O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: posting

  • Apple begins posting job openings for 6G engineering positions

    Apple begins posting job openings for 6G engineering positions

    Even if Apple struggled with the development of its own 5G modem, the company appears to be ramping up its implementation of 6G cellular technology in its products.

    Per Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in the latest edition of his “Power On” newsletter, since 2021, Apple has posted highly specific job listings concerning 6G. Now, a further job position for a Modem Systems Software Architect has appeared on the company’s website that seeks an individual to “coordinate the design and modeling of a 6G reference architecture.” Gurman says the listing is part of the company’s growing push to hire engineers to develop 6G cellular technologies.

    Wireless carriers are already working on next-gen 6G networking, and in late 2020, Apple joined the Next G Alliance, an industry group set up by the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) that seeks to “advance North American mobile technology leadership in 6G and beyond over the next decade, while building on the long-term evolution of 5G.”

    Some analysts have stated that 6G could enable speeds more than 100 times faster than 5G, although the extent of its performance in the real world has yet to be seen. 6G is not expected to emerge on consumer devices until around 2030.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via MacRumors and Bloomberg

  • Sony posts ad looking for candidate to help bring PlayStation franchises to iOS/iPadOS, expand mobile gaming efforts

    Sony posts ad looking for candidate to help bring PlayStation franchises to iOS/iPadOS, expand mobile gaming efforts

    This is pretty interesting.

    Sony, apparently looking to expand its mobile gaming efforts, has posted a job advertisement indicating it intends to adapt many PlayStation franchises to be playable on iPhone and iPad in the future.

    The job advertisement seeks someone for the position of “”Head of Mobile, PlayStation Studios, Sony Interactive Entertainment,” in California. The listing explains the candidate will “lead all aspects of the expansion of your game development from consoles and PCs to mobile and live services,” but with a focus on “successfully adapting PlayStation’s most popular franchises for mobile.”

    If chosen, the applicant will also be responsible for “building and scaling a team of mobile leaders,” and will serve as “the head of this new business unit within PlayStation Studios.”

    It’s unknown as to when the selected applicant might start, but Eurogamer has reported that the roadmap for the mobile business road map is set to run over three to five years.

    Check the link below if you’re interested in applying and stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via AppleInsider, Eurogamer and boards.greenhouse.io

  • Apple job posting alludes to solar power features for upcoming mobile devices

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    One day, your Apple mobile products will drink in the sun for energy.

    Or at least that’s what can be speculated from their hiring boards.

    Per AppleInsider, Apple is seeking an engineer with thin films experience as applied to semiconductor or solar manufacturing, suggesting the company is investigating viable alternative energy source for future mobile products like a smart watch.

    The post, discovered on Apple’s employment web site, describes a position for the Mobile Devices group, with suitable candidates having experience with thin film deposition technology in either semiconductor processing or solar industries.

    Looking into the Key Qualifications section of the listing, which was posted on Thursday and spotted Friday, it appears that the position will deal with the applications side of R&D, rather than the development phase. Applicants are asked to have experience in sputtering, vacuum evaporation, electroplating and other technologies commonly associated with disposing thin-films on circuitry.

    While the word “solar” is mentioned twice in the listing, it may not necessarily mean that Apple is working to bring a solar-powered iPhone to market. Many advanced technologies require engineers to have multidisciplinary backgrounds, as these systems are intricately tied together.

    Perhaps most interesting is a qualification that reads, “Knowledge of thin-films in the context of RF shielding is highly desirable.” This suggests Apple may be looking to develop a new method of radio interference blocking for its smartphone lineup that could possibly reduce dependence on the current metal RFI shielding seen in wireless-capable devices.

    As with many Apple job postings, other desirable qualities include experience in working with Asian manufacturers, problem solving skills and an ability to work as part of a team.

    Apple has a number of patents regarding solar-powered devices, many involving portable devices like the iPod and iPhone. Most recently, the company outlined a system that uses a display’s electrodes to both collect sunlight and act as capacitive touch sensors.

    Solar power is becoming increasingly popular as light conversion efficiency increases, but the technology is not yet at the point where a panel can simply replace wall charging. A more likely scenario would be battery life augmentation for smaller portables, like a watch. Interestingly, Apple’s smart watch patent also directly mentions such a solution.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

  • Apple posts, pulls job posting for engineer with “flexible display” experience, could link to rumored “iWatch” on horizon

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    Your next Mac display could be bendy/squishy/flexible.

    Or not.

    Per AppleInsider, Apple on Wednesday took down a job listing it posted in early April looking for a hardware engineer with experience in flexible displays, suggesting that the company is actively researching the advanced technology only now emerging in the consumer marketplace.

    The listing, originally posted on April 1 at the company’s Jobs at Apple webpage, sought a “Senior Optical Engineer” who has experience with emerging technologies, including flexible displays. Apple’s post corresponds to recent rumors that a so-called “iWatch” would soon be brought to market, with the wristwatch-like device thought to sport a “curved display.”

    According to the now pulled post, Apple is actively recruiting for “a Display Specialist to lead the investigation on emerging display technologies such as high optical efficiency LCD, AMOLED and flexible displays.”

    Judging by the job summary and required duties, Apple appears to be researching how to best build a device with a high-quality flexible display. On the other hand, the company could merely be looking to study its options in how to best deploy such a product should the need arise.

    Rumors regarding the iWatch have been making the rounds over the past few months, with rumblings pointing to an ergonomic wearable device featuring a curved screen. In February, users discovered a patent detailing a wrist-worn unit with a flexible display, providing concrete evidence that Apple is at least investigating such a device.

    It is not clear why Apple pulled the job listing, though it could be that the company has found a suitable candidate for the position.

  • Apple posts position for iPad camera expert

    If you’re hankering for your iPad to have a built-in camera, you may not have too long to wait. Per Cult of Mac, Apple is apparently searching for a performance quality assurance engineer to work on still and video capture in the iPad Media department.

    The job, posted back on February 9th is for a “Performance QA Engineer, iPad Media,” to work within Apple’s Interactive Media Group. The software quality engineer must have a strong technical background in order to test still, video and audio capture and playback frameworks.

    “Build on your QA experience and knowledge of digital camera technology (still and video) to develop and maintain testing frameworks for both capture and playback pipelines,” the job description reads. “You will work together with the development team to ensure quality. Your focus will mainly be on performance testing and developing performance measurement test tools.”

    The full-time position is based in Cupertino, Calif., at Apple’s corporate headquarters. It requires candidates have a bachelor of science in computer science or equivalent experience, with three or more years experience in software quality assurance.

    The job listing is yet another piece of evidence that Apple has plans for a camera in future iPads. A potential spot for a forward-facing camera was found in a replacement part for the iPad soon after the device was unveiled. But later, a teardown of the iPad post-release found that spot was actually used for the device’s ambient light sensor.

    The iPhone OS 3.2 SDK has also been found to include mentions of video chat, suggesting that Apple explored the possibility of a forward-facing camera in its multi-touch device.

    Introduced last week, the beta of iPhone OS 4.0 also features references to iChat, including framework strings referencing “front facing” and “back facing.” Evidence of iChat sounds has also been found in the pre-release software. While it will hit the iPhone this summer, iPhone OS 4.0 is scheduled to be available for the iPad this fall.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available and please let us know what you make of this from your end.