Deep01, a Taiwan-based medical artificial intelligence (AI) startup, is applying for its second US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) clearance for midline shift detection and measurement, according to the company's CEO, David Chou.The company said it obtained its first FDA clearance for intracranial hemorrhage detection AI system, which can produce results within 30 seconds, in July this year.Earlier this month at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), Chou, CEO of Deep01, presented a new function of brain computer tomography (CT) called "AI quantitative calculation of midline shift.""Midline shift" is an important indicator that helps emergency physician to detect the degree of midline shift for diagnosing acute cerebrovascular disease and allows neurosurgeons to decide whether to perform craniotomy according to the degree of shift after reviewing CT images, he said. The AI system helps to calculate the degree of midline shift, which can shorten the decision time of the clinician, and the patient can obtain the corresponding treatment faster, and then has a better prognosis.The Deep01 CEO noted that medical innovation in various countries is robust. In the process of collaborating with medical companies across Europe, America, and Asia, he claimed that Taiwan AI healthcare has its industrial advantages.At the RSNA meeting, Deep01 discussed opportunities for cooperation with more than 10 international companies including CT (computer tomography), PACS (picture archiving and communication system), and telemedicine companies.Deep01, established at the end of 2016, is the first medical AI startup in Taiwan and Asia-Pacific to obtain FDA clearance in the United States. There are about 12 employees, and some medical doctors have joined part-time.The company said its next step is to market products overseas, cooperate with foreign CT companies, and also establish partnerships with domestic and foreign PACS companies.Deep01 CEO David Chou (second right)Photo: Company

Apple is expected to launch 5G iPhones in 2020, and the next-generation phones may change its antenna board designs to facilitate mmWave transmission. Taiwan-based flexible PCB makers including Zhen Ding Technology and Flexium Interconnect are gearing up to capture orders for flexible antenna boards for 5G iPhones. The arrival of the 5G era is set to rejuventate the smartphoen market and at the same time spur 5G network construciton. Fast expansion of 5G infrastructure is expected to benefit Macronix, a major supplier of NOR flash for use in 5G base stations. Flexible PCB makers gearing up for 5G iPhone antenna orders: Taiwan-based flexible PCB makers including Zhen Ding Technology and Flexium Interconnect are gearing up to capture orders for flexible antenna boards for 5G iPhones, especially those for LCP (liquid crystal polymer) boards likely to be used in Apple's new-generation offerings, according to industry sources.Macronix gearing up for 3D NAND flash: Macronix International is poised to kick off commercial shipments of 48-layer 3D NAND flash chips in the second half of 2020, followed by volume shipments of 96-layer 3D NAND products in 2021, according to company chairman Miin Wu.

While the Taiwan government has designated frequency band of 4.8-4.9GHz with bandwidth of 100MHz for the public organizations and private enterprises to implement their dedicated 5G networks, it remains to be seen if the move will satisify their needs.The government plans to release 3.5GHz band with bandwidth of 270MHz, 28GHz band with 2500MHz and 1.8GHz with 20MHz through open auction bid starting on December 10, with 3.5GHz band being regarded as a core spectrum band for 5G deployments.Many public and private entities previously urged the government to designate frequency band ranges within the 3.5GHz spectrum, such as 3,700-3,800MHz frequency band for private 5G vertical applications.But the requested band could interfere with normal 5G commercial operations, impact telecom carriers' incomes from enterprise clients, and squeeze frequency bands to be available for 5G commercial services.The government has also set stringent rules for organizations or companies applying to use the designated frequency band, requiring them to first conduct a one-year experiment to verify the innovativeness and necessity of their applications, and then submit a related business plan to the authority for review every three years.Although interested enterprises and organizations can apply for trial use of the 5G dedicated band now, the government has stated it will not issue operating licenses for the 5G dedicated band until at least 2021-2022.Many industrial observers argue that such restrictions could hamper the developments of 5G vertical applications by the private sector. For example, the IC manufacturing nodes may evolve 1-2 generations in three years, and it makes no sense that semiconductor firms will have to wait for three years before receiving the licneses.It is understandable that the rules - prepared by the National Communications Commission (NCC) - aims to promote cooperation between the vertical industries and telecom operators in order to create a win-win situation to ensure the release of 5G spectrums at reasonable price levels.However, many local companies, including those in the petrochemical, semiconductor and smart manufacturing industries, as well as exhibition halls, hospitals and logistics operators are longing for their own 5G networks to provide unique, high reliability, high coverage and self-operated 5G services.

