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Smartphone brand <keyword id="6485927" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="realme">realme</keyword>, which is likely to launch its first laptop in <keyword id="495988" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="India-and-Europe">India and Europe</keyword>, might unveil the laptop under Rs 55,000 in India.<br /><br />The laptop is expected to run on the latest Windows and will feature a 3:2 screen ratio with 2K (2160 x 1440 pixels) resolution.<br /><br />The display will have thin bezels and will be quite slim. It is also confirmed to have a 100 per cent sRGB color gamut, reports <keyword id="11866694" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="gizmo-china-">Gizmo China.</keyword><br /><br />The laptop will have a 54Wh battery and support for 65W fast charging. It has a USB Type-C port, a USB 3.2 Gen 1 port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.<br /><br />Earlier, it was confirmed that the <keyword id="11823093" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Realme-Book-Slim">Realme Book Slim</keyword> will come powered by Intel's 11th generation processor. Now, the teaser confirms that it will be an i5 CPU, the report said.<br /><br />Realme recently shared a poster that flaunted an important feature of the laptop.<br /><br />The Realme Book Slim will come with Realme's PC Connect feature which will let users mirror their Realme phone's screen on the laptop.<br /><br />Apart from this, the Realme Book Slim laptop is expected to have a 14-inch display panel with 300 nits of peak brightness.<br /><br />It is touted to come with up to 16GB RAM and 512GB of SSD storage. It is also expected to offer added security with its fingerprint scanner support.<br /><br /><br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO <br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/paytm-ipo-former-one-97-communication-director-urges-sebi-to-stall-the-public-issue/articleshow/85293132.cms">Paytm IPO: Former One 97 Communication director urges SEBI to stall the public issue</a><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/windows-11-microsoft-rolling-out-updated-snipping-tool-calculator-and-mail-apps/articleshow/85292943.cms">Windows 11 Microsoft rolling out updated snipping tool, calculator and mail apps</a><br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/infibeam-avenues-is-looking-to-acquire-a-point-of-sale-company/articleshow/85292156.cms"><strong>INTERVIEW: Infibeam Avenues is looking to acquire a point-of-sale company</strong></a><br />

The upcoming Realme Book Slim will be priced below ₹50,000: Report

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>AP</span></p><p class="caption">Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Xiaomi is sometimes referred to as the "Apple of China" - not only because of its fervent fanbase, but <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/xiaomi-and-apple-products-side-by-side-iphone-mi-note-copycat-theft-2015-4">also how similar some of its products</a>, its marketing, and its CEO's mannerisms are to Apple's.</p><p>Well, here's another parallel between it and the Cupertino company: It's launching a smartwatch!</p><p>There have been rumours swirling that Xiaomi has been working on a smartwatch <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/xiaomi-is-creating-a-smartwatch-2015-3">since March 2015</a>. But we finally have confirmation that the product is real, and that it will launch in 2016.</p><p><a href="http://www.gizmochina.com/2016/04/28/xiaomi-official-confirms-mi-smartwatch-launch-second-half-2016/">Gizmo China reports that Xiaomi cofounder Liu De recently told a Beijing conference</a> that the company is building the Mi smartwatch, and that it's due to launch in the second half of 2016.</p><p>Xiaomi, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-25/xiaomi-s-45-billion-valuation-seen-unfeasible-as-growth-cools">previously valued at $45 billion</a>, is no stranger to the wearables space. It already makes Mi Bands, Fitbit-style fitness trackers - but this will be its first fully fledged smartwatch. It is also launching a smartwatch for children called the Mituwatch, <a href="http://www.androidheadlines.com/2016/04/xiaomi-unveils-smartwatch-for-kids-called-mituwatch.html">Android Headlines reports</a>, that can track your kid and comes with an SOS button.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/podride-bicycle-car-2016-4">A Swedish man invented a bicycle that looks like a car</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="FrZDd1MjE6Ft6X8TiQtXDkkGInZ0XKKi" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

One of China's hottest startups is launching a smartwatch to rival the Apple Watch this year

<keyword id="28168" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="smartphone" source="Orion">Smartphone</keyword> brand <keyword id="7822725" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="iQOO" source="Orion">iQOO</keyword>, which is all set to launch its upcoming smartphone <keyword id="12127268" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="AiQOO-Z5" source="Orion">AiQOO Z5</keyword> in China on September 23, might also announce the device for the Indian audience soon.<br /><br />The reason behind it is that its microsite has gone live on <keyword id="6354743" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon-India" source="Orion">Amazon India</keyword>, Gizmo China reported.<br /><br />The iQOO Z5 is expected to be priced at Rs 30,000 in India.<br /><br />The poster reads that a new Z-series iQOO phone is all set to launch soon in India. Users can hit the 'Notify me' button on the page to stay updated on its arrival.<br /><br />The landing page is live on Amazon India's website and mobile app. Hitting the 'Notify Me' button confirms a September launch for the iQOO Z5 in India, the report said.<br /><br />It is speculated that the iQOO Z5 has an LCD screen that delivers a Full HD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate.