News

Sixty percent of smartphones will have glass backs by 2020

Prepare for fragile fingerprint magnets

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What is your phone made of? Until recently, the smartphone market was synonymous with the aluminum market. Everyone loved metal on their phones. Coming from a tacky plastic binge, phones desperately needed the premium vibe that metal exuded. Spearheaded by Apple, makers attached the material to their entire lineups.

As we know now, 2018 popularized an entirely different beast — the glass back. At the time of this writing, the vast majority of smartphone makers already offer a form of glass architecture: Samsung, Apple, Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo, OnePlus, and OPPO. Pioneered by Samsung’s Galaxy S6, the trend sputtered to life slowly. Now, the glass revolution is well underway.

According to analysts at Counterpoint, the glass smartphone will take over 60 percent of the entire market by 2020. As of 2018, the material pervades only 26 percent of the market. By next year, the number will jump up to 41 percent.

The escalation is a marked surprise. Previously, the trend’s beginnings were only at 7 percent and 13 percent from 2016 to 2017, respectively. In just four years, the material skyrocketed from minority to market domination. By 2018, more than half of smartphones will rock glass backs.

Leading the pack, Apple already uses glass backs for 64 percent of its lineup. Additionally, Samsung, despite pioneering the trend, uses glass for only 36 percent of its lineup. (Although, the brand’s more vertical product structure might have contributed to that.)

Despite the trend’s exponential growth, glass has had its fair share of controversies. Currently, OnePlus 6 users are constantly reporting glass breakages, despite not dropping their phones. Moreover, glass is a notorious fingerprint magnet without a protective case.

Logistically, manufacturing glass backs costs less than metal ones. Theoretically, the material also helps with better connectivity and optimized wireless charging. However, since the trend is still in its early stages, additional developments will have to wait.

Of course, if you want to cash in on this trend, buy yourself a good protective case.

SEE ALSO: Corning promises stronger cover glass with Gorilla Glass 6

Lifestyle

Nike’s Alphafly 4 is built for the part of the marathon ~that actually hurts~

Made to protect your stride when fatigue sets in.

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Every marathoner knows the exact moment the race truly begins.

It’s not at the starting line amidst the early morning excitement, but around the 32-kilometer mark, when your legs begin to feel heavy and your form starts to fall apart.

Nike designed its latest marathon racer specifically for that critical window. The Alphafly 4 shifts the focus away from chasing sheer top-end speed, targeting instead the physical breakdown that happens late in a long run.

By studying how fatigue alters a runner’s mechanics over time, Nike rebuilt its flagship distance shoe to help athletes maintain their stride when energy starts to dip.

Holding the line when fatigue sets in

On the road, the shoe operates as a complete, unified system designed to protect your stride.

A redesigned Atomknit upper wraps the foot with breathable support, using targeted midfoot cables and an integrated heel unit to keep your fit secure without adding unnecessary weight or friction over long distances.

Underfoot, the new ZoomX LT foam layer works alongside Nike’s contoured carbon-fiber Flyplate. The lighter foam returns maximum energy with every footfall, while the plate smooths out your rolling motion.

Together with dual forefoot Air Zoom units and a durable Fast Shot outsole, the setup keeps your cadence consistent and your legs feeling fresh well into the back half of the race.

As Emily Farina from the Nike Sport Research Lab notes, their goal was to help runners stay confident, balanced, and capable from the start line all the way to the finish.

Built on the miles that came before

That focus on real-world endurance stems directly from athlete testing.

Nike developed the shoe using feedback from its Project Dreamweaver initiative and extensive trials with women distance runners, prioritizing stability and comfort alongside high performance.

The lineage carries significant weight. The Alphafly family has grounded some of distance running’s greatest moments, from historic sub-two-hour efforts to major course records.

With the Alphafly 4, that legacy translates directly into everyday marathon training, helping athletes hold their target pace just a little bit longer. Marathoners won’t have to wait long to feel the difference on race day.

The Nike Alphafly 4 drops in an early, limited release on September 17 at nike.com, followed by a wider global release on October 29 online and at select retail stores.

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Entertainment

SEGA, Netflix announce Crazy Taxi film adaptation

1st in planned slate of film adaptations, including Sonic and STRANGER THAN HEAVEN

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SEGA and Netflix have announced a new Crazy Taxi film adaptation. This will usher in a new collaboration era with the parties also developing adaptations for Sonic and STRANGER THAN HEAVEN.

Such a slate of future adaptations reflects the range of SEGA’s library as it draws on Netflix’s experience bringing beloved game worlds to new audiences.

The first project features Crazy Taxi, which will be written by Dan Gregor and Doug Mand. The beloved writing duo was behind the 2025 reboot of The Naked Gun.

Also on board to help helm the production are the same visionaries behind the Sonic franchise: Neal H. Moritz, Toby Ascher, and Toru Nakahara.

Crazy Taxi has been an arcade hit since 1999, putting players behind the wheel of a fearless cabbie racing the clock through chaotic city streets.

There’s flying off ramps, dodging traffic, and chasing tips with punk-rock energy that has become the series’ signature.

The latest title in the franchise, Crazy Taxi: World Tour, is set for a 2027 release. You can watch its trailer below:

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Finance

HONOR, Fidesmo partner for contactless payments across Europe, Middle East

Enabling contactless payments on the HONOR Watch 6

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HONOR and Fidesmo have partnered to launch contactless payments across Europe and the Middle East on the HONOR Watch 6.

Powered by Fidesmo Pay, the integration enables users to connect an existing Mastercard or Visa card to their watch and complete contactless transactions directly from the wearable device.

This brings Fidesmo’s network of over 900 banks and financial institutions to HONOR’s customers. Users can connect an existing card to the HONOR Watch 6 instantly through the HONOR Health App, which installs a unique token directly onto the watch.

Acting as a secure reference to the payment method, this token allows customers to pay without storing their actual payment details on the device. Once installed, users can tap the watch at any
contactless terminal to pay, just as they would with a card or phone.

HONOR joins a group of device partners that already includes Swatch, Polar, and Mondaine as Fidesmo continues to build momentum across categories.

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