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Fictron Industrial Supplies Sdn Bhd
No. 7 & 7A,
Jalan Tiara, Tiara Square,
Taman Perindustrian Sime UEP,
47600 Subang Jaya,
Selangor, Malaysia.
No. 7 & 7A,
Jalan Tiara, Tiara Square,
Taman Perindustrian Sime UEP,
47600 Subang Jaya,
Selangor, Malaysia.
Fictron Industrial
Automation Pte Ltd
140 Paya Lebar Road, #03-01,
AZ @ Paya Lebar 409015,
Singapore.
+65 31388976
sg.sales@fictron.com
Automation Pte Ltd
140 Paya Lebar Road, #03-01,
AZ @ Paya Lebar 409015,
Singapore.
+65 31388976
sg.sales@fictron.com
Latest News
New Battery Design Could Charge An Electric Car In Just 10 Minutes
Nov 1, 2019
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Scientists in the U.S. have reported a technological breakthrough that could resolve one of the key issues surrounding all-electric vehicles, suggesting just 10 minutes of charging time could add 200 miles (320 km) of driving range.
Writing in the journal Joule on Wednesday, researchers at Pennsylvania State University said that such a speedy charge rate needed a battery to speedily take in 400 kilowatts of energy. Current-generation vehicles aren't capable of this feat because it risks the lithium plating, the formation of metallic lithium around the anode, which would severely deteriorate battery life.
To find the way this constraint, the researchers raised the temperature of their experimental battery to 60 degrees Celsius (140 Fahrenheit) during the charge cycle, then dropped it back down as it was used. What this does is “limit the battery’s exposure to the elevated charge temperature, thus generating a very long cycle life,” said senior author Chao-Yang Wang, a mechanical engineer at The Pennsylvania State University.
But scaling up the design and bringing it to market might possibly take a decade, said Rick Sachleben, an affiliate of the American Chemical Society. Makers will need to make sure that instantly raising the temperature is safe and stable, and doesn’t lead to explosions given the phenomenal amount of energy that is being transferred.
“Fast charging is one of the holy grails of electric vehicles,” he said. “It’s one of the things that is necessary for them to compete with petroleum-fueled internal combustion engines.”
The existing generation of Tesla vehicles need around 30 minutes for a partial charge. One of the inventors of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries who was granted a Nobel Prize in chemistry in October, M. Stanley Whittingham, says ongoing research will continue to make the batteries cheaper, safer and with greater energy density. Further improvements to the technology might also prop up efforts to fight climate change by enabling greater use of renewable-energy sources, Whittingham said.
He said Lithium-ion batteries will continue to influence in smart phones and electric vehicles for at least the next 10 years, “because there is nothing really on the horizon,” though Toyota Motor Corp. and American companies are improving solid-state batteries. It’s not clear yet whether you will get a decent amount of power” from such batteries, he added. “They may work for things such as iPhones initially, but there are some big questions before they are used in larger-scale systems.
Still, Whittingham said, if you look at the sellers of electricity, they do not particularly want them to be charged very fast.”
Huawei Set for Boost from UK After Decisions on Arm and 5G
Nov 1, 2019
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It seems that the England is a good place for China right now, on two counts at least. One is Arm confirming that a few of its UK-developed architectures are outside the scope of current U.S. export restrictions. The second is news over the weekend suggesting the British Prime Minister is set to allow Huawei supply to non-contentious parts of the 5G network.
If there was any sign that things were getting better for Huawei, it was clear when EE Times documented last month that executives from Arm, Arm China and HiSilicon (Huawei’s chip division) met behind closed doors in Shenzhen, to reassure the Chinese media and local electronics industry of their ongoing cooperation.
Under the current guidelines Arm cannot license any U.S. origin intellectual property (IP) to HiSilicon unless granted an export license by the U.S. Commerce Department, or it has been determined the IP is not of U.S. origin.
Now it appears that, after an in-depth review, Arm has decided that its Armv8-A architecture, together with the next generation of that architecture, are of UK origin. Therefore, an Arm spokesperson confirmed to EE Times that Arm can provide support to HiSilicon for those certain architectures. She added, “Arm has communicated this to the appropriate U.S. government offices, and we continue to be in compliance with the U.S. Commerce Department guidelines, respective to Huawei and its affiliate HiSilicon.”
5G green light expected
In a completely separate development, the UK’s Sunday Times newspaper documented yesterday that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to endorse his predecessor’s decision to give Huawei access to the non-contentious parts of the 5G network. The main reason quoted is that the west doesn't have a good alternative for Huawei technology, which signifies it would be left behind if it doesn’t use Huawei. One senior government source is quoted in the Sunday Times as saying, “The reality is that if you don’t say yes, you don’t have alternatives. The West has screwed up by allowing Huawei to develop a near-monopoly in this area.”
Earlier this year, the chair of British Parliament’s Science and Technology Committee, the Rt. Hon. Norman Lamb, said, “The benefits of 5G are clear and the removal of Huawei from the current or future networks could cause significant delays.” As we reported, the issues were around ethics and politics rather than the technological one. Lamb highlighted that supply chains for telecommunications networks were global and complex, so a ban on Huawei equipment wouldn't normally take out potential Chinese influence from the supply chain. He also said it would probably maximize security vulnerability by reducing competition. Lamb also emphasized that his conclusion that Huawei must not be wholly excluded from the UK’s 5G networks is built only on technical considerations, not geo-political.
Vertu Returns to Vietnam
Oct 31, 2019
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After a two-year hiatus, British luxury phone maker Vertu has announced resumption of sales at its Ho Chi Minh City store next month. Vertu Vietnam, a local unit of the phone maker, said genuine Vertu phones will once again be sold in Vietnam, first from an District 1 outlet in Ho Chi Minh City in October, then a Hanoi outlet the next month.
Vertu luxury cell phones had been marketed in Vietnam since 2006 by electronics distributor FPT Trading, earlier known as FPT Telecom Products Distribution Co., Ltd., through three outlets in Vietnam. In late 2017, the stores closed after Vertu ceased production in the U.K. The company had lodged for bankruptcy in its home country, having racked up debts of some £138 million, but its business was still growing in Vietnam.
A representative of FPT Trading said that when Vertu’s U.K. factory was closed, customers in Vietnam were still ordering its super-luxury phones. Vertu will now distribute its phones through Vertu Vietnam, a Hanoi headquartered company established in May 2019. Before Vertu declared its come back to Vietnam, traders had observed that demand for Vertu handsets in the country had never died down.
“Normally, we rarely see Vertu phones, but in events or places with lots of rich people, you can find 80-90 percent of them using them. For them, the latest technology is not a top priority. They use Vertu because of the phone’s anti-tapping protection features, the brand name and the fact it is crafted from luxury materials,” said Nguyen Phi Dung, a dealer in luxury hand-carried Vertu phones.
Models that cost between VND100–150 million ($4,300 – $6,450) used to be the most popular, but customers have even bought handsets costing VND500 million to over VND1 billion ($21,500 – $43,000), Dung added. Vertu was established by Finnish phone-maker Nokia in 1998, but changed hands multiple times later. In 2012, it was sold to Swedish investment corporation EQT; and in 2015 to Hong-Kong based investment fund Godin Holdings.
In March 2017, Vertu was sold to Baferton Ltd., owned by Turkish businessman Hakan Uzan. However, just four months later, Uzan had to close Vertu’s U.K. factories, having failed to save it from bankruptcy. However, in October last year, Vertu made an unexpected return to China with a new Aster P, priced at $5,167 for black and white models, and $14,146 for its yellow model.
Sony's New Plant Signals Departure From 'Asset-Light' Strategy
Oct 31, 2019
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Immediately after brushing aside demands from Daniel Loeb's hedge fund Third Point to spin off its semiconductor business, Sony reaffirmed their motivation to the sector by pressuring forward plans to establish a 100 billion yen ($918 million) factory in Japan. The move not just explained its rejection of Loeb's suggestion, but also marked a shift away from an ''asset-light'' strategy the company had been pursuing in recent times.
Behind the decision was the furious competition in entertainment from the likes of Google and Walt Disney. Sony, which seeks to be a ''creative entertainment company with a solid foundation of technology,'' is increasingly dependent on its market-leading image sensors. The semiconductor business, which includes the image sensors, accounts for 15% of the company's entire profits.
The fresh investment was made possible by a succession of moves to shrink down sectors and cut costs. It reported an all-time high group operating profit of about $8.2 billion last fiscal year, with solid results across much of its business portfolio, including games, music and flat-screen televisions coupled with semiconductors. Operating cash flow, except for financial services, topped $6.8 billion.
The investment also shows Sony's confidence in the future of image sensors. The Japanese company sees demand for the chips beyond smartphones to a variety of new connected devices as the superfast fifth-generation wireless technology takes center stage. But it was a tough decision. Sony's management has learned from experience that a downturn in demand, mostly with the outlook for smartphone demand uncertain, could leave it saddled with heavy costs without bringing the expected benefits from its investment.
The outlook for the sensor market, nevertheless, has been brightening. Some industry estimates show global demand extending 60% between 2018 and 2023. This owes partly to the trend of installing multiple cameras in smartphones, and partly to an anticipated rise in demand for ''internet of things'' applications, like self-driving vehicles and factory robots, once 5G fully gets off the ground.
