Long live Samsung
After a short absence, all thanks to Apple’s doings in December 2023, Samsung is officially the top dog in the global smartphone market. Again. That’s according to a fresh crop of data from the IDC (International Data Corporation) covering the first quarter of 2024, noting less a leap in Samsung’s sales, and more a drop in Apple’s. All’s fair in love and war, right?
As it stands, Samsung currently holds strong in the #1 spot by controlling 20.8% of the global market share. Apple, which still has enough cred in the bank for a close second, managed to offload as many as 50.1 million iPhones, a five-million device dropoff compared to the same time last year. This represents a 17.3% share of the market.
Xiaomi managed to clinch third, controlling 14.3% of the market, with Transsion (the guys behind Tecno and Itel) hitting a 9.9% share in fourth. Unsurprisingly, IDC predicts that Samsung and Apple will continue to duke it out (jokes on them, because Humane’s AI pin has plans to kill off… oh). Sure, a gopher could have told us as much, but IDC’s insights into the scramble for third are more enlightening.
“Xiaomi is coming back strong from the large declines experienced over the past two years and Transsion is becoming a stable presence in the Top 5 with aggressive growth in international markets. In contrast, while the Top 2 players both saw negative growth in the first quarter, it seems Samsung is in a stronger position overall than they were in recent quarters,” the IDC said.
Meta AI… everywhere?
Meta might have killed the metaverse (unofficially, anyway), but it’s being a whole lot more careful about how it handles artificial intelligence (AI). Just the other day, we got wind of the company’s tediously named ‘Meta AI’ being unfettered and unleashed upon WhatsApp’s unassuming UI. Now, Instagram is being infected with new smarts, says TechCrunch.
The idea is identical to that of WhatsApp’s Meta AI rollout. One morning, you’ll open Instagram to find a new Search bar powered by the company’s open-source Llama model. Clicking should open up a new DM conversation between you and the AI where you can ask it anything from “Movie recs about ballet” or ask it to “suggest me some of the best reels of sunset.”
It’s the last bit that caught our attention. It looks as though Instagram could have bigger plans for the Meta AI than WhatsApp, with the potential to inject generative AI into Instagram’s search, properly, rather than remaining a mere chatbot. Considering the already-poor search, we’re all for a smarter search bar, come launch.
As for when that’ll be… Meta hasn’t said. For now, unless you’re one of the ‘lucky’ few included in Meta’s extremely limited test field, you’ll have to wait until it’s ready for global consumption like the rest of us.
iPhone just got its first retro game emulator (aaaand it’s gone)
Ever wanted to play those old Game Boy games to remind you that life used to be fun? Ever wanted to do it on an iPhone? Well, if you were quick enough, all you Apple-owning Game Boy-loving folks would have had your chance over the weekend. If this is the first you’re hearing of it, it’s already too late. See, Apple recently approved a new Game Boy emulator by the name of iGBA and promptly delisted it shortly after.
And for good reason. Called iGBA, many believed that it was coming from Riley Testut, the creator of GBA4iOS — an iOS Game Boy emulator that’s lived in the shadows for ten-plus years now — just in a more official capacity through the App Store (something Apple now allows). This… was not the case, as many quickly realised the emulator was simply a clone riddled with ads and was infringing on Testut’s code.
According to @rsgnl from MacRumours, Apple cites iGBA’s short-lived time on the App Store as a violation of its App Review Guidelines 4.3 (spam) and 5.2 (copyright). We won’t be the ones to remind Apple that it allowed iGBA — an app bypassing the Review Guidelines — onto the App Store in the first place. It didn’t help that the app was built to track users’ location and other data.
Here’s hoping that Testut’s next emulator and sequel to GBA4iOS, Delta, is quicker to hit the store via AltStore. Oh, wait.
The $300,000 Lego heist that never was
Look, we get it. Lego is expensive. But if you have to resort to stealing around $300,000 worth of Lego to get your kicks… we’d actually understand. Two or three of Lego’s larger sets will set you back that much. But, funnily enough, California’s Organized Retail Crime Taskforce isn’t quite as understanding as we are about harbouring stolen Lego sets. The Taskforce recently raided an illegal fencing operation, uncovering a huge stash of Lego.
The operation included items from stores like Target and Lowe’s, but the bulk of the stolen product was simply Lego. Four arrests were made in connection to the robberies, with the burglars reportedly targeting limited edition Lego box sets when moving from store to store and stashing them at various safehouses before selling them online.
Lego thievery is not as uncommon as you might think. Inside Edition published a piece detailing the Lego black market (yes there’s a Lego black market) where burglars rob stores and sell the sets at decent (and heavily discounted) prices — massively undercutting Lego’s massive profit margin. Movie, when, Hollywood?
