Daily Authority: Pixel launch date confirmed 🎯

🌞 I’m going down to Munich today to see a solar conference. That means capable Nick Fernandez will be with you for the Thursday issue and then back on Monday. Happy birthday to my father too !!

Google made a number of breadcrumbs for its Pixel 6 launch that indicated it would launch on October 19, and now it’s official: 7:10 p.m., 1:00 p.m. ET / 10:00 a.m. PT.

• The only question really is whether Google will launch anything other than its new flagship Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro.
• It’s explicitly referred to as the “Pixel” event, but are we going to see things like the rumored foldable Pixel (a loosening up or a full announcement?) Or a Pixelbook (probably not) or even less likely a tablet?
• Given the leaks we’re already seeing, we may know closer to the date …

As promised last week, I spoke to Fairphone’s Product Design Lead, Miquel Ballester, about the latest Fairphone 4 5G and the company’s first new line of products, the TWS earbuds, now called Fairphone True Wireless Earbuds.

In baseball:

• I have had one conversation with Miquel every year at Fairphone that goes back to the Fairphone 1 launch and actual in-person live product launches.
• Miquel and the Fairphone team have always been generous with their time and insight into Fairphone’s growth and better product development with each launch.
• Though during that time I’ve seen him get better at distracting my questions!

Fairphone 4 5G:

• I told Miquel Ballester that this is the first Fairphone that looks good enough for tech enthusiasts, not just socially conscious people. (TechAltar YouTube channel The Friday Checkout described it as “the first Fairphone that wasn’t awful”).
• Ballester was excited when he heard this, “That’s great to hear,” he gushed. “I am very happy to hear that for the first time we felt that we had a sufficiently large professional team and great product development phases. We want to hear that. “
• On the initial IP rating, Ballester was pleased to talk about the Fairphone 4’s IP54 rating, which is weather and splash resistant, the first and only IP rating for a modular phone and important to the unit’s five year warranty. He said this was achieved using “a number of techniques from modular device development as well as nano-coating,” and some key components exposed to external use (presumably like the USB-C connector) “have an IP rating themselves “.
• Fairphone has always made its sales figures public, with every new device selling more.

On the Fairphone True Wireless Earbuds:

• I was more critical of this new version. Fairphone’s first TWS earbuds had some useful features for $ 99, but I told Ballester mine Android authority Colleagues and I had seen leaks in the earphones beforehand. We were interested to see if Fairphone could do something really unique, like more modular earbuds that would bring in elements like replacing batteries after they were taken down and the like.
• Not so much with this first edition.
• Thanks to Fairphone, the materials used are sourced more fairly, including using Fairtrade gold and recycled plastic. That’s great, but there’s nothing here of the modularity or uniqueness of the Fairphone.
• Ballester: “My summary in one sentence: The earphones are like the Fairphone 1. It’s a new category for us, a new product, and we’re still a small company. We’re still learning for ourselves, getting to know the market and specifically treating the earbuds not like an accessory, but a new product. I do not agree that they are like all other earphones and use fair materials and fairtrade gold. “
• What I get from this is: the next release may be more interesting, but you have to start somewhere.

📱 Nokia’s first T20 tablet has hit the market: it’s billed with a 2K screen, an 8,200 mAh battery, and decent speakers. Top spec for around $ 250 (Android authority).

📈 Telegram gained over 70 million users within a day after Facebook went down (Android authority).

📁 Xiaomi could update its original Mi Mix Fold instead of going for a second edition (Android authority).

🎧 Former Sennheiser engineer has a new startup: Grell, with the first noise-canceling TWS earphones that make good sound “accessible”, will start at $ 200 (Android authority).

💻 New Microsoft Surface devices now have reviews on their introduction with Windows 11: Microsoft Surface Pro 8 has a good new modern look with a 120Hz display, but accessories are not included, which quickly adds up (The edge). The new Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio is beautiful and unique, good battery life and Thunderbolt 4, but heavy and expensive, and there isn’t much talk of whether the new form factor is good or bad (Gizmodo). And the Surface Go 3, which has nice hardware and is portable, but unfortunately it is called the “Battery Buster” (Wired).

🥽 Canon has developed a wild looking dual fisheye lens for its new 3D VR video capture system (Engage).

🍎 iOS 15 reviews are out: smaller than other iOS updates, still a good version (Ars-Technica).

🍃 Google introduces new features to help users reduce their carbon footprint in Maps, Search, Travel, Nest and more: eco options to save fuel, CO2 emissions for flights (The edge).

🧊 Report: Amazon Designed Refrigerator Will Use The Same Computer Vision Technology As Amazon Go Stores (Ars-Technica).

👉 “Facebook keeps the coward’s playbook to slander the whistleblower”, with Zuckerberg back in the spotlight and breaking his silence / avoiding being tarred by Facebook’s mistakes (The edge).

😬 “What is a surprisingly easy way of accidentally dying?” (R / askreddit).

Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis, also known as Northern or Southern Lights, are one of the wonders of nature and I’m happy to say something strange to you today: some people can hear them sometimes.

• People say they can hear an imperceptible crackle, rustle, whistle, or rustle, or like rustling silk. There have also been reports of smelling an odor of ozone.
• The strange thing is that the Northern Lights were thought to be 100km above the ground so the sound really traveled.
• But research has proven it, as summed up by The Conversation on the BBC, including a 2016 Finnish study that claimed it had finally confirmed that the northern lights really do make sounds audible to the human ear.
• And if you wanted to listen for yourself: “… in 2020 a broadcast on BBC Radio 3 re-mapped very low-frequency radio recordings from the Aurora onto the audible spectrum. While it is not the same as personally hearing the audible sounds of the northern lights on a snowy mountain peak, these sounds convey an impressive sense of the ephemeral, fleeting and dynamic nature of the aurora. “

Keep an ear open

Tristan Rayner, Managing Editor