Smartphones could become more expensive in the coming months, according to Nothing CEO Carl Pei. Pei said the cost of RAM and storage has risen sharply, making memory one of the most expensive parts of a phone. He explained that these costs increased during the development of Nothing’s upcoming devices and continued to rise afterward. “The best time was yesterday. The next best time is now,” suggesting that phone prices may continue to increase rather than become cheaper. He also said that memory now makes up more than half of the hardware cost in some smartphones.

Think smartphones dominate American culture? China may have taken the mobile-first lifestyle to another level. On this episode of the Odd Lots podcast, @danwwang joins @TheStalwart and @tracyalloway to discuss how phone culture is reshaping Chinese society—from ordering a croissant for delivery in minutes to livestreaming shopping trips at the mall. Listen at or watch at

Acurast turns everyday smartphones into a global verifiable compute network using built in Trusted Execution Environments. Developers run confidential AI and data workloads while phone owners earn rewards for contributing idle power. The native $ACU token handles payments staking and incentives across hundreds of thousands of devices in over 175 countries. Recent updates include Processor V1.27.0 for better onboarding and app based Hub access plus Hermes AI integration for autonomous agents. $ACU currently trades near $0.11 with positive daily momentum. Follow @Acurast for more.

Heard on the Street: The number of smartphones and personal computers sold this year is on track to decline significantly. But revenue is expected to climb for the manufacturers of those devices.