Michael E Marks, incumbent chairman of Katerra and former CEO of Flextronics has pointed out that Taiwan should focus on the manufacturing of products with premium values instead of mass production of entry-level devices.Marks made the comments at the G2 and Bedyond forum that Digitimes organized in Taipei on June 22, which also featured SoftBank chairman Masayoshi Son and Foxconn Technology Group founder Terry Gou.Marks pointed out that technologies have changed a lot over the years. In the early 1980s, most of the technology companies were relatively small, but now tech firms have become the most important ones in the world, which gives Taiwan an important role to play in the existing ICT ecosystem.He believes that Taiwan is in a perfect position in the supply chain today because of its high-quality education, strong engineering, good working ethics, and respect for intellectual property, and fair amounts of capital. With these resources coming together, Taiwan has great opportunities to advance to a new level in the technology space.Marks noted that the tech industry has changed from a field filled with discrete products to a series of tools that are used to disrupt other old industries.Citing Softbank's investments as an example, Marks pointed out that many of the firms that the Japanese conglomerate has invested in are applying technology tools such as cloud, software, robotics and AI, to traditional businesses to create massive new opportunities within these industries, with Taiwan's upstream supply chain playing a major part in facilitating these opportunities.Marks noted that Katerra is a technology construction company that applies new methods to create new-generation smart factories, hospitals and residential buildings. The company also has formed partnerships with Taiwan's ICT upstream suppliers including Delta Electronics provides a smart energy system and Kinestral that supplies smart windows.Marks pointed out that the smart energy system that Katerra and Delta has jointly developed is able to cut 70% of used space compared to other available systems in the market, while the costs are 30% lower and energy consumption is 40% less. He stressed such systems can only be accomplished by Taiwan's makers.Marks said that Taiwan is perfectly positioned to do new technologies for all kinds of smart industries as many western enterprises are finding it difficult to acquire solutions with such high technology from China or India.Marks believes the semiconductor industry is becoming more and more important, while Internet of Things (IoT), software, sensors and AI will be found in every aspect of human life including cars, buildings and hospitals. Taiwan should focus investments in top-end manufacturing, smart products and applications, and find its position in the future ecosystem.Katerra chairman Michael MarksPhoto: Shihmin Fu, Digitimes, June 2019

Commenting on the US-China trade tensions and how they are affecting the ICT upstream supply chains in Taiwan, Japan and Korea, Digitimes president Colley Hwang has pointed out that the row is in fact a war between the two superpowers over control of technologies.The two superpowers' technology competition is deeply affecting the worldwide ICT supply chain and the semiconductor industry in particular, in both of which Taiwan plays key roles, Hwang said in his presentation at the G2 and Beyond forum that Digitimes organized in Taipei on June 22.The forum featured SoftBank Group chairman Masayoshi Son, Foxconn Technology Group founder Terry Gou and Katerra CEO Michael E Marks.Hwang pointed out that the first island chain has become the technology island chain where Taiwan, Japan and Korea are key members who are finding themselves in similar positions in the face of the US-China disputes.Despite the fact that the tensions are between the US and China, the battlefields are actually in the IT island chain, said Hwang, adding how to survive in their war has already become a major concern for these Asian tech-savvy countries.With the US government looking to reshape worldwide ICT ecosystem via four waves of tariffs, many Taiwan players have started shifting their production lines from China to other places including Taiwan, showing that hardware capability is a major safeguard that helps protect Taiwan's ICT industry, Hwang explained.But the semiconductor industry is the core barrier that truly defends Taiwan's ICT competitiveness. Because of Taiwanese semiconductor companies' strong influence, Taiwan is a critical part of the US-China trade tensions, and if Taiwan is able to carefully maneuver between the two superpowers, great opportunities are certainly awaiting Taiwan's ICT industry, Hwang said.Hwang pointed out that Taiwan's hardware manufacturers have created two million jobs worldwide and that is one of Taiwanese makers' major contributions to the world, but for the future, Taiwan should consider creating even higher added value. Taiwan needs to be friends with both the US and China, both of which need support from Taiwan's supply chain, he said.Korea has seen its major industries including steelmaking, petrochemical, car-making, shipbuilding, handset and flat panel surpassed by China, and the semiconductor sector is the next one at stake, Hwang said. But Taiwan should not play just a spectator role, as Taiwan's ICT industry is China's next target after Korea.Hwang pointed out that Taiwan's semiconductor industry and Samsung have close coopetition, with competition accounting for only around 10% of their businesses, and the rest coming from cooperation. There are actually many more cooperation opportunities between Taiwanese and Korean semiconductor firms, and that should be a direction the two sides need to head toward, which is necessary for them to survive the US-China war.Digitimes president Colley HwangPhoto: Michael Lee, Digitimes, June 2019

SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son believes artificial intelligence will bring the biggest paradigm shift in human history, revolutionize all industries.Son made the prediction during a forum, "G2 and Beyond," that Digitimes organized in Taipei on June 22.He cited some major paradigm shifts in recent history, such as the Industrial Revolution and the invention of motor cars.He said in 1850, 65% of the people in the US were farmers, and 36% were in the services and manufacturing sectors. As of 2016, only 2% of the US people are farmers, while 98% are in the manufacturing and services sectors.In 1900, horse-drawn carriages were the major transport on Fifth Avenue in New York, but 13 years later, they were rarely seen, replaced by motor cars, he said. And he predicted that on the same street in 2035, they will be almost all autonomous cars."I think now is a critical moment in our lifetime. This is the time of paradigm shift," Son told the audience, speaking in public for the time in Taiwan. "Information revolution has just begun."Since 1995, Internet traffic has grown one million times, and the market cap of Internet companies has grown exponentially in the same period.As of the end of 1994, only one of the top-10 companies in terms of market cap in the world was in the IT industry - namely IBM, Son noted. But as of June 2019, seven out of the top-10 are Internet-related companies - not even IBM is among them.But the Internet has revolutionized only two industries: advertising and retail, which account for 1% and 6% of the global GDP."AI is going to disrupt and change all industries," Son asserted. "If you think of the Internet traffic as traffic of simple data, AI traffic is traffic of information with intelligence.""AI is the biggest revolution in human history," the SoftBank chairman asserted.He said AI capacity enabled by quantum computer, or super-fast CPU or GPU, could be one millions times faster intelligence than humans.In the last 30 years, only three things have mattered in the information industry: the power of CPU, the memory capacity and communication speed, which have improved by one million times during the period, Son said, predicting that they would improve by another one million times in the next 30 years.He said in 30 years' time, AI could be one million times smarter than it is today, enabled advancements in technology, such as quantum computing."When that happens, I would say that super intelligence is coming," Son said, adding that 30 years from now AI could be "super genius," thousands of times more intelligent than human genius.But he is optimistic that AI will not be taking over all jobs from human beings, who are better in creativity.He said AI will be helping improve human life, solving many problems that cannot be solved today: such as avoiding car accidents and curing fatal diseases.To embrace the coming of the age of AI, Son said his company has created the SoftBank Vision Fund specializing in AI, investing in unicorns, and creating synergy.SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi SonPhoto: Shihmin Fu, Digitimes, June 2019

SoftBank Group chairman Masayoshi Son has disclosed that he was not invovled in Arm's decision to stop shipments to Huawei in the wake of the US ban on the Chinese handset and telecom equipment vendor."There is a misunderstanding, especially in China, that I stopped Arm shipments to China, but that is a complete misunderstanding," said Son during a Digitimes-organized forum in Taipei on June 22. It was the first time that Son has talked about the Arm decision in public.He said he was not aware of the decision until he read about it in the newspaper, as he is not involved in the day-in day-out running of the UK-based company, which SoftBank owns. He said Arm did not ask about his opinion before making the decision.He said Arm actually has not terminated its partnerships with Huawei, but it was acting in compliance with the US rule about banning shipments to Huawei for products with 25% or more of US-originated content.Arm has had to stop shipments to Huawei while checking which products are in that "25%" bracket, Son said. He said he does not know how that checking progress will last, but hopes it will be completed very quickly."Arm has not stopped its relationships with Huawei; Arm is studying which product is over 25% (in US-originated content), and which product is not," Son said.Arm is supposed to be able to ship to Huawei any product that is lower than 25%, he said. "Arm hopes to continue its relationship with Huawei," Son said.Son said he hopes to relist Arm in the stock maket in five years, but has not decided where it will be listed.The forum also marked the first time that Son has spoken in public in Taiwan. Joining him in the forum included Foxconn Technology Group founder Terry Gou and Katerra chairman Michael E Marks.SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi SonPhoto: Shihmin Fu, Digitimes, June 2019

