Teco Electric & Machinery and its subsidiaries are exhibiting smart solutions used in retail, transportation and energy management at Smart City Summit & Expo 2019 in Taipei during March 26-29.Teco is showcasing a service robot with its lower body being an AGV (automated guided vehicle) equipped with in-house-produced DC servo actuator and motor for mobility, and the upper body customized in design to cater to different needs such as delivering meals at restaurants, use in medical care, logistics and security patrol.It is exhibiting a smart micro-grid monitoring matchded with an energy management system for PV and wind power-generating facilities. It said it has exported the system to an island country in the Pacific.Teco Smart Technologies' smart lockers are capable of accepting cash-free payment and service bookings, and have been installed as smart baggage lockers at Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei Songshan Airport.Another subsidiary, Information Technology Total Services, is showcasing a cloud computing-based precautionary repair/maintenance system system which uses AIoT technologies to make big data analysis of electric vehicles' repair/maintenance records to conduct predicative maintenance and dispatch repair staff.A Teco-developed service robot for meal deliveryPhoto: Company

Global shipments of smartphone-use TDDI (touch and display driver integration) chips are expected to increase 20% in 2019 from about 414 million units in 2018, according to Digitimes Research.The supply of TDDI chips fell short of demand in 2018, due to limited available capacity at IC foundries, said Digitimes Research. TDDI chip shipment growth was partly constrained by the tight supply last year.TDDI chip shipments for 2018 still represented a more than 40% increase compared to 2017, Digitimes Research noted. Suppliers saw their downstream panel customers and smartphone vendors express more willingness to adopt TDDI chips in their devices.TDDI chip shipments are set to enjoy another increase this year, but growth will decelerate due to a general slowdown in the global smartphone market, Digitimes Research indicated.Novatek Microelectronics remained the largest supplier of TDDI chips in 2018, followed by Synaptics, according to Digitimes Research.

Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have signed an agreement to set up a joint innovation center to foster local startup businesses and help small- to medium-size enterprises in digital transformation.The center, to be located at Startup Terrace innovation park in New Taipei City, will have an accelerator and provide AWS cloud computing services and technological training. It will offer business and technological consulting services in IoT, AI, big data analysis, machine learning and cloud computing to cultivate local talent, help Taiwanese companies shorten time to market and tap overseas markets.The center will cooperate with international accelerators to help local startup businesses go international and introduce foreign startups into Taiwan.AWS will provide curriculums, workshops and seminars to train about 2,000 professionals a year, said Alex Yung, AWS corporate vice president and managing director for Greater China.Taipei Computer Association will be responsible for operating and maintaining hardware and software at the center.Startup Terrace has so far attracted 12 accelerators and 56 startup teams.

Smart City Summit & Expo 2019, the largest AI-based IoT solution fair in Taiwan, is taking place in Taipei City during March 26-29, with 450 local and overseas exhibitors featured in 1,260 booths, according to co-organizer Taipei Computer Association.The event is expected to attract more than 33,000 visitors, including over 2,000 professionals from abroad.The event features various conferences, including Smart City Mayors' Summit which was a dialogue platform for city leaders attended by over 150 mayors and city representatives from around the world on March 26.The Sustainable City Forum focuses on the following topics: Circular economy, social innovations and civic engagement, green economy, green finance, and new opportunity for energy services. CTalk consists of dialogues among city leaders, chief innovation officers and executives to share experience about latest development of smart cities in terms of smart mobility, e-governance, city revitalization and use of smart solutions.The Industrial Development Bureau under Ministry of Economic Affairs on March 25 hosted a World System Integrator (SI) Conference which is aimed to be a platform for exchanging opinions and making partnership to form an SI ecosystem. More than 150 overseas SIs and nearly 300 local ones attended the conference.Global Organization of Smart Cities (Go Smart), a Taipei City government-initiated alliance that provides a platform for experience exchange and intercity POC (proof of concept) for smart city solutions, will be formally established on March 27 at the event. A total of 92 cities and 41 firms worldwide have participated in Go Smart.Over 70 telecom operators worldwide will attend World Telecom Smart City Conference focusing on 5G application to development of smart cities on March 28.AI 50 Campaign will showcase innovative AI-based smart city solutions developed by 36 startup businesses from 15 countries.There are also smart medical care, smart transportation, smart architecture and smart education exhibitions.Smart City Summit & Expo 2019Photo: Shihmin Fu, Digitimes, March 2019

