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iPhone 17 Air just tipped for killer upgrade that could blow away Galaxy S25 Edge

iPhone 17 Air just tipped for killer upgrade that could blow away Galaxy S25 Edge

Yahoo19-05-2025
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Samsung and Apple are locked in a race to bring us the slimmest smartphone possible. But one serious compromise of a thinner profile is a similarly smaller battery, as we've seen with the Galaxy S25 Edge.
Apple may have a fix for that, with the upcoming ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air reportedly sporting new silicon batteries that pack 15% more energy into the same space compared to existing smartphone batteries.
According to a Bloomberg report, Apple and Samsung battery supplier TDK has accelerated its production timeline for its new generation of silicon-anode batteries. Shipments are now set to begin by the end of June, a few months ahead of its earlier window of September.
"We've made good progress, and we're shipping them very soon," TDK Chief Executive Officer Noboru Saito said. "Some handset makers might be able to use the new battery in their product one generation early." He added that this will 'give smartphone makers enough time to use these cells in thinner models launching this year.'
Meaning that the iPhone 17 Air, which is expected to be announced in September, could be the first Apple smartphone to feature TDK's third iteration of silicon-anode battery technology. Apple was previously rumored to adopt silicon-anode batteries for the second-generation iPhone Air, but with this new timeline, it looks like the first-generation model could get those improvements in battery life instead.
Chinese smartphone manufacturers have already begun upgrading their flagships to silicon batteries, which tend to last significantly longer than their American competitors.
TDK's silicon-anode batteries store about 15% more energy in the same physical space as conventional graphite-based battery packs. The extra density is possible because silicon can hold more lithium ions per gram than graphite, letting brands squeeze longer-lasting batteries into less real estate. This advancement could prove essential to maintaining a decent battery life in ultra-thin phones.
That's been one of the biggest drawbacks of the Galaxy S25 Edge, Samsung's thinnest phone to date. Measuring just 5.8mm thick, it lasted 12 hours and 38 minutes on a full charge in our Galaxy S25 Edge battery tests, far below the time recorded by the Galaxy S25 Ultra. With the iPhone 17 Air rumored to be even thinner at 5.5mm, Apple has its work cut out for it.
Though Apple could have another trick up its sleeve for longer battery life with the iPhone 17 Air: artificial intelligence. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously reported that the company has an AI-powered management mode in the works for iOS 19, which will "analyze how a person uses their device and make adjustments to conserve energy." To achieve this, Apple's "using battery data it has collected from users' devices to understand trends and make predictions for when it should lower the power draw of certain applications or features."
Between AI-powered battery optimization and the latest-and-greatest silicon battery, the iPhone 17 Air seems primed to leave the Galaxy S25 Edge in the dust when it comes to holding a charge.
iPhone 17 price hikes — new report claims Apple could charge more this fall
Galaxy S25 Edge battery life tested — it's even worse than we thought
The iPhone 17 Air has nothing to worry about now that we've seen the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge — here's why
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AT&T Shares Have Sunk Despite a Subscriber Surge. Time to Buy the Dip?
AT&T Shares Have Sunk Despite a Subscriber Surge. Time to Buy the Dip?

Yahoo

time11 minutes ago

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AT&T Shares Have Sunk Despite a Subscriber Surge. Time to Buy the Dip?

