Weekly Tech
This past week, Apple announced that they’re about to unveil the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 plus. They sent out invitations to concerned parties for the revealing, which will happen on the 7th of September in Los Angeles. And Samsung recalled the Galaxy Note 7 because of faulty battery wiring that led to at least 1% of its smartphones catching fire. And the latest from IFA 2016 is already under way in Berlin. As we all know, IFA 2016 is Europe’s largest consumer electronics trade show and this is one of the main events on the calendar for new device announcements.
First, let’s start with the iPhone 7 release and what to expect. Recently, iPhone had been making some noises. Reports said that Apple is going to release a limited number of iPhones during the Sept. 7 event, so that techies and bloggers can review them so that consumers can make up their minds about the new devices before the official release date. What we can expect from the new iPhone is a full revamp of the antenna lines and the replacing of the headphone jack with a lightning connector. And some sources say that Apple finally ditched the 16GB storage and went with 32GB, and 5 colours for the casing. Although I came across some sources saying that Apple might use a 4GB memory for the new iPhones, many big-time tech reviewers never mentioned it. Pricing? Well, we all know that Apple has the same high price every time a new iPhone is released. Old-model iPhone prices go down and the new ones replace them.
And sadly, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 suffered a blow when it issued a recall, costing the company at least $1-billion after reports around the world concerning the device catching fire. Samsung checked out what’s wrong and found that at least 1% of 2.5 millions of the units shipped since the official release has some faulty battery wirings. Samsung, including some carriers in the U.S., urged customers to return their Note 7s and replace them temporarily with the Galaxy S7 Edge until the issue is resolved. Some gave customers a refund.
This incident could hurt the company’s profit as the purpose of the early release of the Galaxy Note 7 was to slow down new iPhone sales. But we know Samsung will bounce back. This is not the first time that company has recalled its products.
Some analysts say this incident with Samsung could benefit Apple, its tech giant rival, in many respects. Apple has shown that it knows how to play its cards correctly in the marketing world. But I hope it won’t come to a point where Apple creates an advertisement saying “Hey, we don’t have exploding batteries or batteries that catch fire on our iPhones!”
IFA 2016 kicked off Sept. 2 and runs until the 8th of this month, and a lot of new devices have surfaced during the event. I am not there physically but I am able to get updates from sources who are currently attending the event in Berlin. So far, some tech companies have already revealed some of their new devices.
Acer revealed two Android devices, the Liquid Z6 and Z6 plus. The Liquid Z6 is an entry-level device running Marshmallow and the Z6 plus is a mid-range phone that also runs on Marshmallow. Even though Motorola/Lenovo revealed the Moto Z Play earlier this month, the company still took the time to wrap up its latest modular phone, the Moto Z Play, a mid-ranger. Huawei also took the wraps off a pair of new mid-range smartphones, the Nova and Nova Plus. The Nova looks similar to the Nexus 6p, which was released last year by Huawei, and the Nova plus takes it’s cues from the Mate line. Sony also announced two new smartphones, the Xperia XZ and Xperia X Compact, a high-end device and a mid-ranger, respectively. HTC revealed the One A9s, a successor to the controversial One A9 from last year. And Alcatel unveiled the Shine Lite. Still looking forward to the specs of this device but I am guessing this is an entry-level phone.
First, let’s start with the iPhone 7 release and what to expect. Recently, iPhone had been making some noises. Reports said that Apple is going to release a limited number of iPhones during the Sept. 7 event, so that techies and bloggers can review them so that consumers can make up their minds about the new devices before the official release date. What we can expect from the new iPhone is a full revamp of the antenna lines and the replacing of the headphone jack with a lightning connector. And some sources say that Apple finally ditched the 16GB storage and went with 32GB, and 5 colours for the casing. Although I came across some sources saying that Apple might use a 4GB memory for the new iPhones, many big-time tech reviewers never mentioned it. Pricing? Well, we all know that Apple has the same high price every time a new iPhone is released. Old-model iPhone prices go down and the new ones replace them.
And sadly, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 suffered a blow when it issued a recall, costing the company at least $1-billion after reports around the world concerning the device catching fire. Samsung checked out what’s wrong and found that at least 1% of 2.5 millions of the units shipped since the official release has some faulty battery wirings. Samsung, including some carriers in the U.S., urged customers to return their Note 7s and replace them temporarily with the Galaxy S7 Edge until the issue is resolved. Some gave customers a refund.
This incident could hurt the company’s profit as the purpose of the early release of the Galaxy Note 7 was to slow down new iPhone sales. But we know Samsung will bounce back. This is not the first time that company has recalled its products.
Some analysts say this incident with Samsung could benefit Apple, its tech giant rival, in many respects. Apple has shown that it knows how to play its cards correctly in the marketing world. But I hope it won’t come to a point where Apple creates an advertisement saying “Hey, we don’t have exploding batteries or batteries that catch fire on our iPhones!”
IFA 2016 kicked off Sept. 2 and runs until the 8th of this month, and a lot of new devices have surfaced during the event. I am not there physically but I am able to get updates from sources who are currently attending the event in Berlin. So far, some tech companies have already revealed some of their new devices.
Acer revealed two Android devices, the Liquid Z6 and Z6 plus. The Liquid Z6 is an entry-level device running Marshmallow and the Z6 plus is a mid-range phone that also runs on Marshmallow. Even though Motorola/Lenovo revealed the Moto Z Play earlier this month, the company still took the time to wrap up its latest modular phone, the Moto Z Play, a mid-ranger. Huawei also took the wraps off a pair of new mid-range smartphones, the Nova and Nova Plus. The Nova looks similar to the Nexus 6p, which was released last year by Huawei, and the Nova plus takes it’s cues from the Mate line. Sony also announced two new smartphones, the Xperia XZ and Xperia X Compact, a high-end device and a mid-ranger, respectively. HTC revealed the One A9s, a successor to the controversial One A9 from last year. And Alcatel unveiled the Shine Lite. Still looking forward to the specs of this device but I am guessing this is an entry-level phone.
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