Beseye Cloud Security has provided a cloud-based surveillance software solution for Japan's Tokyu, an operator of commuter railroad lines in the Tokyo metropolitan area, to prevent purposeful or careless intrusion into railroad crossings.While most surveillance solutions using AI-based image analysis rely on facial recognition, Beseye said it specializes in skeleton-based action recognition to analyze human dynamic behavior. The skeleton-based action recognition first detects people entering or lingering in a certain area from images captured by surveillance cameras, and then identifies the persons from their faces and detects what they are doing there to analyze their behavior, Beseye explained.Tokyu has adopted Beseye-developed software solution for all surveillance systems installed at railroad crossings, and when the surveillance systems detect persons intruding into railroad crossings or railroad tracks, they will automatically notify control centers or responsible staff members to prevent the persons from being hit by trains, Beseye indicated.Surveillance software solutions can be customized to cater to various purposes such as at production lines, retail stores, hospitals, transportation stations and homes, Beseye said. Such solutions can be paired with surveillance cameras developed by Beseye or existing equipment already installed by clients, Beseye noted. Simply speaking, such solutions add software-based functions to make existing surveillance hardware smart and automatic, Beseye indicated.

As Korea will adopt 4G LTE-based non-standalone (NSA) architecture for its initial commercial 5G operations, SK Telecom (SKT) will have a competitive advantage over fellow companies KT and LG U+, leveraging its established, faster 4G LTE networks, according to Digitimes Research.The download speeds of SKT's LTE networks in metropolitan areas as well as in second- and third-tier cities are better than those performed by KT and LG U+, according to Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT).Given that Korea's 5G preliminary commercial operations will focus on Seoul and other metropolitan areas, SKT is expected to be able to provide faster 5G communication services under the initial 5G environments, Digitimes Research notes.KT, which leads SKT and LG U+ in terms of Wi-Fi transmission services, aims to further enhance its market position in the Wi-Fi sector by launching 10Gbps optical fixed-line services in 2019 to enable faster connection and to win 5G service subscribers.LG U+ claimed that it is faster in terms of 5G network establishment as it had installed over 10,000 5G base stations as of the end of January 2019, which is positive for the firm to expand its network coverage.The three major telecom operators already completed bids for 5G frequency spectrums and selected suppliers for 5G equipment in 2018 in order to meet the government's preliminary target for the commercialization of its 5G networks set before the end of March 2019.For the selection of 5G equipment, SKT and KT both have excluded the use of related base stations from Huawei and instead will partner with Samsung Electronics, Nokia, and Ericsson, while LG U+ has decided to use Huawei's equipment.

Taiwan's companies which participated in the recently concluded MWC 2019 managed to highlight an array of products, technologies, analyzing software and applications related to 5G technology that were in line with the 5G development plans showcased by the industry's major players.The Taiwan's products were presented at Taiwan Pavilion set up by Taiwan's Industry Development Bureau (IDB) at MWC. The presentation was aimed at promoting the idea that Taiwan could serve as best partners for international players for the development of related 5G devices and applications.Developing 5G solutions and applications in line with the development direction as advocated by the industry's leading players will help Taiwan's makers enhance their presence in the market, and their products' acceptablity among international buyers, said the sources.Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) was highlighting its solutions for 5G smart edge data centers at the show. The solutions, incorporated with SDN (software defined networking), NFV (network function virtualization) and cloud technologies, meet the call for harmonious use of 5G technology for smart manufacturing applications and edge/cloud computing - a theme that was endorsed by Vodafone, T-Mobile, NTT DoCoMo at the fair.A number of devices and solutions presented by Taiwan's makers were echoing 5G Cloud XR program promoted by GSMA, Social VR applications by SK Telecom and 5G Instant Game by China Mobile, calling for the expansion of integrated mixed reality (MR) applications under 5G environments.These products included the presence of 360-degree spherical image processors by Aspeed Technology, mobile edge computing platform by Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), AR smart glasses by Jorjin Technologies and somatosensory gaming solutions by Brogent Technologies.Additionally, smart home IoT cloud systems highlighted by Everspring, image surveillance cloud platform by ThroughTek, and big data analysis solutions by Groundhog Technologies also attracted high attention from visiting telecom and system operators as these solutions are needed for the growing IoT applications.The displays of backhaul routers for mobile base stations by Edgecore Networks, front- and back-end computing servers for 5G/AIot networks by Gigabyte Technology and Cloud-RAN and small cells by Alpha Networks inside the Taiwan Pavilion, as well as other 5G network equipment and solutions displayed by other Taiwan makers outside the pavilion including Gemtek Technology, Sercomm, Askey Computer and Unizyx Holding were a tantamount that Taiwan boasts the ability to offer a comprehensive range of solutions for the deployment of 5G networks, the sources commented.A total of 13 Taiwan's IT companies were displaying their products at the Taiwan Pavilion at MWC 2019 compared to 11 companies participated in 2018 and six in 2017. This indicates that the promotion of the Taiwan-theme pavilion has begun to gain recognition from Taiwan's IT industry.Taiwan Pavilion at MWC 20195G solutions presented by Alpha Networks at MWCCHT domonstrating its smart edge datacenter solutions3D and somatosensory equipment jointly demonstrated by ITRI and Brogent TechnologiesPhoto: Roger Huang, Digitimes, March 2019

