Google is planning to take the Apple route in designing its own SoCs for its hardware. The company kicked off "Project Whitechapel," an initiative with technical assistance from Samsung (and possibly silicon-fabrication), to design Arm-based SoCs with specialized hardware to power Google's machine-learning tech. The first such chip will be 8-core Arm SoCs powering next-generation Pixel premium smartphones, but in the future, Google could use Arm-based SoCs to power Chromebooks.

Google has, in the past, collaborated with Intel and Qualcomm to put specialized hardware on smartphone SoCs, although the resulting chips would still be supplied by the two. "Project Whitechapel" would see Google play a dominant role in the SoC's design, with Samsung only providing technical inputs. It wouldn't be far-fetched to predict Google using lightweight variants of the SoC on its own IoT hardware, such as Chromecast and Home smart-speakers.

Following up on our coverage of CES goodies that are more than just swag, we continue exploring the wacky world of true wireless (TWS) earphones. The first set in this quick look series examined the Altec Lansing Nano Pods that clocked in at just $30, and today we up the ante into the oh-so-barely-under-$100 with the Creative Outlier Gold at $99.99. The company has impressed yours truly for three CES showings in a row with their Super X-Fi headphone holography tech, which we examined in the first retail iteration via their SXFI amp. This technology aims to replicate a surround speaker speaker audio experience into earphones/headphones, and requires their SXFI DSP to make the most of it. So when Creative said they have TWS earphones with SXFI, I was intrigued and simply had to test them for myself.

As it turns out, the Outlier Gold does support SXFI, but only with a software experience from their mobile app. This makes sense considering these are meant to be quite small and, well, wireless, and yet Creative claim a whopping 14 hours of battery life per charge. In addition, this set is an upgrade to their previous Outlier Air TWS earphones, which were quite popular for offering good value for money, and we see signs of it already with the packaging going with a two-piece unboxing experience with renders, marketing features, and product specs all over the box. Read past the break for more on these, especially if you are looking for a good balance of audio performance, battery life, and price point.

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. today announced the Snapdragon X60 5G Modem-RF System, its third-generation 5G modem-to-antenna solution (the Snapdragon X60). Snapdragon X60 features the world's first 5-nanometer 5G baseband and is the world's first 5G Modem-RF System to support spectrum aggregation across all key 5G bands and combinations, including mmWave and sub-6 using frequency division duplex (FDD) and time division duplex (TDD), providing ultimate operator flexibility to uplift 5G performance utilizing fragmented spectrum assets. This 5G modem-to-antenna solution is designed to enhance the performance and capacity for operators worldwide while increasing average 5G speeds in mobile devices. Snapdragon X60 is engineered to accelerate network transition to 5G standalone mode through support for any key spectrum band, mode or combination, along with 5G Voice-over-NR (VoNR) capabilities.

Edifier, the prominent designers and award-winning manufacturer of premium sound systems and well-known for its bookshelf speakers, today introduced their newest products, the TWS NB, TWS6, GM6 and G7, to its ever-expanding audio and gaming accessory lineup.

To fill a gap in the marketplace, the TWS NB features active noise technology found in noise-canceling over-ear headphones, in a sleek, truly wireless earphone design while boasting a fully noise-free, immersive listening experience at an affordable cost. Equipped with Knowles tri-frequency balanced armature driver, the TWS6 delivers a rich and powerful, all-encompassing sound in a compact and elegant design. In terms of gaming, the GM6 offers a truly portable mobile gaming experience with the security of listening to every sound in tandem with the visuals, while the G7 brings high quality, surround sound audio in a heat regulating, easy-to-use and stylish headset.

Audio-Technica is introducing its ATH-ANC300TW truly wireless in-ear headphones, which combine Audio-Technica's next-generation truly wireless technology with newly-designed digital hybrid active noise-cancelling (ANC) electronics. The result is improved high-fidelity sound and superior noise cancelling performance, all without requiring any connecting wires.

