Sony landed U.S. patent 10,083,288 for a method of unlocking a smartphone using a “simulated parallaxing” 3D scene on the touch screen, Patent and Trademark Office records show. It describes dragging a finger on the parallaxing 3D scene to reveal a hidden “predetermined target object.” Manipulating the object through finger “gestures” can “satisfy the input requirements to unlock the electronic device if the revealing of the hidden object is accomplished by two or more distinct motions performed in a predetermined order,” it said. Sony didn’t comment Wednesday.

Powercast started shipping its PowerSpot wireless-charging transmitter, calling it the first “far field” product of its kind to charge multiple wireless devices at distances up to 80 feet.

Thursday saw Amazon Alexa-based product launches of new voice-enabled devices as varied as an Echo for the car to an Alexa-controllable microwave oven. Later this year, all Echo devices will be able to receive the Tidal music service, Amazon said. The company began taking pre-orders for a “companion DVR that lets you easily watch, record, and replay free over-the-air TV programming” on Fire TV, Echo Show and compatible Fire tablet, iOS, and Android devices. Aimed at cord-cutters, it works with an HDTV antenna, said the company. A car Echo has eight-mics for in-car acoustics and speech recognition technology and is said to let Alexa hear users “over music, A/C, and road noise.” It connects via smartphone.

Smartwatch shipments will reach 46.2 million this year, up 39 percent, growing to 94.3 million by 2022, IDC reported Thursday. Apple’s fourth-generation Watch (see 1809120055) will appeal to cardiac patients, said the researcher, with FDA and American Heart Association approvals. Wearable shipment growth will fall 6.2 percent this year, the first single-digit growth, due to softness in basic wearables, IDC said. Vendors are “slowly moving beyond first-generation devices" as they combine devices, partners and applications, said analyst Ramon Llamas. Analyst Jitesh Ubrani said the shift to smartwatches “is well on its way.”

Apple’s annual September product launch lacked the typical surprise and any word of the AirPower wireless charging pad first mentioned last September to charge an iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods simultaneously (see 1709120062). Wednesday's event streamed from the company's Cupertino, California, headquarters focused heavily on camera features in the three new iPhones and on medical capabilities of the Apple Watch Series 4. The largest Apple phone to date, the iPhone Xs Max, has a 6.5-inch display, leading industry analyst Ross Rubin to tweet: “As if there were any doubt left why Apple killed the iPad mini.” The latest iPhones start at $749 for the iPhone XR, due in October, at $999 for the iPhone Xs and $1,099 for the iPhone Xs Max, slated for Sept. 21 shipping. Good news about the new iPhones is they are 600 MHz compatible and will use the spectrum T-Mobile bought in the TV incentive auction, an executive of the carrier said later that day (see 1809120031).

Qualcomm unveiled a smartwatch platform Monday, announcing Fossil Group, Louis Vuitton and Montblanc as customers. It's designed to help reduce power usage and allow Wi-Fi/Bluetooth voice queries.

Digital media adapters helped fuel 39 percent growth in smart home device sales to 130.1 million shipments in Q2, IDC reported Monday. Smart TVs account for the largest share, followed by digital media adapter (DMA) sales from Roku and Amazon, which grew 27 percent year on year in Q2. Current-generation smart TVs offer much functionality of DMAs but lag in software updates, it said. "Networked entertainment represents a key stepping stone” for consumers starting on a smart home path, said Adam Wright. DMAs are an “important gateway into content ecosystems as well as broader consumer IoT ecosystems,” said the analyst. Amazon Fire TV products led DMA sales, Google is second with Chromecast, and Roku, “extremely popular in the U.S.,” is third, the research firm said. Expect the market for more neutral hardware platforms like Roku to grow “as consumers are rarely faithful to one content provider," said analyst Jitesh Ubrani.

Bank of America estimated iPhone prices would increase by as much as 20 percent if Apple followed through with President Donald Trump’s call for it to shift its factory operations to the U.S. “Apple prices may increase because of the massive Tariffs we may be imposing on China -- but there is an easy solution,” Trump tweeted Saturday. “Make your products in the United States instead of China. Start building new plants now.” Moving production “(100 percent of final assembly) to the U.S.,” the company would need “20 percent price increases to offset the incremental labor costs,” analyst Wamsi Mohan said.

CTA is “skeptical” the Trump administration’s third tranche of tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports can withstand a court “challenge” because the duties are "unlawful" under the 1974 Trade Act, said the association Friday and in comments at Thursday's deadline in docket USTR-2018-0026. “We are reviewing all options,” emailed a spokesperson when asked if CTA will sue to block the levies. The package of tariffs “may be vulnerable to a legal challenge because they are not based on the required legal finding” of unfair Chinese trade practices, “and instead are retaliatory in nature and require a separate Section 301 investigation,” which U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer “did not conduct,” said CTA. Section 301 “authorizes actions following fact-based investigations, not the responses to China's retaliatory actions,” it said. Lighthizer’s office didn’t comment. President Donald Trump reportedly said the installment could start “very soon” and he's preparing a fourth wave on $267 billion on Chinese imports.

U.S. tariffs on products from China caused Brilliant Home Technology to price its smart-tech goods “a little higher than we planned to," about $50 higher at retail, CEO Aaron Emigh told us in a pre-product announcement. “It sounds strange to have concerns over parts that cost a penny, but that’s the thing that could constrain the ability to build these things right now,” he said of the “hundreds of capacitors” it uses per device. The CEO testified at a U.S. Trade Representative hearing last month against the duties levied over IP concerns (see 1808210047), which are also raising tech hackles (see 1809060019). Thursday it announced technology to control lights, thermostats, locks, doorbells and Sonos speakers over Wi-Fi from a smart light switch. Prices start at $299 for a switch with a 5-inch diagonal LCD touch screen.