Apple reportedly has around 3000 people working on its AR/VR headset expected to release in 2023, far sooner than we can expect to see Project Titan see the light of day.  "The Information" put out a report that states Meta’s Reality Labs division has “more than five times as many” people working on Quest, AR glasses, and associated software. That apparently includes roughly 1100 working on Quest, 1900 on content, 2000 on AR, 1000 on machine learning, 1000 developing custom chips, and 2400 in the research team. Last year The Information, Bloomberg, and supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo released reports claiming Apple is preparing to release a premium headset for VR and AR with a high-resolution color pass-through. Kuo claimed this headset will weigh noticeably less than current VR headsets and feature high-resolution OLED microdisplays, while The Information claims it will be powered by the M2 chip seen in the latest MacBooks. In August an Apple-linked company filed to trademark ‘Reality One’, ‘Reality Pro’, and ‘Reality Processor’, suggesting the headset and its processor will be branded Apple Reality. In June Bloomberg reported Apple is working on realityOS (rOS) versions of its core apps as well as the ability to view a Mac’s display, and AR/VR developer tools. References to realityOS were found in App Store upload logs and Apple code earlier this year, and an Apple-linked shell company trademarked RealityOS in May.  In October The Information reported the headset will feature leg tracking and iris scanning for logins and payments. And earlier this year it released an in-depth report on the project’s troubled history. The headset apparently has 14 cameras in total when including those used for passthrough, positional tracking, eye tracking, face tracking, hand tracking, and body tracking – which reportedly caused “headaches” for hardware and algorithm engineers. One reported feature of the headset is a screen on the front to let others in the room see your upper face and eyes. But adding this screen apparently made the development of its camera passthrough technology more difficult. Plans can change for hardware development sometimes even quite late into a product’s planning, with Quest Pro for example ditching a depth sensor just months before release. That report also claimed Apple “almost never” mentions games in internal presentations, and isn’t developing a tracked controller, with the input methods instead being hand tracking and a “clothespin-like finger clip” which showed up in Apple patent filings. The Information previously reported Apple is considering pricing the product as high as $3000, but says Apple was working to reduce the cost of materials to make it more affordable. If the reports so far are to be believed, though, Apple’s product will have higher resolution, a more powerful processor, and a slimmer design than Quest Pro. Ming-Chi Kuo predicts Apple will host a media event in January, deliver development kits 2-4 weeks later, and launch pre-orders in the second quarter of 2023 for a release before WWDC 2023. WWDC is Apple’s yearly software conference, almost always held in June.

Apple and Meta have been reported asking Samsung Display to produce a MicroOLED display for their upcoming AR/VR headsets. Samsung so far has avoided making this screen technology at scale due to expected low profitability. The information shared by The Elec shows that not only are Apple and Meta willing to pay for a MicroOLED panel on their headsets but Samsung Display’s parent company, Samsung Electronics, also wants to use this technology. As explained by the publication, the MicroOLED panel uses organic materials that are deposited on a silicon substrate instead of a glass one. This technology is meant for AR/VR devices   Up to now, Samsung Display had a few research staff working on MicroOLED and didn’t pay much attention to it, sources said. This is because AR and VR headset market is currently very small while the display panel used are much smaller than those in smartphones. Apple is expected to launch its headset late next year with MicroOLED technology. As of now, LG Display is planning to place an order for equipment needed to manufacture MicroOLED panels for Apple.

Rumors so far believe Apple will use the M2 chip for its upcoming headset that will mix AR and VR capabilities. For the future, the company is also readying AR Glasses as well as a second generation for its Mixed Reality headset. Early this morning, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said this 2nd gen will feature two models, one higher-end and another more affordable. Here’s what 9to5Mac‘s Filipe Espósito reported: According to Kuo, the 2nd gen of Apple’s AR/VR headset is expected to come in two different models. The 1st will be an upgrade to the 1st-gen headset with better hardware and the other will be a more affordable model.  Due to its complexity and high-end hardware, analysts believe that Apple’s new headset will be priced too high. It’s no surprise that Apple will eventually bring the new AR/VR experience to more people with a less expensive model, as the company has been doing the same with entry-level models of the iPhone and iPad.

