The Triumphant Return of the Good Small Phone
The iPhone 12 Mini is tiny by contemporary standards—but unlike other shrunk-down smartphones, it doesn't skimp.
What's the differennce between the iPhone 12 Mini and the iPhone 12? About three square inches of display. That’s it. Everything else is the same. Which makes this the first time in years that you’ve been able to buy a smaller phone that wasn’t also a worse phone—not just from Apple, but pretty much anywhere.
After a brief period in which small phones pretty much vanished altogether, like a Caspian horse they’ve made a modest retreat from extinction. But your choices, if you’re in the market, range from the gimmicky Palm phone—originally marketed as a secondary phone for when you’re on the go—to the iPhone SE, which Apple relaunched earlier this year after hiatus that began in 2018. The iPhone SE is perfectly fine, especially for the $400 price, but other than a peppy A13 processor it’s a clear and present downgrade from the rest of Apple’s lineup.
Otherwise your options are a feature phone or an Android deep cut like the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact. And that’s about it. How far has phone-size creep gone? Look no further than the iPhone 12 Mini’s introduction. “With its amazing size, it fits in the palm of your hand,” said Apple vice-president of marketing Kaiann Drance in Tuesday’s promotional video. Imagine that: A phone. That fits. In your hand. Source
“Women in the French music industry are compelled to make no waves,” Nakamura said in a recent interview. “I show off.” “A black woman doing this here is new, and shocking for many,” she added.
She sings in French, but her lyrics brim with expressions borrowed from English, Arabic and Bambara, the Malian language her parents speak — a cosmopolitan mix that appeals to young people in France who grew up listening to American R&B, French rap, and songs influenced by African and Caribbean music. Take the earworm “Pookie,” for instance, in which Nakamura sprays sharp consonants at a machine-gun pace, moving between French slang, English and the occasional nonsense syllable.
“Her language is raw, sincere, pure,” said Simon Porte Jacquemus, 29, a fashion designer who has dressed Nakamura for public appearances. “It’s appealing to our whole generation,” he added, “whether we are men or women, black or not.” Source
With protests breaking out across Nigeria and in expatriate Nigerian communities around the world, the country’s president vowed to a skeptical public on Monday that he would crack down on rogue police officers accused of brutalizing citizens.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s promise came a day after his government announced that it would dismantle a widely feared police unit known as SARS, for Special Anti-Robbery Squad. “The disbanding of SARS is only the first step in our commitment to extensive police reforms,” Mr. Buhari said in a televised statement, speaking out for the first time since protests started last week. “We will also ensure that all those responsible for misconduct are brought to justice.”
To many, Mr. Buhari’s response was too little, too late, and they predicted it would do little to placate the angry young Nigerians who have been blocking major routes in cities across the country to protest the police unit. Source