AR can create brand-new gaming experience, but for industry applications, AR can help firms tackle their long-existing pain points, according to Roger Lu, founder and CEO of Mind & Idea Fly (Mifly), a Taiwan startup dedicated to multimedia AR/VR content development solutions.In an interview conducted by Digitimes, Lu stressed that real-time transmission will play a key role in determining the success in the AR domain in the 5G era, and that solid hardware support also counts greatly for AR applications in people's daily life.Q: Why did you migrate to the industry AR segment after 10 years in the gaming segment? What is the difference between gaming and industry AR?A: I witnessed the changes of the gaming sector during my 10 years in the sector. Mobile games started to emerge after Apple released its first 3G iPhone in 2008, but not until 2013 did large capital funds start to enter the sector, leading to the birth of large-size gaming enterprises such as Tencent and NetEase in China.The leading firms tended to acquire work teams and IPs of smaller firms that develolped gaming products with great sales potential. As a result, many independent gaming studios were acquired or failed.I found that AR can allow interactions whether it is applied to games or general industries. But for gamers, AR interactions can mainly bring them new gaming experiences, such as Pokémon GO. For industries, AR can help tackle their long-existing pain points. E-commerce operators, for instance, can use AR to develop visual apps for consumers to try shoes on via their smartphones.Q: How do you see B2C and B2B AR applications? What business model is adopted by your own platform?A: For AR glasses, B2B is the dominant business model, with such glasses having four main application scenarios including repair workshops, production plants, on-site inspection and security operation. I think future B2B AR applications will move closer toward large-size businesses and government units.As to the B2C business model, it can make an AR platform grow quickly, but the ratio of subscription payment by consumers will not necessarily rise with the platform usage growth.Our MakAR editing tool, designed to help enterprises create AR content to serve consumers, adopts the B2B2C model, meaning that businesses pay the cost for the services to consumers.Q: How will 5G affect the development of VR and AR application to industries?A: 5G will certainly have immediate influence on VR, as high-quality games will no longer be downloaded and can be directly played in the cloud, and high transmission performance of 5G can concretely match quality VR content.The influence of 5G on AR is not so clear for the moment. But when AR identification technology SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) is applied to process bigger data in shorter time before generating application content, 5G real-time transmission will be critical to supporting the application.Q: Besides the support of 5G transmission capability, what other crucial aspects will spur the development of the AR industry?A: In order for AR applications to be materialized in our daily lives, the popularity of hardware AR glasses also counts greatly. Though AR applications are operated via handsets, the most intuitive interface will remain AR glasses, which can also better integrate the virtual and physical realities.Mifly founder and CEO Roger Lu (center)Photo: Viki Liu, Digitimes, July 2019

Content distribution network (CDN), which has been around for over 20 years, is still enjoying strong growth every year, as consumers' demand for digital content's quality has grown from HD to Full HD and then 4K and now the latest 8K, according to Light Lin, founder of Poseidon Network, a provider of CDN solutions.Lin noted that 4G gave birth to all types of over-the-top (OTT) services, but for more exquisite, real-time, interactive and realistic 8K, AR, VR and MR content, 5G will be necessary.Currently, Taiwan still mainly adopts 4G with IPv4 architecture. Because of IPv4's limited IP availability, most telecom carriers have provided virtual IPs to their users, denyhing users true peer-to-peer (P2P) connection. However, with 5G's IPv6 architecture that features a lot more IP addresses, each device will be able to conduct true P2P connection and fully unleash the potential of edge computing, Lin said.Poseidon is a developer of a CDN that can connect multiple edge systems together and via sharing, the whole network can be transformed into an efficient, but low-cost decentralized infrastructure.The edge systems can be a network attacked storage (NAS), a smartphone or any type of Internet of Things (IoT) device, and each of them is connected using blockchain technologies. A digital certification system combined with blockchain's trust mechanism is used to transform each edge system into a recognizable small-size server and the system will issue its own cryptocurrency as a reward for users sharing bandwidth, storage and computing resources, Lin noted.At the moment, the company's business focus is mainly in the B2B field and has cooperated with over 10 partners in Taiwan, but Poseidon is looking to strengthen its efforts in the consumer sector, looking to encourage more users to share their excess computing resources by issuing its own cryptocurrency in a bid to stimulate more new innovations from the OTT industry, Lin added.The development team of Poseidon NetworkPhoto: Viki Liu, Digitimes file photo