American Robotics announced its plans to acquire Israeli Airobotics. The new deal should prove a good fit, as both companies play similar roles within the broader industrial drone space. While there’s bound to be a fair bit of redundancy, Ondas notes that such a merging would give the combined companies a better global foothold in a rapidly expanding category.  American Robotics’ primary play is Scout, a fully autonomous drone system operating on remote sites without direct human oversight. Airobotics offers an all-in-one autonomous drone solution. The company’s Optimus drone launches out of an automated docking space that serves as a base and transmits data to the quadcopter. Applications include emergency response, mapping and surveying. “American Robotics and Airobotics have matured different elements of the DIB ecosystem, and this business combination allows for an accelerated offering set that furthers our leadership position in a broader set of market opportunities,” American Robotics CEO Reese Mozer tells TechCrunch. “Longer term, the Scout System and the Optimus System will be different models existing within the same product family, with each specializing in a different set of use cases. See the attached infographic highlighting the primary differences between the two current platforms.”

Samsung is launching its gaming hub for its 2022 smart TVs and monitors today. The hub brings together the game streaming apps into a single location, with access to Nvidia’s GeForce Now, Google Stadia, Utomik, Twitch, and Microsoft’s new Xbox TV app. Amazon Luna is said to be available soon, integrating into the Samsung Gaming Hub UI.  HDMI-connected video game consoles are featured inside the hub, alongside passthrough controller inputs so you can use a single controller instead of having to pair multiple ones. That means popular Bluetooth headsets and controllers will work across multiple apps, services, and devices through the Samsung Gaming Hub.  The biggest new addition to the gaming hub is Microsoft’s Xbox TV app. While Stadia, GeForce Now, and Twitch are available across a variety of TVs, the Xbox app is currently exclusive to the Samsung Gaming Hub and provides access to Xbox Cloud Gaming. Fortnite is available to stream free of charge, but you’ll need an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription to play more than 100 games. 

Something that we have noted would be coming this year is a new Atom series. Specifically the Intel Atom C5000 series. Two weeks ago, Intel announced the 1st 6 models in the Intel Atom C5000 series lineup, although there is not too much information out there on the new chips.  - Here is what we were able to put together in terms of the new Atom SKUs:  These SKUs are on the lower core count end of the spectrum ranging from 4-8 cores and still dual-channel DDR4 memory (up to 256GB supported.) The official specs say that all of the new parts have QAT onboard which is going to be a bigger feature further into 2022 - 2023. Most are still looking at the Intel Atom C3000 devices for edge networking. At some point, Intel will be transitioning to new generations. The C-lineup tends to be the one that is often found in servers.  One of the biggest challenges with covering the new Atom launches is that Intel has little by way of a formal press release process for them (@Iintel IoTG, please fix this). In 2017 we at the start of availability for the original Intel Atom C3000 series SKUs. We only knew about it because OEMs were telling us that Intel was not planning a launch so we decided to hold our own launch. Hopefully, we will get more from Intel and be able to update this soon. Also, stay tuned for more on Snow Ridge which also was refreshed today.

Aircraft manufacturer Boeing has developed a new artificially intelligent (AI) combat drone. The MQ-28A Ghost Bat drone — so named for the Australian mammal known to travel in packs, detecting and hunting prey — is reportedly able to perform intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance tasks autonomously via onboard sensors. The Australian government's  Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) have given their drone the name 'MQ-28A Ghost Bat' as a military designation and a name for an Australian-made military fighter aircraft  Choosing the name Ghost Bat, the ghost bat is a mammal native to Australia known to work together in a pack to detect and hunt, reflecting the unique characteristics of aircraft Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance sensors and capabilities, and is a fitting name for this pioneering capability. The Ghost Bat drone will fly alongside manned fighter jets, jamming radar, firing on targets and conducting surveillance. Boeing has already completed a series of successful test fights on the Ghost Bat drone. 

