Dual Screen Flip Phone?

There are a couple of ways you could imagine this. One as the artists rendering in the article.

Or maybe the old rendering from Microvision.....

IBTimes -- more at the source. (including aggravating ads.)

The highly-rumoured Samsung Flip Phone 4 bearing model number SM-G9298 has allegedly entered the testing phase as per the latest tweet originating from China.

Microvision Twitter, Size of Market

1.4 Billion smartphones were sold world wide last year.

435 million mobile phone viewers in CHINA. That's a lot of people who will directly benefit from PicoP -- which is entering mass production.

This is just in case you had any doubts about the size market for PicoP. 

Microvision is producing with it's manufacturing and marketing partner ST Microelectronics.

The market is enormous -- and the one very consistent demand among smartphone users is "Bigger screen." Which is at war with their demand for "easier to carry."

PicoP turns contradictory demands into something that is easily possible.


Microvision's Twitter Feed

Rapid TV News

Research from eMarketer has found that China will have more than 435 million mobile video viewers in 2017, the rapid growth driven by what the researcher says is a seemingly insatiable demand for content and services.

Tactical Augmented Reality

The video is a little cartoonish, but this is very interesting and very promising. 

This is a space that Microvision has been active with in the past. They have had contracts to develop this kind of technology with the likes of Lockheed Martin. 

NOMAD was displayed at CES 2016.  (It outclassed other AR displays I saw there.)

OLD NOMAD ARTICLE 

The issues they had to "overcome" (highlighted below) Picop is certainly able to do...



Microvision / Lockheed Martin

US ARMY

WASHINGTON (Army News Service) -- A novel technology called "Tactical Augmented Reality," or TAR, is now helping Soldiers precisely locate their positions, as well as the locations of friends and foes, said Richard Nabors. 

It even enables them to see in the dark, all with a heads-up display device that looks like night-vision goggles, or NGV, he added. So in essence, TAR replaces NVG, GPS, plus it does much more.

Nabors, an associate for strategic planning at U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command's Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center, or CERDEC, spoke about TAR at the Pentagon's Lab Day, Thursday.

Geek

The key, according to electronics engineer David Fellowes, was miniaturizing the image to fit the one-inch screen. Existing tech can compress pixels enough to fit on a smartphone-sized window. But CERDEC’s main challenge was creating new hardware to meet their needs.

By 2010, the department achieved that goal, creating a system that works in black-and-white and a greenish monochrome, which has already been fielded in certain units.

And while those versions are bright enough to be seen in daylight, CERDEC wants to produce more advanced models in full color, with an advanced brightness display.

“TARs will provide soldiers with a much higher level of situational awareness than they currently have,” Fellowes said, adding that he expects the devices will “save lives and contribute to mission success.”

Essential Phone -- Andy Rubin

The Essential phone popped up on the radar a couple of months ago. 

It's being headed by the creator of Android, Andy Rubin.

It's Modular (Still a better bet than embedded for now.) Motorola's moto-mods and it's moto-mod projector did quite well.


From STUFF -- more at the source

More than a mere startup, Essential is headed by Android creator Andy Rubin – a man who presumably knows what goes into making a great smartphone.

****

The Essential Phone won't be arriving on its lonesome - it'll be joined by a whole host of modular accessories that (according to company head honcho Andy Rubin) "keep your phone cord-free, future-proof, and always up-to-date".

Right now, this includes a minature 360° camera capable of 4K video recording at 30fps, and the Essential Phone Dock for wireless charging.

It's all thanks to the Click cordless connector, which sits on the back of the phone so you don't have to mess around with powering down just to switch out accessories - like you did on the LG G5.

Other accessories are still a mystery, but clearly Essential reckons it'll be a major reason to pick up a phone come launch day. With no headphone jack on board (just a dongle in the box), maybe that should be high on the list of modular upgrades.

iBeacons at Gatwick Airport

Interesting part of the ecosystem for augmented reality. When near-eye displays are available, this is the kind of thing you'll be able to wear.

Notice that it has a feed-back system. Could save tons of time for a lot of people, because it could tell you to hustle up, or not-bother if you're too far away and would cause a huge delay. 

This relatively simple thing could save a lot of people a lot of time and prevent needless airline delays -- which are really expensive.

iDownloading -- More at the source

Gatwick Airport, the UK’s second busiest airport after London Heathrow, has installed 2,000 battery-powered iBeacons for indoor navigation and passenger tracking.

