Top tech news this week: Nothing Phone (2) official image, Instagram Threads launched, and more

July started with one of the busiest weeks in tech with several smartphone launches in India. Motorola launched its foldables, the Razr 40 and Razr 40 Ultra, then Reliance launched the Rs 999 Jio Bharat 4G feature phone. iQOO also launched its mid-ranger Neo 7 Pro, and OnePlus launched the Nord 3 series. You can get a detailed read on all the phones launched this week here. 

Other than new smartphone launches there was a lot more that took place this week. Instagram unleashed its Twitter rival ‘Threads’ which managed to surpass 50 million users in the first 24 hours. OPPO announced the launch date of its Reno 10 smartphone, while Samsung made a surprising announcement of bringing the Snapdragon 888-powered Galaxy S21 FE in India. Another highly anticipated smartphone, the Nothing Phone (2) made its first official appearance. We also got to witness the launch of the world’s first phone with 24GB of RAM. 

There’s a lot to unpack so let’s get right into it. 

Instagram’s Twitter competitor ‘Threads’ debuts

Instagram launched its Twitter rival app ‘Threads’ globally this week. It’s a text-based app that works just like Twitter but you login with your Instagram account. You can also import all your data from Instagram like the people you follow, bio, and account settings. Meta hasn’t announced the official numbers yet but reports say Threads has crossed 50 million user sign-ups within just 24 hours of the app’s launch. Twitter is also reportedly considering legal action against Meta accusing it of copying the former. 

OPPO Reno 10 series India launch date announced

Oppo finally announced the launch date of its much-awaited smartphone series, the Reno 10. After launching it in China in May, OPPO is now bringing the Reno 10, Reno 10 Pro and Reno 10 Pro+ smartphones in India on July 10th. In addition to the phones, OPPO will also launch the Enco Air3 Pro wireless earbuds in India. The OPPO Reno 10 Pro series will come with triple rear cameras, up to 100W fast charging support, and more.

Snapdragon 888-powered Samsung Galaxy S21 FE

Samsung announced earlier this week that it will bring the Snapdragon 888-powered Galaxy S21 FE to India. It had launched the Galaxy S21 FE with this chipset in select countries in early 2022. But in India and other countries, Samsung launched the Exynos 2100 model. The Snapdragon 888 is a 5nm processor paired with Adreno 660 GPU so it should offer better gaming performance. Rest of the specs is expected to stay the same. 

Nothing Phone (2) first official image

Nothing finally took the wraps off its upcoming smartphone, the Phone (2). It released the first official image of the Nothing Phone (2) earlier this week. From this teaser we could confirm that the Phone (2) has a similar design to the Phone (1). But it will come with a redesigned Glyph Interface and slightly curved edges. There’s also a new dark gray colour for the Phone (2) in addition to a white variant.

World’s first 24GB RAM phone launched

The Nubia RedMagic 8S Pro+ is the world’s first phone with a whopping 24GB RAM which is exclusive of any memory expansion feature. The smartphone is also powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Advanced Edition, which has a clock speed of up to 3.36GHz. It is currently available only in China with a starting price of RMB 5,499 (Rs 62,500 approx). The Nubia RedMagic 8S Pro+ also has an OLED display, triple rear cameras, and an under-display selfie camera.