From British tech start-up "Nothing" comes the "Nothing Phone (1)". At a glance, it has a similar look and shape to an iPhone. However, a series of LED strips scattered beneath a transparent glass back make this a rather unique and eye-catching piece of kit.
The light bars flash in sequence with various tones and vibrations to create customisable patterns for calls, notifications, and charging status.
In spite of the hype and the novelty, and given that it's the Company's first shot at a smartphone, it's a pretty decent device. It has an excellent display, solid cameras and ample battery life.
The specs don't compare with other flagship Android devices - which is to be expected. Nothing to be seen here.
At £399 - £499, Nothing is looking to compete in the mid-range market.
In terms of performance and overall value, it simply can't match other mid-range devices like the iPhone SE, Samsung Galaxy A52, or Google Pixel 6a.
What we do have is a decent mid-range phone, running near-stock android, with a unique aesthetic. Nothing to write home about.
This reminds us of the OnePlus One, which stole the hearts of techies around the world in 2014 when it took on the big players with a super cheap high spec device.
Then we found out why this is reminiscent of that period. Swedish entrepreneur Carl Pei co-founded OnePlus in 2013, and left in 2020 to start Nothing.
Carl Pei wants to start a smartphone revolution, and suggests that companies are not truly innovating. “Today, everyone is so passionless about technology. On the consumer hardware side it’s basically more and more of the same, in terms of products,” he says. “Less and less differentiation, and consumers are not as excited anymore. People don’t really want to watch the launch events for new products.”
Disrupting the smartphone market is no easy task, as we witnessed with the Essential Phone from Essential Products, which came out swinging with its bezel-less design in 2017, but was soon discontinued, never to be seen again.
Then we learned that Nothing recently acquired Essential Products trademarks and brand, a year after it closed down.
Whether Nothing will become a serious player in the tech industry, or slowly drift away into the abyss after the hype dies down remains to be seen. Time will tell.
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Developed by Intel in partnership with Apple, Thunderbolt is a brand name given to a type of hardware interface technology that is used to connect a device to a PC. Thunderbolt has been around since 2011, and we are currently on our 4th iteration of the connectivity technology.
Early versions of Thunderbolt used an MDP (Mini Display Port) connector. Now, they utilise USB-C, which is the universal standard for connectivity.
They are interchangeable - you can use either cable to charge or transfer data. Every Thunderbolt 3 port will also work as a USB-C port and every Thunderbolt 3 cable will work as a USB-C cable.
So how is Thunderbolt any different to a standard USB-C cable?
Thunderbolt can transfer data at 40GB/s, which is twice as fast as standard USB-C.
With this ability to push power and transfer a large amount of information, Thunderbolt can support two 4k displays. Due to its greater bandwidth and high speed data transfer, Thunderbolt is superior to HDMI.
Thunderbolt offers significant advantage over USB-C for connecting to ultra high resolution displays and external GPU's, or transferring large files from external drives.
For everything else, and for most people in most cases, USB-C will suffice.
As the premium product, Thunderbolt is more expensive than other connections.
Whilst the cables and the ports look the same, you will need a Thunderbolt compatible cable, and the devices that you are connecting will need to have Thunderbolt compatible ports.
Most products have the Thunderbolt emblem, or are labelled as Thunderbolt compatible. This isn't always the case. Some devices, such as the MacBook Pro and Surface Laptop, are unmarked. In such cases, you'll have to check the product specifications.
We are still recovering from a pandemic. War is tearing us apart. Our climate is spiraling out of control. There's a huge strain on resources, which is driving up cost of living. Confidence in our political leaders is at an all time low. Our screen protectors become chipped and tatty within just a few days...
And perhaps this is what pushes us over the edge, thrusting us into a mental breakdown that ultimately leads to a complete inability to function as a civilized human in society.
This is where we draw the line, and where we offer you a solution to your suffering.
Talkback's TechWrap is a panacea for your screen protection quandaries and ensuing existential crisis.
Most screen protectors look and work reasonably well for all of 3 days, right? Our TechWraps are significantly more protective and visually-appealing than standard tempered glass.
