Foxconn, the contract manufacturer of Apple’s iPhone models, has been forced to shut down its production facility in Shenzhen as the government has ordered lockdown because of new cases of COVID-19.

Because of this new lockdown and shutdown of the factory, there could be some delay in shipments of some Apple devices for which Foxconn is responsible for production, which also includes some iPhone models.

The whole city of Shenzhen in China has been placed under lockdown for one week and everything is closed for the 17.5 million residents of the city, including bus and subway system of transportation.

Everything that is not considered essential has been shut down for a week, including the Foxconn factory. The company said that its Shenzhen operations would be suspended until further notice and added that it will now depend on backup plans to prevent disruptions.

Multiple Chinese provinces and cities have tightened restrictions, a move which is in line with Beijing’s zero-tolerance goal of suppressing contagion as quickly as possible.

If the new COVID-19 cases keep rising in China, then the lockdown period could be increased, disrupting production and supply chains, leading to a shortage of chips and components needed to make devices. Some reports indicate that the total number of COVID cases in China this year has already topped the numbers seen throughout 2021.

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As with some other parts of the world, there has been a steep rise in the use of smart home appliances and devices in the fallout of the COVID 19 pandemic that forced a global lockdown in 2020. A recent survey on US households by multinational professional services firm Deloitte has shown that households had an average of 25 smart home devices being deployed during the pandemic. These connected devices provided a raft of services, including entertainment, health and fitness, security, education, and work, among others.

As governments and health authorities battled to stem the rising cases of the novel coronavirus in 2020, many people were forced to work from home for extended periods of 2020, even up till this year. This transformed most homes into an amalgam of several activities, including work and leisure. This led to the seeming explosion in smart and connected devices like laptops, TVs, gaming consoles, headphones, and an array of other gadgets. These smart gadgets helped to spice up the boredom of being locked indoors for several months for many people.

In his comments on the survey, Deloitte’s Vice Chairman Paul Silvergate said that the onset of the pandemic had propelled the tech industry tens of years into the future. It has changed how we interact with the fast-expanding collection of connected devices, ultimately helping consumers, healthcare providers, tech innovators, education professionals, and others to adapt, innovate and thrive in daily activities.

The Deloitte survey revealed that about 58% of the respondents were having a smart wearable device, 14% of which purchased the device during the pandemic. This indicates a rise in the use of fitness features in these smartwatches to gauge daily exercise and other fitness activities.

Although the optics of the survey shows a growing acceptance of smart devices, there is still a fraction of the respondents (more than 30%) who feel overwhelmed by these devices and their subscription regime. This could cause a marginal decline in the use of smart devices, although the decline could be swamped by the growing number of new users of smart gadgets.

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The report adds that shipments of Xiaomi from near-zero in Q1 2020 to a record 0.5 million units during Q1 2021. The company surged from 2 percent to 16 percent market share during the past year.

The rise is mostly due to the strong presence of the Redmi smartphone models, which helped Xiaomi secure third place in the Chile smartphone market share. Also the pullout of Huawei helped Xiaomi grow in the market.

The report adds that if Xiaomi’s growth continues, then the brand will soon become the second-largest smartphone brand in Chile before the end of this year, overtaking the Lenovo-Motorola brand.

Smartphone shipments in Chile jumped 71 percent Year-on-Year from 1.7 million units during Q1 2020 to a record 2.9 million in Q1 2021, despite COVID-19 and political uncertainty. This is being attributed to a buoyant economy, strong exports, and a perceived high vaccination rate. Chile is the third-largest smartphone market in Latin America, after Brazil and Mexico.

Samsung’s market share in Chile grew 63 percent YoY from 0.8 million in Q1 2020 to 1.2 million units in Q1 2021. Samsung’s smartphone market share in Chile remains relatively stable for now, around 42 percent. Lenovo-Motorola holds second place and grew its smartphone market share from 12 percent during Q1 2020 to 17 percent in Q1 2021.

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Last month, Apple confirmed that the company has started production of its latest smartphone, the iPhone 12, in India at Foxconn’s Tamil Nadu plant. But not everything is going as per the plan.

A new report from Reuters claims that the production of iPhone 12 in India has dropped by more than 50 percent because of the COVID-19. The report, citing two sources aware of the matter, says that workers infected with COVID-19 have had to leave their posts, resulting in a drop in production.

It is claimed that more than 100 Foxconn employees have tested positive for COVID-19 and the company has enforced a no-entry ban at its factory in the capital of Chennai until late May. A person aware of the matter said: “Employees are only allowed to leave but not to enter the facility since yesterday. Only a small part of the output is being kept.”

The sources claim that more than 50 percent of the plant’s capacity had been cut but they did not specify the plant’s capacity and it was unclear how many workers were at the facility, which also provides dormitory accommodation for employees.

In a statement to Reuters, Foxconn said: “Foxconn places the health and safety of our employees as our highest priority and that is why we have been working closely with local government and public health authorities in India to address the challenges that we and all companies are facing in dealing with the COVID-19 crisis.”

Tamil Nadu, the state where the production plant is located, is also one of the worst-hit regions in the second wave of coronavirus in India. To curb the spread, the government has imposed a full lockdown from this week. The Foxconn facility in Tamil Nadu produces iPhones specifically for the Indian market — the world’s second-largest smartphone market.

It’s noteworthy that Foxconn isn’t the only producer affected by the coronavirus. Nokia and OPPO had also suspended production at factories in India after some workers had tested positive for COVID-19.

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India is battling with one of the worst outbreaks of COVID-19. With millions of infected citizens and several thousand deaths, a lot of activities are at a standstill. In light of this, ASUS India has announced that it will be delaying the launch of the Zenfone 8 series in the country.

The announcement was made on Twitter by Dinesh Sharma, who is the Business Head Commercial PC and Smartphone, for ASUS India. He said that the launch has been postponed till the situation improves.

While the world is excited for the launch of our new smartphone, we at ASUS India have consciously decided to defer the launch till the current scenario improves. Our thoughts n prayers are with those affected with Covid #stayhomestaysafe, n emerge stronger! #IndiaFightsCOVID19

— Dinesh Sharma (@sharmadinesh) May 10, 2021

ASUS is not the only manufacturer that has had to postpone a launch event due to the pandemic. Realme was supposed to have a launch event on May 4 but announced a week before the event that it has been postponed. A new date is yet to be announced.

The Zenfone 8 series launch will still hold on May 12/May 13 in other countries. ASUS will announce two phones – the Zenfone 8 and the Zenfone 8 Flip. The former is a 5.92-inch smartphone with a punch-hole display and dual rear cameras while the latter keeps the flip camera design of the Zenfone 6 and Zenfone 7 series. Both phones will have a Snapdragon 888 processor powering them and have support for 30W fast charging. They will also run Android 11 out of the box.

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The global coronavirus pandemic that has prevailed since early 2020 has affected sales projections in India’s smartphone market. The market has reportedly taken a dip, especially offline stores and outlets, as consumers continue to get their favorite brand products via numerous online outlets.

Presently, there is a lull in the rate at which smartphone brands open physical retail outlets, as most deployments have been stalled because of the negative growth outlook. Recent sales data show that the Indian smartphone market had experienced a general decline from its performance previously. Still, retail outlets with no online presence bore the brunt of the drop. This has warranted a downward review of the current growth forecasts, according to industry analysts.