Boom Supersonic's ‘Overture Superfactory’ at the Piedmont Triad International Airport will open new doors for not only the region, but North Carolina students as well, according to education and economic development leaders. “This is just another indication that it is our time in the Triad,” said Michael Fox, president of the Piedmont Triad Partnership. “This alone is a huge deal but in combination with the Toyota announcement, it really is a message to the world that North Carolina – in particular, central North Carolina and the Triad region – is the hub of transportation technology in the future.” Sarin said the December announcement of Toyota building its EV battery manufacturing site in Randolph County coupled with Boom Supersonic’s announcement confirms the Triad is positioning itself, and its people, for strong future success. “These are game-changers,” he said of the companies. “I think this is the beginning of what happened in Silicon Valley.” Thomas Stith, the president of the North Carolina Community College System, said he too is thrilled to hear another major company will be coming to the region. Stith said community colleges are critical to providing accessible education and educating a strong talent pool for companies to hire from.  “It is going to be the North Carolina community college system that leads this economic growth that we see in North Carolina now,” Stith said. “It is going to be vitally important to properly invest in the community college system, so we have the resources to train and educate the workforce.”   At North Carolina A&T State University, Dr. Sanjiv Sarin is a professor of engineering and special assistant to the chancellor for strategic partnerships said  “At A&T, we’re seeing what we can do to help propagate growth and how we can take advantage of the opportunities for our students, as well as research and development opportunities for our faculty members,” Sarin said. “It’s going to be a win-win situation. It’s huge.”

LG Display has come up with more uses for transparent screens with its innovative new concepts that will be on display at CES 2022: the OLED Shelf, Shopping Managing Showcase, Show Window, and Smart Window. LG Display simply creates concepts that other companies can adopt and introduce to the market.  Its OLED Shelf, visible at the top of this story, consists of two 55-inch transparent OLED displays mounted on top of one another, with a shelf at the very top. LG Display says it’s ideal for the living room, where it can display art, a TV show, or one on each of the two screens simultaneously. Always on Display Mode ensures that the screen can stay on all the time. If there was a piece of art on display, that image could stay put just like a painting, all while blending into the wall behind it. While the OLED Shelf is built for the home, LG Display says its Shopping Managing Showcase is meant for “luxurious” department stores. A transparent OLED display is attached to a sleek wooden stand, and when placed in front of physical products, it looks like it could create a futuristic shopping experience. It adds an overlay to the items behind it, which means storeowners could add graphics that highlight certain parts of their products, or even use the display to provide funky visual effects. We saw a video where flowy graphics drew our eye to one of the perfume bottles in the display above, giving it a lustrous halo effect.

It sure looks like China is converting Cold War fighters into flying drones. Dozens of Shenyang J-16 fighter planes, spotted in satellite photos, are still present at China's military airfields, despite the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) retiring the type in 2010. China could use the planes in a conflict, either masquerading them as modern jets, or using the drones to carry out combat missions of their own.  The J-16 is a copy of the Soviet Union's MiG-19, a single-seat, twin-engine fighter that made its debut in the mid-1950s. The fighter was provided to the PRC, where at least 2,000 were manufactured under license by the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation. The J-6 was China's 1st supersonic fighter jet, but had several limitations, with early versions lacking an air-to-air radar.  According to Defense News, reports surfaced in China in 2013 that the PLAAF was turning the planes into drones, "for use either as a decoy to overwhelm adversary air defences by their sheer numbers, or as a rudimentary unmanned combat aircraft."  The PLA’s Eastern Theater Command recently released photos showing the PLAAF’s J-6 unmanned aircraft conversion. Blurred serials suggest active service; at least 50 can be seen in @planet imagery from September at 1 of 2 bases known to be operating the type.

Samsung who is definitely not immune to chip shortage effects to impact launches, a new report claims that Samsung has started HVM (High Volume Manufacturing) production of components that will be found in the upcoming Galaxy S22 series.  -  A report from WinFuture states that flex cables that connect to various circuit boards inside the Galaxy S22 models are being rolled off the production line. These parts are for the Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22 Plus, and the Galaxy S22 Ultra and have been manufactured in Asian plans since the middle of last week. Volume production has already reached 10s of 1,000s of units, but there were some quality control issues,  with some margin of error expected. Samsung intends on commencing Galaxy S22 pre-orders from February 7, with an official launch happening a few days after. Looking at the aforementioned pre-order date, it is safe to conclude that Samsung is being careful with its approach, hence the latest report discussing HVM plans. With Apple working frantically to improve iPhone 13 supply chain issues, which we assume will take a few weeks, it is the perfect opportunity for Samsung to provide some worthy Android competitors to customers that are readily available. All Galaxy S22 models are expected to launch in the Snapdragon 895 and Exynos 2200 chipset variants, and just like the Galaxy S21 Ultra, the Galaxy S22 Ultra will get S-Pen support. 

