🔋 iPhone 15 battery life doubles, 🤖 Google AI fails basic history, 🥽 PSVR 2 gets PC support
10 tech stories from this week in the quickest format possible
Hola from Barcelona,
The Shortcut team is here to report on Mobile World Congress (MWC 2024) thanks to paid subscribers funding our tip. It’s the big tech convention where we usually see announcements from Lenovo, Motorola, OnePlus, Nothing, TCL, Xiaomi and others.
It’s also where we hardcore product test new gadgets internationally, like the Apple Vision Pro (clutch for long-haul flights), Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses (ideal to capture hands-free video), tons of smartphones (Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra’s translation feature already came in handy in Spain), and Mophie travel chargers and battery packs (keeping us at 100% battery life 100% of the time).
Here’s are this week’s biggest tech stories:
The 10-story newsletter starts below the calendar ⤵️
📆 Your Tech Calendar
📱 Feb 26, Mon: Mobile World Congress 2024 begins (we’re here)
🗡️ Feb 29, Thurs: Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth out now - pre-order here
🧑💻 Mar 18, Mon: Game Developers Conference begins
🧟♂️ Mar 20, Wed: Alone in the Dark remake – pre-order here
🎮 Mar 21, Thurs: PAX East begins
⚔️ Mar 22, Fri: Rise of Ronin - pre-order here
🔋 1. iPhone 15 battery longevity just doubled
When I wrote our iPhone 15 Pro Max review in September, I noticed that its battery lasted two hours longer than the 14 Pro Max. This week, we got an additional perk: Apple updated its support documents (first seen by 9to5Mac) to note the battery retains 80% of its original capacity for 1,000 charge cycles instead of 500.
🔋 In: iPhone 15 series retains 80% of its original capacity for 1,000 charges
🪫 Out: iPhone 14 series promises the same 80% with just 500 charges
🤓 The math: If you fully drained to 0% and fully recharged to 100% daily (which… you don’t), it would take nearly three years to reach 80% capacity
💰 What it means: Your iPhone 15 will last longer. Even if you don’t keep it for three years, this will only serve to improve resell value and reduce e-waste
🛍️ 2. Weekend deals: PlayStation, Xbox and Amazon gift card discount codes
🟦 $100 PlayStation giftcard for $86 (apply to PS+ or games)
Use my code: PSNUS
Buy a max of 10, save $140
Use my code: 100AmznUS
❎ $28 Xbox Game Pass Ult (MSRP $51)
Use my code: TSC8
Buy a max of 10 to stack, save $230!
🟩 $13 Xbox Game Pass Core (MSRP $30)
Code: USXGPC
Buy a max of 10 to stack, save $170!
😡🤖 3. Google’s ‘hilariously bad’ Gemini AI botched basic history
Google’s Gemini AI has come under fire for inaccurately portraying historical pictures and failing to include white people when prompted. When the ‘hilariously bad’ AI image creator was asked for a picture of the U.S. Founding Fathers, Gemini inaccurately included people of color. It also showed Vikings as being black, Asian and Native American and generated images of Nazis as people of diverse races.
Other prompts have shown Gemini failing to create images for prompts it deems are “harmful” if the term “white” is used, but it had no issues creating the same content when “black” was included instead.
In response to the backlash, Google paused its image-creation tool and released the following statement on X:
Google: “We’re working to improve these kinds of depictions immediately. Gemini’s AI image generation does generate a wide range of people. And that’s generally a good thing because people around the world use it. But it’s missing the mark here.”
😡 Google’s Gemini AI has been labeled as being ‘racist’ by early users
👎 The AI image generator failed to create accurate historical images
😒 It also refused to create images when offered certain reasonable prompts
😬 But it only seemed to take exception when the word “white” was used
🙃 Google admitted it’s “missing the mark here”
⚔ 4. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth review roundup: ‘a best-in-class action-RPG’
One of the most anticipated PS5 games of the year has impressed critics ahead of its February 29 release date. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has achieved an OpenCritic score of 93 with 100% of reviewers recommending the game.
FF7 Rebirth is the long-awaited second part in the Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy and sees Cloud and the gang continue their journey to end the tyranny of Shinra and their attempts to stop Sephiroth from carrying out his catastrophic plans.
🙌 Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is a hit with critics
🤯 It’s sitting on an OpenCritic score of 93 after 89 reviews
👍 100% of reviewers recommend the game
📆 It’s out on February 29 for PS5 and costs $70
🥽 5. PSVR 2 released one year ago – and PC support is coming this year
Can you believe it? The PlayStation VR 2 headset turned one this week, and Sony is offering you a gift: the company confirmed it’s “testing the ability for PSVR 2 players to access additional games on PC to offer even more game variety.”
💻 The PSVR 2 will be able to play PC games later this year, says Sony
💰 It’s still $550 – more than PS5 Slim ($449) or Meta Quest 3 ($499) – for now
💿 Sony is adding to the PSVR 2 games list with Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate and Zombie Army VR – and they actually look fun
💯 But I stand by our verdict: PSVR 2 has lots of potential, but I want to see Sony’s biggest studios & IP on it: where’s God of War, Uncharted or Spider-Man in VR? PS5 Pro and PSP 2 will be cool; I just want more from PSVR 2 first.
The more fully fleshed-out FPS games like this that come to VR, the more VR gaming feels like a real console experience. But I want a Halo-sized game in virtual reality.
🤔 My question: Who will create the first truly killer game app that takes VR mainstream? Will it be on Apple Vision Pro, Meta Quest 3, or PSVR 2?