Sony showed off the lowlight performance of its image sensors at the Tokyo Motor Show which kicked off here Thursday. Its booth featured a diorama in a dark room that made the details all but not visible to the naked eye. But when a staffer turned on a monitor above the display, viewers could clearly see the characters on the screen.
By touting the sensitivity of its sensors, Sony looks to appeal to automakers developing self-driving vehicles, for which cameras that can spot details even under poor lighting conditions are crucial. At the Ceatec electronics expo this month, which Sony returned to after a six-year hiatus, the company focused on the potential of the chips in medical devices. It showcased a surgical microscope system with 3D imaging capabilities.
Sony has such applications in mind as it operates on sensors incorporating artificial intelligence. Autonomous vehicles with AI-equipped cameras, for example, would be able to process data locally instead of having to upload it to the cloud, saving precious time if it detects an obstacle and needs to stop quickly.
AI sensors would open the door to a new business model for Sony's semiconductor business, with recurring revenue from data processing services on top of chip sales. Though the segment is profitable now, earning 143.9 billion yen in operating profit last fiscal year, it lost money as recently as fiscal 2016, and Sony aims a stable stream of recurring revenue to help ensure it stays in the black.
Five Types Of Preventative Maintenance In Commercial Facilities
Oct 31, 2019
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There are a number of approaches to preventative maintenance itself, all of which are used to ensure that your equipment is working correctly and potential problems are uncovered.
Realizing which method of preventative maintenance to use isn’t always a straightforward decision. Based on the complexity and value of your equipment and the possibility of compliance requirements, you might use more than one approach. Below are the five common types of preventative maintenance in use at commercial facilities today, together with some preventative maintenance examples.
Time-based Maintenance (TBM)
When you change an air filter once every six months, you're basically doing time-based maintenance (TBM). Time-based maintenance (TBM) activities might involve anything from inspecting and cleaning to servicing and part replacing. The frequence of TBM is customarily predetermined according to the equipment supplier’s ideas and/or past performance of the machine.
TBM has some positive aspects and cons as a maintenance strategy. It uses much less manpower than some other maintenance strategies. But even though you’re following the set schedule, in some cases you may be changing or servicing something before it actually requires to be done. For instance, a manufacturer may recommend exchanging a fan filter every three months, but if that filter is located in an area of the building where it isn’t used often, you could go a bit longer without replacing it. That makes the cost of TBM higher than it should be.
The next maintenance strategy, condition-based monitoring (discussed below) can help avoid over-maintenance, and is seen as mostly more valuable and economical than TBM.
Failure-finding Maintenance (FFM)
Failure-finding maintenance is carried out making sure that something - often a protective device of some sort - still works. Protective devices are those designed to call attention to a problem, shutdown a process to avoid more problems, and shield against mishaps. Activating an alarm periodically would be viewed as failure finding maintenance.
While other types of preventative maintenance involve routinely changing or replacing parts, or noticing an apparent condition that may well display impending failure, failure-finding maintenance applies to hidden failures that can be discovered only by actually checking if something still works. By some estimates, up to 40 percent of failures in industrial settings fall into the hidden category; and up to 80 percent of those require failure-finding to be rooted out. An example of this type of preventative maintenance: A diesel generator might have a protective device that should turn off the generator in the instance of elevated cooling water temperature; the functionality of that device will not be noticed without simulating the appropriate conditions and checking if the device gives the right response.
Unfortunately, failure-finding maintenance is generally given low priority by maintenance professionals, but it is critical to maintaining a safe environment - and sometimes preventing the major disasters that happen resulting from multiple failures.
Risk-based Maintenance (RBM)
Risk-based maintenance (RBM) is a strategy that aims to lessen mechanical failures by evaluating the levels of risk associated with your equipment, and then prioritizing your maintenance activities as required. The theory behind risk-based maintenance is ultimately Pareto’s Law, which, when applied to maintenance, holds that 80 percent of failures are attributable to just 20 percent of your equipment; this means it makes sense to focus your efforts on those areas.
Both the likelihood of a breakdown and the results of a failure are considered in support of this approach. Based upon the results of your evaluation, you can make better decisions about what to inspect, and when. Again and again facility managers do this unconsciously as part of their routines, but it is more effective at delivering results when a methodology is used to help make decisions. When done right, risk-based maintenance can optimize both asset performance and your financial resources as well.
Condition-based Monitoring (CBM)
Condition-based monitoring involves supervising the condition of a piece of operating equipment or machinery to ascertain what type of maintenance needs to be done and when. Marks of declining performance or imminent failure would suggest maintenance needs to be done to restore the machine to its original level of performance and reliability. This approach is designed to avoid a breakdown by fixing problems before they occur, which means it is a type of predictive maintenance (number 5 below).
CBM is a more effective preventative maintenance strategy than time-based, considering that it is a proactive measure intended to specifically identify changes in machine performance and head off issues. Examples of what elements could be monitored to diagnose problems are:
- Visual - This is the most basic form of condition monitoring and may uncover things like cracks or corrosion.
- Vibrations - Changes in the vibrations produced by compressors, pumps, motors and other types of equipment can help spot performance problems.
- Wear debris (tribology) - Analyzing interacting machine surfaces for wear and fractures may serve as an early warning of equipment failure.
- Temperature (thermography) - Corroded electrical connections, faulty machinery, and damaged machine components can all change the temperature distribution of running equipment.
- Sound - The sound of a running machine is usually fairly stable; a change in the noise signal may indicate a change in the condition of the machine.
Predictive Maintenance
Predictive maintenance is distinguishing when a piece of equipment is probably to fail and addressing it before it occurs. In the place of simply aiming to minimize downtime, predictive maintenance aims to maximize uptime. It’s an improvement over ordinary preventative maintenance approaches because it helps avoid failures in a timely manner.
It’s quite similar to condition monitoring in that both strategies have the same goal. The difference is that condition monitoring identifies immediate tasks based on monitoring results, while predictive maintenance enable you plan maintenance tasks based on knowledge about overall equipment health and expected performance - knowledge that comes through the gathering and analysis of data.
The Internet of Things makes predictive analytics possible. Sensors installed to your machines and equipment monitor and collect a vast range of operational data, on everything from vibrations, sights, and sounds to temperatures and power consumption. With the help of machine learning and algorithms, this data can then be mined and patterns identified. Eventually, that data can be used to provide valuable insights about aberrant performance that could reveal the likelihood of an imminent breakdown.
As an example of this type of preventative maintenance, consider a commercial refrigerated unit. A manufacturer that owns several commercial refrigerated units around the country needs a reliable way to prevent the units from failing because there are high costs associated with failure - including the cost of emergency repairs and product spoilage. As part of a predictive maintenance strategy, the manufacturer could equip each of the refrigerated units with a variety of sensors. The sensors would measure:
- Refrigerator temperature
- Humidity level
- Temperature of the coolant going into and out of the compressor
- Temperature of the coolant going into and out of the evaporator
- Vibration on the compressor
- The number of times the compressor starts and stops
- How long the compressor runs
- The amount of power the compressor is using
All this data could be held and evaluated using an Internet of Things platform. Using predictive analytics, it is possible to comprehend the optimal performance of a refrigerator unit and, when defects in the data manifest, to determine if and when the unit might fail. The problem can then be addressed before it happens.
Combined with your crucial assets, sensors can give you an unprecedented level of perceptiveness into your daily operations that supports your equipment - and your building - better than preventive maintenance. Predictive maintenance can greatly minimize downtime, decrease your financial expenditure by prolonging the life of your equipment, and increase the overall safety of your operation.
China¡¯s Convenience-Store Market is Booming Business
Oct 31, 2019
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China’s convenience-store market is prosperous with fast sales growth and rapid network expansion ahead. Sales through Chinese convenience stores achieved US$19.78 billion last year, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24 percent in the last five years, according to new research from Mintel.
Sales are anticipated to grow to $22.75 billion this year and Mintel says there will be more than 117,000 convenience stores in China by 2024 – a great boost from the 75,000 last year.
“The convenience store sector has experienced double-digit growth, even at this challenging time for brick-and-mortar retail in China. This is due, in part, to consumers’ continuous pursuit of time efficiency, availability and instant fulfillment,” said Chih-yuan Wang, category research director, retail at Mintel Reports – China.
She said to satisfy customers’ continuing demand, convenience stores in China need to strengthen their social function and create more types of the shopping experience, including launching themed stores and exclusive products by collaborating with different manufacturers and brands.
The review reveals that at least 61 percent of urban Chinese customers shop at convenience stores a couple of times a week while more than 50 percent of respondents like to window-shop and eat inside convenience stores. Young and female buyers are more open to themed convenience stores, according to Mintel. More than half (54 percent) of urban Chinese participants like convenience stores decorated in different themes.
Meantime, 56 percent of Chinese respondents say that they like to try new products in convenience stores, skewed towards post-90s (62 percent) and female consumers (60 percent).
Let¡¯s Build Robots That Are as Smart as Babies
Oct 29, 2019
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Let’s face it: Robots are dumb. To say the least they are idiot savants, ideal for doing one thing very well. Typically, even those robots need particular environments in which to do their one thing really well. This is the reason autonomous cars or robots for home health care are so hard to build. They will need to react to an uncountable number of situations, and they are going to need a generalised understanding of the world in order to navigate them all.
