Selasa, 23 April 2019

The Morning After: The Galaxy Fold verdict - Engadget

Engadget

Hey, good morning!

We have our (tentative) verdict on Samsung's Galaxy Fold, as the launch date for the foldable turns into a giant question mark. Tesla is promising a future filled with its robo-taxis, and Pepsi is trying to reinvent the soda fountain, minus the calories.

Wait for it.
Galaxy Fold review: A lot of money for a prototype

After spending a week with the Galaxy Fold, Christopher Velazco found a lot to love about its groundbreaking design. The only problem is it comes with so many compromises that he concluded "almost no one should consider buying one." We couldn't score the $1,980 device without testing a US production unit first (ours was a European model), but as we found out a few hours later -- that might not happen for a while.

The other shoe drops.
Samsung officially delays Galaxy Fold launch

On Monday afternoon, Samsung said in a statement that "While many reviewers shared with us the vast potential they see, some also showed us how the device needs further improvements that could ensure the best possible user experience. To fully evaluate this feedback and run further internal tests, we have decided to delay the release of the Galaxy Fold. We plan to announce the release date in the coming weeks."

Initial tests pointed to damage at the top or bottom of the hinge as a possible problem, and one issue with "substances" found inside the display. Samsung plans to strengthen the display protection and "enhance the guidance" on care for the display, to prevent people from removing the vital top layer of the screen. So how long will it take to actually release the Galaxy Fold? Right now, your guess is as good as ours.

Cars without a steering wheel or pedals are supposedly less than a year away.
Tesla promises 'one million robo-taxis' in 2020

Two days ahead of its first-quarter earnings disclosure, Tesla hosted an event to explain its autonomous technology to investors. It showed off the customized chip built to enable Full Self-Driving in its cars (using the cameras and radar they already have instead of LiDAR) that Elon Musk called "the best chip in the world." Musk promised that Teslas will be capable of self-driving by the end of this year and self-driving robo-taxis will be on the road in 2020. The plan is to undercut Uber and Lyft with the cost per mile of a robo-taxi being less than $.18 a mile, compared to their usual $2 to $3 per mile.

At $13,000, the 85-inch version is basically a bargain.
Sony's 98-inch 8K TV will cost a staggering $70,000

The 2019 lineup of TVs from Sony is getting closer to release, so now we finally have prices for those big screens shown off at CES. They range from the eye-popping 98-inch 8K set that has a sticker reading $69,999, down to a 4K 43-inch LCD that's $650. In between, its top-of-the-line A9G OLED starts at $3,500 for a 55-incher. The really good news is that on more reasonably priced sets, you can still expect features like Netflix Calibrated mode, as well as support for Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit.

You can even use your phone to save a favorite drink.
Pepsi is making a SodaStream-like sparkling-water station

Now that Pepsi owns SodaStream, it's trying its hand at a make-your-own-drink station -- though it's not for the company's usual sugar-laden fare. It's unveiled a water-dispenser system that lets you create your own zero-calorie beverage, no more bottles, and fewer calories and health concerns.

Epic is teaming up with Marvel again following last year'sThanos 'Infinity War' event.'Avengers: Endgame' event is coming to 'Fortnite' this week

Epic Games is again linking up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the developer has teased a Fortnite and Avengers: Endgame crossover. Other than a start date of April 25th, we don't know much. Oh, but it might have something to do with Captain America's shield.

Yes, it is unavoidable. Fortnite, Avengers. Either or both.

Meet the Duo, Wedge, Bar, Bass and Audio.Bowers & Wilkins unveils wireless Formation speaker family

Bowers & Wilkins, best known for its luxurious range of speakers, is launching a new wireless audio system called Formation. The company is starting with a soundbar, two bookshelf-style speakers, a cheaper single speaker, a standalone subwoofer and an audio box that gives older devices streaming capabilities. The Formation line went on sale yesterday in the US, with the Wedge costing $899 while the Duo speakers and Bass subwoofer will set you back $3,999 and $999, respectively. The Bar, meanwhile, will go for $1,199, and the Audio box will be pitched at $699. If you've been keeping up, that's a combined price of $7,795.

But wait, there's more...

The Morning After is a new daily newsletter from Engadget designed to help you fight off FOMO. Who knows what you'll miss if you don't Subscribe.

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https://www.engadget.com/2019/04/23/the-morning-after-samsung-galaxy-fold-verdict/

2019-04-23 11:24:00Z
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Samsung to Recall All Galaxy Fold Units (Report) - Tom's Guide

After postponing the Samsung Galaxy Fold launch for an indefinite number of weeks due to various reviewers’ reports of breaking screens, the Korean company is reportedly recalling all samples of the device.Credit: Tom's GuideCredit: Tom's GuideThat said, the company hasn’t recalled our Fold yet, so we can’t confirm this report — yet.

