Taiwan-based AppWorks accelerator has recently hosted AppWorks Demo Day#19 in Taiwan to promote 18 of its startups, with the event attracting over 1,200 investors and industry representatives.Among the startups, Taiwan-based Self Token and Hong Kong-based Matters are both blockchain platforms.Taiwan-based Dent&Co, founded by a group of dentists, has developed a service AI system that is able to automatically remind patients of scheduled appointments, track their after-treatment statuses and provide online appointments for dental clinics via commonly used social media. The system has been adopted by over 100 dental clinics in Taiwan, providing services for more than 70,000 times in half a year since its release.Taiwan-based Beseye is an AI image analysis service platform for surveillance cameras and is currently a partner of Microsoft, Japan's Tokyu Railways and JFE Steel, and Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom (CHT), Far Eastone Telecommunications (FET) and Advantech.US-based Fluv has built an AI platform to provide pet caring services through matching nearby independent pet caretakers. The platform was able to match up to 1,300 users in the first week after the launch.Indonesia-based FourCons is an AI matching platform for heavy machinery equipment rental. Its services now cover eight provinces in Indonesia after four months of launch and received up to US$800,000 worth of orders in October 2019.France-based Blyng is an AI platform that provides services related to real estate business, while New Zealand-based Gigvvy Science is a platform using machine learning technologies to help users publish their academic papers with efficiency and quality. US-based SparkAmplify is an AI system that matches online reporters with enterprises and brands to assist them in advertising, public relations and publicity.Hong Kong-based KaChick is an AI service that matches photographers with clients, and is currently available in 60 cities worldwide, having over 2,000 photographers in its database.Arical is an AI platform for real-estate investments and analysis, while OnMyGrad is an AI education platform targeting college graduates' further education. Mellow is an app that helps parents teach financial knowledge and responsibility to children.Several major IT firms including Lite-On, Acer, AU Optronics (AUO), Realtek, Asustek Computer, Qisda, HannStar, Alibaba, Facebook, Google, Line, Wistron , Far Eastone Telecommunications (FET), AWS, Nvidia, KKday, Nokia, Razer and Taiwan Mobile attended the event, looking for possible investment targets, AppWorks said.Self Token, a blockchain-based platformPhoto: Michael Lee, Digitimes, November 2019

MediaTek has launched its next-generation 5G SoC family, Dimensity. The launch made a splash with high-ranking executives from many fellow semiconductor firms, including TSMC and ASE, attending. MediaTek, as one of the biggest IC designers worldwide, clearly has the support of a strong ecosystem. MediaTek says it will extend its 5G solutions to non-handset applications, but many in the semiconductor supply chain are eyeing strong business opportunities from 5G smartphones, which will see explosive shipment growth in the coming years. Meanwhile, the memory market can expect a 10% shortage for NOR flash supply in 2020, plus a price recovery. MediaTek intros new-gen 5G SoC: MediaTek held a press conference on November 26 to introduce the new generation of its 5G SoC chips, with guests including TSMC VP Lora Ho, a number of high-ranking executives from major backend houses including ASE, SPIL and KYEC, and IC probing specialist CHPT.Backend firms to gain from strong chip demand for midrange 5G handsets in 2020: As shipments of midrange 5G smartphones are expected to expand significantly in 2020, the resultant strong demand for chipsets will be a major revenue growth driver for Taiwan's backend supply chain, according to industry sources.NOR flash supply likely to fall short of demand in 2020: The supply of NOR flash memory is likely to fall short of demand in 2020, with the gap estimated at up to 10%, according to industry sources.

8K can expand 5G applications, as there are a lot of details, information, and analyzable data available in the stunning ultra-HD images, according to Masaru Nagayasu, fellow for Socionext's Marketing Division.Speaking at the 5G/Innovation Summit 2019 jointly organized by the Taipei City Government and Digitimes on November 25, Nagayasu noted that successful integration of recorded 8K images with real life has reached a level of visualization that can trick the human eye.He illustrated his point by showing a video clip of such an integration at the event.8K images feature fidelity of real conditions, high resolution and high immersion and can offer excellent visual effects through high compression and stable transfer of images at high speeds, Nagayasu said.Founded in 2015, Socionext is a Japan-based design house of SoCs for consumer electronics, automotive and industrial application. The company has helped Fujitsu and Panasonic in R&D of digital TV broadcast encoders and SoCs used in DSLR cameras and 4K/8K TVs.Socionext has cooperated with GoPro to develop Hero 7 Black and with other companies to develop VR/XR headsets.Masaru Nagayasu, fellow for Socionext's Marketing DivisionPhoto: Digitimes staff, November 2019

