Tech wrap: Quibi shuts down, WhatsApp in-app purchases, Huawei Mate 40 series & more

It has been a fruitful day in the world of tech as we saw Huawei unveiling its flagship Mate 40 smartphone series along with eye gear, headphones and speakers. We also talked about the tech that powers the new Hummer EV. In addition to this, Quibi announced it is shutting down months after going live while Airbnb hired former Apple product designer, Jony Ive. This and more in this tech wrap.

Quibi bites the dust just six months after going live

Quibi, a short-form video streaming service, is shutting down mere six months after the launch. Confirming the shutdown, Quibi co-founders Jeffery Katzenberg and Meg Whiteman penned an open letter to its employees, investors, and partners. The founders said that their failure was not due to the lack of trying but admitted they had “exhausted every option” available to them. The co-founders added they would return cash to their shareholders.

Huawei Mate 40 Pro, Mate 40 Pro+ and Porsche Design edition launched

While Apple became the first in the world to bring 5nm processor in iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, today Huawei joined the trend with its Huawei Mate 40 and Mate 40 Pro with Kirin 9000. The handsets are not just known for the efficient processor but also for their camera capabilities among others. 

Airbnb hires former Apple designer Jony Ive's firm for multi-year partnership

Home rental company Airbnb Inc on Wednesday said it was hiring former Apple designer Jony Ive and his firm to design new Airbnb products and services under a multi-year deal. Ive was a close creative collaborator with Apple Inc co-founder Steve Jobs.

Phillips launches new range of air purifiers in India ahead of Diwali

All the purifiers in the series come with AeraSense­ ­and ­VitaShield Intelligent Purification System technology for improved class filtration of up to 99.7% for indoor air pollutants that are as small as 0.003 microns. The series begins from Rs 17,500.

New Hummer gets more tech than ever: Runs on Intel SoC, Android and Unreal game Engine

This is a 1,000HP “supertruck” that is being placed as a rival to Tesla’s Cybertruck in terms of power. But many don’t know about the tech that is stuffed inside the infotainment system of the new Hummer. It has everything from Intel processors, Android UI and runs on Epic’s Unreal game Engine, the same engine that is behind games like Batman: Arkham City, Borderlands 3, Fortnite, Moto GP18 and more.

WhatsApp to offer in-app purchases, cloud hosting services

Facebook on Thursday said its WhatsApp messaging app would start to offer in-app purchases and hosting services, as it moves to boost revenue from the app while knitting together e-commerce infrastructure across the company.