The founder of the British consumer electronics company that develops smartphones and other accessories made these comments during an interview at the SXSW conference.

In terms of AI in software, I think people should understand that apps are going to disappear,

So, if you’re a founder or a startup and your app is like where the core value lies, that will be disrupted whether you like it or not.

The company is pitching the idea for some time now about a new kind of smartphone using AI and personalization technology accurate enough so its users won’t feel they have to double-check its output.

Some companies already implemented AI features that can execute a command on the users’ behalf, like booking flights or hotels. However Pei believes the AI could begin to learn a user’s intentions long-term. For example, if you wanted to be healthier, the device could give you nudges to help you accomplish your goals.

I think it gets even more powerful when it starts surfacing suggestions for you; you don’t have to manually come up with an idea…when the system knows us so well, it will come up with things that we don’t even [know] we wanted,

Pei explained.

Pei believes AI-first smartphone would do things for its users without needing to be commanded to. This would mean a device with an interface designed for the AI agent to use.

Despite this Pei doesn’t think apps are going away in the near future, but over time the AI will use the “app” in a frictionless way, not mimicking human touch on the smartphones by moving through menus and tapping options.

That’s not the future. The future is not the agent using a human interface. You need to create an interface for the agent to use. I think that’s the more future-proof way of doing it.

Image: TechCrunch. (2019). TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco 2019 – Day 3 Carl Pei (cropped). Wikimedia Commons

What’s New for Users

One of the most visible additions arrives in Apple Music. iOS 26.4 introduces an AI-powered “Playlist Playground” feature built on Apple Intelligence. Users can generate a custom 25-song playlist from a simple text prompt such as “upbeat workout mix” or “calm evening.” The playlist can then be refined further, with the option to select matching cover art, offering a more personalized discovery experience.

Apple Music is also gaining a new “Concerts Near You” section designed to surface live shows from favorite artists. The feature allows filtering by date and genre, and users can switch locations when traveling, strengthening Apple’s push into music discovery and live event engagement.

In podcasts, Apple is responding to the broader industry’s shift toward video. The native Apple Podcasts app now allows seamless switching between audio and video episodes within the same show. Creators can publish video podcasts using HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), while listeners can move between formats instantly, including expanding to a full horizontal video display.

A new video podcast experience enabled by HLS technology lets users switch between watching and listening, move to a horizontal full display, as well as download videos for offline viewing.

Messaging is receiving a notable security-focused upgrade with encrypted Rich Communication Services (RCS), now entering testing in iOS 26.4. The end-to-end encryption aims to eventually secure conversations between iPhone and Android users at a level comparable to iMessage. For now, encrypted RCS is being tested between iPhones in beta, with conversations clearly labeled as encrypted. Apple says broader public support across iOS, iPadOS, macOS and watchOS will arrive in a later update, and availability will vary by device and carrier.

Security enhancements extend further. Stolen Device Protection is now enabled by default, adding additional biometric authentication requirements for sensitive actions such as accessing saved passwords or modifying account settings. By expanding the use of Face ID or Touch ID verification, Apple aims to reduce the risk of unauthorized access if a device is stolen and a passcode is compromised.

Drivers using Apple CarPlay will also see updates. CarPlay now supports in-car video playback for select apps, including Apple TV app, though only when the vehicle is parked to maintain safety standards. The feature introduces new entertainment options for passengers during stops or extended waits.

Developer and Enterprise Enhancements

The beta release builds on the AI features first introduced earlier in the iOS 26 cycle, refining contextual suggestions, system-wide writing assistance and predictive automation tools. Apple has also adjusted notification management and Focus mode behaviors to reduce friction across productivity workflows, while optimizing battery performance under heavier AI-related processing loads.

For developers, iOS 26.4 includes updates to SDK frameworks, improved debugging tools and expanded testing support for apps integrating advanced machine learning models. The release notes highlight fixes to SwiftUI rendering, enhancements to background execution policies and improved compatibility with third-party extensions.

Enterprise users are also seeing incremental updates aimed at device management and security compliance. Apple has patched several vulnerabilities and strengthened sandbox protections, reinforcing its positioning around secure mobile deployments for corporate environments.