The survivability of startup businesses generally hinges on feasibility of their business models and marketability of their products/ services and, in this respect, enterprises can provide experimental sites for feasibility and marketability evaluation, according to Vincent Tseng, CEO for Taidah Entrepreneurship Center (TEC) at National Taiwan University (NTU).Tseng was speaking at 5G/Innovation Summit 2019 jointly organized by the Taipei City Government and Digitimes on November 25.To catch up with technological development, many enterprises look for startups' innovations by making corporate venture capital investment or setting up innovation labs, accelerators/incubators, Tseng said.Under the cooperation, enterprises and startups are complementary to each other: Enteprises have resources but find it difficult or are reluctant to make risky changes, resulting in a lack of innovations; startups have innovative ideas and are willing to face challenges, Tseng explained.In a bid to provide experimental sites for startup businesses, TEC NTU has partnered with local enterprises such as AU Optronics (AUO) and E.Sun Commercial Bank since January 2019, Tseng noted.Vincent Tseng, CEO for NTU's Taidah Entrepreneurship CenterPhoto: Digitimes staff, November 2019

Renovatio Pictures, a Taiwan-based startup specialized in VFX (visual effects) production, has scored points in the domestic market and plans to foray into North America together with Taiwan's cinematic supply chain, according to company co-founder Tomi Kuo.Founded in 2017, Renovatio provides a full range of VFX services including concept design, look development, rotoscoping/clean plate, match moving, animation, special effects simulation, lighting and compositing, Kuo, the company's VFX supervisor, said.Renovatio has introduced a workflow process from Hollywood and developed tools on its own to secure VFX quality, Kuo noted, adding that company co-founder and producer Peter Huang and CTO Willy Fan have relevant working experience in North America.Besides motion pictures, Renovatio has produced VFX for TV dramas, VR video, advertising, events and activities, Kuo said. For example, Renovatio produced VFX for The Coordinator and Stand By Me, two TV series dramas published by Taiwan Public Television Service (TPT) and broadcast on OTT channels of TPT+, Netflix, LINE TV, CatchPlay, FriDay and KKTV.Renovatio's complete VFX produciton for Detention, a locally produced thriller and suspense movie, has won the Best Visual Effects award at the 2019 Golden Horse Awards film contest.Kuo has participated in VFX production for several locally-produced films including 10,000 Miles, Black & White: The Dawn of Justice, The Rooftop and Love. VFX can enlarge room for content creation, reduce production cost for reality film shooting and bring audience into virtual thrilling experience, Kuo indicated.While global demand for VFX is growing, development of the VFX industry in Taiwan has been significantly slow due to inadequate awareness of the industry, Kuo said.VFX is often thought of as the last step in the entire process of movie production, Kuo noted. But VFX experts' participation in the entire production process from cinematic planning, script analysis to film shooting can make special effects better express core of plots, Kuo indicated.In Taiwan, however, movie or TV video producers frequently skip VFX due to limited budgets, Kuo said.Free creation of diverse movie plots is conducive to development of cinematics in Taiwan, Kuo noted. Kuo recommended that plots be based on things in people's common memory like those of Detention, The Tag-Along, The Teenage Psychic and The World Between Us.Renovatio Pictures co-founder and VFX supervisor Tomi KuoPhoto: Company

HP Tech Ventures uses a structured process to identify external disruptive innovation. This is done by searching worldwide for early stage startups in the areas of focus of HP Inc’s three business units, according to Mitchell Weinstock, partner at HP Tech Ventures.Weinstock made the remark at his keynote speech "Strategic Investing, Making Corporate Venture Capital Work" at the Startup X Asia Meetup jointly organized by Department of Economic Development under Taipei City Government and Digitimes and held on November 25.The first step is understanding of development of innovative applications at open events such as Demo Day or summits to gain insight into innovative technologies that can create value for HP over next few years, Weinstock said. Then, HP Tech gets in touch with interested startups.The second step is to check whether the interested startups can conform to HP's corporate development strategies, and if yes, HP Tech will examine the candidates' technological capabilities and business models as well as their teams' development potential, which is even more important than technological capabilities, Weinstock said.The last step is to prioritize candidates that have passed the examination, as any enterprise is unable and impossible to invest in all at the same time, Weinstock indicated.HP Tech may watch the candidate startups for 3-5 years to see health of their teams or if their business can grow to new milestones, and usually decides on combinations of joint investment targets in a certain area through discussion with partnering venture capital investors. In principle, HP Tech makes CVC investment for a stake of below 20% in a single startup business, Weinstock said.While independent venture capital investment mostly focuses on startup businesses' growth stage to maximize return on investment, CVC investment places emphasis on creation of value for the investing enterprises via such investment and therefore focuses on the initial and middle stages, Weinstock explained.He noted 90% of startup businesses contacted by venture capital firms or CVC investors reportedly are unable to survive eventually. In 2019 alone the HP Tech Ventures team has assessed over 1,350 startups to date. Since separation in 2016 they have done 13 investments and 30 commercial partnerships, Weinstock said.HP Tech Ventures partner Mitchell WeinstockPhoto: Digitimes staff, November 2019