💭 My long bet: Nintendo swoops in a with VR headset in early 2025 and Mario will do to virtual reality what Super Mario 64 did to 3D gaming
💍👀 6. Elden Ring’s DLC costs $40 but looks like it’ll be worth it
Elden Ring was a phenomenal success when it released in 2022, receiving multiple Game of the Year awards and earning a spot on our best PS5 games and best Xbox games lists. It’s understandable, then, that so many people were excited to hear the game would be getting DLC called ‘Shadow of the Erdtree’.
However, we’ve had to wait over a year to find out more, but we finally got a new trailer and that all-important release date: it’s available on June 21 and costs $40. Get ready to face awe-inspiring bosses, visit spectacular locales, and do your best to survive.
📆 Elden Ring’s DLC is out on June 21
💰 It costs $40 but promises to offer a huge amount of content
⌛ It’s been over a year since the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC was announced
🏆 Elden Ring was the biggest game of 2022 and won multiple awards
🏒⚽ 7. New Apple Sports app lets you stay up to date with your favorite teams
Apple has released a free Sports app that delivers real-time scores, stats and live betting odds from your favorite teams across multiple sports. You can keep up to date with the following leagues: MLS, NBA, NCAA basketball, NHL, Bundesliga, LaLiga, Liga MX, Ligue 1, Premier League and Serie A.
Football and baseball fans will be pleased to know that additional leagues will become available on Apple Sports over time, including MLB, NFL, NCAAF, NWSL and WNBA for their upcoming seasons.
🆓 The Apple Sports app is available to download for free now
💨 It’s been designed for speed and simplicity
⚽ You can follow multiple teams across several sports
📺 You can also tap on your team to go to the Apple TV app to watch live games from Apple and connected streaming apps
🥽🤏 8. Best Apple Vision Pro accessories
The Apple Vision Pro is designed to be an all-in-one virtual experience you can use with just your eyeballs and fingertips, but it doesn’t hurt to get a few accessories to enhance it. For starters, get a 20,000mAh Mophie PowerStation Pro battery pack to extend your headset usage beyond a measly two hours. Did you know the Vision Pro can actually charge twice as fast? Replace that dinky 30W adapter included in the box with Mophie’s 67W Speedport charger.
Beyond that, you’ll probably want to protect your $3,500 investment and we’ve picked out a $89 Spigen Klasden Pouch in case the $200 official Apple Travel Case is too expensive and large for your tastes. And if you’re worried about scratching the Apple Vision Pro while you use it, check out this clear cover case from GOSETH.Here’s the full list of the best Apple Vision Pro accessories.
📱🤖 9. New Android phone news round-up
There are plenty of mobile news this week with two new Huawei and Xiaomi Android phones announced for China. Additionally, another Nothing Phone 2a leak shows us the design for the company’s upcoming handset. And lastly, almost every Samsung phone and tablet will be getting Galaxy AI features later this March.
Here’s a breakdown of all the big mobile news that just broke and what you need to know:
📱 Xiaomi 14 Ultra has the insane specs we want
A new 1-inch Sony LYT-900 main camera sensor paired with two 3.2x and 5x telephoto cameras
Beastly 6.73-inch (3,200 x 1,440) OLED display with a 3,000-nit peak brightness and 120Hz refresh rate
Powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 with up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage
Massive 5,300 mAh battery 90W wired charging and 80W wireless charging
Priced at CNY 6,499 in China with global pricing to come soon
📱 Nothing Phone 2a design spotted from this latest leak
“Phone 2a official renders” appeared on Nothing’s community website
Features a unique design with dual cameras positioned on the top-center of the device
Glyph lighting zones have been potentially reduced to just three around the camera
📱 Huawei Pocket 2 foldable phone
Huawei’s latest flip phone with a waterdrop hinge that leaves zero gap between its foldable screen
6.94” foldable LPTO OLED inner screen with a 1.15” circular outer screen
Four cameras including a 50MP main sensor, 12MP ultrawide, 3x telephoto, and 2MP ultraviolet sensor
Available now in a flash sale for a starting price of CNY 7,499
📲 Older Samsung phones get AI
Galaxy AI is coming to 2022 Samsung phones with the One UI 6.1 update
Supported devices include the Galaxy S23 series, S23 FE, Z Fold5, Z Flip5 as well as Tab S9 Ultra, Tab S9+ and Tab S9
All Galaxy AI features will be added including Circle to Search, Live Translate, Interpreter, Chat Assist, and Generative Edit
One UI 6.1 update drops in late March
⌚🏃10. New Samsung Galaxy Fit 3 has 13-day battery life – but you can’t have it
Samsung announced its latest activity tracker, the Samsung Galaxy Fit 3 with a larger 1.6-inch screen that’s almost a half-inch larger than the 1.1-inch display on the Galaxy Fit 2. This larger screen is also 45% wider, so it looks more like a smartwatch.
This is also Samsung’s first activity tracker with safety features including fall detection and emergency SOS. It also has all the health stat-monitoring you could want including blood oxygen, heart rate, stress and more, as well as over 100 different types of workouts. Sleep tracking is included of course and you can also activate snore detection and get personalized sleep advice.
The Samsung Galaxy Fit 3 is set to go on sale starting February 23 for an yet to be announced price — but here’s the heartbreaker, it’s not going to come the United States.
📺 New larger 1.6-inch screen that’s 45% wider
🚑 Added fall detection and emergency SOS safety services
🔋 Same 13-day battery life despite the larger screen
📆 On sale starting February 23 but it won’t come to the US
