finalizing investment and project details, the people said. It’s also unclear if the plant represents new capacity, or production that Foxconn is shifting from other sites such as its Chinese facilities.
Apple declined to comment. Hon Hai, whose Chairman Young Liu met India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The Karnataka state government also did not immediately respond. Liu, who is on tour in India, has committed to another manufacturing project in the neighboring Telangana state.
Foxconn’s decision would be a coup for Modi’s government, which sees an opportunity to close India’s tech gap with China as Western investors and corporations sour on Beijing’s crackdowns on the private sector.
India has offered financial incentives to Apple suppliers such as Foxconn, which began making the latest generation of iPhones at a site in Tamil Nadu last year. Smaller rivals Wistron Corp. and Pegatron Corp. have also ramped up in India, while suppliers such as Jabil Inc. have begun making components for AirPods locally.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P. | Consumer Electronics |
IPhone Maker Foxconn Barely Grows Sales as Tech Demand Withers
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. increased revenue by only 3.9% last quarter, underscoring how fears of a recession are crimping demand for iPhones and other consumer electronics.
(Bloomberg) -- Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. increased revenue by only 3.9% last quarter, underscoring how fears of a recession are crimping demand for iPhones and other consumer electronics.
The world’s largest maker of Apple Inc.’s devices, known also as Foxconn, reported revenue of NT$1.46 trillion ($48 billion) for the usually slower March quarter. That’s down steeply even from the previous three months, when a Covid outbreak prompted protests at its main Zhengzhou facility in central China, disrupting iPhone production for weeks. That complex, known as “iPhone City” for being the largest global production site for Apple’s marquee device, resumed normal operations only in January.
Analysts estimated revenue of NT$1.45 trillion on average for the first three months of the year. Hon Hai also said that it expects a decrease in business in the second quarter on a year over year and quarterly basis.
Investors are struggling to gauge how the popularity of iPhones and mobile devices will hold up this year. Xiaomi Corp.’s smartphone shipments dived 26% in the fourth quarter after consumers worldwide put off spending on items such as electronics during a period of soaring inflation.
Manufacturers such as Foxconn — which also makes iPads and gadgets for many of the world’s biggest brands — are now re-examining an electronics supply chain centered on China. The Taiwanese firm plans to invest about $700 million in a new plant in India to ramp up production there, as more manufacturers shift from China to reduce fallout from growing Washington-Beijing tensions.
Read more: Apple Suppliers Are Racing to Exit China, AirPods Maker Says
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P. | Consumer Electronics |
A customer passes an Apple iPhone 13 advertisement at an Apple shop in Singapore March 18, 2022. REUTERS/Edgar SuRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comJuly 13 (Reuters) - The global smartphone market may be in the toilet, but the iPhone 13 continues to sell well, and Apple Inc (AAPL.O) is expecting its upcoming iPhone 14 to do even better at launch.Apple's slightly higher expectations for the forthcoming iPhone 14 underscore a growing belief among Wall Street analysts that the Cupertino, California company's sales are likely to hold up better than the broader smartphone industry if major economies enter a recession.Apple, which reports its fiscal third quarter earnings on July 28, conveyed its expectations to suppliers in initial forecasts as it carries out trial production of the iPhone 14, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comWith Apple sitting at the higher end of the market, analysts believe that inflation in core items like food and fuel have taken a lesser toll on its relatively affluent user base. That comes as industry watchers such as Fubon Securities Investment Services Co chairman Charles Hsiao believe demand for consumer electronics will slow overall this year and next.An economic slowdown in China has already taken a huge bite out of the smartphone market, pulling global sales down 10% year over year to 96 million units in May, the most recent month for which full figures were available, according to Counterpoint Research. It's only the second time in nearly a decade that the monthly figure has slipped below 100 million handsets, the firm said.But two iPhone supply chain sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters that iPhone sales have continued to do well in July despite signs of cooling market demand for other smartphone makers."Others are starting to take a hit,” one of the sources said.The second source said July shipments for the iPhone 13 from one factory were a third higher than July last year. That pattern was especially unusual because sales of current iPhone models tend to slow down in July and August as consumers await new models that Apple traditionally releases in September.“Judging by shipment, sales of iPhone 13 are fairly good," the second source said.The iPhone has continued to sell well late into its cycle in part because "China demand rebounded sharply after lockdowns ended and the iPhone was a beneficiary" of a June shopping holiday in China, Cowen analyst Krish Sankar wrote in a note to clients.In keeping with its annual schedule, Apple has started trial production of the iPhone 13's successor with the goal of ramping up mass production in August so the devices can start shipping in the fall. The initial shipment forecasts Apple has given suppliers is “slightly higher” than that of iPhone 13 a year ago, the second source said.“It’s slightly higher than last year. It’s good, but not explosively good," the second source said.For the just-ended fiscal third quarter, some Wall Street analysts are bracing for a slight decline in iPhone 13 shipments even if volumes are higher at some individual factories. But analysts still expect the iPhone to fare better than rivals. Cowen, for example, expects Apple handset shipments to be down about 1% for the just-ended quarter, while overall handset shipments could be down as much as 13%.The divergence between Apple and the Android market is rippling through Apple's supply chain.“For Samsung’s display unit, a better-than-expected performance in Q2 is expected due to shipments for iPhones, which is the only smartphone with strong sales,” said Song Myung-sup, analyst at HI Investment & Securities.Cowen held steady its "outperform" rating on shares of chipmaker Skyworks Solutions Inc (SWKS.O), noting that it gets about 55% of its revenues from Apple for a radio chip in the iPhone. Skyworks rival Qorvo Inc (QRVO.O), by contrast, gets 30% of its revenue from Apple and has greater exposure to the Android phone market. Cowen downgraded Qorvo to "market perform.""Skyworks’ greater relative exposure to Apple in its mobile business likely insulates the company in the near term from significant impacts associated with ... downward demand revisions," Cowen analyst Matt Ramsay wrote in a note to clients.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Ben Blanchard, Liang-sa Loh and Yi-Mou Lee in Taipei; and Joyce Lee in Seoul; editing by Kenneth Li and Nick ZieminskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Consumer Electronics |