Children as young as two months already understand that an unsupported object will fall, while five-month-old babies know materials like sand and water will pour from a container instead of plop out as a single chunk. Robots lack these understandings, which hinders them as they try to navigate the world without a prescribed task and movement.
But yet we could see robots with a generalised insight of the world (and the processing power required to wield it) thanks to the video-game industry. Researchers are bringing physics engines — the software that provides real-time physical interactions in complex video-game worlds — to robotics. The purpose is to develop robots’ understanding in order to learn about the world in the same way babies do.
Providing robots a baby’s sense of physics helps them navigate the real world and can even save on computing power, according to Lochlainn Wilson, the CEO of SE4, a Japanese company constructing robots that could operate on Mars. SE4 plans to eliminate the problems of latency caused by distance from Earth to Mars by building robots that can operate independently for a few hours before receiving more instructions from Earth.
Wilson says that his company uses simple physics engines for example PhysX to help build more-independent robots. He adds that if you can tie a physics engine to a coprocessor on the robot, the real-time basic physics intuitions won’t take compute cycles away from the robot’s principal processor, which will often be focused on a more complicated task.
Wilson’s firm periodically still turns to a traditional graphics engine, just like Unity or the Unreal Engine, to handle the demands of a robot’s movement. In some instances, however, such as a robot accounting for friction or understanding force, you really need a robust physics engine, Wilson says, not really a graphics engine that simply simulates a virtual environment. For his projects, he often turns to the open-source Bullet Physics engine built by Erwin Coumans, who is now an employee at Google.
Bullet is a common physics-engine option, but it isn’t the only one out there. Nvidia Corp., for example, has realized that its gaming and physics engines are well-placed to handle the computing demands needed by robots. In a lab in Seattle, Nvidia is working with teams from the University of Washington to construct kitchen robots, entirely articulated robot hands and more, all equipped with Nvidia’s tech.
The robot could also understand that less pressure is needed to grasp something like a cardboard box of Cheez-It crackers versus something more durable like an aluminum can of tomato soup. Nvidia’s silicon has already helped advance the fields of artificial intelligence and computer vision by making it possible to process multiple decisions in parallel. It’s possible that the company’s new focus on virtual worlds will help advance the field of robotics and teach robots to think like babies.
Hyundai Invests In Netradyne To Develop Advanced Driver Assistance Systems
Oct 29, 2019
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Hyundai CRADLE, Hyundai Motor Company’s open innovation center in the U.S. is trading in Netradyne, a U.S.-based technology company concentrating in vehicle safety management solution.
Netradyne established in 2015 has developed driving technology solutions by leveraging artificial intelligence and big data analytics. Its focus is to develop a system to manage the entire autonomous driving with image recognition technology to record drivers and road conditions.
The latest agreement follows Hyundai Motor Group’s partnership with Aptiv to form a $4 billion autonomous driving joint venture to formulate a production-ready autonomous driving platform. With this agreement, Hyundai and Netradyne will team up to develop Level 3+ advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving solutions.
Netradyne has already recorded 3.5 million miles of paved roads in the U.S. through AI and professional drivers. The data includes a lot of passes over the same roads to provide more insights for further development of autonomous vehicles, according to Hyundai Motor Group.
Netradyne’s technology will also support Hyundai’s advancement of Level 4+ self-driving cars that can drive without any human interaction. Hyundai Motor Group is also envisioned to develop a high precision map for self-driving vehicles.
Global market research firm IHS Markit estimates that 33.7 million autonomous vehicles will be sold each year worldwide by 2040. Hyundai Motor Group is pursuing commercialization of Level 4 autonomous driving systems in limited areas such as state-designated smart cities by 2021.
Hyundai Motor Group already obtained a license to test run its autonomous driving vehicles on expressways in Nevada in December 2015. It also came to be the first to obtain a license to test autonomous driving in Korea in March 2016.
How Dubai Is Aiming to Become the First Blockchain-Powered City by 2020
Oct 29, 2019
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Dubai will support the expertise of top blockchain and crypto experts to give influence to the Dubai Blockchain Strategy 2020. The World Blockchain Summit Global series will develop an open platform for startups, investors and solution service providers from the blockchain industry to provide solutions that will focus on sectors such as security services, transportation, healthcare and others.
As one of the pointing destinations for innovators and entrepreneurs in the blockchain space, Dubai looks to be nurturing a resilient blockchain tech innovation ecosystem by welcoming the newest and most forward-thinking blockchain startups. Aiming to become the first blockchain-powered city by 2020, through the ambitious ‘Dubai Blockchain Strategy 2020’, Dubai is facilitating a citywide digital transformation by successfully implementing three core strategic pillars of development such as Government efficiency, Industry creation and international leadership.
In a recent MoU that was signed between LEAD Ventures and Trescon to deliver the 13th edition of World Blockchain Summit and third leg in Dubai, the strategic collaboration agreement confused on the importance of bringing in much more investment opportunities in the UAE by enticing blockchain-related startups and solution providers. “We want to globalize our reach by collaborating with the most unique and innovative companies from around the world. Through World Blockchain Summit, we are looking to discover strategic partners, financially stable and established startups and industry experts who can collectively help build a robust crypto and blockchain ecosystem. Our vision is to contribute and give back to the economy through strategic partnerships,” said Mohamed Al Banna, CEO & Managing Director of LEAD Ventures and Chief Guest for the event.
World Blockchain Summit will take place at Jumeirah Emirates Towers on 23-24 October 2019. The theme for the summit is aligned to deliver solutions to aid the three strategic pillars of Dubai’s Blockchain Strategy.
Held under the patronage and in the presence of H.H. Sheikh Sultan Bin Abdullah Bin Sultan Al Qasimi; the global blockchain and crypto summit series will gain a diverse network of regional and international blockchain and cryptocurrency experts, governments, startups, key industry leaders and investors such as Faris M. Al Tahtamooni, Associate Director – Strategic Partnerships, LEAD Ventures; Nick Spanos, Bitcoin Pioneer; Featured on Netflix Documentary ‘Banking on Bitcoin’, Zap.org & Bitcoin Center NYC; Dr. Marwan Alzarouni, CEO of Dubai Blockchain Center and Sir Anthony Ritossa Chairman for Ritossa Family Office among other top speakers.
The 3-day conference will even include a desert safari and pre-event party and the Pegasus Tech Ventures Startup World Cup that will set the stage for 15+ startups from around the globe that are either preparing to launch their business (including ICOs), or the established ones who are planning expansion.
World Blockchain Summit – Dubai 2019 is officially sponsored by Platinum Sponsor, Future1Exchange; Gold Sponsors, Masrshal Lion Group, and 2Local, Blocko; Badge Sponsor, QUUBE Exchange; Lanyard Sponsor, EXcoin; Silver Sponsors, TecraCoin and SynchroBit Hybrid Exchange, Electroneum Ltd and Iyoko; Bronze Sponsors, Block 30 Labs and Karuschain; Pitch Partners, GLBrain, Be Faster, Stibits and ProperSix The Prestige Network and BabyToken
Google Refines Search To Better Understand Sloppy Queries
Oct 29, 2019
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Google on Friday proclaimed its “biggest leap forward” in a long time in its search algorithm, offering an unusually detailed public explanation of its secret formula. The world’s most well-known internet search engine said its latest refinement uses machine learning to develop how it manages conversationally phrased English-language requests.
“We’re making a significant improvement to how we understand queries, representing the biggest leap forward in the past five years, and one of the biggest leaps forward in the history of search,” Google search vice president Pandu Nayak said in an online post.
The California-based internet company just the past year premiered a neural network-based technique for processing “natural language.” The company said the new effort is based on what it calls Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT), which is looking to realize query words in the context of sentences for insights, according to Nayak.
Google software, like humans, has to cope with understanding what people are trying to say despite the fact that they most likely is not expressing themselves clearly, or even be making sense. Some BERT models for foreseeing queries out are very complicated they need to be handled by high-powered computer processors particularly designed for the cloud, according to Google.
“By applying BERT models to both ranking and featured snippets in search, we’re able to do a much better job helping you find useful information,” Nayak said.
“In fact, when it comes to ranking results, BERT will help search better understand one in 10 searches in the U.S. in English.” He provided the example of Google software now understanding that the word “to” in a query like “2019 brazil traveler to usa need a visa” is about a Brazilian heading to the U.S. and not the other way around.
“Previously, our algorithms wouldn’t understand the importance of this connection, and we returned results about U.S. citizens traveling to Brazil,” Nayak explained. “With BERT, search is able to grasp this nuance and know that the very common word ‘to’ actually matters a lot here, and we can provide a much more relevant result for this query.”
Google scheduled to spread the improvement to more languages and locations “over time.”
Micron Launches New Hard Drives
Oct 25, 2019
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Idaho-based memory chipmaker Micron Technology on Thursday challenged rival Intel Corp with a new line of hard drives aimed at data centers, just as the two companies are on the cusp of previously ending a joint venture of more than a decade that developed the technology. Micron and Intel worked together starting in 2006 to bring to market what is called 3D cross-point memory technology. The technology uses three-dimensional features on storage chips to make them faster.
Micron claimed last year that it would buy out Intel’s share of the joint venture, called IM Flash Technologies, for $1.5 billion in cash and the assumption of $1 billion of Intel’s share of the venture’s debt. The deal will close this month, making Micron in full control of a factory built in Utah to make the chips.
