Sound bars in Samsung's 2019 lineup include the company's SmartThings technology for smart home control and access to music streaming services, said Jim Kiczek, vice president-audio marketing. The sound bars are controllable by Samsung’s Bixby-enabled OneRemote and are compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, he said in a Tuesday presentation. Adapt Sound automatically sets the volume of the audio track for a specific scene, he said, so loud explosions and quiet conversations can be heard, even when the sound bar is at low volume. A game mode engages up-firing speakers to add an immersive experience to gaming, he said. The company pushed aesthetics as much as performance in releasing features and pricing for its lineups.

Silicon Line launched integrated circuits with transmission speeds of 16 to 18 Gbps, it said Monday. Applications include optical cables for HDMI- and DisplayPort-enabled devices and custom cables for virtual reality headsets, 4K and 8K TV and commercial products.

The New York Times urged right-to-repair standards for cellphones and other consumer electronic devices. An editorial Sunday said companies use warranties to push customers to authorized dealers and refuse to share schematics on the basis that they're “seeking to ensure the quality of repairs, protecting both their customers and their own reputations." An open marketplace for repairs “benefits consumers, independent retailers and the environment,” the paper said, noting national legislation may not be necessary and pointing out that after Massachusetts passed an auto repair law in 2012, major carmakers agreed to nationalize those standards. “A single state law could prove a dam buster for other kinds of products, too,” it said. At least 20 states have introduced right-to-repair legislation this year (see 1903190031).

CTA announced a working group on artificial intelligence tasked with advancing the impact of AI in healthcare and providing standards and recommended best practices. "The rapid progress of AI presents great opportunities but a special challenge that needs urgent attention," said Rene Quashie, CTA vice president-policy and regulatory affairs, digital health, Thursday. The working group includes clinicians, manufacturers, regulators, public policy and civil rights organizations. "AI will boost our wellness and health care by improving outcomes, expanding treatment options and providing cost-cutting efficiencies," said CTA CEO Gary Shapiro, saying the industry must realize the potential of AI “ethically, strategically and with clear goals." Co-chairs of the initiative, scheduled to have its initial meeting next month in San Francisco, are Philips Head-Global Software Standards Pat Baird and CarePredict Chief Business Officer Gerald Wilmink. Organizations taking part in the group include AT&T, BlackBerry, Brookings Institution, Fitbit, Google, IBM, IDx Technologies, Philips, Samsung, SDI Technologies and Verizon.

The U.S. government needs to take “ambitious policy action” to sustain and bolster its semiconductor leadership, said the Semiconductor Industry Association in a “blueprint” report Wednesday. It called for tripling U.S. investments in “semiconductor-specific research” across federal “scientific agencies” to $5 billion annually. That would “advance new materials, designs, and architectures that will exponentially increase chip performance,” it said. SIA wants federal agency investments to double in STEM fields “to spur leap-ahead innovations in semiconductor technology that will drive key technologies of the future, including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and advanced wireless networks.” Attracting and developing a “skilled workforce” is another key component. SIA wants a federal overhaul of the “high-skilled immigration system” by eliminating “counterproductive caps” on green cards so qualified graduates “can work, innovate, and contribute to U.S. leadership in the semiconductor industry and boost our economy.”

Samsung Electronics joined the Alliance for Open Media as a top-tier board member, said the nonprofit Wednesday. The alliance's aim is to "define and develop open standards for media compression" and content online, it said: "Streaming media consumption continues to grow, enticing new users to the internet and providing everyone with more ways to engage with online media services and content." Alliance members include Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Netflix. Samsung is the first TV brand to join.

Shipments of Bluetooth Low Energy devices are forecast to reach 1.6 billion by 2023, a 27 percent compound annual growth rate, due to “ubiquitous support” in mobile devices, reported ABI Research Tuesday. Widespread mobile device integration and the ability to support mesh networking, beacon functionality, centimeter-level location accuracy and radio direction finding (RDF) are driving BLE’s use in smart consumer devices, large-scale home and commercial building automation environments and real-time location service deployments with stringent accuracy requirements, said analyst Andrew Zignani.

TP Link is selling a three-pack Wi-Fi bundle to try to get mesh network system mass adoption. Maximum range is given as 5,500 square feet with the ability to connect up to 100 devices. Deco’s seamless roaming technology allows devices to be under a single network name so users don’t have to reconnect when moving to a different area of the home, it said Monday.

ON Semiconductor agreed to buy Quantenna for $24.50 per share in an all-cash transaction with an equity value of $1.07 billion and an enterprise value of $963 million. The acquisition adds Quantenna’s Wi-Fi and software capabilities to ON’s connectivity portfolio and strengthens its position in industrial and automotive markets, it said. The transaction, expected to close in second-half 2019, requires approval of Quantenna’s stockholders but not ON’s, it said.

Worldwide shipments of augmented reality and virtual reality headsets are forecast to reach 8.9 million units this year, up 54.1 percent year on year, said IDC Thursday. New headsets from Oculus, HTC, Microsoft and others will help fuel growth in the category expected to ship 68.6 million units in 2023, but two-thirds of the AR/VR market growth will come from the commercial side. VR headsets will reach 36.7 million 2023, said IDC, with stand-alone models comprising 59 percent of shipments in 2023, tethered head-mounted displays at 37.4 percent and screenless viewers the remainder. AR headset shipments, reaching 31.9 million units in 2023, will be led by stand-alone units with 55.3 percent share, HMDs at 44.3 percent and screenless viewers at less than 1 percent. VR pioneers “have wisely moved to embrace commercial use cases for the technology as they wait for more consumer-centric experiences beyond gaming and video to materialize," said analyst Tom Mainelli. The AR side has largely been enterprise-focused, a trend that's expected to continue.