iPhone 7 launches on Sept 7
There have been plenty of rumours and discussion surrounding the new iPhone, and all that is set to come to an end Sept 7, as Apple will finally take the wraps off the device. In a year that may see Apple abandon its two-year design change cycle, one of the biggest speculations is that the iPhone 7 may abandon the 3.5mm headphone jack in favour of Lightning or wireless headphones. The phone is likely to have a camera bump, and the possibility of a Pro variant sporting a dual-camera setup to accompany the regular and Plus variants, is also doing the rounds. There has also been news of an iPhone 6SE variant and the addition of deep blue and black colours to the existing lineup of shades.
Samsung's mixed week
Between the launch of the Galaxy Note 7 and the Gear S3 smartwatch, Samsung should have been enjoying a well-deserved pat on the back. Unfortunately for the Korean manufacturer, the laurels have gone up in flames (literally), with reports coming in of Galaxy Note 7 units exploding due to a battery-related issue. This has prompted Samsung to temporarily halt sales of the well-received phablet in many markets and issue a massive recall of millions of devices to address the potential safety risk. India sales, which were supposed to commence last week, are also on hold until Samsung is convinced of the safety of the devices.
On a more positive note, the brand launched the Tizen OS-running Gear S3 smartwatch at IFA in Berlin last week. The S3, which will be sold in tandem with the current Gear S2, packs a larger display, which makes use of Samsung's advances in always-on display technology, and comes in two variants, Classic and Frontier. The former is geared more towards style, while the latter is more rugged, capable of functioning in extreme temperatures and equipped with an LTE radio for smartphone-independent functionality.
Acer unveils Swift 7 and Predator 21X laptops
Acer was busy at IFA last week, launching an entire lineup of devices across multiple categories. The two most interesting porducts were the Swift 7, which is claimed to to be the world's thinnest laptop, and the Predator 21X, which occupies the other end of the size scale and packs serious gaming firepower. The Swift 7, which packs Windows 10, is under 10mm at its thickest, has a 13.3-inch FullHD IPS display, and is powered by an Intel Core M processor with 6 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD on hand.
The Predator 21X is a full-fledged desktop replacement gaming machine, with a curved 21 inch display, full mechanical keyboard and even eye-tracking technology that lets players aim at targets just by looking at them. To ensure that it can handle any game thrown at it, the Predator 21X comes with two latest-gen NVIDIA gefore 1080 video cards.
Huawei may be making a new Google tablet
Following rumours that the upcoming smartphones from Google, manufactured by HTC and codenamed Marlin and Sailfish, will be branded Pixel instead of Nexus, comes information that Huawei may be working on a new tablet. The news comes from Twitter handle evleaks, known for providing mostly accurate insider information from the industry. The tweet mentions that the tablet is likely to be a 7-inch device and will pack 4GB of RAM. The tablet could be a successor to the company's last tablet, the 10-inch Pixel C.