Hard drives made with the new chips are really fast than previous solid-state drives. That has captured the interest of data center owners working on computing jobs like deep learning, where artificial intelligence software ingests gigantic amounts of data to learn new tasks. Intel released a second generation of its version of the technology earlier this year. Micron is now entering the market, testing it with what a handful of customers.
“This is just the very, very beginning,” Micron Chief Executive Sanjay Mehrotra told Reuters at a launch event in San Francisco. “These kinds of technologies do take multiple years before are they broadly deployed.”
Micron released its Intel competitor Thursday, a device it calls X100. The device itself is a hard drive that can be plugged directly into a server, and Micron remarks it is faster than its rival due in part to a piece of technology called a controller that take instructions from the server’s computing brain about which data to read or write on the hard drive. Micron developed the controllers internally and is dreaming they will set its products apart in the memory market, where supply and demand dynamics can produce dramatic shifts in prices.
Mehrotra’s strategy since taking over as chief executive in 2017 has been to increase the number of storage products that include technologies beyond just commodity memory chips. Around half of the company’s storage revenue now comes from such products, versus 20% when he arrived, he said. “This is hugely attractive,” Mehrotra said of differentiating features. “We are making strong progress there.”
How to Optimize Your Manufacturing Workforce
Oct 25, 2019
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It is tough to believe that the phrase “war for talent” was coined more than 20 years ago. Today, the fight to attract and retain talented employees rages on in virtually every industry - and manufacturing is no exception.
Throughout the manufacturing sector, there are a great deal of jobs open, but not enough qualified people to fill them. If you presume things are complicated now, just wait until 2028. By then, there will be 4.6 million open manufacturing jobs in the U.S., but more than half of them (2.4 million) will go unfilled, according to Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute.
Is Better Recruitment Enough?
One possible answer to this challenge is for manufacturers to enhance their recruiting programs and spread the word about career options in the sector. For example, thousands across the U.S. recently gotten involved in the latest MFG Day events. Many manufacturers are also searching formerly untapped sources of talent. For illustration, post-service military veterans possess many of the skills needed to succeed in manufacturing.
And yet regardless how effective they are at attracting the available talent, it’s unlikely manufacturing firms will make a crucial dent in their unfilled vacancies. The demographics just do not add up. Effective recruitment will always be important - but in the long term, manufacturers need to focus on getting greater output from smaller headcounts.
Doing More Without Doing More Hiring
How can manufacturers make the most out of their shrinking workforces? By automating the most error-prone tasks and by standardizing processes. These common-sense points can exceedingly shorten your business risk. And when you implement the right manufacturing platform in support of this approach, you can actually make it easier for your staff to do the right thing. Listed here is how technology just like a cloud manufacturing execution system (MES) or cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) system can help benefit your workforce:
- Increase productivity and eliminate manual process errors by digitizing paper-based operations.
- Control cycle times and improve efficiency by orchestrating production processes that are driven directly from your control plan.
- Perform quality control as workers go to ensure compliance with check sheets.
- Help operators and leaders make real-time control decisions based on real-time production reporting.
A Real-Life Example in the Manufacturing Sector
EG Industries is one company which is aligning on using technology to get more out of its workforce. Since implementing a cloud ERP solution, this global plastic injection molding company has been able to reassign many of its workers to higher-value activities.
“We can focus more on our division’s mission, which is to provide our internal and external customers with real-time actionable data for them to make timely and informed decisions,” says Tony Brown, the company’s director of business systems. “That’s really what this division does and what the cloud has done for us.”
Brown reports that EG Industries’ IT organization helps connect systems to departments in ways that raise visibility. They also develop tools for gathering and using data more effectively throughout the enterprise. Some team members have even been able to move into wider operations and plant management roles.
AI Can Help You And Your Boss - Maximize Your Potential
Oct 25, 2019
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Wouldn't you trust an Artificial Intelligence (AI) to instruct you how to become more effective and successful at your job? How would you think if you knew your HR department uses AI to figure out whether you are leadership material? Or that an AI just endorsed to your boss that she should treat you better or else you might soon leave and join a competitor - well before the thought of jumping ship entered your mind?
David Yang is an amazing serial entrepreneur: he has launched twelve companies, beginning when he was in fourth grade. David initiated training as a physicist, to follow in his parents’ footsteps. He won math and physics Olympiads; then his first entrepreneurial detour “distracted” him from his studies for a while and sparked his passion for computer science and AI - it is seriously worth hearing the story from David’s own voice, specifically his concern of possibly disappointing his parents even as he was launching a hugely successful entrepreneurial and scientific career.
Yva, David’s latest creation, is an AI-powered people analytics platform - a striking example of the powerful role that AI is starting to play in the workplace, with the ethical implications that quickly come to the fore.
Yva’s neural network can mine and examine workers’ activities across numerous work applications: email, Slack, G-Suite, GitHub. With these data, the AI can find a treasure trove of nuanced insights about employee behaviors: how quickly an employee responds to certain types of emails; or the tree structure of her communications: how many to subordinates, how many to peers or superiors, how many outside the company; and much more.
These insights can provide value to an organization in two main ways:
First, in discovering which employees have high potential to be great performers or strong leaders. The company explains to Yva which individuals it at the moment considers as best performers; Yva’s neural network determines which behaviors are characteristic of these top performers, and then finds other employees who exhibit some if not all of the same traits. It can notify you who has the potential to grow a top salesperson, or an extremely effective leader; and it can tell you which characteristics they already possess and which ones they need to develop.
Second, Yva helps decrease “regrettable attrition” by distinguishing employees who are a high resignation risk. A plan to resign never comes out of the blue. First the employee will feel more and more disappointed or burnt out; then she will become more open to consider other opportunities; then she will actively seek another job. Each stage carries subtle changes in our behavior: maybe how early we send out our first email in the morning, or how quickly we respond, or something in the tone of our messages. We can’t detect these changes, but Yva can.
For big companies, minimizing regrettable attrition is Yva’s top contribution: losing and having to replace precious employees represents a substantial cost. This, notes David Yang, makes the Return On Investment from deploying Yva a piece of cake to identify. For smaller companies, particularly in their growth stage, attrition is less of a problem and the greater value comes from the way Yva helps them build talent and leadership from within their ranks.
Given the common questions that technology will eliminate jobs, it is refreshing and comforting to hear that Yva instead proves its value by boosting employee retention. Yva can also help the individual worker; it can create your personal dashboard with ideas and suggestions on how you can transform your behavior to grow more effective and successful. There is a trade-off. By default, Yva will respect your privacy, working on anonymized data. But the more individual data you are willing to share, the more Yva can help. The choice is yours.
David Yang remarks some interesting geographic differences in the share of employees who opt in; he also notes that across the board, approximately one employee in five remains adamantly opposed to unveiling her individual data.
Privacy concerns are fully understandable when faced with an AI that can drive important HR measures. But is it smart to trust humans more than AI? David Yang notes that AI can help get rid of the human biases that often influence hiring and promotion decisions. Provided - he stresses - that the AI gets trained in the right way, only on final outcomes, on objective performance criteria, without feeding into it intermediate variables such as race, gender or age, which could create a built-in bias in the AI itself.
David Yang, unsurprisingly, is very optimistic on the role that AI can play in people analytics and in our lives. Bullish, but very convincing and thoughtful, and willing to put himself on the line - at the end of the podcast discussion he talks of the role that Morpheus, another AI, plays in his personal life.
David believes that in the future smaller companies (500 employees or less) will depend totally on AI-powered people analytics platform; he believes that AI will play a major role in leveraging the creativity and efficiency of individuals, while HR (human) professionals will focus on business-specific HR-partner roles. He has a horse in the race - Yva. But there looks like little doubt that whatever role AI takes in HR and people analytics, it will be one of its most powerful influences in our professional—and personal—lives.
3 Steps To Prevent Employee Turnover
Oct 25, 2019
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Late last year, The Washington Post announced, ''workers are ghosting their employers like bad dates.'' The article announced that recruiters at global staffing firm Robert Half had noticed a 10-20% jump in ghosting over the preceding year.
Despite the increase in ghosting, job-hopping continues commonplace. It is coming to be a lot more challenging to retain top talent. An astounding 81% of workers would think about leaving their job for the right offer. The standard number of years workers spend at Silicon Valley’s tech titans is exclusively fleeting. Workers at Uber, Apple, and Google leave after 1.23, 1.85, and 1.90 years, respectively, according to research from Paysa.
The good thing is, there are proactive steps that employers can take to avoid workers giving two weeks’ notice or, worse yet, falling off the face of the earth.
1. Prioritize opportunities for professional development
Workers are longing for opportunities to grow and advance. Millennials are particularly apt to prioritize professional development opportunities. In accordance with research by Gallup, up to 87% of Millennials believe professional development vital. It isn't about going through the motions - workers want to be supported as they aspire to climb the ranks and progress in their career.
But professional development opportunities are hard to come by. According to research by SHRM, only 30% of workers are pleased with their current professional development opportunities. To be positive, workers aren’t just blowing smoke in craving professional development opportunities. Research indicates that 70% of today’s high performers lack critical attributes essential to their future career success.