A report by Counterpoint Research says the initial market share of offline sales has been downgraded to 55% due to the unimpressive numbers that have been recorded in the past two quarters. It is expected that the projections for the year will be reviewed further downwards, as the pandemic still bites hard on India. Other experts have given a similar outlook for the year.

There had been a gradual shift from the traditional offline sales model to e-commerce, but it seems this was further accentuated by the COVID-19 pandemic that saw much of the world under a forced lockdown for much of 2020. However, the offline retail outlets remain an integral component of the marketing strategy of some established brands in India like Xiaomi, Vivo, and others who continue to expand their physical presence in India through retail outlets. While small and medium shops continue to grapple with survival in the present circumstances, several offline channels have closed shop. This is projected to result in the loss of an estimated 50,000 jobs.

We expect the sales outlook to improve as vaccine rollout improves and the infection curve starts flattening out.

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COVID-19 pandemic is yet to dial down in many regions of the world and India seems to be the worst hit by the second wave. Several organizations, volunteers are chipping in to help the govt fight the deadly virus and Xiaomi has joined the bandwagon with a pledge of ₹3 Cr.

In a press note, Manu Kumar Jain of Global VP of Xiaomi and MD Xiaomi India, says that Xiaomi is pledging to donate over INR 3 Crore to procure 1000+ oxygen concentrators. If you aren’t aware, lack of enough Oxygen concentrators is the major concern in India amidst the rising COVID-19 cases.

Manu also says that the Oxygen concentrators will be donated to the hospitals and state governments wherever needed the most. To put things into perspective, states like Maharashtra have been the worst affected by the second wave of COVID-19 and the list also has others like Karnataka, Kerala, Delhi, Assam, and more.

This isn’t the first time Xiaomi is donating something to tackle the pandemic. Last year, around the same time, the company pledged about 15 Crore INR to help tackle the outbreak in India.

Before that, it also donated lakhs of N95 masks to hospitals and state governments across the country.

Smartphone brands have never shied away from contributing to the ongoing pandemic and the donations made by companies’ Indian Arm is a testament to that. Apart from Xiaomi, OnePlus and OPPO donated about ₹1 Cr. each in 2020, and Samsung had donated ₹20 Crores to PM Cares Fund and states of Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu last year.

Coming back, apart from the ₹3 Cr. donation, Manu says that Xiaomi will also partner with GiveIndia to raise ₹1 Crore to support frontline COVID warriors across the country. By this, he means the frontline workers like Doctors, Nurses, Health care professionals, and others working hard to contain the spread of the virus.

The donation page will be live on Xiaomi’s website and users, fans, partners, and people who are interested can donate to this initiative as well.

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The COVID-19 pandemic hit the airline industry very hard, and several airlines across the world are still grappling with the pandemic’s effects. At the height of the pandemic in 2020, many airports were shut down for extended periods. There were fears that the virus was being transmitted rapidly through airplanes. Even with the easing of air travel restrictions, the airlines have put in place an extensive screening protocol to ensure the safety of air passengers.

Now, a Swiss company, UVeya has developed robots capable of using ultraviolet light to screen passenger airplanes clean of viruses before humans board the aircraft. UVeya is conducting pilot trials within aircraft owned by Helvetic Airways, owned by Martin Ebner, a Swiss billionaire.

The pilot trials will establish whether the robots are indeed capable of killing all viruses in the aircraft through UV light. Simultaneously, the impact itself of the UV emission on the aircraft’s interior is also being examined. Before the UV spraying robots can be certified safe for use, all safety concerns must be addressed by the robot’s manufacturer.

UVeya co-founder Jodoc Elmiger says that aircraft manufacturers must certify the virus-killing system, and they are studying the impact of the UV light on the aircraft’s interior upholstery after many such UV disinfection. Elmiger is confident that robot cleaners could assure the flying populace’s safety even with the Covid-19 still prevalent.

UVeya already has three UV spraying robots, and it tested one of them in a Helvetic aircraft in Zurich Airport. The robot’s UV lights, mounted on a crucifix-shaped frame, illuminated the aircraft’s interior in a soft-blue glow as it went up the aisle. UVeya says the robot can disinfect a single-aisled plane in as low as 13 minutes.

If the pilot trials are successful, them UVeya may produce the robots in commercial quantities, and we would expect them to have a high demand for the UV spraying robots globally.

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As France goes into a third lockdown, Apple has announced that it is closing all its 20 stores across the country. Prior to this announcement, most of Apple’s stores across the country have been closed with the exception of 8 which were originally classified as essential shops.

The announcement was made on Twitter by the official Apple UNSA account. The tweet said that the eight stores including the Apple Champs-Élysées, Apple Opéra, and Apple Marché Saint-Germain stores which have remained open since March will be closed indefinitely starting on the evening of April 3. So all those who have orders to pick up have until this evening to do so.

This is the first time this year that Apple is closing all of its stores in the country. Lately, cases have been rising in the country which led to the government announcing a third lockdown on Wednesday evening. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, did say that this will be the country’s last national lockdown. Since the beginning of the pandemic, France has recorded up to 100,000 in total deaths.

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Apple is collaborating with Boston Children’s Hospital’s Vaccine finder to provide information on the nearest COVID-19 vaccination center across the United States. The information on your nearest vaccination facility is location-based and can be accessed via Apple Maps on various Apple devices.

This new feature is obviously a response to the current scenario of extensive vaccinations against the dreaded COVID-19 across the world. The US has been heavily hit by the pandemic and is gradually making solid progress to stem the tide of new infections by massive vaccination programs in thousands of facilities spread across the length and breadth of the country.

The initial partnership between Apple and VaccineFinder is for about 20,000 vaccination facilities, with their comprehensive location data and several other relevant information provided upon activating the feature in Apple Maps. On the Apple Maps search bar, the search query: COVID-19 vaccines, done in the Find Nearby menu will provide the closest centers where users can easily be vaccinated. The same operation can be achieved when using Apple’s smart assistant Siri.

The VaccineFinder service collects real-time information on the availability of vaccines at a variety of facilities including hospitals, pharmacies, and other centers in the US. In addition, the facilities can directly submit relevant information on various aspects of the pandemic, which will become visible on Apple Maps. At the height of the pandemic last year, Apple began providing information on testing centers for the Covid-19 in a number of countries in Europe and Asia, as well as in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States.

It is not known what plans are afoot to scale up the VaccineFinder partnership to cover many other countries outside the United States, as this would provide a massive boost in vaccination numbers as most countries continue to grapple with the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.

Apple has continued to make its contributions in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic on various fronts. It has produced short news podcasts on COVID-19 and this is called Siri Audio Briefs. And recently, a slew of studies conducted using Apple smartwatches showed that these smart wearables could predict the onset of the disease up to 10 days before symptoms are visible.

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Japan is reputed as the country with the highest number of functional vending machines per capita in the world. The country is looking at an effective way of putting its estimated 4.1 million vending machines into the fight against the coronavirus pandemic by selling rapid test kits via the machines.

The move is expected to scale up testing beyond the 40,000 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests that are being carried out daily across the country. It is also aimed at conserving critical public healthcare manpower that should be deployed to other areas for a more targeted battle against the pandemic.

