Apple captures 49% of smartphone revenue amid chip-cost pressures

OnePlus is launching the N6x, a new budget line powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 6360 chipset, 7,000mAh battery, and 6.8-inch display—the company's expansion beyond the flagship 16 it confirmed for October. (via GSMArena)

Redmi K100 Pro Max arriving August 11. Xiaomi's Redmi brand is launching the K100 Pro Max on August 11 with a flat 6.9-inch display and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 Pro processor in a Cabernet Red finish, marking another premium entry in the crowded flagship space. (via GSMArena)

vivo S2 coming August 6. The S2 launch is scheduled for August 6 with a curved display and horizontally aligned rear camera layout, continuing vivo's refresh cycle in Asian markets. (via GSMArena)

Xiaomi's Pad 8S Pro arrives with the company's Xring O3 system-on-a-chip (a processor and graphics core on a single die) paired with 16GB of RAM, a 12-inch display, and a 12,000mAh battery—the first time Xiaomi has bundled its own silicon into a tablet at scale. (via GSMArena)

AMD's RX 9050 trails Nvidia in budget gaming. Early benchmarks show AMD's new Radeon RX 9050, a budget RDNA 4 GPU selling for under $200, runs roughly 30 percent slower than Nvidia's RTX 5050 in games, though both handle 1080p gaming comfortably; the result undercuts AMD's hopes to reclaim gaming-on-a-budget shoppers. (via Tom's Hardware)

Apple reported $109.4 billion in revenue for fiscal Q3 2026—up 16 percent year-over-year—and captured 49 percent of global smartphone revenue in the period ending June 27, a record share even as the total smartphone market contracted. CEO Tim Cook confirmed the results in his final earnings call before handing leadership to incoming CEO John Ternus for future quarterly reports. (via Apple Newsroom)

Supply constraints to worsen next quarter. Apple warned on its earnings call that supply constraints will "increase significantly" in Q4, driven by rising memory costs linked to AI data center buildouts; the company stockpiled inventory to $11.1 billion—nearly double the $5.7 billion year-over-year level—bracing for the tighter availability. (via 9to5Mac)

iPhone 18 Pro pricing leak suggests $300 jump. Analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities reported the iPhone 18 Pro could start at $1,399—up from the iPhone 17 Pro's $1,099—due to higher costs for the 2nm A20 Pro chip and memory, though Apple has not announced the device or pricing. (via 9to5Mac)

Google rolled out Lyria 3.5, an upgraded music generation model with improvements in musicality, lyrics, and vocal quality, expanding the tool across Google Flow Music with better control over composition and instrumentation. (via Google - The Keyword)

Gemini Spark integrates with Chrome. Gemini Spark now offers "new Chrome web browsing capabilities" and launched deeper integration with the browser for research and summarization, arriving as part of Google's July product update push. (via Google - The Keyword)

Gemini macOS gains natural language voice. The Gemini app for Mac now supports voice-based transcription, editing, and summarization features using natural language commands—expanding beyond text input for macOS users. (via Google - The Keyword)

Google yanked its Earth AI-generation tool one day after launch on July 31, after a wave of criticism that the feature could be used to fabricate fake imagery and spread misinformation by superimposing AI-generated locations onto Google Earth maps. The tool let anyone generate and composite synthetic scenes directly onto the platform. (via Engadget)

Snapchat stops paying creators for AI-only content. Snapchat is no longer rewarding fully AI-generated videos in its Spotlight monetization system, adjusting recommendation algorithms to deprioritize content created entirely by AI and push human creators to the forefront—a shift that signals frustration with the flood of synthetic content. (via Engadget)

Smallest.ai raises $13M for realistic voice AI. A startup developing ultra-fast voice models that sound genuinely human secured $13 million in funding to build AI systems for phone conversations—aiming to make synthetic speech pass as real-time dialogue without the robotic artifacts users encounter today. (via TechCrunch)

Apple exploring Siri AI paywall. CEO Tim Cook indicated Apple is weighing premium pricing for advanced Siri AI features through iCloud+ subscriptions, reserving high-end compute for power users while keeping basic voice control free. (via TechCrunch)

Samsung's next Galaxy SmartTag tracker, the SmartTag3, ditches the traditional loop attachment point in favor of a squircle-like shape—rounding the corners of a square without loops, signaling a design shift toward standalone pocket or bag placement instead of keychain mounting. (via GSMArena)

Sony confirmed it will continue its shift toward an all-digital PlayStation 5 despite user backlash, abandoning disc manufacturing for the console. The move reflects the company's broader push to eliminate physical media and move customers into its digital storefront, where it captures more of each sale compared to retail disc sales. (via Engadget)

The EU will require labels on authentic-looking AI-generated and manipulated content starting August 2, marking the first binding legal mandate in a major market to mark synthetic media. The regulation aims to combat misinformation and deepfakes by making it plain when images, audio, or video are AI-generated or doctored. (via Engadget)

Samsung projects memory crisis through 2028. Samsung's executives said they expect memory shortages to persist and worsen through 2027, lasting until 2028, driven by explosive AI data center buildouts that are straining the entire chip supply chain. The shortage is pushing prices up across the industry—a ripple effect consumers are already seeing in rising phone and laptop costs. (via TechCrunch)