Apple banks on AI to give iPhone 16 a boost, AirPods to act as hearing aids

With business slumping, Apple has been under pressure to show what it will offer buyers to jumpstart a new wave of iPhone sales. On Monday, the technology giant revealed its hand – the iPhone 16 which has a camera button on the outside of the handset. The button is an external clue to the changes Apple said it had made inside its latest smartphone, aimed at harnessing the latest in artificial intelligence (AI). Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook said the upgrades would “push the boundaries of what a smartphone can do” but the firm has tough competition, as other brands have already integrated generative AI features into their handsets. BBC

Huawei has unveiled what it calls the world’s first tri-fold smartphone, just hours after arch-rival Apple introduced the iPhone 16, in a carefully timed Tuesday launch. The Shenzhen-based firm, which has been a flashpoint in an escalating tech rivalry between Washington and Beijing, is currently in the midst of a spectacular comeback having launched wildly popular models like the Mate 60 Pro and Mate X5. Successful sales of the Mate XT smartphone, which currently has more than 3.7 million pre-orders, would be another indication of the company’s sustained resurgence. The base model starts at 19,999 yuan ($2,800). CNN]

Elon Musk has announced that the first SpaceX missions to Mars aboard the next-generation Starship rocket are planned for 2026. The SpaceX boss said the launch date is scheduled for when the next Earth-Mars transfer window opens in November 2026, which could see up to eight uncrewed Starhip missions to the Red Planet. The announcement comes just two days after China’s space agency pushed forward its own mission to Mars by two years. The Tianwen-3 sample return mission will now take place in 2028, according to an update from the program’s chief designer. Independent 

There was a lot of noise recently about used electric cars reaching price parity with their petrol equivalents, which is an important step on the road to more widespread adoption of EVs.  The more people drive an electric car, the more the fear of the unknown is removed. And most EV drivers I’ve met are advocates for the tech and counter the scaremongering with solid personal experience. Supply was always going to outstrip demand when lots of electric cars came off three or four-year company-car leases and onto the used market – which is what has happened. That’s driven down prices as EVs find their natural level. Autoexpress 

iPhone users will be able to tell if they are losing their hearing after Apple launched a medical-grade audio test to its headphones. A software update to the company’s Airpods Pro wireless headphones will introduce a test measuring their decibel hearing levels. If the test determines that users are losing their hearing, the headphones will be able to function as a hearing aid, boosting voices in busy face-to-face conversations and phone calls. The company said it meant the AirPods Pro headphones acted as a “clinical grade hearing aid”. Telegraph 

WhatsApp, the most popular end-to-end encrypted messaging app in the world with more than two billion users, allows users to exchange pictures and videos that disappear soon after opening.But a bug in how WhatsApp implements its so-called “View Once” feature in its browser-based web app allows any malicious recipient to display and save the picture and video, which should vanish immediately after being viewed. Tech Crunch