“Alongside an expanding retail presence, Apple is building out research and development operations around the globe, including a facility in Yokohama, Japan that will reportedly focus on materials, vehicle and health segments,” Mikey Campbell reports for AppleInsider.
“According to a report from print publication Nikkei Electronics, picked up by DigiTimes, Apple is looking to use its Japanese research center to hire local talent well versed in industries to which it is a newcomer,” Campbell reports. “While the iPhone maker has multiple teams working on materials science and consumer applications, as evidenced by recent metallurgy breakthroughs introduced with Apple Watch, only a few are thought to be focused exclusively on vehicles and health.”
Campbell reports, “It is not known if Apple plans to concentrate on in-car entertainment or actual automotive heavy industries, but Japan is a leader in both areas.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Liquidmetal®? Not the the fake kind like in the overhyped, widely-misreported, sharp-cornered Turing phone, but the real thing – to which Apple has perpetual, exclusive rights in consumer electronics.
Apparently the new Turing Test is determining whether the phone chassis looks like a§§…
Might be easier to have a skunk labs in Japan and keep it private.
MDN, your statements regarding the LiquidMetal IP and Apple’s perpetual rights with respect to consumer electronics are completely valid. But let’s not overlook the fact that other organizations can develop their own bulk metallic glass (BMG) technologies and apply them to consumer electronics.
Apple *may* have a headstart on BMG applications to consumer electronics. I certainly hope that is the case. But is difficult to tell since only a couple of small LiquidMetal components have made it to commercial production – the iPhone SIM tray comes to mind. People have been predicting more widespread use of LiquidMetal components in iOS devices for years – iPhone chassis, Apple Watch chassis – but nothing signficant has materialized so far.