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

The WyzeCam v2, a low-cost, compact camera designed for streaming security, gets a firmware update allowing use as a webcam, making it ideal for customers forced to work from home by the coronavirus pandemic.

As the company puts it, the Wyze Cam v2 is not designed for webcam use, but the combination of video, speaker and microphone allow it act as one in a pinch. The firmware update turns off all security camera capabilities, including connection to the Wyza app, and is compatible with Windows 7/10 and Mac OS 10.13 using Zoom, GoToMeeting, Blue Jeans, Google Hangouts, Skype and Cisco.

Zound Industries announces a Marshall-branded take on the smart speaker-- the Uxbridge Voice, a compact number feature the same design as speakers from the iconic company together with Amazon Alexa capabilities.

The Uxbridge voice measures 13 x 17 x 12cm and weighs 1.4kg. The design features the iconic Marshall logo over a tweed grill, while brass rocker switches in the style of guitar frets control volume, trebel and bass. Also included is a mute switch for the built-in far-field microphone array. Inside is a 30W Class D amplifier capable of pushing up to 96dB of sound pressure at 1m, together with a frequency of 54Hz to 20kHz.

Xiaomi announces the global availability of the Mi 10 smartphone range, with a choice of three models-- regular Mi 10, the Pro featuring a superior camera and the Lite 5G, a smaller model offering, as the name suggests, 5G connectivity.

The Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro are big smartphones featuring the same 6.67-inch AMOLED TrueColor 90Hz display, a Snapdragon 865 chipset, 8GB LPDDR5 RAM and 5G connectivity. The main difference lies in storage and cameras, since while the regular Mi 10 has 128GB of storage and 48MP quad-camera array, the Pro ups the specs with 256GB of storage and a 108MP camera array with an 8K capture mode, 10x hybrid zoom and 50x digital zoom. Interestingly, the Mi 10 has a larger 4750mAh battery with 30W fast charging, as the Pro carries a 4500mAh battery, if one with faster 50W charging.

According to TrendForce division WitsView, global TV shipments only declined "slightly" in 2019 by -0.9%, reaching 217.8 million units, but the ongoing coronavirus (aka Covid-19) pandemic should further affect the industry in 2020.

The pandemic has lead to stock and financial markets crashing, leading to significant damage to the confidence of consumers in the face of the economy. As a result, consumption of non-essential products has become more conservative. One such non-essential product is TVs, and shipments are set to drop by -5.8% in 2020 to 205.2m units. Further hurting the market is the postponing of major sports events, including the UEFA EURO 2020 and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.