Global technology

OnePlus is expected to launch a new budget phone called the OnePlus Nord on July 10. On the surface this sounds like a typical tidbit of phone industry news that’s not worth much thought. But the Chinese phone-maker is spending an inordinate amount of energy drumming up hype for, what is essentially, a sub-$500 phone that’ll be available only in the UK and India for now.

For instance, it created not one, but two Instagram accounts for it — one perhaps prematurely for the name “Lite Z Thing,” and one for what appears to be the official

A few weeks ago, OnePlus teased “something new” was coming. At the time, it was suspected that the Chinese phone maker was cooking up a new midrange device, following its April release of the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro. This was later confirmed on June 23 when CEO Pete Lau reported that OnePlus was announcing a “new, more affordable smartphone product line.” Then, the project was dubbed “OnePlus Z ‘Thing,”http://www.cnet.com/” but the official name of the new device appears to be the OnePlus Nord.

Though pricing and specs are

The time has come, fellow Dark Sky users, to pick a different weather app. In May, Dark Sky announced it had been acquired by Apple and it would sunset the Android version of its weather app on July 1. Indeed, terribly sad news, but perhaps out of guilt, Dark Sky has extended the date to Aug. 1, giving you a little bit longer to find a replacement. 

Dark Sky had over 1 million installs, according to its Play store listing that’s since been taken down as part of the transition away