Hasta La Gadget!

Cruelly timed for just after The Morning After newsletter yesterday, Samsung’s latest Unpacked media event was a first for the company. It’s the first time the company has launched over five devices in a single day. Ah wait, no. Was it the first time K-Pop superstars BTS helped promote Samsung’s latest smartphone? Nope, that’s been done before, too. No, this July event was the first Unpacked in the company’s native South Korea, in Seoul.

The move speaks to the confidence Samsung has about its newest smartphones, which includes its fourth-generation foldables. For me, those devices are the exciting part, even though the company is bringing back the bezel to its wearables and has made its premium tablets water resistant.

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The Galaxy Z Flip 4 ($999) gets the most evolutionary treatment this year, with a far more expansive external display, new widgets and features. At this point, it has to match what we saw on Motorola’s Razr+, but it initially doesn’t seem as versatile as Moto’s take on the secondary screen. Expect our review to put those new features through their paces.

The Galaxy Z Fold 4 ($1,800, yikes), meanwhile, is slightly slimmer, slightly more powerful and a little too similar to last year’s Fold 3 at first blush. Samsung’s new Flex Hinge – said to have a more streamlined design while still boasting IPX8 water resistance – erases that jarring gap between the screen halves while decreasing its overall thickness to 13.5mm. (Note: That’s still thicker than its rival foldable, the Pixel Fold.)

I’ve corralled the other highlights from Samsung – is this the year you’ll buy a foldable?

– Mat Smith

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Samsung Unpacked July 2023 highlights

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 hands-on: A larger external display holds promise

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 hands-on: Is Samsung squandering its head start?

Galaxy Z Flip 5 vs Moto Razr+: A clamshell comparison

Galaxy Z Fold 5 vs Pixel Fold: Did Samsung rise to Google’s challenge?

Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 hands-on: The spinning bezel’s triumphant return

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra hands-on: A premium tablet with water protection

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 pre-orders on Amazon include a $200 gift card

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Meta had its best quarter since 2021 despite losing more money on the metaverse

Meta is ‘fully committed’ to the metaverse.

Meta just had its best quarter since 2021, even as it continues to lose massive amounts of money on the metaverse. In fact, the company said it expects to lose even more money on its efforts in the year to come. I mean, the company changed its name – it’s not going to give up so easily.

Reality Labs, the Meta division overseeing its virtual and augmented reality projects, lost $3.7 billion during the second quarter of 2023 and generated just $276 million in revenue, according to the company’s latest earnings report. Aside from the metaverse, it was an otherwise strong quarter for Meta, which reported $32 billion in revenue, an 11 percent increase from last year.

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Amazon Prime members can now get pre-approved for new Boost Infinite cellular plans

There’s a storefront selling Boost Infinite’s SIM kits.

Amazon has teamed up with Boost Infinite, a wireless carrier owned by Dish Wireless, and has launched a storefront to make the latter’s SIM kits more accessible. While Amazon sells SIM cards from a variety of providers, this is a genuine tie-up that automatically pre-qualifies Prime members for the carrier’s $25-per-month postpaid wireless plan. Subscribers can purchase Boost Infinite’s Unlimited $25 SIM kit from the Amazon store with a 20 percent discount. It’s not quite the free cellular service rumors we’ve heard about, but a discount is a discount…

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X threatens to drop verification status for advertisers spending under $1,000 per month

Musk says it’s to prevent scammers from creating millions of accounts.

Engadget

Twitter, now X, is reportedly hardballing advertisers to increase its bottom line. Reports earlier this month suggested X’s revenue had dropped by a staggering 50 percent. The company’s latest strategy, according to The Wall Street Journal, is asking brands to spend at least $1,000 per month on ads to maintain their verified status on the platform. Musk says the “moderately high” cost is a preventative measure to help reduce the number of scammers creating “millions of accounts” on the platform. Millions!

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-everything-announced-at-samsungs-summer-unpacked-2023-event-111543940.html?src=rss

It’s “a very sad state,” Andrew Weissmann told MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell.

If you want to keep track of your luggage or if you have items you need to protect from theft or loss, Apple’s AirTags are the answer. You can now pick up a four-pack at Amazon and Walmart for $85 (14 percent off) — just slightly higher than the lowest price we’ve ever seen. The deal is ideal if you have multiple items to keep safe.

If you’re in Apple’s ecosystem, AirTags give you some big advantages over rival trackers from Tile and others. The ultra-wideband functionality offers precise tracking with iPhone 11 (and up) devices when you get close, so you can tell whether your missing object is under a couch cushion or behind a chair, for example. Meanwhile, the AirTag network enabled by all Apple device users allows you to find a missing bag that might be a longer distance away.

The coin-sized design is nice and simple and you’ll get a seamless experience thanks to the Find My App. You can also force the AirTag to emit a chime to help you more easily locate your item if you’re close to it. However, it doesn’t have a built-in keyring like rival devices, so you’ll need to buy additional accessories — luckily, Engadget just released a buyer’s guide for AirTag keyrings, straps and more. 

The main drawback is that it only works with Apple devices, so Android users will have to look elsewhere, and battery life is also limited. Still, Apple users can now grab a four pack at one of the lowest prices we’ve seen.

Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter and subscribe to the Engadget Deals newsletter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-airtag-4-pack-falls-back-to-85-075538136.html?src=rss

The same flood killed Conrad Shiels’ mother and 2-year-old sister, as well as four other people, earlier this month.

Samsung has taken the wraps off its latest clamshell-style foldable smartphone, the Galaxy Z Flip 5. The new handset’s biggest change is a 3.4-inch cover display that is significantly larger than the 1.9-inch outer panel on last year’s Galaxy Z Flip 4. This should generally make the device more convenient when it’s folded up, as there’s now more space to reply to texts, check notifications, take selfies and the like. Other upgrades include a faster Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and a redesigned hinge that makes the whole package slimmer when folded.

The larger external display brings the Galaxy Z Flip 5 much more in line with the Moto Razr+, another flip-style foldable that arrived earlier this year. To assist anyone deciding between the two devices, we’ve laid out how the two devices compare on the spec sheet below. Raw specs can’t tell the whole story, of course: Our Razr+ review found that phone’s camera performance to lag behind its peers, and Samsung and Motorola are taking different approaches to how Android works on the outer display. Still, if you’re thinking of dropping $1,000 on one of these devices, here’s a quick look at the hardware that money will get you. For more details on the Galaxy Z Flip 5, check out our hands-on preview.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsung-galaxy-z-flip-5-vs-moto-razr-a-clamshell-comparison-114506038.html?src=rss