As with any public beta, Apple cautions users that performance inconsistencies and app compatibility issues may occur. Developers are encouraged to test applications thoroughly before the final release candidate is issued.

Material by Veronika Atanasova

Image 1: Apple Newsroom

Image 2: Apple, iOS

The use of video calling apps has grown over the past few years, especially during the pandemic when telecommuting became a mainstream model and communication between people became online.

The company intends to extend the beta to Android developers later this year.

Interested developers, regardless of size, can sign up for the beta through T-Mobile’s DevEdge developer platform. Developers in the Seattle area will have the added benefit of joining T-Mobile engineers at the 5G Hub to test and validate this cutting-edge capability in their applications.

T-Mobile plans to expand network coverage to 300 million people by the end of the year.

Realme is a company that focuses on the development of innovative technologies and relies mainly on mid-range and budget devices. However, Realme definitely seem to have something to show their customers.

The company is expected to hold demonstrations of the technology on February 28 during the congress. In fact, the first-class

Android smartphones with this feature are based on systems with 120W charging. Although it’s not yet officially confirmed, Realme is expected to show fast powering of mobile devices with 150W. The new functionality that the company will show will be compatible with Oppo’s 160W charger, which will expand the range of use.

Realme has introduced its 125W UltraDart charging system this year, but there are still no devices that use the technology. The company said in a press release that smartphones will be able to receive 33% charge in less than three minutes.

Fast charging technologies are a key part of Realme’s Go Premium strategy, which will be supported by 70% of the company’s investments. We will find out in a few days when and where the first smartphones with 150W charging will be sold.

OpenRAN allows operators to mix and match suppliers in their radio networks, posing a challenge to the likes of the ones that dominate the global telecoms equipment market with their proprietary technologies.

Moreover, Vodafone’s initiative will contribute to the European Union’s efforts to bolster its chip industry and double its share of global production to 20% after it lost ground to Asian and U.S. suppliers.

Santiago Tenorio, Vodafone’s director of network architecture, commented in an interview with Reuters that OpenRAN would enable the mobile operator to quickly add new digital services and to optimize networks using artificial intelligence (AI).

What OpenRAN do is to create interoperability between both software and hardware components of the radio access network.

The R&D centre is the first dedicated to advancing OpenRAN chip architecture. It will bring 50 people dedicated to OpenRAN together with 650 software engineers, architects and technicians in Malaga. Tenorio also noted that Vodafone would design silicon for ARM and RISC-V instruction sets as well as Intel x86. He added that Intel was up to three years ahead of rivals and had already played a key role in OpenRAN’s development.

Apple foresees that the ability to unlist apps could be used for exciting purposes such as hiding a company’s employee app or their sales tools. The company wrote on its developers’ website:

“Unlisted apps don’t appear in any App Store categories, recommendations, charts, search results, or other listings. They can also be accessed through Apple Business Manager and Apple School Manager. Apps for specific organizations, special events, or research studies, or apps used as employee resources or sales tools are good candidates for unlisted distribution.”

App developers want as many people downloading and using their app as possible. Developers can now select who can use these apps, so that they will guard their apps against the wave of interlopers who would otherwise rush to install them. Developers will now be able to distribute their apps to:

• Limited audiences, including part-time employees, franchisees, partners, business affiliates, higher-education students, or conference attendees via a standard link that’s usable on the App Storeand Apple School Manager or Apple Business Manager.
• Employee-owned devices that aren’t eligible to be managed through Apple School Manager or Apple Business Manager.
• All regions that are supported by the App Store.

Requesting an unlisted app link

In order to unlist an app, developers have to receive a specific link after submitting a request. If their app hasn’t been submitted for review or was already approved for public download on the App Store, they should complete the request form. Otherwise, if the app has been already approved for private download on either Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager, they will need to create a new app record in App Store Connect, upload their binary, and set the distribution method to Public before completing the request form. After the approval of the request, the app’s distribution method will change to Unlisted App in the Pricing and Availability section of the app record. This will apply to any future versions of the app.

