March 13, 2012 Soitec SA, a supplier of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers, has announced that mobile chip joint venture ST-Ericsson NV has selected planar fully depleted SOI (FD-SOI) technology for use with future mobile chips. Read more

March 8, 2012 Visiongain believes that global NFC application revenue will reach $10.6bn in 2012, and that in 2012 NFC is poised for rapid growth. Recent developments analysed in the market researcher's latest report, "Monetising NFC: Challenges and Opportunities 2012-2017" have created a fertile marketplace ready to accept NFC innovations in every sector. Read more

March 5, 2012 Visiongain's latest report indicates that the global mobile market will reach a value of $1.6bn in 2012, as companies and organisations across a number of sectors seek to secure their smart devices against the growing dangers of mobile malware. Read more

February 29, 2012 Nemotek Technologie claims a world’s first with its two element wafer-level camera, Exiguus H12-A2. Leveraging the capabilities of its two element lens, Exiguus H12-A2 features high resolution and low distortion all in an ultra-small form factor. Read more

February 28, 2012 Telefonica has announced the first live experience of the world's "smartest" 4G network, in the most ambitious technological innovation ever deployed at the Mobile World Congress (MWC). The network — the world´s first of its kind in the 2.6 Ghz frequency band — provides download speeds of 100 Mbps, between 40-60 Mbps on upload, vastly improved indoor coverage and can increase capacity by up to 400% in high density data-traffic areas. Read more

February 27, 2012 Libelium has launched a Wifi module for the Waspmote sensor platform. The radio module adds an extra layer of intelligence to the nodes allowing them to send the collected data to any web server in the Cloud. The Wifi sensor nodes will also be capable of sending data to any iPhone or Android device nearby by creating direct links with them. Read more

February 27, 2012 Austriamicrosystems has announced the AS3674 and AS3490 LED backlight drivers for smartphone LCD displays. These LED drivers claim to enable the industry's best application efficiency at a peak level of 90%, including the DC-DC converter and the current sources. With a PCB footprint of only 11.5 mm², and just four external components required, the AS3674 and AS3940 are well suited for smartphones and other mobile devices where space is at a premium. Read more

February 22, 2012 Sampling now, the nRF8002 extends Nordic Semiconductor's Bluetooth low energy offering with a cost-optimized, ultra-low power, and easy to design-in single chip for Bluetooth Smart (as Bluetooth low energy will now be marketed to consumers) tags and accessories. Read more

February 21, 2012 Downsizing big bulky terahertz (THz) detectors for integration on CMOS image chips has been accomplished by the University of Texas (Dallas) with funding from the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC). Accomplished under SRC’s Focus Research Program, the demonstration of terahertz speeds on standard CMOS opens a door for a new slew of consumer devices that can see through solid objects. Read more

February 10, 2012 Apple's iPhone captured 19.1 percent of the global smartphone market share in 2011, up from 16 percent in 2010, according to Canacorrd Genuity analyst Michael Walkley. Based on the timing of the iPhone 4S refresh in October, Walkley expects Apple to gain more market share in the first quarter of this year, when be projects iPhone's market share to be about 23.8 percent. Read more

February 9, 2012 Come Spring 2012, consumers can look forward to solving their portable power problems with SolMate™, a smartphone power casing packing solar electricity, inductive charging, battery storage and energy management software that ups the ante on smartphone battery life. Read more

February 2, 2012 The long term future belongs to optical interconnects, low power processors and new kinds of memory architectures, said Prith Banerjee, director of HP Labs in a DesignCon keynote here. Read more

January 23, 2012 Texas Instruments Inc. was keeping its eye on the big picture, through its littlest chipsets. The firm was literally beaming as it showed off its latest generation of DLP projector chipset, the Pico HD, capable of HD WXGA resolution projections from up to 100 inches away. Read more

January 19, 2012 Robots at CES came in a multitude of shapes and sizes, but one of the smaller, friendlier looking devices was Sphero, the world’s first smartphone controlled robotic ball. Read more

January 17, 2012 Infineon Technologies is the world’s leading supplier of security microcontrollers for NFC (Near Field Communication) applications, according to a recent IMS Research study (“The World Market for NFC – 2012 Edition”, January 2012) that shows Infineon holds a 51.5 percent share in the NFC security microcontroller market. Read more