According to Reuters, the Seoul-based electronics giant will investigate what has happened with these units. So far, the company has claimed that the issues could be the result of impact on exposed areas of the hinges.

MORE: 7 Most Surprising Things About the Samsung Galaxy Fold (Good and Bad)

In two of the reported cases, the problems came after the reviewer removed the top layer of the display thinking it was a simple screen protector. Another blogger claims that the bulge on his Fold may be related to a piece of debris that got caught between the hinge and the screen.

The reviewer fiasco has been a public relations disaster, the “worst possible start to the foldable phone revolution”. Although it is worth noting that only four bloggers have reported the breaking screens. Our review unit hasn’t experienced any screen problem whatsoever.

Samsung does need to address these embarrassing reports. A $1,980 phone has to be flawless for everyone. The company has offered a statement with not much substance and analysts are nervous that this may indicative of general troubles whenever the phone ships to the general public.

But still, despite this public relations debacle, foldable phones will rise. I maintain my prediction: the Fold will be a huge success — if Samsung can offer a convincing explanation for the problems and a clear fix. Meanwhile, Huawei is laughing at all this while they get ready for the June launch of their own foldable, the Mate X.

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https://www.tomsguide.com/us/galaxy-fold-recall,news-29918.html

2019-04-23 10:28:01Z
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Mortal Kombat 11 Review – Gore and Grind - Wccftech

GAME INFO

Mortal Kombat 11

April 23rd, 2019

Platform PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch

Publisher Warner Bros. Interactive

Developer NetherRealm Studios

Mortal Kombat X was a landmark release in the long-running skull-crushing series, selling more than any previous entry and proving NetherRealm’s fighters could stand toe-to-toe with Street Fighter, Tekken and other competitors in terms of depth and polish. NetherRealm then upped their game another notch with the almost shockingly-good DC Comics brawler Injustice 2. Ed Boon and company have gone from the silly blood ‘n’ guts guys to arguably the leading fighting game developers on the scene.

Given NetherRealm’s recent successes, Mortal Kombat 11 has a lot to live up to. Does the game continue their winning streak or is there nowhere to go but down after the achievements of Mortal Kombat X? Time to find out if Mortal Kombat 11 is a Flawless Victory or just a bloody mess…

A fighting game is nothing without good base mechanics and Mortal Kombat 11 is built on a rock-solid foundation. This is Mortal Kombat as you know it, which is to say, only four attack buttons (back punch/kick and front punch/kick) and forgiving, easy-to-remember special attack inputs. No thumb-blistering half-circle special moves here. That said, a few significant tweaks have been made.

Running has been axed, and lengthy, strung-together combos have been dialed back in favor of shorter attack chains and mixing up your specials. The Super Meter from earlier MK games has been split into separate shorter Offense and Defense meters, discouraging players from leaning too heavily in either direction. Your Offense Meter charges can be used to power up your specials, while your Defense Meter is depleted when you use specific defensive moves (combo-interrupting Breakers have got the boot this time around). It feels like NetherRealm wants players to use a wider array of special moves and techniques, rather than sticking to the same old reliable strategies. The result is a game that’s a touch slower than some previous entries in the series, but, ultimately, more varied. But not all the changes are entirely successful – the new Fatal Blows (essentially the MK version of Injustice 2’s Super Moves) are impressive, but they interrupt the flow of matches and eventually get tiresome once you’ve seen them 100 times.

Beyond the fundamentals, there’s a ton of complex stuff for hardcore competitive types to chew over. Combos, special strengths and weakness, situational strategies – it can be a lot to take in, but if you just want to throw fireballs and bicycle kicks with Liu Kang, you can do that too, as Mortal Kombat 11 has a wide range of difficulty options. The game also offers up an impressively deep tutorial that can get pretty much anybody started on their path to becoming a Mortal Kombat master. This is an admirably accessible bit of blood sport.

Once you get a handle on the basics, the first thing you’ll probably jump into is Story mode, which plunges into full-on time-travel craziness this time around. It turns out everything that’s happened thus far in the Mortal Kombat games has been secretly manipulated by an evil time lord named Kronika, but Raiden’s meddling has become too much for her to tolerate, so she’s decided to reboot time and erase the thunder god in one fell swoop. This, of course, leads to all sorts of shenanigans, as the current mostly-middle-aged MK cast come face-to-face with their younger counterparts and the Lin Kuei, Shaolin monks, and various NetherRealm factions vie for power.

