SSPAI Morning Brief: Clicks launches the Power Keyboard and Communicator phone

Morning Brief

Clicks launches the Power Keyboard and Communicator phone
Pebble releases the Round 2 watch
DeepSeek publishes a paper introducing the efficient training technique mHC
ASUS notifies channels of price increases starting today
A new batch of works enters the public domain
BYD surpasses Tesla to become the world’s top EV seller in 2025
Rumors You Can Just Glance At

Clicks launches the Power Keyboard and Communicator phone

On January 2, tech startup Clicks Technology unveiled its first batch of new products following its physical keyboard cases.

Among them, the Clicks Communicator phone is positioned as a “modern communication companion,” with a role similar to that of a Kindle alongside an iPad, intended primarily as a user’s secondary phone. The device runs Android, features a candybar design, and comes with a 4-inch display and a full physical keyboard. It weighs 170 grams and measures 12 mm thick. To reduce information overload, the system interface is deeply customized based on Niagara Launcher, abandoning the traditional app grid in favor of a minimalist message aggregation center. In terms of hardware, the Communicator is equipped with a 50-megapixel rear camera and a 24-megapixel front camera, while retaining a 3.5 mm headphone jack, a mute switch, and a MicroSD card slot. A signal-light button on the side changes color according to notification type. The device is powered by a 4000 mAh battery. Details about the processor and storage have not been disclosed. The Communicator starts at $499 (approximately RMB 3,487), with an early-bird pre-order price of $399, and is expected to ship later this year.

The other new product, the Clicks Power Keyboard, is a two-in-one device combining a Bluetooth keyboard and a power bank. It supports MagSafe and Qi2 wireless charging standards and can magnetically attach to the back of a phone. The keyboard features a sliding design and, in addition to serving as a physical keyboard for phones, can connect via Bluetooth 5.4 to up to three devices such as tablets and smart TVs. The Power Keyboard weighs 180 grams, is 15.2 mm thick, and has a battery capacity of 2150 mAh, of which 500 mAh is allocated specifically for keyboard use. The product is priced at $109 (approximately RMB 790), with an early-bird price of $79, and will officially go on sale this spring.

Pebble releases the Round 2 watch

On January 2, smartwatch brand Pebble announced the Pebble Round 2. As part of the brand’s reboot plan, the Round 2 is a revival of the Pebble Time Round released in 2015, aiming to recreate the classic circular design that was once known as the “thinnest in the industry,” now updated with more modern technology.

In terms of hardware design, the Pebble Round 2 addresses one of the biggest drawbacks of the original model—its overly wide bezels. While retaining an ultra-thin 8.1 mm stainless steel case, the new model features a 1.3-inch color e-ink display with a pixel density doubled from the previous generation to 283 ppi, along with backlight support. The Round 2 keeps physical side buttons, allowing users to rely on tactile, eyes-free operation in scenarios such as meetings.

To achieve a battery life of 10 to 14 days, the Pebble Round 2 makes clear trade-offs in functionality. It retains only basic health features such as step counting and sleep tracking, and does not include a heart rate sensor, making it unsuitable as a dedicated fitness-tracking device. On the software side, it runs the open-source Pebble OS and is compatible with thousands of watch faces and apps. A built-in microphone supports voice input and replies, but due to limitations imposed by Apple’s system, this feature currently mainly targets Android users, with iOS support set to roll out first in the EU. Previously, Pebble released a low-cost AI smart ring with recording and transcription capabilities, and the company has stated that it plans to bring similar AI features to its watches in the future.

The product is priced at $199 (approximately RMB 1,390) and is now available for pre-order on the official website, with shipments expected in May this year. For customers who previously pre-ordered the square-faced Pebble Time 2, the company is also offering the option to switch their reservation to the Round 2 while retaining their place in the queue.

DeepSeek publishes a paper introducing the efficient training technique mHC

On January 1, DeepSeek released a technical paper co-authored by its founder Liang Wenfeng, proposing a new deep learning architecture called “Manifold-Constrained Hyper-Connections” (mHC). The research aims to optimize computational efficiency, enabling larger-scale models to be trained at lower cost in environments with limited computing resources.

