ICYMI: The 7 biggest tech stories of the week, from a DJI e-bike to the announcement of a Nothing phone
This week, DJI made a surprising move into the e-bike space, ChatGPT revealed how it works, and Nothing announced three new products – which we’ll learn more about in a showcase next Monday.
We know it can be challenging to stay on top of the latest news in the tech world, so in this weekly update we’re summarizing the most important news stories from the past seven days to help you stay on top of things.
Next week, be sure to check back here for the latest on Samsung Galaxy Unpacked gadgets, and let’s get right to it. Speaking of Samsung…
7. Galaxy Unpacked technology was leaked earlier
Next week’s news will almost certainly be dominated by announcements about the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked, but if recent leaks are to be believed, there may be no announcements to report at all.
Ahead of the event itself – scheduled for July 10 – leakers have seemingly revealed almost every major upgrade coming to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6. Both phones are apparently destined to get a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, IP48 dust and water resistance, and new Galaxy AI features. The Fold is also expected to get a brighter main display, slightly better battery life, and a slightly larger cover display, while the Flip is said to get a new 50MP main camera and a higher-capacity battery.
Incidentally, leakers have also predicted that Samsung will include a pair of Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro earbuds with every purchase of a Galaxy Z Fold 6 or Galaxy Flip 6. We’re curious to see what audio upgrades are in store.
6. DJI Moved From Air to Land in Surprise E-Bike Reveal
Drone manufacturer DJI has made a surprising leap from its drones to electric bikes. In an official announcement, DJI confirmed that it was working on the Amflow PL, an electric mountain bike featuring its new Avinox Drive System. This drive system uses technology otherwise reserved for drones and smartphones, delivering real-time riding data to the frame’s built-in touchscreen.
The bike will also use an app that will let you adjust power settings, put it in anti-theft mode, and monitor its location, similar to the Cowboy 4 electric bike. Our top electric mountain bike pick right now is the Specialized Levo SL Expert Carbon eMTBa fantastic ride that’s a little lighter than the Amflow PL’s predicted 19.2kg. It’s also a lot cheaper, so the Amflow PL should be good enough to take a spot on our best electric bikes list.
5. Nothing announced a new cheap phone, smartwatch and earbuds
Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked isn’t the only event happening next week. Nothing is hosting a showcase for three new gadgets from CMF – its budget-friendly tech range – with the CMF Phone 1, CMF Watch Pro 2 and CMF Buds Pro 2.
In terms of specs, the CMF Phone 1 features a 6.67-inch Super AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a Sony 50MP camera, a 5,000mAh battery for up to “22 hours” of use, 16GB of RAM, and a removable back plate that you can customize with your own colors and accessories.
Less is known about the Buds Pro 2 and Watch Pro 2, though the latter will offer interchangeable bezels so you can create different looks for your watch. We’ll learn more about all this tech during the Nothing Community Update on July 8, 2024 at 5am ET / 10am BST / 7pm AEST.
This week, the Meta Store ran out of its Quest 2 headset in several regions, while other retailers around the world also ran low on Quest 2 stock. So now you’re left with either the Meta Quest 3 (which is a fantastic option anyway) or the Meta Quest Pro (which we don’t recommend over the Quest 3).
Those looking for a cheaper option needn’t panic that they’ve missed their chance. It’s looking increasingly likely that a budget Meta Quest 3S will launch at Meta Connect in September – and the Quest 2 is already sold out, suggesting that Meta is making room for a new VR headset model in its stockrooms.
We’ll have to wait and see what’s announced at Connect 2024, but if you’re still on the fence about buying a Quest 3, you might want to wait a little longer and see what’s shown off in a few months.
3. ChatGPT has revealed the secret rules
AI chatbots often feel like mysterious black boxes, but this week ChatGPT gave us a fascinating insight into their thought processes – or at least how OpenAI told them to behave.
A Redditor managed to get ChatGPT to reveal its system instructions with a simple “Hi”, which led to some revealing internal policies such as “never use emojis unless explicitly requested”. Not content with that, ChatGPT also laid out the internal policies for OpenAI’s Dall-E image generator.
A separate ChatGPT user discovered that there are multiple personalities when using the GPT-4o model, which gave us insight into future versions. That’s fine, ChatGPT – get it all off your chest.
2. Leica launched a ‘budget’ camera
Leica’s latest compact digital camera, the D-Lux 8, is official. Arriving six years after the now-discontinued D-Lux 7, it features a fresh look and UI for 2024 inspired by the Leica Q3, Leica’s higher-end full-frame compact and one of our favorite cameras of 2023.
The D-Lux 8 falls firmly into the small-change category. It gets a simpler control layout than the D-Lux 7, a new textured body, an improved OLED viewfinder and a higher-resolution LCD, and finally brings raw DNG shooting alongside JPEG to Leica’s D-Lux line. Combined with the improved Leica Photos app, it’s easier to edit and share photos on the go. Otherwise, it’s business as usual. We still have the Micro Four Thirds (MFT) 21MP sensor with a maximum still image size of 17MP and 4K video at up to 30fps, plus the useful 24-75mm f/1.7-2.8 zoom for everyday photography.
But most importantly, the $1,595/£1,450 D-Lux 8 is a Leica you can Actually buy in 2024.
1. Rising RAM prices may have made the RTX 5090 even less affordable
Were you hoping Nvidia’s RTX 5090 GPU would be a bit more affordable than the 4090? Well, we’ve got some bad news, as analysts this week predicted that the price would skyrocket. That’s because RAM prices are set to rise by 3-8% over the next three months, and they’re expected to rise further as demand for these types of components increases, partly due to the desire for larger, more powerful AI data center servers.
It’s a shame that it could be a more expensive piece of tech, as the RTX 5090 has developed into quite the computing beast. With expectations that it will feature GDDR7 RAM (which has 60% more bandwidth and a 50% power efficiency improvement over GDDR6), plus a over 30% improvement in frames per second for gaming, it’s going to be a powerful 4K gaming component.
There’s always a chance that Nvidia will absorb some of these costs in order to maintain an edge over rival GPU maker AMD, but we’ll have to wait and see what pricing strategy the company employs.