Technologies

Nothing Teases 4A Phone: No Pink Option, but a Brand-New Glyph

The British company gives a sneak preview of its new phone ahead of its March 5 launch.

Nothing apparently wants to leave nothing much to the imagination. The British company teased its new 4A phone on Monday, but without the bright pink color some expected. Potential customers did get a look at the latest iteration of the company’s Glyph notification system, the Glyph Bar.

In a post on Monday on X, accompanied by the words, «Built different,» Nothing showed the back of its new 4A phone — in only white and shades of gray. It wasn’t quite the «bold new experimentation of color» that CEO Carl Pei had hinted at on Instagram, which seemed to suggest the 4A might experiment with pink.

The X post also revealed Nothing’s new Glyph Bar, which consists of seven small square LED lights to the right of the camera. The Glyph interface is a light pattern on all Nothing phones. These lights are basically notifications for things like incoming calls and texts, battery charging, deliveries and more, all without turning on the main screen.

A representative for Nothing did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.

The 4A and 4A Pro are the latest models from Nothing, which Pei founded in 2020. The London-based company is known for making Android phones with minimalist designs, a transparent back plate and the Glyph interface. The company is still a niche phone-maker, with a global market share of 1% (2% in India) and a valuation of more than $1.3 billion.

Nothing has differentiated itself with creative touches amid the focus on minimalism, especially in the Glyph interface. When the company launched its first phone — the Phone (1) — in July 2022, the Glyph consisted of five LED strips. The Phone (2) in July 2023 had 11. A significant shift occurred in July 2025 with Phone (3) and the introduction of the Glyph Matrix — a circle of 489 mini-LEDs that enabled the phone to display symbols, such as emoji, for a broader range of notifications.

CNET’s Katie Collins checked out the Phone (3) in the summer of 2025 and was impressed by the array of information the Glyph Matrix could show, including the time, the phone’s battery percentage and pixelated portraits that show who’s calling.

The Glyph Bar on the new 4A phone will be 40% brighter than the Glyph Bar on previous models, Nothing says. The company adds that the bar, with dozens of mini-LEDs housed within the small squares, will allow people to configure more notifications with a less distracting design.

For example, you might set a particular light pattern to let you know when a specific person is calling or when you get a text from another person. You can also configure a light pattern to let you know when a delivery arrives at the front door.

YouTuber Austin Evans, who has more than 5.7 million subscribers to his channel, where he tests all sorts of tech products, says he doesn’t consider Nothing’s Glyph to be «massively useful,» but that it’s a nice change of pace from the typical phone design.

«It’s a nice feature that’s more of a design choice than practical feature but it’s far better than just a slab of glass you just cover with a case,» Evans told CNET. «I quite like the aesthetic that Nothing offers. I feel like smartphones have gotten too bland, clean and boring, and it’s nice to see someone doing something actually different.»

Even though the 4A might not be colorful at the March 5 launch, Pei’s pink phone tease could have been about another model, the 4A Pro. That phone, the most sophisticated ever from the company, will launch along with the 4A at Central Saint Martin’s, the famous London school of art and design, on March 5.

One report said the 4A could feature a Snapdragon 7-series chip, which offers more powerful AI, 5G and gaming capabilities.

Technologies

Google’s Pixel 10A Is Coming to Japan With an Exclusive Blue Edition and Special Wallpaper

This model comes with creatively designed stickers and a special look for Pixel’s 10th anniversary.

Don’t be blue: Google is releasing an Isai blue edition of the Pixel 10A to celebrate the Android phone line’s 10th anniversary, setting it apart with its own sticker set, specialized wallpaper and custom icons. But it’ll only be available in Japan.

Announced Tuesday on the Google Japan blog, the Isai blue Pixel 10A has a dark blue look and includes bonus decorations designed in collaboration with Japan’s Heralbony art company. These include an exclusive bumper case and stickers for customization.

This edition of the Pixel 10A will arrive in Japan on May 20, following the April 14 release of the Pixel 10A in its original colors of lavender, berry, fog and obsidian. The Isai blue model costs 94,900 yen, which roughly translates to $595, and includes 256GB of storage.

