Apple iPhone 14 Pro arrives with an interactive cutout replacing the notch; Zippmat, Daalchini raise funding

Apple yesterday announced the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max smartphones, featuring a pill-shaped cutout that shows useful information and can be used to bring up apps quickly. Apple calls the cutout, Dynamic Island. It can show important alerts, notifications, and activities. It maintains an active state to allow users easier access to controls with a simple tap-and-hold. Apple also released the iPhone 14 and 14 Max, which retain the older notch for the selfie camera. Notes: Apple yesterday announced the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max smartphones, featuring a pill-shaped cutout that shows useful information and can be used to bring up apps quickly. Apple calls the cutout, Dynamic Island. It can show important alerts, notifications, and activities. The new phones also have an always-on display. They run on Apple’s A16 Bionic chip and are equipped with a 48MP Main camera with a quad-pixel sensor, and Photonic Engine, an enhanced image pipeline that improves low-light photos, Apple said in a press release yesterday. New features also include an emergency SOS via satellite and crash detection. The phones will be available with storage ranging from 128GB to 1TB and in colours of deep purple, silver, gold, and space black. Pre-orders begin tomorrow, with availability beginning September 16. Samsung Electronics has started operations of its newest chip plant at its massive manufacturing complex in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, in South Korea, to produce advanced memory chips and processors, Korea JongHang Daily reported yesterday. One of the initial products from the Pyeongtaek Line 3 or P3 factory will be NAND flash chips. The range will later extend to include advanced dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips and other processors made using a 5-nanometer manufacturing process or lower, according to the chipmaker on Wednesday. Foundation work for the next factory, P4, also began, according to the daily. ZippMat, a construction supply chain startup, has raised $10 million in seed funding comprising equity and debt in a round led by Matrix Partners India, according to a press release today. Existing investor Zephyr Peacock joined the equity portion and loans came from HDFC bank and TradeCred. ZippMat, founded in 2021 by Abhijeet Kudva and Nandeesh Hasbi, is a Bengaluru-based supply chain as a service venture that aims to simplify material procurement for engineering and construction companies by using its curated supplier and logistics network with technology-led services. Daalchini, a Noida venture, has raised $4 million in funding to expand its smart vending machines business, TechCrunch reported yesterday. Daalchini offers a range of food and beverage options from some 160 brands through its smart vending machines. Founded in 2017 by Prerna Kalra and Vidya Bhushan, Daalchini – the name means cinnamon in various Indian languages – runs a network of about 850 stores in 23 cities in 11 states in India. It plans to expand to 50 cities and 5,000 smart retail points in the next 12–18 months. Theme music courtesy Free Music & Sounds: https://soundcloud.com/freemusicandsounds