Foxconn Technology Group founder Terry Gou, SoftBank Group chairman Masayoshi Son, and Katerra CEO Michael E Marks gathered together at a Taipei forum on June 22 to dissect the importance of Taiwan in the global IT supply chain, as a new world order is being shaped by the arm-wrestling between the US and China.The "G2 and Beyond" forum was organized by Digitimes to examine the opportunities and challenges presented by the arrival of an era characterized by AI, 8K, 5G and other cross-sector applications that promise a new wave of huge growth despite the dramatic twist in the relations between the world's two biggest economies.Son, speaking in public in Taiwan for the first time, presented his views at the forum about his Japan-based conglomerate's vision for the future. He noted that artificial intelligence (AI) represents the biggest paradigm shift in human history.Over the past 25 years, the Internet has brought revolutionary changes to advertising and retail businesses, but AI will be the revolution of the next stage, redefining all industries, Son said.Son said SoftBank is responding to the paradigm shift with a "Cluster of No. 1 Strategy." The SoftBank Group's companies and venture capital firms will make full use of AI, which promises to solve many of the world's problems, he stressed.Marks, with experiences across many different sectors, has played leadership roles at SanDisk, Flextronics, Tesla and venture capital firms. He was also the first to introduce advanced IT into the conventional construction business.Marks noted in his presentation that he has had a long standing relationship with Taiwan's IT industry. In fact, as chairman of Flextronics, he led the EMS provider in a fierce competition with Taiwan and Gou's Foxconn, but they have become good friends now.Marks said Taiwan owns several key technologies that can attract global investments and enable partnerships with internationally top-notch firms. He also noted that in the US these days, technology companies are either unable or unwilling to accept Chinese investment, so it is a perfect opportunity for Taiwan to invest in the US, and thereby develop long-term technology partnerships.Digitimes president Colley Hwang pointed out in his presentation that a new order in the global industry is being formed under the G2 framework.Hwang said that the first island chain formed by Japan, Korea and Taiwan during the Cold War is now an IT island chain that has strong influence in the US-China arm-wrestling, thanks to their prowess in the semiconductor sector. He hopes Taiwan can establish an authoritative voice at this critical moment.Hwang later also had a dialogue at the event with Gou discussing whether the current situation facing Taiwan is a crisis or a turning point.Gou asserted that a "G2 leading the world in a one world, two systems" scenario will be the future norm. The US-China trade conflict is changing the global supply chain, sending clients shifting orders and manufacturers relocating production lines.Taiwan must work out strategies for maintaining good relationships with all sides. He said the economy is a major concern for all of the people in Taiwan, which has long relied heavily on exports. But Taiwan must produce a new economic strategy to cope with the arrival of the IoT age that has revolutionized the industry, he said.Over 50% of Taiwan's GDP is contributed by domestic consumption, but the local market has never received the attention it deserves, and become one flooded with low-quality products, he remarked.Gou proposes that Taiwan turn itself into a "Smart IT Island." In fact, Taiwan can be a good test bed: its high-quality education, high penetration for handsets and high population density - together with its advantages in AI, 5G, 8K and semiconductor technologies - make it a perfect environment for integrating the virtual and the real, according to Gou.As long as the test bed can be well maintained, the people's digital livelihood can be enhanced, he said.(From left to right) Katerra CEO Michael E Marks, Foxconn founder Terry Gou, SoftBank chairman Masayoshi Son, and Digitimes president Colley Hwang at the G2 and Beyond forum organized by Digitimes.Photo: Shihmin Fu, Digitimes, June 2019

Gorilla Technology Inc. IVAR has emerged as a Grand Prix winner at this year's Interop Tokyo event. Gorilla and its partner Marubun, a leading electronics distributor in Japan, teamed up in the category of Edge Computing to showcase Gorilla IVAR and intelligent video analytics to snatch the top prize at Japan's biggest ICT (Information and Communications Technology) show. In a crowded field with thousands of solutions from more than 300 companies, Gorilla's IVAR beat out Huawei to win the coveted Best of Show Award.Interop's Best of Show Committee stated Gorilla's win, "We took many factors into account when deciding the winner. In the end, Gorilla IVAR edged out the competition by effectively managing multiple cameras with its platform's fully scalable architecture, operating deep learning-based real-time video analytics on edge devices. IVAR intelligently applies people, vehicle, object, and behavior video analytic algorithms to various business environments, and optimizing the computing power on CPU with Intel OpenVINO and Movidius for maximized cost efficiency."IVAR can simultaneously analyze multiple IVAs (Intelligent Video Analytic) from up to 16 cameras on Intel Core i7-based edge devices. Getting actionable insight from dozens of different video analytic types through scheduling, alerts, and notifications according to user requirements is all managed from IVAR's dashboard. As such, IVAR is a complete AI solution with multiple applications in public, private, and government fields. Deploying and benefitting from intelligent