The European parliament has voted to introduce a single charging port for mobile phones, tablets and cameras by 2024 in a move that presents difficulties for Apple, whose iPhones use a different power connector.The vote confirms an earlier agreement among EU institutions and will make USB-C connectors used by Android-based devices the EU standard, forcing Apple to change its charging port for its devices.Among big providers of electronic devices to European customers, Apple is expected to be among the most affected, but analysts also expect a possible positive impact because it could encourage shoppers to buy the company’s latest gadgets instead of ones without USB-C.The deal also covers e-readers, earbuds and other technologies, meaning it may also have an impact on Samsung, Huawei and other device makers, analysts said.Apple has in the past warned that the proposal would hurt innovation and create waste.Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight, said the vote made it “inevitable” that the iPhone 15, expected in 2023, will have a USB-C port.“This is a victory for common sense. Although Apple has a huge installed base of lightning cable-powered devices, the ubiquity of USB-C across all consumer electronics products means that harmonising on USB-C makes perfect sense.”Wood added that he expected Apple to adopt the USB-C port in the UK and globally.“Irrespective of whether the UK government mandates the move to USB-C or not, UK consumers will get the technology by default. It will make no sense for consumer electronics manufacturers to offer devices with anything else,” he said.Bloomberg reported in May that Apple was working on an iPhone with a USB-C charging port that could debut next year.EU lawmakers supported the reform with a large majority, with 602 votes in favour and only 13 against.The change had been discussed for years and was prompted by complaints from iPhone and Android users about having to switch to different chargers for their devices.The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, has estimated that the single charger would save about €250m (£218m) for consumers.Apple declined to comment. | Consumer Electronics |
Inside Nothing's first EVER store: MailOnline goes behind the scenes at the futuristic London flagship where shoppers can get hands on with smartphones and earphonesEXCLUSIVE: Nothing released the first British smartphone for 6 years in summerNow it's opening its first physical store - in central London's trendy Soho districtMailOnline got an exclusive peak prior to its opening to the public on Saturday Published: 11:48 EST, 9 December 2022 | Updated: 11:57 EST, 9 December 2022 British technology company Nothing has put the finishing touches to its first ever physical shop in London's fashionable Soho district.The 785-square-foot space is stocked with the firm's three products – one smartphone and two earphones – as well as accessories and merchandise. This week, MailOnline got an exclusive peak inside the two-storey, boutique-style store, which opens to the public on at 11:30am on Saturday morning. Nothing is led by Carl Pei, a Beijing-born Swedish entrepreneur who co-founded Chinese consumer electronics firm OnePlus back in 2013. The new store, in London's fashionable Soho district, opens to the public at 11:30am on Saturday The 785 square foot custom-built store stocks the firm's three products, including one smartphone and two earphones as well as accessories, merchandise and limited edition drops Nothing store: location and opening timesLocation4 Peter Street, Soho, London, W1F 0ADOpening timesMonday to Saturday: 10am - 7pmSunday: 12pm - 6pm On opening day, Saturday, December 10, the store will open from 11:30am'We are a hardware company first and foremost but Nothing store Soho will act as a window into the brand for customers and our loyal community,' Pei told MailOnline.'The space will allow people to get hands-on with the product and experience more of the brand.' The store is not like your normal shop, nor does it look anything like Apple Store. Much like Nothing's devices, the layout is minimalist and boutique-style, but full of quirky touches.Right in the centre, looking like something from a spaceship, is a custom-built demo table with hidden drawers that swing out to reveal Nothing products, including Phone (1), the company's only smartphone.Released in the summer, the £399 Phone (1) is the first British smartphone to be released in six years and comes with a 'glyph interface' on the back that lights up. The shop's centerpiece is a custom-built demo table with hidden drawers that swing out to reveal the firm's products The new Soho shop stocks the firm's three products - 'Phone (1)', 'Ear (1)' and the new 'Ear (stick)', pictured Released in the summer, Phone (1) is the first British smartphone to be released in six years Fixed to the wall are the different components that make up Phone (1), the only smartphone the firm offers Nothing Phone (1): Specs - Glyph interface - Recycled aluminum frame - Transparent back glass- Wireless charging - Qualcomm Snapdragon processor - Runs 'Nothing OS' - £399 Also available are accessories for the phone that are sold separately – a charging brick, screen protector and case. Meanwhile, a transparent phone booth has been installed where Phone (1) operates as the official store helpline.On the opposite wall is a 4,000 flip dot system that can be programmed on the spot to create a constantly revolving graphic, like the display of a 1980s game console. The store also has a basement, which will act as space for exhibitions, talks and other events. On Saturday, the store's opening day, the first 100 visitors will be able to buy exclusive branded merchandise and one of 100 laser engraved versions of its latest product, 'Ear (stick)'. Released in November, the wireless Bluetooth earphones, priced at £99, come in a lipstick-inspired tube that provides up to 29 hours of listening time. The store also stocks curated collections from fashion and design brands, as well as audio products from Stockholm-based collaborators Teenage Engineering. A transparent phone booth has been installed where Nothing's Phone (1) operates as the official store landline On the shop wall is a 4,000 flip dot system that can be programmed on the spot to create a revolving graphic, like the display of a 1980s game console The new store also has a basement, which will act as space for exhibitions, talks and other events The store stocks curated collections from fashion and design brands as well as audio products from Stockholm-based collaborators Teenage EngineeringThe shop's opening rounds off what Pei called a 'milestone year' for his company, which was only founded in autumn 2020. Pei told MailOnline that he based the company in London as it's 'the best place in the world to attract the right mix of talent' with a 'well organised financial industry'. 'It has been a few years and we haven’t seen any real contender in the consumer tech space emerge from Europe,' he said.'With over 1 million Nothing products sold to date we've proved that we deserve a seat at the table.' Pei also said Nothing will focus mostly on software in 2023 with regular updates for Phone (1), although the fourth Nothing device could be revealed soon. 'We will announce new products in due time but in the meantime we are actively focusing on improving Nothing OS and elevating the overall experience,' he said. He already said on Twitter this week that 'Phone (2) isn't launching anytime soon', because the firm doesn't want to 'churn out dozens of products a year like many others'. WHO IS CARL PEI? Nothing is a consumer technology company based in London, England, founded in October 2020 Carl Pei.Pei is a Beijing-born Swedish entrepreneur who co-founded Chinese consumer electronics firm OnePlus back in 2013.He claims the Nothing phone, 'Phone (1), offers 'the most compelling alternative to Apple’s ecosystem'. 'For too long, the smartphone market has been dominated by the same players and that's led to unimaginative, bland design across the board,' said Pei. Nothing boss Carl Pei (pictured) claims the Nothing phone will be 'the most compelling alternative to Apple’s ecosystem''These players have created closed-off ecosystems that lock people in, limiting their choice about the products they can access and use. This is what I want to change with Nothing.' According to Pei, the UK has a strong track record of creating software companies, but not hardware. In August 2021, Nothing released a pair of £99 earphones, 'ear (1)', which have sold 560,000 units as of July.In March 2022, Nothing announced it raised $70 million (£53 million) in a fundraising round, bringing total investments to $144 million (£109 million). The firm is privately owned and has backing from investors including GV (formerly Google Ventures), Kevin Lin (co-founder of live streaming service Twitch) and Steve Huffman (co-founder and CEO of Reddit). Advertisement | Consumer Electronics |
It’s been a wild few weeks for consumer hardware news, but it seems the season is finally winding down. We’ve already seen big events from Apple, Amazon and Microsoft, and now it’s time for Google to get in on the action. After all, being fashionably late to consumer electronics is kind of Google’s thing.
Spoilers are kind of Google’s other thing. Rather than attempting to shut down leaks and rumors, Google has leaned in. In fact, the company has already announced and revealed pictures and specs of the two marquee devices we’ll be seeing at its event on Wednesday, October 4 at 10 AM ET.