<br /><br />The smartphone is likely to feature a 16MP camera on the front for capturing selfies. The rear camera setup of the device could be headlined a 64MP camera.<br /><br />The Snapdragon 778G powered handset will come with LPPDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage. It may house a 5,000mAh battery that supports 44W fast charging.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO:<br /><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/india-may-soon-reopen-its-doors-for-foreign-tourists-as-covid-19-cases-decline-in-the-country/articleshow/86337072.cms">India may soon reopen its doors for foreign tourists as COVID-19 cases decline in the country</a><br /></strong><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/work-from-home-is-here-now-but-people-demand-some-physical-sense-at-work/articleshow/86316822.cms"><strong>Future of Work 2021: Work from home is here now, but people demand some physical sense at work</strong></a>

iQOO to launch its new smartphone AiQOO Z5 in India soon at ₹30,000

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Business Insider/Antonio Villas-Boas</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>A recently leaked chart appears to reveal the months when some of next year's smartphones will launch.<br /></strong></li><li><strong>The devices on the list are all expected to run Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845 processor. </strong></li><li><strong>The release dates of many of the devices had already been rumored. </strong></li></ul><p><br />As 2017 rapidly comes to a close, many smartphone manufacturers are likely in hyper drive, putting the finishing touches on their 2018 devices. A recently leaked chart may give a better idea of when those devices will actually launch.</p><p>Assuming the leaked document, which was originally shared on the Chinese social media platform <a href="https://weibo.com/2554757470/FBK9U5bcO?from=page_1005052554757470_profile&amp;wvr=6&amp;mod=weibotime&amp;type=comment#_rnd1514581239088">Weibo</a> and was later translated by <a href="https://www.gizmochina.com/2017/12/29/list-rumored-snapdragon-845-smartphones-arriving-2018/">Gizmo China</a>, is accurate, you can expect Samsung's Galaxy S9 and S9+ and LG's G7 and G7+ in February, Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and LG V40 in September, and Google's Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL in October.</p><p>The leaked document is comprised of devices that are expected to run Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 845 processor, which is designed for high-end smartphones. Thus, the devices on the list are all flagship-tier products.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Weibo</span></p><p class="caption">Devices expected to release in 2018</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>Expect a flurry of phones in the fall</h2><p>Some of the dates on the list aren't much of a surprise. The release dates of many of the devices included on it have already been floating around in rumors. And some companies' release schedules are fairly predictable; both Samsung and LG, for example, typically announce new devices during Mobile World Congress (MWC) in late February. </p><p>But the list also offers an outlook on upcoming devices from some of the smaller phone manufacturers. Between April and August, consumers can expect to see launches of Xiaomi's Mi 7, HTC's U12, the OnePlus 6, Nubia's Z18, Sony's Xperia XZ Pro-A, and the Nokia 10. Some of those devices, however, may not land in the US. </p><p>Things should pick up in the fall. In addition to the Note 9 and the V40 in September, the list suggests we should expect to see Xiaomi's Mi Mix 3 launched internationally. In addition to the Pixel launches in October - which should follow the unveiling of Android P (whose official nickname, we're guessing, will be <a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/android-80-oreo-google-tasty-treat-refresher-2582747">Pop-Tart</a>) - other potential launches that month could include Nubia's Z18S, Sony's Xperia XZ2, and HTC's U12+.</p><p>Finally, the Moto Z (2019 edition) may be announced in November and the OnePlus 6T and Samsung's Galaxy W2019 in December.</p><p>While the list does fall in step with the typical launch cycles for most of the included companies, particularly Samsung, Google, and LG, none of these devices are confirmed at this time.</p> <p class="tagline">Get the latest Google stock price<a href="http://markets.businessinsider.com/stock/GOOG-Quote"> here.</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/best-phones-ranking-apple-samsung-google-oneplus-essential-2017-10">The best phones of 2017 that you can buy right now</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Here's when Google, Samsung, and LG's 2018 flagships will potentially launch

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Wynd</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Raymond Wu stepped off the plane in Beijing, China, after his first semester of college in the US and entered a thick cloud of fog. At least, he thought it was fog. It smelled "<a href="https://medium.com/@raymondwu/why-i-founded-wynd-an-air-quality-startup-a65e88847f22#.yvth8zi8i">faintly of car exhaust and scorched metal</a>," and blanketed the vehicles in the parking lot with dust.</p><p>It turned out to be pollution. And the crisis stretched far beyond China's walls.</p><p>The experience later inspired Wu to quit his job as a tech investor and invent a <a href="http://hellowynd.com/">personal air purifier</a> that would provide users with a "bubble" of clean air whever they go.</p><p>The Wynd, which <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/882633450/wynd-the-smartest-air-purifier-for-your-personal-s">launched on Kickstarter</a> on June 2, looks like a thermos made by Apple (it was actually<span> designed by Mike Nuttall, a cofounder of global design consultancy IDEO)</span>. Its sleek white body is covered in pockmarks that absorb ambient air.