video surveillance in smart and safe cities is available today through monitoring and controlling access of vehicles entering or exiting company facilities. Applying IVAR in Smart Retail and Enterprise Security situations can provide in-store analysis of foot traffic, anti-theft, and targeted marketing services to name a few. As the applications of edge AI have expanded, Gorilla expressed interest in solutions for the medical, agricultural and industrial fields.Gorilla Technology was the first software company in the world to adopt Intel's OpenVINO optimization toolkit and obtain the Intel IoT MRS (Market-Ready Solution) Certification. They are currently working with Intel to promote edge computing solutions around the world and have been an important partner in developing Europe, America, Japan, and Asia. Many manufacturers are currently in the product integration phase with IVAR and they expect to see more growth in the second half of the year. Additionally, Gorilla Technology provides online education and certification which global partners can complete remotely. These specially designed installation and deployment courses are shown to significantly shorten integration timelines and accelerate deployment of Gorilla Technology solutions around the world.More information about Gorilla Technology and their solutions can be found on their website: https://www.gorilla-technology.comGorilla IVAR edge AI wins Best of Show at Interop 2019 in Tokyo

The mobile devices with eye-catching design always have a place in our hearts. With the stylish looks, new smartphone and other shinny mobile devices are breathtaking. Most mobile devices are battery-powered. In addition to smarter features and larger batteries, innovative charging solutions allow us to do more with our mobile devices. Users expect to have a quality charging experience, especially when the new fast charging technology enables a superior user experience.Following this trend, USB power delivery technology becomes one of the major technologies for charging devices through USB Type-C interface. With the widespread of the USB Type-C plugs and its innovative features such as data transmission, video transmission and fast charging, Type-C is getting increasingly popular. Either Apple or Android phones support this standard. Users can deliver power, data and video through the USB-C cable. But there is still common frustration with the standard varied by different power ratings to setup for different requirements of charging various devices. Furthermore, being charged by different chargers, even of the same current and voltage ratings, often does not have the same charging speeds. That's why the safety regulation and product certification are the most concerns when end customers purchase the fast charging products.In a recent interview, KK Yang, president of Energear, introduced the full product lines based on USB-C PD technologies. Energear presents three major product lines including wall chargers, car chargers and power banks. The power range is from 15 to 85 Watts. Wall charger series have the following wattage, 15, 27, 30, 46, 65 and 85 Watts. Yang highlights the 45W Power Bank that has two-way fast charging features for fast charging and recharging. There is few power bank with this feature in the market that has got the certification. Yang also mentions the 45W car charger, which can charge laptop, tablet and phones. All Energear products have certifications from USB-IF, UL, CE, RoHS and so on. They are compatible to most global brands of smartphone, tablet and laptops.Energear worked with GRL, NAC and SGS testing labs for more reliabilityThe uniqueness of Energear product series is that Energear are granted multiple product certifications from world-famous third-party testing laboratories. This is a huge investment before brands to establish a strong foothold in the market. When Energear started the cooperation with those testing labs two years ago, there were very few labs that knew how to test those USB-C PD products. This was because there were only a few USB-C PD products in the market at that time. Energear selected GRL (Granite River Labs) as the first testing partner to do the product testing. For some testing items, Energear even needed to provide the testing fixtures to GRL so that GRL could complete all the tests. It was a very time-consuming task for these testing projects, Yang adds.Through close working with the testing labs, the Energear engineering team gained more experience to refine the products before launch in the market. After passing the product certification, there is another big challenge for mass production because there are five ratings to test and debug. Although those stages are very time-consuming, it is very rewarding because quality and product performance are the priority, Yang points out.In addition to work with GRL (Granite River Labs) and NAC (National Analysis Center) lab, Energear builds an in-house test lab for compatibility and verification tests. This is an important step to help end users trust Energear products' quality and performance. Energear not only provides chargers with PD2.0 and PD3.0, but also chargers with PPS.Distributing Energear products in Japan and North AmericaAfter getting all the related product certifications, Energear selected Japan to debut. Japan has a highly competitive retail market. Energear started its first entry into the Japanese market through I-O Data Device, Inc., a leading Japanese manufacturer and provider of high-quality computer peripheral