Category: Apple Insider

Apple on Wednesday confirmed the purchase of Colorado-based Akonia Holographics, a startup focused on the development and production of specialized lenses used in augmented reality headsets.

Magic Leap AR headset.

Terms of the acquisition are unknown, though Apple issued its usual non-confirmation confirmation on the reported purchase to Reuters.

“Apple buys smaller companies from time to time, and we generally don’t discuss our purpose or plans,” Apple said in a statement.

According to an AR industry executive, the team at Akonia became “very quiet” over the past six months, suggesting Apple completed the purchase sometime this year.

Founded in 2012, Akonia’s initial goal was to develop holographic data storage solutions, but the firm quickly transitioned to making displays for AR glasses. The company’s flagship product, called HoloMirror, uses “proprietary volume holographic media and know-how to uniquely enable thin, transparent smart glass lenses that display vibrant, full-color, wide field-of-view images,” according to its website.

Akonia claims its technology “will revolutionize” the smart glass display industry, offering manufacturers “ultra-clear, full-color performance” in thin and light headsets. Unlike similar solutions from the likes of Magic Leap, which use waveguides to funnel graphical information to multiple display planes positioned in front of a user’s eyes, HoloMirror utilizes a single layer of media. The method not only reduces system complexity, but allows for integration into small form factors like common glasses.

The company holds a cache of more than 200 patents relating to holographic systems and materials, though it is not clear how many cover AR wearables.

Perhaps more importantly, Akonia says it “defined the technology” that will pave the way for improvements including greater field-of-view. In respect to AR, FOV is a key ingredient in AR immersion. Using a low-FOV AR device overlays computer generated graphics atop real-world objects, but the illusion ends abruptly at the edges of each display. High-FOV devices are, ostensibly, more immersive, extending the CGI field to the outer reaches of a user’s vision.

For example, critics of Magic Leap’s just released mixed reality headset say the system suffers from relatively low FOV, and thus pulls them out of the AR experience.

The acquisition provides insight into Apple’s rumored “Apple Glasses,” an in-house designed AR headset expected to ship in the next few years. A report last year claimed the tech giant is developing its own display and processor for the project, a route expected to require substantial assets in both hardware and software engineering.

Reports earlier this year claim the device, referred to internally as “T288,” currently employs ultra high-resolution 8K displays and a separate processing unit to overlay virtual images over real-world objects present in a user’s field of vision. If Apple intends to slim down the package and release it as an aesthetically appealing product, said displays would necessitate extremely thin and transparent lenses. Akonia’s technology could provide such a solution.

By Stephen Silver
Monday, August 27, 2018, 04:12 pm PT (07:12 pm ET)

California chip firm announces a halt to its development of 7-nanometer fabrication technology, leaving Apple partner TSMC and rival Samsung as the only remaining players in the space.

GlobalFoundries announced Monday that it is backing away from its ambitious plans to develop next-generation semiconductor technology, and will instead refocus its investment on existing technologies.

According to AnandTech, the shift means GlobalFoundries will drop five percent of its staff. The move also means the only remaining players in the next-generation semiconductor space are a pair of current and former Apple suppliers, TSMC and Samsung, respectively, and that the consumer electronics industry as a whole whole may very well find itself more dependent on those companies.

“Demand for semiconductors has never been higher, and clients are asking us to play an ever-increasing role in enabling tomorrow’s technology innovations,” GlobalFoundries CEO Tom Caulfield said in a statement released by the company. “The vast majority of today’s fabless customers are looking to get more value out of each technology generation to leverage the substantial investments required to design into each technology node. Essentially, these nodes are transitioning to design platforms serving multiple waves of applications, giving each node greater longevity. This industry dynamic has resulted in fewer fabless clients designing into the outer limits of Moore’s Law. We are shifting our resources and focus by doubling down on our investments in differentiated technologies across our entire portfolio that are most relevant to our clients in growing market segments.”

GlobalFoundries and Samsung have a joint technology agreement, though it appears the deal will not extend to the fabrication of 7nm chips.

While a difficult feat, shrinking die size increases the density of a given chip to fit more transistors into a smaller space, thereby presenting a number of performance and efficiency improvements. For consumers, benefits typically include a reduction in power usage that can help increase battery life, lower heat production, and a boost to processing capacity.

AMD announced that it would move its 7nm production to TSMC, Reuters reported Monday.

In 2013, Apple reportedly tapped GlobalFoundries to fabricate what would become its A9 system-on-chip for iPhone and iPad, but backed away from doing so at the last minute, in favor of TSMC.

GlobalFoundries’ decision comes months after TSMC ramped up production of its own 7nm chips, a healthy portion of which are likely bound for iPhone and iPad. As a fabless manufacturer, Apple designs its A-series silicon and outsources production to firms with foundries, such as TSMC.

Samsung was an original fab partner, but lost exclusivity starting with the A8, which for reference was built using a 20nm process. TSMC has been Apple’s lone A-series chip fabricator from the 16nm A10 Fusion forward.

By Mikey Campbell
Tuesday, August 21, 2018, 05:19 pm PT (08:19 pm ET)

Apple CEO Tim Cook gifted 23,215 shares of directly owned company stock to an unidentified charity this week, an amount worth nearly $5 million at the end of trading on Tuesday.

Cook’s charitable donation was recorded in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing today. As no shares were sold, a reporting price was not applied to the transfer.

Apple stock finished the day at $215.04, meaning Cook’s gift, if converted today, would be worth $4,992,154.

While the destination of Cook’s donation is unknown — corporate leaders are obliged to disclose movement of owned shares, but are not required to publicly report a charitable transaction’s recipient — the executive has made similar gifts in the past. In 2015, Cook transferred 50,000 shares of owned company stock to an unspecified organization.

Including an acquisition of 166 shares on Jan. 31, the last effective day of Apple’s 2017 Amended Employee Stock Purchase Plan period, the CEO now 878,425 shares of beneficially owned Apple stock.

This week’s contribution is the latest in a string of donations from the Apple chief. In 2014, Cook donated a “substantial sum” to the Human Rights Campaign’s Project One America, which focuses on promoting LGBT rights in the U.S. South. That same year, he gave $291,791 to Pennsylvania’s Steel Valley School District, funds that were later used to purchase iPads for students and teachers.

In addition to direct donations, Cook has raised funds for the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights by auctioning off one-on-one lunches through online service CharityBuzz. One such auction brought in $330,000 in 2014.

Despite amassing vast wealth as Apple’s top executive, Cook leads a relatively simple life that stand in contrast with other tech leaders who spend their fortunes on homes, yachts and planes. Indeed, Apple in 2017 mandated Cook use private jets for future travel, citing new security protocols.

Cook in 2015 said he plans to give a bulk of his money away to charity in what he called a “systematic approach” to philanthropy.