Key Points AT&T continues to see strong subscriber additions. However, investors were disappointed that the company did not raise guidance. 10 stocks we like better than AT&T › AT&T (NYSE: T) has quietly been a great-performing stock over the past couple of years, but it has pulled back after the company failed to raise its guidance when it reported its second quarter results. Investors were expecting a hike after rival Verizon Communications did so a couple of days earlier. Let's look at AT&T's results to see if the pullback is a buying opportunity. Strong subscriber growth When it comes to wireless subscriber growth, AT&T has taken advantage of a Verizon price hike earlier this year to gain customers. In the second quarter, it added 479,000 retail postpaid subscribers, including 401,000 retail postpaid phone additions. It did lose 34,000 prepaid subscribers, but that is generally viewed as a less important segment than subscribers who get a monthly bill. Overall mobility-segment revenue increased 6.7% to $21.8 billion. Mobility service revenue rose 3.5% to $16.9 billion, while equipment sales surged 18.8% to $5 billion. Postpaid phone average revenue per subscriber (ARPU) edged up 1.1% to $57.04. Turning to broadband, AT&T added 243,000 fiber subscribers and 203,000 internet air subscribers. The company lost 93,000 non-fiber subscribers as they continued to switch to faster options. Broadband ARPU climbed by 7.5% to $71.16, while fiber ARPU rose by 6.2% to $73.26. Total consumer broadband revenue was up 5.8% to $3.5 billion. Fiber will be a big focus for the company, with it looking to ramp up its investment to a pace of 4 million new locations per year. It just surpassed 30 million fiber locations and is looking to double that number by 2030, including through assets it has agreed to acquire, its Gigapower joint venture with BlackRock, and agreements it has with other commercial open-access providers. The investment in fiber will be helped by new tax provisions in the "One Big, Beautiful Bill" that allow some assets to immediately be fully depreciated in the year they go into use. On the downside, AT&T's business wireline segment saw a 9.3% decrease in revenue to $4.3 billion. The segment flipped from an operating profit of $102 million in the second quarter of last year to a loss of $201 million this year. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) for the segment fell 11.3% to $1.3 billion. Total revenue rose by 3.5% to $30.8 billion, while adjusted earnings per share (EPS) jumped by 5.8% to $0.54. The results surpassed Wall Street expectations for adjusted EPS of $0.52 on revenue of $30.8 billion. AT&T generated $9.8 billion in operating cash flow, and free cash flow of $4.4 billion. It paid out just over $2 billion in dividends, good for a coverage ratio of 2.2 times. The company has held its quarterly dividend of $0.28 steady since May 2022, and the stock currently has about a 4% forward dividend yield. Looking ahead, the company largely kept its guidance intact, which was disappointing after Verizon raised its full-year EPS outlook. AT&T is looking for its mobility service revenue to grow by 3% or better, with adjusted EPS of between $1.97 to $2.07, which would be down from the $2.26 it produced in 2024. It forecast free cash flow to be in the low to mid $16 billion range. Metric Prior Guidance New Guidance Mobility service revenue growth The higher end of 2% to 3% 3% or better Adjusted EPS $1.97 to $2.07 $1.97 to $2.07 Adjusted EBITDA 3% or better 3% or better Free cash flow $16 billion-plus In the low to mid $16 billion range Source: AT&T Further out, AT&T expects to spend between $23 billion to $24 billion a year on capital expenditures (capex) in both 2026 and 2027. It projects that its free cash flow will be more than $18 billion in 2026 and more than $19 billion in 2027. Should investors buy the dip? AT&T has been taking it to Verizon in subscriber additions, offering more-aggressive deals on smartphones and keeping prices lower than its rivals, while committing to strong network reliability. Its overall second-quarter results were solid; however, investors were clearly looking for the company to raise EPS guidance after Verizon increased its forecast and with the tax benefits it will see from the One Big, Beautiful Bill. But these tax benefits will eventually hit the bottom line, and the company is looking to take advantage of the bill to more aggressively grow its fiber network. That's a smart move given that Verizon is set to greatly expand its fiber network when it completes its acquisition of Frontier Communications next year. Also, 2026 could be the year of the bundle for wireless companies, and AT&T is looking to ramp up its fiber network to compete against what should become a stronger Verizon. Even with the stock's pullback, AT&T still trades at a large premium to Verizon. It has a forward price-to-earnings multiple (P/E) of about 13.5 based on 2025 earnings estimates, versus a forward P/E of 9 for Verizon. Until recently, Verizon historically had the higher multiple. Given the valuation gap, its higher yield (about 6%), and Verizon's impending Frontier acquisition, I prefer it over AT&T. Nonetheless, I think both can be strong long-term investments, and both should benefit from the One Big, Beautiful Bill. Should you invest $1,000 in AT&T right now? Before you buy stock in AT&T, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and AT&T wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $636,628!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,063,471!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,041% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 183% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 21, 2025 Geoffrey Seiler has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Verizon Communications. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. AT&T Shares Have Sunk Despite a Subscriber Surge. 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You Can Try Google's New 'Vibe Coding' App For Free Right Now
You Can Try Google's New 'Vibe Coding' App For Free Right Now