In fact, if you go to the Google Store right now, you’ll see a giant ad for the Pixel 8, Pixel 8 Pro and Google Watch 2. Clicking through, you’ll find additional photos and a little more information. On the Pixel 8 front, the company continues sticking with the design language it laid out with the Pixel 6, though the corners are more rounded and the 8 Pro drops the secondary hole in the camera bar.
The landing page also highlights existing software features like Magic Eraser and Live Translate. Nothing new there, but both are still bleeding edge compared with much of the rest of the industry. An image of the Pixel Watch 2, meanwhile, shows little if anything in the way of design changes.
“Pair it with your new Pixel phone to get even more personalized help, safety features, and health insights,” Google writes, seemingly alluding to some new health features — no surprise there.
The Pixel 8 and 8 Pro are reportedly arriving with 6.2- and 6.7-inch displays, respectively, along with a sizable bump in brightness. The 8 Pro is said to max out at a whopping 2,400 nits of brightness that could go a ways toward making the handset that much more readable in direct sunlight.
The most bizarrely plausible rumor on the Pixel 8 front is a new thermometer feature. Soon your phone could be used to read your temperature. Why not? Another nice potential addition for the phone is seven years of Android software support. The arrival of the Google Tensor G3 seems like a no-brainer, as well.
The Pixel 8 an Pixel 8 Pro are apparently getting more expensive, as well, to the tune of $699 and $999 to start, respectively. That would mean they both get a not insignificant $100 price increase. Preorders begin the day of the event (October 4) and they would start shipping the 12th.
The Pixel Watch 2, meanwhile, is said to start at $349, which would put it right in line with the first-gen product. Google could also include the Watch 2 as part of a bundle, if you preorder the Pixel 8 Pro — not a bad deal, TBH.
The above video also features a glimpse at a new sensor many believe is electrodermal. That would make sense, given that Fitbit’s Versa watches have used the sensor to determine stress levels for several years now.
I’ve not heard much in the way of Home/Nest rumors. In fact, things have been extremely quiet on that front for several years. It seems Google’s smart home ambitions have been sidelined temporarily or permanently in the wake of economic headwinds and other global woes. As for Pixel Buds, new colors seem like a possibility. It seems likely the company would have included the headphones in it own hardware teases if something more substantial was on the way.
Whatever the case, TechCrunch will be live at the Manhattan event on October 4, bringing you the news as it breaks. | Consumer Electronics |
IFA technically kicks off today in Berlin, but it seems like Lenovo may have won the thing outright. I’ve given the company plenty of credit in the past for its willingness to try new things in this oft-staid world of consumer electronics, and it’s really come out of the gates swinging.
Much of its IFA has been focused on the gaming side of things — specifically through its Legion line of products, and there are two big additions that warrant mention here. First up is the real left-field addition, the Legion Glasses. In a world lacking a cohesive augmented reality vision, the Chinese manufacturer is better on gaming. Not casual gaming, mind, rather the PC variety.
There are certain shared characteristics with Apple’s vision for the Vision Pro. You could say there’s an approximation of spatial computing. “Wearable display is probably the most accurate description. Here however, the system is meant to approximate a large gaming monitor. It accomplishes that with the inclusion of Micro-OLED panels, with a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution for each eye, coupled with a 60Hz refresh rate.
Given all that, it’s impressive that the company’s managed to keep things down to $329 (it’s all relative, folks). That’s due out in October, alongside the Legion Go.
I’ve seen a lot of comparisons to Nintendo’s Switch floating around, owing to its on-board processing, via the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme — in contrast to the Steam Deck’s streaming. The benefit of playing games locally should be clear to anyone who’s encountered even the slightest bit of latency with cloud gaming.
The handheld sports an 8.8-inch QHD Plus display and a decently sized 49.2Wh battery. It’s designed to play PC games, which is a nice bounty to tap into. There’s 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage. The Switch-style detachable controls are also a nice touch. It’s gonna set you back $699. | Consumer Electronics |
- Huawei launched an upgraded version of its mobile operating system and an enhanced AI assistant on Friday.
- "We're introducing giant artificial intelligence models to enhance our HarmonyOS ecosystem," said an executive at the Huawei Developer Conference 2023 on Friday.
- Huawei said that the new version of Huawei's AI voice assistant Celia, which provides assistant features on smart devices, has been trained on Huawei's Pangu AI model.
Huawei on Friday announced the latest version of its mobile operating system HarmonyOS 4 and an enhanced A.I assistant, as the embattled giant ramps up efforts to re-establish strength for its smartphone business.
The Shenzhen-based telecoms firm is trying to recovery from U.S. sanctions dating back to 2019, which cut it off from key technologies such as semiconductors, like 5G chips and software. The move crippled its smartphone business globally, demoting it from once being the number one player.
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American restrictions cut Huawei off from Google's Android mobile operating system, which destroyed Huawei's smartphone business outside of China.
In 2019, Huawei launched its own operating system called HarmonyOS, in a bid to replace Android. The company has been developing new versions of the system ever since, with an eye to regain some market share in smartphones.
The Friday launch of HarmonyOS 4 highlights the company's ambition to regain strength for its smartphone business.
"Huawei's flagship smartphones are making a comeback," said Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei's consumer business and intelligent automotive solution business groups, during the Huawei Developer Conference 2023 on Friday.
Since 2019, Huawei has focused on trying to regain market share in China, finding some success. Huawei's market share jumped to 13% in China in the second quarter of the year, up from 7.3% during the same period of 2022. The company's smartphone shipments grew by 76% year-on-year.
Huawei's strategy has become more refined, as it looks to compete in the premium segment of the smartphone market, rather than across all sectors.
"Huawei's smartphones took the second spot in the high-end segment. So we are making a comeback with vengeance," said Yu.
In the segment of phones priced more than $600 in China, Huawei's share jumped to 18.4% in the second quarter versus 6.7% in the same period in 2022, according to IDC.
Huawei's high-end focus makes sense, as Chinese consumers are on average willing to pay more for smartphones. The company released its Mate X3 foldable this year, and that device, along with the flagship P60, helped the company boost its premium segment share.
Despite being cut off from critical foreign chips, Huawei plans to re-enter the 5G smartphone market by the end of this year, according to Reuters. The news agency reported that Huawei should be able to procure 5G chips domestically.
5G refers to next-generation mobile internet technology. Most high-end phones are able to connect to 5G networks, which promise super-fast internet speeds. Huawei's flagship devices have been missing this feature because of U.S. sanctions.
"It totally makes sense for Huawei to focus on the premium segment. It's not only that the high-end segment was more resilient in the gloomy Chinese market, but Huawei could also leverage its premium brand name in China, which other Chinese vendors were still striving for," Will Wong, research analyst at IDC, told CNBC.
"Furthermore, premium products could potentially generate more favorable revenue and profitability."
Part of Huawei's high-end strategy revolves around HarmonyOS, an operating system it says is designed for smartphones and other devices like wearables and TVs. The company aims to create unified software across multiple consumer electronics categories, much like Apple.
The Chinese tech giant said that it will bring "a HarmonyOS with even more intelligent and personalized experience." HarmonyOS currently runs on more than 700 million devices, including smartphones, watches and tablets, the company said.