NOTE: Developers have to be sure that unlisted apps must be ready for final distribution. Requests for apps in a beta or prerelease state will be declined.

Distributing unlisted app

After getting an approval, developers will receive a link that can be used to access their app on the App Store and on Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager. If their app is already available on the App Store, its current link will remain the same.

NOTE:Unlisted apps are available to anyone who has access to the link. Developers are required to consider implementing a mechanism within their app to prevent unauthorized use.

The report noted that Telefónica had initially rolled out some equipment manufactured by Huawei before seeking to secure alternative supplies for its 5G network. It is still not confirmed how much equipment Telefónica bought from Ericsson or when the purchase was made.

The US government had long been urging some of its main allies to replace 5G kits developed by Chinese companies because of security concerns.

Telefónica previously noted it expects to begin the deployment of 5G Standalone (SA) services in 2022.

The three main cases developed by Telefónica Tech and to be sold by the telco’s enterprise division Telefónica Empresas from January 2022 are:

• Automated guided robot vehicles for use in places including warehouses;
• Remote maintenance systems using technology including smart glasses;
• Drones for site surveillance.

The automated guided vehicles for industrial use are connected via an IoT visualization and route planning platform. They aim to manage the communication in a bidirectional way, which facilitates performing repetitive tasks without human intervention.

The remote assistance service includes augmented reality. Moreover, the company added a remote monitoring and assistance platform which simplifies the work of technicians in the field.

Telefónica also mentioned that identified applications would be fully supported by its current Non-Standalone 5G technology and LTE.

In July 2021, Telefónica officially announced its decision to award the contracts to deploy its 5G standalone radio networks across Spain to Nordic vendors Ericsson and Nokia.

Nowadays, Telefónica offers 5G coverage to over 80% of the Spanish population. Telefónica’s 5G network currently combines the deployment of 5G NSA and DSS (Dynamic Spectrum Sharing).

The big question everyone wants to know: Does the Google Pixel 6 Pro regain the top of the list as the best camera phone out there? The xda developers’ team dedicated a thorough explanation to the camera on the Pixel 6 Pro, so let’s have a look.

Hardware

Google’s Pixel phones ranked software over hardware from the very beginning of their existence. Basically, the reason is Google’s idea that their software is so good that there is no use in having sophisticated hardware. The first two generations justified that conviction because they had really good camera features. Although there are many companies who are following Google’s footsteps to upgrade camera hardware to boot,  it is really hard to overcome the age and the indifferent hardware.

The camera hardware

It is expressive camera hardware that brings a Periscope zoom lens for the first time in the series, there is also a 48MP shooter that can produce 4x lossless optical zoom images. Wrapping up the triple-lens main system is a 16MP ultra-wide camera. Around the front is an 11MP ultra-wide camera with a 94-degree field of view.

Camera Experience

When you see it for the first time, you may be surprised by the simple appearance it has. There isn’t a hidden menu, it has only six modes to swipe through and you can see only two icons at the top of the screen – something we can’t see in Huawei or Apple’s camera applications.

But if you want to explore it – of course, you can. The Pixel 6 Pro’s camera app is actually full of features, which are organized into sections that are really convenient. For instance, when you are in video mode, you can see a button with a palm on it which is meant to signify stabilization. When you tap on the palm however you can see four different modes which are supposed to help you more with the stabilization.

The main Camera

The colour reproduction, lag-free shutter, dynamic range – all of these awesome features are here again. Due to the improved 50MP GN1 sensor, the photography experience drastically bounced. For example, If you take a picture in order to capture the detail of an object, then you will see the natural bokeh in motion.

Live HDR+ 

The Pixel camera can capture underexposed and overexposed shots. Not only that but it can also use the image information from those shots to create a single shot with proper exposure.

Videos

The Pixel 6 Pro’s main camera can shoot up to 4K60fps. The Pixel 6 Pro’s video performance gives an impressive stabilization and real-time handling of shifting dynamic range for all users. The iPhone however is still dominating over all other companies who are trying to upgrade its cameras, but the Pixel 6 Pro could be anywhere from second- to third-best. This is a camera that can find the perfect dynamic range and provide sharp details and vivid colours.

