This week Apple finally set a date for its iPhone launch (September 9 if you wanted to know), and players got their first taste of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 – and you could join them.
To help you get caught up to speed on these and the other biggest tech news stories of the week we’ve got this handy ICYMI roundup with details on them all, plus links to further reading if you want to know more.
Once you’re caught up you’ll be in a great place for the busy weeks we have ahead of us. Next week is IFA in Berlin (a massive tech show that we’re flying out to so you can get the scoop on the best stuff shown off there) and of course the week after we’ll be focused on Apple.
7. Apple just sent out invites for the iPhone 16 event
“It’s Glowtime”… well, almost.. Apple sent out invites for its upcoming event this week setting September 9 as the day we will almost certainly see the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max (assuming Apple doesn’t throw us an extreme curveball).
We’re also expecting Apple to treat us to new Apple Watches. Three have been rumored with the Apple Watch 10 (or maybe X if it copies iPhone), a new Apple Watch Ultra, and a plastic Apple Watch SE, which could really bring the price down.
The star of the show – which is being hinted at by the Siri-like glow of the invite’s emblem – will be Apple intelligence. Teased back at WWDC 2024, we should finally get a proper look at Apple’s AI solution, an area of tech it currently lags very far behind in compared to its rivals.
6. Black Ops 6 Early Access went live
Every Call of Duty release is a monumental moment in the gaming calendar, and some players can get ahead of the game by joining the Call of Duty Black Ops 6 betas which are starting this weekend. Starting today, August 30, players can jump into the game ahead of its full release to get a taste of all the new weapons and the much-hyped Omnimovement – Black Ops 6’s new revamped player movement feature.
In terms of what players can expect, the Black Ops 6 beta will include multiple maps (such as Skyline, Rewind, and Scud), and game modes including Kill Order, Team Deathmatch, Domination, and Hardpoint.
Maps and modes will be drip-fed across the first weekend, and players can reach level 20 before the cap is raised to level 30 on the second weekend. Elsewhere custom loadouts will also be on offer, but you’ll have to get to level 4 first – though we recommend giving the preset loadouts a go first to see what the new game’s guns feel like.
This is the first beta period – with another coming next week – with this Early Access period running from August 30 through September 4. The second Open Beta period runs from September 6 to September 9, and both make the perfect windows of opportunity for fans to dive in ahead of the game’s full release on October 25.
5. Garmin Fenix 8 and Enduro 3 landed
Garmin has released two new, very highly anticipated watches this week. First up, is the Garmin Fenix 8. It comes in three sizes, with two screen options (AMOLED or solar-powered MIP), and boasts an incredible battery life: even the AMOLED version offers a 29-day battery in smartwatch mode.
For context, if you didn’t use either watch’s GPS, you would have to charge an Apple Watch Ultra 2 a whopping 19 times by the time you got done with the Fenix 8. All-new sports functionalities such as a dive mode, revamped maps, and more intelligent “dynamic routing”, generating a route back to the start of your run while you’re still on the outward leg, are the icing on the cake. It starts at $999.99 / £869.99 / AU$1,699 for the 43mm model.
The Garmin Enduro 3 shares much of what makes the Fenix 8 great, including that new dynamic routing feature, topographic maps, and battery life up to 90 days in smartwatch mode. The Enduro line has always been a tool for serious endurance enthusiasts such as triathletes and ultrarunners, and even though it’s slightly cheaper than the Fenix 8 ($899.99 / £769.99 / AU$1,549), it might not have as much wide appeal.
4. Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 sprints into view
The original Shokz OpenRun Pro are some of the best bone conduction headphones around, so we’re excited to get to grips with the newly-announced OpenRun Pro 2. Right off the bat, the battery life lasts longer than its predecessor, with 12 hours rather than 10. Not a huge increase, but the OpenRun Pro 2 can last for 2.5 hours on a five-minute charge, ideal for plugging in prior to a run.
The OpenRun Pro 2 also boasts a combination of bone conduction drivers and air conduction speakers, designed to provide more powerful bass than the original OpenRun Pro, and multi-point connectivity allows for pairing of two devices at once.
Otherwise, the OpenRun Pro 2 hasn’t changed a great deal from a design or aesthetics point of view. However, the original design was so successful that Shokz is subscribing to that age-old adage: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
3. Watch out ChatGPT, Artifacts made Claude a top AI contender
If asked to list off AI chatbots you’d probably say ChatGPT, Gemini, Apple Intelligence and a few others, but one you might not know of is Claude – but after this week Claude has shown us that it is definitely not an AI anyone should ignore.
That’s thanks to its new Artifacts tool, a feature that allows Claude to show you a working prototype of the project you’re working on with it – such as a website or app Claude’s helping you to design, or a presentation it’s helping you put together. Best of all, you can choose to share Artifacts with other Claude users or mess around with any of their creations to make something new.
You can achieve a similar effect with other AI on PC, but you’d need to open a separate app that can convert the chatbot‘s code or design suggestions first, and you’d have to manually make any changes Claude suggests as you iterate on your design. With Artifacts, it all happens automatically.
It’s currently rolling out to all users – even people on Claude’s free plan – and alongside Claude’s focus on privacy, it’s seemingly shaping up as a very strong ChatGPT rival.
2. DJI Neo leaks teased a steal of a drone
Italian YouTuber enontheroad has not only shown us all the hardware we’re set to get with the launch of DJI‘s upcoming drone for beginners, the DJI Neo, we’ve also learnt that its price will apparently be €199 (or around $220 / £167 / AU$325).
Obviously leaks should be taken with a pinch of salt, but if they prove true the Neo could be an absolute steal when it launches.
It won’t be long before we learn more either, with an official reveal coming on September 5 at 6am PT / 9am ET / 2pm UK time.
1. We said ‘Hi Barbie’ to the Barbie Flip Phone
We’ve been convinced that life in plastic is fantastic since the Barbie movie graced cinema screens last year, and Nokia manufacturer HMD seems to think so too. The Finnish manufacturer released the Barbie Flip Phone this week, a Kenergized reimagining of a Nokia feature phone complete with swappable covers, beaded lanyard, and software easter eggs. Priced at $129 / £99 / AU$199, this Mattel collaboration offers an affordable shot of nostalgia to Barbie fans and Y2K-obsessed fashionistas alike.
It’s not just the aesthetics that call back to a different time. Like most of HMD’s feature phones, the Barbie Flip Phone is light on the mod-cons we take for granted in smartphones. There’s no access to social media, and the camera isn’t even HD. Barbie fans in the US get an upgraded model, though, with a 5MP camera, more storage, and a more capable operating system.
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hamish.hector@futurenet.com (Hamish Hector)
