Weekly Authority: Version #157 – Android Authority

Our personal Robert Triggs’ piece about how Android came to be Android obtained us occupied with the phrases we use for the tech all of us depend on — and we puzzled: When did we first begin utilizing the phrase “smartphone”? 

• Although most of us didn’t use or hear the phrase “smartphone” till Apple launched the first-gen iPhone in 2007, the primary true smartphone landed 15 years earlier, again in 1992 — the yr AOL went public (CNBC).
• IBM’s Simon Personal Communicator, or “Simon”, a hybrid cellphone and PDA was a not-so-portable brick costing $899 (round $1,435 right this moment, for which you possibly can — nearly — bag a brand new Galaxy Z Fold 3) (Enterprise Insider).
• With Simon’s 4.5 x 1.4-inch monochrome LCD touchscreen and stylus, you possibly can ship emails and faxes, or page someone with a quantity code or textual content message in your helpful porta-brick. Wonderful. (r/90s)

• September 8: Lenovo Tech World 2021
• September 13: Android 12?
• September 15: Xiaomi Launch Occasion @ 5AM PT/8AM ET/1PM BST (probably Xiaomi Mi 12, Mi 11T, Mi Pad 5, Mi Observe 11)
• Additionally in September: As many as three Apple occasions? (iPhone 13, Watch Sequence 7, MacBooks, AirPods 3, extra)

Tech Tweet of the Week

First: @Gallowboob is again, this time coining the time period “brailing”. Turns on the market’s a railing on a gazebo in Naples, Italy with braille describing the view for blind individuals. Marvel what it says?

Second: What’s new? Oh, not a lot, simply this rat playing a harmonica. Unsure why, however it’ll positively brighten your day.

— Residing Morganism (@ok_girlfriend) — August 27, 2021

Have an ideal week!

Paula Beaton, Copy Editor