Siemens Gamesa will develop an 80-acre (32-hectare) site at the Portsmouth Marine Terminal in Portsmouth, Virginia, which will ultimately become an offshore wind hub. The company entered a land lease agreement with the Virginia Port Authority, supported by Virginia state incentives for site improvements.   The new factory will be built “upon execution of a firm order” for the 2.6 gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Commercial Project with Dominion Energy. 

Siemens Gamesa claims it’s the 1st commitment by a global offshore wind turbine manufacturer in a US-based supply chain.  The manufacturing facility will create around 260 jobs, and Siemens Gamesa also intends to create around 50 service jobs to provide operations and maintenance services for the offshore wind farm. Bringing the 1st offshore wind blade factory to the US is another historic moment for our industry’s development and critical to our ongoing efforts to localize a robust supply chain.  US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said: "Offshore wind energy will create jobs and economic prosperity across the country, and with President Biden’s Build Back Better Agenda, we’re showing that the US is open for business on clean energy."

I am wrapping up my dissertation for a Ph.D in Behavioral Econmics for review by my academic advisor and manuscript for the companion book on the Strategic Inflection Point of 2022 that I saw Robert's recent video on "Memento Mori" ("Remember That You Will Die"). In 2018, Robert had a near fatal stroke that enabled him to confront death head on, listening to his story and his embracement of the "Way of Death" that I came to deeper understanding of my own life. You see I've had multiple near death experiences over the last 18 years of my life that forced me to also embrace the "Way of Death", not in some grim way but as a reminder that we will all die at some point for some reason. I was recently reminded of this by a quote from the film 2005 "Kingdom of Heaven", where the primary character lives by a Latin quote hanging in his blacksmith shop translated "What man is a man who does not make the world better.".In the end of it all we all are measured by what we do with our lives, not the color of skin, not our gender, not our religion, not our social status, or how much money we made or anything else. It is only what we do that goes into the history books, our legacy of what we do that matters and is what our lives are measured against. A worthy reflection for all of us to do

The Army’s mixed reality goggle is headed to soldiers in a 3-step process in which developers expect 2 early versions released next year will help with redesigns for a 3rd version to roll out across the Army.  The Integrated Visual Augmentation System, or IVAS, is a ~$22 billion program that the Army is developing to bring night vision, thermal vision, tactical edge computing and the situational awareness of a fighter pilot down to the lowest-level infantry soldier. The device will likely be the most advanced single technology ever fielded exclusively to the close-combat, squad-level soldier in military history. The Army will deliver 5,000 IVAS 1.0 versions and another 5,000 IVAS 1.1 versions this coming year, said Brig. Gen. Christopher Schneider, the Program Executive Office-Soldier commanding general. Previous budget reports indicate the Army will purchase 40,000 devices or more.  Schneider spoke with Army Times about the IVAS program recently, noting the new rollout plan will field the two existing versions and begin developing the IVAS 1.2 version in parallel with those first fieldlings. IVAS 1.2, which will have a new low-light sensor and hardware redesign, is scheduled to field in the fiscal year 2025. “We don’t want to rush IVAS to the field until it’s ready,” Schneider said.

Spanish police said Monday they had seized 3 underwater drones capable of transporting large quantities of drugs from Morocco to Spain and broken up a gang suspected of manufacturing them.

Officers seized 3 so-called "drone submarines" which were under construction and arrested 8 people in Spain.  "The three -- two of which were being built and one which was practically completed -- were to be delivered to French drug traffickers for transporting large quantities of cocaine," it said.  Police released video of the seized drones saying each one could carry up to 440 pounds of product.