January 16, 2012 With the recent surge of smart devices, demand to play one’s media anywhere and everywhere is also on the rise. This demand has spawned companies like Kivic, which was showing off its range of wireless and AirPlay compatible products at CES in Las Vegas last week. Read more

January 16, 2012 While CES has previously been a show filled with big announcements and brand new technologies, this year’s show was a little different, with more incremental advancements centered on refining devices people already own. Read more

January 11, 2012 Intel has provided details of its Medfield 32-nm platform for smartphones claiming that the main SoC consumes less than 800-mW worst case. It has also announced that it has deals in place with Lenovo and Motorola for products based on Medfield to appear in 2012. Read more

January 10, 2012 With more and more personal devices making their way into the workplace, IT departments world over are having a difficult time managing employee data. Read more

January 6, 2012 Spreadtrum Communications, a fabless semiconductor provider in China with advanced technology in 2G and 3G wireless communications standards, has introduced 1-GHz Android smartphone platforms for TD-SCDMA (SC8810) and EDGE/WiFi (SC6820) and announced that both products are now sampling with customers. Read more

December 19, 2011 Visiongain's latest management research "Mobile Cloud Computing Industry Outlook Report: 2011-2016" examines the market and how the ecosystem players are leveraging mobile cloud solutions to enable their strategies and business models. Read more

December 15, 2011 IDT International Limited is claiming to have developed the world's first Bluetooth low energy (or Bluetooth Smart) blood pressure monitor, which is expected to be ready to go into volume production by March 2012 after receiving final US FDA and MDD (Europe) medical certification. Read more

November 7, 2011 A handful of standards will drive new smartphone uses and interoperability, but some pose challenges. In addition, it could take four to six months before Android 4.0, aka Ice Cream Sandwich, becomes widely available in handsets, said a Motorola Mobility executive. Read more

November 3, 2011 Google's recently launched Galaxy Nexus smartphone includes NXP Semiconductors NV's PN65N integrated near field communication (NFC) solution, according to NXP. Read more

November 3, 2011 Wireless chip vendor ST-Ericsson NV has announced that leading mobile phone company Nokia, previously a long-term partner, has selected the company as a supplier of chips for its Windows Phone mobile phones. Read more

November 3, 2011 In a recent example of leaving your diving to your smartphone, consumer marketer Picitup has launched a visual radar app for high-end Android handsets, which when attached to a car's windshield, warns the driver of potential collisions. Read more

October 3, 2011 Cryptography Research, Inc., a division of Rambus Inc., has made a cryptic announcement about signing a license agreement with a major smart phone and tablet manufacturer. Read more

September 30, 2011 Struggling wireless chip vendor ST-Ericsson NV has announced that it is collaborating with software company Metaio GmbH to support augmented reality with its NovaThor chips for smartphones and tablet computers. Metaio (Munich, Germany) was founded in 2003 and has developed the Unifeye Viewer image recognition system and software design kit. Read more

September 14, 2011 Aeroflex Limited and Lancaster University have announced the inauguration of the Aeroflex Wireless Broadband Laboratory in the University's School of Computing and Communications at InfoLab21, Lancaster's world-class centre of excellence for research in information and communication technologies. Read more

September 12, 2011 MoveTV is a new SmartMotion solution aimed at the PayTV market, that provides entertainment ecosystem players a single platform on which to create a complete motion-enabled end user experience. It is anticipated to enable service providers, game and application developers, remote control and STB manufacturers, TV OEMs and system integrators, to use a unifying platform for motion technology. Read more

August 29, 2011 Dell'Oro Group has announced that wireless packet core (WPC) market revenues grew 33 percent over the last year during the second quarter of 2011, as service provider demand for wireless data subscriber management remained robust. Ericsson maintained its market share lead in revenues, followed by Huawei. Read more

August 17, 2011 A new report from Ofcom states that mobile operators must provide greater awareness of coverage checkers, so that users are able to choose the best operator for their area. It also encourages operators to adopt a returns policy, whereby users can return a phone if coverage levels do not meet their expectations. Read more