Huawei said that the new version of Huawei's AI voice assistant Celia, which provides assistant features on smart devices, has been trained with Huawei's Pangu AI model to improve productivity in life and at work. In July, Huawei launched Pangu 3.0, as it seeks to capitalize on the AI boom and ChatGPT frenzy.
At least 200 million mobile phone users interact with Celia every month, said Huawei.
"You can interact with Celia by not just voice but also texts, pictures, documents and so on. You can also type to interact with Celia if it's not the right time to talk. Dialogues between users and Celia can be more natural and intuitive," said Jia Yongli, director of consumer business at Huawei.
Celia can also perform a range of tasks, such as writing summaries, translation, writing emails and official documents, said Jia.
Huawei also said that a new set of features will be available to invited users in late August.
Still, Huawei's smartphone rejuvenation is likely to be confined to China, which accounted for 89% of its handset shipments in the second quarter, according to IDC.
That's because Huawei's phones still lack 5G and HarmonyOS doesn't have the key apps, such as Google, people outside of China are used to using.
"It's not an easy task to regain ground overseas," Wong said, suggesting many users have switched to other phone brands due to Huawei's lack of key features.
"It would take time for Huawei to get the users switched back even if it could address the key pain points of its products in the overseas market now." | Consumer Electronics |
Apple's biggest supplier Foxconn says its revenue last month fell by 11.65% compared to the same period in 2022 due to weaker demand for electronics.
However, February revenue was more than $13bn (£10.8bn), the second highest figure on record for the month.
Foxconn added that operations at the world's biggest iPhone factory in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou are recovering from Covid disruptions.
Also over the weekend the firm said it was exploring opportunities in India.
Foxconn said in a statement on Sunday that revenue from computing, smart consumer electronics and cloud and networking products declined in February from a year earlier "due to conservative customers' pull-in".
"Based on the revenue performance in the first two months, the outlook for first quarter 2023 is roughly in line with market expectation," the company added.
In November, Apple warned that shipments of its new iPhone 14 would be delayed after Chinese officials locked down a district in Zhengzhou where Foxconn's mega-factory is located.
Two weeks later protests erupted at the plant, which disrupted manufacturing as thousands of workers left production lines.
Last month, Foxconn said its revenue in January had jumped by 48.2% from a year earlier to hit a record high, as manufacturing in Zhengzhou returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Separately, at the weekend Foxconn responded to reports that it had agreed to significantly expand its operations in India, after its chairman and chief executive Young Liu visited the country last week.
Media outlets reported that the firm planned to invest up to to $1bn in a major iPhone plant in Bengaluru. There were also reports that Foxconn's investment in India would create around 100,000 jobs.
The BBC understands that the company did not enter any binding new agreements during the trip.
Foxconn also did not include the reported figures in its statement on Saturday.
"Foxconn will continue to communicate with local governments to seek the most beneficial development opportunities for the company and all stakeholders," Mr Liu said.
iPhones are currently assembled in India by several Apple suppliers, including Foxconn.
The Taiwan-headquartered company, which is known formally as Hon Hai Precision Industry, assembles the devices at a site in Tamil Nadu. | Consumer Electronics |
We’ve heard about the benefits of reflective electronic paper displays time and again, so why aren’t there E Ink monitors for those who spend all their time on a computer reading, writing, or crunching numbers? The answer is that there are E Ink computer displays, but they come with a lot of trade-offs. Philips’ new solution is a split screen monitor that puts both a black-and-white E Ink panel and a full-color LCD on your desk.
Electronic paper displays are so easy on the eyes because they both essentially work the same way as the printed page. Instead of light being directly beamed into a user’s eyes from a glowing panel, the technology relies on reflected light from another source. When an e-paper screen has a matte finish on the surface, light is further softened before it hits the eye.
The screens used for e-readers have other benefits too, including no flickering, but with limited refresh rates, ghosting artifacts, lower resolutions, and color with a very limited palette, electronic paper still can’t compete against LCD or OLED screens when it comes to the countless other tasks we use computers for—everything from watching movies to surfing the web.
Instead of trying to push the performance of electronic paper displays to compete with an LCD panel, Philips is just acknowledging the pros and cons of each technology with its 24B1D5600 monitor, which pairs a 23.8-inch LCD alongside a 13.3-inch E Ink screen right next to it.
Most of your day-to-day computing tasks will be handled by the LCD, which boasts a resolution of 2,560 × 1,440 pixels, a 75 Hz refresh rate, and the ability to reproduce 16.7 million colors. But if you find yourself having to read a long document or a text-heavy website, the 150 PPI, 1,200 x 1,600 E Ink panel right next to it can step in when your eyes need a break. It’s like having an e-paper tablet connected to the side of the screen. It can be angled inwards up to 45-degrees to find the perfect viewing angle, and has its own screen illumination including color temperature adjustments for those trying to minimize their blue light exposure at night.
Both the LCD and E Ink panels will need their own separate connection to your computer and a power source, but they’re plug-and-play compatible with both Windows and macOS computers, so you can spread your desktop across the two. For Windows-based machines, Philips also offers a SmartRemote app that purportedly makes it easier to display text-based document files on the E Ink panel in higher quality, including on-screen buttons for zooming and panning when a document doesn’t fit on the screen. However, when using that app, documents can only be displayed, and not actively edited.
Although available in markets like China for around $850, the Philips 24B1D5600 doesn’t look like it’s arrived in North America just yet, so those interested in importing one will have to do so through stores like Good e-Reader, which is currently asking a steep $1,600 for the setup, plus an extra $100 in shipping.
Want more of Gizmodo’s consumer electronics picks? Check out our guides to the best phones, best laptops, best cameras, best televisions, best printers, and best tablets. If you want to learn about the next big thing, see our guide to everything we know about the iPhone 15. Click here to save on the best deals of the day, courtesy of our friends at The Inventory. | Consumer Electronics |
Apple Supports Right to Repair Bill in California
Apple has made headlines for lobbying against right to repair laws in recent years, but this week the company decided to express support for California's Right to Repair Act, SB 244.
As noted by repair site iFixit, Apple yesterday sent a letter to California senator Susan Talamantes Eggman urging the California legislature to adopt the bill.
SB 244 would require companies to provide customers with the tools to diagnose and repair consumer electronics and appliances. Apple has already launched a Self Service Repair program for iPhones and Macs, with this program offering customers repair kits, repair manuals, and components for repairs.
Apple likely meets the requirements of SB 244 with the Self Service Repair program and with the repair programs that it has for repair shops, including options to become Apple Authorized Service Providers and to receive parts through the Independent Repair Provider Program.
California's bill also says that service and repair facilities that are not authorized repair providers for a company must disclose if they're using replacement parts that are used or not from the manufacturer. That means an independent iPhone repair shop in California would be required to source parts from Apple or to inform customers that device repairs are done with counterfeit components or used parts.
Further, the bill has a component that prevents manufacturers from being required to make tools, parts, and documentation available for any component that would disable or override antitheft security measures, which would encompass features like Face ID.