None of the time-travel details make much sense if you think about them for more than a minute (this type of stuff never does), but if you can ignore that, this is a nice tribute to Mortal Kombat history. Some long-mistreated characters like Liu Kang get some redemption in what feels like a bit of a mea culpa by NetherRealm, and we even get a sort of sweet, sort of weird love triangle between Sonya Blade, Johnny Cage, and Johnny’s obnoxious younger self. This is a fun comic-book-style crossover tale (NetherRealm has learned a lot doing the Injustice games) and the writing is, dare I say it, kinda clever? Also, how weird is it that Mortal Kombat now has some of the most impressive cutscenes in all of gaming? This is a great-looking game, featuring some fantastic character models and facial animations. The game’s score and voice acting is also very good (a few clunky line readings from new Sonya Blade actress Ronda Rousey aside).

Once you gobble up Story mode, you’ll likely move on to character Kustomization, or at least that’s what NetherRealm would like you to do. Each of Mortal Kombat 11’s 24 fighters (25 if you get pre-order character Shao Kahn) can be tinkered with extensively, but I never felt particularly drawn to it. Unlike Injustice 2, where the gear you collected had both a function and unique appearance, MK11 splits things between purely cosmetic skins and functional gear. Skins are a full-body thing, meaning you can’t create your own looks, and while each fighter has 60 skins, many are just simple color variations. Meanwhile, each fighter only gets three gear slots (compared to five in Injustice) and, overall, the helmets, shields, weapons and other accoutrements just don’t feel that important. You can also tweak individual moves, animations, add augments to gear, and more, but for all the depth, I never felt like I was doing much.

Maybe I would have been more excited by Kustomization if the flow of new goodies was a little more generous, but, as it is, Mortal Kombat 11 is a slow grind. You can earn stuff by beating arcade-style Towers, but the easiest way to collect loot is to hit up The Krypt. This 3D version of Shang Tsung’s Island doesn’t have any enemies to fight, but it does feature the occasional puzzle and a whole lot of treasure chests that can be opened by spending in-game currency earned in other modes. NetherRealm has been doing The Krypt for a while, and I’ve always found it a rather odd concept, although I suppose it helps disguise the fact that the chests you’re opening are, essentially, loot boxes. Blind loot boxes that are flooded with useless junk like character icons and backgrounds for your Kombat Kard. I’ve poured over 20 hours into Mortal Kombat 11 and am still just scratching the surface when it comes to unlocks, with most of my fighters only having maybe five or six skins to choose from. You don’t have to pay real-world money to open any of the chests in The Krypt, but MK11 will have a store at launch that will let players buy cosmetics using “Time Crystals,” the game’s new premium currency. NetherRealm is already promising to fix Mortal Kombat 11’s grindiness, but I have the feeling any changes they make will be relatively minor.

But hey, as much as NetherRealm wants players to focus on Kustomization, you can still largely avoid the drudgery if you want. Between Story mode and the “Klassic Towers” you can play through to earn character endings, there’s a solid dozen-or-more hours of traditional single-player content here. Once you’re done with that, you can jump into online multiplayer, which is quite robust. If all you really care about is ripping spines, this game never has to be a grind.

This review was based on a PS4 copy of Mortal Kombat 11 provided by publisher Warner Bros. Interactive.

8.5

Mortal Kombat 11 is a first-class fighting game experience, featuring rock-solid core mechanics, impressive production values, and a story that wouldn’t be out of place alongside the summer’s biggest blockbusters. Of course, the game also suffers from some of the drawbacks of big-budget game development, including grindy customization and tacked-on microtransactions, but that stuff is largely superfluous. Beneath the triple-A fat, Mortal Kombat’s bloody heart still beats as strong as ever.

Pros

  • Tweaks the action in smart ways
  • Wonderfully kooky time-travel story
  • Top-of-the-line presentation
  • Robust online multiplayer
  • Accessible for all skill levels

Cons

  • Fatal Blows are all flash
  • Kustomization is uninspired
  • Getting new gear is a grind

The links above are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Wccftech.com may earn from qualifying purchases.

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https://wccftech.com/review/mortal-kombat-11-gore-grind/

2019-04-23 09:42:10Z
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Student Sues Apple for $1 Billion, Blames Face-Recognition Tech for False Arrest - Insurance Journal

Apple is being sued for $1 billion in damages by an 18-year-old college student who blames the company’s facial recognition software for his false arrest and for wrongly tying him to thefts at Apple stores in several states.

The plaintiff said the incidents adversely affected his education and reputation and caused him stress and hardship. His complaint accuses Apple of negligence, infliction of emotional distress, slander, libel and fraudulent concealment.