The Audio-Technica ATH-ANC300TW (SRP: US$249.00) utilizes digital hybrid noise cancellation. In this design, the ANC mics are located both in front of and behind the driver, with one of the ANC mics mounted in a unique horizontal configuration within the sound chamber. This allows the location of the driver and geometry of the chamber to be optimized for an ideal balance of ambient noise reduction and audio performance. The ATH-ANC300TW's 5.8 mm drivers feature a diamond-like carbon coated diaphragm that combines light weight with rigidity for faster response time and reduced distortion, along with powerful, impactful sound with generous bass response and improved high-frequency extension and clarity.

Ausounds is a newcomer to the audio market as a retail product provider, but the founders have decades of experience in the music industry, and have been creating audio solutions for musicians for a while now. The company invited us to check out the brand, as well as their new products, at CES 2020 and we obliged as we usually do in an attempt to shine more light on relatively unknown companies in addition to the mainstream ones. They took the time to introduce their new AU-X active noise cancelling planar magnetic driver headphones to us, which feature 54 mm planar drivers on each earcup and four noise cancelling microphones working in a hybrid mode to allow up to 28 dB of ANC. The headphones are tuned for a transparent frequency response combined with a large soundstage and, in my limited testing, offered excellent discerning of the mid-high tones, especially when it comes to jazz and classical music.

The AU-X ANC Planar headphones have dual microphones also for calling/audio out, an included battery of 800 mAh for a rated 25 hours of battery life which the company claims is on the conservative side (think closer to 28 hours), and touch controls on the earcups for volume and media playback. Bluetooth 5.0 and 3.5 mm aux inputs complement the headphones for portability, and AptX-HD + Hi-Res certification round off the headphones which are rated for a 20 Hz-40 KHz frequency response, 32 Ω impedance, an SPL of 98 +/- 3 dB, and 280 grams in mass with protein leather earpads similar to those in the Bose QC35. The AU-X headphones cost $299.95 and will ship in March 2020. Read past the break for more on their equally new AU-Stream Hybrid earbuds.

AMD in the second half of 2020 could outpace Apple as the biggest foundry customer of TSMC for its 7 nm silicon fabrication nodes (DUV and EUV combined). There are two key factors contributing to this: AMD significantly increasing its orders for the year; and Apple transitioning to TSMC's 5 nm node for its A14 SoC, freeing up some 7 nm allocation, which AMD grabbed. AMD is currently tapping into 7 nm DUV for its "Zen 2" chiplet, "Navi 10," and "Navi 14" GPU dies. The company could continue to order 7 nm DUV until these products reach EOL; while also introducing the new "Renoir" APU die on the process. The foundry's new 7 nm+ (EUV) node will be utilized for "Zen 3" chiplets and "Navi 2#" GPU dies in 2020.

Currently, the top-5 customers for TSMC 7 nm are Apple, HiSilicon, Qualcomm, AMD, and MediaTek. Barring AMD, the others in the top-5 build mobile SoCs or 4G/5G modem chips on the node. AMD is expected to top the list as it scales up orders with TSMC. In the first half of 2020, TSMC's monthly output for 7 nm is expected to grow to 110,000 wafers per month (wpm). Apple's migration to 5 nm in 2H-2020, coupled with capacity-addition could take TSMC's 7 nm output to 140,000 wpm. AMD has reportedly booked the entire capacity-addition for 30,000 wpm, taking its allocation up to 21% in 2H-2020. Qualcomm is switching to Samsung for its next-generation SoCs and modems designed for 7 nm EUV. NVIDIA, too, is expected to built its next-gen 7 nm EUV GPUs on Samsung instead of TSMC. These moves by big players could free up significant foundry allocation at TSMC for AMD's volumes to grow in 2020.

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, announces a broad Qualcomm Snapdragon Compute platform portfolio with long battery life, cellular connectivity, and AI accelerated performance to enable fanless, thin and light designs for modern computing. Built with mobility in mind, the portfolio accommodates the evolving needs of mobile consumers. The Snapdragon 7c and 8c now join the previously announced Snapdragon 8cx, delivering lightning fast cellular connectivity to premium, mainstream, and entry-level notebook PCs. The portfolio is available in various price points allowing partners to design always on, always connected PCs for a wide array of consumers. In addition, the Snapdragon 8cx enterprise compute platform brings connected security software and secured-core PC support for modern enterprises looking to bring mobility to their workers.