Independent repair shops already have the option of purchasing components from Apple, but have complained that Apple forces them to sign invasive contracts. As for the Self Service Repair Program, the kits and components that Apple sells are not much more affordable than simply getting a repair from an Apple Store.
In its letter, Apple said that it would continue to support the bill so long as it provides "protections for customers and innovators." Apple highlights specific components of the bill that encompass the protections that it prefers.
Assurances that the bill would not threaten consumer safety and data security by requiring that manufacturers allow repair providers to disable device security features, many of which have been requested by law enforcement agencies and required by law to thwart theft,
Focus on requiring manufacturers obligations to provide the documentation, tools, and parts to enable the repairs performed by authorized repair channels, as opposed to a broader undefined scope of repairs which may compromise consumer physical safety, repair reliability, and device integrity,
Requirements that repair providers disclose the use of non-genuine or used parts, and
Prospective application that would allow manufacturers to focus on building new products that comply with the proposal.
Apple has not in the past supported Right to Repair legislation, but SB 244 is not as open-ended as some of the past repair bills that states have promoted, and is not a free pass for repair shops as it includes consumer protections that prevent repair facilities from surreptitiously using substandard repair components. The bill would require components, repair manuals, and other necessary repair information to be made available for seven years for any product that costs more than $99.99, a move that would also undoubtedly benefit California customers. The full letter that Apple sent in support of the bill is available to read on Scribd. | Consumer Electronics |
In arid southeastern California, just across the border from Nevada, sits the only large-scale rare-earth element mine in the Western Hemisphere. Here at Mountain Pass, rocks are dug out of a 600-foot pit in the ground, crushed, and liquified into a concentrated soup of metals that are essential for the magnets inside consumer electronics, wind turbines, and electric vehicles, or EVs.
Today, that metallic soup is shipped to China, where individual rare earths are separated before being refined into metals and forged into magnets. But MP Materials, the company that took ownership of the 70-year-old Mountain Pass mine in 2017, hopes to change that. This quarter, MP Materials plans to begin separating rare earths at Mountain Pass — the first time this key processing step will have occurred in the United States since 2015.
MP Materials says that the new U.S.-based rare-earth supply chain it is building will be greener than its counterparts in Asia, where the mining and processing of rare earths have created nightmarish pollution problems. Some of its domestically processed rare earths will be used to make alloys and magnets for EVs, and others could help renewables developers build the wind turbines the U.S. desperately needs to decarbonize its power sector. MP Materials’ rare earths could also get used in everything from smartphones to military weapons like drones and missiles.
Julie Klinger, a geographer at the University of Delaware who studies the global rare-earth industry, said MP Materials’ new processing capabilities have the potential to be a “best-case scenario in terms of diversifying the global supply chain and also doing so in a comparably robust regulatory environment.” However, Klinger cautioned that from a sustainability perspective, it’s important to minimize new mining overall. That could mean prioritizing the use of rare earths in clean energy versus military applications, or dramatically ramping up rare-earth recycling, an industry still in its infancy.
Owing to their unique atomic structure, rare-earth elements are able to generate stronger magnetic fields than other elements susceptible to magnetization, like iron. As a result, rare earths can be used to create the most powerful commercial magnets on the market today. Within the clean energy sector, they’re used in the types of generators popular for offshore wind turbines, as well as inside the motors of EVs and hybrid vehicles. These magnets get their strength from the “light,” or lower atomic weight, rare-earth elements neodymium and praseodymium, which are often refined together as a compound called NdPr oxide. A pinch of dysprosium or terbium, two of the scarcer and more valuable “heavy” rare-earth elements, is added to the mix to boost the magnet’s heat resistance.
Demand for rare-earth magnets is growing quickly. By 2030, under an aggressive decarbonization scenario, the U.S. EV sector’s rare-earth magnet demand could rise nearly sixfold compared with 2020 levels, according to a recent report by the U.S. Department of Energy, or DOE. Over the same time frame, rare-earth magnet demand for the nascent offshore wind industry could rise from zero to 10,000 tons. These trends mirror what’s expected worldwide: In a report published in April, critical minerals research firm Adamas Intelligence forecasted that the value of the market for rare earths used in magnets will increase fivefold by 2040, driven by rapid growth of the EV and wind energy sectors. By that same year, the world could face a 90,000-ton-per-year shortfall of NdPr oxide, roughly equivalent to total global production in 2022.
As the U.S. competes with other nations for these critical resources, one country dominates their production. In 2020, China was responsible for 58 percent of rare-earth mining, 89 percent of rare-earth separations (including nearly 100 percent of heavy rare-earth separations), 90 percent of rare-earth refining, and 92 percent of magnet-making. While the Chinese government has attempted to reduce the rare-earth industry’s environmental impact in recent years, decades of poorly regulated production, along with illegal mining, have caused significant air and water pollution, leaving behind nightmarish waste ponds filled with heavy metals and radioactive elements. (Rare earths tend to occur alongside the radioactive elements thorium and uranium, resulting in the production of low-level radioactive waste during mining and processing.) In neighboring Myanmar, where illegal rare-earth mining is taking off today, the situation is equally bleak.
MP Materials is positioning itself as an alternative to Asian dominance of the rare-earth supply chain and its questionable environmental legacy. The company assumed ownership of the Mountain Pass mine in 2017 after its previous owner, Molycorp, struggled to become profitable and ultimately filed for bankruptcy.* Since then, MP Materials has been steadily ramping up rare-earth production at Mountain Pass, generating 14,000 tons of rare-earth oxides in 2018, and 28,000 tons the following year. Last year, Mountain Pass produced 42,499 metric tons of rare earths — the highest output in the mine’s history, and 14 percent of the global total.
The revival of Mountain Pass has already reconfigured the global rare-earth mining landscape. Now, MP Materials seeks to redraw the rest of the supply chain. After rare earths are mined and concentrated in liquid form, companies use additional steps like roasting and leaching to separate out impurities and unwanted elements, such as cerium, a low-value light rare earth. From there, a series of chemical extraction processes separate elements of interest. Separated rare-earth oxides are then converted into metals through processes like electrowinning, in which metals are extracted from a solution by running an electric current through it. Rare-earth metals are then pressed, or sintered, into a magnetic block which can be cut into a desired shape.
MP Materials is in the process of investing $700 million to develop all of these capabilities in the U.S. In 2021, the company began upgrading the refinery at Mountain Pass to restore its processing capabilities, including rare-earth separations. According to the company’s earnings call for the first quarter of 2023, the facility will begin separating NdPr oxide this quarter. With the help of a $35 million contract from the US Department of Defense, or DOD, the company is planning additional upgrades to separate the 11 elements classified as medium and heavy rare earths, focusing on the magnet elements dysprosium and terbium. Once these capabilities exist, MP Materials will ship processed rare earths from California to a new facility under construction in Fort Worth, Texas, where they will be used to make alloys and magnets for General Motors EVs.
While the concentrations of dysprosium and terbium in Mountain Pass ore is low, Matt Sloustcher, senior vice president of communications and policy at MP Materials, says MP Materials expects to produce enough of them to “cover the needs of its Texas magnetics factory.” MP Materials’ facilities will also be capable of refining material mined elsewhere, including material with a higher relative abundance of heavy rare earths.
