✨ Good morning! Tristan Rayner here. And Tristan Rayner next week and beyond too, as we come at you from a new home and new name: The Daily Authority!
🤝 I’ve had a few emails asking questions about the switch across to become more closely part of the Android Authority team, but don’t worry! To clear things up: it’s still me on deck, it’s still the same wider team providing helpful guidance and edits, and the same formatting and daily approach to personal tech is coming with us.
Preview: Here’s how yesterday’s newsletter looks over at its new home!
My colleagues at Android Authority have a big leak, with Samsung’s largest store in India happily confirming the Samsung Galaxy S21 series will launch on January 14th, with availability one week later, plus already opening a pre-booking payment of roughly $27 to secure a pre-order.
Yes, that is some kind of pre-pre-order, but it’s casually live in India for some reason, and we have the details!
The Galaxy S21, S21 Plus, and S21 Ultra were all confirmed by the regional Samsung store, along with colorways for all three models:
What's next: The main gap in what we know now is pricing. Based on the current rate of leaks, we'll know within a week what Samsung's plans may be.
It’s been rumored since last week, and now the FTC, in coalition with 48 attorneys general, has sued Facebook.
🚀 SpaceX Starship serial number 8 (SN8) lifted off from Texas yesterday, and performed an exciting set of maneuvers (YouTube) including successful ascent up to 40,00ft, landing flip with flap control, and, oops, a slightly too-rapid and explosive landing due to “low pressure in the fuel header tank during the landing burn.” (Btw, that video is timestamped for right before lift-off, and the whole event lasts just under 7 minutes.)
🎉 Elon Musk was happy to celebrate the successes, noting that the team captured all the data it needs for this low-cost reusable rocket aiming towards Mars (Twitter).
📲 Redmi interview: talking faster charging speeds, small phones, and in-display fingerprint tech in LCD screens being too expensive, for now (Android Authority).
🥼 Google has a new Android app that lets you contribute to health research in the US, and very very much opt-in only (blog.google)
📺 Samsung announces massive 110-inch 4K TV with next-gen MicroLED picture quality, with 99.99 percent screen-to-body ratio. A preview of the kinds of things we’ll see at CES 2021? (No pricetag yet) (The Verge).
🍎 WhatsApp is taking on Apple over privacy label requirements, because Apple’s own apps don’t have the necessary nutrition-style labels for its apps not on the App Store (Axios).
🔫 Cyberpunk 2077 preload on consoles includes the Day 0 update (u). People have been playing since midnight and uh, well, it looks a little off on console but expect patches quick-smart (Kotaku). Here are some tips before you start (without spoilers), too (Polygon)
🐕 Hyundai has purchased Boston Dynamics for almost $1Bn. If the Spot dog robot gets a Hyundai car badge on it, it’ll really be something (CNET).
🤖 “Cruise says it’s started driverless testing—I’m skeptical” (Ars Technica).
😬 Google CEO Sundar Pichai sorry for Timnit Gebru controversy and will investigate what happened (Axios) . Not obviously sorry for her firing, as Dr. Gebru herself points out (Twitter).
💉 Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine docs hacked from European Medicines Agency (BBC).
🐳 The pandemic turned the volume down on ocean noise pollution, and whales seem to be loving the quiet (The Verge).
📚 Here are five books recommended by Bill Gates for your holidays. They’re all deeper dives, none too light, but Range by David Epstein is great (GatesNotes).
👨🚀 Artemis: NASA has named 18 astronauts as part of program that aims to return Americans to the moon by 2024. Men, women, some veterans of spaceflight, and a few that haven’t been to space yet (NASA).
🤔 “If social media was around in your childhood, what embarrassing moment would you be famous for?” (r/askreddit).
On December 9, 1968, the “mother of all demos” happened. Douglas Engelbart, a shy engineer organized a room of 1,000 in San Francisco at a conference, and stunned the world.
Cheers,
Tristan Rayner, Senior Editor.
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