This makes it slightly less expensive than the US model’s 256GB edition, but it comes with a number of fun extras at no additional cost.

Google’s creation of a country-specific model for Japan may also reflect strong sales in that market. In 2023, the IDC analytics firm (via 9to5Google) reported that the Pixel 7 series accounted for 10.7% of the country’s market share, a 527% increase from 2022.

Technologies

Can’t Wait for New Emoji? Here’s How to Create Your Own on iPhone

Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhones can create custom emoji in a few easy steps.

Apple brought new emoji to all iPhones when the company released iOS 26.4 on March 24. The new emoji include «🫍» orca, «🫪» distorted face and «🫈» hairy creature — or as we might normally call it, Sasquatch. According to Emojipedia, there are 3,953 emoji with more on the way, including a pickle. But there’s no emoji for a dog wearing pajamas, a plate with burgers and fries and many other things. But if you have Genmoji on your iPhone you can create these emoji and many more.

Apple released iOS 18.2 in 2024 and the company introduced its own emoji generator, called Genmoji, to Apple Intelligence-capable iPhones at that time. The Unicode Standard, a universal character encoding standard, is responsible for creating new emoji, and approved emoji are added to all devices once a year. With Genmoji, you don’t have to wait for new emoji to appear on your iPhone each year. You can just create them as you need them.

Read on to learn how to use Genmoji on iPhone to create your own custom emoji. Just note that only iPhones with Apple Intelligence, like the iPhone 17 lineup, can use Genmoji at this time.

Note: The new emoji may not display correctly for Apple users whose devices aren’t on a 26.4 software version.

How to make custom emoji

1. Open Messages and go into a chat.
2. Tap the plus (+) button next to your text box.
3. Tap Genmoji.

You can then type a description of an emoji into the text box near the bottom of your screen and tap the check mark on your keyboard to enter that description into Genmoji. You can also tap different suggestions and themes that are right above the text box. And with iOS 26 or later, you can also combine and use emoji to create others rather than describing a new emoji or using suggestions.

Your iPhone will generate a series of new emoji for you to pick from according to your description, and you can swipe through these new emoji. When you find the one you want, tap Add in the top right corner of your screen and the new emoji will be available to use as an emoji, tapback or a sticker. Now you don’t have to wait for the Unicode Standard to propose, create and bring new emoji to devices.

For more iOS news, here’s what to know about iOS 26.4 and iOS 26.3. You can also check out our iOS 26 cheat sheet for other tips and tricks.

Technologies

Save Over 20% on This Handy 10,000-mAh Anker Nano Power Bank

Keep your devices charged on the go with this Anker Nano power bank, now down to just $46.

We’ve just spotted the Anker Nano 45-watt portable power bank for just $46 at Amazon right now. This saves you $14 — a 23% discount on its list price. Though it’s $6 more than the lowest-ever price we saw during Black Friday, it’s still a solid discount when you take the rising cost of tech accessories into account. It also matches the lowest price we’ve seen in 2026. It comes in four colors: black, green, pink and white. They’re all on sale for the same price.

This Anker Nano portable charger weighs approximately 8.2 ounces and measures a compact 3.21×1.99×1.42 inches. Despite its small size, it has a retractable cable and supports fast charging in compatible Apple, Samsung, Google Pixel and other smartphones. It also has a large 10,000-mAh capacity and a smart display so you always know how much juice is left in your power bank.

The Nano can charge an iPhone 17 to up to 50% battery in an estimated 20 minutes, and is powerful enough to charge tablets and laptops. Need to charge your devices while charging your power bank? You can do so safely thanks to pass-through charging so you’ll never have to go without battery life.

We’ve also compiled a list of the best power banks for iPhones and for Android, in case this deal isn’t quite a fit for you.

Why this deal matters

If you travel, have a long commute time or are otherwise always on the go, a portable charger can help you keep your devices fully powered. This 45-watt Anker Nano power bank is compact, includes a loop that lets you keep track of it easily and has a built-in cable so you don’t have to keep up with extra cords. Amazon’s $14 discount makes this a solid deal for anyone looking for a compact power bank.