According to Sloustcher, the company’s goal is to begin supplying General Motors with rare-earth alloy later this year, and to produce finished magnets by 2025. At full capacity, MP Materials expects the magnetics factory to produce 1,000 tons of rare-earth magnets a year, supporting the production of roughly half a million EV motors.
Under Molycorp’s ownership in the 1990s and early 2000s, the Mountain Pass mine was beset with environmental scandals related to the handling of radioactive wastewater, which Molycorp pumped into open-air evaporation ponds in the desert. To avoid repeating that history, MP Materials is operating Mountain Pass as a “zero discharge” facility, meaning all of the water it uses is recycled on site, with dry waste buried in lined landfills. It claims to be the only rare-earth mine in the world to use this process.
From an environmental perspective, MP Materials’ water recycling process process is “a really big deal,” said Klinger. “It significantly reduces their waste footprint.”
The refining processes MP Materials is adding will inevitably increase its environmental footprint. Owing to their chemical similarity, separating rare earths from one another is extraordinarily complicated. Separation processes, which can include hundreds of different steps, consume large volumes of water, chemicals, and energy. The company says it is intent on minimizing resource use, and to that end is recycling chemicals throughout its process. In addition, it has introduced a roasting step to remove cerium before attempting to separate other elements, which MP Materials believes will improve the efficiency of the entire process. Cerium comprises nearly half of the rare-earth mixture present in Mountain Pass ore.
Eric Schelter, a professor of chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania who studies rare-earth separations, agrees that this roasting step will make it “relatively simpler” to separate the rare earths of value. But he says that if there is no market for the cerium, it must be disposed of as waste, driving up costs. In general, Schelter cautions that the economics of rare-earth production are challenging and have worked against U.S. industry in the past.
“Personally, I think it would be great” if MP Materials were successful, Schelter said. “This is a really significant need. But ultimately, the marketplace is going to decide that it is, or is not, worthwhile to buy these magnets or buy these materials from them.”
Sloustcher, from MP Materials, agrees that profitably producing rare earths is challenging considering the large quantities of low-value materials that need to be sifted out first, including both cerium and the light rare-earth lanthanum. However, he says the company has identified customers that are “eager for U.S.-produced cerium and lanthanum products,” which are used in water treatment and fuel manufacturing processes, among others. NdPr oxide, Sloustcher says, is the “key commodity that drives economic value” in the rare-earth industry, and MP Materials believes it is “a low-cost NdPr producer globally.” Sloustcher added that the company has already proven it can produce rare earths at a profit for several years.
To ensure no valuable rare-earth material is wasted, MP Materials is also planning to recycle the scrap produced during magnet fabrication, as well as end-of-life magnets. The goal, Sloustcher says, is re-introduce recyclable material at whatever point in the process flow it is most efficient, whether that means using scrap to produce new magnets directly or separating it back to individual elements. Schelter believes that the latter approach will make it easier to scale up recycling, because different types of magnets contain different amounts of rare earths.
An unknown but likely very small fraction of rare earths are recycled at end-of-life today.
“Recycling magnets from phones, hard drives, and wind turbines can provide magnets of different grades,” Schelter said. “Collecting them from different sources would be enabled by a chemistry that purified the individual rare earths back out again.”
Klinger, the University of Delaware researcher, is excited about MP Materials’ interest in rare-earths recycling, and its pitch for a greener supply chain more broadly. However, any new rare-earth production will have an environmental cost, and Klinger says that the extent of the impacts ultimately comes down to our consumption of rare earths — not just for clean energy and personal electronics, but also weapons of war. Rare earths are essential for a variety of defense applications, including drones, missile guidance, tank and aircraft motors, and advanced laser systems. In addition to investing tens of millions in both light and heavy rare-earth processing at Mountain Pass, the DOD recently awarded Australian company Lynas a $120 million contract to build a rare earth separations facility in Texas, expected online in 2025.
The DOD declined to comment on the fraction of rare earths from these new U.S. processing facilities that could ultimately make their way into defense applications. However, a DOD official told Grist in an emailed statement that generally speaking, rare-earth demand for civilian applications like clean energy “vastly exceeds projected defense demand.”
Nevertheless, Klinger worries that military industrial demand for rare earths will rise as conflicts intensify across the world and the global arms trade grows. She suspects that reining in this demand will lead to the “greatest gains” in terms of reducing the need for new mining overall, and she’s in the process of gathering data to explore the idea further.
“I am a little concerned,” Klinger said, “by what the overemphasis on the energy transition might be covering up.” | Consumer Electronics |
Although laptop computers are now slim enough to fit in paper envelopes, it’s tablets that continue to gain ground in the market. They’re useful as both highly portable productivity tools and as entertainment devices—whether you’re a gamer, binge watcher, or an avid reader. But over 13 years after the original iPad debuted, it now seems like there are too many tablet devices to choose from.
Splurging on the most expensive tablet available will surely get you a capable device, but that strategy could also work against you, depending on your needs. If you all you want to do is read books, for example, a giant slab of glass with a battery that needs a charge every night just isn’t the way to go, both for your budget and usability. And if you’re worried about what all that screen time is doing to your eyes, it might finally be time to embrace an E Ink screen. We’ve done all the hard decision-making work for you, so here are our recommendations for the best tablets, e-readers, and e-note devices you can buy.
With most companies timing their product announcements and releases to ensure they’re in consumer’s minds, and on store shelves, in time for the holiday shopping season later in the year, we’re not expecting a lot of new hardware anytime soon. But back in 2022, Apple debuted its M1 iPad Air upgrade in March, so new hardware isn’t completely off the table.
There are also some exciting innovations on the horizon when it comes to screen technology other than LCDs and OLEDs. E-readers have long been limited to monochromatic screens due to the limitations of E Ink’s electronic paper technology, but while a handful of color E Ink devices have debuted over the past few years, the performance and quality of the displays has been lacking.
That’s about to change very soon, as e-reader and e-note makers will soon be debuting devices using two new screen technologies. E Ink’s new Kaleido 3 screens promise better color saturation, color depth, and improved resolutions for devices where speedy screen refreshes are critical, while the company’s Gallery 3 e-paper displays boost the color fidelity from just 4,096 shades to over 50,000, using a “four particle ink system: cyan, magenta, yellow and white.” Gallery 3 also pushes resolutions to 300 DPI, matching black and white E Ink displays, and is expected to debut on devices like Pocketbook’s Viva very soon.
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Artists relying on Photoshop or those using their tablet as a video editing tool should consider the iPad Pro or the iPad Air, which feature the same M1 and M2 processors used in Apple’s laptops and smartphones. But if you need a tablet for gaming, watching streaming content, reading books and magazines, and web surfing, the $449 10th generation iPad, which debuted just last month, is a solid choice. It has a lot of the same features as the pricier $599 5th generation iPad Air, including a 12.9-inch Liquid Retina display, a USB-C charging port, Touch ID biometric security, and support for the original Apple Pencil stylus, but moves the 12MP front-facing camera to the edge of the tablet so it’s easier to make FaceTime video calls in landscape mode. It’s also powered by the A14 Bionic chip that debuted in 2020, which should still provide enough power for most users, even those wanting to use the iPad as a basic productivity tool.
