Apple, at the iPhone Launch Event on October 13, 2020 introduced its newest flagship phones through a virtual launch event.

The iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro and the iPhone 12 Pro Max, which offer powerful features, and are all equipped with the 5G network.

The iPhone 12 (6.1 inch) and iPhone 12 mini (5.4 inch) will be available in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB in blue, green, black, white, and red.

The iPhone 12 price starts from $799 (N304,419) while the iPhone 12 mini price starts from $699 (N266,319). They will be available for pre-order on 6 November and will be available for shipping starting 13 November.

The iPhone 12 Pro (6.1 inch) and iPhone 12 Pro Max (6.7 inch) will also be available in 128GB, 256GB and 512GB and in graphite, silver, gold, and pacific blue.

The iPhone 12 Pro price starts from are $999 (N380,619) depending on the storage while the iPhone 12 Pro Max price starts from $1099 (N418,719) depending on the storage. It will be available for pre-order starting 16 October and it will start shipping in the US by 23 October.

Reactions

iPhone 12 launch draws mixed reactions all around the world from YouTubers to Tweeps to magazines, among others.

The iPhone 12 won’t be coming with a charger and earphones. So it means when you order or preorder your iPhone you must also do the same for a charger and earphones.

The iPhone 12 structure and design was compared to that of iPhone 5 and very different to that of iPhone 11 and co.

The iPhone 12 launch was also criticized because it boasted of the screen of the phone being very strong. But we all know how it goes with the screens.

Some people also said apart from the new 5G feature, there were no other new additions.

In China, of 24,269 respondents to a Caljing magazine poll, 10,000 voted against getting the new iPhone. 9269 were in support of getting a new one while the rest 5000 were neutral about it.

Microsoft outlook service had a worldwide blackout today following a software “configuration update”.

Outlook users were unable to connect to their Outlook.com as the site had difficulty in loading for some hours.

“We’ve received reports of users experiencing issues accessing their Exchange Online accounts via Outlook on the Web,” Microsoft tweeted on Thursday morning.

We've received reports of users experiencing issues accessing their Exchange Online accounts via Outlook on the Web. Our initial investigation indicates that India-based users are the primarily impacted audience. Further details can be found in your admin center under EX223208.

— Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) October 1, 2020

The company had deduced the cause of the outage, stating, “We’ve determined that a recent configuration update to components that route user requests was the cause of impact. We’ve reverted the update and are monitoring the service for recovery.”

Besides the outlook outage, Microsoft had other service outages during the week, which affected its Office 365, Teams, and other services for several hours.

Microsoft users gave public utterances on social media because of the impact of the outages on them. One can relate to their opinions considering that the Covid-19 pandemic has made most people turn to the remote working system.

Is Microsoft Outlook / Office 365 down for anyone else in india? pic.twitter.com/P8udtibf1t

— Prasanth S (@Itsmeprasanths) October 1, 2020

Alphabet Inc’s Google, some hours ago, launched Chromecast with Google TV, a hardware platform designed to show contents from leading streaming services like Walt Disney Co’s Disney+ and the most popular streaming service company, Netflix.

The tech juggernaut unveiled the Chromecast streaming device that now comes with a remote control. It will cost $49.99 in the U.S, and will be available in other countries by the end of 2020.

The real advantage this device holds looks to be the underlying search smarts that serve as the foundation for so much of what Google does. Here’s the company discussing the new feature in a blog post:

“Google TV’s For You tab gives you personalized watch suggestions from across your subscriptions organized based on what you like to watch—even your guilty pleasure reality dramas. Google TV’s Watchlist lets you bookmark movies and shows you want to save for later.

You can add to your Watchlist from your phone or laptop, and it will be waiting on your TV when you get home.

Best of all, you’ll also have access to thousands of apps and the ability to browse 400,000+ movies and TV shows sorted and optimized for what you like—ask Google Assistant to see results from across your favorite apps, like YouTube, Netflix, Disney+, Stan, 9Now and ABC view, among others.”
The new Chromecast with Google TV comes in a compact and thin design and is packed with the latest technology to give you the best viewing experience. It neatly plugs into your TV’s HDMI port and tucks behind your screen.

Hardware composition:

• Switching it on, the new Google Tv comes with a crystal clear video in up to 4K HDR at up to 60 frames per second in no time. With Dolby Vision, you’ll get extraordinary color, contrast, and brightness on your TV.
• The Hardware also supports HDMI pass coupled with Dolby audio content.