The citizens had been at the mercy of private healthcare providers as the only alternative for testing before the deployment of the vending machine model. Therefore, vending machines configured to sell test kits are an effective way of avoiding the crowding at public and private healthcare facilities and waiting to be attended to. This was the view of Hideki Takemura, director of the Laketown Takenoko Ear Nose and Throat Clinic which has already deployed seven vending machines in parts of the capital, Tokyo.

According to Takemura, the country was carrying out a very low number of PCR tests which made it difficult to have a true picture of the extent of the pandemic in the country and even affected the recovery effort.

The vending machine model was a huge success at the early stages as the machines had high patronage, and in some cases, had to be emptied of cash and restocked due to the inflow of citizens who needed to be tested. While the vending machines are still popular, there had been a lull in their demand as the country continues to battle another wave of the pandemic.

The process of testing begins when a person purchases the test kit from the machine at about $40, which will then be used to collect the person’s saliva sample and then mailed to the laboratory for analysis.

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(source)

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With resistance from several quarters and many conspiracy theories spun around the recent coronavirus vaccines which are being deployed across the world to fight the deadly virus, Twitter has now released tough regulations that would penalize various levels of misinformation that may be peddled on the social networking platform.

The rumor mill is an ever-present threat to a successful rollout of vaccines and Twitter will be incorporating new labels into users’ timelines, which will also pop up whenever users are about to retweet misleading content. The labels system is just another move by the company to be more responsive and decisive in dealing with false and misleading information that may be peddled on it.

Making use of authentic and sufficiently vetted public information, misinformation tweets will attract notices together with a warning that the content may be misleading. The system will be moderated by humans and not an automated system. However, the labeling system which began on Tuesday (March 2) will provide training data for its artificial intelligence (AI) that is expected to learn the process and be deployed to run the system. The new system will be available in English and would be expanded to other languages subsequently.

The misinformation labeling system also comes with a system of issuing penalties via strikes for violators of the regulations. The strike system is such that a user with two or three strikes will have his account locked for 12 hours. With four violations, they lose account access for one week, with permanent suspension looming after five strikes.

As the social networking giant continues to reinvent itself and safeguard the sanctity of the platform with its zero tolerance for misinformation, it is hoped that this new move will further help mold proper behavior on the platform.

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Despite the rampaging COVID-19 pandemic, NASA still intends to continue its space missions. Fitbit has announced a pilot scheme with the US space agency that involves the distribution of 1,000 Fitbit smart wearable devices to the staff of the agency including about 150 astronauts. The goal of the program is to establish whether indeed these devices significantly contribute to keeping personnel safe and healthy in the face of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

It is very important that the team who make up the agency are kept safe and healthy, especially mission-critical personnel. The selected crew members will have a Fitbit smart wearable device on them, while a daily check-in app will assist them to record vital data that could indicate potential symptoms of COVID-19, as well as several other health and fitness metrics. The trajectory of these vital daily readings could help to identify a potential coronavirus case and mitigate the impact through isolation and rapid treatment.

The data generated from the device, in addition to data logged by users will help the app to identify minute changes in your body system that could be an early warning sign of COVID-19. Under such circumstances, users will be notified by the app to either isolate or go to work. It can also advise on getting tested to have a definitive status of the virus.

It is expected that the Fitbit pilot program will further enhance safety protocols already put in place to ensure that employees are kept safe and healthy and astronauts are guaranteed as healthy prior to any space mission, so as not to jeopardize the mission.

In the height of the pandemic, smartwatches are increasingly becoming important devices that could help to identify a potential case of Covid-19 even several days before observable symptoms become visible. A recent study using Apple smartwatches revealed an ability to identify a patient who is likely to develop. Fitbit has also done similar work, in collaboration with others and hopes the results from the pilot program will help in fighting and preventing covid-19.

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The use of contact tracing app was adopted last year in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic but there haven’t been a means of monitoring the effectiveness of the app usage. Well, there is now available data for the UK version dubbed NHS COVID-19 contact tracing app.

Researchers from the Alan Turing Institute at Oxford University (via) have claimed that the COVID-19 contact tracing app may have contributed to the prevention of infections to a reasonable extent across England and Wales. The study covers the period from September 2020 when the app was introduced to January 2021.

The app works by telling a user that he should isolate as a result of some activities he may have participated in. Avaailable data shows that the app has been downloaded around 21 million times, of which about 1.7 million people were advised to isolate.However, the research did not reveal the estimate of these 1.7 million users who actually followed the advice of the app and indeed did self isolate.

The research team went ahead to estimate the number of COVID-19 cases that may have been prevented across England and Wales through the NHS contact tracing app’s advisory, and this figure is put approximately at 600,000, which is about a third of the total notifications sent by the app.

While the report offers a ray of assurance and hope that such apps which have been well interfaced with Apple’s and Google’s location services on smartphones, continue to play an important role in the battle against the novel coronavirus, it should be pointed out that the results and conclusions from the study is yet to go through a rigorous peer review process that is needed to validate the research and its conclusions.

While more studies spanning a longer investigation period are being carried out, the present findings by the researchers from Oxford University may be lending support from the UK government’s investment in the contact tracing app worth over £35 million.

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Amidst fears of another outbreak of the COVID-19 during Lunar New Year, China’s IT supply chain companies are going to work round the clock according to reports. The move is to ensure the companies complete the outstanding orders whilst also curbing another possible spread of the virus.

According to the report by Digitimes, the percentage of workers present on the production lines will be at an all-time high. Last year, by this time, the Coronavirus had broken into many countries and China was the epicenter. As a result, giants like Apple had to halt production as their suppliers Foxconn shut their factories.

Coming back, the production, especially in Taiwan-based firms, will see attendance as high as 90% of Taiwanese Managers. Citing industry sources, the report says that most of them will not return to Taiwan for reunions during Holidays. For the unware, Lunar New Year, also called Spring Festival, is a festival celebrated in China and other Asian countries.

It begins with the first new moon of the Lunar calendar and ends on the first full moon of the calendar after 15 days. This year, the New Year is falling on February 12, 2021. As said above, the migrant workers might spread the virus if they move across places during this time.

To ensure safety, and catch up with the demand, companies including the ones in the IT supply chain are keen to keep the work going and not commit the same mistake as last year. In fact, the mistake was so bad in 2020 that giants like Apple, Microsoft, and even Sharp had to move the production out of China.

However, the shortage of components is said to be high during the holidays nonetheless. To tackle the inventory dip to their best, some companies are planning to pay the workers up to 3x times the normal.

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As we all know, COVID-19 has impacted every sector from Technology to Agriculture. Hence, the smartphone industry is no exemption to this. For instance, the Global smartphone shipments have declined by 8%. Accordingly, a counterpoint research now says that the Refurbished smartphone market also dropped in 2020.

The refurbished smartphone market is considered a secondary market. Although they are sort of old devices, they are scrutinized for repairs, repacked, and re-sold. Some even include half of the New Smartphone warranty(which is the Primary market). And the report says it considers only such devices for the analysis.

It mentions that the global refurbished smartphone market dropped by 9% YoY in 2020. Among the lot, LATAM(Latin America) and India seems to be the most affected with an individual drop of 24% and 20% respectively. China also faced the heat with an 8% drop in growth compared to 2019.