The mHC technique is a further refinement of the “Hyper-Connections” architecture. Hyper-Connections were originally proposed by researchers at ByteDance in September 2024, with the goal of improving upon the mainstream ResNet (Residual Network) architecture invented by He Kaiming and others at Microsoft Research Asia. The approach was designed to address signal attenuation in deep networks—where information gradually weakens as it propagates through layers, preventing deeper layers from receiving effective signals—as well as model collapse, in which different inputs become increasingly similar or even converge after successive layers of processing.

The DeepSeek team points out that while ByteDance’s approach increased network complexity, it overlooked the rapidly rising memory costs in large-model training, resulting in limited real-world scalability. In response, DeepSeek’s mHC approach introduces specific manifold constraints that force data flows to operate only along certain geometric trajectories (manifolds). This preserves the advantages of hyper-connections while successfully addressing memory and cost bottlenecks, achieving what the paper describes as “almost negligible computational overhead.” According to the paper, the DeepSeek research team conducted experiments on models with 3 billion, 9 billion, and 27 billion parameters, and the empirical results show that mHC offers better scalability than traditional architectures while maintaining stability during large-scale training.

The paper was uploaded to arXiv under Liang Wenfeng’s personal account. Previously, Liang had personally published only DeepSeek’s most important technical papers, such as those related to the R1 and V3 models, and in this work he is listed as the final author. This move confirms that he remains deeply involved in core research and development, and is widely seen as a signal that the technical direction for DeepSeek’s next-generation core models has been set. Market expectations suggest that DeepSeek may follow the R1 release strategy and unveil a new large model before the Lunar New Year holiday in mid-February.

ASUS notifies channels of price increases starting today

According to VideoCardz, ASUS sent a “2026 Product Price Adjustment Notice” to its partners on December 30 last year, announcing that price adjustments will take effect starting January 5, 2026.

The notice states that due to structural volatility in the global supply chain, multiple key components are facing severe cost pressures, particularly DRAM and NAND memory. These changes stem from “adjustments in global foundry capacity allocation,” “rising investment costs in advanced process nodes,” and “structural gaps in the industry caused by demand for AI computing power.”

Although ASUS did not specify which models would be affected, it clearly stated that it would implement “strategic price adjustments for certain product portfolios.” As the effective date of the price increase comes just ahead of the opening of CES 2026, industry analysts believe that ASUS’s upcoming next-generation hardware—especially AI PCs and gaming devices expected to be unveiled at CES—will be the first to be impacted, potentially setting new market price benchmarks.

ASUS emphasized that the adjustment is a “necessary decision made after long-term absorption of and responses to cost pressures,” with the goal of “ensuring stable supply and maintaining quality and service standards.” Regarding subsequent impacts, ASUS business representatives will proactively contact partners to provide detailed explanations and assist in planning the most appropriate response strategies or configuration recommendations.

ASUS’s public relations department has confirmed the authenticity of the document, while clarifying to the media that it is an internal commercial communication intended solely for channel partners, rather than an official press release issued to the public.

A new batch of works enters the public domain

On January 1, 2026, the world marked its annual milestone for copyright expiration. Works by renowned figures such as Freud, Einstein, and Toynbee entered the public domain across jurisdictions including the United States, Europe, and China.

In the United States, with the expiration of copyright protection for works published in 1930, books such as William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying and Sigmund Freud’s Civilization and Its Discontents, as well as films like All Quiet on the Western Front, entered the public domain. Paintings by Piet Mondrian and Paul Klee, the original “Betty Boop” doll, and Disney’s earliest depiction of Pluto (then known as Rover) are also no longer subject to copyright restrictions, making derivative creations based on these early materials possible.

In jurisdictions that apply a copyright term of “the author’s lifetime plus 70 years,” such as the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Russia, works by authors who died in 1955 have now reached the end of their protection period. This means that works by physicist Albert Einstein, Dale Carnegie—the author of How to Win Friends and Influence People—and Nobel Prize–winning writer Thomas Mann are no longer protected by copyright in these regions.

In jurisdictions that apply a copyright term of “the author’s lifetime plus 50 years,” including China and most parts of Asia and Africa, works by authors who died in 1975 have reached the end of their protection period. This includes figures such as Chiang Kai-shek, historian Arnold J. Toynbee, Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich, and political philosopher Hannah Arendt.

