Jony Ive enters into multi-year partnership with Airbnb

Roughly one year after he left Apple Inc. Sir Jony Ive is back in the tech limelight, not for a revolutionary new product or innovation but because of a multi-year partnership with Airbnb. Ive retired last year to form his own LoveFrom design firm which was supposedly still open to collaborate with Apple. We've had a slew of product releases from Apple that seemed to have no direct involvement with Jony Ive. 

News has it that Ive's firm LoveFrom will help design the next generation of Airbnb products and services. This might seem confusing since Airbnb's service is hinged on technology that enables individuals to rent out their homes or apartments (something that has fallen out of favour lately, because of COVID-19). Collaborating with a design luminary like Ive seems strange, but if you consider Ive's final masterwork for Apple was his involvement in the Apple Park mothership, it makes sense to leverage his substantial knowledge of architecture, interior design, and innovation. Of course, the joke Ive watchers will make is that Airbnb is gearing up to create a series of white rooms like the one Ive used to do his Apple keynote voice overs from. This partnership could see Ive move on to his next phase as a designer and will likely yield some surprising new products for Airbnb.

Source: 9to5Mac

Huawei, Porsche Design partnership debuts Mate 40 RS, Watch GT 2

Source: Huawei

Huawei's ongoing partnership has produced special edition versions of its handsets through the years. With the launch of the Mate 40 series, of course, we get the new Porsche Design Huawei Mate 40 RS. Aside from that flagship handset, we also get a special edition version of its Watch GT 2 this time.

Let's talk about the phone first. The Porsche Design variant shares many features of the Mate 40, but with a few even more premium specs to justify its price and positioning. Mate 40 RS will set interested buyers by a whopping €2,295 (around CA$3,566).

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Acer unveils DTS audio-equipped, Google Assistant-powered speaker

Yes, those are more qualifying statements than usual. But Acer seems to be taking the fight to the existing smart home speakers with the Acer Halo. It's one of the first smart speakers to offer DTS sound processing without breaking the bank. The Halo promises to provide "high-quality audio that is projected in 360 degrees to fill any room." 

And then it also comes with RGB lights on the base and a customizable dot matrix-like display that reminds us of the Amazon Echo Dot with clock. That requires an app to show anything from a clock, weather forecast, emoji, or another pixelated image of choice. If the RGB lights and the display are too much for you, Acer claims you can turn this off. 

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Huawei Mate 40 Pro offers 50W wireless charging, new flagship Kirin 9000 chipset

Huawei follows up the P40 series with the new Mate 40 line, which debut new features like 50-watt wireless charging and the new flagship 5nm Kirin 9000 processor. The Mate 40 Pro and Pro Plus come with a curved 6.76-inch 90Hz OLED screen with a 2,772 x 1,344 resolution and an in-display fingerprint sensor. To protect the phones, these come with IP68 dust- and water-resistance.

As with Huawei's flagship phones of the past, the camera is a big focus. The Mate 40 series looks to lead the charge in terms of camera tech and specs in a new circular design reminiscent of the Apple iPods' click wheel. 

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