TSMC's positive outlook for the rest of 2019 has lifted the cloud over the semiconductor supply chain. For passive component makers, business improvements may not come right away, but they are banking on 5G applications - a key factor underlying TSMC's optimism - to revive their momentum. And smatphone vendors are rolling out devices that can take fully support the 5G market, with many of them looking to feature OLED displays in their offerings. China-based panel maker BOE is poised to become a major OLED handset panel supplier.IC backend supply chain buoyed by TSMC positive 3Q19 outlook: Taiwan-based IC backend supply chain players are optimistic about their performance prospects for the second half of 2019 in line with TSMC's positive outlook about demand for high-end mobile APs from smartphone vendors and high-performance computing (HPC) chips form datacenter operators, according to industry sources.Taiwan passive components makers actively moving to develop 5G RF, antenna products: Lackluster terminal market demand has prompted Taiwan's leading passive components makers Yageo and Walsin Technology to step up implementing new development roadmaps for the next decade, focusing on 5G wireless communication components such as RF (radio frequency) and antenna solutions as well as automotive electronics devices through acquisition deals and internal resources integration, according to industry sources.BOE ranks 2nd in global AMOLED handset panel shipments in 1Q19: BOE Technology managed to become second largest vendor in terms of global AMOLED handset panel shipments in first-quarter 2019 thanks to continued orders from Huawei for its flagship smartphone models, according to industry observers.

Development of the 8K TV industry has gained momentum recently, highlighted by the releases of an 8K TV chip by Realtek Semiconductor, the Xbox console Project Scarlett by Microsoft, and the world's first 8K OLED TV by LG Electronics, Digitimes Research has observed.Realtek 's RTD2893 TV chip can upgrade a 4K TV platform to a fully functional 8K one, as the chip supports 8K AV1/HEVC/VP9 video decoding, and is able to convert low refresh rate 8K video into 8K 60Hz content using FRC technology, or upscale front-end 4K TV SoC output into 8K 60Hz images.The RTD2893 chip is also able to secure HDMI 2.1 8K input and output and video bit stream transmission over USB/PCIe, and supports all 8K video processing including HDR formats, making it a very cost-competitive 8K TV solution.Project Scarlett comes with product specifications that are comparable to Sony's PS5 with regard to CPUs, SSD storage capacity, CD-tracking and support of related 8K technology.Since both Sony and Microsoft are planning to launch their respective gaming consoles supporting 8K images in 2020, household gaming titles are likely to become an important source of content for stimulating 8K TV demand, Digitimes Research believes.LG's 88-inch 8K OLED TV, which is priced at over KRW50 million (US$42,550), features a next-generation in-house developed Alpha 9 Gen 2 chip that is able to optimize pixel effects via AI-based applications and to automatically adjust the quality of images and sound depending on different video content.

Taipei has adopted a structural health monitoring system developed by France-based startup Morphosense to monitor the structural health of Shezi Bridge located on a northwestern suburb of the cityMorphosense has used the system to monitor the structure of the La Tour Eiffel tower in Paris, said Department of Public Works (DPW) under Taipei City Government.The system consists of sensors installed at different locations of the beams of Shezi Bridge, which features cable-stayed engineering design with a single tower, DPW said. Its software remotely analyzes data collected by the sensors for real-time 3D simulation modeling of structural conditions to predict possible deformation, vibration, cracking or even collapse and send early warning.The bridge was was completed in 2012, DPW said.According to Lloyd's-conducted City Risk Index 2015-2025, which evaluate worldwide major cities' vulnerability to 18 types of catastrophe threats, Taipei is the most vulnerable in terms of risks in economic loss. Taipei could suffer estimated total economic loss of US$181.2 billion during the 10 years, 44.78% of which would arise from typhoons, 16.38% from earthquakes and 15.77% from drastic financial fluctuations.Shezi BridgePhoto: Taipei City Department of Public Works

It usually takes time for suppliers and clients to form steady partnerships, and it is also not unusual for the latter to diversify their supplies. Now the latest news from the server sector is that AWS reportedly has added Wiwynn and Jabil as its suppliers to accelerate its datacenter deployments. Wiwynn has declined to comment on specific clients, but expressed optimism about datacenter server demand in 2020. And in terms of diversifying supplies, it would not be too much of a surprise if Apple looks for an additional source of OLED panels for its iPhones.AWS grows supplier base: Amazon Web Services (AWS) has expanded its supplier base to include Wiwynn and Jabil with Wiwynn expected to begin supplying servers at the end of 2019, according to industry sources.Wiwynn positive about datacenter server demand in 2020: Datacenter server demand will be driven by the availability of Intel's Whitley server platform in 2020, according Wiwynn, a datacenter server making subsidiary of Wistron.BOE tipped as strong contender for Apple OLED panel orders: Taiwan's supply chain makers in the flat panel industry are likely to benefit from the simmering trade row between Japan and Korea which could upend Samsung Display's monopoly role for the supply of OLED panels to Apple and make BOE Technology a strong contender for the orders from the iPhone vendor, according to industry sources.

