Author: Brian Heater

China’s smartphone shipments dropped 14 percent in 2018 Smartphone numbers are down all over — but things look especially stark in China these days. Tim Cook cited softened demand in the world’s largest smartphone market as a key factor in its lowered guidance, and Apple is far from alone in feeling the pinch. Today, Canalys reported another large drop in the country for 2018. The firm says that shipments dropped 14 percent in China for the year. That’s the second year in a row shipments have dropped, following more than…

What (we think) we know about the Samsung Galaxy S10 The Galaxy S10 will be revealed at an event in San Francisco on February 20. This much we know for sure. Samsung sent out invites for the event sporting a giant number a few weeks back. It’s clear the company’s looking to get out ahead of what should be a fairly action-packed Mobile World Congress this year.  We know, too, that the event will be occasion for the company to talk up its forthcoming foldable. Samsung told up as much…

How have tariffs impacted robotics? In July, Tim Cook met Donald Trump in the Oval Office to deliver a simple message. “Our view on tariffs is that they show up as a tax on the consumer and end up resulting in lower economic growth,” the executive told the President. ”And sometimes can bring about significant risk of unintended consequences.” Cook ultimately got his way, with Trump giving some of the company’s products a last minute tariff reprieve. Even so, when time came for the company’s latest earnings report, Cook placed…

One-quarter of jobs are at ‘high-risk’ of being automated No one will be entirely safe from automation in the future, but according to a new study out of the Brookings Institute, around 25 percent of U.S. jobs are at “high risk.” It’s a stark bit of foreshadowing in a job market that has yet to fully rebound. Roles in transportation, food prep, production and office admin are among those at highest risk, with robotics and artificial intelligence threatening to automate in the neighborhood of 70 percent of tasks, according to…

The state of the foldable You’d be forgiven for being cynical. I’ve been seeing foldable display concepts for as long as I’ve been attending tech trade shows (which, quite frankly, is longer than I care to mention). Big names like Samsung and LG have been pumping countless R&D dollars into the technology in hopes of being first to next step in the evolution of the smart phone form factor. </span> The concept is nothing new, of course. The flip phone pre-dates the ubiquitous smartphone slab by decades. And a number…

Metroid Prime 4 development was going so badly, Nintendo is starting over For all those wondering why we haven’t heard much out of out the Metroid Prime 4 camp since the title was announced at E3 2017 (with an admittedly underwhelming trailer), Nintendo just offered a surprisingly frank answer. Senior Managing Executive Officer Shinya Takahashi appeared in a video to explain that game development thus far has failed to live up to the company’s standards. As such, the company is changing studios, returning Retro, which developed earlier entries in the…

HMD Nokia phones are coming to Verizon, Cricket and Rogers The North American market can be a tough one to crack for a number of reasons, not the least of which is consumers’ continued reliance on carriers. Without their distribution channels, most handset makers just can’t get a foothold here. In a meeting earlier this week, HMD told me that North America is going to be its primary focus for 2019, a push that starts with a trio of carrier deals. This morning, the Finnish smartphone maker announced that it…

Vodafone pauses Huawei network supply purchases in Europe Huawei had a very good 2018, and it’s likely to have a very good 2019, as well. But there’s one little thing that keeps putting a damper on the hardware maker’s global expansion plans. The U.S. and Canada have already taken action over the company’s perceived link to the Chinese government, and now Vodafone’s is following suit over concerns that other countries may join.  The U.K.-based telecom giant announced this week that it’s enacting a temporary halt on purchases from the Chinese…

Smartphones are about to get more interesting, but is it enough to drive growth? As sales stagnate, will foldable phones and 5G be enough to save the day? Brian Heater @bheater / 8 hours Smartphone numbers are down. In 2018, global shipments dropped 3 percent, and while the long-promised arrival of 5G will help numbers get back into the black, IDC predicts that even then growth will be in the low-single digits. </span> With a few exceptions, handset makers are starting to feel the pain of stagnation, due to a…

Aibo learns to be a better watchdog I wanted to love the new Aibo. Really, I did. But once I aactually spent some time with it, it turned out that it was a $3,000 dog with only a handful of tricks. It seems the days of buying true robot dog companionship are still a long ways away. A few months after bringing the pup to market, Sony’s announced a few updates that should rekindle some interest. First, there’s a new paint job. Aibo now comes in Choco Edition — a…