91pu, a website providing online sheet music in uniform format for instrument players and singers, has accumulated about 200,000 members and reached 6.6 million person-visits a month, according to Wang Han, CEO for the site's operator Hima Music Studio.Most online sheet music is so personalized that music score layout and formatting varies from some users to others and thus not easy to be familiarized, Wang said, adding for iPad-based electronic sheet music, switching of pages may affect music performance.Hima, to solve these problems, rearranges and lay out anews music scores to make sheet music in uniform formats, Wang indicated.As compared with other online sheet music websites, 91up features transposition functions of raising or lowering pitch by providing 12 tones for users to choose the optimal ones, a main reason for the website to become attractive, Wang explained.Hima plans to develop 91pu into a platform for co-creation of music using new technologies, Wang said. Members of an orchestra usuaully have to arrange times and places for practice, but 5G can enable them to simultaneously practice online at separate places; blockchain technology can be used to establish a profit-sharing system among all contributors to music production, Wang noted.Music creation is an ecosystem comprising experts in musical composition, lyrics, instrument playing, singing and extension to addition of music to video and production of music video, Wang indicated. Linking of these segments in the supply chain relied on brokers in the past, but now social media platforms can play the linking role to provide brand-new room for creating music, Wang noted.In addition, Hima keeps watching possible application of AI and IoT sensors to playing of musical instruments and improving efficiency in manual arrangement and layout of music scores, Wang said.A startup supported by the Taipei City Government, 91up hopes to raise NT$10 million (US$328,000) in seed-round fund raising over the next two years, Wang indicated.Hima Music Studio CEO Wang HanPhoto: Vincent Mao, Digitimes, December 2019

Taiwan's government will step up the development of smart biotech ecosystem by fostering more startups and introducing more international funds, technologies and talent through Hsinchu Biomedical Science Park and Taiwan Tech Arena (TTA), according to the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST).MOST statistics show that the production value of Taiwan's biotech industry is estimated to increase by over 6% on year to NT$548.4 billion (US$17.989 billion) in 2019, with the growth partly due to a spate of cooperation projects with international academic institutes, including Berkeley-Taiwan Biomedical Fellowship and Stanford-Taiwan Biomedical Fellowship Program.CH Chiou, director general of the ministry's Department of Academia-Industry Collaboration and Science Park Affairs, said that the projects have not only deepened academia-industry cooperation but also injected innovation momentum to Taiwan's biomedical industry.Chiou continued that Taipei-based BE Accelerator has fostered 26 biotech and medical startups over the past one and a half years including some from the US, Canada, France and Israel, providing new nutrients for Taiwan's biomedical ecosystem.Chiou said Hsinchu Biomedical Science Park will play a more active role in introducing international funds and talent to strengthen development of biomedical innovations for use by hospitals and pharmaceuticals makers.He also hopes TTA will serve as an external marketing window for Taiwan's startups, with the aim of boosting their international visibility by cooperating with various overseas platforms and soliciting more international venture capital firms and accelerators to set up operations in Taiwan.

To tackle ongoing brain drain, Taiwan businesses are keen on adopting AI solutions to accelerate operation upgrades and transformations, but what counts more is how they can attract more high-level foreign AI and other tech professionals to work in Taiwan to sustain innovation momentum, according to some experts.This was a consensus reached at an online panel discussion jointly hosted by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), the Science & Technology Policy Research and Information Center (STPI) under the National Applied Research Laboratories (NARLabs), and Digitimes to discuss issues concerning tech research and innovation talent and present suggestions for the nation's science and technology development strategy formulation in 2020.To attract foreign AI talent, the panelists all agreed that Taiwan must develop good working environments and relax regulations to allow startups to hire high-level foreign professionals and address the issue of permanent residence for the professionals and their families.As the discussion moderator, Digitimes vice president Eric Huang said that Taiwan has an abundant supply of high-tech talent, prompting many international tech giants such as Google and Microsoft to set up research centers in the country, while Chinese enterprises have also aggressively raided talent from Taiwan by offering attractive pays 2-3 times their existing levels.Fengyou Sun, co-founder and CEO of AI startup Kapito, said that it is an inevitable trend for foreign enterprises to recruit Taiwanese talent by offering pays comparable to international pays, as more and more enterprises are going international.YN Chen, assistant professor at the department of computer science and information engineering of National Taiwan University, said that foreign firms recruiting talent from Taiwan can help drive local enterprises to improve working conditions and boost pays and fringe benefits for their local employees.Richie Tsai, chief operation officer of Taiwan AI Academy, said that it does not matter whether Taiwan's talent are poached to work in Japan, China or the Silicon Valley; what really matters is whether Taiwan industries can attract back the talent by deepening AI deployments.

