Apple launched the latest Apple Watch on September 12 at the grand unveiling of its new products at the newly inaugurated Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park. While most of the attention at the launch was on Apple’s iPhone anniversary device, the iPhone X, the Californian tech giant’s Apple Watch Series 3 is impressive.
Sony Mobile Communications announced a new addition to its Xperia smartphone portfolio on August 21: Xperia XZ1, the first smartphone capable of scanning 3D objects. The product unveiling follows Sony Mobile’s recent Q1 2017 financial results, which saw operating income reach 3.6 billion yen (US$32.9 million).
Ten years ago Apple revolutionized communication when it unveiled the first iPhone in 2007. Since then, Apple has set the standard for premium smartphones. To celebrate the anniversary, Apple launched its new iPhone X at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park on September 12. While the device is packed with features including a Super Retina Display, wireless charging, and facial recognition, its $1000 price tag could dampen enthusiasm.
Samsung launched the Galaxy Note8 on August 23, to replace the previous faulty Note7 model that had to be recalled last year. Samsung hasn’t held back from redeeming the Note family, releasing a smartphone that features an Infinity Display, an improved S Pen, and Samsung’s best smartphone camera yet.
Xiaomi launched its new Mi MIX 2 and Mi Note 3 smartphones on Sept. 11. The Mi MIX 2 is an evolution of Xiaomi’s Mi MIX concept phone unveiled a year ago. In addition to raiding the bar for its MIX series, Xiaomi has also upgraded its Mi Note product line with the launch of the Mi Note 3, which sports a dual-camera setup and 16-megapixel front camera.
South Korean conglomerate Samsung have announced that its voice-based assistant entitled ‘Bixby’ is now available for Galaxy S8 users in over 200 countries worldwide following its release in the US last month.
Xiaomi just launched the Mi A1 smartphone in collaboration with Alphabet’s Google, the first Xiaomi device to run on the evolved Android One program. Priced from INR 14,999 in India (US$233.90), Mi A1 combines hardware innovations, including an optical zoom dual camera setup, with Google-designed software.
HMD Global, the parent company of Nokia phones, has unveiled the Nokia 8, a high performance smartphone designed with content creators in mind. It’s the first “premium” smartphone to be launched by HMD Global. The device introduces a “world first” in enabling Dual-Sight video to be live-streamed natively and in real-time to social feeds such as Facebook and YouTube.
At IFA 2017 in Berlin, Huawei unveiled its vision for the future of artificial intelligence (AI) with the launch of the Kirin 970 chipset. Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group, said the company is committed to turning smart devices into intelligence devices by building end-to-end capabilities that support coordinated development of chips, devices and the cloud.
Qualcomm has released additional findings of a landmark study, The 5G Economy. The new research, conducted by leading industry and economic analysis firm IHS Markit, examines the potential economic impact of 5G for the Taiwan market.
