ASUS accidentally spills the beans on the Zenfone 9 with early video teaser
Earlier this week, ASUS made a big splash with the ROG Phone 6 for gamers. The premium flagship pairs the latest silicon with all the bells and whistles a gamer could ask for, wrapped up in the outlandish styling ROG hardware is known for. If your smartphone tastes are a little more traditional, though, the upcoming Zenfone 9 might be right up your alley, and today we get an early preview thanks to what seems to be an accidentally published YouTube video.
The accidental upload on ASUS’s own channel was swiftly marked private on YouTube, but apparently not swiftly enough (via Android Authority). In the interim, people shared it on the ASUS Zenfone Forum Facebook page and downloaded copies of the video, which now remain online. The footage reveals the four matte colors the Zenfone 9 would be offered in — blue, red, beige, and black. The chassis is finished in black for all the colors, except the beige one.
From Android Police
OnePlus 10T launch timeline in India leaks
The OnePlus 10T keeps on leaking left and right, most recently being spotted breaking a record in the AnTuTu benchmark. But the phone still isn’t official, and if you’re wondering when that may finally change, we have an answer for you if you’re based in India.
According to a new rumor, the Indian launch of the OnePlus 10T will take place between July 25 and August 1. The phone will be sold exclusively through Amazon in India, with the first sale expected to happen during the first week of August.
From Gsmarena
Infinix Note 12 Pro 5G announced with Dimensity 810 and 108MP camera, Note 12 5G tags along
Infinix’s Note 12 lineup already included four smartphones – Note 12, Note 12 G96, Note 12i, and Note 12 VIP. That now increases to six as the company adds the Note 12 5G and Note 12 Pro 5G today.
The Infinix Note 12 5G and Note 12 Pro 5G are share large parts of their specs sheet, but have different memory configurations and camera systems. The vanilla model has 6GB (+3GB virtual) RAM and 64GB of storage on board, while the Pro version comes with 8GB (+5GB virtual) RAM and 128GB of storage. Both have dedicated microSD card slots for storage expansion up to 2TB.
The Infinix Note 12 5G and Note 12 Pro 5G are priced at INR14,999 ($189/€187) and INR17,999 ($227/€224), respectively, in India and will go on sale in the country starting July 14 through Flipkart with two color options – Force Black and Snowfall White.
From Gsmarena
Galaxy S22 Ultra to get a new Bora Purple color option within a week
Samsung might soon release a new purple color for the Galaxy S22 Ultra and make it available as an online-exclusive option, at least in some markets.
The Korean tech giant will release its existing online-only color options (Sky Blue, Red, and Graphite) for the Galaxy S22 Ultra in Indonesia within a week, as revealed by a countdown on the official Indonesian portal.
More importantly, the teaser image accompanying the countdown suggests that the already-known colors will be joined by a fourth brand-new purple shade.
From Sammobile
M2 MacBook Air preorders are already slipping into August
Apple has opened up preorders for the new MacBook Air, which brings a new M2 chip, design, and display to Apple’s most popular laptop. As expected, just minutes after preorders went live, deliveries are slipping from the original July 15 date.
If you buy the base model with an 8-core GPU and 256GB of storage, you’ll still get it in July, but depending on the color it could be a few days after it officially hits shelves on July 15. And if you want a better processor, more RAM, or the new Midnight color, you’re looking at an even longer wait into August.
From Macworld
Samsung Foundry outperforms TSMC in 4nm-5nm chipset manufacturing
Samsung Foundry and TSMC continue leading the duopoly on chipset manufacturing. In Q1 2022, TSMC had a shipment share of 69.9%, while Samsung Foundry captured a 30% share. However, in terms of advanced nodes used for smartphone chipset manufacturing, Samsung took the lead in Q1 with a 60% share.
TSMC registered higher total shipments for SoCs, APs, and cellular modems than Samsung Foundry — enough for the Taiwanese company to capture nearly 70% of the market. But in terms of smartphone chipsets alone, TSMC experienced a 9% annual decline from Q1 2022 due to Qualcomm choosing Samsung Foundry for the X60 baseband. (via Counterpoint Research)
Another factor that has helped Samsung Foundry’s position in the market was its own Exynos line of chipsets.
From Sammobile
WhatsApp to let you link another smartphone to your account
It seems that WhatsApp is quite busy developing some cool new features for its application. Recently, WhatsApp was spotted working on multiple features, including the ability to let you choose your avatar for video calls, the ability to extend the delete message for everyone’s time duration, and even animated heart emojis for Android.
Fast forward to now, WABetaInfo has found that WhatsApp is working on a new feature that will allow users to link another smartphone to their WhatsApp account.
From Sammobile
Netflix rolls out spatial audio support for select original shows and movies
After rolling out Spatial Audio support for the iPhone and iPad in August last year, Netflix is now making the feature available to more users. The streaming giant has partnered with Sennheiser to convert surround sound mixes into a spatial audio representation, which can now be played through any stereo speaker or headphone.
According to Netflix, the new spatial audio capabilities don’t require any specialized equipment. However, it’s only available for select Netflix original TV shows and movies at the moment. If you’re a Netflix subscriber, you can now search for “spatial audio” on the platform to find all the supported titles. Currently supported titles include the fourth season of the popular sci-fi drama Stranger Things, Red Notice, and The Witcher.
From XDA
Your Google Pixel might soon show the status of your Uber right on the lock screen
Google’s At a Glance widget is a handy addition to the Pixel’s home screen and lock screen since it can automatically surface relevant information on a timely basis. The big G has been found working on some new enhancements for At a Glance, including integration with ridesharing and food delivery services, so you can check their status even when your phone is locked.
As spotted by Mishaal Rahman, Esper’s Technical Editor, the widget will seemingly integrate with Uber and Lyft for ridesharing. DoorDash integration should be supported for food delivery, too, but only in English. 9to5Google also found references to these upcoming new additions to At a Glance in the latest version of Android System Intelligence, which powers the widget. Interestingly, Google was already caught working on grocery order tracking for the widget in April, but the integration never went live.
Mishaal Rahman has also shared further evidence that Google might show cross-device timers on the widget. This means any timer you set on your Assistant-powered smart speaker or display should appear in At a Glance on your Pixel’s home screen. References to this feature were first found in a Google app teardown earlier this week.
From Android Police
Apple Investigating iPad mini 6 Charging Issues After iPadOS 15.5 Update
In the memo sent to authorized service providers, Apple said that it’s aware that some users may report the latest iPad mini as unable to charge after updating to iPadOS 15.5. Apple is advising that service providers and retail staff inform customers to restart the device as a temporary fix while the investigation is ongoing.
Crucially, Apple explicitly notes that a hardware replacement of the iPad or its battery will not solve the problem, confirming it’s purely a software issue. Apple is currently beta testing iPadOS 15.6, which may solve the problem when it’s released to the public.
Several iPad mini 6 owners have reported charging issues after updating to the latest iPadOS update on the MacRumors and Apple Support forums (1, 2, 3, 4).
From Macrumors