Police said it was the first time they had seized such devices, which are officially known as unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs).

"These devices could allow drug traffickers to transport large quantities of narcotics remotely across the Strait of Gibraltar," the statement said. The gang also manufactured aerial drones, with police seizing several large UAVs with 12 motors each and a range of 30 kilometers, more than enough to cross the 15-kilometer strait between Spain and Morocco. The gang also built false bottoms into vehicles to transport drugs. One of the drug-laden devices was "intercepted when it was on its way to Denmark aboard a tow truck with the intention of avoiding possible police checks,".  Their customers included criminal gangs in Denmark, France, Italy and Spain.  Spain's physical proximity to Morocco, a major hashish producer, and its close ties with former colonies in Latin America, a major cocaine-producing region, have made it a key entry point for drugs bound for Europe.

The semiconductor boom of the past two years appears to be ending.

Memory-chip maker Micron Technology Inc. gave a downbeat forecast for its next fiscal quarter Thursday, predicting a massive revenue shortfall ranging from $1.5 billion to $2.3 billion, as COVID-19 restrictions in China and slower demand for consumer products hurt the sale of memory chips. “There are consumer-demand and inventory-related headwinds impacting the industry and consequently our fiscal-Q4 outlook,” Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra told analysts Thursday.  Earlier in the day, the maker of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and NAND chips reported third-quarter revenue of $8.64 billion, on target with analysts’ projections, but the outlook and comments about the rest of the tech industry that uses the company’s chips were the crux of most questions on the company’s post-earnings conference call.  “PC unit sales [are] now expected to decline by nearly 10% Y/Y from the very strong unit sales in calendar 2021,” Mehrotra told analysts.  Mehrotra said demand for smartphones is also falling, and Micron projected smartphone-unit volume to decline by mid-single-digits Y/Y in calendar 2022, well below industry expectations earlier in the year of mid-single-digit percentage growth. Micron said that, in reaction, it will be cutting some of its CapEx spending on wafer fab equipment, the equipment that semiconductor companies use to make wafers in fabrication facilities, for fiscal 2023. “We now expect our fiscal 2023 wafer fab equipment capex to decline year-over-year,” Mehrotra said. Indeed, the downturn may have already begun. The question now is, will it really turn around next year, and be a short-lived one?

Walmart is now providing "Express delivery", where customers can have items delivered to their doorsteps in as little as 2 hours, to InHome.  Walmart has been busy, in the last year announcing they’ll be expanding their "DroneUp" delivery network to 34 sites by EOY 2022, seeking reach 4 million U.S. households across 6 states – Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah and Virginia. Targeting delivery of +1 million packages by drone in a year. Between the hours of 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m., customers will be able to order from 10s of 1000s of eligible items, such as Tylenol, diapers and hot dog buns, for delivery by air in as little as 30 minutes. For a delivery fee of $3.99, customers can order items totaling up to 10 lbs, if it fits safely it flies.   Stores will house a DroneUp delivery hub inclusive of a team of certified pilots, operating within FAA guidelines, whose job it is to safely manage flight operations for deliveries. Once a customer places an order, the item is fulfilled from the store, packaged, loaded into the drone and delivered right to their yard using a cable that gently lowers the package..  There are a lot of cool things I see Walmart is doing that is in their press release, check it out for your self.

U.S. regulators on Thursday issued final rules eliminating the need for automated vehicle manufacturers to equip fully autonomous vehicles with manual driving controls to meet crash standards.  Automakers and tech companies have faced significant hurdles to deploying automated driving system (ADS) vehicles without human controls because of safety standards written decades ago that assume people are in control.  Last month, General Motors and its self-driving technology unit Cruise petitioned the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for permission to build and deploy a self-driving vehicle without human controls like steering wheels or brake pedals.  The rules revise regulations that assume vehicles "will always have a driver's seat, a steering wheel and accompanying steering column, or just one front outboard passenger seating position."  "For vehicles designed to be solely operated by an ADS, manually operated driving controls are logically unnecessary,". "As the driver changes from a person to a machine in ADS-equipped vehicles, the need to keep the humans safe remains the same and must be integrated from the beginning," said NHTSA Deputy Administrator Steven Cliff.  NHTSA's rule says children should not occupy what is traditionally known as the "driver's" position, given that the driver's seating position has not been designed to protect children in a crash, but if a child is in that seat, the car will not immediately be required to cease motion. NHTSA said existing regulations do not currently bar deploying automated vehicles as long as they have manual driving controls, and as it continues to consider changing other safety standards, manufacturers may still need to petition NHTSA for an exemption to sell their ADS-equipped vehicles. 