products.The market promotion activities initiated with the product roadshow across major cities in Japan. The promotion activities included product demonstration and introduction of PD technology. Yang mentions that one special promotion program getting attentions was a bundle kit of Energear 65-Watt PD charger and Panasonic Notebook PC. The promotion program went very successful. Then Energear products showcased in the market and had very good sales. The successful products of Energear in Japan market are 46W and 65W Wall Chargers. Both chargers sell very well. Customers can recognize this brand and appreciate the premium quality of the product.Regarding the North American market, Energear has different strategy to launch its products. Energear selects Amazon, the e-commerce giant in North America, to sell products to end customers directly. Energear works with a professional marketing company to promote and advertise on Amazon. Energear products can be purchased now at Amazon USA. It is expected that Energear this brand will be well-known soon and the chain stores will start to carry.Energear showcased a full range of PD products at Computex 2019 in Nangang Exhibition Hall 1. Many visitors came to the booth and they were amazed by the complete line of PD products and the certifications Energear has. If you are interested in getting to know more about Energear and PD products, please visit https://www.Energear.com.twEnergear 45W USB-C PD2.0 Power Bank with two-way fast charging feature. It can be fully recharged in 90 minutes. It can charge laptop, tablet and phone.Energear 85W USB-C PD3.0 Wall Charger with interchangeable plugs. It can charge laptop, tablet and phone. With PFC (Power Factor Correction) design, this wall charger is more efficient, more stable and has more saving in power bill.Energear 45W USB-C PD3.0 with PPS car charger. With PPS (Programmable Power Supply), this car charger is more compatible and more efficient. It can charge laptop, tablet and phone.Energear attended Computex 2019

This year, the big technical development of the USB technology is USB4. This upcoming standard promises to integrate the high-bandwidth Thunderbolt 3 specification and along with it the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) will simplify the USB branding scheme. With USB4 serving as both an upgrade to the feature set and a physical layer tweak to provide more data bandwidth, the specification will be made available in 2019 according to the USB-IF.USB4 promises 40Gbps speed, cuts the confusionThe USB4 specification will be based on the Thunderbolt 3 protocol that Intel has contributed to the USB Promoter Group. The new interface will use USB Type-C connectors and will maintain backwards compatibility with USB 2.0, USB 3.2, and Thunderbolt 3 interfaces. The maximum data transfer rate supported by the new USB4 interface is 40 Gbps over 40 Gbps-certified cables. Also, USB4 will support various display protocols and USB Power Delivery 3.0.USB4's underlying Thunderbolt 3 protocol also means the specification can support two 4K displays or even future 8K TV over a single cable. This new specification is trying to unify the Thunderbolt and USB protocols as part of Intel's goal to make Thunderbolt available on a royalty-free basis, which should result in broader adoption and lower cost availability of Thunderbolt accessories in the future. The USB4 standard will be officially published in the middle of 2019. At present, several global companies are actively participating in the final stages of development of the draft USB4 specification. After the specification is officially released, it is estimated that it will take 12 to 18 months before products will be available in the market, Ravencraft highlights.USB Type-C is a reversible, highly reliable connector. It is a great thing, not just for smartphones, but for pretty much everything with the idea of one cable and one port that can do it all. To address the immense demands of digital video, audio, data transfer and power charging requirements, USB-IF saw the need for a new, robust cable and connector. This new cable and connector scheme is generating significant buzz from the global consumer market and is making its way into high-volume shipments of mobile devices, PCs, tablets, multimedia devices and even applications across automotive. Ecosystem partners have also come up with various protocols to run over the USB Type-C cable and connector such as Thunderbolt, HDMI, and DisplayPort.The global market penetration of USB Type-C is forecasted to reach 5 billion units per year in 2021, according to IHS reports, showing a massive ramp for the period 2016 to 2021. There are four major markets driving the adoption of this standard, including consumer electronics, PC & peripherals, networking and automotive solutions.Fast USB charging with PPS improving user experienceBesides high data rate updates, consumers are looking for improvements to the battery charging experience. USB Power Delivery (USB PD) adoption continues to expand the USB ecosystem. The current USB PD 3.0 specification provides developers multiple voltage ranges to consider when designing their USB solution. USB PD 3.0 chipsets can supply up to 100W of continuous power flow, enough to power all kinds of desktop and mobile devices. Meanwhile, the USB PD 3.0 specification supports the Programmable Power Supply (PPS) feature, which is being widely adopted by global smartphone brands to enable fast charging over USB based on an open industry standard. This