</p><p>Inside the device, a medical-grade air filter captures particulates (airborne matter that includes <span>allergens, germs, and industrial pollution) above a certain weight</span>. The purified air is diffused through the device's top, delivering a jetstream of pollutant-free air.</p><p>Wynd works best when set up in a small, enclosed space. The company claims it c<span>leans over 70% of particles in a car cabin in under 10 minutes. If you w</span><span>ant to keep baby breathing easy as you run errands together downtown, the company sells a clip for the Wynd so it can attach to the inside of a stroller.</span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Wynd</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Wynd's engineering lead, Eric Munoz, is a former aerospace engineer. His experience crafting jet and rocket turbine blades helped him to build the fan components that make Wynd relatively quiet yet powerful.</p><p>An enclave of clean air that surrounds you and fuels you through the day sounds pretty neat. But the system isn't without its faults.</p><p>The device sits on a kickstand angled at your face, directing the stream of purified air. On a low setting, it makes about as much noise as a small desk fan.</p><p>I can't imagine bringing it to work and setting it on a conference room table. It would invite so many questions, I think it'd find a new home in my desk drawer after a few days.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Wynd</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Still, for people who suffer from extreme allergies or travel to countries such as India and China, where the air pollution crisis <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-35351597">presents serious health risks</a>, a Wynd for the cost of $189 (or $139 through the end of the Kickstarter campaign) might be worth it.</p><p>Employees at Apple and Google are currently testing the device on business trips to China, according to Wu.</p><p><span>There is little data on how Wynd's effectiveness compares to competitor purifiers. However, the company claims the sensor in the device, which detects when it's time to turn on, <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/882633450/wynd-the-smartest-air-purifier-for-your-personal-s/description">is as accurate</a> as the high-end, professional-grade air quality monitor <span>TSI DustTrak, which retails for around $5,000 and is as large as a handheld vacuum.</span></span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Wynd</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The Wynd has a battery life of eight hours, or a typical workday. </p><p>Filters last three to six months depending on the severity of the pollution in your personal space. Because the device is Bluetooth-connected, your phone will alert you when it's time to order a replacement filter, which cost $7 each.</p><p>While the Wynd sounds like an expensive gizmo with limitations, Wu hopes the device will become as ubiquitous as Brita filters for clean water.</p><p>"Clean air is something everyone should aspire for," he tells Tech Insider.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-best-hidden-features-2016-5">These hidden features will make your iPhone so much better</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="xrMGNpMDE6CKt8yh4WEuOI2f6YOymI7R" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

This portable air filter is like a Brita for your personal space

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Mark McCormick believes in innovation just as much as the next businessperson, but not the kind that requires fancy gizmos or complicated gadgets to get there.</p><p>McCormick, a senior vice president at Wells Fargo, believes personal and professional progress is achieved through a life of simplicity - and he thinks other Wells Fargo staff should get on board, too.</p><p>Ever since he attended a conference in China in 2014, where he learned about the benefits of a pared-down lifestyle, McCormick has directed his energy toward making Wells Fargo a bank that runs on <em>less - </em>less complexity, less red tape, and, ultimately, less stress.</p><p>His latest rollout: monthly boot camps designed to help employees simplify their jobs and their lives.</p><p>"It's ultimately about the ROI of simplicity, and how simplicity drives value," McCormick says, emphasizing that personal satisfaction and peace of mind can translate into greater customer satisfaction, and, therefore, revenue.</p><p>His example: fraud claims.</p><p>When people call their bank to report a fraud case, they need the employee on the other end to be a source of calm, McCormick says. At Wells Fargo, that was proving difficult. Staff had dozens of systems to comb through just to verify the caller was who they said they were. And the specialists' stress often came through during the call, making the experience worse.</p><p>Only after Wells Fargo realized it was the complexity of the system that made people's lives harder, McCormick says, could they fix the problem by cutting the number of systems in half. In the end, simplifying people's work flow solved what seemed at first like a customer-service problem.</p><p>The boot camps, which contain 25 to 30 people during a full-day workshop, try to get people into this kind of mind set. It can be tough, McCormick says, since bankers are often analytical people who don't want "ooey-gooey" advice on how to live. The trick, he says, is showing them how it's good for business.</p><p>In each session he discusses three principles: paring down to the essentials, creating a human story, and iteration.</p><p>First, people learn to strip away the waste in their lives and jobs - to keep only the things that "spark joy," as organizing expert <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/marie-kondo-organizing-your-home-clutter-japan-2015-5">Marie Kondo</a> advises.</p><p>Then McCormick highlights the value of stories that appeal both to people's minds and their emotions. He says some customers are bound to be empaths, while others are more logical. In addition to being simple and easy to understand, services and product must be sold with both kinds of people in mind, McCormick says.