Hasta La Gadget!

In a world of touchable glass screens, sometimes all users really want is to feel the classic, clicking sensation of older electronics. While a few are still clamoring for the return of physical keyboards on phones, Samsung was on to something with its physical rotating bezel on the Galaxy Watch “Classic” series.…

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While Samsung’s latest Galaxy Watches might not be the highlight of its second Unpacked event this year, they’re arguably the most anticipated Android smartwatch launch every year. One of the most conspicuous absences from the last model was the fan-favorite spinning bezel that’s long been a hallmark of Samsung’s wearable. With the announcement of the Galaxy Watch 6 series today though, the bezel is back. Specifically, Samsung has unveiled two new models — the Galaxy Watch 6 and the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, and the latter sports a smaller rotating bezel than the last generation that did. That, along with some physical refinements, are the most obvious changes on the hardware front, while health-tracking continues to be a focal point for the Galaxy Watch series.

Physical and hardware changes

Samsung reps had a Galaxy Watch 5 at the event and when I held it next to a Watch 6, I could see how much cleaner the design was. While the company did shave some fractions of an inch off the case, that’s not as noticeable as the fact that the screen now lies flush with the lugs.

Adding to the sleeker appearance is the Watch 6’s display, which is now 20 percent larger than the previous model, thanks to a bezel that’s 30 percent slimmer. On the Classic, Samsung managed to make the physical spinner 15 percent smaller, too, so it also has a 20 percent bigger display.

Despite its smaller size, the mechanical bezel on the Watch 6 Classic seems just as easy to use as before. I could still feel individual grooves under the frame as I jumped through apps and widgets by rotating the wheel, using each notch as a tactile cue to figure out what page I was on. And credit to Samsung for bringing back this glorified fidget spinner without making the Classic too bulky, although it comes in larger sizes (43 and 47mm) than the standard model (40 and 44mm).

In addition to getting bigger, the Watch 6s’ panels are sharper and brighter than before too, going up 2,000 nits this year. You can also adjust the brightness of the Always On Display, which is nice on a sunny day or when you’re running low on juice.

As with each smartwatch launch, the company has also added faces and straps for the Watch 6 series that older generations can use too. But what’s intriguing this year is a new “one-click” mechanism for some bands that should make swapping them easier. It took a few tries to figure out, but once I did I found it simpler than the Pixel Watch’s version. All you need to do is push down on a button then lift the strap up out of the lug. Putting it back in is a matter of holding down the button and aligning the screws to the lug, then letting go.

Other physical changes to the Watch include an updated processor and larger battery. Samsung says you can get eight hours of juice on eight minutes of “fast charge,” so if you’re running low and still want to track your sleep, you should be able to plug in and quickly get enough power to last all night.

Photo by Sam Rutherford

Sleep tracking and insights

Speaking of, some of the biggest updates to the Galaxy Watch series are coming to its sleep-tracking and coaching features. For those who wear the watch to bed, more insights are coming. Samsung says the Watch 6 will give users “in-depth analysis of Sleep Score Factors” like total sleep time, cycles, awake time and new parameters the company is calling “physical and mental recovery.”

Samsung also worked with the National Sleep Foundation to co-develop “more individualized Sleep Messages” that give users feedback each morning about their night. The Watch 6 can also recognize patterns around your sleep and wake times to see how consistent you are, and assign a “Sleep Animal Symbol” to represent your style. This is very similar to what Fitbit and Google offer with the Pixel Watch, but Samsung is not locking this behind a paywall.

Sadly, I wasn’t able to test any of these new sleep-related features (I’ve been asked to stop napping on the job), and some of them take at least seven days of wear to kick in, so we’ll have to wait till we get in a sample for testing before I can evaluate these.

Photo by Sam Rutherford

Fitness, heart rate and other updates

Other updates I wasn’t able to truly gauge include the new Samsung Wallet app (instead of just the Pay widget), personalized Heart Rate Zone calibration for running workouts and irregular heart rhythm notifications. But I can tell you what they’re supposed to do.

The Samsung Pay feature on the watch has been replaced by the Wallet, which means you can use digital IDs (where compatible), boarding passes, event tickets and loyalty cards on the watch. There’s also a new Track Run workout type that logs the number of laps you complete, while the personalized Heart Rate Zone tool requires you to go through a ten-minute calibration session before it gives you five “optimal running intensity levels” so you can exercise to activate processes like fat-burning.