The complaint takes issue with Apple’s facial recognition software, Face ID, which replaced Touch ID that required a user’s fingerprint as a way to open an iPhone, open apps within the iPhone that are enabled with Face ID and make payments through Apple Pay.

“Until the present, any examination of Face ID has presupposed that the iPhone user is not being deceptive about his identity. However, when a name is mismatched to a particular face, the security benefits of the Face ID software become a criminal’s weapon,” says the complaint on behalf of Ousmane Bah.

According to the complaint, Apple accepted as identification an interim driver’s permit that Bah had lost and that had Bah’s name, address, date of birth, sex, height and eye color on it but not his or any photo.

Police later said they suspect that the person who committed the crimes that Apple blamed on Bah presented Bah’s interim permit as identification during one of his multiple offenses against Apple. Apple then matched that personal information with a photo of the real Bah. As a result, Apple’s security technology thereafter identified the perpetrator as Bah.

The complaint alleges that Apple relied so heavily on its facial recognition software that it “failed to consider the possibility of human error in its identification procedures, despite the fact that there was a clear discrepancy between the height described on the learner’s permit for Bah, and the suspect’s height.”

Once Apple tied Bah’s name with the wrong face, Bah had no way to correct the error and Apple failed to match the information provided by the stolen interim permit to the true suspect’s identity, according to the complaint.

Video surveillance, claimed as missing by Apple’s security firm, eventually played a role in clearing Bah of charges.

The suit also names a security company, Security Industry Specialists Inc., as a defendant.

What Happened

According to the complaint, in March 2018, Bah got his interim driver’s permit, which had his name, address, date of birth, sex, height, and eye color. It did not include a photo. The document specifies it is not to be used for identification purposes. Bah lost the interim permit but did not report the loss to police because he knew he would be receiving the actual permit shortly and because the non-photo interim permit indicated it was not to be used for identification.

Bah later received a summons arraignment from Boston municipal court alleging a larceny over $1,200.00 with an alleged date of offense listed as May 31, 2018. The crime took place at an Apple store in Boston’s Back Bay and involved the theft of multiple Apple pencils, which retail for $99.00 each. Bah had never been to Boston before the arraignment took place on June 27, 2018. He also says he was at his senior prom in Manhattan on the date of the alleged offense.

At his arraignment in Boston, a loss prevention associate employed by defendant Security Industry Specialists Inc. said he witnessed a suspect steal Apple pencils on a security video. He told police that he knew Bah because, he claimed, Bah was previously arrested for thefts from another Apple store. When Bah’s attorney asked to see the video, the security witness said it no longer existed.

After returning home to New York from Boston, Bah received notification at his parents’ home accusing him of several other charges. Among these were similar allegations of larceny from one of Apple’s New Jersey store locations. Apple also made new criminal allegations against Bah in Delaware and in New York City.

On November 29, 2018, New York City police arrested Bah at his home at four o’clock in the morning. The arrest warrant was obtained based on the Apple’s allegations pending against Bah for larceny from one of its Manhattan stores. The police warrant included a photo of a suspect that did not resemble Bah, but police nevertheless executed it.

However, police later realized that Bah was not the suspect of the crimes and that he was wrongfully arrested. A detective had viewed surveillance video from the Manhattan store and concluded that the suspect “looked nothing like” Bah.

At that point, the detective explained that Apple’s security technology identifies suspects of theft using facial recognition technology and that he suspected that the person who had committed the crimes must have presented Bah’s interim permit as identification during one of his multiple offenses against Apple which took place over many months and in multiple states.

Based on the information provided by New York police, Bah’s attorney was able to explain the situation to the district attorney in Boston. The DA obtained the surveillance footage of the crime originally giving rise to the charges made against Bah in Boston, the same footage that the loss prevention firm previously said did not exist. The Boston DA dismissed the case against Bah after viewing the surveillance footage and concluding that he had not committed the crimes.

Currently, there is still a case in New Jersey pending against Bah, but all other charges have been dismissed.

The complaint alleges that the identification of Bah and subsequent charges filed against him, as well as the traumatic arrest which took place at his home, were “completely preventable” by Apple. “All of these events were caused by Defendant’s negligent acceptance of an interim permit, which did not contain a photo, did not properly describe the suspect presenting it, and clearly stated that it could not be used for identification purposes, as a valid form of identification,” the complaint says.

Additionally, the plaintiff claims that Apple could have taken action to correct its error after it became aware that its facial recognition technology had repeatedly wrongfully implicated Bah.

