Apple: Apple announced its “California Streaming” online event for September 14, likely for the iPhone 13 reveal, possibly also the AirPods 3, and more. It’s reportedly in talks with Toyota about Apple Car production, starting in 2024, though Apple’s car chief is heading to Ford.
Samsung: Samsung announced its “Discover Samsung” event from September 20 to 26, with a new deal each day on phones and other tech, plus top tips and hacks. Galaxy S22 specs leaked this week, suggesting no 200MP camera sensor. Samsung is also reportedly working on a 576MP camera sensor, which could debut as early as 2025. The One UI 4.0 beta’s running late, while the Galaxy Note 9 will no longer get monthly security updates. And by year’s end, WhatsApp will stop working on some Galaxy phones.
Google: Google’s ad gave us a peek at the Pixel 6 in the flesh, while an Instagram promo teased a possible October 19 release. The Android 12 fifth beta launched, bringing the stable launch ever closer, though we still don’t have an exact date. And Google released updates to fix the Google Clock alarms issue.
Global chip shortage: Mediatek extends its lead over Qualcomm in chipset shipments, and we should get ready for smartphones to be more expensive next year.
Elsewhere: The Realme Pad launches in India on September 16, while Vivo launched its camera-centric X70 series. Xiaomi announced a new, longer update policy, and Fossil removed dozens of smartwatch faces. Meanwhile, Facebook launched its Rayban Stories picture-taking smart glasses and Amazon will sell its own branded smart TVs from October. And El Salvador became the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender but got off to a rocky start.
Movies/TV: Tributes poured in for Actor Michael K. Williams (54), best known for his role as Omar Little in The Wire, who died on Monday. This week also saw the first trailer for Matrix Resurrections land, while Top Gun: Maverick and Mission Impossible 7 are delayed again. Meanwhile, HBO Max launches in six European countries on October 26, and Hulu gets its first price rise in two years.
Gaming: Sony will let PS4 purchasers of Horizon Forbidden West upgrade to the PS5 version for free, but it’s the last game to do so — new cross-gen upgrades will now cost $10. Sony’s PlayStation Showcase on September 9 gave us a sneak peek at loads of upcoming games, including Wolverine, Spider-Man 2, and the God of War Ragnarok gameplay trailer. We also got another enticing glimpse of Ghostwire Tokyo, and the announce trailer for the Alan Wake remaster, coming to PlayStation for the first time this fall.