Like any form of quality protection, it does the job, and you wouldn't even know that it's on there.
And get this - they last for months; sometimes years!
We freshly print, cut and fit high quality screen guards & skins for your phone, tablet or smartwatch in-store.
If you don't know, CarPlay is a system which allows iPhone users to connect their device to their car's infotainment system. This enables the user to access a range of functions including maps/navigation, calls, messages and music/media playback via their vehicles built-in display, microphone and speakers. This provides seamless integration between phone and car, making it a superior option to the built in infotainment/navigation system, and is several steps beyond simply connecting a phone via Bluetooth. You can now even use your iPhone or Apple Watch as a secure car key.
Most modern cars come fitted with CarPlay. Manufacturers started implementing it around 2017, give or take a couple years.
Android devices use an equivalent system called Android Auto.
Car manufacturers have come round to the idea that their own software sucks, and so have outsourced it to Apple and Google, which has made their vehicles better overall.
The new CarPlay system is expected to go live in 2024. Rather than just occupying the centre console, CarPlay will be able to utilize all built-in screens - essentially turning your car into an Apple car! This concept image gives you an idea of what this will look like - see how you have customisable displays for all your instruments and controls, including the speedometer, RPM, fuel gauge, navigation, media playback and more. Just as you do with your iPhone, CarPlay will enable the user to add widgets to their car, such as calendar, weather and clocks.
Perhaps most importantly, is the additional integration with your cars other systems. You will no longer have to exit CarPlay in order to adjust your seats, climate controls, or radio tuning. You will be able to access these features via the CarPlay interface.
We are perhaps just ten or so updates away from your iPhone driving your car for you!
Upcoming features in 2023 include:
> Upgrades to Maps, which will now support route-planning and multi-stop journeys.
> Fuel apps will be supported, which will allow you to find the cheapest fuel nearby - which is becoming an increasingly desirable feature.
> You can already send messages with voice-to-text, but now Siri will read your message back to you so that you can check if it is okay before sending.
> The ability to pay for fuel from the dashboard.
Tech integration is getting better. But how much control do we want to give to companies like Apple? We look forward to not being able to use our windscreen wipers in the middle of a rainstorm because we have not yet updated to the latest iOS 😂
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The power of design: What sets apart one amongst thousands of tech companies?
In their words: “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication".
The worlds first and only $3 trillion dollar company has nestled it's way into the minds, hearts and pockets of people across the world with the sleek and innovative design of their products.
Here we catch a glimpse at the art of design, which must be integrated into the engineering side in order to make a functional electronics product.
Unfortunately, our experience in the industry has revealed to us time and time again that the functionality and reliability of Apple products has been overlooked in favour of form and appearance: Bendy phones and iPads, the Magic Mouse 2 - which couldn't be used whilst charging, the butterfly keyboard on MacBooks which clogged up with dust - to name a few.
But as every successful CEO will tell you, you must take risks, push the boundaries, and fail many times before you can ultimately succeed.
Steve Jobs, though not regarded as a skilled designer himself, was the epitome of a visionary, which manifested itself in simple, precise and innovative design - elegant but powerful. He once famously said that "design is not just what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works."
Jobs was so damn meticulous, insisting that every aspect of the product must be thoughtfully designed and integrated into the perfect final product. Jobs would fuss over every detail - down to the appearance and arrangement of the plates and screws inside devices - which the user would never even see!
If you're into tech, then you'll know all about the controversy surrounding the notch on iPhones, iPads and Macs. You may experience the frustration of trying to type with your phone on a desk as a result of the huge camera bump. The difference here is that these could or should be recognised as compromises, which we make in order to benefit from performance upgrades.
It's a never-ending cycle of idea, experimentation, implementation and refinement.
Millions of dollars, thousands of hours, and countless strokes of creative artistry go into the software and hardware in your devices. Take a moment to contemplate and appreciate that.
Note that the images in the article were released by Apple, so they have undoubtedly been staged and curated to present the best depiction. Even so, it's fascinating to get an insight into the design process.
Thanks for reading!
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