August 16, 2011 Google's $12.5 billion bid for Motorola Mobility is all about the patents. The only people really happy about Google acquiring a smartphone and set-top business are Android's competitors. Read more

August 9, 2011 The global market for wireless power components and accessories will grow 85.5 percent annually to be worth $4.5 billion in 2016 according to market analyst, IMS Research. The market is up from $100 million in 2010, as numerous companies aim to capitalize on the smartphone explosion. Read more

June 24, 2011 ST-Ericsson, the mobile phone chip joint venture between STMicroelectronics NV and Ericsson AB, has said it will implement cost savings to reduce annualized costs by about $120 million by the end of 2012. Up to 500 jobs are expected to be affected on a staff roster of about 6,700. Read more

June 20, 2011 Global revenue from smartphone applications processors reached $1.68 billion in the first quarter, up a whopping 108 percent compared to the first quarter of 2010, while cellular baseband sales grew 20 percent year-to-year, according to market research firm Strategy Analytics Inc. Read more

May 10, 2011 Android led the market smartphones in the first quarter of 2011 with 35 percent market share and 35.7 million units shipped out of a total of 101.0 million shipped in total, according to market research firm Canalys Ltd. Read more

May 5, 2011 Cambridge Mechatronics Ltd., (CML), a developer of actuator technology used in consumer electronics, has demonstrated the application of its technology to optical image stabilization in a smartphone miniature camera. Read more

May 4, 2011 Four years ago Andreas Olofsson came to the Embedded Systems Conference as an engineer from Analog Devices Inc. and spotted an opportunity for a startup. Two weeks ago he got the first working chip based on his idea, and at this week's ESC as chief executive of Adapteva he is seeking a partner to bring it to a future smartphone. Read more

May 3, 2011 LTE is starting to gain critical momentum as we move through 2Q-2011. Currently 12 countries have commercial LTE services, and according to ABI Research VP of Forecasting Jake Saunders, “ABI Research projects that by the end of the year there will be some 16 million subscribers using LTE mobile devices.” Read more

April 20, 2011 Silicon integration will be the key differentiator in smartphones which could grow to 600 million units in 2014, driven by expansion in low-cost handsets, according to a presentation at the inaugural Linley Tech Mobile Conference. Read more

March 15, 2011 RF Micro Devices has announced the expansion of its industry-leading 5 GHz WiFi product portfolio to include two 5 GHz high-band WiFi front end modules (FEMs) with integrated power amplifiers (PAs). The two latest 5 GHz FEMs — the RF5506, and the RF5516 — deliver high power and linearity and are optimized for the rapidly growing smartphone and tablet markets. Read more

February 15, 2011 Intel, Marvell, MediaTek, Qualcomm and others have rolled out baseband devices-or cell-phone chipsets-for handsets and other products. Read more

February 15, 2011 Nokia's agreement with Microsoft to make Windows Phone 7 its principal operating system is likely to have a negative near-term impact on the mobile handset leader's smart phone shipments. Read more

January 12, 2011 RF Micro Devices has announced it has achieved a major performance milestone related to its PowerSmart™ power platforms — a new product category reshaping the future of multimode, multi-band cellular RF architectures. Read more

December 22, 2010 Fuzhou Rockchip Electronics Co., Ltd (Rockchip) a Chinese semiconductor company, is releasing a mobile internet platform, the RK29xx series, covering tablet PC, internet TV and smart phone industries. Further, it will support Google TV. Read more

November 18, 2010 The car of the future will not be just connected – it will be integral part of cloud computing models which provide extensive computing and data services for the rolling terminal. At the QNX Automotive Summit in Stuttgart, the software vendor as well as several automotive OEMs and tier ones granted an insight into ongoing developments. Not surprisingly, smartphones take center stage in QNX's scenario. Read more

November 16, 2010 Astellia has released a portable probe-based monitoring solution for UTRAN optimization and troubleshooting. With the development of mobile data services boosted by the smartphone phenomenon, operators need to handle the traffic surge as well as provide optimum quality of experience for high-value mobile applications. Read more