Available across Gatwick Airport’s two terminals, the system is accurate up to three meters, much more reliable than GPS and enables an augmented-reality wayfinding tool so passengers can be shown directions in the camera view of their mobile device.

It could be used to inform passengers they’re running late and help them avoid missing flights.

Conceivably, Gatwick Airport could also take advantage of iBeacons for efficient queue management and to reduce congestion by being able to determine whether to offload luggage if a late passenger is far away.

Skreens

The ecosystem for screens that can proliferate with little physical presence will be helped dramatically when managing the sources of the video content gets easier.

All of this improves the ecosystem for PicoP adoption.

I know almost nothing about this company, but it appears to me they're onto something.

Skreens

Skreens For Smarthome

Skreens simple and powerful interface allows you to deliver experiences combining broadcast and streaming video, gaming, social media and Internet content, home automation and security feeds seamlessly combined on a single screen.

Increase customer satisfaction by making entertainment more enjoyable, news more informative, games more fun, and home automation more accessible.

Improve your revenues with Skreens; simply and amplify the value of all the services to your home entertainment solution.

Everyone KNOWS Best Buy is going down, right?

Watch this one unfold. 

37,000,000 shares short.  

Short Float

13.65%

At Finviz

Renault to Acquire Software R&D from Intel

There is a LOT of interest in this area, and a lot of moving parts.  

What the exact results of this deal will be we don't know. It's possible that Renault wants to sell technology as much as automobiles. 

In the realm of hardware for self driving cars, Microvision has a very nice place at the table. A great mid-range laser scanning technology.

Don't forget the recent highlighting of cooperation between Microvision and Intel. (This is no accident.)

AutomotiveIT


The R&D unit specializes in embedded software, which is important for the development of connected and autonomous cars. Renault said the acquisition, set to be finalized this year, will bring more than 400 software experts to the company.

***

The transaction doesn’t mean Intel, the world’s largest chipmaker, is losing interest in the car industry. The California-based company has recently stepped up its automotive activities, focusing on autonomous-driving technologies.

Earlier this month, Intel opened a Silicon Valley innovation center for autonomous driving. And in March, it signed a definitive agreement to acquire sensor specialist Mobileye. Sensors are an important source of data future cars will need to drive autonomously.

Business World

To address the major technological challenges of the future and pursue profitable growth, Renault has four primary focuses: international development; complementary coverage across its three brands (Renault, Dacia and Renault Samsung Motors); electric vehicles; and its alliance with Nissan.

Just-Auto

"They'll be bringing Renault expertise, advanced methods and tools, plus access to a sound network of suppliers, laboratories and partner companies. Some teams already have automotive-specific skills in multimedia and connectivity."



The acquisition will proceed through Groupe Renault purchasing a company formed by Intel to take in the embedded software R&D activity at the Toulouse and Sophia Antipolis sites. The new company will be attached to the Groupe Renault Alliance Systems Engineering Department.

Verizon to offer new Video Streaming service

This is pretty interesting. This would probably be an ad-driven model for profit. That is one of the reasons that the Yahoo acquisition is important to it.


TechCrunch

Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam confirmed the company’s plans to launch an over-the-top streaming service later this year, according to a report from Variety, citing remarks the CEO made at a telecom conference in Boston this week. Verizon (which owns TechCrunch parent company AOL), will use the combined platform of AOL and Yahoo – and their 1.3 billion users – to test the new platform, McAdam said.

The company expects to close on its acquisition of Yahoo mid-June, so the over-the-top service could arrive any time after that.

Improved Battery Life

Improving battery life is going to have HUGE benefits for mobile devices. If this is what it's cracked up to be, it's just another thing improving the ecosystem for PicoP.

Thanks for the heads-up Joe.

Treehugger.com

If your phone's battery life is the bane of your existence, then this is for you. Engineers at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), led by Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Ruyan Guo, have developed a chip that can extend the battery life of almost any gadget.

The tiny chip is only the size of a pinhead, but its potential is great. The chip can make lower power electronics like smartphones work much more efficiently, cutting back on the number of times you have to plug in and slashing the energy consumption of the electronics in our lives.

"This chip can be used with anything that runs on a battery," said UTSA researcher Shuza Binzaid. "It manages power so that the device can last longer."

When people want to extend the life of their phone's battery, usually that means switching it into low power mode which turns off many of the phone's functions in order to preserve the battery charge. With the chip, the same power sipping mode could be achieved while the phone was running at full functionality.

UltraHaptics

This is a company that deserves to be on everyone's radar.