Forward-thinking companies plan on reducing employee churn are embracing a learning culture. An organization's learning culture is one of the most crucial drivers of business impact. Consider, for example, American Express. As recounted by SHRM, American Express measures the impact of learning interventions on individual and organizational change. Besides that, it leverages employee pulse survey results to better understand the impact of various learning interventions and strategies. Realizing the impact of a learning culture, American Express has even crafted a dedicated job focused on learning. David Clark, the company’s senior vice president and chief learning officer reflects, “When employees are consistently learning, they are happy.”
The leaders of tomorrow will prioritize adopting a learning culture and professional development opportunities. In doing so, they will move waters in terms of preventing employee turnover.
2. Eliminate monotonous work
Reported by a 2018 study spearheaded by Korn Ferry, boredom and the desire for new challenges is the number one driver of employee churn. A surprising 33% of individuals cite boredom as the primary impetus behind their decision to leave.
While there are so many drivers associated with boredom, monotonous work packs an especially potent punch. Workers are spending hours on end performing monotonous low-impact work. Indeed, according to a new study by Asana, workers spend, on average, four hours and 38 minutes each week on pure duplication of work. Aside from time spent on duplicative work, workers are constantly throttled by bottlenecks in their workflows.
In our technology-powered world, it is rough to believe that workers are squandering so much of their valuable time on low-impact activities. Investing in tools that automate workflows - notably, those that are powered by artificial intelligence - can go a long way in elevating engagement and eliminating employee churn.
3. Leverage artificial intelligence
Peter Drucker is frequently attributed to the quote, “If you can't measure it, you can't improve it.” Forward-thinking companies recognize the importance of weighing the various factors and initiatives that influence employee retention. Professors Brooks Holtom of Georgetown University and David Allen of Texas Christian University recently developed an index to measure turnover propensity. In keeping with Holtom and Allen’s research, there are two primary drivers behind employee turnover: turnover shocks and low job embeddedness. Turnover shocks are incited by events such as marriage or a change of management that cause workers to re-evaluate no matter if they should stay at the company. Job embeddedness, on the other hand, relates to how firmly connected workers feel to the workplace. Job embeddedness is likely to plateau when workers lack deep social ties in the workplace.
The single most effective way to reduce employee turnover is to embrace artificial intelligence. By leveraging artificial intelligence, companies can find out which precise factors drive turnover and foresee which employees are most likely to leave. By monitoring salary increases, life events, performance ratings, participation in professional development opportunities, and thousands of other data points, employees can discover the true drivers inciting employee turnover. Armed with artificial intelligence, no stone should be left unturned. Even such factors as length of work commute can influence turnover.
Employee retention is a tricky nut to crack. Exit interviews are seldom illuminating. Research reveals that a large percentage of employees are not candid. By embracing professional development, eliminating monotonous work, and leveraging artificial intelligence, employers can take hands-on steps to reduce turnover. The payoffs are enormous. According to Gallup, the cost of replacing an employee can reach 150% of his or her annual salary. Not only is turnover expensive, it also causes engagement to plummet. Organizations that put employee retention on a pedestal will thrive in the coming years.
HOFFMAN MULLER INVERTER MOTOR DRIVES REPAIR SERVICES IN-HOUSE & ON-SITE REPAIRS
Oct 25, 2019
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HOFFMAN MULLER INVERTER MOTOR DRIVES REPAIR SERVICES IN-HOUSE & ON-SITE REPAIRS
A.) Hoffman Muller Inverter and Vector Motor
1.) V6-Series Sensorless Vector Inverter 0.4 to 160 KW
2.) P6-Series VF Inverter from 0.75 to 315 KW
3.) G6-Series Closed Loop Vector Inverter from 0.75 to 160 KW
A.) Hoffman Muller DC Drive
Repairs and Services by Fictron Professional Team
Fictron also sells Original and Quality products from the ranges and brands below and more
Inverter Inverters Servo Drive Drives Motor Soft Starter HMI Touch Screen Monitor PCB PLC Power Supplies CNC UPS Electronics PSU Boards Controllers
ALLEN BRADLEY KEB HAITIAN YASKAWA RIETER DANFOSS LENZE SIEMENS NIDEC CONTROL TECHNIQUES INVERTEK INVT CUTES DELTA ABB SCHNEIDER FICTRON ELECTRIC LG LS HITACHI TECO TOSHIBA MITSUBISHI FUJI ELECTRIC OMRON HYUNDAI PROFACE HITECH GE FANUC PANASONIC MINAS EUROTHERM CURTIS EMERSON EMOTRON DENSEI NEMIC LAMBDA HONEYWELL BOSCH REXROTH HAAS TOYOTA YALE ZAPI DANAHER NICHIYU DYNADRIVE MINARIK ORIENTAL NISSEI BAUMULLER B&R ACOPOS KINCO KOMATSU HAKKO KEYENCE OTIS KONE COPLEY SEGMA SSD SPG AEG BALDOR BEIJER CONVO DEMA EATON CUTTLER HAMMER GEFRAN HOLIP HUAWEI INDRRAMAT IMO SANKYO SUMITOMO SEW EURODRIVE SAMCO RELIANCE ELECTRIC TELEMECANiQUE FRECON VACON
Contact Fictron sales.co@fictron.com
Perbaikan dan Layanan oleh Fictron
Fictron Juga menjual Produk Original yang Berkualitas
Inverter Inverters Servo Drive Drives Motor Soft Starter HMI Touch Screen Monitor PCB PLC Power Supplies CNC UPS Electronics PSU Boards Controllers
ALLEN BRADLEY KEB HAITIAN YASKAWA RIETER DANFOSS LENZE SIEMENS NIDEC CONTROL TECHNIQUES INVERTEK INVT CUTES DELTA ABB SCHNEIDER FICTRON ELECTRIC LG LS HITACHI TECO TOSHIBA MITSUBISHI FUJI ELECTRIC OMRON HYUNDAI PROFACE HITECH GE FANUC PANASONIC MINAS EUROTHERM CURTIS EMERSON EMOTRON DENSEI NEMIC LAMBDA HONEYWELL BOSCH REXROTH HAAS TOYOTA YALE ZAPI DANAHER NICHIYU DYNADRIVE MINARIK ORIENTAL NISSEI BAUMULLER B&R ACOPOS KINCO KOMATSU HAKKO KEYENCE OTIS KONE COPLEY SEGMA SSD SPG AEG BALDOR BEIJER CONVO DEMA EATON CUTTLER HAMMER GEFRAN HOLIP HUAWEI INDRRAMAT IMO SANKYO SUMITOMO SEW EURODRIVE SAMCO RELIANCE ELECTRIC TELEMECANiQUE FRECON VACON
Contact Fictron sales.co@fictron.com
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บริการรับซ่อม ติดตั้ง Inverter ซ่อม inverter (อินเวอร์เตอร์) ทุกรุ่นทุกยี่ห้อ เช่น
Fictron บริการรับซ่อม Inverter ทุกรุ่น ทุกยี่ห้อ ทุกอาการเสีย เช่น เปิดเครื่องไม่ติด ไฟไม่เข้า Runไม่ได้ Outputไม่ออก ซ็อต Boardไหม้ โชว์Alarmต่างๆ ปรับค่าไม่ได้ ฯลฯ ยินดีให้คำปรึกษาเเละบริการ สามารถคลิกดูรายละเอียดรุ่นที่ซ่อมได้ที่ Link ยี่ห้อ หรือติดต่อโดยตรงที่
Inverter Inverters Servo Drive Drives Motor Soft Starter HMI Touch Screen Monitor PCB PLC Power Supplies CNC UPS Electronics PSU Boards Controllers
ALLEN BRADLEY KEB HAITIAN YASKAWA RIETER DANFOSS LENZE SIEMENS NIDEC CONTROL TECHNIQUES INVERTEK INVT CUTES DELTA ABB SCHNEIDER FICTRON ELECTRIC LG LS HITACHI TECO TOSHIBA MITSUBISHI FUJI ELECTRIC OMRON HYUNDAI PROFACE HITECH GE FANUC PANASONIC MINAS EUROTHERM CURTIS EMERSON EMOTRON DENSEI NEMIC LAMBDA HONEYWELL BOSCH REXROTH HAAS TOYOTA YALE ZAPI DANAHER NICHIYU DYNADRIVE MINARIK ORIENTAL NISSEI BAUMULLER B&R ACOPOS KINCO KOMATSU HAKKO KEYENCE OTIS KONE COPLEY SEGMA SSD SPG AEG BALDOR BEIJER CONVO DEMA EATON CUTTLER HAMMER GEFRAN HOLIP HUAWEI INDRRAMAT IMO SANKYO SUMITOMO SEW EURODRIVE SAMCO RELIANCE ELECTRIC TELEMECANiQUE FRECON VACON
Contact Fictron sales.co@fictron.com
A.) Hoffman Muller Inverter and Vector Motor
1.) V6-Series Sensorless Vector Inverter 0.4 to 160 KW
2.) P6-Series VF Inverter from 0.75 to 315 KW
3.) G6-Series Closed Loop Vector Inverter from 0.75 to 160 KW
A.) Hoffman Muller DC Drive
