Tech Trends, 11/13/2017
What’s up with that iPhone X? Plus the New SpotMini and some killer holiday deals.
Tech Trends is a new, daily report, designed to help you discover and capitalize on the tech trends that matter.
Design & Software
PSA: Don’t drop your unprotected smart phone.
… Yeah, you probably all know that by now.
Unfortunately, the iPhone X is no different. Because it has a glass screen and glass back panel, it’s been described by many news outlets as a “Glass Sandwich.”
In other words: It’s more fragile than previous iterations of the iPhone.
According to SquareTrade, the iPhone X is the ‘most breakable’ and ‘most expensive to repair iPhone’ ever. Watch their drop tests here.
The simple, and obvious, solution to this issue is to purchase a case and screen protector. At The Mission, we’ve had great luck with smart phone cases from Otterbox and Lifeproof.
Fragility aside, the iPhone X does offer some crazy cool upgrades. The screen is stunning, the camera is amazing (particularly portrait mode), and the back panel allows wireless charging.
“The iPhone X was a huge gamble from Apple, but one that really paid off. Losing the home button and altering the design was a dangerous move, but one that was sorely needed after years of similarity and the premium design, extra power, all-screen front mix together to create — by far — the best iPhone Apple’s ever made. It’s impossible to give a perfect score to something that costs this much — but this is the closest to smartphone perfection Apple has ever got.” -Techradar
So the new iPhone JUST came out and already there is talk of what next year’s iPhones will be like. From The Verge:
“KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, whose iPhone predictions have been fairly reliable over the last several years, says that he expects to see two new full-screen iPhones next year: one will have a 6.5-inch OLED display, essentially making it a Plus version of the iPhone X; and the other will have a 6.1-inch LCD display, likely making it more like a full-screen version of the current Plus-sized iPhone.”
As a side note: What happened to the iPhone 9?
Cryptography & Security
With the release of the iPhone X, there are security concerns regarding Apple’s Face ID feature.
Bkav, a Vietnamese cybersecurity firm, claims to have made a mask that can fool Face ID. They stress that more testing is still needed, but this has raised some concern.
During the iPhone X’s announcement, Phil Schiller commented on the security of Face ID:
How secure is it? Well, there’s no perfect system, not even biometric ones but as we said earlier, Touch ID is the gold standard for consumer device biometric protection. And the data for Touch ID has been one in 50,000. Meaning that the chance that a random person could use their fingerprint to unlock your iPhone has been about one in 50,000 and it’s been great.
So what are the similar statistics for Face ID? One in a million. The chance that a random person in the population could look at your iPhone 10 and unlock it with their face is about one in a million. And of course, the statistics are lower if that person shares a close genetic relationship with you. So, for example, if you happen to have an evil twin, you really need to protect your pass code or your sensitive data with a pass code. Hopefully you don’t.
To read more about the security of Face ID (and the awesome tech behind how it works) check out this analysis by Macworld.
Robotics & Drones
Alright, let’s break away from the iPhone news. Here’s what Boston Dynamics has been up to recently. We want one!
Black Friday Deals & Holiday News
Black Friday Deals are starting next Monday! I swear they get earlier and earlier every year. Here’s a list of some of the best deals to keep an eye out for.
Have you tried out the Nintendo Switch yet? Right now, it’s struggling to gain popularity, but Nintendo hopes to capture more consumer interest this holiday season.
“In its quarterly investor Q&A, Nintendo says that the system has yet to capture the original Wii’s popularity with both consumers and game publishers, but that it believes the system could obtain that Wii-like momentum if the holiday season goes according to plan.” -Gamasutra
Speaking of the holidays, we need your help getting our gift guides ready!
Our team at The Mission is compiling the Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide and we want your input. What is the best gift you have received in the last year? Email info@themission.co with your ideas and we will feature the best “fan picks” in the guide.
Sponsors! Want to have your product featured in the gift guide? Email ian@themission.co to learn more about the guide.
Marketing & Advertising
If you’re looking for a fun, deep dive into this stuff, you have to check out Branded by Ian Faison. Here’s how Ian describes it:
Branded is a daily curated report of industry news designed to help executives in marketing and branding create ROI producing media, stories, and campaigns that deliver long term results.
You don’t want to miss it.
That’s it for today’s edition of Tech & Trends. Want more goodness like this?
Make sure you’re subscribed to The Mission’s daily newsletter (where we’ll link to each issue of Tech & Trends) or follow me here.