As Augmented Reality gets going, I'm quite sure that this is going to be everywhere. Gesture control is cool, but if you can make it feel like you're manipulating someTHING, that's way better -- the gestures will be more precise.

Microvision will be involved  -- putting stuff in thin are requires knowing where things in thin air are. (After all, they need a display -- AND the 3D scanning -- and probably touch-projection too.)


TheMemo

In your car. In your kitchen. Ultrahaptics lets you feel objects that don't really exist.

Minority Report set our expectations high.

After watching it, we all figured that soon, just like Tom Cruise, we’d be waving our hands in mid-air to get shit done.

Now though, Ultrahaptics is making gesture control a reality: in your car, in your kitchen, everywhere.

“We’re better than Minority Report – you don’t have to wear gloves,” says co-founder Tom Carter.

**************

“Ultrahaptics lets you feel things in the air,” he explains. “We can make the sensations of buttons or switches, or enable you to feel 3D objects and sensations that don’t exist in the real world.”

Review of Sony Xperia Touch

While we aren't in this particular device, this device has significant limitations - limited screen size, limited portability and a significant price among them.

This review is largely about the utility of the touch interactivity of the projection.

While this is getting great reviews in the tech world it is still largely unknown outside that world. This is the kind of thing that once word gets out will bring some significant good attention to Microvision.

Put the new touch-interactive engine in the PicoBit, and you have one of these that fits in your shirt pocket, has a larger screen, and never needs to be focused.

FactsChronicle

Next Great Computer Interface - view of the future

How will AR be used? This is a vision.

The list of relationships at the end is pretty intriguing.




I don't think Pokemon Go is the pinnacle of AR. It's kind of like the Solitaire for Windows 3. It's a killer app at a certain time, a big milestone,” John Werner said at Singularity University’s Exponential Manufacturing Summit in Boston.

****

Augmented reality isn’t all that new, Werner pointed out. We’ve been overlaying digital information on the real world for a while. Pilots use it to keep track of digital gauges, and NFL broadcasts include a digital yellow line on the field to show how far teams have to go for a first down.

But his vision goes far beyond Pokémon Go and yellow lines on a football field.

The rapidly falling cost and convergence of the underlying technologies are conspiring to make AR more usable, comfortable, and suitable for the mainstream. Most importantly, whereas AR is now largely constrained to 2D screens, it’s becoming immersive and wearable.

First Washington Robotics

Headed to Lunch today. Great organization.

First Washington Robotics

News 163

Thanks Joe for sending me this article.


News 163

(Original title: laser projection phone will have "Jinan made")

　　"Most of China's mobile phone production, research and development institutions in the South, and now this pattern is changing." March 4, high-tech zone management committee director Xu Qun in Raja car Shandong Intelligent Industrial Park settled in Jinan High-tech Zone signing ceremony Say.
　The signing, marking a number of its own brand of mobile phone Rui Jiake Group will innovate Valley base to build its northern headquarters, is mainly responsible for laser projection mobile phones and mobile intelligent terminal research and development, production and sales operations. "This is the first admission of the professional park", high-tech zone Innovation Valley Development Center Deputy Director Ma Hongjun told reporters that the current innovation Valley about 300 registered enterprises, most enterprises engaged in mobile Internet development, application work. "Innovation Valley is now talking about a mobile Internet company, successfully signed this year." Was positioned as "China Silicon Valley" innovation Valley, there is no traditional plant, but to high-tech products, production, research and development, sales-oriented The Rui Jiake Group in this area of ​​203 acres of mobile intelligent industrial park construction, will drive more than 100 upstream and downstream supporting enterprises, in the formation of mobile terminal industry chain. Rui Jiake Group Chairman Wang said that innovation is the gathering place of colleges and universities, where the industrial base and talent advantages are conducive to the industrial park hatch out of mobile intelligent high-end products.
　　It is understood that Rui Jiake will invest in the industrial park to build 50,000 square meters of intelligent manufacturing base, the construction of smart phones and related intelligent products production line, as the Northern District production center and research and development centers, responsible for the Group's existing ODM products and The brand "green orange" and "VOGA" products to expand production capacity, responsible for the newly developed laser projection phone, intelligent wear and other intelligent hardware production, the annual production capacity of up to 600 million units.
　　"Smooth, Rui Jiake annual sales revenue can reach 100 billion, the local economy to pay more than 2 billion tax, attracting 12,000 jobs." Ma Hongjun said the project is taking the procedure, is expected to start in June, two years later All built. (Reporter Wang Jing) ● Related Links What is a laser projection phone?
　　Simply put, the laser projection phone is a handheld home theater. It can be projected to the wall of the phone screen, the ceiling, you can connect with the Bluetooth, speakers, anytime, anywhere to open up their own private cinema. Can also be used instead of PPT.
      In the mobile phone market, laser projection phone can be described as high and low.Although the market has long been a projection phone, due to the high demand for optoelectronic technology, currently only foreign Samsung, the domestic general and several other enterprises R & D, production of such products. At present, the laser projection technology in the mobile phone application bottleneck is mainly reflected in the poor experience of life and the projection resolution is too low. After all, increase the projection function not only to the thickness of the phone, the appearance of compromise, but also in the projection of the brightness and effect greatly reduced. Therefore, although the laser projection mobile phone market demand, but limited to technology, has not yet fully popularized.

