LG, which outlined its July 31 exit from smartphones this week (see 2104050038), said Thursday that consumers still using its premium phones will receive up to three versions of Android operating system upgrades. The upgrade commitment applies to phones released in 2019 and later: the G, V, Velvet and Wing series. Select 2020 models -- Stylo and K series -- will receive two upgrades, said the company. Upgrades will depend on Google’s distribution schedule, carrier requirements, device performance and compatibility, it said. LG will continue to manufacture phones through Q2 to meet contractual obligations to carriers and partners, it said. Customers can still buy LG phones currently in inventory, it said, with service support and security software updates to be provided “for a period of time for certain devices.”
Semiconductors are more “strategically important to the global economy than at any time in history, and this is driving new waves of silicon consumption,” Applied Materials CEO Gary Dickerson told his company's virtual investor meeting Tuesday. His prepared remarks noted factors driving unprecedented semiconductor demand without mentioning the resulting industry chip shortages. “As an industry, we’re in a privileged position where our combined technologies can drive a huge positive impact on a global scale,” said Dickerson. “As the world navigates COVID-19 and prepares for a post-pandemic era, the digital transformation of the economy is accelerating.” Digital transformation is “built upon semiconductor innovation, and has significant implications for the electronics ecosystem,” he said. “As everything gets smarter, from our phones to our cars to our homes, we’re seeing increasing silicon content.” The transition to 5G “is driving a richer mix of high-end phones that feature more cameras and sensors, combined with specialized AI computing,” he said. “All this adds up to more leading-edge and specialty silicon content per handset.”
February semiconductor revenue increased 14.7% year on year, reaching $36.9 billion globally, but was down 1% from January sales of $40 billion, reported the Semiconductor Industry Association Monday. “Global semiconductor sales during the first two months of the year have outpaced sales from early in 2020, when the pandemic began to spread in parts of the world,” said SIA CEO John Neuffer. “Sales into the China market saw the largest year-to-year growth, largely because sales there were down substantially early last year.”
The FCC International Bureau approved Myriota's requested blanket license for up to a million battery-powered terminals for satellite IoT applications.
Ericsson launched an open lab aimed at driving the move to virtualized 5G radio access network technologies, the company said Wednesday. It's located at Ericsson’s R&D site in Ottawa, Canada. Ericsson Open Lab “aims to help service providers pursue and realize new deployment and 5G use case scenarios, as well as create opportunities to increase automation and reduce manual intervention,” Ericsson said.
Panasonic and McAfee will partner on joint development of SoCs to enable commercialization of vehicle security monitoring services, said the companies Tuesday. The SoCs will be designed to protect connected vehicles worldwide against cyberattacks by enabling “accurate detection and early response” to threats, they said. “With the innovative development of autonomous driving, the advancement of digitalization, and the increasing number of connected cars, the risk of cyber-attacks against automobiles is increasing every year.”
ATSC signed an agreement March 2 with the Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India (TSDSI) as the first step toward deploying ATSC 3.0 broadcast services to mobile devices in India, said the groups Monday. ATSC President Madeleine Noland traveled in fall 2019 to the India Mobile Congress in New Delhi as a guest of the TSDSI, which participates in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project standardization body for 5G. She spoke about 3.0 and 5G “convergence” in India (see 1910110030). “They have 1.2 billion cellphones, so there are opportunities there that are unique,” said Noland then.
Vizio shares on their second day regained some of the ground they lost Thursday when they debuted on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares closed 8.4% higher Friday at $20.71, a few cents shy of the initial public offering’s proposed $21 opening. Unlike Thursday, when the stock plunged 17% as trading began midday and never fully recovered (see report in this publication, March 26), shares remained in positive territory throughout Friday.
Samsung Display took the top position in 2020's smartphone display panel market with 50% revenue share, reported Strategy Analytics Thursday. BOE and LG Display were Nos. 2 and 3, with 15% and 8% share, respectively, said SA. Smartphone display panel revenue rose 7% year over year, “driven by the expansion of OLED display technology in the supply chain of key smartphone vendors, leading to increased shipment of OLED panels to customers,” it said.
Fight for the Future, Public Citizen and 20 other groups urged six publications to “rescind” recommendations of Amazon’s Ring products. The “cameras surveil millions of Americans” and amid “the massive growth of this private network of cameras, the tech giant is aggressively expanding their police partnerships,” said Wednesday's letter to CNET, Consumer Reports, Digital Trends, TechRadar, Tom’s Guide and Wirecutter. “Putting Black lives in danger is part of Amazon Ring’s business model. The tech giant weaponizes racist, fear-mongering culture by using racially-coded language and dog whistles to promote Ring products and partnerships. ... Amazon marketed Rekognition to police with the full awareness of two damning facts: first, that police misuse facial recognition, and second, that Rekognition disproportionately misidentifies Black and brown people, transgender people, and women.” Ring surveils, intimidates and punishes Black Lives Matter protesters, the groups said, citing Electronic Frontier Foundation-released records showing Los Angeles Police Department detectives requested such footage of BLM protests. Amazon didn’t comment.