1. 3ph Digital DC drive form 35A to 630A 2. DC motor from 90 Frame to 280 Frame
-
B.) Hoffman Muller Servo Drive and Servo Motor
1. 1ph Servo Drive and Servo Motor from 0.2 KW to 0.8 KW2. 3ph Servo Drive and Servo Motor from 1.0 KW to 15KW
Repairs and Services by Fictron Professional Team
Fictron also sells Original and Quality products from the ranges and brands below and more
Inverter Inverters Servo Drive Drives Motor Soft Starter HMI Touch Screen Monitor PCB PLC Power Supplies CNC UPS Electronics PSU Boards Controllers
ALLEN BRADLEY KEB HAITIAN YASKAWA RIETER DANFOSS LENZE SIEMENS NIDEC CONTROL TECHNIQUES INVERTEK INVT CUTES DELTA ABB SCHNEIDER FICTRON ELECTRIC LG LS HITACHI TECO TOSHIBA MITSUBISHI FUJI ELECTRIC OMRON HYUNDAI PROFACE HITECH GE FANUC PANASONIC MINAS EUROTHERM CURTIS EMERSON EMOTRON DENSEI NEMIC LAMBDA HONEYWELL BOSCH REXROTH HAAS TOYOTA YALE ZAPI DANAHER NICHIYU DYNADRIVE MINARIK ORIENTAL NISSEI BAUMULLER B&R ACOPOS KINCO KOMATSU HAKKO KEYENCE OTIS KONE COPLEY SEGMA SSD SPG AEG BALDOR BEIJER CONVO DEMA EATON CUTTLER HAMMER GEFRAN HOLIP HUAWEI INDRRAMAT IMO SANKYO SUMITOMO SEW EURODRIVE SAMCO RELIANCE ELECTRIC TELEMECANiQUE FRECON VACON
Contact Fictron sales.co@fictron.com
Perbaikan dan Layanan oleh Fictron
Fictron Juga menjual Produk Original yang Berkualitas
Inverter Inverters Servo Drive Drives Motor Soft Starter HMI Touch Screen Monitor PCB PLC Power Supplies CNC UPS Electronics PSU Boards Controllers
ALLEN BRADLEY KEB HAITIAN YASKAWA RIETER DANFOSS LENZE SIEMENS NIDEC CONTROL TECHNIQUES INVERTEK INVT CUTES DELTA ABB SCHNEIDER FICTRON ELECTRIC LG LS HITACHI TECO TOSHIBA MITSUBISHI FUJI ELECTRIC OMRON HYUNDAI PROFACE HITECH GE FANUC PANASONIC MINAS EUROTHERM CURTIS EMERSON EMOTRON DENSEI NEMIC LAMBDA HONEYWELL BOSCH REXROTH HAAS TOYOTA YALE ZAPI DANAHER NICHIYU DYNADRIVE MINARIK ORIENTAL NISSEI BAUMULLER B&R ACOPOS KINCO KOMATSU HAKKO KEYENCE OTIS KONE COPLEY SEGMA SSD SPG AEG BALDOR BEIJER CONVO DEMA EATON CUTTLER HAMMER GEFRAN HOLIP HUAWEI INDRRAMAT IMO SANKYO SUMITOMO SEW EURODRIVE SAMCO RELIANCE ELECTRIC TELEMECANiQUE FRECON VACON
Contact Fictron sales.co@fictron.com
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บริการรับซ่อม ติดตั้ง Inverter ซ่อม inverter (อินเวอร์เตอร์) ทุกรุ่นทุกยี่ห้อ เช่น
Fictron บริการรับซ่อม Inverter ทุกรุ่น ทุกยี่ห้อ ทุกอาการเสีย เช่น เปิดเครื่องไม่ติด ไฟไม่เข้า Runไม่ได้ Outputไม่ออก ซ็อต Boardไหม้ โชว์Alarmต่างๆ ปรับค่าไม่ได้ ฯลฯ ยินดีให้คำปรึกษาเเละบริการ สามารถคลิกดูรายละเอียดรุ่นที่ซ่อมได้ที่ Link ยี่ห้อ หรือติดต่อโดยตรงที่
Inverter Inverters Servo Drive Drives Motor Soft Starter HMI Touch Screen Monitor PCB PLC Power Supplies CNC UPS Electronics PSU Boards Controllers
ALLEN BRADLEY KEB HAITIAN YASKAWA RIETER DANFOSS LENZE SIEMENS NIDEC CONTROL TECHNIQUES INVERTEK INVT CUTES DELTA ABB SCHNEIDER FICTRON ELECTRIC LG LS HITACHI TECO TOSHIBA MITSUBISHI FUJI ELECTRIC OMRON HYUNDAI PROFACE HITECH GE FANUC PANASONIC MINAS EUROTHERM CURTIS EMERSON EMOTRON DENSEI NEMIC LAMBDA HONEYWELL BOSCH REXROTH HAAS TOYOTA YALE ZAPI DANAHER NICHIYU DYNADRIVE MINARIK ORIENTAL NISSEI BAUMULLER B&R ACOPOS KINCO KOMATSU HAKKO KEYENCE OTIS KONE COPLEY SEGMA SSD SPG AEG BALDOR BEIJER CONVO DEMA EATON CUTTLER HAMMER GEFRAN HOLIP HUAWEI INDRRAMAT IMO SANKYO SUMITOMO SEW EURODRIVE SAMCO RELIANCE ELECTRIC TELEMECANiQUE FRECON VACON
Contact Fictron sales.co@fictron.com
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Bangladesh, Dhaka
Barbados, Bridgetown
Belarus, Minsk
Belgium, Brussels
Belize, Belmopan
Benin, Porto-Noveo
Bhutan, Thimphu
Bolivia, Sucre
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo
Botswana, Gaborone
Brazil, Brasilia
Brunei, Bandar Seri Begawan
Bulgaria, Sofia
Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou
Burundi, Bujumbura
Cambodia, Phnom Penh
Cameroon, Yaounde
Canada, Ottawa
Cape Verde, Praia
Central African Republic, Bangui
Chad, N'Djamena
Chile, Santiago
Colombia, Bogota
Comoros, Moroni
Congo, Brazzaville
Costa Rica, San Jose
Cote d'Ivoire, Yamoussoukro
Croatia, Zagreb
Cuba, Havana
Cyprus, Nicosia
Czech Republic, Prague
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kinshasa
Denmark, Copenhagen
Djibouti, Djibouti
Dominica, Roseau
Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo
East Timor, Dili
Ecuador, Quito
Egypt, Cairo
El Salvador, San Salvador
Equatorial Guinea, Malabo
Eritrea, Asmara,
Estonia, Tallinn
Ethiopia, Addis Ababa
Fiji, Suva
Finland, Helsinki
France, Paris
Gabon, Libreville
Gambia, Banjul
Georgia, Tbilisi,
Germany, Berlin
Ghana, Accra
Greece, Athens
Grenada, St. George's
Guatemala, Guatemala City
Guinea, Conakry
Guinea-Bissau, Bissau
Guyana, Georgetown
Haiti, Port-au-Prince
Honduras, Tegucigalpa
Hungary, Budapest
Iceland, Reykjavik
India, New Delhi
Indonesia, Jakarta
Iran, Tehran
Iraq, Baghdad
Ireland, Dublin
Israel, Jerusalem
Italy, Rome
Jamaica, Kingston
Japan, Tokyo
Jordon, Amman
Kazakhstan, Astana, 700,000
Kenya, Nairobi
Kiribati, South Tarawa
Korea (North), Pyongyang
Korea (South), Seoul
Kuwait, Kuwait City
Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek
Laos, Vientiane
Latvia, Riga
Lebanon, Beirut
Lesotho, Maseru
Liberia, Monrovia
Libya, Tripoli
Liechtenstein, Vaduz
Lithuania, Vilnius
Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Macedonia, Skopje
Madagascar, Antananarivo
Malawi, Lilongwe
Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur
Maldives, Male
Mali, Bamako
Malta, Valletta
Marshall Islands, Majuro
Mauritania, Nouakchott
Mauritius, Port Louis
Mexico, Mexico City
Micronesia, Palikir
Moldova, Chisinau
Monaco, Monaco
Mongolia, Ulan Bator
Montenegro, Podgorica
Morocco, Rabat,
Mozambique, Maputo
Myanmar (Burma), Nay Pyi Taw
Namibia, Windhoek
Nauru, Yaren
Nepal, Kathmandu,
Netherlands, Amsterdam
New Zealand, Wellington
Nicaragua, Managua
Niger, Niamey
Nigeria, Abuja
Norway, Oslo
Oman, Muscat
Pakistan, Islamabad
Palau, Ngerulmud
Panama, Panama City
Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby
Paraguay, Asuncion
Peru, Lima
Philippines, Manila
Poland, Warsaw,
Portugal, Lisbon
Q
Qatar, Doha
Romania, Bucharest
Russia, Moscow
Rwanda, Kigali
St. Kitts and Nevis, Basseterre
St. Lucia, Castries
St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Kingstown
Samoa, Apia
San Marino, San Marino
Sao Tome and Principe, Sao Tome
Saudi Arabia, Riyadh
Senegal, Dakar
Serbia, Belgrade
Seychelles, Victoria
Sierra Leone, Freetown
Singapore, Singapore
Slovakia, Bratislava
Slovenia, Ljubljana
Solomon Islands, Honiara
Somalia, Mogadishu
South Africa, Pretoria
South Sudan, Juba
Spain, Madrid
Sri Lanka, Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte
Sudan, Khartoum
Suriname, Paramaribo
Swaziland, Mbabane
Sweden, Stockholm
Switzerland, Berne
Syria, Damascus
Tajikistan, Dushanbe,
Tanzania, Dodoma
Thailand, Bangkok
Togo, Lome, 824,738
Tonga, Nukuʻalofa
Trinidad and Tobago, Port-of-Spain
Tunisia, Tunis
Turkey, Ankara
Turkmenistan, Ashgabat
Tuvalu, Funafuti
Uganda, Kampala
Ukraine, Kiev
United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi
United Kingdom, London
United States, Washington, D.C
Uruguay, Montevideo
Uzbekistan, Tashkent
Vanuatu, Port Vila
Vatican, Vatican City
Venezuela, Caracas
Vietnam, Hanoi
Western Sahara, El Aaiun
Yemen, Sana'a
Zambia, Lusaka
Zimbabwe, Harare
Wind Turbines Just Keep Getting Bigger, Though There¡¯s a Limit
Oct 24, 2019
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Wind turbines have undeniably grown up. When the Danish firm Vestas began the trend toward gigantism, in 1981, its three-blade machines were ideal for a mere 55 kilowatts. That figure increased to 500 kW in 1995, reached 2 MW in 1999, and today stands at 5.6 MW. In 2021, MHI Vestas Offshore Wind’s V164 will rise 105 meters high at the hub, swing 80-meter blades, and generate up to 10 MW, making it the first commercially available double-digit turbine ever. Not to be forgotten, General Electric’s Renewable Energy is increasing a 12-MW machine with a 260-meter tower and 107-meter blades, also rolling out by 2021.
