This is a Guest Editorial by Shelly Palmer, one of LinkedIn’s Top 10 Voices in Technology and President & CEO of Palmer Advanced Media.

My monthly “new iPhone every year” payment just joined my cable bill, my water bill, and my electric bill as grudge expenses. I hate paying them because the companies charge more and more for the same stuff, and there’s nothing I can do about it.

Apple promised me a new iPhone every year and I fell for it. I didn’t read the fine print. Sure, I can get a new iPhone each year, but there’s nothing in the agreement saying that Apple promises to innovate or lead the industry or make something great. To fulfill its side of the contract, all Apple must do is make a new iPhone and offer it to me. And that’s all it has done.

Imitation is not innovation. The iPhone X (pronounced iPhone ten) is basically a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 (which is basically a Samsung Galaxy S8 with a pen and an additional camera) which is basically a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 (which is its own story). And the Note 7 came out a year ago. Not only is Apple unapologetic about its blatant imitation of Samsung. The company took the artistic liberty of claiming that the iPhone X’s features were “amazing,” “incredible,” and “new.”

Facebook is reportedly working on the kind of device even the mighty Google gave up on-- modular smartphones, at least according to a patent filed by the social network.

As Business Insider reports, Facebook owns a patent for a "modular electromechanical device" with different components adding functionality such as a speaker, microphone, touchscreen, GPS and even a phone. The result would solve the waste involved when dumping a phone for a better model. Interestingly, the device is designed to act as either a smartphone or a smart speaker.

"Typically, the hardware components included in the consumer electronics that are considered 'outdated' are still usable," the patent reads. "However, the hardware components can no longer be re-used since consumer electronics are designed as closed systems. From a consumer prospective, the life cycle of conventional consumer electronics is expensive and wasteful."

Chinese Android gaming device maker GamePad Digital (aka GDP) announces the Pocket, a 7-inch Windows 10 notebook, is now shipping following a successful Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign.

First announced back in February 2017, the Pocket represents something of a departure from the portable consoles that are GDP's usual product offering. Described as a combination of ultra-thin notebook and smartphone, the Pocket offers a 7-inch 1920 x 1080 display, Intel Atom X7-Z8750 quad-core CPU, Intel HD Graphics 405 GPU, 8GB LPDDR3 RAM, 128GB eMMC storage and a 7000mAh battery.

Dell claims to offer the "world's first wireless charging 2-in-1" mobile device-- the Latitude 7285, a 12-inch portable PC promising to be thin and light while meeting the needs of commercial clients.

First seen back at CES 2017, the Latitude 7285 is also described as the "world's thinnest Windows-based commercial 2-in-1." For the record, it is 7.25mm thick, 274.8mm wide and 209.2mm, while weight totals 0.68kg. It carries a 12.3-inch 2880 x 1920 resolution display with an anti-glare panel, and can be configured with a variety of processors, from Intel Core i5-7Y54 to Core i7-7Y75 (all 4.5W solutions), and M.2 PCIe NVMe storage from 128GB to 256GB.

The aforementioned wireless charging uses the WiTricity standard and requires extra hardware-- specifically either an included USB-C 45W adapter or an optional wireless charging mat (PM30W171). Use of the charging mat requires an optional Dell Latitude wireless charging keyboard.