Taiwan-based cloud computing startup Intelligent Cloud Plus, an acoustic specialist, offers solutions that can analyze the sound waves generated by machines' vibration to provide warning in advance for preventive maintenance, according to company general manager Lawton Liao.Its team already had around 40 years of experience in industrial automation control before founding Intelligent Cloud Plus three years ago. It is offering its solutions to help traditional factories transform from manual to smart management, Liao said.For manufacturers that may need smart manufacturing applications, Liao suggests they conduct overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) tests to evaluate their current equipment.In OEE evaluation, production capacity utilization rate is one of the most important factors, and malfunctioning equipment significantly affects utilization rates.Intelligent Cloud Plus' solutions monitor machines' vibration to analyze their conditions, preventing major reductions in utilization rates.Intelligent Cloud Plus has cooperated with a China-based first-tier sound hardware manufacturer to jointly develop its solutions.Intelligent Cloud Plus also has an image analysis AI solution that is able to pair with existing automated optical inspection machines in the market to identify any physical defects on products, reducing manual labor for inspection work.Intelligent Cloud Plus GM Lawton LiaoPhoto: Chloe Liao, Digitimes, March 2019

Combined revenues of Taiwan's top-3 foundries - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), United Microelectronics (UMC) and Vanguard International Semiconductor (VIS) - are expected to fall 23.4% sequentially and 17% on year to US$8.27 billion in the first quarter of 2019, according to Digitimes Research.A seasonal slowdown in smartphone chip orders, disappointing sales of the new iPhones, and unfavorable market conditions discouraging fabless chipmakers from building up stockpiles will drag down these foundries' revenues during the quarter, Digitimes Research believes.Digitimes Research also identified the impact of defective chemical materials on TSMC's production earlier in the first quarter as another cause of the drops in the combined revenues generated by Taiwan's top-3 foundries during the quarter.TSMC will see sales generated from 16/12nm process technology decrease substantially as a proportion of the foundry's total revenues in the first quarter of 2019, as the use of defective chemicals affected mostly its 16/12nm manufacturing lines.As a result, Taiwan's top-3 foundries will see their combined revenues generated from 28nm and below process technologies slide as a proportion of the overall combined revenues to 54.9% in the first quarter from 59.5% in the fourth quarter of 2018. The foundries' overall wafer ASPs will also fall to a nearly 7-quarter low in the first quarter.TSMC previously revised downward its revenue and margin outlook for the first quarter, due to a higher number of scrapped wafers than its earlier estimate. Nevertheless, the foundry said the wafers scrapped in the first quarter will be made up in the following quarter.

Taiwan's Chung Yuan Christian University has established a demonstration production line that comes with R&D and product demonstration centers, looking to assist its entrepreneurship teams to develop new technologies and applications.The university's Executive Operation Office for Industry-Academia Cooperation has been assisting its smart manufacturing and Internet of Things (IoT) entrepreneurship teams to develop Industry 4.0 applications via training education and industry-academia cooperation.Servtech, a company established by one of the teams, is now a solution provider for Industry 4.0 applications. The company's technology is able to monitor and collect factory information and analyze the data to help improve the production efficiency and make supply chain management more flexible.A demonstration production line at Chung Yuan Christian UniversityPhoto: Mark Tsai, Digitimes, February 2019