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Are smartphones getting smarter every day?
Another interesting week for the smartphone industry, with the first phone call made using spatial audio, 5-minute fast charging, and OPPO unveiling its new era of smartphones. And that was before we even mention those rumours about Elon Musk venturing into the smartphone market.
Apple Intelligence
Apple’s annual conference announced iOS 18, - Apple’s big push into AI. Apple Intelligence (nothing artificial here!) aims to offer generative AI tools for writing and editing, image creation, and organisation. Apple kicked off the event by emphasising how privacy will be a key feature “setting Apple's AI apart from the competition”, at least for now. While Siri may know everything you say in your text messages, it won't be sharing that information with anyone - you can trust Apple…This announcement did not please Elon Musk greatly. However it's also fair to say he’s in a different camp to OpenAI these days.
AI won't let thieves by
In London, one smartphone is stolen every six minutes - a stat I keep reminding myself of every time I crack open Google Maps in the capital. While this is clearly not just a London problem, Google has announced it is testing a new feature to detect if your Android phone has been stolen. Google is using an AI model to detect jerky motion and sudden acceleration that might suggest your phone has been snatched; if sensed the handset will automatically lock to prevent thieves from being able to access anything on the device. It’s a neat idea that will live or die in the execution.
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Does the world really need another smartphone?
If the rumours are true about Musk launching a new smartphone, where is the market niche? The smartphone market is really difficult (as my scars from numerous failed attempts to break into the market show) even when you have lots of money. Certainly there’s an argument that - with X becoming less relevant as a social platform, this could simply end up being another marketing exercise rather than a market mover.
Exhibition & Events Calendar
A round-up of the big events coming your way over the next three months