When the Galaxy Watch 6 detects heart rhythms that might suggest atrial fibrillation, it will prompt you to run an electrocardiogram test. It’ll monitor your pulse in the background for such patterns, including when you’re asleep. Overnight, the Watch 6 series’ onboard skin temperature sensor will also kick in to gather data that can help determine what stage of your menstrual or ovulation cycle you might be entering.

Photo by Sam Rutherford

Samsung also introduced a Skin Temperature API under its “Privileged Health” software development kit (SDK) that will allow third parties to create different applications for the Watch’s LED infrared sensor or the temperature data that it gathers. One example is a new Thermo Check app that lets you measure water temperature before you have to dip into a pool. (Of course, if you’ve stuck your whole hand in the water, you probably already know if it’s too cold.)

A number of third-party apps have also been brought over to or optimized for the Watch 6, as well as other watches running Wear OS 4. These include WhatsApp, Google Calendar, Gmail, Audible, along with updated versions of Peloton and MyFitnessPal. Samsung also tweaked its Camera Controller app to let you remotely snap pictures, switch modes and zoom from the latest foldable phones (in addition to boring ol’ regular handsets). Find My Phone on the Galaxy Watch will now show where your misplaced device is on a map, as well.

For obvious reasons, I wasn’t able to test most of these updates — given I couldn’t simply go running for ten minutes at a hands-on, and it probably would have been a bad idea to load my credit card on the demo units. But I don’t feel as if I missed out on much. The most significant changes appear to be cosmetic and many of the software updates might eventually trickle down to older models. I’m intrigued by the sleep insights Samsung looks set to deliver, but that will take at least seven days for me to start seeing results. Stay tuned for our full review to see how the Galaxy Watch 6 performed on that front, but also for the details on battery life and real-world experience. Until then, if you’re ready to get a new Android smartwatch, you can already pre-order the Galaxy Watch 6 from $300 and the Watch 6 Classic, which starts at $400. They’ll be available starting August 11th.

Samsung is also making some tweaks to last year’s Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, adding access to hiking routes via the GPX (GPS Exchange Format) File Database as well as more options for Route Workout types. You can still buy that device for $450.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsung-galaxy-watch-6-hands-on-the-spinning-bezels-triumphant-return-110047694.html?src=rss

After I reviewed the Motorola Razr+ earlier this year, I grew besotted with its external screen. Not only was its 3.6-inch outer panel larger than the 1.9-inch version on Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 4, it was also more useful. Since then, I’d been hoping that Samsung would adopt a bigger outer display on its next-gen Flip foldable, and today, my wish has been granted. The Galaxy Z Flip 5, which the company launched today, sports a 3.4-inch window on the outside that’s 3.78 times larger than before.

It also has a new “Flex Hinge” that allows the device to fold shut without leaving a gap between the two halves of the internal screen. Throw in the typical processor upgrades, double the base storage and some software enhancements, and the Z Flip 5 appears to be a small, but meaningful step up for the same $999 starting price as last year.

A larger external screen with lots of potential

The highlight of the Z Flip 5 is clearly its larger external display, which Samsung has infuriatingly decided to rename the Flex Window. I don’t know why, since this panel doesn’t fold and the old name of “Cover” screen still makes sense. Confusing name aside, it’s easy to see why the bigger panel is more useful. Widgets like Calendar or Weather can show data for multiple events and days. Buttons are larger, so you can more easily skip songs in the media player, start or stop timers and more.

With more room, Samsung was able to squeeze two additional shortcut buttons in the Quick Settings drawer that appears when you swipe down from the home screen. Dragging up opens Samsung Wallet, so you can quickly pay for your morning coffee.

To be clear, the Flip 5’s 3.4-inch panel doesn’t stretch across the entire back half of the phone. It’s shaped like a file folder, sort of like a rectangle that’s been awkwardly cut to avoid the pair of cameras at the bottom right. This makes for a very strange aspect ratio that many apps might struggle with, but for the most part, the software sees the screen as a rectangle. The little tab at the bottom left is largely ignored and is devoted to a Samsung Pay shortcut or a space for any ongoing activities to show their progress. If you have a timer running or a song playing, for example, a small progress bar appears there.

Because Samsung now supports more widgets on the cover, getting through all of them can become a slog. I saw about a dozen of them on the demo unit, and having to swipe 10 times to get to the one I want would suck. Thankfully, the company introduced a new gesture that lets you pinch out to access Multi Widgets view, and from there you can quickly jump to the tile you want. Don’t confuse this with the All Apps page on Android — it may look similar, but it only shows you the widgets that Samsung has made available on One UI 5 for the Flip 5.