</p><p>During the boot camp, for example, he often gives people a 401(k) brochure. He tells them to reconstruct the brochure to make it less cluttered and more human. With the guidelines he offers, people often make the legalese more conversational, and they add language that reminds them of the free time a retirement can offer.</p><p>Finally, he encourages staff to test out the simplified systems they create, keep what works well, and tweak what doesn't. For instance, in the case of the fraud claims, even though the company cut the back-end systems in half, the process can still be simplified further. A 401(k) brochure can still be a delight to read, if people don't need to exert too much effort to read it.</p><p>McCormick says the simplicity project started long before Wells Fargo <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wells-fargos-scandal-is-a-cautionary-tale-about-incentive-pay-2016-9">was embroiled in the 2016 scandal</a> of employees being forced to open 2 million fake customer accounts (it <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wells-fargo-fake-account-suit-2017-3">was recently settled</a> for $110 million). But he says the lawsuit was a lesson in the value of simplicity when dealing with ethical matters.</p><p>"The connection is people believe that when things are more simple, you're operating at a higher standard of ethics," he says. "Because when things are simpler, it demonstrates you're being more transparent. You're being more open."</p><p>Ultimately, he hopes people can incorporate the principles of simplicity in their own lives, and that it will feed into the work they do at Wells Fargo.</p><p>"Innovation is hollow," he says, "unless it's in the service of simplicity."</p>     <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tony-robbins-simple-advice-finance-paul-tudor-jones-ray-dalio-emergency-fund-diversify-2017-3">Tony Robbins shares the simple financial advice he learned from working with the smartest financial people in the world</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="FubzI5YTE6CFjhjm1araKvZF-RKX9sR_" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

A major bank has started hosting 'simplicity boot camps' for employees

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Daniel Leal-Olivas/Pool</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Next month Theresa May's Cabinet will meet to discuss her Brexit proposals.</strong></li><li><strong>However, with just days to go until that crucial meeting, ministers are using speeches, TV appearances and newspaper front pages to criticise each other.</strong></li><li><strong>The prime minister's top team has spent the last week publicly bickering.</strong></li><li><strong>Here are the main slap-downs.</strong></li></ul><p>LONDON - With just days until Theresa May's Cabinet must reach a united position on what the UK government's Brexit policy should be, a number of its key players are swiping at each other in public.</p><p>"Collective Cabinet responsibility" - the idea that all Cabinet members should avoid public disagreement in order to put on a united front - has completely gone out the window this week, with numerous ministers using speeches, TV appearances and newspaper front pages to criticise and humiliate their frontbench colleagues.</p><p>Of course, this government is no stranger to bickering. The range of <keyword id="6356002" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="opinion">opinion</keyword> within May's Cabinet on Brexit - perhaps the biggest issue facing a UK government since World War Two - has led to numerous not-so-private bust-ups.</p><p>However, over the past week or so, Cabinet infighting has reached a new level. Here's a breakdown of the most recent bickering between members of Prime Minister May's top team.</p><h2>Gavin Williamson</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Jack Taylor / Getty</span></p><p class="caption">Gavin Williamson</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>It's no secret that Defence Secretary Williamson is an ambitious politician who'll go to eyebrow-raising lengths to get what he wants. The MP for <span>South Staffordshire has only been in the Cabinet since November but is already tipped as a potential successor to May - at least partly due to his ruthless streak, which is well-known in Westminster.</span></p><p>One tactic that politicians often use to have a dig at their colleagues is to "brief" newspapers, which involves them telling journalists stuff they want to be published. This week, "friends" of Williamson <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5878221/Give-20billion-Ill-bring-Defence-Secretarys-astonishing-threat-PM.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told the press</a> he would bring down May's government if she didn't give him an extra £20 billion for the Ministry of Defence. <span>This followed <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/britain-no-longer-tier-one-military-power-experts-say-2018-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a> that May suggested Britain was no longer a "tier-one" military power which can compete with other nations like the US and China.</span></p><p>Williamson reportedly told defence officials: "<span>I made her [May] - and I can break her."</span></p><p>As Cabinet infighting goes, it rarely gets more extraordinary threatening to bring down your own prime minister.</p><h2>Liz Truss</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Lord Chancellor Liz Truss.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>One person who didn't appreciate Williamson's threats was Liz Truss, <span>Chief Secretary to the Treasury. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-44618162/wood-burning-gove-liz-truss-fumes-at-cabinet-colleague?utm_source=POLITICO.EU&amp;utm_campaign=5209e01b63-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_06_27_05_29&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_10959edeb5-5209e01b63-190121793" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In a very public speech at the London School of Economics on Tuesday</a>, Truss criticised "macho" ministers who are trying to get more money for their departments and also described them as... gremlins. Here is the key extract from her speech:</span></p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"Those familiar with the 1984 film Gremlins - will recall how the cute Gizmo, when fed after midnight, turned into a slime-soaked baddie Stripe.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"In much the same way, there's a tendency for governments and bureaucracy to multiply and exert further control. And before you know it gremlins are everywhere.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"There is a temptation to feed these creatures after midnight.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"But more widely we have to recognise that it's not macho just to demand more money. It's much tougher to demand better value and challenge the blob of vested interests within your department."</p><p>The MP for <span>South West Norfolk's remarks <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/liz-truss-slams-macho-male-ministers-in-thinly-veiled-attack-on-cabinet-colleagues-11418130" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were widely interpreted</a> as a thinly-veiled attack on Williamson, plus other male ministers who have recently demanded additional funding for their departments, namely Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Home Secretary Sajid Javid.</span></p><p>However, Truss was not done there. She then took a swipe at her Cabinet colleague Michael Gove, who has introduced green policies like the banning of plastic straws since becoming environment secretary. At one point, she joked about burning him, and accused him of spouting "hot air":</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"Too often we're hearing about not drinking too much, eating too many doughnuts, drinking from disposable cups through plastic straw, or enjoying the warm glow of our wood-burning Goves... I mean stoves.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"I can see their point: there's enough hot air and smoke at the Environment Department already."</p><p>Not exactly happy families.</p><h2>Greg Clark</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Leon Neal/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">Greg Clark</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Now, step forward Business Secretary Clark. The MP for Tunbridge Wells isn't known for public outbursts of any kind, nevermind against his colleagues, but on Tuesday <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/greg-clark-urges-soft-brexit-deal-as-cabinet-divisions-grow-9d2sf99fk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">used a speech at The Times CEO Summit</a> to slap down Cabinet Brexiteers - chiefly Boris Johnson - who have criticised businesses for expressing concerns about Brexit.</p><p>Last week, <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/06/23/eu-diplomats-shocked-boriss-four-letter-reply-business-concerns/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">it was reported</a> that Foreign Secretary Johnson said "f*** business" when asked by a Belgian official about companies like Airbus calling for the UK government to adopt a much softer Brexit policy. Johnson was backed up by Health Secretary Hunt, <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/jeremy-hunt-inappropriate-bmw-airbus-brexit-warnings-2018-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who said</a> it was "completely inappropriate" for businesses to issue Brexit warnings. </p><p>Clark appeared to fire back at Johnson and Hunt, saying:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;">"The business voice puts evidence before ideology and brings the actual experience of trading with Europe and the rest of the world, not a theoretical view of what the world might be like.</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span>"The actual experience of how supply chains work... The actual experience of employing millions of men and women; of helping them earn a good living; not a theoretical exercise in which you take decisions over the lives of people in imagined worlds."</span></p><p>He also then called for a Brexit based on continued "Labour mobility" (high levels of EU migration) and a deal which applies to "services as well as goods" (near full access to the single market). The Brexiteers will be chuffed.</p><p class="tagline">Our Brexit Insider Facebook group is the best place for up-to-date news and analysis about Britain's departure from the EU, direct from Business Insider's political reporters. Join <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/267178180471848/">here.</a></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-happened-at-the-trump-north-korea-summit-2018-6">Why the North Korea summit mattered even if it was 'mostly a photo op'</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Theresa May's government is imploding - here are Cabinet ministers who have been fighting this week

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>Mike Nudelman/Business Insider</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>First, a caveat: The Firefly vaporizer is not intended to be used for marijuana.</p>
<p>Definitely not.</p>
<p>Never mind that the herb is now legal for recreational use in two states, and can be obtained with a prescription in 20 more. Or that legislation <a href="" http:="" medicalmarijuana.procon.org="" view.resource.phpresourceID="002481&quot;&quot;" target="" _blank="">now pending</a> in 10 additional states would decriminalize the use of cannabis for medical purposes.</p>
<p>At present, marijuana is still a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law, and <a href="" http:="" www.law.cornell.edu="" uscode="" text="" target="" _blank="">U.S. Criminal Code</a> makes it illegal to sell drug paraphernalia, so no.</p>
