Daily Authority: 🎮 Long live micro-USB

🐀 Good morning and welcome to Tuesday’s Daily Authority. I’m just back from vacation and have been enjoying playing Plague Tale: Requiem on my week off — those rats are terrifying, though!

Micro-USB lives on

Though USB-C has been around for several years now, we were curious whether any of our readers still owned devices using micro-USB connectivity. Over 11,450 of you voted in our poll, and the results were eye-opening…

• The accessories space dominated our poll results, with gaming controllers, e-readers, headphones, power banks, Bluetooth speakers, and more all earning a mention.
• But it might surprise you to know that some folks are still using smartphones with micro-USB ports. In fact, 13% of our poll takers said they still have a smartphone that uses the standard, even though USB-C ports have been widely adopted in the industry.
• In total, 46% of you said you own an accessory with a micro-USB port, so it’s clear the standard isn’t going anywhere fast.

Power banks, PS4, and more

• Among the devices mentioned in the poll results comments were PlayStation 4 and Xbox controllers, TV keyboards, headphones, rechargeable lights, dashcams, power banks, and Raspberry Pis.
• Elsewhere, 17% of you said you have at least two or more of the micro-USB devices mentioned in the poll, while 12% own and use a tablet or e-reader with a micro-USB port.
• Only 13% of respondents aren’t using any micro-USB devices whatsoever.
• Though devices such as the latest Kindle and the PS5 have made the move to USB-C, there are still plenty of devices with micro-USB ports out there.
• In our house, I counted four devices with micro-USB connectivity: My PS4, my trusty Kindle Paperwhite — though I’m eyeing a new Paperwhite this Black Friday — a mini-keyboard for my TV, and a camera charger.

Roundup

👍 MediaTek Dimensity 9200 announced: The 64-bit-only era is here (Android Authority).

💰 Google reveals Black Friday deals, including Pixel 6a for $300. Though it’s still a couple weeks to the main event, we’ve rounded up some great early Black Friday deals, too (Android Authority).

⌚ Latest firmware update is bricking the Galaxy Watch 4 for some — Samsung’s halted rollout until the issue is fixed (Android Authority).

📱 iPhone inspired? Xiaomi 13, Xiaomi 13 Pro renders leak (Android Authority).

🦜 Pay to Tweet: Elon Musk has discussed ideas such as putting the entirety of Twitter behind a paywall, or allowing everyone to use the site for a limited time each month, after which a subscription would be required (The Verge).

📺 Following the recently announced Disney Plus price hikes, we want to know, will you pay more for the streaming service? (Android Authority).

👀 LG Display develops stretchable display that elongates by 20% from 12 inches to 14 inches (ZDNET).

🚗 Google is working with Renault to build a “vehicle of tomorrow,” based on the Android Auto platform (Android Authority).

☘ Good Lock with that: Back tap gestures are finally a thing on Samsung phones (Android Authority).

🪓 God of War Ragnarök lands on PlayStation 4 and 5 tomorrow, the sequel to 2018’s critically acclaimed God of War, but did you know its release coincides with an actual Blood Moon? (PlayStation, IGN).

💀 Die in the game, die in real life: Oculus creator makes virtual reality headset that intentionally kills people (The Independent).

🎵 “How do we remember song lyrics for so many years, even if we haven’t heard the song in years?” (r/explainlikeimfive).

Tuesday thing

If you’re bored with all the recent Twitter drama, you should check out CrowTok. Yes, this is a thing.

• This small TikTok niche is extremely active, and as well as featuring videos of people feeding crows and other birds, seeks to explore the relationships that corvids have with humans.
• The family of birds known as Corvids includes crows, magpies, and ravens.
• Crows aren’t the only birds that are smart, but Cornell ornithologist Kevin McGowan believes their intelligence resonates deeply with us as they’re good at many of the things we humans excel at.
• For example, did you know crows can recognize human faces and can also associate them with danger or kindness, passing this information on to their pals? Yes, that might also mean they’re capable of plotting revenge, so be kind to your neighborhood birds…
• Crows can also think about their own thoughts, which might explain why you often see them sitting in the road, staring into space.

New to TikTok? We’ve got a handy guide for how to create TikTok videos that’ll get you started on the platform.

Have a terrific Tuesday!

Paula Beaton, Copy Editor.