This week, DJI made a surprising advancement in e-bikes, ChatGPT revealed how it works, and Nothing announced three new products, which we’ll learn more about in a presentation next Monday.
We know keeping up with the latest tech news can be a challenge, so in this weekly catch-up we round up all the major news stories from the last seven days so you can keep up to date with everything.
Next week, be sure to check back here for all the latest gadgets from Samsung Galaxy Unpacked, and for now, let’s get down to business. Speaking of Samsung…
7. Galaxy Unpacked tech leaked ahead of time
Next week’s news cycle will almost certainly be dominated by Samsung Galaxy Unpacked-related announcements, but if recent leaks are to be believed, there may not be any more announcements to share.
Ahead of the event itself, scheduled for July 10, leaks have seemingly revealed nearly all of the major upgrades coming to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6. Both phones appear set to feature an 8th Gen 3 Snapdragon chipset, IP48 dust and water resistance, and new Galaxy AI features. The Fold, in particular, is expected to have a brighter main display, slightly better battery life, and a slightly larger Cover Screen, while the Flip is expected to have a new 50MP main camera and a larger battery.
Incidentally, leakers have also predicted that Samsung will be throwing in a pair of Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro earbuds with every Galaxy Z Fold 6 or Galaxy Flip 6 purchase, so we’re excited to see what audio upgrades are in store.
6. DJI went from sky to earth with surprise electric bike reveal
Drone maker DJI has made a surprising move by expanding from its drones to e-bikes. In an official announcement, DJI confirmed that it is working on the Amflow PL, an e-MTB equipped with its new Avinox drive system. The drive system uses technology that would otherwise be reserved for drones and smartphones, providing real-time ride data to a touchscreen built into the frame.
The bike will also use an app to let you adjust power settings, put it in anti-theft mode, and check its location, similar to the Cowboy 4 e-bike. Our top e-mountain bike pick right now is the Specialized Levo SL Expert Carbon Electric Mountain Bikea fantastic bike that’s a little lighter than the 19.2kg expected for the Amflow PL. It’s also a lot cheaper, so the Amflow PL better be good to make it onto our list best electric bikes list.
5. Nothing announced a new cheap phone, smartwatch and headphones
Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked isn’t the only event next week. Nothing is hosting a reveal of three new gadgets from CMF – its budget tech line – with the CMF Phone 1, CMF Watch Pro 2, and CMF Buds Pro 2.
Specs-wise, the CMF Phone 1 features a 6.67-inch Super AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a 50MP Sony camera, a 5,000mAh battery for up to “22 hours” of usage, 16GB of RAM, and a removable backplate that you can customize with your own choice of colors and accessories.
Less is known about the Buds Pro 2 and Watch Pro 2, though the latter will feature interchangeable bezels so you can create different looks for your watch. We’ll learn more about all this tech on July 8 during the Nothing Community Update on July 8, 2024 at 5:00 AM ET / 10:00 AM BST / 7:00 PM AEST.
This week, the Meta Store sold out of its Quest 2 headsets in several regions, and other retailers around the world have also reached the end of their Quest 2 stock. That leaves you 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 to buy a cheaper option shouldn’t panic and think they’ve missed out. It’s looking increasingly likely that a budget Meta Quest 3S will launch at Meta Connect in September. With the Quest 2 out of stock, Meta is making room for a new VR headset model in its inventory.
We’ll have to wait and see what it announces at Connect 2024, but if you’re on the fence about buying a Quest 3 right now, you might want to wait and see what’s unveiled in a few months.
3. ChatGPT revealed its secret rules
AI chatbots often seem like mysterious black boxes, but this week ChatGPT gave us a fascinating glimpse into its thought processes — or at least how OpenAI tells it to behave.
One Redditor managed to trick ChatGPT into disclosing their system’s instructions with a simple “Hi,” leading to revealing house rules like “never use emojis unless explicitly requested.” Not content with that, ChatGPT also established the house rules for OpenAI’s Dall-E image generator.
Another ChatGPT user discovered that there are multiple personalities when using their GPT-4o model, which gives us a glimpse into future versions. That’s right, ChatGPT, speak up.
2. Leica launched a “budget” camera
Leica’s latest digital compact camera, the D-Lux 8, is official. It arrives six years after the now-discontinued D-Lux 7, with a new look and user interface for 2024 inspired by the Leica Q3, which is Leica’s most expensive full-frame compact and one of our favorite cameras of 2023.
The D-Lux 8 falls into the minor refresh category. It features a simpler control layout than the D-Lux 7, a new textured body, an improved OLED viewfinder and a higher-resolution LCD screen, and finally offers DNG raw capture in addition to JPEG for Leica’s D-Lux series. Paired with the improved Leica Fotos app, it’ll be easier to edit and share photos on the go. Other than that, it’s business as usual. We still get the 21MP Micro Four Thirds (MFT) sensor with a maximum photo size of 17MP and 4K video at up to 30fps, plus the handy 24-75mm f/1.7-2.8 zoom for everyday photography.
But most importantly, the D-Lux 8, which costs $1,595 / £1,450, could be a Leica you can In fact buy in 2024.
1. Rising RAM prices may have made the RTX 5090 even less affordable
Were you hoping that Nvidia’s RTX 5090 GPU would be a bit more affordable than the 4090? Well, we have some bad news as analysts predicted this week that its price would skyrocket. That’s because RAM prices are set to increase by 3% to 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 demand for larger and more powerful AI data center servers.
It’s a shame that this is a more expensive piece of tech, because the RTX 5090 was shaping up to be a real computing beast. With GDDR7 RAM (which offers 60% more bandwidth and a 50% improvement in power efficiency over GDDR6), as well as a 30%+ improvement in frames per second for gaming, this will be a powerful 4K gaming component.
There’s still a chance that Nvidia could reduce these costs to help maintain a competitive advantage over rival AMD, but we’ll have to wait and see what pricing tactic it uses.