Reasons like the US-China trade war and tensions with Hong Kong are reportedly the reasons for this. Apparently, many resellers avoid china fearing scrutiny by the Chinese Govt, import duties, higher replacement part costs according to Research Director Jeff Fieldhack.

EDITOR’S PICK: IDC: Over 225 million used smartphones were shipped in 2020

The refurbished market’s H1 2020 period saw a huge 16% drop compared to H1 2019. And as the pandemic worsened, Lockdowns and economic restrictions in the majority of areas meant a lower inflow of refurbished devices. Compared to last year, Europe,  US, and others saw a 14%, 2%, and 10% drop respectively.

That said, the second half gave a bit of breath to the industry thanks to giants like Apple’s iPhone launch cycle. Precisely, according to Senior Research Analyst Glen Cardoza, Apple’s share in the secondary market grew from 39% to 42%.

The Black Market and Recommerce(reverse commerce- selling of old/new products) also grew in 2020. Add to this, the ASP(Average Selling Price) of refurbished LTE devices saw a rise in Price.

Overall, the majority of countries mainly faced a decline in the refurbished smartphone market due to the COVID-19 and as it is expected to subside with vaccine rollout, we can expect a rebound this year.

UP NEXT: Official data shows the Chinese smartphone shipments fell 20.4% in 2020

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It is claimed that your smartwatch, as well as other smart wearables that continuously measure the users’ vital statistics like heart rates, skin temperature, and other physiological indicators, can provide sufficient information that may help in determining possible coronavirus infection a few days before an individual is diagnosed with the virus, after doing a test.

Such devices include the Apple Watch, Garmin, and Fitbit watches, as well as other brands from producers of smart wearables, could indicate whether an individual is positive for COVID-19, even before the known symptoms are felt, at which time they have become symptomatic and tests could detect the presence of the virus. This is according to studies from a number of leading academic and medical institutions, including Mount Sinai Health System, and Stanford University, both in the US. It is believed in many quarters that wearable technology could play a very important role in curtailing the pandemic, as well as some other communicable diseases.

The researchers at Mount Sinai Health System discovered that the Apple Watch can detect subtle changes in a person’s heartbeat, which can provide evidence and a signal that the person may have contracted the coronavirus. This indication or signal could come as early as a week before the person may feel sick or the infection is detected after a test was conducted.

The study analyzed what was defined as heart rate variability — the variation in time between a person’s heartbeats, which is also an indicator of how well a person’s immune system is working. Persons who had COVID-19 were observed to have lower heart rate variability, while the COVID-negative persons were exhibiting a higher variability in the time between heartbeats.

It is noted that a high heart rate variability does not reflect or indicate an elevated heart rate, but rather It indicates that a person’s nervous system is quite active, adaptable, and could be more effective in coping with stress.

The Study involved about 300 health care workers in the Mount Sinai medical facility who wore Apple Watches for 153 days from April to September 2020.
Apple was not part of the Mount Sinai Study but is aware of the potentials of its smartwatches.

Data generated by smartwatches could be very helpful in the fight against the pandemic, as it is estimated that more than 50% of coronavirus cases are spread by asymptomatic persons, well unaware that they are carriers. This is according to a report by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week.

A separate and independent study by researchers from Stanford University, in which the participants wore a variety of different activity trackers from Garmin, Fitbit, Apple, and others, discovered that about 81% of COVID-19 positive participants experienced an elevated increase in their resting heart rates up to nine full days before symptoms began to be observed, which, according to the study, indicated the onset of symptoms.

The Stanford researchers used the smartwatch data to correctly identify up to 66% of COVID-19 cases, four to seven days before the participants showed symptoms, as reported in their study published in Nature Biomedical Engineering in November last year. The study examined data from 32 persons who tested positive for covid-19 among more than 5,000 participants.

The Stanford research team has gone ahead to create an alarm system that alerts wearers of smart devices that their heart rate has been elevated for a sustained period of time,
It is believed that such technology could assist to mitigate some of the observed shortcomings in relation to testing for coronavirus.

Manufacturers of these smart wearables are also looking at how the technology could be used to fight the virus and have started funding research in this direction.

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(source)

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If we decide to brand Japan as the Robotics headquarters of the world, we won’t be wrong! The Asian nation leads the world in the field of robotics with highly competitive research, development, and applied technologies. The stride isn’t ending anytime soon as a 60-foot (18-meter) “Gundam” robot that is capable of walking and moving its arms has reportedly been unveiled in Japan on Monday.

The robot, which is expected to help efforts to invigorate the country’s tourism sector which has been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, is modeled after a figure in “Mobile Suit Gundam,” a Japanese cartoon first launched in the late 1970s. The cartoon series is themed around the story of enormous battle robots piloted by humans. The series has given birth to several spin-offs as well as toys and has a worldwide following.

The huge robot will take the center stage on December 19 at the opening of the Gundam Factory, a tourist attraction located in the port city of Yokohama. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told a news conference that he hoped that the tourist attraction would lead to stimulating tourism demand and revitalizing local areas.

“Of course, we now have the coronavirus issue. I want people to tackle endeavors like this while making an effort to prevent the spread of infection,” he added.

Japan has consistently been at the forefront of deploying robots as part of our everyday life, especially during the present COVID 19 period. We have covered several stories of robots being deployed in Japan to perform duties ordinarily covered by humans like the deployment of robots in a professional Baseball game to act as cheerleaders in the absence of fans at the stadium. Much more recently, a shop in Japan rolled out a robot which helps enforce physical distancing and the use of facemasks inside the store. (via)

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Dreamtech is set to begin production of an electronic nose solution that will be able to detect a Coronavirus infection in just 30 seconds next year. The company announced that it has just finished the trial phase earlier this month.

According to TheElec report, the electronic nose from Dreamtech has been co developed with an Israeli form called Nanoscent. This device can basically detect if a patient or subject has contracted COVID-19 by analyzing their breath. It is able to achieve this by detecting the volatile organic compound in their breath. Notably, this gadget can also be effective in detecting cases where the patients is asymptomatic.

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Dreamtech seeks to produce the solutions in South Korea within the first half of 2021. At the moment, the company is also preparing for approvals of authorities from various governments across multiple countries. The company also stated that even ordinary people, which could even be staff at companies, could be trained to perform the tests after using the electronic nose after just an hour of training.

Dreamtech said that trials have shown that tests showcase a similar result as PCR. Furthermore, the company with Nanoscent will also be testing solutions in four English football teams, including the Tottenham Hotspur. If this is approved in various nations, the time required for obtaining these results will be shortened by a large margin. Effectively, this could simply act as a device in place of thermal temperature mapping guns.

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UPDATE: Check out a video of the robot in action from below.

The original story continues;

A Japanese-made robot has become an instant hit and COVID-19 protocols enforcer, having joined the staff of a store with the mandate to ensure that customers wear masks and practice sufficient physical distancing to prevent the spread of the deadly disease.

This star robot, whose name is Robovie, was developed by leading robotic firm, Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR) and offers guidance and direction to visitors to the official merchandise and memorabilia store of Osaka-based football club, Cerezo Osaka.

Robovie uses a powerful camera in combination with 3D laser beam technology and Artificial Intelligence to guide its operations. It warns customers immediately it detects that they are not wearing face masks or observing physical distancing rules.

