Tech Talk

Rumors suggest Apple's iPhone 12 launch event will be held on October 13, with the more affordable 5.4 and 6.1-inch devices set to ship out ahead of the more expensive 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch Pro devices, and this morning hit-and-miss leaker Jon Prosser has further committed to that date by providing alleged details on Apple's first shipment of finalized ‌iPhone 12‌ units. Prosser claims the initial shipment of ‌iPhone 12‌ units will go out to distributors on October 5 in advance of the launch event, and this will include the 5.4-inch ‌iPhone 12‌ "mini" – which he says is "definitely the final marketing name" – and the lower end 6.1-inch ‌iPhone 12‌ model. Prosser asserts that the two higher-end Pro models will be announced at the same event but will ship later in November. Prosser also claims that the more affordable models will come in 64, 128, and 256GB storage capacities, which conflicts with a claim he made in May that Apple's ‌iPhone 12‌ l

Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G Factory Unlocked $350 at amazon If you've been eyeing up the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra but didn't want to spend top-dollar to get one, then today is your lucky day. Amazon is currently discounting the top-of-the-line 512GB model by $350 , dropping it to the same price as the 128GB version. While other models are discounted by around $200, this is an unprecedented price drop for the new flagship phone. To look at, the Galaxy Note 20 5G and Galaxy Note 20 5G Ultra are remarkably similar save for a few details that lead to the difference in price between the two models. Both phones are almost the same physical size with just a few millimeters separating the two. The screens are also similar in size with the Note 20 featuring a 6.7-inch display and the Note 20 Ultra fitting in a 6.9-inch panel. The respective size of the batteries is also similarly close at 4,300 and 4,500mAh, respectively, and both models are powered by the same Snapdragon 865+

Huboo , the U.K.-headquartered startup that offers an end-to-end fulfilment service for online retailers of all sizes, has raised £14 million in Series A funding. The round is led by Stride.VC , with participation from Hearst Ventures. Existing investors , including Episode 1, Maersk Growth, Ada Ventures, and True Capital all followed on, bringing Huboo’s funding to £18 million to date. Launched in November 2017 by Martin Bysh and Paul Dodd after the pair had run a number e-commerce experiments, Huboo aims to solve the fulfilment pain point that most online stores face. Using what it calls a “micro-warehousing” and a vertical software model, the full-stack service promises to store your stock, and then “pick, pack and deliver it” automatically as customer orders are placed. The Huboo dashboard provides stock control, order tracking and billing information. It is also integrated with third-party sales channels and marketplaces, such as Amazon, eBay and Shopify. This enables Huboo

With lockdowns around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the travel industry especially hard. In Asia, however, several startups are adapting by focusing on domestic activities (or “staycations”) instead of international travel. They include Taipei-based KKday , which announced today that it has closed a $75 million Series C led by Cool Japan Fund and the National Development Fund of Taiwan. Existing investors Monk’s Hill Ventures and MindWorks Capital also returned for the round. Founded in 2014, KKDay will use its new funding on Rezio , a booking management platform it began piloting in March, starting with Japan and Taiwan. Created for tour operators and activity providers, especially those who previously operated mostly offline, Rezio can help reduce operational costs by allowing its users to set up a booking website that works with different payment gateways and manage availability by tracking bookings from different channels. The latter is especially important during the

You can continue to use Home/Away Assist in the Nest app for now. What you need to know Home and Away Routines in the Google Home app will soon replace the Home/Assist feature in the Nest app. Currently, however, Home & Away routines in Google Home cannot adjust Nest Guard. If you began using the Nest app before August last year, you will have to migrate to a Google account to use the Home app routines. Earlier this month, Google rolled out a new update for the Google Home app, adding a few more Nest features. As spotted by the folks at Android Police, Google Chromecast support documentation has shed more light on the new Home & Away routines that will soon be available in the Google Home app. The Home & Away Routines in the Google Home app are triggered using the new "presence sensing" feature, which uses sensors on your Nest products and location data from your phone to determine whether you're at home or not. While Home & Away routines work

Xiaomi has finally entered the smartwatch and smart speaker segments in India. What you need to know Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 5 is now official in India. The fitness tracker offers 11 sports modes and up to two weeks of battery life on a single charge. Xiaomi has also launched its first smartwatch and smart speaker for the Indian market. Xiaomi today launched a bunch of new products at its Smarter Living 2021 event , including the Mi Smart Band 5, Mi Smart Speaker, and the Mi Watch Revolve. The Mi Smart Band 5 is the global version of the Mi Band 5 fitness tracker that Xiaomi launched in China in June this year. The Mi Smart Band 5 has a 1.1-inch AMOLED display with a claimed peak brightness of 450 nits. As you would expect from a modern fitness tracker, the Mi Smart Band 5 offers 24/7 heart-rate tracking and 24-hour sleep monitoring. You get a total of 11 sports modes, along with women's health tracking. Some of the other key features of the Mi Smart Band 5 include 5 ATM w

OnePlus is focusing on just the OnePlus 8T with its mid-cycle refresh, and there won't be an 8T Pro model this year. What you need to know OnePlus founder and CEO Pete Lau took to Weibo to announce that there won't be a OnePlus 8T Pro. OnePlus is instead focusing on the OnePlus 8T, and positioning the OnePlus 8 Pro as the default option for enthusiast users. The OnePlus 8T is set for an official unveil on October 14. We've known for a few weeks that there won't be a OnePlus 8T Pro variant , with OnePlus instead focusing its attention on the regular OnePlus 8T . Now we have official confirmation thanks to a Weibo post by OnePlus founder and CEO Pete Lau. In the post (via Android Authority ), Lau mentions that users looking for a Pro model can get the OnePlus 8 Pro : It makes sense for OnePlus to not offer an 8T Pro this time around. The OnePlus 8 Pro launched just four months ago and offers some of the best hardware money can buy, and OnePlus must have fel