Photo by Sam Rutherford

Another thing that may have you thinking the Flex Window can give you the full Android experience is that it supports a handful of apps like Message, YouTube, Google Maps, WhatsApp and Netflix. In countries like Korea, you’ll also find popular options like Kakao Talk. These aren’t widgets — they run like the full-fledged versions of themselves on the outside screen. I watched some YouTube videos, drafted messages and looked up restaurants in the area on the smaller panel and found them to be pretty much identical to the larger versions.

Though the practicality of using full Android on the external display is debatable, I still find it questionable that Samsung limits what apps can run natively on the Flex Window. That’s not to say you can’t find a workaround. The company itself offers an app called Good Lock that will let you run any Android app on the tiny panel. Still, it’s different from the Moto Razr+, which basically runs Google’s whole operating system up front.

Samsung’s approach is meant to ensure that only users who are invested enough to install a separate app to mimic the full Android experience on the Flex Window can. This way, if things break or look weird, you only have yourself to blame.

Another area where Moto and Samsung differ on the cover screen is the QWERTY keyboard. Both companies let you respond to messages and notifications with a full-sized keyboard, and Moto takes up the entire canvas to give you bigger buttons. Meanwhile, Samsung only uses about the bottom two thirds of the space, while retaining the message or input field at the top so you can see what you’re entering or responding to.

I like having larger keys, but Moto’s layout adds a step where, after typing your reply, you have to back out of the keyboard to the app and hit the submit button. On the Flip 5, the Send button is right above the keyboard and you can tap it when you’re done. I’ll have to spend more time with a review unit to better evaluate the two approaches and see which I prefer.

Cameras and Flex Mode

One of the best things about having a larger cover screen is how much more useful it is as a viewfinder. Most foldable phones let you use the secondary display to preview shots you take with the rear cameras, which are almost always superior to the interior sensors. On the Z Flip 4’s tiny sliver of a panel, it was hard to see what I was recording. This year, you’ll actually be able to view your entire shot before taking it. Like before, you can also swipe to change modes and lenses, as well as pinch to zoom in on your subjects.

The camera hardware hasn’t really changed. Samsung applied a different coating to the primary lens and tweaked some of the software to enable greater digital zoom. But on paper the Flip 5 has the same pair of 12-megapixel main and ultra-wide cameras as its predecessor. Inside, the 10-megapixel selfie camera has a slightly larger aperture of f/2.2 (compared to last year’s f/2.4), which should make for brighter, clearer shots. Without a side by side comparison, though, it’s tough to tell how noticeable of a difference it will make.

It’s not like you’ll want to use the internal camera much, since you can easily frame up shots with the outside sensors now. But it could come in handy for video calls or livestreams, in which case you might find it handy to prop the phone up by folding it at a 90-degree angle and sitting it up on a table.

When you fold the Flip 5 but don’t completely shut it, Flex Mode kicks in (on compatible apps). We’ve seen this on older models — apps like YouTube, Camera and Gallery will adapt their layouts by presenting content on the top half and controls on the bottom. This year, though, Samsung added more shortcuts to the Flex panel that appears on the lower half (if you enable the feature). When the Flip 5 is flexed, a small icon shows up on the bottom left that will bring up the navigational panel and move the rest of the app to the top portion of the screen.

Photo by Sam Rutherford

Here, you can have settings that make one-handed use slightly easier. You can press a button to bring down the notifications shade instead of having to reach your thumb all the way to the top. You can also take a screenshot using a shortcut or bring up a touchpad for exploring the top half of the screen with a cursor. I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with the updated Flex Mode at the hands-on session, but I know I was less than impressed when I reviewed the Flip 4 last year, after initially being excited about the feature. This time around, I won’t be so easily fooled (I hope).

New hinge, old crease

One of the more significant changes to the Z Flip line is Samsung’s new “Flex Hinge.” I’m still a little miffed about the obsession with calling everything “Flex” this and “Flex” that and honestly “Flex Hinge” sounds like a dating app exclusively for people showing off their biceps. But it’s just a marketing name for Samsung’s redesigned hinge with a dual-rail structure that is supposed to help diffuse impact.

Putting aside my distaste for the name (once more), I have to admit the new mechanism seems solid. The phone closes, without a noticeable gap like the Flip 4. It still felt as sturdy as older models, holding itself up at various angles from about 20 degrees to 160 degrees or so. Those of you who found the gap irritating should be relieved.

Photo by Sam Rutherford

People who hated the crease in the middle of the internal screen, though, will be disappointed. When I held up the Flip 5 next to a Flip 4 that I brought, the degree to which their flexible displays wrinkled was pretty much identical. But in my years of testing foldable phones, creases have never been anything more troublesome than an aesthetic quirk. It won’t get in the way of actually using the device.

