1 - Apple Pushing to Put Its Own 5G Modem
in 2022 iPhone
Models: Report
Esin Terzioglu is said to be leading the 5G modem development for Apple. Before Apple,
Terzioglu was Qualcomm's vice president of engineering.
The Cupertino-based tech giant Apple is planning to bring its own 5G modem in iPhone models by the year 2022. According to a recent report from Fast Company, Apple is expected to launch its first iPhone model with a 5G modem by September 2020 with a Qualcomm chip inside. To seize control of its 5G technology as soon as possible, Apple bought Intel's modem business earlier this year to develop another piece of its hardware in-house without being dependent on partners.
According to the report, Apple's development of the next-gen modem is likely led by Esin Terzioglu, who worked as Qualcomm's vice president of engineering until he was hired by the iPhone maker in 2017.
“The SoC integration may not happen right away, my source says. Given the tight timeframe for delivering a modem in 2022, Apple may choose to make its first 5G modem a stand-alone chip, and then integrate it into an SoC the following year,” writes Fast Company's Mark Sullivan.
Apple had stopped working with the leading 5G modem provider, Qualcomm, because of a dispute over its licensing fees. However, the legal war between the two tech giants settled in April at an undisclosed amount.
As part of the settlement, Apple agreed to buy Qualcomm's 5G chips as well to use it as part of its 5G-enabled iPhone, which is scheduled for launch in 2020.
While Apple may use its own 5G model in iPhone models in 2022, as mentioned, its first 5G iPhone models are expected next year. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has told investors in July this year that all three iPhone models slated for release next year would support 5G technology.
2- Airtel Digital TV HD and SD Set-Top Boxes Get a Price Cut, Now start at Rs. 1,100
Airtel Digital TV customers can now get an HD set-top box for as low as Rs. 1,300. The DTH operator is also offering its SD set-top box at Rs. 1,100. The latest move by the New Delhi-based company follows the reduction in the prices of set-top boxes by Airtel Digital TV rival Tata Sky. In the recent past, DTH operators including Airtel Digital TV and Dish TV have also launched their Android-powered set-top boxes to deliver a smart TV-like experience to the masses.
On its official website, Airtel Digital TV is showing that new customers can avail its HD set-top box at Rs. 1,300. The HD set-top box was recently available at Rs. 1,800 -- suggesting a price cut of Rs. 500.
The Airtel Digital TV website also highlights a change in the price of the SD set-top box that is now available at Rs. 1,100.
The listed prices of the Airtel Digital TV HD set-top boxes notably don't include any DTH pack. This means that customers will need to purchase a DTH pack separately after buying the set-top box. It is also unclear whether the reduced price includes any installation charges, as noted by Telecom Talk.
Back in July, Tata Sky reduced the prices of its HD and SD set-top boxes. The operator announced that while its HD set-top box can be purchased at Rs. 1,499 and the SD set-top box at Rs. 1,399.
Alongside dropping the prices of their SD and HD set-top boxes, DTH operators nowadays are offering Android-based set-top box options to the customers for offering various over-the-top (OTT) apps such as Amazon Prime Video, ALTBalaji, Voot, and more.
Last month, Airtel brought its Xstream box based on Android 9 Pie to transform the television-watching experience. Dish TV also earlier this week introduced its Android-powered Dish SMRT Hub with features such as Dolby Atmos support and Google Play Store access.
The recent changes by major DTH operators are also due to the hype created for Reliance Jio's fibre broadband service that is set to bring a gaming-supported smart set-top box for the customers. The Mumbai-based company at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Reliance Industries in August announced its partnership with companies such as Gameloft, Tencent, and Microsoft to deliver console-like gaming experiences through its native set-top box offering.
| TOP 10 AIRTEL DIGITAL TV DTH PLANS & PACKAGES | VALIDITY | BASE PRICES (Rs.) |
| My Sports - South | 1 month | 276 |
| My Family | 1 month | 333 |
| My Sports HD - South | 1 month | 501 |
| Family Plus | 1 month | 399 |
| New Mega - South | 1 month | 477 |
| My Family HD - South | 1 month | 558 |
| Value Prime Kids HD | 1 month | 485 |
| Jackpot - South | 1 month | 550 |
| Jackpot | 1 month | 550 |
| UP-BH-JHK Value Lite SD Plus | 1 month | 252 |
3- Tencent Gets 'Wake-Up Call' From China's Assertions of Patriotism
Blizzard, Epic Games, and the NBA are all causing headaches.
Tencent Holdings can't get a break.
The National Basketball Association, Activision Blizzard, and now one of its most important portfolio companies, Fortnite proprietor Epic Games, have all sparked political controversy at a time of increasingly assertive Chinese nationalism online.
A tweet by an NBA executive expressing support for Hong Kong protesters drew the ire of Beijing, throwing into question the billions Tencent has invested in the US sports league. Then Blizzard, partly owned by Tencent, banned a gamer for endorsing Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement, triggering a boycott of the company's games for its apparent kowtowing to China. Most recently, Epic Chief Executive Officer Tim Sweeney tweeted his disagreement with the Blizzard action, eliciting calls for a boycott of its Fortnite game among Chinese players incensed by the perceived slight.
At stake for Tencent are billions of dollars in ad and subscription revenue, along with its entire strategy of becoming a go-to destination for NBA broadcasts. Tencent had almost half a billion basketball aficionados tune in last season. That audience is now in jeopardy after Tencent halted game broadcasts in the wake of the Hong Kong controversy.
"It's a big wake-up call for Chinese tech companies," said Mark Tanner, founder of Shanghai-based research and marketing company China Skinny.
Tencent had just inked a $1.5 billion (roughly Rs. 10,657 crores), five-year deal to stream NBA games online in China. Its suspension of broadcasts followed a similar move by state-backed CCTV.
Tencent uses the online streams to sell ads, and the gargantuan scale of the audience drives its marketing business, which is expected to be a key driver of Tencent growth going forward. To spruce up its investment, Tencent has been developing memorabilia, entertainment shows and video games based on the NBA.
"Advertising of Tencent sports will likely take a hit. NBA is the star of Tencent sports, so it could cause a contract of Tencent's advertising growth further," said Michael Norris, a Shanghai-based research and strategy analyst at consultancy AgencyChina.