Robovie’s deployment provides an innovative response to the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic and an indication of how tech firms are providing solutions to human problems. The robot is on trial at the store for up to a month, in the first instance, ATR stated.

Till date, Japan has more than 120,000 reported cases of COVID-19 and about 2,000 deaths. Being close to China where the virus emanated, Japan has been able to exceptionally manage the pandemic better than many countries. Compliance to prevention protocols like regular use of facemasks in public places, physical distancing and hygienic practices.

However, authorities are not letting their guards down and are calling for vigilance amidst the likelihood of a second wave of infections after a resurgence in cases as the weather becomes colder and people spend more time in enclosed places.

The potential of robots playing a significant role in the response to future disease outbreaks is very promising. Robots had played important roles including in isolation centres and hospitals, providing safe solutions to very risky and hazardous situations for humans.

The use of Robots in Japan also includes cheerleading as spotted back in June during the professional baseball game where Fukuoka SoftBank Hawk hosted Rakuten Eagles. The host team owned by Softbank deployed over 20 robots to dance in a choreographed style to the team’s fight song on a podium in the stand which was entirely empty. Some of the robots include the famed Boston Dynamic’s Spot and Softbank’s humanoid robot named Pepper.

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At the INNO DAY 2020 event held today, OPPO announced its Computer-Aided Detection Research Platform which will help in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to OPPO, the platform is used to detect coronavirus cases and boasts an accuracy of 99.67%. There is no explanation for how the diagnosis is carried out but OPPO says the framework will be made open to health institutions so that they can develop faster and more effective screening tools that can assist in combating the pandemic.

OPPO is not the only tech company that has developed ways to assist with the fight against COVID-19. Google and Apple partnered together to develop the Exposure Notifications System which helps with contact tracing. The app (for Android) or feature (iOS) will notify users who have been exposed to someone who has contracted COVID-19.

Users who opt-in for the service will have a random ID generated for their device. For security, the ID changes every 10-20 minutes. Using Bluetooth, your phone communicates with other devices and exchanges these IDs, and periodically checks to know if any of the IDs it has come in contact with is associated with that of a user that has tested positive. If there is a match, you get a notification and instructions on how to keep safe.

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Researchers at Cornell University have invented an earphone that can continuously track full facial expressions, even when the face is covered by a mask. The ear-mounted device, named C-Face, works by observing the contour of the cheeks and then translates the expressions into emojis or speech commands.

Using the C-Face device, users can express emotions to online collaborators without holding cameras in front of their faces. This seems like a useful tool for communication, especially at a time when the world is engaged in remote work or learning because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Cheng Zhang, Assistant Professor of Information Science and Senior Author of this research has said that “this device is simpler, less obtrusive and more capable than any existing ear-mounted wearable technologies for tracking facial expressions.”

As the device works by detecting muscle movement, C-Face can capture facial expressions even when users are wearing masks. It can also be used to direct a computer system, such as a music player, just by using only facial cues.

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Using the device, avatars in virtual reality environments can express how their users are actually feeling, and instructors can also get valuable information about student engagement during online lessons.

As for its working, once the images are captured, they are reconstructed using computer vision and a deep learning model. Then, a convolutional neural network – an AI model for classifying, detecting, and retrieving images, reconstructs the contours into expressions.

It translates the images of cheeks to 42 facial feature points, or landmarks, which represents the shapes and positions of the mouth, eyes, and eyebrows since those features are the most affected by changes in expression.

The researchers tested the C-Face device on nine participants and the average error of the reconstructed landmarks was under 0.8 mm. They also found that emoji recognition was more than 88 percent accurate and silent speech was nearly 85 percent accurate.

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Google is constantly working to create awareness among people about COVID-19. It’s Google Maps has already has a COVID-19 alert, checkpoints. In fact, it has a section dedicated to the pandemic explaining the guidelines to be followed. And now, it has gone a step further to introduce a new layer, a tool that shows critical information about COVID-19 cases in a given area.

The new update will add a new “COVID-19 info” tab on the top-right corner. This is intended to help Google Maps users get access to data on the infections around them. Open Google Maps and Select Layers>COVID-19 info and it will reveal a 7-day average of COVID-19 cases. As per Google, this calculates the average per 100,000 cases in the selected area.

To make things easier, Google also has new color codes to indicate the amount of increasing/decreasing cases as shown below:

• Grey: <1
• Yellow: 1 – 10
• Orange: 10 – 20
• Dark orange: 20 – 30
• Red: 30 – 40
• Dark red: 40+

Editor’s Pick: Google Maps now lets users calibrate GPS with Live View

Google says through this distinctive color-coding, users can know what is the intensity of new cases around them. The data on trending cases will be available in 220 countries including their state, county, and city-level data wherever possible. However, this may be subject to delays as there are instances where cases have been reported late with few discrepancies.

1 of 2

Further, according to Google, the data that is shown is collected by sources from various Public Health Organizations like WHO, Government Health ministries along with state agencies and hospitals. Some of the legit sources include John Hopkins, the New York Times, and Wikipedia. It must be noted that some of them already help Google refine its search and display of COVID case information on Google Search. That said, the feature will start rolling out to users of both Android and iOS this week.

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Apple is known for making innovative and premium consumer electronics products. However, due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, the company has designed and manufactured its own face mask.

As per the report from Bloomberg, the face mask, which is being called Apple Face Mask, uses three layers of material to filter out particles. Apart from this, the company also has another mask called ClearMask which is the first completely clear surgical mask that has been approved by the FDA.

Thanks to the transparency in the material, the ClearMask will enable those who are deaf or hard at listening to lipread the other person. As per the report, the Face Mask has been designed and manufactured entirely by Apple’s internal teams while the ClearMask has been sourced from outside.

Further, the company has carefully sourced materials so that it doesn’t take away supplies of materials needed for PPE in hospitals. To replace the standard cloth masks worn by the employees, Apple will start sending out the new masks to corporate and retail employees over the next few weeks.

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As for the design, the mask looks quite unique with large coverings on the top and the bottom for the nose and chin. It also comes with adjustable strings so that it easily fits around the person’s ears.

It is not yet known if the company plans to manufacture these new masks for external use. Apple Store policy requires employees and customers to wear face masks, with Apple Stores distributing masks to customers upon entering the store.

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According to the latest report published by Strategy Analytics, the notebook devices or the mobile productivity devices registered a 27 percent year-on-year growth in the second quarter of this year.

The growth in demand is being attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic which forced consumers, companies, and schools to purchase such devices as the majority of them started operating through Work from Home model.

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Interestingly, two leading companies in this segment — Lenovo and HP controlled almost 50 percent of the market share in Q2 2020. As per the report, Lenovo accounted for 25 percent of the share, taking the pole position, while HP managed to grab a 24.8 percent market share in the second quarter.

On the other hand, brands like Dell, Apple, and Acer were ranked third, fourth, and fifth in terms of global notebook shipments, with a market share of 15.6 percent, 8.5 percent, and 6.7 percent respectively.

The report reveals that there was robust demand from consumers, who mostly purchased devices for work, studying, and playing games. Chromebooks also witnessed high demand, mostly from schools and consumers to support e-learning efforts. It remains to be seen if this pandemic-induced demand continues or slows down in upcoming quarters.