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, introduced the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 5G Mobile Platform, which combines the world's most advanced 5G Modem-RF System with the world's most advanced mobile platform designed to deliver the unmatched connectivity and performance required for the next generation of flagship devices.

The platform's best-in-class Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 5G Modem-RF System provides peak speeds of up to 7.5 Gbps, surpassing most wired connections and transforming the mobile experience. The leading 5th generation Qualcomm AI Engine and new Qualcomm Sensing Hub provides more intelligence and personalization than ever before. Snapdragon 865 includes the blazing fast Qualcomm Spectra 480 Image Signal Processor (ISP), which brings new features to mobile photography and videography thanks to gigapixel speeds - up to 2 gigapixels per second. Gamers can use Snapdragon to compete at the highest levels with an array of brand-new Qualcomm Snapdragon Elite Gaming features for desktop-quality gaming and ultra-realistic graphics. Our next generation Qualcomm Kryo 585 CPU delivers up to 25% performance improvement, and the new Qualcomm Adreno 650 GPU offers up to 25% overall performance boost compared to the previous generations, ensuring superior processing power for the next generation of flagship devices. The Snapdragon 865 empowers you to game, capture, cross-task and connect like never before.

Intel is reportedly looking to sell its connected home devices division, a company unit used for designing semiconductors that enable WiFi connection in all kinds of devices and SoCs made for managing network devices like WiFi routers. Following a previous deal, where Intel sold its modem division to Apple for 1 billion USD, Intel is now looking to "get rid of" another unit that is not doing any data-centric design workload.

The Connected Home division had around 450 million USD last year in annual sales, but it seems that competition is getting good with competing offers from Broadcom Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. If the unit is potentially sold to another company, Intel could rewire its R&D funds to other groups inside the company. Additionally, it is worth to mention that a financial advisor has reportedly been hired to evaluate any possible offers that Intel receives.

According to the sources close to Neowin, Microsoft is expected to launch x86-64 (or x64 in short) emulation support for Windows on ARM (WoA) devices. Expected to arrive in Windows 10 21H1, or around 2020 for all the Windows Insiders, the new feature will enable a vast majority of apps made for Windows OS, currently built for x64 architecture, to run on ARM ISA and all Windows on ARM computers.

So far, only 32-bit x86 applications were able to be emulated, however, if these rumors are to be believed, many users of WoA devices should get a chance to run all of their favorite 64-bit software that was previously unavailable. The launch of this feature will boost the adoption of the WoA ecosystem with benefits reaching all existing laptop models, including Microsoft's newly launched Surface Pro X laptop that utilizes an ARM-based chip called SQ1 (customized Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx processor).

At IFA 2019 Audio-Technica is introducing its ATH-CKS5TW and its ATH-CK3TW truly wireless in-ear headphones, which eliminate all connecting wires for the ultimate in comfort and on-the-go listening convenience. Both models combine Audio-Technica's 57 years of audio engineering expertise with compact, lightweight designs, long-lasting battery life, Bluetooth 5.0 wireless technology and outstanding audio quality.

The ATH-CKS5TW and ATH-CK3TW both feature a new Auto Power On/Off feature that automatically turns the headphones on and connects to a paired smartphone, portable digital audio player or other compatible device when they're removed from their case. Both models will also turn off automatically when placed back in their case. Both headphones are charged via an included USB-C connection and the cases feature LED battery status indicators.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today introduced Galaxy Book S, a game-changing mobile computing device built for high-performing users who don't want to be weighed down by excessive size and features of traditional laptops. Built for the new achievers - the innovators, the go-getters, those who do things differently to push themselves forward - Galaxy Book S empowers the next generation of mobile moguls.