<p>Instead, the inventors of this high-end vaping implement built the Firefly for legal substances, such as tobacco or, as the Vape World website delicately puts it, "aromatherapy blends."</p>
<p>You know, this tool is supposed to appeal to that market of people who would be puffing away on pipes like John Cheever and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but have been clamoring for a beautifully designed high-tech gizmo that produces a lung-caressing vapor instead of a bronchi-blistering smoke.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>Firefly</span></p><p class="caption">The top-of-the-line Firefly Vaporizer</p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p>"The tobacco is the business," says Firefly co-founder Sasha Robinson. "To ignore that market or to think it's a secondary market is just wrong."</p>
<p>That said, if someone happened to want to load the Firefly's chamber with another dried out herbaceous substance, who's to stop them?</p>
<p>"We respect the consumer's right to choose," Robinson adds patriotically. "We have to be respectful of federal laws while understanding that the market in the United States is changing rapidly."</p>
<p>It's a different world now than it was back in 2007, when Robinson and Firefly co-founder Mark Williams met and bonded over their shared passion for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-burning-man-like-2013-photos-2013-9" target="_blank">Burning Man - a wholesome gathering in the desert </a>where upstanding citizens come together to engage in perfectly innocent activities.</p>
<p>Since they quit their very lucrative Silicon Valley jobs several years ago to plunge headfirst into a sketchy and unproven new industry, the world of vaping has heated up. E-cigarettes, which utilize a similar technology, had their moment in the spotlight during the Golden Globes, when Julia Louis-Dreyfuss puffed away on camera. They're ubiquitous at New York Fashion Week, and Big Tobacco is <a href="" http:="" qz.com="" has-big-tobacco-taken-its-first-tentative-steps-into-the-marijuana-industry="" target="" _blank="">gobbling up vaporization startups,</a> grabbing a piece of the new industry before analog smokes wind up in the ashtray of history.</p>
<p>What all that means to Williams and Robinson is that some of the <a href="" http:="" www.cdc.gov="" tobacco="" data_statistics="" fact_sheets="" adult_data="" cig_smoking="" target="" _blank="">42 million</a> smokers in the U.S. (and - shhhh - perhaps a few cannabis users too) will soon be ready to ditch their cancer sticks for a space-age device that looks right at home sitting next to a glass of Barolo and a MacBook Air: a battery-powered, almost odorless, very possibly healthier way to ingest the chemicals contained various plants.</p>
<p>Instead of igniting the leaves - a technology that hasn't been updated since Prometheus - vaporizers like the Firefly heat it to extremely high temperatures, slowly drying the vegetable matter and emitting a smooth vapor for the user to suck in.</p>
<p> </p>
<h2><strong>The Birth of Vaping</strong></h2>
<p>Five years ago, if you encountered a vaporizer, you were probably sitting in a college dorm room surrounding a clumsy, vaguely sinister-looking contraption with a motley collection of hygienically challenged dudes - alternative types, hobbyists. The kinds of kids who order mysterious packages from websites that end in .net. You probably also saw a few computer parts scattered around and maybe some Grateful Dead posters on the walls. It was a very niche audience.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Volcano_Vaporizer.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span></p><p class="caption">The pioneer: the Volcano Vaporizer</p></div><p></p></div></div>This was pre-Firefly. The vape of choice back then was a desktop contraption called the Volcano. Developed by German manufacturer Storz Bickel, it has a base that looks kind of like the bottom of a blender, and it comes with a plastic bag you fit over the top of it.</p>
<p>You load your herb of choice, plug in the machine, turn it on, and wait. The bag fills with vapor like a Snoopy balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and once it's full, you take it off the base and inhale. It's a little like huffing glue or getting anesthesia - neither one of which are especially appealing to a mass user base.</p>
<p>Adam Schoenfeld, one of the early distributors of The Volcano and now a prominent business consultant in the shadowy vaporizer industry, calls The Volcano "the Mercedes G Wagon of vaporizers."</p>
<p>The Firefly, on the other hand, is more like a Tesla. It's a high-end luxury product - one aimed at consumers making upward of $75,000 a year. Retailing for $269, it would take months of grocery bagging to afford one. Sorry, kids.</p>
<p>The Tesla comparison is also apt in that the Firefly - and similar handheld vaporizers on the market- depends on advances in lithium battery technology, just like the Tesla. The Firefly was not the first handheld vaporizer on the market. In 2008, the butane-heated IOLITE, by Oglesby and Butler debuted.</p>
<p>In terms of battery-powered vapes, another pioneer was the Magic Flight Launch Box. It hit the market around 2010, and is basically a tiny box of wood that comes with a rechargeable AA battery. Jamming the battery into a hole in the side activates the device. It's not the sexiest or most powerful gadget, but it gets the job done.</p>
<p>In the high-end vape market, a device called the Ploom Pax beat the Firefly by a year or so. And while the Pa<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">x is smaller and lighter (and thus more discreet), the Firefly is far more </span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>Ploom</span></p><p class="caption">The Ploom Pax, Firefly's chief competitor</p></div><p></p></div></div><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">powerful, running on 50 watts rather than Pax's 4.</span></p>