Transporation startup Boom is one step closer to bringing back supersonic passenger flight, with the company announcing plans to build a manufacturing facility at Piedmont Triad International Airport in North Carolina. "The Overture Superfactory" will employ approximately 1,750 workers by 2030 and produce the company’s upcoming Overture supersonic jet, hoping to start flying passengers in 2029. Construction on the facility to start in 2022, with production in 2024, with jets rolling off the line in 2025 and flying in 2026.  The 400,000 square foot facility will eventually produce aircraft for carriers like Japan Airlines and United Airlines. UA announced it would purchase 15 Overture jets once the plane met its safety and operating requirements, including an option for UA to buy an additional 35 aircraft, for a total of 50 jets.  Boom claims Overture will revolutionize commercial aviation, envisioning a Mach 1.7 jet flying from San Francisco to Toyko in approximately 6 hours, compared to a current flight that takes ~11 hours.  Bloom also claims Overture will be “net-zero carbon” aircraft thanks to its ability to fly on 100% sustainable aviation fuels. 

The US government will place 8 Chinese companies including drone manufacturer DJI on an investment blocklist for alleged involvement in surveillance of Uyghur Muslims, the Financial Times has reported. The firms will reportedly be put on the US Treasury department’s “Chinese military-industrial complex companies” list on Tuesday, meaning US citizens will be barred from making any investments.

DJI is already on the Department of Commerce’s Entity list, meaning American companies can’t sell it components unless they have a license. At the time, the government said it was among companies that “enabled wide-scale human rights abuses within China through abusive genetic collection and analysis or high-technology surveillance.” However, unlike products from Huawei and others, DJI drones are have not been banned for sale in the US. In 2020, DJI commanded a massive 77% of the consumer drone market. Over the last 2 months, it has released a pair of key products, the large-sensor Mavic 3 drone and full-frame Ronin 4D cinema camera with a built-in gimbal and LiDAR focus system. A year ago, DJI said it had “done nothing to justify being placed on the Entity list,” and that “customers in America can continue to buy and use DJI products normally.”

A modified consumer drone was used in an attack on an electrical substation in the US last year, according to a report from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and National Counterterrorism Center. The report, which is being circulated to law enforcement agencies in the US, highlights the incident at a substation in Pennsylvania last year as the first known use of a drone to target energy infrastructure in the US. The location isn’t specifically identified, but the drone crashed without causing damage.

The drone was modified with a trailing tether supporting a length of copper wire. If the wire had come into contact with high-voltage equipment it could have caused a short circuit, equipment failures and possibly fires.  The device is similar in concept to ”blackout bombs” used by the US Air Force, which have no explosive but scatter masses of conductive filaments over electrical equipment. These were used to shut down 70 per cent of Serbia’s electricity generation capacity in 1999 during the Kosovo war.  Electrical substations are normally protected by fences and other barriers, but Zak Kallenborn at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism in Maryland says these may not be sufficient against drones. “Counter-terrorism defences largely assume a ground-based attacker. Hence the fences and bollards everywhere,” says Kallenborn. “The defences are obsolete if terrorists can take to the air. Drones are cheap, and easy to use. Critical infrastructure facilities need to worry about attacks from any direction.” Counter-drone jammers are deployed at some locations but cannot defend every electrical substation, due to both cost and limitations on where they can be used. Kallenborn notes that while such drones only carry a tiny payload compared to a car bomb, they can cause a disproportionate amount of damage by targeting vulnerable spots.  “Critical infrastructure owners and operators need to identify critical, sensitive components where small charges can cause significant harm to the facility’s operation,” says Kallenborn.