The 2019 BIO Asia-Taiwan International Conference and Exhibition will run July 24-28 at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Hall, with 20 advanced biotech countries to set up national pavilions and many multinational pharmaceutical brands, medical materials suppliers and biotech service specialists to showcase their latest offerings at a total of 1,600 booths, according to show organizers.The event will witness the world's heavyweights in the biotech sector deliver keynote speeches on the latest global biotech development trends, including Harvard University professor Jeffery Karp, rated by MIT's Technology Review Magazine as the world's top biotech innovator, and James C Greenwood, president and CEO of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) in Washington DC.In addition, many international pharmaceutical brands including Merck, IQVIA, MSD, Johnson & Johnson, and Roche and Lilly will also join forces with leading hospitals in Taiwan to showcase their smart healthcare solutions at the event bearing the theme "Healthcare X IT."

Taiwan startup Veyond Reality has been dedicated to developing VR education content for scientific experiments since its inception in 2016, gradually establishing a solid presence in the Asia-Pacific VR ecosystem, according to company CEO Daniel Wang.Wang said that his company has delivered its VR education content to more than 40 high schools in Taiwan, and has also promoted the content to China through cooperation with cram schools and middle schools there. Trisakti University in Jakarta, Indonesia has adopted the firm's VR education solutions as pilot teaching materials for its smart classrooms.Wang stressed that the firm's Vollege offers a variety of scientific experimental VR solutions categorized in accordance with curriculum needs. He disclosed that Vollege is now the main revenue contributor to the company.He said that the market for electronic whiteboards is now plagued by price cutting competition, prompting his company to develop more innovative smart classroom applications such as VR education programs.Wang continued that smart classrooms are not just about installing electronic whiteboards and other advanced hardware, but should also combine VR education content to convey crucial knowledge and concepts in an innovative way, such as digital motion sensing simulation.Wang disclosed his company is moving to develop education content to be incorporated into standalone VR helmets such as Facebook's Oculus Quest and HTC VIVE focus.

Funique VR, a Taiwan-based startup focusing primarily on providing Ultra HD stereoscopic VR solutions, expects 5G's high-speed transmission to be a key element to delivering 8K content to its VR devices, according to company CEO Pu-Yuan Cheng.Cheng believes 8K VR content will also stimulate market demand and drive the development of Taiwan's 5G industry.Cheng noted that VR applications began to take off in 2016 with developers showcasing their hardware at major IT events and releasing related products to the consumer market, but most of these developers have focused mainly on creating VR solutions with support of only 4K content. Cheng describes such 4K content as unacceptable in terms of picture quality for VR applications.Unable to find a satisfactory VR solution capable of supporting 8K resolution in the market, Cheng, who is also a movie producer, decided to step into the business and formed a team in 2016 to develop VR solutions that are able to display 8K resolution in both eyes.Funique in 2017 helped a movie director produce a VR movie that won an award in World VR forum and also filmed a VR movie in house in 2018 using its technologies.In addition to movies, Funique has also cooperated with the government of Kaohsiung to film a VR documentary fully demonstrating a local limestone cave for visitors.However, in order to pupularize VR applications, Cheng believes costs and consumers' willingness to embrace the technology are still key issues that need to be resolved.Funique VR CEO Pu-Yuan Cheng (front right) and its development teamPhoto: Company

The Japan-Korea trade tensions may be hitting Samsung's semiconductor business, but at least its foundry unit should be able to maintain normal operations in the meantime. It has been a bad year for the Korean giant: It has warned that it expects sharp declines in profits for the second quarter of 2019, and the unveiling of the Galaxy Fold turned out to be a marketing flop. But Samsung seems to be banking on foldable devices to help maintain its market leadership. Its major rival, Apple, reportedly is looking to introduce major upgrades to its mobile devices fo 2020 by adopting ToF rear cameras.Japan export control to have limited impact on Samsung foundry biz: Japan's tighter export control on photoresists and two other critical materials used in South Korea's high-tech sector are unlikely to benefit TSMC much given the relatively small scale of Samsung's foundry business. The impact on Samsung's own-brand business will be more substantial, according to industry sources.Samsung reportedly developing 2nd-gen foldable smartphones: Samsung Electronics is developing its second generation foldable smartphones although the vendor has not yet officially shipped its first foldable model, the Galaxy Fold, according to sources from Taiwan's handset supply chain.Apple may adopt ToF camera VCSEL for iPhones in 2020: Apple has reportedly asked its supply chain partner to supply VCSEL components for use in rear ToF camera lens in its mobile devices to be released in 2020, according to supply chain sources.