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| You can't believe there was 350 million wireless ear-bud sold |
12/31/2019 |
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Taken as a whole, the category hit 96.7 million shipments in Q3, making a 53% year over year growth. For the fourth quarter (including the holidays), the number is expected to break 100 million, pushing things to around 350 million for the full year.
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| New electrolye protects battery from catching fire |
12/31/2019 |
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Now, the new nonflammable liquid electrolyte will be incorporated into batteries — offering hardware manufacturers the ability also to use liquid polymer and/or gel-based cell technologies. Gel-based batteries are also suitable for wearables, particularly where puncturing may be an issue.
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| MediaTek to launch second 5G chip in Q2 |
12/30/2019 |
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The announcement came as 5G chip competition is heating up: About a month ago, after MediaTek unveiled its first 5G SoC, named Dimensity 1000, for premium 5G smartphones, its bigger rival Qualcomm Inc followed with its own system one week later.
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| New overtime rules New York kicks in on New Year |
12/26/2019 |
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The Labor Department rules that go into effect Jan. 1 raise to $684 per week, or $35,568 a year, the threshold at which employees are exempt from being paid overtime. That's a 50.3% increase from the previous threshold of $455 per week or $23,660 annually.
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| Samsung plans decade long $116 billion capital spending |
12/26/2019 |
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The South Korean company is investing heavily in the next step in miniaturizing semiconductors, a process called extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV). It’s by far the priciest manufacturing upgrade Samsung has ever attempted, a risky bid to move beyond its established business of cranking out commoditized silicon and to leapfrog the incumbent leaders in the $250 billion foundry and logic-chip industry.
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| Manufacturing index for durable goods fell 2% |
12/25/2019 |
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Orders for durable goods fell 2% last month, the biggest decline since May, the Commerce Department said Monday. Orders have fallen in two of the past three months. October’s number was revised down to 0.2% from a 0.6% gain.
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| Amazon just notify merchants a 3% increase in fulfillment |
12/25/2019 |
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Higher costs from infrastructure and programs such as one-day delivery as why the higher merchant fees are needed, with Amazon adding that it has invested more than $15 billion in 2019 in tools, infrastructure and programs to help its sellers.
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| Uber CEO Travis Kalanick is out |
12/25/2019 |
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The departure did not come as a surprise. Kalanick recently sold more than $2.5 billion worth of shares in the company, more than 90% of his holdings.
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| Etron teamed with Lattice to develope DRAM applications with AI |
12/24/2019 |
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Memory design house Etron Technology has teamed up with US-based FGPA chipmaker Lattice Semiconductor on developing new miniaturized AI+DRAM platform for applications to terminal edge computing, industrial robots, and multimedia such as AR/VR.
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| Boeing space capsule safely returned after missing orbit |
12/24/2019 |
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The successful return capped a rocky start to a mission that was supposed to include a docking with the space station. Managers will review all the data before deciding whether to do another test flight or go straight to flying astronauts.
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| Wireless charging is rapidly becoming more common |
12/24/2019 |
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Wireless charging, involves transferring energy between two objects across an electromagnetic field. The concept, refined and applied to several small-sized applications in the mid-1970s, is making a comeback in consumer phones and EVs.
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| Miniaturized MLCC market to recover thanks to 5G |
12/23/2019 |
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Indicator suggesting the market for MLCCs may come back to life in 2020. According to sources at passive component equipment makers, an influx of short lead-time orders has started pulling in. The orders are mainly those for making miniaturized MLCCs, as well as power inductors.
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| U.S. economy grew 2.1% in Q3 |
12/23/2019 |
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The Commerce Department said Friday that the gross domestic product, the economy’s total output of goods and services, grew at a moderate annual rate of 2.1% in the third quarter.
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| Boeing no-bid on $85 Billion Minuteman III missile project |
12/23/2019 |
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Last week marked the deadline for bid submissions for a contract to replace the military’s Minuteman III missile system. Boeing has participated in the military’s program as a Minuteman supplier since 1962, and the company was expected to bid on the project along with competitor Northrop Grumman.
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| Study found face-scanning and recognition has its own difficulties |
12/23/2019 |
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The report cautions biased facial recognition that has alarmed the public, but also confirms similar trends showing higher error rates for women, the youngest and oldest people, and for certain racial groups depending on which image database or software is being used.
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