feature creates new use cases for managing the amount of electrical current to optimize the battery's charge speed and long-term health considering sensitive thermal control requirements for smartphone batteries.Together with the three significant benefits of fast data rates, fast charging and usability with fully reversible plug orientation and cable direction, USB Type-C has the potential to become the connector of choice for all next-generation products. With the USB4 specification, there are new business opportunities coming for silicon IP providers, chip makers, testing laboratories and equipment vendors. Ravencraft feels very optimistic about USB Type-C future development.Clear up the confusion of USB Type-CAlthough many USB standards have been released to the market over the past few years, there is technical terminology confusion regarding what capabilities are included in each device or cable. For instance, some system makers improperly use specification names to describe their USB solutions to consumers, such as USB 3.2 Gen 2x2. But consumers do not seem to understand nor care what the specification names mean as long as their USB products work without posing a risk to the functionality and interoperability of their existing products.To cut the confusion, USB-IF hopes to educate end consumers to look for the certified logos awarded to products that have passed USB-IF's Compliance Program. The current logo system includes High-Speed USB, SuperSpeed USB, SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps, SuperSpeed USB 20Gbps, Certified USB Chargers and Certified USB Fast Chargers. Once a product successfully achieves USB-IF certification, the company can a sign logo license agreement and then use the certified logos for clearly identifying the supported performance and charging capabilities.USB authentication enabling a secured connectionEcosystem partners spend resources to build compliant products and submit them for testing to the USB-IF Compliance Program in order to feature logos on their products. At the same time, USB-IF is engaged with international organizations like the International Electro-technical Commission (IEC) and the China Communications Standards Association (CCSA) to expand international standards cooperation to include support for the USB Type-C and USB Power Delivery specifications as well as the other USB protocol specifications. This approach for ongoing standardization work is driven by the worldwide regulation organization goals of minimizing e-waste in landfills, increasing external power supply reusability, supporting consumer convenience, maintaining product reliability and safety. In addition, widespread adoption of the resulting international standards will help to reduce the poorly designed or manufactured aftermarket substitutes, which may affect the operation of electronic devices in compliance with regulatory requirements.Further, USB-IF released the USB Type-C Authentication Specification using a cryptographic-based authentication protocol for USB Type-C chargers and devices. Using this protocol, host systems can confirm the authenticity of any USB cable or device, including capabilities and certification status. This verification process occurs immediately when a USB cable or device is plugged into a host port and before compromising power or data can be transferred. The authentication protocol empowers host systems to protect against non-compliant USB devices and to mitigate risks from maliciously embedded hardware or software in USB devices attempting to exploit a USB connection. The USB Type-C standard supports this authentication protocol for building solutions to enable secure connection and power charging scheme between notebook PCs, smartphones, storage devices and chargers.Ravencraft added that there are several chip makers producing controller ICs to communicate with devices to deliver optimum power. These chips include built-in security safeguards and are able to communicate with devices that meet the USB PD 3.0 specification to deliver the optimum power for fast charging the device. Host and device manufactures will be deploying this unique authentication feature, including some first-tier Japanese and Korean brands are expected to announce new products to prevent the non-complaint cables or power adaptors from harming their products. It is very optimistic that more chip makers are starting to look at these requirements and positively enable enterprise cybersecurity solution providers to build dedicated solutions to secure the data transfer process between USB devices and USB host in the future.Ravencraft continues, through the efforts to promote the Certified USB Logo & Compliance Program, USB-IF supports the evolving device and computing markets as more products adopt USB4, USB Type-C and Certified USB Charging. The use of the USB Type-C standard is expected to increase, as it's simply the most robust and ubiquitous interface that provides product manufacturers and end users with the greatest flexibility for use and expansion. And most of all, USB Type-C is continuing to create versatile use cases to satisfy various customers' needs. It is exciting to see the growth and continued adoption of USB Type-C technology increasing around the world.USB-IF's President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Jeff Ravencraft discusses the trends of development of USB technology at Computex 2019. The global ecosystem partners showcased new product development at the USB Community pavilion booth.