BYD surpasses Tesla to become the world’s top EV seller in 2025

According to The New York Times, Tesla lost its position as the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer in 2025, being surpassed by BYD for the first time. Data released on December 31 show that Tesla’s annual deliveries fell 9% year on year to 1.64 million vehicles, with fourth-quarter sales plunging 16% due to policy impacts. In contrast, BYD’s annual sales of pure electric vehicles rose 28% to 2.26 million units, and the company achieved significant expansion across Asia, Europe, and Latin America thanks to its pricing advantage.

Tesla’s sales decline was primarily driven by a sharp shift in U.S. policy. Despite Elon Musk’s strong support for Donald Trump in the 2024 election, after Republicans regained control of the White House and Congress, they swiftly repealed the federal EV tax credit of up to $7,500 and began rolling back clean air regulations. As the dominant player holding about 45% of the U.S. EV market, Tesla became the biggest casualty of these policy changes, with fourth-quarter deliveries dropping sharply from 496,000 a year earlier to 418,000 units.

Beyond the deteriorating external environment, Tesla’s own lagging product updates were also a key factor. Its flagship Model Y has seen no major refresh since its launch in 2020, while the newly introduced Cybertruck has delivered disappointing sales. In the European market, Tesla’s sales have already been overtaken by Volkswagen. In addition, Musk has shifted the company’s focus toward robotaxis and humanoid robots, which have yet to generate meaningful revenue, and Tesla has fallen behind Alphabet-owned Waymo in the deployment of autonomous driving.

Industry analysts predict that the U.S. EV market will remain sluggish in 2026, with a recovery unlikely until 2027, when more low-cost models priced below $30,000 enter the market. Despite weak vehicle sales, Tesla’s stock price remains near historical highs, as Wall Street continues to bet on its long-term potential in autonomous driving. Meanwhile, although BYD is unable to enter the U.S. market due to high tariff barriers, it has firmly established its leadership in the rest of the world.

Rumors You Can Just Glance At

Recently, multiple Reddit users complained that Duolingo was displaying subscription ads through its real-time events feature, a practice prohibited by App Store review guidelines and one that could potentially lead to removal from the store. Duolingo later appeared to have stopped showing the ads.

According to official data from Stack Overflow, the site added only 3,862 new questions in December 2025, a figure that has fallen below the level seen in August 2008, shortly after the platform’s launch.

Internal Meta documents reviewed by Reuters show that in response to pressure from global regulators cracking down on scam ads on social media, Meta developed a set of countermeasures known as the “Global Playbook.” The documents reveal that rather than fully verifying advertisers’ identities or eliminating scams, Meta made it harder for regulators to discover violating ads by manipulating search results in order to pass compliance reviews. For example, in Japan, Meta teams found that regulators searched public ad libraries using specific keywords such as celebrity names to identify scam ads. Ahead of regulatory reviews, Meta selectively cleaned up search results related to those keywords, creating the impression that scam ads had been significantly reduced. In addition, when regulation was tightened in one region, algorithms would automatically divert scam ad traffic to other regions with looser oversight. Previously, Meta had faced tough questioning from governments in Japan, Singapore, and elsewhere over the proliferation of investment scams and AI-generated fake celebrity endorsement ads on Facebook and Instagram.

On the evening of January 3, Lei Jun revealed during a New Year livestream that Xiaomi’s original vehicle delivery target for 2025 had been set at 300,000 units, later raised to 350,000, and ultimately surpassed 410,000 units. He also announced that Xiaomi’s vehicle delivery target for 2026 is 550,000 units. During the four-hour livestream, Lei Jun and his engineering team completely disassembled a YU7. After the teardown, Lei Jun addressed a series of recent public controversies surrounding Xiaomi Auto. Regarding marketing claims such as “1,300 kilometers on a single charge” and “instant braking from 200 km/h,” Lei Jun said these statements originated from driving demonstration videos meant to showcase the SU7’s range and braking performance, with full videos available as evidence, but were taken out of context during dissemination. He also acknowledged that “fine-print marketing” is a bad industry practice, accepted the criticism, and said that since November last year he has required business teams to use larger, clearer text whenever possible.

SP-Life