Ultra-wide camera

The Pixel 6 Pro’s 12MP ultra-wide camera performs well, although its 114-degree field-of-view is noticeably tighter. The Pixel 6 Pro does a good job of keeping colour and dynamic range consistent between main and ultra-wide cameras. The Pixel 6 Pro’s ultra-wide camera does not have autofocus. It means that you can’t focus on a portion of the photo.

Periscope zoom

The Pixel 6 Pro’s zoom lens is awesome and that’s a fact we should point out. Not only are 4x zoom photos razor-sharp, even digital zoom up to 15 or 16x still produces a usable shot (digital zoom can max out at 20x). While shooting at night, it can zoom beyond 4x (which activates digital zoom) and you will see major quality dropoff, but stick with 4x and the shot can still come out clean.

Let’s talk about selfies

This smartphone has an 11MP camera whose hardware is not something special but when it comes to the software – well, it is The Pixel 6 Pro’s 11MP selfie camera may not have the greatest camera hardware, but Google’s software processing is awesome. We will divulge to you that if you decide to go through the settings, you will find an option that allows you to turn a skin smoothening effect on.

While there are lenses that aren’t capable of reaching some heights, they are good enough to not bother the system. Google did their best of keeping consistency between its photos from the main camera and ultra-wide. Its zoom system is not as good as it was expected to be but at least it focuses fast and has a fast shutter and these features make it a joy to use.

In terms of its collision warning system for light rail vehicles, Bosch Engineering relies on components from automotive technology to actively reduce the expensive consequences of accidents or prevent them altogether.

High availability of light rail vehicles

The collision warning system for trams supports drivers in critical situations. When congested traffic or poor visibility conditions occur, the system warns the driver about obstacles on the rails in plenty of time. This lets drivers avoid accidents, or at least significantly limit the effects.

The system consists of a multi-purpose camera, a radar sensor, and a control unit. It monitors the track ahead and any possible obstacles in front of the vehicle in real time. It sends a warning to the driver once it detects a potential collision. Whether the driver responds too late or not at all, the collision warning system can initiate automatic braking.

Detecting critical situations

Life-saving Advanced Driver Assistance Systems’ multi-purpose camera monitors the track ahead and transmits the data in real time to the radar sensor. The radar is independent of weather and light conditions. Its sensor recognizes potential obstacles in front of the vehicle from a distance of up to 80 meters away. Considering the vehicle’s speed, the system uses the information to determine the danger of a collision.

In type 1 of the system, it determines whether the threat, which can be presented by an obstacle that warrants a visual or acoustic warning to the driver. Type 2 of the system sends a signal via relay output to trigger automatic braking, should the driver respond too late or not at all to the system’s warning.

Huang presented a range of new NVIDIA products and initiatives, spanning VR, enterprise AI, cybersecurity, quantum computing, advances in automotive, and much more. 

Holo Skin is NVIDIA’s full-stack open platform for next-generation software to find instruments. He commented:

“Holo Skin applications can be deployed fully in instrument in the hospitals’ data centers, or a mixture of both. This allows companies to develop applications that require more computing than is in the device. Or to upgrade the installed base of devices, years after deployment. Holo Skin is a full-stack open platform for next-generation software to find instruments. Holo Skin is our third robotics platform.”

Besides Holo Skin, NVIDIA is also developing Mapping for autonomous driving. The CEO said:

“Mapping is a credible pillar of driving. It is the collective memory of the fleet and can be considered another sensor. A couple of months ago, we welcomed DeepMap to our company. DeepMap is an expert in mapping for autonomous driving.” 

He announced ReOpt – a software package combining local search heuristics algorithms and the so-called metaheuristics to optimize vehicle route planning and distribution. ReOpt taps algorithms, providing customers with road conditions, traffic, as well as route metrics to reduce fuel cost, carbon emissions, and miles. 

A variety of other topics were raised during today’s keynote. The conference is being hosted between 8-11 November. Topics, such as 3D Design, collaboration, and simulation, game development, Internet of Things (IoT), 5g, data science, and many more will be raised.