It’s been a major week in gaming with Gamescom currently wrapping up in Cologne. You can check out all the most exciting news from the convention floor in our guide to the Best in Show.
Elsewhere in the world, YouTube announced a handy new music feature, as an analyst shared his predictions for the fate of the iPhone 15.
Scroll down to discover our winner and our loser from this week.
Winner: YouTube
If you’ve ever gotten a song stuck in your head and can’t for the life of you remember what it’s called, who it’s by or even a single lyric, YouTube’s new hum feature could be a game-changer.
The video-sharing app is currently testing a new feature that lets users search for a track by recording a short snippet Shazam-style or humming it into their device’s mic.
The feature works by leveraging the voice search functionality within the YouTube app. All the user needs to do is play or hum at least three seconds of a song for the app to pull results that can include official music videos, user-generated content and Shorts featuring the song. YouTube Music members can also listen to the full audio track using their subscription.
The ability to search for music in this way is still in a limited beta stage, meaning it might never make it to the full app. However, the feature would certainly give YouTube users a more seamless option for searching for music than Shazam, which currently requires users to link their account to a music streaming service in order to hear a song in full.
The feature is live on the YouTube app for Android right now for those keen to test it out.
Loser: Apple
Our loser this week is Apple after it was reported that demand for the iPhone 15 could be lower than initially expected.
According to analyst Jeff Pu, Apple is already cutting production of the next-gen iPhone a month ahead of its launch. Pu shared the news in a note released to investors and seen by 9to5Mac.
According to the note, Apple only plans to build 77 million iPhone 15 handsets by the end of 2023 – that’s six million fewer units than what had originally been predicted.
Pu says this is partly due to supply problems relating to Sony’s camera sensors, along with the iPhone 15 Pro’s titanium frame and slim bezels. Another factor here is demand concern. The iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are anticipated to cost more than their predecessors, which could lead to fewer sales, especially considering the current cost of living crisis.
This just might not be the year everyone will upgrade their phones – especially if there’s a price hike on the horizon from Apple.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