That is obviously pushing the envelope, although it must be noted that still larger designs have been considered. In 2011, the UpWind project released what it called a predesign of a 20-MW offshore machine with a rotor diameter of 252 meters (three times the wingspan of an Airbus A380) and a hub diameter of 6 meters. Up to date, the limit of the largest conceptual designs stands at 50 MW, with height exceeding 300 meters and with 200-meter blades that could flex (much like palm fronds) in furious winds.
To indicate, as an enthusiastic promoter did, that building such a structure would pose no fundamental technical problems because it stands no higher than the Eiffel tower, constructed 130 years ago, is to choose an unsuitable comparison. If the constructible height of an artifact were the determinant of wind-turbine design then we might as well refer to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, a skyscraper that topped 800 meters in 2010, or to the Jeddah Tower, which will reach 1,000 meters in 2021. Stiffening a high tower is no great problem; it’s quite another proposition, nonetheless, to engineer a tall tower that can support a gigantic nacelle and rotating blades for many years of safe operation.
Bigger turbines must face the inescapable effects of scaling. Turbine power rises with the square of the radius swept by its blades: A turbine with blades twice as long would, hypothetically, be four times as powerful. But the expansion of the surface swept by the rotor puts a greater strain on the overall assembly, and because blade mass should (at first glance) increase as a cube of blade length, higher designs should be immensely heavy. In reality, designs using lightweight synthetic materials and balsa can keep the actual exponent to as little as 2.3.
But, the mass (and hence the cost) adds up. Each of the three blades of Vestas’s 10-MW machine will weigh 35 metric tons, and the nacelle will come to practically 400 tons. GE’s record-breaking design will have blades of 55 tons, a nacelle of 600 tons, and a tower of 2,550 tons. Merely transporting such long and massive blades is an unusual challenge, although it could be made easier by using a segmented design.
Researching likely limits of commercial capacity is more useful than forecasting certain maxima for given dates. Available wind turbine power [PDF] is equal to half the density of the air (which is 1.23 kilograms per cubic meter) times the area swept by the blades (pi times the radius squared) times the cube of wind velocity. Assuming a wind velocity of 12 meters per second and an energy-conversion coefficient of 0.4, then a 100-MW turbine would require rotors virtually 550 meters in diameter.
To calculate when we’ll get such a machine, just answer this question: When will we be able to produce 275-meter blades of plastic composites and balsa, figure out their transport and their coupling to nacelles hanging 300 meters above the ground, ensure their survival in cyclonic winds, and guarantee their reliable operation for no less than 15 or 20 years? Not soon.
Huawei Launches Foldable Phone in China
Oct 24, 2019
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Huawei Technologies Co Ltd started accepting orders on Wednesday in China for its keenly anticipated foldable smartphone, as it ramps up marketing at home to recover for weak overseas sales in the course of U.S. trade sanctions. The launch of the 5G Mate X smartphone has been delayed twice this year, as Huawei, the world’s No.2 smartphone maker, was compelled to deal with tech supply disruptions caused by a U.S. trade blacklist imposed on the firm in May.
The move has dealt a strike to Huawei’s smartphone sales in Europe, its key overseas market, but the company saw its third-quarter revenue expanding 27% thanks to solid sales in China and higher shipments of models launched before the May ban. The new smartphone, a competitor to Samsung Electronics Co’s (005930.KS) Galaxy Fold which went on sale last month, will be released officially on Nov. 15 in China at prices starting from 16,999 yuan ($2,403), a Huawei spokesman said.
Its global launch plan remains under review, Huawei said.
Washington claims that Huawei, also the world’s biggest telecoms gear maker, is a national security risk as its equipment may possibly be used by Beijing to spy - something the Shenzhen-based company has frequently declined. Nevertheless, the ban has implied that Huawei has not been able to license the latest version of Android from Google, the Alphabet (GOOGL.O) unit, which has affected its latest Mate 30 smartphone range that it launched in September.
He Gang, head of Huawei’s mobile phone division, noted on Wednesday the company has already sold around 200 million phones so far in 2019, striking that milestone more than two months sooner than it did in 2018. Huawei’s 5G Mate X was primarily set for a June launch but the company postponed it, saying that it was running certification tests with numerous carriers.
Digital Twins Are Great for Clearing Up IIoT Confusion
Oct 24, 2019
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Subsequent to listening to a current IW webinar including some discouraging data about lack of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) adoption, in fact it’s incumbent on those of us who are convinced of the IIoT’s transformative benefits to perform a better job of selling it to skeptical C-level executives.
A digital twin allows you “see” exclusively how well that thing is working and then fine-tune it. If you aren’t already up to date with digital twins, take the time right now to watch them in operation in advance of reading the rest of this column. A twin is both a versatile tool in its own right and the center of the overall IoT, because, as PTC says, it is the seamless merger of the digital as well as physical.
In fact, investing in a digital twin is among the initial steps you should take in a comprehensive IIoT strategy after building sensors into your devices and so their operations can be documented in operation. That’s because of its versatility and wide range of applications and benefits, which will only increase as your IoT investment grows and it’s enriched by alternative tools such as AI and AR.
Referring back to our skeptical executives, they'll understand it immediately after seeing a digital twin — because seeing a dynamic object in action in real time is believing. (The benefits of this ability to visualize data rather than having to interpret vast amounts of printed data was detailed by Emerson’s Rich Carpenter in a recent IW webinar I participated in). In fact, 65% of the population are visual learners.
When you analyze the digital twin and how it can be used, you’ll be shocked by the range of possible benefits for every aspect of your operations:
Maintenance and operations
Let’s be honest: maintenance had previously been where you put Ol’ Tom, that not-very-creative but reliably careful guy who read the few gauges you had and also tried to estimate when the products you made should be maintained (which was just a guesstimate because of lack of objective information from the actual products’ actual use).
Digital twins increase maintenance to a strategic function. They allow you for the first time to do “predictive maintenance,” which is a win-win for you and the customer. Compared to doing “scheduled” maintenance, which was in keeping with estimates of when the average product would need repairs, the real-time data from the multiple sensors on the IoT device can diagnose the earliest signs of potential problems, from lubricant breakdown to a part failure. That lets you arrange the repair at the earliest convenient time for all involved, minimizing inconvenience and assuring dependable operations.
Twins are important for high-value assets such as for example pipelines or off-shore drilling platforms that are located in remote locations and/or are high risk to investigate. In actual fact, the earliest of what we now call digital twins were created by NASA and helped rescue Apollo 13: What could have been more distant or more dangerous?
Design.
So far, product designers had to depend on intuition and skewed feedback from users to determine problems and/or opportunities for upgrades. (It was so confusing to get comments to the company about a product’s features and options that only the biggest fans and critics would make the effort, plus these comments were subjective, not backed up with independent data.) Now, real-time data from the digital twin lets the designer “see” in real time how features are being used or neglected, and patterns of misuse that might be due to poor documentation. Frequently, the product can be updated digitally, through software updates, reducing maintenance problems and increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty. Tesla, for example, does this with “over-the-air” software updates.
Marketing and Sales:
A fantastic example is quite possibly the jet turbine industry, where GE, Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney have progressively switched from selling turbines to renting them, with the lease cost based on the amount of thrust the individual engine actually causes (Rolls Royce markets it as “power by the hour.”). Customers are contented because they aren’t paying if the engine is sitting idle being fixed, while the manufacturers now enjoy predictable revenue streams year-round.
Digital twins’ versatility and potential will only greatly enhance as complementary technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI) mature. To illustrate, PTC’s Vuforia AR application allows operators of Caterpillar front-end loaders to visualize possible operating problems while the device is running and feeding back real-time information, without removing protective devices that would put the operator at risk. It then expedites repairs because the exact location of the problem and substandard part is separated.