Qualcomm sues Apple, Foxconn, Pegatron, Wistron

This will be interesting to watch.... 

Some of my friends are puzzled when I say I don't really want Apple to be the first company to incorporate PicoP on a large scale.... I wouldn't ever want to be dependent on doing business with Apple.


Techspot

Qualcomm is escalating its patent dispute with Apple by suing the contractors that build iPhones for the Cupertino-based company. Filed Wednesday in a federal district court in San Diego, the lawsuit accuses Compal Electronics, Foxconn, Pegatron and Wistron of breaching patent-licensing agreements with Qualcomm by halting royalty payments on Qualcomm technology used in iPhones and iPads.

Apple originally sued Qualcomm for $1 billion, saying that the mobile chip maker had been dramatically overcharging it for the use of basic patents. Qualcomm hit back with a countersuit, claiming among other things, that Apple deliberately hindering the performance of Qualcomm chips in certain iPhone 7 models to make Intel chips look better and that it encouraged regulatory attacks on Qualcomm's business.

Apple doesn't have a patent license directly with Qualcomm, relying instead on licenses held by the contract manufacturers, whom Apple reimburses. However, in an aggressive move, last month the iPhone maker reportedly instructed its manufacturing partners to stop paying royalties to Qualcomm, as it wasn’t going to reimburse them anymore until a court determines how much it actually owes. Apple agreed to indemnify them against any damages they may incur by failing to pay royalties to Qualcomm.

Chinese Chemical company pays 1 Billion for a talking cat

Head scratcher, but there's a LOT of money floating around out there.

Ask yourself this... what's worth more? the Talking Cat, or the technology that can take the talking cat --- and ALL OTHER media, make it much bigger, portable and touch-interactive.

Throw in some LiDAR, and some near eye displays -- and some kind of new welding technology, and what's it worth then?

I don't want Microvision to be bought out, because any price that has so far been floating around is far below the ultimate value of this technology.

Bloomberg

Talking Tom is not alone. There’s been a recent flurry of oddball pairings between Chinese industrial interests and Western entertainment companies. A real estate magnate in Beijing bought Legendary Entertainment, the movie studio that made the Dark Knight trilogy, for $3.5 billion. A maker of construction materials bought Framestore, the company behind the special effects in the Harry Potter films. Zhejiang Dragon Pipe Manufacturing Co. acquired app developer Entertainment Game Labs. And perhaps strangest of all, Digital Extremes Ltd., which created an alien battle game, and the studio Splash Damage Ltd., which made an offshoot of the Xbox hit Gears of War, were bought by an enormous Chinese poultry processor.

Economic Shockwaves?

Google made e-mail free.

No small feat -- and we don't even think about it anymore. Could they pull the same thing off for transportation?

Is there some kind of economic side-effect of really inexpensive portable interactive screens that we haven't thought of? I'm thinking yes. I don't know what it will be, but there will be side effects.

Autonomous transportation could create some efficiencies in transport that are staggering. Right now to try and carpool for a day to a different town with multiple stops would be extremely difficult - but if we get our transportation by uploading our desired schedule -- we could easily be matched with people going the same way we are at approximately the same time.

Would save time, energy and probably improve the social lives of those traveling.

Of course the demand for Lidar would explode...


Barrons

In the near term, all those miles mean more data to capture, which feeds back into autonomous-driving programs to help make them better. In the medium-to-long term, though, once the kinks have been worked out, tech companies could choose to drive you around as a way to capture data on you and then try to sell you stuff. And that’s the part that Jonas thinks should scare Tesla investors.