With Galaxy Book S, Samsung ushers in a new era of mobile computing with a device that harnesses the mobility and connectivity of a smartphone and the powerful productivity of a PC. Developed in collaboration with leading technology companies, Galaxy Book S takes Samsung's position as a mobile leader and unites it with the best-in-class workforce platform powered by Microsoft and industry-leading mobile performance from Qualcomm. This new category device offers Gigabit LTE connectivity, instant-on capabilities and a premium design, powered by Windows 10 and the cutting-edge Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx compute platform. With Galaxy Book S, experience the freedom of a new type of mobile device that lets you work anywhere and everywhere, without tethering you to your desk or couch.

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, announced in conjunction with Lenovo the world's first 5G PC2 today at its Computex Press Conference. Project Limitless encompasses a strong technology collaboration between Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. a leader in 5G connectivity, and Lenovo, the leader in PCs, to bring innovation to the always on, always connected PC ecosystem. Project Limitless is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx 5G compute platform and is the world's first 7nm platform purpose-built for PCs that offers 5G connectivity.

The new platform is running on Windows 10 for ARM. It promises multi-day battery life and 7GBps transfer speeds with a Snapdragon x55 5G modem.Image Source: Tom's Hardware

The trade ban imposed on Chinese tech giant Huawei by the U.S. Department of Commerce, and ratified through an Executive Order by President Donald Trump, is cutting both ways. Not only are U.S. entities banned from importing products and services from Huawei, but also engaging in trade with them (i.e. selling to them). U.S. tech firms stare at a $11 billion revenue loss by early estimates. Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs compiled a list of companies impacted by the ban, and the extent of their revenue loss. It turns out that AMD isn't a small player, and in fact, stands to lose more revenue in absolute terms than even Microsoft. It earns RMB 268 million (USD $38.79 million) from Huawei, compared to Microsoft's RMB 198 million ($28.66 million). Intel's revenue loss is a little over double that of AMD at RMB 589 million ($84 million), despite its market-share dominance.

That's not all, AMD's exposure is higher than that of Intel, since sales to Huawei make up a greater percentage of AMD's revenues than it does Intel's. AMD exports not just client-segment products such as Ryzen processors and Radeon graphics, but possibly also EPYC enterprise processors for Huawei's server and SMB product businesses. NVIDIA is affected to a far lesser extent than Intel, AMD, and Microsoft. Qualcomm-Broadcom take the biggest hit in absolute revenue terms at RMB 3.5 billion ($508 million), even if their exposure isn't the highest. The duo export SoCs and cellular modems to Huawei, both as bare-metal and licenses. Storage hardware makers aren't far behind, with the likes of Micron, Seagate, and Western Digital taking big hits. Micron exports DRAM and SSDs, while Seagate and WDC export hard drives.

The United States tech industry has overnight dealt a potentially fatal blow to Chinese electronics giant Huawei, by boycotting the company. The companies are establishing compliance with a recent Executive Order passed by President Donald Trump designed to "stop the import, sale, and use of equipment and services by foreign companies based in countries that are potential adversaries to U.S. interests," particularly information technology security. Google has announced that it will no longer allow Huawei to license Android, and will stop updates and Google Play access to Huawei smartphones. Huawei can still equip its phones with open-source Android, but it cannot use Google's proprietary software, including Google Play Store, Chrome, and all the other Google apps. Intel decided to no longer supply processors and other hardware to Huawei, for use in its laptops and server products. Sales of AMD processors will stop, too. Qualcomm-Broadcom have decided to stop supply of mobile SoCs and network PHYs, respectively. Microsoft decided to stop licensing Huawei to use Windows and Office products.

The ban is a consequence of the U.S. Government placing Huawei on a list of banned entities, forcing all U.S. companies to abandon all trade with it, without prior approval from the Department of Commerce. Trade cuts both ways, and not only are U.S. firms banned from buying from Huawei, they're also banned from selling to it. Huawei "buys from" over 30 U.S. companies, (for example, Windows licenses from Microsoft). CNN reports that U.S. firms could lose up to $11 billion in revenues.

