Desirable new Android smartphones seem to be falling like rain these days. The latest comes from a familiar name: Nokia. Parent company HMD says their new phone, the Nokia 6, is going to hit the US market in July when the Android device arrives on Amazon.com. While the 5.5-inch phone has the requisite specs it needs to compete in the midrange smartphone market, the way it’s built is a story in itself.
The phone’s body is solid aluminum, and HMD says the process to make the chassis takes 12 hours to complete, including five different polishing steps. Sounds like it’ll be extra shiny. Inside, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 runs the show, along with 3gb of RAM and 32gb of storage, and you can bump that up with a micro SD card. The camera is a 16-megapixel single lens type, and the display has native HD resolution.
HMD says the phone features dual speakers with Dolby Atmos, although we’re not sure how exactly that’s going to work, but for just $229, we’re willing to give a shot. Looks like only AT&T and T•Mobile will work with the phone for the moment.
Launch, land, repeat
The team at SpaceX was especially busy over the weekend as they launched two rockets within 48 hours of each other – and then landed both of them safely so they can be re-used later. And it was no walk in the park: the first rocket lifted a satellite to a higher-than-usual orbit, meaning it was a rougher return trip than normal, and the other rocket had to land on a floating platform being rocked by rough seas.
Both birds made it back to the SpaceX nest safely so they can be used again. It’s good news for SpaceX, which has some big milestones coming up, including a first manned flight to the International Space Station, and Elon Musk says he’s going to try and land an unmanned vehicle on Mars as early as next year in a warm-up for his ambitious mass migration plans for the Red Planet. So far, there doesn’t seem to be anything he can’t do. Watch the latest from SpaceX here.
Someday, maybe Siri could be the mayor
There’s been a lot of development in the “connected home” tech segment lately, but what you might have missed is all the action taking place in the connected or “smart city” business. That’s right: connected cities. DT home tech reported Jenny McGrath recently took a look at the bigger picture of getting the tech in entire cities to work better together, and to say the task is daunting is an understatement.
But many municipalities are giving it a go, as city planners begin to see how a connected metropolis can be safer, cleaner, more efficient – and more prosperous. With tech such as self-driving cars, LED lighting, mesh communication networks and everything from parking meters to hospitals connected to the information grid, there a lot happening behind the scenes in your town.
Check out her in-depth look at what makes a city smart, and also check out our updated list of the most tech-forward cities. You might even be living in one.
We’ve got more news on our Facebook page and YouTube channel, and be sure to tune in to this week’s DT podcasts: Close to the Metal (computers and such) on Tuesday, Trends with Benefits (general tech shenanigans) on Thursdays, and Between the Streams (movie and TV topics) every Friday.