Despite being $50 pricier than the much larger 10th generation iPad, it’s impossible to find someone who’s not completely enamored with the $499 6th generation iPad mini the instant they pick it up. It’s everything great about the larger iPads in a much smaller and lighter package, with an 8.3-inch screen that’s still large enough to read full color comic books, graphic novels, and magazines. It actually features a slightly more powerful processor than the latest iPad—the A15 Bionic chip—and supports the new Apple Pencil 2 for note-taking or just doodling. The Apple Pencil 2 can also magnetically attach to the edge of the iPad mini and charge while connected.
Apple and Amazon’s tablets are (out of the box, at least) walled garden devices that limit where users can get content and apps, and not everyone is a fan of that approach. It’s one of the many reasons that Android has thrived, and while excellent tablets running Google’s mobile OS are harder to find, there are still some solid options available, like the $699 Samsung Galaxy Tab S8. It’s actually the smallest and cheapest option of three Samsung tablets announced early last year, with an 11-inch display and a biometric fingerprint sensor on the side of its housing. It’s compatible with Samsung’s S Pen stylus for note-taking or more artistic endeavors, and the included 256GB of storage can be expanded with a microSD memory card—a feature you won’t find on any iPad.
As gateways into Amazon’s music, ebook, and video streaming services, the company’s tablets are priced as loss-leader devices, and the Fire HD 10 tablet, with its 10.1-inch 1080P display, can be had for just $110. It is heavily tied into Amazon’s services, with a customized front-end, and while it doesn’t have access to the Google Play store, it still has access to popular third-party apps including Spotify, Disney+, Netflix, Zoom, Hulu, and even Microsoft Office. It’s best suited as a media consumption device, and given its price, it’s also a great option for younger kids who aren’t the best at taking care of their technology.
Arriving in late 2021, the Kindle Paperwhite 5 came with some major improvements over previous models, including a larger 6.8-inch, 300 PPI E Ink screen, USB-C and wireless charging, and screen lighting with color temperature adjustments allowing for warmer tones at night. The biggest reason to splurge on the $140 Paperwhite 5 is that it’s completely waterproof, so it’s safe to use at the beach, by the pool, in the tub, or during a hurricane, even if it gets completely submerged.
Looking for an alternative to the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 5 (or Amazon in general)? The $130 Kobo Clara 2E offers a slightly smaller six-inch, 300 PPI E Ink screen, but 16GB of storage by default, which is ideal for storing both ebooks and audiobooks. It’s also completely waterproof, so users don’t have to be as diligent about taking care of it. And unlike the Paperwhite 5, Kobo boasts the Clara 2E’s case is made from 85% recycled plastic, with 10% of it sourced from plastic that was ocean-bound.
If you only care about reading books with lots and lots of text, the basic Amazon Kindle, recently updated last September, is an easy choice. The latest model offers USB-C charging, 16GB of onboard storage, an improved E Ink screen with more resolution so text looks sharper and easier on the eyes, and access to Amazon’s well-stocked ebook store. It’s $100 for the version featuring ads on the lockscreen, or $120 without.
Although a few years old at this point, the Kobo Nia hits the $100 price point without any advertisements aside from the recommendations made in the Rakuten Kobo ebook store that’s just as well stocked as the competition’s. It’s a solid alternative for those who’d rather skip Amazon’s hardware and eco-system, offering wider support for various ebook formats, but with a few compromises including a screen with less resolution and just 8GB of storage—although that’s easily enough for storing a downloaded library of 6,000+ ebooks.
In the market for an e-reader but don’t want to lock yourself in on either Amazon or Kobo’s stores? Onyx might not be as recognizable a brand as Amazon or Kobo, but the $200 Boox Leaf 2 is the most powerful e-reader on the market. It’s got a seven-inch, 300 PPI E Ink screen with color adjustable screen lighting, 32GB of onboard storage that’s expandable through memory cards, built-in page turn buttons, and it runs Android 11 with full access to the Google Play app store. That means that you can load your ebook and PDF files directly onto the Boox Leaf 2, and download both the Amazon Kindle and Kobo apps and shop for titles through whichever ebook store happens to offer the best price at the time.
The reMarkable tablet was the first E Ink device designed to replace a notebook and pen with digital paper, and the $400 (plus the cost of a stylus) reMarkable 2 took everything great about the original and made it even better. Using Wacom’s tried-and-tested stylus technology means the pen never needs to be charged, and writing on the reMarkable 2's screen is as fast and responsive as writing with a real pen on real paper. It’s the standard to which all other e-note devices are compared, and still manages to impress with an incredibly thin design and a robust file syncing system that makes documents instantly available on PCs and smartphones.
Add the new Type Folio keyboard case accessory, which replaces the reMarkable’s on-screen keyboard with a physical one, and the tablet becomes a much better tool for taking detailed notes during an hours long meeting or presentation.
Amazon is relatively late to the e-note game, a term used to describe larger E Ink devices with support for a stylus for taking notes, but don’t count the company out. The recently announced Amazon Kindle Scribe, which starts at $340, boasts a 10.2-inch, 300 PPI E Ink screen and an asymmetrical design with a thicker bezel on one side making it easier to hold in one hand. It’s best feature might be a self-organized system of sticky notes that can be used to annotate ebooks and other documents, plus access to the expansive Amazon ebook store—one thing the reMarkable 2 does not.
If you’ve been tempted by the color electronic paper screens that E Ink has been making over the past couple of years, the Bigme InkNote Color is both a great e-reader that won’t limit comic books to black and white, and an excellent e-note to boot. It allows users to take notes with an included stylus using a simulated pen on paper experience that’s hard to beat. It also runs Android 11, with full access to the Google Play app store, so you can download reading apps from companies like Amazon and Kobo, productivity apps including mobile versions of Microsoft Word and Excel, and plenty of games.
Want more of Gizmodo’s consumer electronics picks? Check out our guides to the best phones, best laptops, best cameras, best televisions, and best tablets and eReaders. And if you want to learn about the next big thing, see our guide to everything we know about the iPhone 15. | Consumer Electronics |
India Loosens Planned Restrictions On Laptop, Tablet Imports
India is loosening its planned restrictions on imports of laptops, tablets and other IT hardware, giving manufacturers such as Apple Inc., HP Inc. and Dell Technologies Inc. more time to prepare for potential curbs.
(Bloomberg) -- India is loosening its planned restrictions on imports of laptops, tablets and other IT hardware, giving manufacturers such as Apple Inc., HP Inc. and Dell Technologies Inc. more time to prepare for potential curbs.
The South Asian country is doing away with a compulsory licensing requirement for tech importers, and will instead only ask such companies to register under its so-called import management system, people familiar with the policy said. The system will start operating on Nov. 1, they said, asking not to be named as the matter isn’t public.