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Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Samsung has halted its Original Design Manufacturing (ODM) operations. With the situation now getting normal, the company has resumed ODM operations for its business.

As per the report, Samsung is planning to produce around 24 million to 26 million units of smartphones through ODM partners this year. The numbers represent about 10 percent of the company’s total annual smartphone production.

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It adds that the South Korean giant has planned for ODM to account for 20 percent of the total production but has now lowered the expectations because of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the period of two months — February and March, Samsung’s ODM partners Wingtech and Huaqin saw a drop of 50 percent in their production.

Last year, ODM partners had produced around 30 million units of smartphones for Samsung, which were well received in the targeted market. The company could have sold more units but the partners couldn’t handle the jump in orders.

Currently, China-based Wingtech is making the Samsung Galaxy M01s smartphone for the company, which was launched last month, targeted towards the Asian market. As the name indicates, the phone is a variant of Galaxy M01.

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Amid COVID-19 pandemic, while the smartphone market witnessed a massive decline, mobile gaming has witnessed a surge of 27 percent, according to the new estimate data released by Sensor Tower, a mobile app data analytics firm.

As per the report, in Q2 2020, mobile gaming revenue witnessed a 27 percent rise year-on-year, generating around $19.3 billion. This represents a rise of 10.3 percent compared to the previous quarter.

The peak for the revenue was in May this year, which generated $6.6 billion, registering a rise of 21.5 percent year-on-year. The report adds that while the new game installs saw a massive rise in Q1 2020, up to 38 percent YoY at 13.4 billion, downloads further grew in Q2 2020 to more than 15 billion, up by 45.2 percent year-on-year.

The top three countries for the increase in new installs include India, the United States, and Brazil. India generated 1.8 billion game downloads in Q1 2020 and 2.7 billion downloads in Q2 2020. As for the United States, it witnessed 1.4 billion downloads in Q1 and Q2. Brazil, on the other hand, saw 1.1 billion downloads in Q1 and 1.2 billion downloads in Q2 2020.

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Some of the most popular gaming titles during the lockdown period include Roblox from Roblox Corporation and Fortnite from Epic Games — both of which witnessed a surge in popularity. However, PUBG Mobile from Tencent remains the top game in terms of generating revenue with around $621 million in Q2.

The United States was the leading country in terms of game revenue for the first half of this year, generating more than $10 billion. Compared to the user spending of $4.5 billion in Q1, it saw a 24.4 percent increase in the second quarter with $5.6 billion.

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According to the Counterpoint Research data, the Indian smartphone market witnessed a massive decline of 51 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of this year. This is mainly because of the lockdown imposed by the Indian government to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

The nation-wide lockdown in India began in the last week of March which results in almost zero sales of smartphones in April this year. With lockdown restrictions lifted, the demand is also increasing and thus, the sales numbers are getting closer to the pre-COVID period.

The report from Counterpoint claims that for the month of June, it registered just 0.3 percent YoY decline, thanks to the increased smartphone demands and aggressive push from the manufacturers in India.

The Indian smartphone market is being dominated by Chinese brands. However, their contribution fell to 72 percent in Q2 2020 from 81 percent in Q1 2020 because of supply chain issues faced by the companies.

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Xiaomi is still leading the Indian smartphone market, accounting for around 29 percent of the market, followed by Samsung with a 26 percent market share. The third, fourth, and fifth positions are secured by Vivo, Realme, and OPPO with 17 percent, 11 percent, and 9 percent market share respectively.

South Korean giant is keen to grab the pole position in the Indian market, which the held for years before Xiaomi grabbed it. However, Samsung is actively trying to get a bigger market share, as a result, the gap for the pole position is now shortening.

Another advantage for Samsung in the Indian market is that it is not a Chinese brand. Because of the on-going India-China border dispute, there is a strong anti-China sentiment and the Indian government has also banned 59 Chinese applications. It is now also planning to ban hundreds of Chinese apps, including the popular game PUBG Mobile.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has already disrupted the economy and the businesses are struggling to survive. While smartphone brands are not in the struggling stage, they are looking at a massive dip in sales, and thus, revenue.

According to the research by DigiTimes, the Chinese smartphone brands could witness a double-digit decline in the second half of this year. The reason being attributed is that the demand in the local market hasn’t fully recovered yet.

Another reason behind the decline of Chinese smartphone shipment is that the export of shipments has still been restricted in some overseas markets as the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t under control yet.

The report adds that compared to Q1 2020, China’s smartphone shipments grew 43.3 percent to 157 million units in Q2 2020. However, the figures are still down by 15.2 percent when compared to the same period in the previous year.

With exports being limited, smartphone brands in China were forced to focus on the domestic market. As a result, Huawei, OPPO, Vivo, and Xiaomi account for 82.3 percent of China’s smartphone shipments in Q2 2020.

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Although almost smartphone brands witnessed a decline in shipments compared to the previous year, Huawei is the only company to register a 2.1 percent growth in the second quarter. Xiaomi, on the other hand, saw a massive 27.1 percent decline because of the setback in overseas shipments.

To boost smartphone sales, companies are now looking to bring it new technologies at an affordable price point, including 5G, super-fast charging, among others. Despite that, the companies won’t see much growth because of the sluggish market.

It’s not just the Chinese market that is facing the issue. India, which is the world’s second-largest smartphone market, witnessed a 48 percent year-on-year decline in the second quarter of this year.

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With the on-going COVID-19 pandemic and the cases rising around the world, one of the most effective ways to prevent the infection is personal hygiene and sensitizing things and products that you come in contact with.

Spotting the opportunity, Samsung has launched a new UV sterilizer for smartphones, accessories, and electronic products. As per the company’s claim, it can kill up to 99 percent of germs and bacteria using UV-C radiation.

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The Dual UV setup in the device can eliminate pathogens and bacteria on both the sides of a device in a single go. It’s large in size, measuring 22.8 x 12.8 x 4.9cm, and thus, it can accommodate larger devices like the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra.

Samsung says that it should thoroughly disinfect both sides of your phone in just about 10 minutes. Its functionality isn’t limited to just disinfection. The new Samsung UV Sterilizer also doubles up as a wireless charger and supports 10W charging.

It seems to be an extension of the phone sanitizing service that Samsung is already offering in about 19 countries across the world through its own Samsung Service Centers and Samsung Experience Stores.

As for the Samsung UV Sanitizer, it is currently only available for purchase in Thailand for a price of 1,590 baht, which roughly converts to $50. We expect the company to make this product available in other countries soon, but there’s no confirmation yet.

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(Source)

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Earlier this year, Samsung launched its next-generation Galaxy S-series flagship smartphones that included Galaxy S20, S20 Plus, and S20 Ultra. Unlike the S20 and S20 Plus, the Ultra model features a 108MP primary camera sensor on the back.

However, the S20 Ultra suffers from a focusing issue where the focus of the camera is much slower, and sometimes it misses the subject altogether. Reports indicate that this could be because of the lack of dual-pixel PDAF on the 108MP sensor.

Now, Samsung is gearing up to launch the Galaxy Note20 series smartphones in the coming months and as per the report, the focusing issue with the 108MP camera sensor has been resolved on the upcoming devices. But what exactly did the company do to solve the issue has not been revealed yet.

