On CE - For Dealers, Distributors and OEMs of Consumer Electronics throughout EMEA

Apple confirms months of rumours as it announces the acquisition of the "majority" of the Intel smartphone modem business in a $1 billion deal covering intellectual property, equipment, leases and around 2200 employees.

The primary reason for such a purchase is, perhaps obviously, precious IP-- the Intel modem business includes no less than 17000 wireless technology patents covering anything from cellular standard protocols to modem architecture and modem operations. The patents acquired by Apple are solely focused on smartphones, with Intel retaining IP relating to applications such as PCs, Internet of Things devices and autonomous vehicles.

Chinese smartphone maker Oppo takes the battle against the humble bezel to new extremes as it presents the "Waterfall Screen"-- a curved panel extending further around the edges, making an 88-degree fold on both left and right sides of the device.

The result, at least when one looks at the early prototype directly from the front, is a smartphone with practically invisible bezels. Or, as the company claims, "with the innovative ‘Waterfall Screen’ design, Oppo will soon deliver an immersive visual experience and innovative aesthetic to users.”

As temperatures all over world soar to dizzying new heights, Sony looks to deal with the heat with a wearable solution-- the Reon Pocket, a device the company claims is able to either cool you down or warm you up.

While described as a portable air conditioner, the Reon Pocket technically does not condition the air. Instead it uses the Peltier effect, the phenomenon where heat is absorbed or emitted when passing an electric current across a junction. According to Sony, the result is a device able to lower temperatures by 13 degrees Celsius or heat them up up by 8 degrees Celsius as it sits in a pocket inside a special shirt.

Patriot launches an entry-level SATA SSD range-- the P200 series, drives offering capacities ranging from 256GB to 2TB available in the 2.5-inch/7mm form factor.

The P200 buck the Patriot trend in not featuring controllers from Phison. Instead, the company uses the Silicon Motion SM2258XT controller in the 256GB, 512GB and 1TB drives, while the top-of-the-line 2TB option features a Maxio Technology MAS0902A controller. All drives carry 3D NAND memory, but Patriot does not specify the manufacturer or chip type.