Asus has announced the launch date for the Zenfone 9. The device will be unveiled on July 28 at multiple venues including New York at 9:00 a.m. ET. Asus revealed the launch date in a Twitter post that says “Compact Size. Big Possibilities”. This clearly indicates that the Zenfone 9 will be a compact phone packed with powerful hardware.
We can’t wait to share this exciting news with you – we’ll be live on July 28 at 9.00 p.m. (UTC+8) to reveal the most grabbable Zenfone 9 ever!
Save the date 👉 https://t.co/E7CuOIAvoE
— ASUS (@ASUS) July 13, 2022
The Tweet also shows the front panel of the Zenfone 9. In which, the phone appears with a flat display and a hole-punch cutout. This gives us a better look at the design. We can see the hole-punch camera is set farther away from the edge of the device, as it was on the predecessor, and there are asymmetrical bezels around the top and sides of the screen, with a thicker chin at the bottom. Like the Zenfone 8, the power button and the volume rockers are laid out on the right-hand side.
While Asus has yet to put out other details of the phone, leaks have given us plenty to go on. Recently, the phone manufacturer released a promotional video that accidentally showcased the complete design and key specs of the Zenfone 9. In the video, Zenfone 9 is seen with a revamped rear panel with camera sensors enclosed in thick metal rings.
The device is said to get a side-mounted fingerprint scanner rather than an in-display one. One key new feature is that the power button can be used as a so-called Swift key, where gestures will help navigate through the phone’s menus. We expect to see the Zenfone 9 in four different color options: black, white, red, and blue.
The Asus Zenfone 9 is likely to ship with a 5.9-inch AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. It may be powered by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and paired with up to 16GB of RAM and 256GB of onboard storage. In the camera department, the Zenfone 9 may feature a 50-megapixel Sony IMX766 main sensor and a wide-angle camera. Other than this, the device could get a 4300mAh, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance.
We will have all the Asus Zenfone 9 news for you on July 28, but look out for more rumors in the meantime.
Two new highly requested iCloud plugins just got added to ChatGPT, giving people who rely on Apple’s Mail and Calendar services a way to search emails, check appointments, and manage their schedules directly through the chatbot.
The integration is rolling out to all ChatGPT plans, including the free tier. You can access it on the web, desktop, and iOS.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.
Samsung’s scandal over its Game Optimizing Service, or GOS, has returned with a bill attached. South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has tentatively fined the company 20.1 billion won, or about $15.1 million, over gaming claims made for the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S22, and Tab S8.
The regulator says Samsung promoted the devices as gaming powerhouses without disclosing that GOS placed preset CPU and GPU limits on certain demanding games. Samsung disputes that conclusion, calling GOS a legitimate way to manage heat.