Mobile

The Pura 70 lineup has four variants: the 70, 70 Plus, 70 Pro, and the 70 Ultra. Hundreds of fans lined at Huawei stores across China as stock of the top-end models sold out, according to Reuters.

A resurgent Huawei has reportedly been developing its own advanced chips in spite of US sanctions, but we won’t know what secrets the Pura 70 hides until the first teardown.

Katie Notopoulos’ take on the Humane AI pin’s screen-free proposition is a delightful read that’s slightly tongue-in-cheek (she’s the former Editor in Chief of Threads, after all) and completely relatable. I, for one, am thrilled that she’s on team Screens are Good.

Alongside its new wireless interview mic, Rode has announced a $130 smartphone cage that attaches magnetically to an iPhone, and presumably other Qi2 smartphones once they arrive. It has 33 mounting threads for lights, mics, and other accessories videographers like.

There’s also a $90 modular mount that includes a long handle and two hot shoe arms. Both ship April 24th.

That doesn’t mean users can download just any app from the web, as Apple has created a strict set of guidelines developers must meet to take advantage of the update. Apple also started letting users in the EU use alternative app stores last month.

According to IDC, iPhone sales fell by nearly 10 percent globally compared to the same Q1 last year as Chinese companies like Huawei, Xiaomi, and budget maker Transsion surged.

While Samsung won the quarter (after Apple took the lead for all of 2023), it’s still down slightly YoY and not keeping up with the 7.8 percent increase in smartphone demand.

Motorola is teasing what seems to be an “arty” new Edge phone coming next week, and it looks like we can expect fast wired charging on what the company has dubbed a “masterpiece.” That’s a bold claim, but the last Moto phone I used sure was a good-looking device — personally I’m hoping for more of that lovely vegan leather and less ugly bloatware.

Samsung is adding three new languages to Galaxy AI this spring: Arabic, Indonesian, and Russian. That’s a total of 16 languages supported across AI features like live translation and interpreter.

Samsung’s adding a few new dialects too: Cantonese, Canadian French, and Australian English. That’s really going to clear up some confusion when I tell the S24 Ultra I want to “throw a shrimp on the barbie.”

OnePlus is stepping into the piping-hot waters of mobile AI. It’ll soon release AI Eraser, a feature that uses Oppo’s own LLM, AndesGPT.

It sounds like a straightforward generative AI photo tool in the style of Google’s Magic Editor, and it’s coming to the OnePlus 12, 12R, 11, Open, and Nord CE 4. I guess the refreshingly AI-free flagship is AI-free no more.

Update April 3rd, 9:45AM ET: Added link and sample images from OnePlus.

Instead of reaching for your chats all the way at the top of the app, WhatsApp is shifting that tab, along with the options for updates, communities, and calls to the bottom of the app. There are some new icons to go along with the change, too.