GameStop completed the sale of Spring Mobile to Prime Communications for $700 million, excluding fees and adjustments, it said Wednesday. The company, which owns 5,800 stores in 14 countries, reports holiday quarter earnings Friday.
Chipmaker Wiliot demonstrate a battery-free Bluetooth sensor tag at NRF 2019, to communicate with devices enabled by Bluetooth Low Energy, such as smartphones, Wi-Fi access points and IoT devices, it said Monday. The company got $30 million in Series B funding from Amazon Web Services and Samsung, among others.
Wireless charging company Ossia worries about the impact of the government shutdown and its ability to secure timely FCC approval for its RF-based technology, an executive told us at CES Thursday in Las Vegas. Ossia announced a phone sleeve at the show combining Qi and RF wireless-charging-at-a-distance technology under its Cota brand. It showed a 2.4-GHz solution and is working on a 5.6-GHz version that could charge at distances up to 30 feet, both of which are awaiting FCC approval, said Chief Technology Officer Hatem Zeine. “We are working with the FCC very closely." With the shutdown, "we’re sort of waiting for things to happen, but we anticipate that this year will be the year that the FCC starts moving stuff.” Ossia announced at CES it's working with accessory maker Spigen on a charging case, which Zeine expects to reach the market in 2020. Ripple effects from the lengthening government closure could “stymie new product launches and even foil coveted Super Bowl advertising slots” for technology companies planning to begin marketing devices that haven’t received final approval through the FCC, warned Ronald Quirk, a Marashlian & Donahue attorney, in Law 360. A key FCC database is offline as part of the shutdown, meaning certification bodies authorized to work with product developers and labs can’t extend final authorization to new electronics (see 1901110017). Quirk cited a Tuesday tweet from FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel (see 1901080023): “The agency certifies every innovative mobile phone, television, and computer that emits radio frequency before they can head to market," said Rosenworcel. "Guess what is not happening during the shutdown?” Friday, she expanded on that as she sought the shutdown's end.
Artificial intelligence dominated Samsung’s pre-CES news conference, giving the company’s late-to-the-party Bixby voice engine a starring role in connected homes. HS Kim, consumer electronics division CEO, spoke of Samsung’s expanded ecosystem in the IoT, citing partnerships with Amazon, Bose, Google and Sylvania. On 8K, another focus Monday in Las Vegas at CES (see 1901070063), Dave Das, general manager-consumer electronics product marketing, highlighted AI in smart TVs. AI in the TVs can recognize and upscale any content, Das said. AI will be in Samsung’s new Universal Guide for 2019 for customers to find content, including with Bixby. Started as a voice assistant for Galaxy phones, the virtual assistant will grow as more partners join the ecosystem, said Arvin Baalu, a Samsung Harman vice president. Bixby will let users control vehicles, Baalu said. Jim Elliott, senior vice president-sales and marketing-semiconductors, said Samsung chips will drive the shift in data processing from centralized data centers to edge devices. Samsung earlier announced a partnership with Apple, as did others (see 1901070033).
DoorDash and General Motors will begin testing food deliveries using autonomous vehicles in San Francisco, they said Thursday. The pilot is looking to solve questions about autonomous delivery around technical and infrastructure challenges; impact on merchants, delivery people and customers; and quality of automated deliveries vs. the current experience. A runner system will move orders from the merchant to the AV, with the customer notified when the vehicle is approaching. GM’s Cruise Automation has been testing AVs in San Francisco for three years.
Though the overall smartwatch business is experiencing “steady growth,” Apple Watch’s “hold” on smartwatch market share “continues to slip,” dropping below 45 percent for the last six months of 2018, reported ABI Research Thursday. It forecasts overall smartwatch shipments more than doubling to 99 million in 2023 from 40 million in 2018: “As the number of flagship and budget smartwatches continues to grow, consumers are increasingly opting for devices from companies other than Apple, such as Fitbit, Huawei and Samsung.” Apple warned on quarterly results Wednesday after U.S. markets closed, sending it and tech stocks down Thursday (see 1901030047 and 1901030036).
Pico Interactive plans to use CES to showcase its new 4K all-in-one virtual-reality headset, said a spokesperson. Pico also will demo "unconventional use cases" for VR, including as a reading aid for vision-impaired consumers and a tool to ease anxieties for people with a fear of flying or visiting the dentist, he said.
The new year doesn't mean the end of all holiday smartphone-related sales, we found Wednesday. Apple products still are discounted at Best Buy. The iPhone X is available for $50 off with activation. Target continued to promote gift cards for smartphone purchases. It has a $200 card for purchase of the Galaxy S9, S9+ and Note 9. It pushed a $100 gift card for buying an iPhone XS, XS Max and XR with qualified activation. Some deals (see 1812180035) are gone. Amazon raised the price of its Kindle Fire HD 8, slashed to $49 during Black Friday week, back to $79.
Citi Research cut first quarter production estimates for Apple’s iPhones, Reuters reported Friday, joining a list of other analysts lowering forecasts amid reports of weak demand. Citi projects Apple to make 45 million phones in the quarter, down from 50 million it forecast earlier. The brokerage firm lowered the forecast for the iPhone XS Max, which starts at $1,099, by 48 percent. Apple didn’t comment.
Wireless charging company Energous announced the first WattUp-enabled customer product to receive FCC approval for marketing and sale in the U.S. The company first said it planned to develop reference designs for embedded WattUp charging capabilities in SK Telesys products for the Asian and global markets in 2014. SK Telesys showed a personal sound amplification product (PSAP) and smart ID card using WattUp technology at CES 2017 (see 1701040018). Energous CEO Stephen Rizzone called the FCC’s approval of the PSAP, from SK Telesys partner Delight, a positive announcement for the company because it means the first WattUp-enabled consumer product moving into full commercial production “with anticipated availability in Q1.” Rizzone acknowledged multiple delays for the product, maintaining the “customer funnel is robust” for CE products in “growing vertical markets” for full production in 2019. PSAPs, used to assist with hearing loss, are available without a prescription and tend to cost less than hearing aids, said Energous. WattUp wireless charging technology allows users to recharge the Delight PSAP by placing it on the included WattUp charging pad. Energous is also working on over-the-air charging, but no products have been announced.