This week in the tech world, the Mobile World Conference – MWC 2024 – took place and tech companies showed us the weird and wonderful mobile gadgets they are developing.
We went to the show and saw some impressive technology, including the show phone, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, the show laptop, the Samsung Galaxy Book 4, and the best wearable, the Humane AI Pin. A roundup of the 11 best gadgets of MWC 2024.
But MWC wasn’t alone. So, to help you stay on top of the most important innovations, we’ve compiled his seven biggest tech news stories from the past week in case you missed them.
7. Tried Samsung Galaxy Ring
We got our first hands-on experience with the Samsung Galaxy Ring and were suitably impressed by its claims of next-generation AI-powered sleep metrics. We learned a lot of new information about the highly anticipated wearable, including how it works with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6, its motion tracking features, and the specific sensors it includes.
Although the rings we tried on didn’t exactly connect, we learned a lot about the design by wearing these early prototypes. In particular, its concave shape protects the ring body from scratches, a drawback of other smart rings such as the Ultra Human Ring Air.
6. The first truly affordable foldable smartphone is finally here
Foldable smartphones are great, but until now they’ve typically come with an exorbitant price tag. This week saw the arrival of the Nubia Flip 5G, a clamshell version of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 that’s almost half the price. Priced at $999.99 / £1,049 / AU$1,649, it’s not cheap, but it’s a new low. It’s a strong start for a foldable smartphone.
There are still some unknowns with the Flip 5G, but we certainly like the sound of its specs. It has a 6.9-inch foldable AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a versatile external display, and three cameras including a 50MP wide-angle lens, a 50MP telephoto lens, and a 16MP selfie camera on the front.
As far as we’re concerned, it’s going to do its job, even if Flip 5G’s main legacy is sparking a new wave of mid-range foldable devices.
5. I wear my smartphone like a watch.
MWC is the perfect time for technology manufacturers to show off the weirdest and wildest concepts that aren’t yet ready to hit the market. Motorola did just that at MWC 2024. Adaptive Display debuted a phone that can be bent into several different positions and attached to the wrist via a magnetic band.
Most cell phone batteries are rectangular so they won’t bend like this, but adaptive displays have a neat trick that can get around this problem. On the back of the concept phone, several small batteries form a horizontal line around which the rest of the phone can bend. It’s smart.
The pinnacle of wearable technology will probably be small, ultra-thin devices that you can put in your eyes, rather than something you can wear on your shirt. The latest company to promise the future of smart contact lenses is Xpanceo. He showed off not one or two, but four smart lens prototypes, demonstrating his four facets of eyewear innovation.
Some promise mixed reality (XR) visions, and others even essentially give superhero visions.
Although the company claims to have created all the working components, no one is wearing these smart lenses (which would require FDA approval), which Xpanceo showed off at MWC 2024. , one lens placed on a special stand, through which you could look.
The future of smart contact lenses is exciting, but perhaps also far away.
3. Apple Car is permanently parked
Apple is apparently ready to scrap its long-standing Project Titan EV car project and move full-time to generative AI. At least, that’s the news from one reliable Apple watcher. This is a big deal since Apple has been working on the Apple Car (or iCar) for nearly a decade and may have spent billions of dollars on the project.
Commenting on this topic, U.S. Editor-in-Chief Lance Ulanoff said: There are rumors going around that they are working on it.
“The auto business is completely different from Apple’s other valuable categories. There are too many partners, margins are too low, and the sales experience is so different that it often doesn’t sell. I think we may have missed the timing to enter (or acquire and dominate).”
Less surprising than this obvious news is that whoever leaves the Apple Car team will turn their attention to a far more prominent Apple project: generative AI for all of the company’s major categories. Become. Yes, you’ll never drive his Apple car, but your iPhone will probably be smart enough to do it for you – probably.
This week, Meta announced that the Quest Plus plan is getting an upgrade. Now, you’ll get two free apps every month that you can download and keep for as long as you subscribe, as well as access to a rotating Netflix-style library of VR titles. Best of all, the price of your subscription will not change.
Starting March 1, 2024, 12 titles will be added to the Quest Plus library. This also includes favorite titles such as: sports scramble, walkabout mini golf and until you fall – Two free apps you can keep are shooting games Contractor immersive puzzle game shadow point.
So for $7.99 / £7.99 / AU$12.95 per month, or $59.99 / £59.99 / AU$99.95 per year, you get access to 14 games and apps instead of just two. However, it is currently unclear how regularly the 12 libraries will be used. The games will change, and will there always be 12 titles, or will there be more and less each month?
1. Apple iPad and MacBook plans leaked
If you’re considering buying an Apple MacBook or iPad, you might want to wait, as a leak suggests a new model is on the way.
We’ve been hearing whispers that Apple’s new tablets and laptops might arrive in March or April, but Bloomberg’s Mark Garman, a reliable source of Apple information, says a spring launch is almost certain. said. Additionally, MacRumors reported that Apple recently updated an internal document on “unannounced or unannounced products” to help Apple staff address potential customer questions. This is another sign that new products are likely on the way.
If the leak is correct, 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air laptops could be refreshed with the powerful M3 chip that powered the MacBook Pro last year. As for the iPad, the new Pro models could come with the M3, while the iPad Air could come with the older (but still impressive) M2 chip. There may also be an OLED display, but we’ll have to wait and see.