Samsung is still making the only Android-based smartwatches worth using, and now it’s adding two more models to its lineup. The company introduced the Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 5 Pro at its Unpacked event today, along with its new family of foldables. While the Watch 5 is billed primarily as the “upgrade” to…
At least one former Twitter employee is facing prison time for allegedly helping Saudi Arabia spy on critics. Bloombergreports a jury in San Francisco has convicted US resident Ahmad Abouammo of serving as an agent for Saudi Arabia, as well as falsifying records, money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. According to prosecutors, Abouammo took bribes in 2015 from a key aide to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Bader Al Asaker, in return for sensitive account info that could be used to track and silence dissidents.
The one-time media partnership manager said that he was only doing his job. However, the prosecution showed evidence that Abouammo received $300,000 and a $20,000 Hublot watch from the aide.
Abouammo will be sentenced to between 10 and 20 years in prison. He and his legal team have declined to comment. However, defense attorney Angela Chuang argued in court that the conviction is a consolation prize meant to “save face” for government officials and Twitter. The US supposedly let its main target, former Twitter engineer Ali Alzabarah, flee to Saudi Arabia. A third suspect outside of Twitter, Ahmed Almutairi, is believed to have acted as a go-between before he left for Saudi Arabia.
The case highlights concerns about the potential for staff at social media companies to abuse account information. Twitter previously said it limited data access to vetted employees and had “tools in place” to protect privacy, but those safeguards clearly failed. There are still concerns internet firms may need to further tighten security to prevent similar misuses.
As longtime camera makers like Nikon and Canon struggle to adapt to a rapidly changing market now dominated by mirrorless options and even smartphones, there’s at least one way to boost the sales of dying DSLRs: partner with Takara Tomy and make them transform into fan-favorite Transformers like Optimus Prime.
Samsung’s Unpacked event today was chock full of new product announcements, and fans of the companies foldables have a lot to check out. The company showed off the new Galaxy Z Fold 4, its new flagship folding smartphone that starts at a whopping $1,799, as well as the Galaxy Z Flip 4, the successor to last year’s Z Flip 3. Samsung’s wearable lineup has a couple new members as well — the Galaxy Watch 5 is the company’s newest smartphone, and it’s complemented by the rugged, outdoor-ready Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. And to round things out, Samsung introduces a new pair of wireless earbuds in the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. Here’s how you can pre-order the Samsun Galaxy Z Fold 4 as well as everything else announced at Unpacked 2022.
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 4 is available for pre-order today with starting price of $1,799. It will be more widely available on August 26th. Those who pre-order through August 25th will receive a free storage upgrade, a Standing Cover with Pen case and a $100 Samsung credit.
Pre-order Galaxy Z Fold 4 at Samsung – $1,799
While Samsung didn’t reinvent its flagship foldable for 2022, it did make some meaningful updates to the Z Fold 4. It has a more refined design with slimmer bezels and a thinner hinge, plus its more lightweight than last year’s model. All of this should make the Z Fold 4 easier to use with one hand.
Samsung upped the durability of the main 7.6-inch, 120Hz screen, and it now has an updated taskbar which should make it easier to drag and drop apps to different parts of the display. The company also made it easier to swipe and navigate, so you could treat the Z Fold 4 like a touchscreen PC or tablet. The main screen also now supports Samsung’s S Pen, so you can take notes, doodle and mark up documents more easily on the go.
You’ll also find S-series cameras on the Z fold 4 now, too. The new foldable has a 10-megapixel telephoto lens, a 50MP wide shooter and a 12MP ultrawide camera, with all three collected vertically on the top-left corner of the phone’s back. Inside the Z Fold 4 is a 4,400 mAh battery that supports fast charging, so you’ll get up to a 50 percent increase in just 30 minutes of charge time. The 5G-capable phone runs on Snapdragon’s 8+ Gen1 chip and it’ll come with 12GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage.
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 4 is available for pre-order today with a starting price of $999. It will be more widely available on August 26th. Those who pre-order through August 25th will get a free storage upgrade and a Silicone Ring Case or Strap Case.
Pre-order Galaxy Z Flip 4 at Samsung – $999
Similarly to the Z Fold 4, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 has been refined with a slimmer design overall and a 45 percent stronger main screen. Samsung seems to want to address the questions many users have about the durability of foldable phones by focusing on making its new devices this year as strong as possible (but we’ll have to put them through their paces to see how successful the company was).
Samsung claims to have made the cover screen, the narrow display on the Z Flip 4 that’s visible when the handset is folded, more useful this year. It supports quick replies, setting changes, Samsung Pay, a new SmartThings widget and custom clock designs. It also has an updated Quick Shot feature, which lets you take photos and start shoot videos directly from the cover screen. The company also upgraded the Z Flip 4’s cameras: you’re now getting a 12MP ultrawide lens along with a 12MP wide shooter with improved stabilization, tracking and nighttime photography.
