Q1 shipments of PCs, including desktops, laptops and workstations, declined 9.8% globally to 53.2 million, reported IDC. It blamed the “stark decline” on “reduced supply” from the COVID-19 outbreak in China, the world's largest supplier of PCs. Inventories were “somewhat limited” in Q1 as consumers flooded retail for connectivity tools for telework and distance learning as the U.S. began sheltering in place, said IDC Monday. “A few vendors and retailers were able to keep up with the additional demand as the threat of increased tariffs last year led to some inventory stockpiling at the end of 2019. It fears “this bump in demand may be short lived as many fear the worst is yet to come and this could lead to both consumers and businesses tightening spending in the coming months."
The Scripps Research Institute and Stanford Medicine are working with Fitbit, using the wearable maker’s data to help detect, track and contain infectious diseases like COVID-19, said the company Tuesday. They are inviting other institutions to join the effort and share learning with researchers. Early evidence shows wearables can help predict the onset of an infectious disease like the flu before symptoms start, Fitbit said, and the consortium's goal is "to unlock similar potential via leading research institutions in response to COVID-19." Scripps recently launched an app-based research program to analyze participants’ wearable health data to detect the emergence of the flu, coronavirus and other fast-spreading viral illnesses.
Infinite Electronics makes 60-72 face shields weekly at its Hayden, Idaho, facility to help medical facilities facing shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic, Katee Schalau, technical content specialist, emailed Tuesday. The electronic components maker announced last week it’s using a printing design developed by 3D printer maker Budmen Industries to donate face shields for medical workers during the coronavirus outbreak (see 2004070050). Infinite can print the parts for six sets of shields in under six hours; its shields have gone to facilities in California, Oregon and Washington, Schalau said. Infinite bought the elastic, foam and polysheet required for the shields and makes the parts in the engineering lab where its 3D printer resides; shields are assembled in the company’s model shop in “minutes.” The electronic parts company still uses the areas for operations and “may interrupt the printing of the mask parts as needed,” said Schalau. The company’s machinist/product development specialist runs the printer and assemblies; the operations group packages shields for shipment, she said. Operating as an essential business under state guidelines during the pandemic, Infinite converted front and back office employees to work from home staffers, and moved to two shifts in production facilities and warehouses for proper social distancing, Schalau said. Budmen’s website said Tuesday the company temporarily stopped all 3D printer sales to produce devices for healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic; its online register had requests for more than 400,000 shields as of April 7, Schalau noted.
Broadband use on Easter set a new Sunday high, with average consumption of 17.3 Gb per subscriber, topping the previous high of 15.97 GB on March 22, OpenVault said Tuesday. It said downstream consumption was 16.3 Gb per subscriber, up 37.9% over March 1, before pandemic social distancing measures started taking effect. It said upstream usage was 0.97 GB, up 51.7% over March. 1. OpenVault said the spike was likely due to videoconference-enabled virtual Sunday visits to friends and family. Average home monthly usage in the U.S. in March was around 400 Gb, up around 20% from the end of last year (see 2004060038).
NAB’s virtual stand-in for its canceled Las Vegas show is May 13-14, said the group Monday. Registration opens April 20 for the free NAB Show Express, which will offer on-demand content, online educational sessions and product exhibitions. Some sessions will replicate events that had been planned for the Las Vegas show, including President Gordon Smith’s annual address. There will be a channel dedicated to content from the Broadcast Engineering and Information Technology conference that was to have opened this weekend in Vegas. Express will feature three stand-alone “training and executive leadership events” with registration fees, the release said. The association canceled the annual show March 11, the day the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic (see 2003200039). Brightcove and Frequency Audio-Visual Services will be the enabling platforms for the online conference,
“Keeping Britain connected” is the “biggest contribution” Huawei can make in the U.K’s effort to defeat COVID-19, said Vice President Victor Zhang in an “open letter” Monday. “Despite this, there has been groundless criticism from some about Huawei’s involvement in the UK’s 5G rollout,” he said. “Disrupting our involvement in the 5G rollout would do Britain a disservice.” Once the crisis passes, “we look forward to continuing to play our role as a key partner in improving the networks, benefiting the economy and ultimately everyone in the UK, ending the postcode lottery of good connectivity,” he said. “Right now, by keeping Britain online, we are able to play our part in helping the country through this difficult period.”
Rivals Apple and Google are cooperating to develop COVID-19 contact-tracing through smartphone apps that will be interoperable between their two operating systems, they said Friday. It's to help governments and health agencies “reduce the spread of the virus, with user privacy and security central to the design,” they said. Both companies will launch application programming interfaces next month that using apps from public health authorities, available for free downloads at the App Store and Google Play. They will work in coming months “to enable a broader Bluetooth-based contact tracing platform by building this functionality into the underlying platforms,” they said. “This is a more robust solution than an API and would allow more individuals to participate.” An Oxford University study last month advocates apps linked to a central server as a speedier way to do contact tracing than manual tracing (see 2003310016). Apple and Google said the service would incorporate several privacy safeguards, including requiring user opt-in. But no contact-tracing apps can be effective “if people don’t trust them,” said Jennifer Granick, ACLU surveillance and cybersecurity counsel. “People will only trust these systems if they protect privacy, remain voluntary, and store data on an individual's device, not a centralized repository.” Though the Apple and Google approach “appears to mitigate the worst privacy and centralization risks,” privacy advocates will “remain vigilant” to be sure any contact-tracing app “remains voluntary and decentralized,” said Granick. The Trump administration’s reported plan to create a COVID-19 data surveillance program with healthcare and tech companies lacks transparency, Democratic lawmakers wrote the White House Friday (see 2004100061).
Best Buy temporarily suspended its recycling and trade-in program at stores where it’s operating curbside service during the COVID-19 outbreak. The retailer notes in its position statement on sustainability that to date it has collected more than 2 billion pounds of electronics and appliances as part of its recycling efforts. In a Thursday blog post, Best Buy broke out a category of eco-friendly products said to promote sustainability as part of a wider initiative toward reducing carbon emissions and sourcing renewable energy. Among the products it identified as sustainable were solar panels and kits, power stations and headlamps; electric bikes, scooters and hoverboards that don’t use fuel; smart thermostats, shower fixtures and bidets that conserve energy and natural resources; and Energy Star-certified products. By fixing “everything from computers to major appliances,” Best Buy helps extend the life of products, it said, and it offers customers gift cards and discounts as a reward for responsibly managing their old tech products through trade-in. Last year, the tech retailer set a target to reduce its carbon footprint by 75% by 2030 from a 2009 baseline.
MVPDs are reporting skyrocketing streaming usage and internet video consumption due to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, said Leichtman Research Group Thursday. Comcast's peak traffic rose 32% at the end of March vs. the beginning of the month, with a 38% increase in online video consumption. Its linear video consumption grew four hours to 64 hours weekly, and VOD hit record highs, up 25%. AT&T reported core network traffic rose 25% April 2 vs. a similar day at the end of February. Snapchat reported that time spent on video and voice calling grew by more than 50% late February-late March.
The UHD Alliance continues to develop “digital assets,” including video content, to promote Filmmaker Mode as TVs with that feature debut at retail, emailed President Mike Fidler Wednesday. “With the majority of retail venues not operating, it has just been slightly delayed but we will encompass the previously planned promotional material.” Filmmaker Mode has TV-brand support from LG, Panasonic, TP Vision, Samsung and Vizio. Kaleidescape also backs it for deployment in the custom-integrator channel. Filmmaker Mode, introduced last summer (see 1908270001), is the TV picture setting free of the image processing that creators disdain for rendering their content as if it were shot on high-speed video rather than film.