Kuo: AirPods to switch to USB-C for charging alongside iPhone 15 in 2023
Apple is reportedly planning to switch the iPhone to USB-C for charging as soon as next year. Now, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also predicts that Apple will launch new versions of the AirPods charging cases as soon as next year.
There are new AirPods Pro coming later this year, but the charging case for this model is expected to stick with Lightning connectivity. Apple also released its AirPods 3 headphones last year, and they also use Lightning for charging. The charging cases for both AirPods and AirPods Pro also support wireless charging as well.
Kuo reports:
I predict Apple will launch USB-C-capable charging cases for all AirPods models in 2023. However, the charging case of the new AirPods Pro 2 launched in 2H22 may still support Lightning.
This isn’t the first time Kuo has reported that future versions of AirPods will use USB-C for charging. In May, the analyst said that AirPods as well as Apple’s other accessories would also switch to USB-C alongside the iPhone. This also includes accessories like the Magic Keyboard, Magic Trackpad, and Magic Mouse accessories for Mac, and the MagSafe Battery Pack accessory for iPhone.
What this means is that once the iPhone 15 goes USB-C in 2023, Apple will simultaneously start the process of switching all of its products to USB-C. This will, eventually, mark the end of the Lightning connector altogether. With the prevalence of Lightning, however, this will likely take years to actually complete.
From 9to5Mac
Moto G32 launches in India for INR 12,999
Following its debut two weeks ago, Motorola’s Moto G32 has now made its way to India. The device will be available in a single 4GB RAM and 64GB storage configuration and Satin Silver and Mineral Grey colors. Open sales start on August 16 via Flipkart.
Moto G32 is a Snapdragon 680 midranger with a 6.5-inch IPS LCD with FHD+ resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate. There’s a 50MP main cam on the back alongside an 8MP ultrawide snapper and a 2MP macro cam. The phone comes with stereo speakers and Dolby Atmos, a 5,000 mAh battery with 33W charging and Android 12 on the software side.
From Gsmarena
Xbox Elite 2 white controller leaked in unboxing video
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Microsoft appears to be working on a new white version of the Xbox Elite 2 controller. Video of the unannounced Xbox Elite 2 controller has appeared on YouTube, sporting a white face plate and black grips. The video comes months after a white Xbox Elite 2 controller was reportedly spotted at a retailer in the US earlier this year.
The brief unboxing video, uploaded to a YouTube account identified as Nicholas Lugo, includes someone claiming the unannounced white Xbox Elite 2 controller was obtained in the US. Twitter users spotted this video recently after it was posted three weeks ago. It’s not clear whether the controller was sold at a US store, or whether Microsoft is still planning to announce a white version of its Xbox Elite 2 controller.
From The Verge
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 will have some instant competition from Xiaomi
August 10 (tomorrow at the time of writing) is a big date in this year’s tech calendar, as Samsung is holding an event where it’s expected to unveil the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, the Galaxy Z Flip 4, and the Galaxy Watch 5 line. But just one day later, it’s set to have some foldable competition.
That’s because, as spotted by PlayfulDroid, Xiaomi has now taken to Weibo – a Chinese social network – to reveal that it’s unveiling the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2, just one day later, on August 11.
This is the company’s foldable successor to the Xiaomi Mi Mix Fold, and assuming it has a similar design it will be a direct competitor to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4.
We don’t know anything about the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 for sure, but according to leaks it might have a 120Hz refresh rate on both the inner and outer screen, with the outer display having a 1080 x 2520 resolution.
Leaks also point to a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset, 12GB of RAM, up to 1TB of storage, 67W charging, and a triple-lens rear camera, with a 50MP primary sensor, a telephoto camera with 2x optical zoom, and a 13MP camera, which we’d assume has an ultrawide lens.
From Techradar
WhatsApp privacy campaign begins with three new features
Leaving a group chat
Currently, when you leave a group chat, everyone in the chat is notified. This will change, so only group admins will see that you’ve left.
Personally, I see this less as a privacy feature and more as a diplomacy one! There are situations where it can be seen as rude to leave a chat, and this will allow us to do so quietly.
Control who sees when you’re online
WABetainfo has previously shared a screengrab of this, before it was officially announced.
As you can see, this allows you to choose between everyone, no one, and contacts-only – as well as offering the option to hide your status from specific contacts.
Prevent screenshots
WhatsApp last year introduced a “View Once” option when posting photos and videos, which disappear once they have been seen. However, many complained that it was pointless for photos, since anyone viewing it could take a screenshot.
WhatsApp is now introducing a way to block this, in the same way Snapchat does. Anyone attempting a screenshot will instead see a message reading:
This screenshot was blocked for added privacy.
Again, WABetainfo has more details.
