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

Smart lighting maker Lifx announced an upgraded version of the Lifx Z light strip kit-- one complete with native HomeKit support, with no need for a bridge device to add connectivity.

Lifx lighting strips do not need a hub device, since they connect directly to wifi. They also support Alexa and Google Assistant, are dimmable and support up to 16 million colours. Customers can divide the strips into 8 separate controllable zones for additional configurability, as well as pair them with other Lifx lighting systems such as the Tile panel or Beam rails.

According to well connected KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the next iPhone models feature a modem upgrade-- specifically to Intel XMM 7560 and Qualcomm Snapdragon SDX 20 chips, allowing faster LTE speeds.

As seen in a note acquired by MacRumors, the analyst says both Intel and Qualcomm modems support 4x4 MIMO antenna technology (compared to the 2x2 MIMO in the latest iPhones), which should bring a boost in LTE transmission speeds. Kuo adds Intel should supply 70-80% of the required baseband chips, with Qualcomm handling the rest.

TechCrunch reports Apple has quietly acquired another small startup-- Vrvana, a augmented reality specialist and maker of the unreleased Totem headset. The price for the company is reportedly $30 million.

Apple has no comment on the story, but does not deny it either. Vrvana similarly has no comment on the story, but TechCrunch says it has "sources close to the deal" confirm the acquisition. The news site also says a number of Vrvana employees are now working with Apple in California, and while the Vrvana website is still running it stopped updating any social media accounts and news on August 2017.

Vrvana's AR offering is the Totem, a headset combining AR and VR technology through pass-through cameras able to project real world images into a built-in 1440p OLED display. The cameras track the position of the user in both real and virtual space, while additional IR cameras detect the user's hands.

Customers eager to get the first Apple smart speaker are to receive some bad news-- the HomePod's initial release in the UK, US and Australia has been delayed until "early 2018."

Apple does not give reason for the delay, other than it needing a "little more time" before the device is ready for launch. It is also unclear as to whether the delay will affect launch in other countries, but we can assume that will be exactly the case.

"We can't wait for people to experience HomePod, Apple's breakthrough wireless speaker for the home, but we need a little more time before it's ready for our customers," the full Apple statement reads. "We'll start shipping in the US, UK and Australia in early 2018."