“One of the biggest concerns we have about the ‘end-state’ of shared mobility from a Tesla perspective is the risk that other firms could enter the market as a competitor, offering the mobility service from, say, New York to Boston or from Santa Monica to LAX at a loss… just to get access to your time and data,” he wrote. That model could allow Google to one day drive you around practically for free. Think what Google did for email.

Chinese Mobile video Viewing Soars

Research from eMarketer has found that China will have more than 435 million mobile video viewers in 2017, the rapid growth driven by what the researcher says is a seemingly insatiable demand for content and services.

The research, based on data from Cheetah Lab, reveals a highly competitive mobile video sector whereby the top provider, Tencent Video, has just a 15.1% share of the market, closely followed by Baidu-owned iQiyi which claims only half a percentage point less. These two are some way ahead of third-placed Youku (6.36%), which is followed by Mango TV (2.41%) and leTV (1.91%).

Cheetah Lab also found that the country’s top video platforms are rapidly shifting their business models away from advertising and toward subscriptions. While subscriptions made up only 3.4% of digital video revenues in 2011, it expects that proportion to rise to nearly a quarter of all video proceeds by the end of 2017.

Read more: Chinese mobile video sector soars | Media Analysis | Business https://www.rapidtvnews.com/2017050147062/chinese-mobile-video-sector-soars.html#ixzz4hLj1efWX 
Follow us: @rapidtvnews on Twitter

...the key component of the next big things...

During World War Two, Allied bombing missions were conducted -deep into German territory, to destroy factories in Schweinfurt. They were costly missions - but the were conducted for a very good reason.

"Low-friction ball and roller bearings were used in all parts of military and commercial machinery, and research indicated that roughly half of the German bearing industry was located in Schweinfurt, concentrated at four or five factory sites on the western side of town. The 8th Air Force planners felt that if they could strike hard enough at Schweinfurt, the results might cripple the German war industry." Third Reich Ruins

Striking at something that was a key component of everything they were fighting against made a lot of sense.

How does this translate to investing in modern technology?

If you can find something that would be a key component in a number of areas, that is where you'd want to be. 

Microvision will be providing key components for the next big things. The ball bearings of impending tech trends:


Mobile computing: The smaller the device the better. The larger the display the better. 

The internet of things is real, getting bigger and it's going to be gigantic. What is the easiest way to put an interactive display on something?

Augmented reality -- needs both near eye displays, and 3D scanning.

Autonomous vehicles - need displays and the means of detecting nearby objects and knowing what they are. 

A lot of technologies need to work together to make this happen. (And a lot of cooperation) 

Having the right partners... that's important too.
STM, Sony, Sharp/Foxconn and Intel

Gartner Top Ten Tech Trends 2017
Gartner Top Ten Tech Trends 2016

New Apple Patent

Primesense has been on the radar for a long time around Microvision.

There is a very interesting and tangled web of various companies doing things with Microvision's tech. I don't have much hope of figuring it all out until someone wants us too, but it can keep observers pretty busy.

Thanks SBN


Primesense from this blog

Apple Purchase of Primesense


So, Apple released this patent today

USPTO

Microvision Inc., "Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) Scanning Mirror", years 1996-2009. cited by applicant .

Ultrahaptics

That little buzz you feel in your phone when you touch it... and it wants to be clear that you know you've done something is "haptic" feedback.

Ultrahaptics, has come up with a way to make you feel stuff without touching it. (I'm really curious to try this.) 

If true and pure gesture control is going to happen, I think this will be required-- otherwise it will be very difficult for software to figure out what all of our sloppy gestures mean.

This is a part of the whole ecosystem, and without this kind of feedback there will probably be an intermediate step to common gesture control (like the post yesterday.)

PicoP Makes this a lot easier.

PicoP is use a lot around my house for making art.... Tracing helps learn drawing too.


SlashGear

Munster on Apple AR

I think his assessment seems about right.

They need to create an ecosystem before they release products, so the WWDC is going to be something to pay close attention to.

Forbes

Munster expects, and says Apple knows, the smartphone in its current form isn’t going to last. Munster was emphatic that Apple resources are being poured into AR now.

“The smartphone is going to be the device for AR for the next five years,” Munster said. And Apple wants to extend its iPhone franchise as far as possible, so expect the company to pack AR future capabilities, products and services for several more years.