As for the chipset, all the models of the Galaxy Note20 lineup will come powered by the upcoming Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus SoC, which as the name itself indicates, is an upgraded variant of the SD865 chipset.

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Not just the Note20 series, the Galaxy Fold 2, Galaxy Z Flip 5G, and the Galaxy Tab S7 are also said to come powered by the Snapdragon 865 Plus chipset. However, in some regions, the devices could be powered by Samsung’s own Exynos 992 SoC.

Samsung typically announces the Galaxy Note series flagship smartphones in the month of August and is expected to follow the trend this year as well. As per the reports, Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event could be hosted on 5th August but the company is yet to confirm the launch date. If this turns out to be true, then it will be the first online-only Unpacked event from the South Korean giant, because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It remains to be seen if the company decides to start selling the smartphone soon after the official announcement, given that the sales could be impacted if the situation doesn’t improve anytime soon. The Samsung Galaxy S20 series, despite being the leader in 5G smartphone sales in the United States, is underperforming compared to its predecessors.

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(Sources – 1, 2)

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The COVID-19 global pandemic has changed the way we shop for things offline. In India, a public-private initiative called ‘Suraksha’ has been introduced. The staff of stores registering for the program will be trained for attending customers following social distancing norms.

On completion of the process, these shops will be issued a certificate to denote them safe for the public. Since most of the stores are eligible for the initiative, Samsung and Xiaomi have become the first smartphone makers to have their retail stores Suraksha certified.

Samsung revealed 100% of its exclusive stores in India are Suraksha certified in a press release. Whereas, Xiaomi posted a video on YouTube explaining what customers need to take care of while visiting its stores. We have attached this video above for better understanding.

While entering any Suraksha certified or any store for matter, customers should wear a mask and need to follow social distancing by standing in boxes or circles drawn on the surface. At the entrance, the security or staff will first check the body temperature and if found normal, the person will be provided hand sanitizer. Only then, they can step their foot into the store.

Further, visitors are not allowed to touch any product or surfaces. They can experience the product only if they are going to buy by requesting a pair of gloves from the staff. Also, the whole store is sanitized more times than before to avoid any possible infection.

Last but not least, customers are advised to make digital payments instead of cash.

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(Via)

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The use of facemask has been adopted by health authorities in many countries as an effective means of preventing the spread of Coronavirus. Since the scourge became a pandemic, facemasks have been in hot demand in several countries and several new technologies have sprung up aimed at promoting safe and comfortable use of the facemasks.

Israeli researchers at Israeli Institute of Technology – Technion have developed a mask that can be cleaned and re-used using the electrical current of a mobile phone charger. The mask is developed by the company’s Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering and is touted as capable of annihilating pathogens that might accumulate on the mask’s surface. It is said to be effective against the strain of Coronavirus which causes COVID-19.

The new facemask utilises an internal carbon fibre layer. The carbon fibre can be heated up by plugging the mask into a standard 2A power source including a mobile charger, laptop USB port, power bank etc.

A spokesperson for Technion disclosed that a patent had been filed in the United States and that steps were being taken to make the mask available commercially. The mask has a front valve which will make breathing easy for the user. The charging port is just by the side of the vent. The facemask is surprisingly expected to come with a cheap price – just one dollar.

Apart from this innovative design, there are several innovations concerning face masks presently. Recently, an Israeli firm Avtipus Patents and Inventions announced that it had created a ‘smart’ mask with an aperture that opens automatically when a fork is brought close to the face. The mask can also be operated using a hand-held remote control. However, not many persons will find dining with a mask on cool.

Amazfit Aeri is yet another amazing self-disinfecting face mask which also allows face unlock on your phone without any disruption.

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(via)

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One medical equipment that has been in high demand since the COVID 19 pandemic started raging is ventilators. Countries have scampered to procure more ventilators with manufacturers unable to meet the current demand. A number of manufacturing firms have even ventured into producing emergency gears like facemasks and ventilators. Carmakers, GM and Ford recently ventured into the manufacture of ventilators.

Fitness tracking wearable manufacturer Fitbit has now announced plans to shift its supply chain resources to manufacture emergency ventilators. The company’s CEO James Park disclosed this to CNBC, stating that the company had expertise around the supply chain already. The move is aimed at boosting the supply of medical devices in the US.

CNBC reports that Fitbit plans to submit the designs for its ventilator to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under an emergency use authorization in the coming days. An emergency use authorization allows a medical device or product that hasn’t been officially approved by the FDA to be used to treat a life-threatening disease.

Park aims for the ventilators to be the “most advanced” emergency user ventilator available for a “lower” cost, but that a price hasn’t been determined, according to CNBC. Most ventilators cost thousands of dollars, and high-end ones can cost as much at $50,000.

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(source)

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Razer, the company known for making gaming products, has revealed its plan to help people in the Singapore fight against the COVID-19. The company said that it will deploy 20 face masks vending machines across the country by the end of this month to distribute millions of masks for free.

It’s noteworthy that the company’s global operations are based in Singapore. The company’s CEO CEO Min-Liang Tan said that “Razer will continue our endeavours in supporting Singapore to be self-sufficient for face masks as a nation.”

To pick up a mask from the vending machine, the company says that users will have to download its digital wallet app and scan a QR code. Razer is already making masks and is now planning to double that production.

The company’s plan is to give all Singaporean adult residents one free surgical mask, which adds up to about 5 million in total. Once the program kicks off, more locations may be added as per the requirement.

The response from Razer comes as the country is experiencing an alarming second wave of coronavirus infections. It now has more than 23,822 confirmed cases, up from just a few hundred in March.

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However, the company is also facing criticism on social media for the requirement of downloading Razer app to get face mask. People are suggesting that the company is trying to pick up more users for its fintech platform Razer Pay.

Responding to the criticism, Min-Liang Tan said that having users scan QR from the app “is the only way we’ll be able to ensure there’s no free for all on the masks … We’re funding this completely ourselves and would like to ensure there’s no fraud.”

Razer said on April 24th that it’s already shipped more than 1 million of those masks all over the world. With plan of offering 5 million masks for free in Singapore, the company is also partnering with plastic manufacturer Sunningdale Tech to up its production to 10 million masks a month.

UP NEXT: Vivo X50 smartphone confirmed to launch on June 1l will come with eye-like gimbal camera system

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There are many new smart products that have evolved to help users to wave across difficult times. Similarly, a quite useful gadget – MT08 Temperature Track Watch is here to assist you with real-time body temperature-reading throughout the day. It is the perfect companion these days as it will help the users to self assess themselves each day without any external assistance. MT08 Temperature Track Watch is an automatic yet helpful gadget available for an affordable price of $9.99.

Must See: Mid-range smartphones will be the stars of COVID-19 global pandemic

The compact MT08 Temperature Track Watch automatically monitors your body temperature after a couple of hours. It sounds an alarm if the temperature is found above the normal range of 27.3℃ or 99-degree ℉. The user can customize the measurement unit between Celcius and Fahrenheit.

Apart from the temperature measurement, the watch can display time and date. It can withstand without any battery replacement for 8-10 months if using continuously. However, the watch uses a 3V CR2016 button battery.

The smartwatch weighs 22gram and measures 30x 10 mm. It is carved out of silicone and stainless steel for long-lasting.

