Fully Charged: HTC made a smartphone rap diss video, ARM's insanely powerful 2016 processors, and Energizer selling recycled batteries

HTC’s mind-blowing rap video

Well, this is utterly amazing. Forget “Quietly Brilliant” – HTC has opted instead to extoll the virtues of its flagship (and likely soon to be replaced) HTC One (M8) smartphone by releasing an official rap video that disses Apple and Samsung’s own devices. “Hold the Crown,” the song and video in question, is performed by Doc G of P.M. Dawn.

It’s meant to be goofy and lighthearted, but the playful disses don’t land or always make perfect sense. The end result is pretty tacky, and surely dumber than intended. Then again, HTC produced a hip-hop song and video about its smartphone – this was never going to be the most inspired, interesting fare, no matter who was delivering the rhymes.

[Source: The Verge]

READ MORE: HTC One (M9) Hima preview

Next year’s smartphone processor revealed

ARM’s mobile system-on-a-chip processor architecture is used in a wide array of mobile devices, notably Apple’s iPhones and iPads, and the company yesterday revealed the next wave of chips that will likely be powering your devices come 2016.

The Cortex-A72 processor will deliver 3.5x the performance of A15 devices from 2014, with a 75% drop in energy consumption making for potentially longer-lasting devices. And it can be linked with a lower-power Cortex-A53 for processor-switching configurations designed to save energy when the higher-end chip isn’t needed for certain tasks.

Additionally, the ARM Mali-T880 GPU promises “console-quality gaming” with 1.8x graphics power over the previous model, and 4K will be a big focus for ARM if future smartphones want to head in that direction, with promises of delivering up to 120fps for 4K content. We’ll be more excited once we actually see the devices that will house the tech, but at least the news gives us an idea of what to expect in a year or so.

[Source: ARM]

Energizer debuts recycled batteries

Want to get more green about your disposable batteries, of all things? Energizer is set to introduce a new line of so-called EcoAdvanced batteries in AA and AAA varieties, which are partially made from recycled alkaline batteries. Alkaline batteries typically aren’t recycled because the value is minimal, but Energizer devised a method to make it worthwhile.

Of course, the batteries cost about 25% more than standard ones, but you’ll be doing your part to help minimize greenhouse gas-producing mining. Well, a smart part: Energizer admits that the initial batteries have just 4% recycled materials, but that it hopes to increase that tally to 40% by 2025 as recyclers take note of their value.

[Sources: Energizer, Wall Street Journal]

Jurassic World “park cams” viewable

Can’t wait for this summer’s Jurassic World? Beyond watching the two trailers (the latest from this past weekend is above), you can now view a series of “park cams” available from the official website. We’re hoping there’s some sort of easter egg in there, otherwise you’ll be watching footage of extras standing around and walking for no apparent reason. Let us know below if you see anything out of the ordinary!

[Source: Jurassic World Park Cams]

About

Andrew writes features, news stories, reviews, and other pieces, often when the UK home team is off-duty or asleep. I'm based in Chicago with my lovely wife, amazing son, and silly cats, and my writing about games, gadgets, esports, apps, and plenty more has appeared in more than 75 publications since 2006.