Munster says Apple understands that today’s generation of smartphones is likely to be obsolete within five years, and in the intense competitive environment that is Silicon Valley, the company is protecting itself from others like Facebook and Google hurdling over it in the emerging AR and VR markets. Munster said the migration of smart portable devices is “eventually going to be in the form of a wearable.”

Munster said Apple may have a wearable headset “maybe by 2020.” But that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to see Apple’s first generation of augmented reality along with the iPhone 8 release, perhaps as early as September of this year.

Three older posts

Blast from the past. 


Intersil Website  -- yes, that is a picture of Microvision's MEMS.

Post on Reddit about Intersil


Intersil Laser Controller Ready

Intersil purchased by Renesas

Intersil HUD white Paper

Interesting Apple Report

Windows Mixed Reality Controllers

Not quite sure what is up with these, this is the first I've seen of this. (and so far, the only reference to it.)

It may be that true gesture control is difficult to do precise work with and something like this improves it. (I suspect that's very true.) 

There are several references recently to an apparently new distinction of "Windows Mixed Reality" -- so something beyond Hololens.

WindowsReport -- More at the Source



The only thing that will be connected to your PC is the single cable from the headset. This works this way because of the sensor array in the headset. As long as the sensors and the cameras see the controllers, they’ll be positioned where your hands are in the real world.

First from Advanced Manufacturing Fund

The "all glass" iPhone probably is a thing, but probably years down the road. Apple tips their hand again...

They also bought a sleep-tracking software company (Beddit)

But long before this they bought a 3D sensing company, Primesense, and augmented reality company Metaio....

Fortune

Apple said on Friday that it's investing $200 million from its Advanced Manufacturing Fund into Corning's glass processing division. The news comes nearly a week after Apple announced that its new Fund would focus on improving advanced manufacturing worldwide. Corning produces a variety of glass products, including hardened glass that reinforces iPhone and iPad screens.

LG Projector Review

Makes me think that LG and Celluon may have a more significant relationship - but I don't know.



Thanks Fuzzie


SisaWeek

LG Uplus has been bringing in the domestic Korean venture company's beam project overseas. It is an evaluation that it has begun to expand the market of ultra-small beam project with the advantage of lowering the price compared to specifications by collaboration.

LG Uplus announced on November 11 that it will launch portable mini projector 'U + pocket beam'. Pocket Beam was launched by Celluon, a venture company. It was sold overseas several months ago and it supports HD (1920X720, external output) resolution with Sony's optical engine.

The eye-catching point is that domestic sales prices are more than 100,000 won cheaper than overseas. The same product was sold for $ 429 (480,000 won) on the Celluon official homepage or in the US Amazon.

LG U + has been able to lower prices by taking charge of UI development and marketing of domestic products.

The Augmented Reality Workforce

A key component of a world & economy changing technology. 

Makes me a very patient investor..... 


Entrepreneur magazine

AR will help transition displaced workers.

In our lifetimes, we’ve seen the nature of work change dramatically. Our parents viewed work as a single employer with a pension and a retirement plan. As job security became less of a guarantee, our peers entered the workforce knowing they’d likely have several different careers by the time they were done. Then came the gig economy with flexible schedules and pay scales. Now, automation is displacing workforces with an imminent threat the likes of the industrial revolution. 

When it comes to the future of the workplace, AR-powered opportunities may very well represent that next adaptation. Thanks to recent developments in AR, jobs that once required years of training and practice can now be completed without prior knowledge or experience, and workers can do these jobs equipped with as little as their smartphone. 

Related: How Augmented Reality Will Shape the Future of Ecommerce

One worker can have many jobs.

Augmented reality can provide workers with digital manuals, complete with 3D renderings that can be superimposed onto the objects they are working on, to follow step-by-step instructions, which can be applied to just about anything: assembling furniture, repairing cars, plumbing, electrical work, pipeline maintenance -- even the most complex of tasks. 

Amazon to build software for AR

It's interesting that Amazon is putting its toe in the water about Augmented Reality.

It's more interesting to me at this point that this very mainstream publication has noticed it.

So far those of us paying attention to the space are seeing a lot about AR -- but we're reading off the beaten path techie stuff. If you ask an average random person if they know about pico projection or Augmented Reality, or Hololens, you will get a lot more strange looks than recognition. 

The Kardashian fans probably read variety. This is a new audience.


Variety

Amazon Studios has plans to build apps for augmented and mixed reality headsets, if a recent job offer is any indication. The unit’s still-unannounced plans to produce and distribute immersive content for headsets increasingly seems to focus on augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality.