Qualcomm in its quarterly earnings results posted late Wednesday disclosed that it expects Apple to pay it anywhere between USD $4.5 billion to $4.7 billion in licensing fee arrears incurred over the past two years when the two companies were locked in a bitter wireless technology IP licensing dispute. This figure, however, is significantly less than the $7 billion Qualcomm earlier claimed Apple owed. Apple had alleged that Qualcomm unfairly used its market position to inflate costs of cellular modems, and had withheld payments since Q2 2017. Qualcomm's investors are interested in knowing how the two companies arrived at $4.5 billion to $4.7 billion, particularly if Apple scored a discount as part of the settlement.

EnGenius Technologies Inc., a multinational networking manufacturer known for its vast range of sophisticated wireless products expands with a new consumer Wi-Fi networking solution with the long-awaited smart router called ESR530. The wireless smart router provides stable Wi-Fi connections in high-demand home Wi-Fi network environments. The ESR530 utilizes Qualcomm's most recent consumer technology and is specially built to easily transfer data through known Wi-Fi signal structural impediments. The ESR530 is built to empower smart homes and comes with a simplified configuration, deployment, remote cloud storage, and recovery capabilities. The latest product by EnGenius is a direct solution for budget-conscious families who want reliable single-network Wi-Fi signal delivered to every part of their home.

beyerdynamic, one of the world's leading manufacturers of headphones, microphones and conferencing products, announces Xelento, a wireless, in-ear headphone combining outstanding quality and cutting technology to create an exciting musical experience. The Xelento wireless features beyerdynamic's innovative, miniaturized Tesla drivers, aptX HD Bluetooth technology and MOSAYC sound personalization by Mimi Defined.

beyerdynamic's Xelento wireless bridges the gap for convenient on-the-go solutions and sophisticated luxury headphones by creating a single solution to combine two worlds. Xelento's drivers and acoustic design provide uncompromising sound with Bluetooth connectivity to enable comfortable listening in any environment. Xelento's breathtaking Tesla drivers are recognized among audio enthusiasts for their incredible sound, precise impulses, exceptional transparency and acoustic balance ranging from tight bass to detailed highs. Featuring a sleek design, the Xelento wireless is both an exquisite piece of jewelry and an audiophile listening device creating a platinum state for in-ear headphones.

Sennheiser's iconic MOMENTUM range of headphones continues to change the game through its fusion of advanced technology, uncompromised sound performance and the highest quality materials. Now, the audio specialist brings the MOMENTUM ethos to an exceptional new product, the MOMENTUM True Wireless: these exquisitely crafted Bluetooth earphones set new standards for audio quality, with characteristic MOMENTUM style and comfort.

The first model in a new generation of the iconic MOMENTUM family redefines the audio benchmark for true wireless earphones with superior stereo sound performance that is guaranteed by Sennheiser's audiophile 7 mm dynamic drivers. With the latest Bluetooth technology, AAC codec support, and Qualcomm aptX compatibility, this exceptional hi-fi sound is delivered without any compromise. "The MOMENTUM range has always stood for a fusion of excellent sound, progressive technology and craftsmanship. We are pleased to now introduce the newest member of the family, which brings the essence of MOMENTUM to a truly wireless form for the first time", said Frank Foppe, Product Manager at Sennheiser.

An Intel Newsroom post penned by the company's Steven Rodgers takes a stab at Qualcomm over their patent litigation cases. Titled "Qualcomm's Patent Litigation Campaign isn't Really about Vindicating Intellectual Property Rights", Rodgers cites the number of times Qualcomm has been fined by various authorities around the world, "nearly a billion dollars in China, $850 million in Korea, $1.2 billion by the European Commission and $773 million in Taiwan (later reduced in a settlement) for anti-competitive practices." Citing consequences such as reduced innovation and raised prices for consumers, Intel calls out Qualcomm in that its goal isn't to "vindicate its intellectual property rights, but rather to drive competition out of the market for premium modem chips, and to defend a business model that ultimately harms consumers."