<p>The Firefly also works differently. Whereas the Magic Flight and the Pax use conductive technology, heating up the area on which the plant matter rests, the Firefly is convective, heating the air in the chamber to an astonishing 400 degrees. Some purists argue that this technique, known as convection, makes for a better tasting experience.</p>
<p>Either way, James Monsees, c<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">o-founder of Ploom, is certain that he's making a Tesla as well. Today's consumer</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">will settle for nothing less.</span></p>
<p>"I would argue that the reason it's happening now," Monsees says of high-end vaporizer culture, "is that we're getting precious about a lot of things. We have the luxury to be picky and be precious about a lot of things - to know what we want."</p>
<p> </p>
<h2><strong>Building the Firefly</strong></h2>
<p>Try this: Graduate from one of the best schools in the country, have a wildly successful career in Silicon Valley by your late 20s, get a prestigious job at a firm people would die to work for, get married, be sort of happy.</p>
<p>Then chuck it. Quit your job, ply your savings into a new venture all your own, and design a fetish-like new product for a vaguely shady industry that few people even know exists. Then take a look at your knuckles - they're white.</p>
<p>When they met in 2007, Robinson and Williams were dancing to a mix by a party crew called The Space Cowboys at San Francisco's Burning Man Decompression party.</p>
<p>It's a party for people who wish they were at Burning Man.</p>
<p>Both were health-conscious smokers (a rare but growing species). They had experimented with vaporizers and found the results promising. But there was a problem: The older models looked like bulky science experiments - like model spaceships - and they weren't always reliable.</p>
<p>"The early inventors were great pioneers," says Williams. "We have a lot of respect for what they did. But neither of us wanted to buy any of the products that were around at that time."</p>
<p>Normally that would be that, but Williams and Robinson were not your typical "burners" (as aficionados of Burning Man are called).</p>
<p>Williams spent years rising through the ranks at Apple designing Mac OS software, and Robinson had been working at prominent Silicon Valley companies for decades.</p>
<p>They'd both built things, and they had that hacker mindset where you look at a problem and assume you can solve it. Together, they resolved to invent a vaporizer of their own, one that would do for smoking what the iPod did for music. It would be the perfect meeting of form and function, a sleek, intuitive device that would make vaping "as quick as lighting up."</p>
<p>It wasn't exactly an easy decision.</p>
<p>"I walked away from a pretty sizable amount of money to work on this project," Williams told Business Insider. "I could've ridden Apple into the sunset."</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_left"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>Firefly</span></p><p class="caption">Firefly cofounder Sasha Robinson</p></div><p></p></div>Robinson had it pretty good, too, having bounced from Silicon Graphics Incorporated, to Juniper Networks, a networking equipment manufacturer, before bailing out before he was 30.</p>
<p>"I retired," says Robinson. "I was basically like f--- this tech stuff. I'm going to learn to weld."</p>
<p>He cashed in some stock, bought a house in San Francisco, and traveled - to Thailand, Cambodia, Poland, Costa Rica. You name it, he wandered there for weeks.</p>
<p>Back home in San Francisco, he got pretty good at metalworking. He constructed jaw-dropping installations for Burning Man and danced a lot.</p>
<p>"I achieved every single career goal I had for myself by the age of 29," says Robinson, now 41. "It's a weird feeling to be both really proud and lost."</p>
<p>Lost he remained, though, until he met a girl. She told him that unemployment was not sexy. Soon, he realized she was right and joined consulting firm Moto as director of software.</p>
<p>When Moto was bought by Cisco Systems, though, he got antsy.</p>
<p>"I put my toe in it and I thought 'I'd love to make this work,' and then I changed my mind," he says. He was gone within a month.</p>
<p>Since becoming friends, Robinson and Williams were constantly meeting at house parties, or at late-night events in San Francisco's vibrant electronic music scene. It was Williams who came up with the idea to build a vaporizer. They began spending their Tuesday nights tinkering with coils and testing different power supplies in Robinson's basement, which was jammed with everything from power tools to Burning Man projects, including a colorfully painted bike with a fur-covered seat.</p>
<p>Because "if you're wearing short-shorts and not much else in the desert, it's nice to be sitting on fur," Williams explains.</p>
<p>Things proceeded slowly. Robinson and Williams were trying to tackle problems they hadn't deeply considered before, and it was tougher than they thought.</p>
<p>Like how to create a 400-degree oven that fits in someone's hands but won't explode in their face.</p>
<p>The guys started by drawing pictures of how the mechanism would work. After settling on butane, they enlisted the help of a mechanical engineering friend to build a model.</p>
<p>If Williams had learned one thing at Apple, where he worked on Mac OS collaboration software, it was the difference between a decent user experience and a great one: It was all about simplicity.</p>
<p>"That was always the measuring stick of what a good prototype was," Williams says. "People had to get it by just looking at it."</p>
<p>He also discovered that working at a big company, even one as widely admired as Apple, could be deadening. "I'll get a construction job before I fill out another TPS report," he jokes, referring to the "testing, procedure specification" reports software developers often produce.</p>