The Z Flip 4 runs on a 4nm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset and it has a 3,700 mAh battery inside that supports fast charging just like the Z fold 4 does. Along with 5G support, it’ll come with 8GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage.
The Galaxy Watch 5 is available for pre-order today with starting price of $279. It’ll be widely available on August 26th. It will come in two sizes, 40mm and 44mm, with Bluetooth and LTE versions of each. Those who pre-order through August 25th are eligible to receive a free wireless charger duo.
Pre-order Galaxy Watch 5 at Samsung – $279
Samsung’s latest wearable looks a little sleeker than the Galaxy Watch 4, plus it has a reshaped back portion that allows for greater skin contact. This means wearers will get better results when taking things like heart rate measurements, blood oxygen readings, ECGs and more. Along with an IP68 durability rating and 5ATM of water resistance, the Watch 5 series uses sapphire crystal glass on its display, which will better protect it against scratches.
In addition to making some subtle exterior changes, Samsung upgraded some of the features of the Galaxy Watch 5. Key among them is the wearable’s sleep tracking capabilities — now, the Watch 5 has a more advanced sleep coach, which uses breathing and heart rate data to provide you more information about how you slept in any given night. You’ll learn not only how much time you spent asleep, but also sleep stages, blood oxygen levels, time spent snoring and more. And since the watch runs on Google’s WearOS, you’ll get all of the existing features you’d expect, including voice navigation with Google Maps and more.
Samsung hasn’t provided an estimated battery life for the Galaxy Watch 5 yet, but it did share that it increased the battery capacity by 15 percent in these new models. The Watch 5 also has built-in GPS and NFC for Samsung Pay.
The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is available for pre-order today with starting price of $449. It’ll be widely available on August 26th. It’s only available in the 45mm size, with Bluetooth and LTE versions available. Those who pre-order through August 25th are eligible to receive a free wireless charger duo.
Pre-order Galaxy Watch 5 Pro at Samsung – $449
As the name suggests, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is a step up from the standard model. Samsung designed this to be a more rugged smartwatch, capable of keeping up with hikers, mountain bikers, adventurers and the like. It has most of the same features as the regular Watch 5, but it adds a titanium case and a massive 590 mAh battery, which is a 60-percent larger cell than the one in the Galaxy Watch 4. Otherwise, it has s sapphire crystal glass display, IP68 and 5ATM durability ratings,built-in GPS and NFC and more.
Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are available for pre-order today and will cost $229. They will be more widely available on August 26th. Those who pre-order can receive a free wireless charger.
Pre-order Galaxy Buds 2 Pro at Samsung – $229
The successors to last year’s Galaxy Buds Pro now support 24bit hi-fi audio, and they have a 15-percent smaller design. These ANC wireless earbuds now support auto switch, which lets you swap between Galaxy devices and even Samsung TVs while using the buds, and SmartThings Find, which will help you find them if you misplace them. There’s also a new “voice detect” feature which will sense when you’re speaking and automatically switch into ambient sound mode and lower the volume so you can hear whomever you’re talking to.
Follow all of the news from Samsung’s Unpacked event right here!
Get a glimpse at the return of Epix’s War of the Worlds. David Dastmalchian gets into exorcisms in his latest role. Plus, what’s coming on Archer and American Horror Stories. To me, my spoilers!
Two veteran New York Democrats previously dodged a question on whether the president should run for reelection.
Apple’s base iPad is the most cost-effective way to get an iOS device, and now you can pick one up for even less than usual. In a rare sale, most models are down to record-low prices at Amazon right now. Key among them are the 256GB iPad for $399, which is $80 less than usual, and the base, 64GB version remains on sale for $299 as well. As for cellular models, you can pick up the 64GB tablet for $400 thanks to an extra $30 coupon that’s automatically applied at checkout, or the 256GB version for $550.
Buy iPad (64GB, WiFi) at Amazon – $299Buy iPad (256GB, WiFi) at Amazon – $399Buy iPad (64GB, Cellular) at Amazon – $400Buy iPad (256GB, Cellular) at Amazon – $550
It may not look as slick as the iPad Air or the latest iPad Pros, but it’s hard to argue the utility of Apple’s most affordable tablet. We gave it a score of 86 when the latest model came out last year, and we consider it to be the best budget tablet you can get. It has solid performance and an excellent, 14-hour battery life, and since Apple upped the base amount of storage to 64GB from 32GB, you’ll have a good amount of space even if you pick the cheapest option. That’s important for those who download tons of apps and games, or those who plan on using the iPad to hold all of their personal, work or school documents. While we think some of the more advanced iPads make better laptop replacements, the base tablet would make a good on-the-go device if you pair it with accessories like the Smart Keyboard or the first-generation Apple Pencil.
