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The Weekly Authority: 📱 Samsung's 3nm score

Samsung's 3nm chips, a peek at the ASUS ROG Phone 6, HTC's metaverse phone, and more — the week's top tech news right here.
By
July 2, 2022
samsung galaxy logo closeup
Robert Triggs / Android Authority

⚡ Welcome to The Weekly Authority, the Android Authority newsletter that breaks down the top Android and tech news from the week. The 201st edition here, with Samsung’s 3nm chips, a peek at the ASUS ROG Phone 6, HTC’s metaverse phone, and everything you missed at this week’s Nintendo Direct Mini.

🍰 Looking forward to some time off for my birthday this weekend, but I’m not letting on how old I’ll be. Shhh!

Popular news this week

samsung logo
Paula Beaton / Android Authority

Samsung:

OnePlus:

HTC:

Xiaomi:

Apple:

Space:

Elsewhere:

Movies/TV:

Disney Plus Day Hocus Pocus 2
Disney

Gaming:

Reviews

Top-down view of the Sony-WH1000XM5 with the ear cups folded flat and upwards
Chris Thomas / Android Authority

Features

Arm Mali G715 Immortalis G615

Weekly Wonder

We’re going to the dark side for this edition’s Weekly Wonder… no, not that dark side… We’re taking a look at the 15-year anniversary of Apple’s iPhone, which first went on sale this week (June 29) in 2007. In some ways, it feels much longer ago.

This week we also saw an Apple exec accuse Samsung of copying the original iPhone, saying it “ripped off our technology” and just put a bigger screen on it.

  • The iPhone first went on sale six months after it was first announced by Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, with the words, “a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough internet communications device.” He also said, “Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone.”
  • One million units sold in 74 days.
  • The first iPhone retailed for $499.
  • It was tiny by today’s smartphone standards, with a 3.5-inch display and huge bezels.
  • This week we also saw an early iPhone prototype dating back to 2006, worth $500k.

We never knew…

Here are a few things you probably didn’t know about the first iPhone:

  • The original iPhone wasn’t as advanced as our smartphones today, but did you know it couldn’t copy and paste? You could do it on a Blackberry or Palm device, but not on the first iPhone.
  • There was no app store: You couldn’t rearrange the home screen, and there was no way to install third-party apps — Apple’s original plan was to rely on web apps, but these never really took off. The App Store didn’t appear until a year later.
  • Apple Maps didn’t have GPS: Apple partnered with Google to create Apple Maps — pretty much the best mapping application at the time — but without GPS there was no turn-by-turn navigation, so although you could get directions, you wouldn’t be guided to your destination.
  • That touchscreen keyboard was controversial: These days we’re used to our smartphones (whether Android or iOS) having a touchscreen keyboard, but back in 2007, every other smartphone on the market had a physical keyboard. Many were doubtful Apple could pull it off, but some clever UI features and an advanced autocorrect algorithm sealed the deal.
  • There wasn’t a front-facing camera or video recording: Yup, you could watch videos on your shiny new iPhone, but you couldn’t record them with that 2MP camera (which did actually still produce some pretty great photos at the time). Video recording wasn’t added to iPhones until 2009, with the iPhone 3GS. The front-facing camera came even later, debuting alongside FaceTime in 2010 on the iPhone 4.

Tech Calendar

  • July 4: Xiaomi 12S series debuts in China
  • July 5: ASUS ROG Phone 6 launch @ 8 AM ET
  • July 12: Nothing Phone 1 launch @ 4 PM BST (11 AM ET)
  • July 12-13: Amazon Prime Day
  • July 13: Samsung Galaxy XCover 6 Pro and Galaxy Tab Active 4 Pro launch
  • July 19: Stray lands on PS5, PS4, PC
  • July 28: Pixel 6a launch
  • August 10 (TBC): Samsung Unpacked? (new Galaxy foldables, Galaxy Watch 5 series?)

Tech Tweet of the Week

You’ve prob seen a viral clip of 2 shirtless men building an underground mud swimming pool with hands and primitive tools.
It’s a whole YouTube genre and there are a number of similar channels based in Southeast Asia w/ 5B+ views.
Who are these creators?
It’s a weird story🧵 pic.twitter.com/kOFftjawy4
— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) June 29, 2022

Something extra: Samsung’s wildest design collabs, from BTS to Supreme (Gizmodo).

See you next weekend!

Paula Beaton, Copy Editor.