<p>Eventually, with his wife's buy-in, he decided to part ways with Apple, joining Robinson to give the Firefly his full commitment.</p>
<p>"I had a lot of nights when I was awake at 3 am working out an issue because I knew my future income was dependent on this project," Williams recalls.</p>
<p><strong>NEXT: The Grandmother Test</strong></p>

<h2><strong>The Grandmother Test</strong></h2>
<p>By January of 2011, Williams and Robinson had been tinkering for two years, and they still weren't satisfied. The butane was the problem. It just wasn't reliable enough. Sometimes it didn't ignite. And it seemed a little risky even under the best circumstances.</p>
<p>"You couldn't just hand it to your grandmother," Robinson jokes.</p>
<p>The Grandmother Test was perhaps a high bar for what was, after all, a fancy piece of drug paraphernalia, but the partners didn't want to settle for a workable device. Like seemingly every startup founder, they wanted to change the world.</p>
<p>Williams and Robinson knew they had to make something that users would fall in love with from their first puff. For that to happen, the vaporizer would have to be absolutely dependable and perfectly intuitive.</p>
<p>They ditched the first model and started over, pivoting to an electrical power source.</p>
<p>Now the issue was finding the right coil, one that would keep the air inside the chamber pure. Robinson and Williams started experimenting with different metals. Both of them developed an allergy to the standard industry coil, a nickel/chromium alloy, and decided to find a better option.</p>
<p>They did, but they prefer not to reveal what material they eventually settled on. Trade secret.</p>
<p>To make sure the device worked every time, they turned the basement into a lab, testing models around the clock. A mechanism would run the vaporizers in cycles - on for 10 seconds, off for 5, then on again - at least 50,000 times.</p>
<p>"I wouldn't even look at my electric bill," Robinson jokes.</p>
<p>The guys even went as have electron microscopy photos taken to see what was happening to the coil inside the Firefly's chamber. They had to know it wasn't deteriorating.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>Firefly</span></p><p class="caption">Firefly cofounder Mark Williams</p></div><p></p></div>"You have to be a little nuts," says Williams, "because you have to be able to say with certainty 'my product does not degrade.'"</p>
<p>And once you can say that, you can take your show on the road.</p>
<p>To succeed in any business, it's important to understand the landscape, and the world of vaporizers traditionally has been a world of message boards and e-commerce sites, trade shows and hobbyists. Market data doesn't really exist.</p>
<p>"This industry is coming out of a really shady period," said Robinson, "so finding people we could trust in it was really important."</p>
<p>That's where Aaron LoCascio came in. In 2005 he started selling vaporizers on an eBay site along with a few other appliances. After 2008, he ditched the appliances, which weren't moving as fast. Now he runs VapeWorld.com, the preeminent online vape retailer, which has grown to a staff of 60.</p>
<p>Now, with the scent of opportunity in the air, people present him with new vaporizer designs on a daily basis. But he's pickier these days than he once was.</p>
<p>"Eight years ago, you and I could have gotten together, gone to the garage, slammed a piece of wood and some coils together and been successful," he says. "Now? Not going to happen. The barrier to entry has definitely been raised."</p>
<p>When he saw the Firefly prototype in 2011, he was floored.</p>
<p>He became Robinson and Williams' sensei, teaching them about the arcane import/export regulations, helping them find legal assistance, and schooling them on the ins and outs of supply-chain management and doing business in China, which is where Fireflies are made.</p>
<p>This last part is harder than it sounds.</p>
<p>To make a product in China, you must find someone to work with that wants to help you. This cannot be done over the phone. Instead, you must go to southern China, to towns where you'll feel lonely. You will encounter factory owners and workers with a range of notions about quality control. You will likely need to take a weekend off in Thailand to blow off some steam.</p>
<p>After wasting a few months on a manufacturer who turned out to be a poor fit, Williams and Robinson finally found a factory that could produce the device to their specifications. The Firefly launched at the end of last year to much acclaim. Gadget site Gizmodo declared it "portable perfection."</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_left"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>Firefly</span></p><p class="caption">The Firefly booth at a trade show in early 2014</p></div><p></p></div></p>
<p>Customers seem to agree. Right now, the Firefly is back-ordered by about 5,000 units. Brick and mortar smoke shops that carry the device are subjected to a maximum limit. Robinson and Williams have had to hoard some Fireflies for themselves to sell directly from their website, since the margins are better.</p>
<p>In other words, after over three years, they can finally exhale.</p>
<p>But Williams and Robinson aren't through innovating. They want to expand the Firefly line to vaporizers that accept cartridges of liquid or wax, and to make improvements to the core product, which could be lighter, sleeker, faster. And while the Firefly is definitely being marketed for tobacco users (in total compliance with the U.S. criminal code), the partners have no way to control what a consumer might do in the privacy of his or her own home, or dorm room, or the back of a van.</p>
<p>Or, for that matter, at massive music-and-art festival under the stars in the desert of northern Nevada.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/longform">Read more of Business Insider's long-form features »</a></strong><span><br /></span></p>

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