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Welcome back to the newsletter. We are changing things up, so expect to see at least two editions each week, with the occasional special edition. The newsletter will continue to live on Engadget.com too, but if you havent subscribed, you should do that. Next week, Samsung will reveal its next family of Galaxy phones. Not the foldables, no, but the traditional S series devices. Going on track record, we can expect to see three S25 devices: standard, Plus and Ultra. Theres unlikely to be a huge change to aesthetics, but we expect some subtle differences rounded corners, flatter edges and (of course) thinner bezels. Inside, at least in the US, the S25 series will probably be powered by Qualcomms Snapdragon 8 Elite, designed for on-device generative AI. The chip promises 45 percent faster single- and multi-core performance while using 27 percent less power than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, so it could improve battery life too. Some rumors suggest a Galaxy S25 Slim with a you guessed it slimmer design. Its all very on trend. However, given the FCC certifications only appear to cover the usual trio of flagships, that device may not arrive until later in the year. (If at all.) Expect an awful lot of AI razzle-dazzle too. One rumor suggests the Galaxy S25 series will include an AI Agent that provides personalized clothing suggestions and transport information, even though Google and myriad third-party apps already fully service the latter. Id put money on a laborious bragging segment from Samsung and its AI tricks many of which will fall by the wayside. A request: Please steal the Pixels Add Me photo feature. Well be reporting live from Samsungs first Unpacked event of 2025. Mark your calendar for January 22! Mat Smith Get this delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here! The biggest tech stories you missed Amazon Prime will no longer let clothes shoppers try before you buy after this month CES 2025 was more shoppable than conceptual Celebs and tech luminaries want to create a fully open social media ecosystem iPhone Air rumors and an entry-level iPad According to Bloomberg, the iPhone 17 Air will be 2mm thinner. The rumored ultra-thin iPhone weve heard about for the last few months will get Apples Air branding. In his Power On newsletter, Bloombergs Mark Gurman said the iPhone 17 Air will be roughly 2 millimeters thinner than any other phone model. It will have a base-level A19 chip and a single-lens camera system, Gurman notes, and will serve as a testing ground for future technologies. A single-lens camera could be an intriguing decision now three sensors is the standard for Apples most premium phones. Now, how about a MacBook mini? Continue reading. Sonos CEO steps down after disastrous app launch After eight years on the job. Sonos Sonos CEO Patrick Spence is leaving the company after last years disastrous app launch, in which its redesign was missing core features. Back in May 2024, the company rolled out a mobile app rife with bugs and missing features like alarms and sleep timers. Some customers even complained that entire speaker systems would no longer work after updating to the new app. Sonos stock price has fallen by around 13 percent since the app launched. Sonos laid off over 100 people in August as it tried to fix the software and revenue fell 16 percent in the fiscal fourth quarter, which ended on September 28. Spences payout package includes $7,500 per month until June, a cash severance of $1.9 million and shares in Sonos. I aspire to screw up an app update. Continue reading. Meta deleted links to Instagram competitor Pixelfed Sharing the Instagram alternative was briefly considered spam. Meta appeared to block links to Pixelfed, a decentralized photo-sharing platform, on Facebook, according to users on both Bluesky and 404 Media. A small group of posts that linked to pixelfed.social was deleted, with Facebooks Community Standards on spam used as a justification. Theres a bigger impetus for users to jettison Instagram: Meta just announced dramatic changes to how it plans to moderate speech on its platforms. The company is ending both its third-party fact-checking program and made changes to its Hateful Conduct policy last week. A Meta spokesperson said removing the posts to Pixelfed was a mistake, and theyd be reinstated. Continue reading. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-121522357.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
With TikTok likely just days away from being banned in the US, the apps users are pushing some previously little-known apps to the top of Apple and Googles stores. The app that has so far seemed to benefit the most is a Chinese social media app called RedNote or Xiaohongshu, which translates to "little red book." The TikTok-like app for shortform video is currently the number one app in Apples App Store and is in the 34th spot in Googles Play Store. RedNote has been gaining popularity as many TikTok creators have begun posting about their experiences trying out the Chinese app. Meanwhile, over on RedNote, a number of creators have shared videos about welcoming TikTok refugees to the service. The app is set up very much like TikTok, with the ability to vertically scroll through feeds of shortform videos based on your interests. Much of the apps interface is in Chinese, so it can be a bit confusing to navigate, though there are some helpful videos on TikTok that explain how to change the apps language to English. While RedNote seems to have come out of nowhere, the app has been popular in China for years. CNBC reports that the more than decade-old app is seen as a challenger to ByteDances Douyin and e-commerce giant Alibaba, with about 300 million users. RedNote isnt the only app thats been boosted by anxious TikTok users. Another ByteDance app, Lemon8, is also trending in both Apple and Googles stores, where its in the second and first spot, respectively. But while TikTok itself has at times boosted the app, Lemon8 will likely face the same fate as TikTok should the Supreme Court side with the Biden Administration, which seems likely. Another video app called Flip, which describes itself as where social meets shopping, is also trending in both app stores. The app, from Los Angeles-based Humans, Inc., features shortform videos and an in-app storefront. Its currently ranked number 14 in Googles store and number four in Apples. The company was valued at more than $1 billion last year, according to Crunchbase. Another app that has seemingly benefited from the impending TikTok ban is something called ReelShort. While the apps name sounds like a play on Instagrams reels and YouTube Shorts both of which are well established TikTok clones the app seems to be less of a TikTok clone and more of a wannabe streaming platform. The app features bite-sized clips of longer movies with bizarre titles like The Heiress Blacklisted her Husband and In Love with the Alpha. ReelShort is number seven in the App Store number two in Google Play. While its unlikely any of these apps will remain popular for long, the fact that so many relatively unknown apps have risen to the top of the app stores so quickly is yet another sign of how influential TikToks users and creators can be. It also highlights how banning TikTok alone wont curb the influence of Chinese tech companies in the US.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/chinese-social-media-app-rednote-is-the-number-one-app-as-tiktok-ban-looms-235929802.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
Last week, Meta decided it would replace its professional fact-checking program with X-style "Community Notes" and it looks like a version of the feature is already being tested on Threads. Alessandro Paluzzi, a developer who frequently posts leaked details on Meta's apps, shared three screenshots that show an early look of what the Community Notes will look like in Threads. Paluzzi's images show a new "Write Community Note" option in the menu you can access in the corner of a Threads post. If you select it, it looks like you'll be able to anonymously submit your note, and if it's rated as helpful, it will appear under the post. The whole setup is not dissimilar from how X uses Community Notes, which started as a feature called "Birdwatch" on Twitter before Elon Musk acquired and renamed the company. Alessandro Paluzzi Engadget has reached out to Meta for information on the new Threads feature and will update this post if we learn more. Community Notes are just one of the ways Threads is changing under Meta's new approach to moderation. The app, which was against the sharing and promoting of "political" content, will now also suggest political posts. Instagram and Threads head Adam Mosseri demonstrated how you can adjust the amount of political content you see in your feed in a short video shared to Threads today. Meta is giving users three options to choose from: "See less," which attempts to weed out political content, "Standard," which suggests some political content and "See more," which treats political content like everything else on the app. It's not clear that Community Notes or toggles for political content address the actual issues users have with Threads, or if they'll make anyone happier. They do fit with the "free speech warrior" image Meta is trying to project, though.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/threads-is-starting-to-test-community-notes-232150151.html?src=rss
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Marketing and Advertising
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