The IoT’s VisiCalc: what if?
Perhaps the digital twin’s most advantageous use is the least described. It allows you to promptly, with no cost, and no downside, run “what if?” simulations that model a whole range of several potential changes in the object and its operation, without interfering with existing operations or expensive and time-consuming re-engineering. In a similar way, this simulation is ideal for training everyone from nuclear plant engineers to surgeons without tampering with the real-world device. For example, Dow's Virtual Development/Simulation/Training (Virtual DST) system simulates all elements of plant operations, such as batch and route controls, safety systems, and SAP Plant Connectivity software. The company has a twin for every plant.
The “what if” option is the counterpart for the IIoT of what VisiCalc brought to earlier paper-and-pencil financial calculations 40 years ago. As one of the company’s early leaders said in a recent interview with the suitably dramatic title “How VisiCalc’s Spreadsheets Changed the World”: “The ability to ask ‘what if?’ brings out the inner child who wants to play with the data, and the result is inspiration, creativity and effortless learning.”
A recurrent theme in this columns is always that the IoT isn’t just new technology, but a new way of reasoning pertaining to the products we make and how we operate them. It will take not only digital twin technology but also a parallel attitudinal shift by everyone with access to it - from plant floor operators to product designers to senior managers - to totally capitalize on this no-risk “what if” ability to tinker with changes in design, operations, and even marketing before we will realize digital twins’ full potential to revolutionize the things we make and how we use them.
Air Taxi Takes to the Sky in Singapore
Oct 24, 2019
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Beneath a gray, rainy sky, the normally vibrant business district of Singapore looked listless. The glass highrises just didn't sparkle and no sunlight dappled all over the waves in the bay. But that didn't matter much because the crowd gathered amid the tall buildings.
At the stroke of noon, from a promontory across the bay, a speck of white sprang up into the air. With a lawnmower-like hum, a flying taxi that seemed like the love child of a helicopter and a drone approached, drawing a swell of applauses from the crowd.
Volocopter’s three-minute test flight was not the first time the German aircraft manufacturer has flown its full-scale prototype publicly. Nevertheless today’s demonstration was momentous in other ways. It signifies the first official test flight in Asia, and the first time the aircraft was put through its paces in an urbanized environment. That’s big news for the reason that big cities are the places where the company thinks its air taxis will subsequently find a niche.
“In the next 10 years, we hope to see Volocopter integrated as an addition to existing mobility methods in mega cities,” says Christian Bauer, who is responsible for the firm’s business development. Volocopter is striving to be the first company in the world to offer commercial air taxi services to the masses.
Air taxis, part of a category referred to as electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, form a dramatically developing market - one that is anticipated to reach $1.5 trillion by 2040. Around 215 such aircraft are being manufactured worldwide, and with various designs. Volocopter operates on drone technology with 18 motors, while others such as Lilium Jet have fixed wings. But only a handful of Volocopter’s competitors have actually built flying prototypes.
Volocopter, which was founded in 2011 and counts Intel, Daimler AG, and the Geely Holding Group (which owns automaker Volvo) among its investors, has increased close to US $95 million to this point. That cash and access to a huge array of expertise have allowed Volocopter to present its third generation of lithium battery - operated, two-seater air taxis. Its next model, VoloCity, to be introduced by 2022, promises improved specs over the current 2x series. The VoloCity anticipated to debut with an estimated range of 35 kilometers and a top speed of nearly 110 kilometers per hour.
“Volocopter is focused on serving the inner-city mission,” says CEO Florian Reuter. With fares expected to be in the “hundreds rather than thousands of dollars,” Reuter says the airborne taxi service’s projected customers fall into three categories: businessmen looking to get quickly from point A to B, commuters seeking ways to beat rush hour traffic, and tourists.
“I believe eVTOLs will play a significant part in the future of mobility,” says Roei Ganzarski, CEO of magniX, an Australian firm developing motors for electric planes. “I don’t think we will see thousands of these flying around each city as some companies would like the public to believe, but I do think we will see shuttle models, movement between nearby airports, movement of cargo between main depots and last mile distribution [hubs], corporate use between campuses, and more.”
But, it may take 10 to 15 years for this to become reality, says Ganzarski, because there are “many other things that need to be solved first.” Among the problems he cites are battery power, regulatory issues, and the ability of autonomous aircrafts to handle emergencies. Other experts, particularly aviation professor Jason Middleton from the University of New South Wales, voice concerns about hardware and software safety, the need to build supporting infrastructure, the challenges of navigating in bad weather, and how to manage air traffic control.
Pilots act as a fail-safe in many respects, says Middleton, who has been flying for around 50 years. “In an urban environment with lots of skyscrapers, you’re going to have gusts and you can’t predict where they’re going to be. Weather is unpredictable; it can quickly develop from nothing into a raging thunderstorm,” he says. “Who’s going to predict where [air taxis] can or can’t fly? And what happens when they’re in the air and can’t go to their destination?” He adds that, “At least if you have a pilot, they’re going to look out the front and see what's going on and take necessary action.”
One of the answers to those challenges is unmanned aircraft system traffic management platforms, or UTMs for short. Volocopter is looking to use them to govern its air taxis. “You can take most of the airspace management techniques we use in drones and apply it to air taxis,” says Pamir Sevincel, who leads urban air mobility strategy at AirMap, one of the UTM companies Volocopter is working together with. Drones, which usually fly below 400 feet, are subject to different air traffic management protocols than those applied to helicopters and other aircraft.
AirMap has created different UTM capabilities, all of which can hypothetically be used for eVTOLs as well. These include the digital submission and approval of flight plans, surveilling an aircraft and sending alerts if it veers off track, overseeing traffic and sending real-time updates, as well as providing dynamic rerouting during emergencies. In the future, the California-based company wants to empower pilots or ground-based fleet managers of drones and air taxis to update flight trajectories based on an automated assessment of risk as a function of pedestrian and car densities, as well as other potential safety issues along scheduled routes. It also plans to equip flying craft with “sequencing, scheduling, and spacing” capabilities, which would allow the safe and efficient scheduling of operations in and out of vertiports and within the urban air mobility network all together.
“This capability is really going to enable scale in a safe way...because if you don’t, you won’t be able to integrate many flights into urban airspace” says Sevincel.
Constructing infrastructure to support air taxis - vertiports with passenger lounges, check-in and security facilities, as well as battery charging and aircraft maintenance stations - is another issue that must be tackled before air taxis can become a commercial reality. To that end, Volocopter has partnered with Skyports, a British infrastructure firm that has just unveiled the first prototype of its VoloPort - the air taxi equivalent of a helipad - in Singapore.
Volocopter’s Reuter says his firm is also working closely with global aviation authorities to make certain that its next-generation air taxi rises to “the same safety level airliners are built to.” He's also completely aware that gaining public acceptance is key when it is about autonomous transport, which is why he says Volocopter’s first stage of commercial operations, planned within five years, will most likely involve piloted flights, with the eventual aim of moving towards full autonomy.
“We, as a global society, have to feel our way into this technology...and try it out in a safe and secure environment,” says Reuter. “Many people picture the skies becoming dark and aircraft whizzing around the city without any control or rules. That’s a very negative and chaotic image,” he says. “But let’s take it step by step and evaluate how it goes.”
Xiaomi Is Planning To Release 5G Smartphones In 2020
Oct 23, 2019
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Xiaomi is preparing to crank up its 5G device portfolio by releasing over 10 5G mobile phones in 2020, company CEO Lei Jun revealed while his address at the World Internet conference in Wuzhen, China.
Commercial 5G networks are yet to release in China. In spite of this, the Xiaomi head mentioned (via Reuters) that demand for its first 5G smartphone in China, the Mi 9 Pro 5G, has already exceeded the company’s expectations. On the back of this great demand, the Chinese firm confirmed that it will launch 5G smart phones in the premium, mid-range, and low-end price segments next year.
While China is poised for getting 9 million 5G subscribers as soon as services go live in the country, the number of 5G connections worldwide are believed to reach 1.4 billion by 2025.
“People in the industry fear that next year 4G models won’t sell,” said Jun.
Apart from launching the 5G-enabled Mi 9 Pro in its domestic market last month, Xiaomi already sells the Mi Mix 3 5G in Europe. Its latest smartphone with a wraparound display, the Mi Mix Alpha, also supports 5G networks and is set to launch in China early next year.
Xiaomi, Huawei and the China factor
Obviously, Xiaomi is considering to cash in on the 5G gravy train. Its bold move to launch 10 new 5G phones comes on the back of its decreasing market share in China. In line with market research firm Canalys, Huawei has picked up steam in China, whilst Xiaomi saw dropping shipments across 2019. The ballooning sales of Huawei devices in China has been attributed to patriotic demand for the brand as a result of its recent US ban.
Nevertheless, Xiaomi’s presence in regions like India and Europe continues on to stay strong. Even though India is not a 5G-ready market right now, Europe is, and Xiaomi is capitalizing on Huawei’s diminishing attraction in the region. In spite of this, Huawei has also vowed that it will up its 5G device portfolio for 2020. The company recently announced it will probably release more affordable 5G smartphones next year. Clearly, competition between Xiaomi and Huawei is not about to subside anytime soon.