Although the memory market looks to be heading towards a recovery in 2020, suppliers are cautious about expanding supply. Winbond is building a new plant in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, with completion originally slated for year-end 2020 and commerical production for 2021. But now the company has now rescheduled equipment move-in to January 2022. Meanwhile, ASE reportedly is the one providing semiconductor backend services for packaging Qualcomm's freshly launched Arm-based processors for notebooks.Winbond slowing down new fab construction: Specialty DRAM and flash memory chipmaker Winbond Electronics is slowing down constructing and equipping its new 12-inch wafer plant in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, according to company chairman Arthur Chiao.ASE reportedly grabs SiP orders for new Qualcomm PC processor: Qualcomm has launched new Arm-based processors for notebooks. Among the chips, the new Snapdragon 7c series designed for entry-level devices reportedly adopts ASE Technology's system-in-package (SiP) services to integrate multiple chips into one single package to help OEMs lower their R&D costs.

Driven by the application of sensors, AI, big data and IoT technologies, smart agriculture has developed rapidly in Taiwan, and a spate of latest smart agricultural solutions unveiled by academic research groups at the just-concluded Futex Taipei 2019 are expected to help accelerate upgrades and transformation in the farming sector.The solutions were showcased at the smart agricultural biotech section debuting at this year's edition of the annual event, hosted by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) to enhance collaboration in developing future technologies and applications among industry, academy and research sectors.Among them is a non-toxic AI-based smart farming system, developed by a research team from National Chiao Tung University (NCTU). The system can be linked to a smartphone app allowing farmers of turmeric roots to monitor and adjust plant growth environments such as pest and disease control, soil fertility, moisture, light and temperature. The system can be applied to grow high-value root vegetable for herbal medicine.Another solution, developed by a team from National Taiwan Normal University, leverages AI algorithms, optical signals, and big data analysis to conduct fast and automatic detection of orchid diseases without damaging the plants and culture flasks. The team has cooperated with major orchid farms to promote the solution, which can be integrated with more sensors to form a plant growth IoT system.There was also a cyber-physical sensing (CPS) 3D stereo modeling for fruit tree growth monitoring, presented by another team from NCTU. The core technologies include lightweight UAV, heterogeneous sensor integration, obstacle avoidance, group flight automatic flight control, RTK precision positioning system, and fruit tree 3D stereo modeling, which can be used to establish a 3D fruit tree growth process.

Taiwan-Janssen Project, focusing on R&D of treating lung, rectal and colorectal cancers in 2019, has awarded grants to three academic/research units, according to Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST).The three award recipients are: a team organized by Biomedical Technology and Device Research Laboratories (BTDRL) at government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute; one from National Taiwan University (NTU); and one from Taipei Medical University (TMU).Taiwan-Janssen Project is jointly sponsored by MOST, Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) and Belgium-based Janssen Pharmaceutica, which is subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.Focusing on cancer treatment, the project calls for proposals from Taiwan-based academic and research organizations and then selects those with potential technologies for use in developing pharmaceuticals, diagnostic devices or medical materials.Janssen will offer 3-year R&D subsidy of US$500,000 to the BTDRL team, while MOEA will also offer financial assistance at a certain percent of the amount.The NTU team will be given US$60,000 from MOST for developing blood tests to identify epigenetic marks that could be signs of lung cancers in early stages, while the TMU teams will receive a MOST grant of US$40,000 for its research of using intestinal metagenomic sequencing to develop a vitro screening platform for people with high risks of rectal and colorectal cancers.Janssen will offer 6-month technological counseling services for the NTC and TMU teams.Taiwan-Janssen Project's award ceremonyPhoto: MOST

TSMC has been fast advancing its manufacturing processes. It is on track to move 5nm node to commercial production in the second half of 2020, and will soon break ground for a 3nm facility where volume production will start in 2022. Next year promises to be a fruitful one thanks to 5G picking up momentum, but in the meantime, Taiwanese IC desingers see orders slow down from Chinese clients who are conducting year-end inventory checks. But phone vendors are set to launch more 5G devices in 2020, including foldable ones. But vendors of such foldable phones have to make sure they receive sufficient supply for OLED panels.TSMC to kick off 3nm process manufacturing in 2022: TSMC is firmly on track to move 5nm process technology to commercial production in the first half of 2020 and will kick off production of chips built using a newer 3nm process node in 2022, according to JK Wang, the firm's senior vice president for fab operations.Taiwan IC design houses see orders slow down from China: Taiwan-based IC design houses have seen their China-based customers start slowing down their pace of orders due to year-end inventory checks at the clients, which may drag down revenues at those fabless chipmakers in November and December.AUO loses Motorola foldable Razr OLED orders to Chinese peers: Motorola has switched orders for flexible AMOLED panels for its new foldable smartphones to Chinese suppliers BOE Technology and China Star Optoelectronics Technology (CSOT) from Taiwan-based AU Optronics (AUO) who cannot provide sufficient production capacity, according to industry sources.