The past few years have been a critical point in time for the IoT industry. The IoT ecosystem became an incredibly diverse and complex environment. Manufacturers for IoT service providers and brand makers were unable to deliver turnkey solutions to meet consumers' needs for an intuitive cross-product functionality, hindering the market to achieve true interoperability between devices.In response to the new market demand for data transmission services, ThroughTek, an IoT platform solutions provider based in Taiwan, recently upgraded its core product, the Kalay Platform. The release of the Kalay Platform features a more secure and efficient way of delivering both wide and narrowband data transmission services for a wide range of sensors and security devices. The platform enables implementation of comprehensive solutions for smart devices and expansion of IoT applications across various industries.Enhanced data security with end-to-end encryptionIoT security challenges have been questioned by the public for many years. Most recently, California passed a bill to impose regulations on the security of IoT devices sold in the state. The law stipulates that by the year 2020, any manufacturer must provide reasonable security measures for networked devices. ThroughTek's narrowband solution is smartly designed with data security in mind. Instead of using the traditional approach of uploading data to a cloud server or host where data is most vulnerable and at risk, the Kalay Platform adopts a decentralized architecture and uses end-to-end encryption technology to ensure data stored and transmitted is protected. The new solution effectively improves data security, while allowing users to easily manage sensor devices by creating custom scenarios to automate tasks, make commands, and collect data.Technology delivering cross-platform connectivityIoT applications have gradually progressed from a single device to comprehensive system-wide solutions. Enterprises and service providers need to address challenges such as being able to quickly integrate and deploy various connected devices with the flexibility to scale in the future. In the past, the implementation of smart factories requires complete functional planning in advance. System expansion comes at a high-price with the involvement of system integrators or manufacturers to build and install the equipment, resulting in a significant increase in construction time and labor costs. ThroughTek's new transmission solution enables rapid deployment of various IoT devices across industries and brands. It is suitable for remote large-scale settings used for shopping malls, buildings, offices, agriculture, or farms. It also supports IFTTT (short for IF This Then That), which allows operators to easily expand and manage systems to carry out complex tasks to deliver more flexibility and increase productivity for large-scale outdoor IoT applications.The Kalay Platform features a more secure and efficient way of delivering both wide and narrowband data transmission services.

STAr Technologies Inc. received orders from Korea major semiconductor manufacturer for automatic test system - Sagittarius-SPT (Silicon Photonic Test, SPT) to manufacture its future fiber optic devices. The order reflects STAr successful approached to silicon photonic wafer/devices test. Silicon photonics is a disruptive technology and integrated mix of several technical blocks - lasers, optics, MEMs, high-speed digital and RF SOCs.Sagittarius-SPT is an electro-optics/silicon-photonics wafer-level test solution and provides semi-automated for full automation wafer-level test system for characterization and acceptance tests of silicon-photonics devices. This automatic test system enables advanced instruments controls and test methodologies developed for the fiber optic manufacturer and adapted to test demands with a key aspect of wafer-level testing to fast reproduce optical coupling, including probe-position optimization and polarizations alignment.Sagittarius-SPT has also brought about several breakthroughs, including the provision of an automatic test platforms for testing of wafers and components prior to wafer dicing, with capability of wafer probing for conventional DC and RF electrical test integrated to testing in the optical domain. STAr has included multiple instrument drivers for light wave component analyzer (LCA), optical switch, tunable laser source, optical power meter, etc. enabling tests for variable optical attenuator (VOA), optical modulator, laser photo diode, etc."We are very pleased by the Korea key customer's choice of STAr Technologies to supply its critical wafer-level testing as it towards fiber optics devices manufacturing," said Choon-Leong Lou, CEO of STAr Technologies, Inc. "Sagittarius-SPT is developed to meet electro-optical industry manufacturers' needs, and we believe the system will enhance the efficiency and throughput at customer's end."Overview of STAr Sagittarius-SPT