Dialog Semiconductor's ultra-low-power Wi-Fi SoC can enable up to five-year battery operation from continuously connected devices, it announced Monday. The DA16200 was engineered for devices including connected door locks, thermostats and security video cameras that require “always on” Wi-Fi connectivity, it said. The company also announced the DA16600 module, which combines Wi-Fi from the DA16200 and Bluetooth Low Energy capabilities from its SmartBond TINY DA14531 SoC. The combo Wi-Fi and BLE module is said to eliminate issues caused by the coexistence of two radios at 2.4 GHz in the same design.

Commercial deployment updates in 12 categories of ATSC 3.0 products and services are included in the new 3.0 “progress report” (see 2004220004) going live Monday at the ATSC website in time for the virtual NAB Show Express event Tuesday and Wednesday. More than four dozen ATSC members submitted a total of 80 entries.

Energous announced availability of the PowerHub developer kit to manufacturers for integration of wireless charging at distances up to 1 foot. Target products include smart speakers, game consoles and access points, said the company Thursday. The kit incorporates non-beamforming technology with one antenna and a power amplifier, similar to one certified by the FCC last month (see 2004210058); manufacturers have to secure regulatory certification for products in markets where they are sold. The kit broadcasts power to multiple receiving devices. CEO Steve Rizzone said on a Wednesday Q1 call the Primo-W hearing aid from NewSound (see 2002280015), expected to ship last month, was delayed by COVID-19. It should start shipping to consumers in a few months. Energous said American Equus announced a health tracking sensor with its charging technology for equestrians that measures a horse's vitals; it’s due in Q4. Energous shares closed down 8.6% Thursday to $2.01.

TiVo announced availability of the Stream 4K media dongle it launched at CES that allows cord-cutters a path to live TV -- but not broadcast TV like traditional TiVo boxes -- via Sling TV. The $69 device is available at a limited-time price of $49 with no TiVo subscription fee, said the company. Sling TV offers a free seven-day trial on Stream 4K for its service that starts at $30 monthly. A TiVo differentiator is it brings together shows and movies from favorite platforms -- “live or streaming," it said. Users can easily switch between, say, CNN and Netflix. Stream 4K integrates with Amazon Prime Video and Google Play. Dolby Atmos and Vision are included on the Android device, which supports Google Assistant voice control on the supplied remote.

Vizio hired Adam Townsend, ex-Showtime, as chief financial officer, part of the TV maker's pivot "from a sole focus on hardware to a new vision for a complete media offering," it said. (See also personals section.) CEO William Wang cited Townsend's financial operational experience with content, advertising and streaming-based businesses. Townsend said Vizio will capitalize on the shift toward digital video consumption through hardware, software and data analytics.

Smartphones continue to be chips' largest driver, with demand weak and focused on 4G, IDC reported Monday. IDC expects 5G volume will grow this year despite COVID-19. The virus will shelve an expected “bottom and general recovery” of the semiconductor market, the firm predicted: It will slide 4.2% to $401 billion in 2020 as the global economy fights to recover from “this unprecedented crisis.” Every one point drop in smartphone unit volume expectations will have a couple of percentage points of impact on overall semiconductor revenue for the year, said the researcher. Its current view is for a 10% drop in smartphone shipments vs. 2019 to 1.6 billion; the pessimistic one is a 20% plunge to 1.4 billion. Value of mobile semiconductors is forecast at $111 billion; that drops to $99 billion in the worst case.

Intel bowed its 10th-generation Core S-series desktop processors with maximum speeds of 5.3 GHz. The Core i9-10900K, with Thermal Velocity Boost, has up to 10 cores, 20 threads and DDR4-2933 memory speeds, it said Thursday. The processor enables more tuning control, faster multitasking and smoother gameplay, said Intel.

Consumers “have made it clear that they would prefer access to all voice assistants from all devices,” Juniper Research reported. Alexa is considered good at shopping, Google Assistant at knowledge, and Siri is locked into the iPhone: “Consumers want it all,” the researcher said. “Microphones are everywhere” and access to voice assistants has become “ubiquitous,” it said. Voice commerce growth will outstrip e-commerce growth through 2024, providing a mostly hands-free touch point for shopping “from anywhere,” the trends-watcher said Tuesday. Voice payment authentication has been a challenge: current modes are biometrics or a four-digit PIN that can be read aloud, it said. Strong customer authentication (SCA) requirements in Europe could be a challenge for retailers using voice payments; customers’ payments could be declined due to stricter authentication measures that will be enforced by Dec. 31, the firm said.

The global market for foldable AMOLED display panel shipments will grow to 3.9 million units, from 700,000 last year, said Omdia, formerly IHS Markit, Tuesday. Shipments are forecast to reach 73.1 million in 2025. The designs allow small devices to support very large displays, said analyst Jerry Kang. Shipments in 2019 were limited due to high pricing and low reliability, but smartphone OEMs are increasing use of AMOLED displays. The next-generation displays will be 1.3% of the 311.9-million flexible OLED business this year, leaving “plenty of growth opportunity for foldable displays in the coming years as they resolve their manufacturing issues," Kang said.

Xfinity expanded its integration with Tiles to help customers locate lost Tiles attached to wallets, keys and other misplaced items. Tiles can connect to xFi gateways and Bluetooth-equipped set-top boxes to find lost items nearby, it blogged Monday. Customers can now ring their Tiles by saying things like, “Xfinity Home, find my keys,” it said.