Hellooooo Techtember!
There’s tech announcements left and right, which must make it Techtember! But... what IS Techtember?
My latest obsession has been putting on background music while I work. I know for a majority of you, that’s not a big deal, but for me it is. I’ve grown accustomed to either working in silence or working with a TV show on in the background (The Price Is Right or Ancient Aliens). But a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon Poolside FM. It’s a Soundcloud-based web radio that specifically plays late-80s, early-90s vibe music. It’s got a funky, lo-fi vibe that is so refreshingly weird. So before you start reading, download the iPhone app (Android is coming soon) or play it in your browser.
What is Techtember?
Fall is great for a lot of reasons. The never-ending supply of pumpkin-themed things, the leaves changing color, the temperatures cooling off enough to wear sweaters and be comfy, the maple leaf cookies at Trader Joe’s… there’s a lot to love about fall. That includes tech.
The term “techtember” has grown in recent years because September is the sweet spot for product announcements. If the end goal is to have your product in a consumer’s home by holiday season, you have the announcement in September, the pre-order by early October, and the product hits the shelves mid-November. This lineup is what makes September so sweet in the tech news world.
Already, Septmeber has brought the official announcement of the Xbox Series X and S, the latest Nvidia 30 Series GPUs, and Samsung’s unveiling of the futuristic Galaxy Z Flip. We’re mearly halfway through the month and those things are all set to be major hot-ticket items by holiday season.
And of course, look at the week ahead! You have Apple’s next event on the 15th, a PlayStation event on the 16th, and the official launch of Android 11 coming up, which usually pairs with the announcement of Google’s next-gen Pixel phones.
Understanding “techtember” isn’t as cryptic or in-the-know as you might think. Really, it’s just an understanding of consumer habits and supply chains. It’s the same method used by folks who ride the rumor train each year. There’s a pattern to how tech companies release their products and the rumors follow the same pattern. You all know I’m no stranger to hating on the rumor parade, and every techtemper is a reminder of that.
Luckily, 2020 is a good year for that. Certainly, companies like Apple and Microsoft have had a pleathora of leaks emerge. For Microsoft, the leaks were so widespread the company decided to beat it to the punch by releasing the next-gen product lineup. Jack Appleby, Creative Strategist at Twitch, recently tweeted a thread lamenting Microsoft for jumping ahead of the rumors and directing the narrative. It worked in their favor!
Meanwhile, other companies have become the masters of silence. Sony, for example, has been incredibly secretive of their upcoming console. Since unveiling the PS5 back in June, there’s been zero word on the pricing or the release of the console. Users on the r/PS5 subreddit have been going down rabbitholes for information, looking on the release dates of games to get a rough ballpark for when the console may release. Sony’s been so tight-lipped, in fact, that even those close to the console haven’t a clue on when it will be announced or what will be revealed at their next event. Behind those white curves, there’s a lot of hidden secrets.
Honestly, it’s more refreshing to see companies like Sony keep things under wraps so well. It goes beyond just staying quiet like Apple usually does while rumors float about. There’s a strategy behind releasing the physical design early and keeping everything else a secret until much later in that “techtember” timeline. In essence, Sony is taking the actions that make techtember fun in the first place.
Here’s the Techtember announcements you have to look forward to:
Apple Event – September 15
Sony PS5 Event – September 16
Sony Xperia Event – September 17
Google Pixel 5 – Late September (some think the 30th)
Samsung Galaxy Fan event – September 23
There’s also rumors of companies like GoPro and DJI set to host events this week.
Of course, it’s not all product announcements. Techtember is also home to some major tech news in general, such as the bombs of Nvidia acquiring ARM and Oracle partnering with TikTok.
The Things You Need To Know
Well… like I said above, Nvidia acquired ARM, so there’s that. Two major players in the processing space have come together after Nvidia bought the chip designing company for $40 billion. It could position Nvidia as more than just a GPU giant. The success of experiments like the one Apple is pursuing (using ARM-based SoCs for their future devices) means your next computer could be completely powered by Nvidia.
Oracle is partnering with TikTok! Two for two on curveballs. Granted, Oracle hasn’t purchased it outright from parent company ByteDance. Instead, they are serving as the U.S. partner, allowing TikTok to survive in some capacity here in the states. For those curious about how it will affect the platform, consider this: Oracle is the creepy uncle of technology. It hasn’t been relevant or useful in years outside of enterprise applications (that are usually janky, anyway). So now that they run TikTok in some unknown capacity, it might as well be dead. Still: at least it won’t run on Silverlight (that’s a Microsoft joke).
Gateway is back?! The computer company once a part of HP was acquired by Acer back in 2007 and fell off the face of the planet, until Acer announced a couple of days ago that it would be forming an exclusive partnership with Walmart for the budget brand laptops. Aside from being a blast from the past with their old cow-cube logo, these new Gateways will sport bold new colors and have updated internals for a new entry-level market.
Gang! Get ready: the next few weeks are going to be a jam pad of tech news. I’ll be live tweeting events all week, so be sure to follow me on Twitter for all the tech-goodies. As always, if you like what I have to say, share it with your friends! This is free content! And quite frankly, it’s the best tech-related free content you’ll find!