By virtue of high transmission speeds and low latency 5G will be able to make cities smarter, realize smart applications in many sectors, such as medical care, finance, transportation, and introduce new entertainment, according to Leland Lai, managing partner at phireGEN Advisory Group.He made the remarks while delivering a keynote speech, "Re-imaging City Life with 5G Applications" at 5G/Innovation Summit 2019 jointly organized by the Taipei City Government and Digitimes on November 25.For transmission of high-definition images, latency can decrease to one millisecond at 5G's best performance, and therefore 5G can be applied to images delivered for immersive learning, telemedicine, AR surgical operation and VR devices, Lai said.In Dubai, 5G has been used to live-stream high-definition videos for analyzing causes of traffic accidents, Lai noted.5G will come into commercial use in 21 markets around the world by the end of 2019, Lai said.phireGEN Advisory Group managing partner Leland LaiPhoto: Digitimes staff, November 2019

UMC, once a strong rival of TSMC in the pure-play foundry sector, has now quit the expensive race of advancing manufacturing nodes. UMC has redefined its roles, focusing on specialty segments. Digitimes recently talked to its co-presidents, the architects of the transformation, to understand more about the company's changes, plans and goals. Meanwhile, TSMC is clearly the market leader, with its 7nm production capacity running tight. Operation at TSMC's fab in Nanjing, China also returned to profitability in the third quarter. In the IT sector, notebook vendors have yet to determine the best way to avoid the US tariffs on China-imported products. A likely option is to hae China facilities do only the final assembly of notebooks.A new chapter for UMC: Q&A with company co-presidents Jason Wang and SC Chien: UMC, once a major rival to TSMC in pursuing advanced manufacturing nodes, decided about two years ago to shift its focus away from joining the race to 10nm and more advanced process technologies. Now the pure-play foundry expects its renewed focus to start bearing fruit in 2020. Following two years of corporate adjustments, UMC has set new goals to be accomplished over the next five years, according to UMC co-president Jason Wang.TSMC 7nm chip supply remains tight: TSMC continues to see its 7nm manufacturing processes run at full utilization, according to sources at fabless chipmakers who said new orders placed recently cannot be fulfilled at least until the middle of next year.TSMC Nanjing swings to quarterly profit: TSMC Nanjing Company has reported its first quarterly profit for the third quarter, which narrowed its losses to NT$1.41 billion (US$46.1 million) in the first three quarters of 2019 from losses of NT$2.29 billion in the first half of the year.Notebook brands mull new production practice to avoid tariffs:To avoid US tariffs on Chinese imports, notebook vendors are considering a new practice of manufacutring where only production lines in China will only handle the final assembly work, with key components and motherboards made in other countries, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.

Visualization of data will be crucial for the next-generation marketing campaigns as various types of images such as 360-degree photos, AR/VR images and holographic pictures all will become the interfaces for the dissemination of information, according to Ryan McClure, managing director of TWOMC Digital (Indonesia).Demand for digital marketing is poised for strong growth as there are increasing needs for the government to promote public policies and the private sector to campaign their products through the Internet, McClure said at 5G/Innovation Summit on November 25.The availability of 5G technology will greatly promote interaction between enterprises and consumers, facilitating the dissemination of product information to consumers through interactive videos, McClure said, adding that this could be done through the visualization of data under 5G infrastructure.Concerts, safety management of construction sites and disaster relief efforts can also be carried out by leveraging the trails of low latency and high bandwidth of 5G networks, McClure commented.Ryan McClure, managing director of TWOMC Digital (Indonesia)Photo: Sun Ta-wei, Digitimes, November 2019

5G-based innovative technologies will focus on user experience and feeling, according to startup investment expert Jay Onda from Orange Silicon Valley.Onda made the remarks while delivering a keynote speech "How 5G is Enabling Innovation by Collaboration" at 5G/Innovation Summit 2019 jointly organized by the Taipei City Government and Digitimes on November 25.Onda said innovations means finding a special way to solve problems and create value that clients are willing to pay for.Innovation is driven by three forces: to enable, empower and engage, Onda said.He said there are five scenarios for collaboration. First, cooperation between hardware and software industries to make up an ecosystem for the technological development. In addition to AI, IoT and big data, the ecosystem covers edge computing-enabled end-use devices and software.Second, enterprises invest in startup businesses for technological innovation. Surveys show that the global total for such investment in 2019 will reach US$36.6 billion. For enterprises, technological innovation does not originate internally but comes from outside including competitors in the same and other industries.Third, cooperation among competitors in the same industries.Fourth, cooperation across industries to form ecosystems: for example, B2B-based construction of a 70km fiber-optic network to build a unique environment for photography using 5G's high-speed transmission and low latency; and B2B2G (government)-based development of smart city solutions.Fifth, cooperation between different generations to work out possible 5G applications.Jay Onda from Orange Siliocn ValleyPhoto: Digitimes staff, November 2019