The users can grab the MT08 Temperature Trac watch for $9.99 from Giztop. It is available in five different color options of the black, gene, blue, orange, and pink. The watch is globally available with free and fast shipping without any additional charges.

Related: Ticwris GTS smartwatch measures real-time body temperature to prevent the spread of Covid-19

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The COVID-19 global pandemic has undoubtedly affected all the businesses in the world, including the mobile phone industry. However, a report released by the China Information and Communications Technology Institute shows the Chinese mobile phone market has recovered in April with 14.2% YoY increase in shipments.

China Mobile Phone Market April 2020

Though the mobile phone industry in China recovered in April with shipments of 41.728 million units, there was a YoY decrease of 20.1% from January to April. The country witnessed 90.681 million units shipments in the last four months.

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In April alone, 48 new mobile phone models were launched in China, which is an increase of 14.3% YoY. But when we consider from the beginning of this year, only 137 new models were released, which happens to be down by 18% YoY.

China 5G Mobile Phone Market April 2020

As for 5G phones are concerned, 16.32 million units were shipped in April, accounting for 39.3% of the total mobile phone shipments. Further, 22 new 5G models were launched, which is 45.8% of the total new models launched in the same period.

In total, 65 new 5G handsets were released from January to April, accounting for 47.4% of new launches and 33.6% of total shipments with 30.441 million units.

China Feature Phone Market (Local Brands) April 2020

Talking about brands, Chinese-branded feature phones shipped 37.982 million units in April, an 11.9% YoY increase, accounting for 91% of all the brands. A total of 44 new models were released in April, an increase of 25.7% YoY, totalling 91.7% of all the new models.

Whereas, from January to April, there was a 22.7% YoY decline with 81.03 million shipments, accounting for 89.4% of the total shipments.  A total of 123 Chinese-branded feature phones were launched in this period, a YoY decline of 16.3%, accounting for 89.8% of all the new models released.

China Smartphone Market (Local Brands) April 2020

As for local or domestic Chinese-branded smartphones are concerned, they shipped 40.782 million units in April, a 17.2% YoY increase, accounting for 97.7% of all the brands. However, there was a 5.9% YoY decrease in terms of new models launch (32), accounting for 66.7% of the total new model releases.

Considering from January to April, 88.518 million Chinese-branded smartphones were shipment with 17.9% YoY decline, accounting for 97.6% of the total smartphone shipments. Domestic brands launched 106 new models, a 19.7% YoY decline, accounting for 77.4% of the total new smartphone launches.

Going by the data, the China mobile phone market has recovered by a high margin. But only time will tell if it will be able to keep up the momentum in the coming months.

UP NEXT: OnePlus slipped to third position in India’s premium smartphone segment in Q1 2020, iPhone 11 was the top selling device

(Via)

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India went under lockdown on 17th March and since then only essential services related businesses are allowed to operate. However, after extending the lockdown again on 3rd May, the Indian government is loosening up restrictions.

Samsung, which has been severely hit because of the coronavirus pandemic, has now come up with a new solution. As e-commerce deliveries still remain unavailable in various parts of the country because of lockdown, the South Korean giant is bringing the retail stores online for selling phones.

The company has partnered with Benow to bring retailers online and connect them with local customers. Samsung claims that more than 20,000 retailers have already signed up to the platform and says that it’s a win-win for retailers and customers.

For getting registered, Samsung shares dealer’s information with Benow which then shares a registration link and its app. The retailer can then list all the smartphones up for sale and share the store link with others. Customers in the locality of the store can select the smartphone, make the payment and then the retailer will deliver the product to customer.

EDITOR’S PICK: Realme X3 SuperZoom to support 60x zoom to capture Milky Way shots

The move from the South Korean company comes at a time when it needs to boost its own smartphone sales in the Indian market. Samsung, which was once dominating the Indian market in terms of smartphone sales, lost the crown to Xiaomi a few quarters ago. Now, for the first time, Vivo has overtaken Samsung for the second position in the Indian market during the first quarter of this year.

Samsung comes in at the third position with shipment of 6.3 million units and 18.9 percent market share, followed by Realme and OPPO. Vivo nearly doubled its shipments in India year-on-year to 6.7 million units, capturing almost 19.9 percent of the market. Xiaomi remains the leading smartphone brand in the country with 10.3 million units and 30.6 percent market share.

UP NEXT: iQOO will be the first company to soon launch MediaTek Dimensity 1000+ powered smartphone

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Largan, a well-known supplier of smartphone camera lens recently shared its sales report for April. According to the data, the firm’s revenue decreased by 13.98% compared to March. It was also declined by 6.03% YoY (year over year).

The company made a total of NT$4.683 billion (US$155 million) in this period. The types and quantity of lens it sold in April are as below.

• 20 megapixels and above accounted for 20-30%
• 10 to below 20 megapixels accounted for 40-50%
• 8 to below 10 megapixels accounted for 20-30%
• Below 8 megapixels accounted for 0-10%

Further, OEMs have reduced their orders by up to 30% for the second quarter. This will further affect the company’s revenue in the coming months. 

Below-mentioned are the companies and the amount of orders they cutback for the next quarter.

Last month, a report revealed Samsung to have lowered smartphone components orders by 50%. And now, the new report proves it again. Being the largest smartphone manufacturer, South Korean chaebol plays an important role in the success of component manufacturers.

On the other hand, Huawei decreased its camera lens orders by a minimal amount as China is recovering, which is the company’s largest market.

The COVID-19 global pandemic has shaken the economy of the world. It is uncertain when everything will go normal once again.

UP NEXT: Mid-range smartphones will be the star of COVID-19 global pandemic

(Via)

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India is currently under extended lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country. Amid this, there are uncertainties about letting smartphone makers open factories to resume manufacturing process.

But there are some good news for Xiaomi. Muralikrishnan B, Chief Operating Officer, Xiaomi India has confirmed that Foxconn, the company’s contract manufacturer, has received approval to resume manufacturing at its Andhra Pradesh factory.

The company says that it is expecting its factories to operate at regular capacity by June in India. Xiaomi has already resumed smartphone sales in India through both offline and online channels and will cater to demand in green and orange zones.

For those who are unaware, Foxconn which is also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, along with another OEM Wistron, had to suspend operations at their manufacturing plants as per the government guidelines during the COVID-19 lockdown.

EDITOR’S PICK: Xiaomi VP Lu Weibing reveals that Redmi Note 8 series smartphones sale has crossed 30 million mark globally

The development is a major relief for Xiaomi given that almost all of its smartphones sold in India are manufactured locally. Muralikrishnan claims that nearly 99 percent of Xiaomi smartphones sold in India are made in the country.

While Foxconn’s facility at Sri City, Andhra Pradesh has received the approval, there’s no news about the company’s other facility in Sriperumbudur, Chennai. Foxconn’s Chennai unit is also manufacturing the iPhone XR smartphone.

Wistron and other ecosystem companies in Karnataka have also received approval from state authorities to resume production. However, companies such as Dixon, Samsung, OPPO and Lava with factories in the Noida Noida region and Tamil Nadu continue to be in limbo owing to lack of clarity on starting operations.

UP NEXT: Amid POCO F2 Pro launch rumours, a new POCO M2 Pro moniker found on Xiaomi India’s RF exposure page

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