Search results for

All search results
Best daily deals

Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission. Learn more.

The Weekly Authority: 📱 Much ado about Nothing

Nothing Phone 1 launches, Samsung foldable rumors, July's PS Plus lineup, and more — the week's top tech news right here.
By

Published onJuly 16, 2022

nothing phone 1 glyph on rear
Oliver Cragg / Android Authority

⚡ Welcome to The Weekly Authority, the Android Authority newsletter that breaks down the top Android and tech news from the week. The 203rd edition here, with the Nothing Phone 1 launch, Galaxy Z Flip and Z Fold 5 rumors, July’s PS Plus lineup, World Emoji Day, and more…

🧊 The craziest deal I saw during Prime Day this year was a $500 ice maker (that’s after the discount). Does anybody really need ice that much? Needless to say, did not add to basket!

Popular news this week

Nothing:

  • Nothing Phone 1 officially launched on Tuesday: A mid-range affair with 6.55-inch 120Hz Full HD+ OLED screen, 4,500mAh battery, dual 50MP cameras, and 8/12GB RAM, powered by the Snapdragon 778G Plus, plus 15W Qi wireless charging. The “Glyph” LEDs on the back can flash when you receive calls, pulse when you get a notification, and other functions, which is pretty cool. Pricing starts at £399 (8GB/128GB) but the phone’s not coming to the US (more in our full review, below).

Google:

Samsung:

Apple:

Space:

Elsewhere:

Movies/TV:

last of us hbo
HBO

Gaming:

Reviews

nothing phone 1 white in hand showing lights glyph
Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority

Features

a close up of the google pixel 5a google logo g logo
Jimmy Westenberg / Android Authority

Weekly Wonder

World Emoji Day 2022 Hero Image
Google

This week marks World Emoji Day (July 17),  and we already saw Emojipedia’s draft designs for 2022’s new emojis, which we weren’t that blown away by, to be honest (not sure when I’d use a goose emoji?). So it seemed like a good time to dive into all things emoji-related — because it turns out, those little icons we know and love haven’t really been around all that long.

It’s not a coincidence that July 17 is the date for world emoji day. Not only is it the date displayed on the calendar emoji, but it’s also the date iCal for Mac was announced at MacWorld Expo in 2002.

  • The word emoji is actually a blend of two Japanese words: e (絵, “picture”) + moji (文字, “character”).
  • We can trace the roots of today’s emojis back to 90s chatrooms.
  • Back then, emojis were a bit more primitive, so you’d likely have used :) to smile at somebody or ;) to respond in a flirty or sarcastic way.
  • Japanese designer Shigetaka Kurita is seen as the founding father of today’s emojis.
  • In 1999, NTT DOCOMO, a Japanese cell company, released the first-ever emoji library: 176 emojis designed for pagers and cell phones.
  • Kurita used a blend of illustrations, pictograms, Japanese graphic novels, and the Zapf Dingbats typeface to create the emoji library.
  • You can see it on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

The emoji evolution

Did you know there are over 3,600 emojis in use today?

  • Over 900m are used on Facebook Messenger every day.
  • One in five Tweets contains an Emoji.
  • And 50% of Instagram comments contain emojis.
  • Face with tears of joy (😂) was the world’s most popular emoji from the time Emojipedia’s records began (2011) until March 2021, when loudly crying face (😭) took the top spot for 10 months — pretty understandable given all that was happening in the world. Today, face with tears of joy is back on top.
  • Did you know you can still use Android’s cute yellow blob emoji?
  • Nowadays, we use emojis on all our devices — you can even get them on your Chromebook.

Global emoji use reached new heights in July 2022, ahead of World Emoji Day:

  • Over 22% of all Tweets sent in July (in the runup to World Emoji Day) included at least one emoji.
  • From June to July 2022, we saw record-breaking emoji use, with the highest instances of emojis-per-tweet since Emojipedia’s records began in 2011.

As part of World Emoji Day, you can catch Emojipedia’s video series “Emojis Across The World” on the official Emojipedia YouTube channel, packed with contributions from global emoji experts and emoji lovers worldwide.

Tech Calendar

  • July 19: Stray lands on PS5, PS4, PC
  • July 28: Pixel 6a launch
  • July 28: ASUS Zenfone 9 launch
  • Late July/Early August: Possible OnePlus 10T launch?
  • August 10 (TBC): Samsung Unpacked? (new Galaxy foldables, Galaxy Watch 5 series?)
  • September 2-6: IFA Berlin
  • September 10 @ 9 PM CEST: Ubisoft Forward showcase
  • November 8: Skull and Bones release date on Xbox Series S/X, PS5, PC, Stadia, and Luna
  • November 9: God of War: Ragnarok launches on PS4, PS5

Tech Tweet of the Week

Although today it has my sympathies I know this community will never die. #outlawsforlife
— Roger Clark (@rclark98) July 13, 2022

Something extra: A brilliant story from Morning Brew and the BBC,Police arrested a group of Indian con men who staged a fake Indian Premier League cricket match on a farm and duped Russian gamblers into betting on it.”

Enjoy your week!

Paula Beaton, Copy Editor.

You might like