Amazon Studios recently began to advertise a job offering for a “Mixed Reality Producer” who will be tasked with building “customer facing VR and AR applications across multiple platforms.” Mixed reality is being used as a catch-all name for technologies that offer immersion similar to a virtual reality headset as well as the ability to integrate real-world imagery.

Given Yesterday's Projector News,

Very interesting, but certainly not definitive... very interesting given yesterday's projector news from LG.

There's quite a bit of web weaving going on, and it takes a long time -- but now that mass production is happening, things are going to move along quickly I think.

Notice that they're have "plans to build" the facility for the camera modules... it may not yet be a done deal, but it's not actively producing anything yet either.

Check here for a connection from some time ago: LG / Microvision 2014 

Hardware Zone
MacRumors
AppleInsider

While Samsung is reportedly the main supplier of OLED panels for the iPhone 8, LG Innotek is said to be the sole supplier of the facial recognition camera modules for the iPhone 8.

According to the Korea Economic Daily, LG Innotek plans to build a new facility worth US$238.5 million to fulfill Apple's orders of the camera modules. The facial recognition camera module will be front-facing and is rumored to be more advanced than Samsung's 2D camera on the Galaxy S8.

LG PicoProjector

Autonomous Cars

Also seems to confirm my theory that tailgating is bad.

Autonomous car prevents traffic Jam

LG Pico Projector

Thanks Joe, you're always on top of things.
Thanks Also Tomsvision

This appears to be the SONY engine, cranked up to 63 lumens... best guess so far.



LG Pico Projector Offering

U + Pocket Beam ▲ Brightness of the 16: 9 Wide HD (1920X720) resolution, which is specialized for image viewing ▲ Brightness of 63 laser ANSI lumens based on Sony's optical engine ▲ Autofocus and keystone for automatic adjustment of focus and tilt of beam image ) Function and so on. 

With an astonishing contrast ratio of 80,000 to 1, it is possible to express color accurately and abundantly. It can realize a display screen of up to 120 inches at a distance of about 3 to 4 meters from the screen. With a large capacity battery of 3500mAh, you can enjoy a movie for about 2 hours without connecting a wired adapter power source. 

It has a palm-sized size (6.65 x 13.8 cm) similar to a 5.9-inch cell phone, a thin 1.5 cm and weighs only 230 g. The sales price including VAT is 349,800 won, and it can be purchased by LGU Plus website and main stores nationwide from 12th, regardless of the communication company. 

with Touchscreens..... UPDATED

It's impossible to sort through the noise.... 


DroidLife
DigitalTrends
DailyMail
OneRedDrop

But just maybe they're giving us a hint....

Microvision Twitter

...in cooperation with INTEL.

iPhone 8 to be previewed in June?

So, I'm not big on fruit company rumors. I don't like the hype. This is the kind of news that can't be ignored however. It's news, it's in the space and it's possible that Microvision is involved.

There is an absolute blizzard of rumors about the iPhone 8, most of what we have heard is probably false, but the truth is probably out there somewhere. This stands a decent chance of being false as well.

The possibility that this particular rumor could be true, poses a nightmare scenario for those betting against Microvision -- and I'm okay with that.


9 to 5 Mac

JPMorgan analyst makes outlandish claim that Apple will preview iPhone 8 at WWDC in June

JPMorgan has distributed its latest analyst report on the company’s outlook. Amidst the financial predictions, JPMorgan says that there is a ‘high likelihood’ that Apple will announce the iPhone 8 at WWDC in June.

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Just to be clear -- no one outside of probably a few people at Apple have any idea what is going to happen with this phone release. I sift through a bunch of this stuff daily, and the rumors are all over the place. I would have ignored the above rumor excepting its source -- And there is also a problem they have... if they have something really new -- in order to have something to do with it, they have to alert their developers.

Below is today's iPhone8 update -- and as you can see, there is a rumor from every direction.