The most dated things about the iPad are its chunkier bezels and the physical Home button that supports TouchID, although some may prefer the latter to FaceID. Otherwise, the slab has a 2,160 x 1,620 resolution Retina display with True Tone, an 8-megapixel rear camera and an updated 12MP front-facing camera with support for Center Stage, which will come in handy if you FaceTime a lot with friends and family. While it doesn’t have many of the extra features you’ll find on the iPad Air, those are fair trade-offs considering its low starting price.
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President Joe Biden will sign veterans health care legislation on Wednesday that ends a long battle to expand benefits for people who served near burn pits.
Samsung’s 1TB T7 Shield SSD is back to its all-time low price of $100, or $60 less than what it usually sells for on Amazon. The last time it was listed for $100 on the website was on Prime Day in July — if you missed the chance to get one at the time and now need a rugged SSD for whatever reason, you may want to head on over to its product page. The T7 Shield is a tougher version of its standard counterpart, one that’s encased in a rubber casing to give it the durability needed to survive up to 9.8-foot drops. That rubber exterior with its Dynamic Thermal Guard also prevents overheating so it suffers no performance drops even while transferring massive files. In addition, the T7 Shield is resistant to water and dust.
Buy Samsung T7 Shield 1TB at Amazon – $100
When it comes to performance, the T7 Shield has sequential read speeds of up to 1,050 MB/s and write speeds of up to 1,000 MB/s, which Samsung says are the fastest transfer speeds available today based on the USB 3.2 Gen2 standard. It employs the 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard so it can keep your data secure in case you lose it. And while it only has one USB-C port, it comes with a USB Type C-to-C and a Type C-to-A cable.
Take note that the model on sale for $100 right now is the 1TB version, but you can also get the 2TB variant at a discount. The bigger capacity SSD is currently listed for $200, which is $90 less than its normal price. Both versions are available in blue, black and beige.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
Kim Kardashian has teamed up with Apple on a custom version of the Beats Fit Pro. The new Beats x Kim collab is available in a trio of skin colors, which are meant to either “blend in or stand out,” according to Kardashian. They are still just your standard Beats Fit Pro beneath that skin-tone plastic. But don’t expect to find them at all the usual locations when they hit retail on August 17th. In-person sales are limited to 10 Apple stores (including 5th Avenue, Regent Street and Champs-Élysées) as well as several fashion chains and department stores. They’ll go on sale online, on August 16th at 10 AM ET.
It’s going to be a busy day for tech: Samsung’s big Unpacked event is kicking off at 9 AM ET, just a few hours from now. We’re expecting foldables, wearables and more and will be livestreaming all the announcements — watch with us, right here!
— Mat Smith
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Ford will open up orders for the next wave of F-150 Lightning reservation holders this Thursday, but those buying the electric pickup as of this week will need to dig deeper in their pockets. The automaker is bumping up the prices by between $4,200 and $8,900, depending on the trim. Ford cited “significant material cost increases and other factors.”
President Joe Biden has signed the CHIPS and Science Act into law. The $280 billion measure will provide significant financial assistance to American semiconductor firms. It sets aside $52 billion in tax credits and funding for US chipmakers to expand domestic production. In a rare episode of bipartisan unity, the Senate voted 64-33 in favor of the bill. “America invented the semiconductor, but over the years we let manufacturing of semiconductors move overseas,” Biden said ahead of the ceremony. He added: “A third of the core inflation last year was due to the high price of automobiles, which was driven by the shortage of semiconductors.”
Amazon’s palm-reading payment technology will soon be available in more than 65 Whole Foods shops in California. As long as you link your palm and payment card to the service, you just have to hover your hand over a scanner to complete your purchase. While you still have to stop at a checkout terminal, you don’t have to pull out a phone like you do with Amazon’s camera-based Just Walk Out system.
Google has sued Sonos, alleging its new voice assistant violates seven patents related to its own Google Assistant tech. It’s the latest battlefront in a long-running smart speaker war between the companies, with each suing and countersuing the other. Sonos’ Voice Control assistant arrived in June, letting users give commands with the phrase “Hey Sonos,” much like Amazon’s Alexa or Google Assistant. In the complaint, Google said it “worked for years with Sonos engineers on the implementation of voice recognition and voice-activated devices control in Sonos products… even providing its Google Assistant software to Sonos for many years.”
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