Processor, storage and other specs

In fact, you’ll probably enjoy the Flip 5’s internal screen, which is a 6.7-inch Full HD AMOLED panel that refreshes at 120Hz. The 22:9 aspect ratio is slightly taller than your average smartphone, but most apps run fine. Powering everything this year is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset that’s also in the Galaxy S23 series. Samsung doubled the storage for the Flip 5, so the base model gets 256GB (instead of last year’s 128GB) while costing the same. That’s a nice touch, and might even make me forgive the company’s overuse of the word Flex.

Also in Samsung’s favor is this year’s selection of colors. You can choose from the standard black (graphite), cream, lavender or this generation’s signature color — mint. It’s a similar shade of green to the one Apple used for the iPhone 12, which is still one of my favorite colors ever used on a handset. Plus, I was beginning to find the Flip 4’s Bora Purple a little dated.

Photo by Sam Rutherford

Pretty much everything else about the Flip 5 is the same as its predecessor. The battery size is the same at 3,700mAh, and it recharges at the same rate as well. That’s a little disappointing, considering the Flip 4 already struggled to last an entire day. But, perhaps the new larger cover screen is useful enough that you can conserve battery life by using the internal display less.

The Flip 5 also retains the same IPX8 water-resistance rating as the Flip 4, though it uses the newer Gorilla Glass Victus 2 covering on the outside. The handsets didn’t feel very different to me, so any changes here are pretty subtle.

Frankly, the biggest difference to the Flip 5 is its Flex Window, followed by its Flex Hinge. Some tweaks to Flex Mode round up the set of upgrades Samsung is bringing to its smaller foldable this year. Though I’m a fan of roomier screens on the outside of flip-style foldables, I can’t help but wonder: is Samsung limiting the Flip 5’s potential with its reluctance to run full Android on the small display?

That’s a question I can only answer after spending more time with a review unit and evaluating things like camera quality, battery life and real-world performance. For now, Samsung has brought us hardware that holds a lot of promise.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsung-galaxy-z-flip-5-hands-on-a-larger-external-display-holds-promise-110059050.html?src=rss

It looks like the big entertainment powers are digging in for a long battle with striking actors and writers. Not that they don’t have money to use. Here’s an example: Netflix’s recent job posting for a machine learning platform product manager, with a heady annual salary of $300,000 to $900,000 (that’s a range). That’s compared to many actors who make around $200 a day, according to this SAG-AFTRA contract. AI’s role in creating future entertainment is a key item of debate for both striking parties.

The job listing indicates AI will be used to “create great content” and not just develop new algorithms to recommend shows and movies. The posting also alludes to integrating artificial intelligence in “all areas of the business.” The first tentative steps have already been made: Netflix currently airs a Spanish reality dating series called Deep Fake Love, which scans contestants’ faces to create AI-generated deepfakes, while its gaming studio employs generative AI to compose narratives and dialogue.

– Mat Smith

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DJI is one of the most innovative gadget companies out there, constantly trying new things with its drones, like a triple-camera setup on the Mavic 3 Pro. With the launch of the midsized Air 3 camera drone, the company has introduced a new trick called dual primary cameras. That means the telephoto camera has the same specs as the main one, rather than being relegated to lesser quality like it was on the Mavic 3. That opens up new possibilities for pilots, giving them two ways to create cinematic shots. Further highlights include long battery life, reliable obstacle protection and an extensive feature set. Image quality might not be good enough for some pros when compared to the $2,200 Mavic 3 Pro, but at $1,100, it’s considerably cheaper.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-netflix-lists-900000-ai-job-to-help-create-great-content-111516278.html?src=rss

It’s that time of the year again. Samsung is ready to show off its next generation of foldable smartphones, but this year, we expect a barrage of Galaxy devices. Beyond hinged smartphones, rumors and leaks suggest at least one wearable and the successors to last year’s Galaxy Tab S8 series. Before the show starts at a very early 4AM PT/ 7AM ET / 11AM BST tomorrow, grab a coffee and read up on everything we expect to see right here. 

This year, Samsung is broadcasting its Unpacked reveal event from its home in Seoul, South Korea, and we’ve got Engadget’s Richard Lai on the ground there to capture what goes down. I’ll support him here in London, UK, where it’ll be a more sensible hour for a liveblog. Any questions? Pose them to me @thatmatsmith (X/Twitter or Threads, it’s all the same?).

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/samsung-unpacked-july-2023-event-liveblog-100031572.html?src=rss