Now, the collective hardware enthusiast memory isn't one to be trifled with, so I will leave it to you to figure out exactly where the irony is in these accusations. Of course, bad history on a company's part doesn't preclude any responsibility from any other company that is currently employing anti-competitive tactics that do, ultimately, stifle innovation and increase prices for consumers. As some Portuguese humorists would say, "one thing is one thing, another thing is another thing". But I'd say, jibbing my way through this, that it takes one to know one.

DigiTimes, citing a Chinese-language Commercial Times report, cites TSMC's 7 nm foundry capacity as likely being underutilized in 2019. After TSMC announced it expected cutting-edge 7 nm designs to correspond to around 20% of the company's revenues in 2019, the company will likely have to review those projections, as lower demand from smartphone chip manufacturers will likely leave TSMC with less actual output than that which it can churn out.

Due to a cutback in orders placed by Apple, HiSilicon and Qualcomm, concerns regarding TSMC's ability to be the sole 7 nm chip fabrication tech for the industry can likely be laid to rest. That the smartphone market is reaching saturation is a well-known quantity - it's becoming harder and harder to cram new technologies that justify the yearly smartphone upgrade that most companies vie for - and one of the reasons for the launch of various brand-specific smartphone subscription services. The difference isn't scandalous - TSMC will still be making use of 80-90% of its total 7nm process capacity during the first half of 2019, the report quoted industry sources as saying.

VIA Technologies, Inc today announces that it is partnering with AI vision startup Lucid, to deliver AI-based depth sensing capabilities to more dual- and multi-camera devices in the security, retail, robotics and autonomous vehicle space. With Lucid's proprietary 3D Fusion Technology embedded into the VIA Edge AI 3D Developer Kit, security and retail cameras, robots, drones, and autonomous vehicles will now be able to easily capture accurate depth and 3D with dual- or multi-camera setups while reducing the costs, power, and space consumption of previous hardware depth solutions. As VIA builds out its long-term Edge AI solutions roadmap, Lucid is adding camera- and machine-learning based depth capabilities on top of every platform.

The AI-enhanced 3D/depth solution developed by Lucid, known as 3D Fusion Technology, is currently deployed in many devices such as 3D cameras, security cameras, robots, and mobile phones, including the RED Hydrogen One which is launching in November without any additional emission or laser-based hardware components. In the VIA Edge AI 3D Developer Kit, the AI depth solution runs on the Qualcomm APQ8096SG embedded processor, which features the Qualcomm AI Engine along with support for multiple cameras to help Lucid provide superior performance compared to other hardware depth solutions and deliver an industry-leading and unique pure machine learning-based software solution.

TSMC has become the de facto leader when it comes to manufacturing technology. The company is on the forefront of new process technologies, and provides solutions for some of the biggest players in the industry, like Apple, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and AMD, just to name a few. This process leadership means that TSMC is being courted by numerous fabless silicon designers so as to produce their silicon chips with the latest process technologies - part of the reason why TSMC has seen increasing revenues and profits forecasts.

By the end of 2018, TSMC will have taped out 50 7 nm designs, and plans to double that number in 2019. And these design wins don't stand solely on the shoulders of TSMC's first 7 nm technology (which should account for 20% of the company's revenue by 2019); the company will also tape-out chips built upon their 7 nm + EUV process, which will begin production in 2019.

(Editor's Note: This new wireless technology and particular frequency of operation make it especially interesting for VR scenarios, since the high data throughput within an enclosed space seems to be one of the ideal applications for this technology.)

Qualcomm Technologies today announced a family of 60GHz Wi-Fi chipsets, the QCA64x8 and QCA64x1, delivering 10+ gigabit-per-second (Gbps) network speeds and wire-equivalent latency, while setting the industry low-power benchmark for extended device battery life. As a new connectivity era dawns, reliance on high-bandwidth mmWave spectrum will increase, bringing powerful new wireless experiences like ultra-high-definition video streaming, Virtual/Augmented Reality (VR/AR), mobile screen casting and fixed wireless mesh backhaul.