November 2, 2010 Smartphone users are generating two-thirds of total mobile cellular traffic worldwide despite the fact that only 13 percent of mobile subscribers use smartphones, according to the latest research from Informa Telecoms & Media. And as these smartphone users spend more time on the Internet, the traffic that each one generates — their average traffic per user (ATPU) — will increase by a staggering 700 percent over the next five years. Read more

November 1, 2010 Icera and Teleca have announced that Teleca has been selected to help develop an Android radio interface layer for Icera's Espresso® 4xx smartphone platform family based on its Livanto® ICE806x baseband chips. Read more

October 18, 2010 Baseband-integrated applications processors are gaining market share in the smartphone market, according to market research firm Strategy Analytics. Read more

October 13, 2010 Noise Free Wireless (NoiseFree) has announced that it has signed a strategic multi-year contract to supply its noise management software to a manufacturer of cellular smart phone semiconductors. Included in the contract are maintenance, service, and update provisions. Noise management has become a significant differentiating factor in smart phones as customers have come to expect more noise suppression and voice performance for the premium price. Read more

September 30, 2010 Movidius has launched a mobile 3D imaging and video platform which it claims is the first to be optimized for a 3D experience in high definition (HD) on mobile devices. It enables preview, capturing and processing of high-quality user generated 3D video and images; converting 2D video to 3D in real time, and upscaling and playback of content in HD. Read more

September 16, 2010 Qnective AG, Zurich is set to launch a practical solution called Qtalk secure, which will enable encrypted and therefore highly secure communication for telephone calls, chats, data transfers and SMS. Read more

August 10, 2010 Marvell and HARMAN, an automotive audio and infotainment leader, have announced they are enabling automakers to offer integrated Wi-Fi connectivity via Marvell® Mobile Hotspot (MMH™) technology. The 2010 Audi A8 is the first automobile on the market to feature a factory-installed mobile hotspot, representing a significant milestone for in-car Internet technology. The 2010 Audi A8 with MMH technology is now available in Europe. Read more

August 6, 2010 Low-end and emerging markets are the next fertile fields for growth in smartphones, and Symbian and Android are the best positioned platforms to harvest them. That was the view of analysts at ABI Research who project sales of smartphones could double from about 200 million this year to 400 million in 2014. Read more

August 3, 2010 Austriamicrosystems has announced the AS3676, a highly Integrated Lighting Management Unit (LMU) with Ambient Light Sensing (ALS) and Dynamic Luminance Scaling (DLS). Read more

July 27, 2010 Wolfson Microelectronics plc has announced that its category-defining audio hub solution, the WM8993, and its innovative high performance low power audio amplifier, the WM9093, have been selected by LG to deliver world-class audio to a wide range of its highly integrated mobile phones and smartphones. Read more

July 27, 2010 A total of 74 percent of smartphone-with-Wi-Fi owners would be interested in an application that uses Wi-Fi to improve indoor 3G coverage at home or in the office, according to a YouGov online omnibus survey of nearly 2,200 respondents in the United Kingdom. Read more

July 19, 2010 Apple Inc. should have listened to its experts. It didn't. Read more

June 3, 2010 PicoChip has enhanced its picoXcell™ platform to address the need to support large numbers of smartphones on a femtocell. New smartSignaling™ features within the company's PC3x3 devices now enable up to 400 'always on' users on a femtocell with additional benefits such as longer handset battery life. Read more

June 1, 2010 Myriad Group AG has announced availability of a high-performance full method-based Dalvik Turbo virtual machine (VM) optimised for the MIPS architecture. Myriad’s Dalvik Turbo VM replaces the standard Android Dalvik engine and is claimed to accelerate Android applications running on MIPS based devices by up to 5x. Read more

June 1, 2010 Qualcomm Incorporated has sampled its first dual-CPU Snapdragon™ chipsets. The Mobile Station Modem™ (MSM™) MSM8260™ and MSM8660™ integrate two of the company's enhanced cores running at up to 1.2 GHz. Read more

March 17, 2010 Annual smartphone shipments to Asia are expected to more than quadruple between now and 2015, giving Asia 29 percent of smartphone shipments during 2015. Overall shipments of smartphones are forecast to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 25.9 percent between now and 2015. This trend illustrates the increasing development of cellular markets in Asia and foreshadows the importance of the region for the future, according to a new study from IMS Research. Read more