iphone 8 Daily update ⋅ May 5, 2017 NEWS What to expect with the iPhone 8 whnt.com Apple could jump ahead to iPhone 8, or pick a new name entirely like iPhone Pro or iPhone X. Adding a higher-end iPhone to the line up would mean ... Apple Takes A Hit On iPhone 7 Sales, iPhone 8 May Be Worth Waiting For - Forbes What to expect with the iPhone 8 - AZFamily New iPhone 8 design leak may bring some very good news - BGR Full Coverage Flag as irrelevant Crazy iPhone 8 Rumor Predicts June Unveiling Tom's Guide Whenever talk of the iPhone 8 surfaces, most analysts and others allegedly in the know say it won't be unveiled until the fall. But now there's one ... Fresh iPhone 8 Renders Showcase Big Features - Tom's Guide Stunning concept shows what iPhone 8 would look like with a touch bar - Mashable New iPhone 8 renders show how Apple's next-gen iPhone could be a game-changer - BGR Full Coverage Flag as irrelevant Apple iPhone 8 - Latest leak might be the biggest reason yet NOT to buy the Galaxy S8 Express.co.uk APPLE'S iPhone 8 looks set to be unveiled in September and a new leaked image could show why this phone may have the upper hand over its ... Flag as irrelevant iPhone 8 could be banned from the US if Qualcomm gets its way TechRadar Qualcomm apparently is looking to have the ban put in place ahead of Apple's rumored iPhone 8 / iPhone 7S launch this September, which could put ... The future of the iPhone 8 may rest in Qualcomm's hands - Mashable The iPhone 8 Could Be Banned From The US Before It's Even Released - UPROXX iPhone 8 BAN: Apple's next-generation handset could be blocked from sale meaning you never - Daily Star Full Coverage Flag as irrelevant iPhone 8 or iPhone 7S: What Will Apple Launch This Fall? ValueWalk A recent slowdown in iPhone 7 sales has been firmly blamed on rumors of an iPhone 8, or iPhone 7s according to Apple, CEO, Tim Cook. Flag as irrelevant Apple Stock Stalls As Talk Reverts To iPhone 8: Will It Be Delayed? ValueWalk The company's March quarter results weren't the home investors have come to expect, but analysts are still trying to convince them that the iPhone 8 ... Flag as irrelevant For Apple, 2017 means "iPhone 8" or bust PhoneDog Although not due for release until later this year, you've probably heard rumors and leaks regarding the Apple iPhone 8 for months at this point. Apple iPhone 8 to come with function area similar to MacBook Pro - Gizbot New iPhone 8 Rumors Reveal What Device Will Look Like - TeenVogue.com New Apple iPhone 8 render visualizes the potential 'function area' - BGR India Full Coverage Flag as irrelevant Wait? WHAT! No iPhone 8 Release Date In 2017? Yahoo News Get your salt at the ready, we have a rather meaty iPhone 8 rumour for you: according to multiple sources, Apple will NOT release the iPhone 8 inside ... iPhone 8 Hype Causes iPhone 7 Sales To Drop; Two New Wireless Technology About To Come - Science World Report iPhone 8 might not be released until 2018, claims new report - ThaiVisa News iPhone 8 may see late release due to fingerprint reader production problems - QR Code Press Full Coverage Flag as irrelevant Tim Cook blames iPhone 8 rumors for iPhone sales slowdown. Duh! video - CNET CNET Your video, "Tim Cook blames iPhone 8 rumors for iPhone sales slowdown. Duh!" will start after this message from our sponsors. Loading video. Flag as irrelevant Qorvo Rebounds: Waiting for 'iPhone 8' Is Getting to Be a Drag, Says Morgan Stanley Barron's Qorvo shares quickly rebounded from an 8% sell-off last night, as the focus of investors moved past a host of issues -- share loss in Samsung's latest ... Flag as irrelevant BLOGS iPhone 8 concept roundup: Part I iDownloadBlog While hardly indicative of the actual iPhone 8 design, these concepts and renderings are fun to explore as we imagine what we might see from Apple ... Flag as irrelevant Another claimed iPhone 8 drawing shows vertically stacked cameras and nearly full-screen face iDownloadBlog If this technical drawing is the real deal, iPhone 8 will feature vertically stacked rear cameras and a nearly full-screen face with a tiny earpiece slit at ... Flag as irrelevant WEB Here's What The iPhone 8 Might Look Like According To Leaks 93.3 FLZ - iHeartRadio From all the leaks, this is what the iPhone 8 might look like later this year. HOPE SO, looks pretty bad ass. Then again, you Samsung owners are ... Flag as irrelevant Bad News If You Were Keen To Get An iPhone 8 Later This Year Hit Network iPhone users had expected the brand new iPhone 8 to be released later this year, but it seems there could be a delay. Flag as irrelevant Tim Cook blames iPhone 8 rumors for iPhone sales slowdown. Duh! Latest News - ittHON.ma Are you one of the sheeple? Apple's Siri Smart Speaker could debut at WWDC17, Apple sold fewer iPhones this quarter but made a whole lot more ...