We are big fans of the Cheap phones here at WIRED. If you can do without all the boost chip, six-pack camera, and cap of the $1,000 handset, the mid-range options get the job done without spending a lot of cash. Sometimes you even get more out of cheaper phones, like a headphone jack.
This week, Motorola and OnePlus announced a number of new phones that fall into that group. The Lenovo-owned Moto comes in two new options. The Moto G 5G is the most basic device. It’s just $400, and where it cuts corners in display technology (720p), it makes up for it with a more powerful processor (MediaTek Dimensity 700) and a 50-megapixel camera. For another $100, the Moto G Stylus 5G comes with — you guessed it — a built-in stylus. It also has a higher resolution 1080p display. Oh, and it’s different from the recently announced announcement Moto G Stylus 2022 with NFC, so you can tap and pay via Google Pay and support 5G. The Moto G 5G includes the latter but sadly lacks NFC. The Stylus 5G will go on sale on April 28, and the Moto G 5G on May 19.
The OnePlus N20 5G costs even less: For just $282, you get a 6.43-inch AMOLED display, 128GB of storage, and a 64MP camera. This one will also be available on April 28. It’s exclusive to T-Mobile for now, but an unlocked version is coming this summer. (Keep an eye out for the full WIRED review.) However, unlike the Moto phones, the OnePlus N20 ships with Android 11. That means you’ll be missing out on some. Features of Android 12at least until OnePlus releases an update to the newer operating system.
Here’s some other recent news in the consumer technology space:
Enlarge Put you in a Bad Mood? Now Zoom knows that.
Video conferencing company Zoom updated its software this week, more gesture recognition. The change allows you to trigger emojis that react by raise your hand or thumbs up in front of the camera. This is not a completely new feature — Zoom introduced it on mobile devices iOS devices last year—But now it’s available on the desktop client.
The slightly more controversial update is limited to its users Zoom to sell service, at least for now. Zoom’s software is currently using artificial intelligence to analyze how people interact during calls. This is just one step in the company’s broader growth ambitions.”Smart conversation software“Can creep into your Zoom calls to determine people’s ’emotional state’ as reported by Protocol last week. That last part has yet to materialize, though Zoom’s new update allows users to track calls to rate a person’s talk time, usage of additional words, and “patient. ”
However, the privacy advocacy group Fight for the Future has published a open letter for Zoom to disparage emotion tracking as manipulative, discriminatory, and slightly creepy. So we definitely know how they feel about it, even without the Zoom Tracking feature.
Garmin is back with the band
This week, Garmin revealed first Vivosmart fitness tracker in four years. Its updates… are not as epic as you might expect for a device that has been around for a long time. But it could still have appeal for consumers who want to track their health but don’t want to wear a smartwatch.
The new one Vivosmart 5 activity tracking, sleep tracking and reading oxygen in blood level with a built-in pulse oximeter. Unlike the previous version, this model has GPS tracking (although it still requires connection to your smartphone). Garmin claims the Vivosmart 5 has seven days of battery life in “smartwatch mode”, which seems to mean not using the oximeter in sleep or pulse modes. Garmin says it also offers stress tracking with breathing exercises and has menstrual cycle tracking in a compatible mobile app. Vivosmart 5 is available now and costs $200. Check out WIRED’s review of final modeland review our picks for best smart watch.
Reposting? Instagram wants to slow down your scroll
On Wednesday, Instagram head Adam Mosseri posted a video on Twitter (ironically!), where he describes a few changes to the photo-sharing platform. In addition to the advanced tagging settings, Mosseri also said that Instagram is adjusting its ranking algorithm to favor “original content”. The specifics of how it will work not clear exactly, but the purpose is to push original posts higher up in the feed than reposts or shared content. Users across the platform will now be able to tag products and change their own tag settings to make it easier to identify the source of a post.
Instagram has tinkered with its reshare settings before. Last year, the company tested a feature makes it harder to repost by adding a resharper sticker to anything reshared. But that experiment is over, and Instagram still seems to be rife with screenshots and non-original posts. Apparently Instagram is hoping this new fix is the one that works.
Time to talk about Twitter
As you may have heard, Elon Musk started buy Twitter last week. He bought a 9% stake in the company and refused a seat on the board. Then he decided he wanted the whole silly thing. It has resulted in mixed reactions, including a confrontational rebuttal from Twitter itself. Now, Musk says he has arrange money– To be more precise, $46.5 billion.
This week, WIRED’S Utility Lab podcast featuring a lively conversation with Casey Newton, a popular journalist and creator Miner on Substack, about the latest TV series between Musk vs. Twitter (and the controversy edit button.)
Contents
This content can also be viewed on the website derived from.
Stories with WIRED are more amazing
