Top tech news of the week:

iPhone 16 release date leaked:

Earlier this week, an iPhone 16 launch poster provided by informant Majin Bu was circulating on social media, saying that the new iPhone models would launch on September 10. As it turns out, the poster was not leaked but was created by a regular user for fun.

However, a new report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, a far more reliable source, claims that Apple is actually planning its biggest hardware launch event of the year for Tuesday, September 10, and that the new iPhones could go on sale starting September 20.

Google has announced that it will remove the dedicated search button on Android devices:

Google may be making some major changes to its app that could result in the removal of the bottom search bar that has become a familiar sight on all Android devices. The new change comes as the Sundar Pichai-led company continues to add new features to its AI-powered Gemini search.

The update was first spotted by whistleblower Assembly Debug (via Android Headline) in the Google beta app for Android version 15.32.37.28.arm64. Although Google is reportedly working on many layouts, none of them feature the search bar at the bottom of the page.

Poco Pad 5G launched in India:

The Poco Pad 5G features a 12.1-inch 2K display with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 pixels. The screen supports an adaptive refresh rate of 120 Hz and an aspect ratio of 16:10, ensuring a smooth visual experience. The display offers a peak brightness of 600 nits and is triple certified by TÜV Rheinland. Corning Gorilla Glass provides additional protection.

Under the hood, the tablet is powered by the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 SoC paired with 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 2.2 internal storage, which can be expanded up to 1.5TB via a microSD card. The device runs on HyperOS which is based on Android 14.

In terms of photography, the Poco Pad 5G is equipped with an 8MP rear camera with LED flash. On the front, there is another 8MP camera on the right edge, which is ideal for video calls.

The tablet is IP52 certified and therefore dust and splash-proof. It also has four speakers, two microphones, a 3.5 mm headphone jack and Dolby Atmos support for an impressive sound experience. The display supports Dolby Vision and further improves this.

WhatsApp reportedly wants to add a new “Like” feature for Instagram:

WhatsApp is reportedly preparing to launch a new customizable chat theme that could soon roll out to both the Android and iOS versions of the personal messaging platform. According to WABetainfo, the new update is expected to improve the messaging experience by offering better control over the visual interface and allowing users to choose their favorite colors for chat bubbles.

The feature was first spotted from the release in WhatsApp beta for iOS 24.11.10.70 and then in WhatsApp beta for Android 2.24.17.19. According to the screenshot shared, WhatsApp might be testing a new section that lets users choose their preferred default chat theme. The feature is currently under development so the preview of chat themes is not available yet. However, the report says that there could be at least 10 chat themes initially.

Moto G45 5G launched in India:

Moto G45 5G features a 6.45-inch HD+ display with a resolution of 1600 x 720 pixels and a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz. The display offers a peak brightness of 500 nits and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3.

The phone runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 chip based on 6nm process and is paired with Adreno 619GPU for handling graphics-intensive tasks. It supports up to 8GB LPDDR4X RAM and up to 128GB UFS 2.2 storage (expandable up to 1TB via microSD card slot).

The Moto G45 5G is powered by a 5,000mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging. It ships with Android 14 with a Motorola UX skin on top. Motorola has promised one year of OS updates and 3 years of security patches for this device.

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Published: August 24, 2024, 3:54 PM IST