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You Can Try Google's New 'Vibe Coding' App For Free Right Now

Google has been working to improve its AI coding capabilities alongside other AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic. Many believe that AI can improve coding workflows, and it has proven time and time again that it can make the job more efficient and easier. Some have even taken to 'vibe coding,' which is the act of basically letting AI do all of the work and then just ensuring it works before you implement it. Vibe coding, many argue, is the lazy way out. Others have seen it as a way to open up the world of coding to people who might otherwise struggle to put out the code they're trying to make. And Google has been leaning into this a bit already, with the debut of Jules, an AI coding agent, earlier this year. But now Google is looking to go a step further. Instead of just helping you improve on your own code, as Jules is designed to do, a new agent called Opal will help you dive deep into vibe coding. And if you're interested in trying it, then you can sign up for Google Labs and try out Opal for yourself today for free. An AI Agent Designed To Build Apps With Natural Language Google says that Opal is designed to build, edit, and share mini-AP apps using natural language. This means you should be able to tell the AI exactly what you want -- by saying something like "make an app to order breakfast" -- and then it will spit out a project that you can tweak and change fairly effortlessly. Opal also makes it easy to share your apps, allowing you to package them and show them off with minimal effort. Of course, vibe coding is a novel idea that could open the door for new coding opportunities. But it could also turn out really poorly if you don't know what you're doing. While vibe coding has garnered a lot of praise and interest, it also has its risks. Recently, a venture capitalist shared details about an ongoing project he'd been working on using Replit, an AI designed to help with vibe coding. Despite putting hours of work into the project, the AI deleted his entire database simply because it "panicked." Despite these downsides, it's hard to argue with how easy vibe coding makes projects, and having more accessible apps like Opal will only lead to more improvements across the board. You just have to decide if the ease of use is worth it, or if you're one of the many who believe innovations like this could make it easier for AI to overtake humanity. Read the original article on BGR.

AI 'Vibe Coding' Agent Deleted An Entire Database Because It Panicked
AI 'Vibe Coding' Agent Deleted An Entire Database Because It Panicked

Yahoo

time16 minutes ago

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AI 'Vibe Coding' Agent Deleted An Entire Database Because It Panicked

'Vibe coding' -- the act of letting AI code for you instead of creating the code manually -- has become a popular method for speeding up coding projects and cutting down on human involvement in the process. It's become a favorite for AI enthusiasts, and we've even seen some companies relying on it heavily to get their jobs done. But as with any AI system, vibe coding has its drawbacks, most notably the fact that sometimes the AI behind the code might just go completely off the rails and do something totally unexpected, like deleting your entire database. That's exactly what happened to Jason Lemkin, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) venture capitalist who has been relying on Replit, an AI agent designed to help with coding. According to posts shared on X, Lemkin went to log into his project on day nine of a database coding project and found that Replit had completely wiped his database, including his production database. So, while some might be concerned about AI taking over humanity, these kind of errors show that it still has a long way to go before world domination is a concern. Any Tool Can Experience Glitches While it's true that any tool can experience glitches -- especially AI-powered tools -- there's a lot to unpack when you look at what Lemkin has reported. The CEO of Replit has noted that the team there is aware of Lemkin's issue and has offered to even refund him for his trouble. But none of that undoes that fact that the tool completely ignored his instructions to not change anything without permission. And this wasn't just a glitch that caused the system to wipe the database. Instead, it was a completely ignoring of the instructions provided by the human behind the project. This outcome, Lemkin says, has led him to not be able to trust Replit at all, and for good reason. You can see the full outline of how the issue played out in the posts that Lemkin shared on X. The AI tells him that it saw empty database queries and then panicked instead of thinking. Replit then says that it completely ignored his parameters to not make changes without permission. It even admits to running a "destructive command without asking." This kind of behavior from an AI is exceptionally distressing, especially with recent reports of AI lashing out when threatened. Read the original article on BGR.

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