Week Long Phone Battery Life Coming?; Apple Dynamic Island-Tiny Size and Moved; Sony TV Biz Spun to TCL; Sequoia Invests in Anthropic, Despite Also Backing OpenAI

It sounds like a dream come true for power users, or for those who just always forget to charge their phones. A 10,000 mAh battery is about to be shoehorned into a smartphone. Androidpolice.com reports that maker Realme has announced that it will put such a horse of a battery into its upcoming P4 Power phone. The phone is 8.5mm thick and weighs 215 grams, so the more powerful battery hasn’t really meant a giant brick shoved in your pocket. What Realme has done is use a 10% silicon anode in the battery and used a clever stacking system for components, making for maximum available space in the phone for the battery. While it may not give power users a whole week of use without plugging in, it will be close. Androidpolice.com noted that the OnePlus 15 has a 7300mAh battery and that lasts 3 to 4 days on a charge. It will be a nice breakthrough to see this phone out…and logically, to see similar tech show up in market leaders Samsung and Apple. Even making it 5 days through the work week without having to remember to charge will be huge.

There have been reports all year that the next iPhone will see a smaller ‘Dynamic Island.’ Now, according to apple insider.com, tipster Jon Prosser claims the iPhone 18 Pro could not only see the island and front cam shrink in size, but also but also move to the top left corner from the top center of the screen. In addition, Prosser joins others in saying that the iPhone 18 Pro will use an under display Face ID system. This will allow for more useable front screen area, without the clutter from cameras, etc. When the Dynamic Island expands for a notification or the like, it will grow to the right, but not down as the present one does…so again, leaving you more clean screen area. 

Sony was the market leader in TVs and home entertainment for years. Lately, you would be hard pressed to see a Sony TV in any big box store or ads online. Now, the verge.com says Sony is spinning off its TV business to a joint venture with TCL. In the deal, TCL will hold a 51% stake. The company will still use the Sony and Bravia branding. A deal is supposed to be finalized by the end of this quarter. Sony has retained an aura of a premium brand, but TVs have become commoditized to the point that they have really been eclipsed by a number of other brands. 

In an unusual departure, investment firm Sequoia Capital is pumping a bunch of cash into Anthropic, maker of the Claude AI. Techcrunch.com reports that investment firms have generally avoided backing competing companies in the same area, a Sequoia already has money in both OpenAI and Elon Musk’s xAI. In the case of being in those two AI startups that compete, it is notable that Sequoia already had ties to both Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI and with Elon Musk. Anthropic is shooting to raise $350 billion in this funding round. Again, massive money is being pumped into AI, as we have noted here…with minuscule returns or no returns. For its part, Anthropic is allegedly planning an IPO this year. 

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.