Yes, It’s Prime Day; Facebook Launches Clubhouse Clone; iPhone 13-No Price Bump; Windows 11 Event Thursday

It ought to be named “Prime Days With Weeks of Hype and Early Deals,” but that doesn’t sound catchy. This year, coming off Amazon’s huge surge in use during the pandemic, I am most interested to see if Prime Day will equal past ones (presuming Amazon reports accurate numbers about that.) Even with a lot of big price cuts, it’s not clear that they will see a big business uptick, and with all the pandemic use, snagging new Prime memberships may be pretty tough. At any rate, shop ‘till you drop…or ‘till your clicking finger is rubbery or credit line maxed out!

Facebook has been rolling out its Clubhouse style audio rooms. If you haven’t seen anything about it yet (appearing above Stories and your news feed), or gotten an invite, it is only a mater of time. Engadget.com says conversations stream live over Facebook, and room hosts can invite others to chat in their room. Creators can buy ’stars’, in-app gifts that help influencers make money from their streams. Not surprisingly, Facebook will rely on its algorithms and user reports to enforce content rules. We all know how well that works on the rest of Facebook! Right now, only verified public figures or creators in the US with accounts in ‘good standing’ can create a room. In addition to the audio rooms, Facebook is starting to add podcasts. You can listen to them while you scroll around in Facebook…another way to make the platform more ‘sticky’ and keep you hooked a bit longer at a time.

It’s the first full day of Summer, which means September and the new iPhones are just around the corner. 9to5mac.com reports that Trendforce has some new info on the iPhone 13 series. Probably most notably, there isn’t supposed to be a price hike from the 12’s. Trendforce also predicts Apple will sell some 223 million units, which they say is partly due to increased vaccinations and easing of lockdowns in the USS and Europe. Not insignificant in boosting iPhone sales…Huawei’s abandonment of high end smart phones to focus on mid and lower line models. 5G is expected to be built into around 39% of the upcoming iPhone 13 models. The rumor of a 1TB storage option is apparently not valid, according to Trendforce. 

Thursday, Microsoft is unveiling its ‘next generation of Windows’ in a virtual event. We will finally get to see the full look and features of Windows 11 (or whatever they are going to call it.) Cnet.com notes that if the leaked pics are to be believed, Windows will have a new Start menu, home screen, and frankly…will look more Mac-like.