Note that the feature to prevent people from taking screenshots and recording video captures is only limited to view once images and videos: in fact, you can still take screenshots of your conversations, even if they contain some disappearing messages, at the moment.
As always, when you send a view once photo or video, WhatsApp will inform you that people may still get them by using a secondary phone or camera, so it is always important to be careful when using this feature: it’s up to you.
In addition, there isn’t a system to inform the sender when someone attempted to take a screenshot to their view once image and video because the attempt to take a screenshot will be automatically blocked.
Expect to hear more about existing and planned WhatsApp privacy features as the campaign continues.
In another change revealed yesterday, users now get much longer to delete sent messages.
From 9to5Mac
Samsung drops to fourth place in Indian smartphone market during Q2 2022
Samsung’s market share is slipping away in India and several other Asian countries. According to the latest data from market research firm IDC, Samsung dropped to fourth place in the Indian smartphone market last quarter as Vivo jumped to the third spot.
The latest market analysis from IDC reveals that Samsung shipped just 5.9 million smartphones in India in Q2 2022. Although the South Korean firm shipped more smartphones compared to Q2 2021, the company’s market share stayed the same. Samsung was India’s second biggest smartphone brand in Q2 2021, but Realme and Vivo overtook the company last quarter.
Samsung’s market share and ranking haven’t been this low in years. There is a general slump in the smartphone market, and on top of that, Samsung has been facing supply chain issues. Devices like the Galaxy A53 and the Galaxy A73 are usually not available in stock in various places. Plus, Q2 of each year is generally a bit quiet for the company. At least the company’s ASP (Average Selling Price) improved to $250.
From Sammobile
Galaxy S23 Ultra’s model numbers and codename have leaked
We are just a few hours away from the official unveiling of the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Galaxy Z Flip 4. Since both phones have leaked entirely, the focus of the leaksters has now shifted over to Samsung’s next flagship already. The Galaxy S23 Ultra’s codename and model numbers have been leaked, courtesy of tipster Paras Guglani (via Pricebaba).
The Galaxy S23 Ultra will launch alongside the Galaxy S23 and the S23+ in Q1 of 2023. Recently, information about the Galaxy S23 Ultra’s chipset, battery, and rear camera setup was leaked. Now, its model number has been revealed.
From Sammobile
Google outage: tech giant apologises after software update causes search engine to go down
Google has apologised for a software update issue that caused a major international outage on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the company said the team had “worked quickly” to address the fault and services were back running as normal.
“We’re aware of a software update issue that occurred late this afternoon Pacific Time and briefly affected availability of Google search and Maps,” they said.
“We apologise for the inconvenience. We worked to quickly address the issue and our services are now back online.”
The outage was quickly reported by technology platforms.
The realtime online platform Downdetector reported users had registered problems with Google explorer, the world’s dominant search engine from 2.12am BST (9.12pm EST, 11.12AM AEST.
From The Guardian
iOS 16 returns battery percentage to the status bar—but only for these iPhones
Starting with Developer beta 5 (released August 8, 2022), iOS 16 includes the option in Settings > Battery to display battery percentage in the status bar once again.
They said it was just too complicated. That the technology simply wasn’t there yet. But Apple has shown what true innovation is by making the battery icon just a touch bigger and putting the battery percentage number inside it. Just like everyone has been asking them to do for the last six years.
It appears that this feature is not available on the iPhone SE, iPhone XR, iPhone 11, or iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 13 mini. Our guess is that the phones with LCD displays and mini phones don’t have enough resolution to make the small black text as clear as Apple would like it to be, but you never know what would change in the future. Here is the full list of supported phones:
- iPhone 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 13 Pro
- iPhone 13
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone XS Max
- iPhone XS
- iPhone X
From Macworld
Indian government reportedly seeks to ban sub-$150 Chinese smartphones in the country
The Indian government is seeking to restrict Chinese handset makers from selling sub-INR12,000 ($150/€147) smartphones in the country in a bid to push the Chinese brands out of the lower segment, reports Bloomberg.
This move would affect Xiaomi, Realme, and Transsion the most since they sell a lot of smartphones in the sub-$150 segment in India. According to Counterpoint, smartphones in this price category contributed to a third of India’s sales volume for the quarter through June 2022, with Chinese brands accounting for up to 80% of those shipments.
The idea behind banning Chinese brands from selling smartphones in the sub-$150 segment in India is to allow local players such as Lava and Micromax to boost their sales in this category and regain the market share.
The sales of both companies comprised just less than 50% of India’s smartphone sales before they were undercut by Chinese brands, which offered better specs at lower prices and eventually went on to dominate the second-largest smartphone market in the world. According to Counterpoint, Xiaomi, Samsung, vivo, Realme, and Oppo were the top five smartphone brands in India through Q2 2022, with Samsung being the only non-Chinese company on the list.
From Gsmarena