India is seeking to boost local production while trying to ensure sufficient availability of consumer electronics. The federal government last month shocked companies such as Apple and Samsung Electronics Co. as it announced a plan to curb laptop and tablet imports without a suddenly required license. A day later India’s trade regulator delayed the move by three months.
As part of the latest plan, all companies bringing everything from tablets and laptops to desktop computers and servers into India will have to register. But unlike under the previously considered licensing regime, where companies were expected to cut back imports immediately, the new rules won’t limit inbound shipments for about six to nine months, the people said.
A quota on imports could gradually kick in as companies begin to manufacture laptops, tablets and other hardware locally. The size of each company’s quota will depend on its local production, import of IT hardware as well as export of such products from India, the people said.
The planned new rules don’t apply to smartphones. India’s technology ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The maneuvers are part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s drive to increase local production and create a world-class tech manufacturing industry in India as companies look to diversify supply chains beyond China. India this year introduced a $2.1 billion financial incentive plan to draw computer makers to the world’s most populous nation.
Read more: India Launches $2 Billion Drive to Woo Laptop Makers Like Apple
Companies including Dell, HP, Lenovo Group Ltd., Foxconn Technology Group and Asustek Computer Inc. have sought the subsidies to make laptops, tablets and other products in India.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P. | Consumer Electronics |
Apple has unveiled a multibillion-dollar deal with Broadcom to produce new 5G radio frequency components in the US. The May 23 announcement comes as Apple—the world’s largest consumer electronics company—looks to spend more than $400 billion on domestic manufacturing.
The Broadcom deal covers a range of 5G wireless connectivity components, including FBAR filters, acoustic resonators that enable iPhones to connect to 5G networks. Apple plans to invest in production across a number of US cities, including Fort Collins, Colorado, where Broadcom already has a major facility.
“We’re thrilled to make commitments that harness the ingenuity, creativity, and innovative spirit of American manufacturing,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a prepared statement. “All of Apple’s products depend on technology engineered and built here in the United States, and we’ll continue to deepen our investments in the U.S. economy because we have an unshakable belief in America’s future.”
Apple’s statement announcing the deal stressed the importance of 5G connectivity in consumer electronics, adding that the company is spending billions of dollars to develop the technology domestically. Apple devices have been compatible with 5G since 2020.
Broadcom wasn’t immediately available for a comment on the deal.
2.7 million: American jobs produced by Apple through direct employment, iOS app store development, and US suppliers and manufacturers of Apple products.
$430 billion: Amount Apple plans to invest in the US economy over the next five years.
48: Apple manufacturing sites in the US, more than 30 of them in California. This is just a fraction of the company’s global production, with most manufacturing still done in China, as well as growing secondary markets in India and Vietnam.
This increased investment in domestic production is part of a larger Apple strategy to move production out of China.
As US-Sino relations continue to sour, the company faces pressure from American lawmakers to wind down its extensive manufacturing process in China. It has also blamed Chinese pandemic-era policies and riots at Foxconn factories for supply chain issues.
In response, Apple has opened new factories in India and Vietnam to produce hardware like iPhones and Macbooks. Stateside, however, the company has said it will invest $430 billion in domestic 5G infrastructure and silicon engineering, including major money for chip production.
Last December, Cook announced that Apple would start sourcing its chips from a Taiwanese-owned Arizona factory as soon as 2024. The CEO shared this news at an event where US president Joe Biden touted his $50 billion in investment incentives for companies to expand domestic production of semiconductors. | Consumer Electronics |
A man walks past a logo of Xiaomi, a Chinese manufacturer of consumer electronics, outside a shop in Mumbai, India, May 11, 2022. REUTERS/Francis MascarenhasRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comHANOI, July 7 (Reuters) - China's Xiaomi Corp (1810.HK) has produced its first batch of smartphones in Vietnam, the company said on Thursday, as it seeks to expand its foothold in Southeast Asia.The devices were produced at a factory in the province of Thai Nguyen, north of the capital Hanoi, the company said in an emailed statement. The plant is operated by Xiaomi's partner, DBG Technology (300735.SZ).Vietnam has in recent years become a regional manufacturing hub for global electronics makers. The export value of smartphones from the country, mostly produced by Samsung Electronics, rose 12.4% last year to $57.5 billion.Xiaomi said the first batch of its smartphones made in Vietnam had been sent to a local distributor, adding it would soon export smartphones to other Southeast Asian markets, including Malaysia and Thailand.The company did not provide further details on its production capacity in Vietnam.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comReporting by Khanh Vu
Editing by Ed DaviesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Consumer Electronics |
Image: Harman JBLThe smartphone came along and singlehandedly replaced countless devices we used to fill our pockets with—cellphones, cameras, MP3 players, and more. So why shouldn’t we be demanding the same level of multi-tasking from other devices? JBL’s Bar 1300X soundbar seems like a good start. It will replace a surround sound setup’s spiderweb of wires and all the Bluetooth speakers scattered about your home.OffEnglishWe’re very much in support of the recent trend in consumer electronics of attempting to replace complicated surround sound setups—numerous speakers located around a room—with a single soundbar positioned beneath a TV or projector screen that uses fancy audio tricks to bounce sound waves off ceilings and walls to make them seem like they’re originating from all around a room. We say, “attempting to replace,” because the surround sound effect from a single soundbar still isn’t as believable as what you get from a collection of individual speakers around a room.The JBL Bar 1300X is a compromise between those two approaches. It’s a 15-channel Dolby Atmos and DTS:X 3D surround sound solution that uses six up-firing drivers in the soundbar to bounce sounds around a room, but pairs that with a dedicated 12-inch subwoofer, and a pair of detachable speakers that can be temporarily placed behind viewers to create a far more convincing surround sound experience.Image: Harman JBLWe may not be completely convinced about the effectiveness of surround sound soundbars, but we really like what JBL is doing here, especially given that the Bar 1300X connects to the subwoofer and detachable speakers wirelessly, and those two speakers feature built-in rechargeable batteries good for about 10 hours of sound before they need to be re-attached to the soundbar for charging. (The subwoofer does need access to a power outlet.)G/O Media may get a commission42% OffHisense 58-Inch ULED LED 4K Smart TVTV timeThis 58-inch smart TV has 4K visuals on a stunning ULED screen that boosts color, contrast, and brightness, has Fire TV built-in for convenience, and even includes Alexa.The JBL Bar 1300X can also be connected to various music streaming services over wifi, and can also be controlled by third-party smart assistants like Google Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa, or Apple’s Siri to access content without having to hunt down a remote. Those detachable speakers even double as portable Bluetooth speakers that can be taken around the house and directly connected to other audio sources wirelessly.Image: Harman JBLThere will be three versions of the JBL Bar available in February that feature detachable rechargeable speakers:The 5.1.2, 620-watt JBL Bar 700 with a 10-inch subwoofer that lacks the DTS:X 3D support for $899.95The 7.1.4, 880-watt JBL Bar 1000 that also includes a 10-inch subwoofer for $1,199.95And the 11.1.4, 1170-watt JBL Bar 1300 with the 12-inch sub and all the features and functionality mentioned above for $1,699.95. | Consumer Electronics |
Subsets and Splits