The negligence charge accuses Apple of breaching its duty to “carefully and accurately identify perpetrators of crime so as to avoid false accusations against innocent individuals.”

The security firm and Apple should have realized that the height listed on the interim permit did not match the height of the suspect, that the interim permit was not intended for identification purpose, and there was at least some likelihood that the permit did not belong to the suspect because the document did not include a photo, according to the complaint.

The case is Bah v. Apple Inc., 19-cv-03539, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

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https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2019/04/23/524414.htm

2019-04-23 05:00:57Z
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Senin, 22 April 2019

Nintendo's Game Boy turns 30 - Fox Business

Nintendo's Game Boy turns 30

Gamer World News Entertainment host Tian Wang on the new version of the Mortal Kombat video game and the 30th anniversary of the Game Boy.

Thirty years ago, Japanese company Nintendo released the Game Boy - a handheld device that would pave the way for the current $63.2 billion gaming industry.

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Gamer World News Entertainment host Tian Wang told FOX Business' Stuart Varney that the Game Boy was "significant in so many different ways," opening up the world to handheld gaming and becoming a major revenue stream for the video gaming company.

“The Game Boy was also incredible because the original 8-bit versions sold about 119 million copies,” Wang explained on Monday. “That makes it the third best-selling console of all time - next to PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo DS. And it ended up becoming a cultural icon.”

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Nintendo improved upon the Game Boy's design with the Game Boy Color in 1998, the Game Boy Advance in 2001 and the Game Boy Advance SP in 2003. In 2004, Nintendo dropped the words “Game Boy” from its line of handheld devices for its double-screen model, the Nintendo DS.

Wang joked that part of the original Game Boy's appeal stems from “Tetris,” the famous puzzle game designed in the Soviet Union.

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“It had an incredible game that was packaged with it - Tetris, which was arguably the greatest cyber-weapon that Russia has ever deployed against the world," he said. “Costs millions of lost productivity hours that continue to this day, and it helped make the Game Boy incredibly popular because it made developers want to make more games for it.”

Nintendo’s Game Boy was released on April 21, 1989.

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https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/nintendos-game-boy-turns-30

2019-04-22 18:12:21Z
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Galaxy Fold: Samsung reportedly postpones its foldable phone launch - CNET

More bad news befell Samsung's beleaguered Galaxy Fold on Monday after several incidents with screens last week left early-production review units unusable. Samsung will delay Friday's scheduled launch of the foldable phone until at least sometime in May, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal. 

That report follows a tweet from Engadget's Richard Lai on Sunday about the postponement of launch-related events in Hong Kong and Shanghai scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. 

The incidents with the Fold's plastic screen have caused a kerfuffle among tech lovers, casting doubt on the durability of Samsung's $2,000 foldable phone and on the concept of bendable devices in general.

CNET's Galaxy Fold review unit has remained intact, and we've been in contact with Samsung about the reported screen issues. Samsung didn't respond to a request for comment about the apparent delay in launching the phone globally.

Frequent mobile tipster Ice Universe corroborated on Sunday the postponement of "two events" -- presumably the launch events -- and suggested that shipments of the phone itself could be pushed back. SamMobile reported Sunday that Samsung was attributing the Shanghai event delay to problems with the venue,  citing "someone claiming to be familiar with the matter."  

Last week, a Samsung spokesperson said that the April 26 launch date for the US was still on track, according to a tweet from The Wall Street Journal. Samsung had the option of revising the launch date or bolstering the message on its packaging that informs new Galaxy Fold owners not to remove the plastic film protecting the polymer screen.

Samsung's Galaxy Fold woes began Wednesday, two days after it distributed a small number of review devices to reviewers, including CNET. 

Reviewers discovered that peeling the plastic film off the Galaxy Fold's 7.3-inch interior screen, which is made of a thin sheet of bendable plastic rather than glass, instantly made the phone unusable. Another discovered that the left half of the Galaxy Fold strongly flickered, and another noticed a bulge under the screen that caused noticeable distortion in the screen's image, possibly from debris that worked its way under the display.

Now playing: Watch this: Samsung Galaxy Fold problems explained

3:56

Foldable phones are a brand-new concept rocking the phone world. The design is supposed to give people double the screen space on a device that's small enough to carry around, unlike today's pocket-busting devices. But the enormous expense -- the Galaxy Fold starts at $1,980 -- and concerns over the durability of a bendable screen and hinge could threaten the ability of foldable phones to get off the ground. Huawei has also announced a foldable device, the Mate X, and Motorola is rumored to have a foldable Razr in the works.

The incidents with the Galaxy Fold are also putting Samsung under intense scrutiny as consumers and industry pundits draw parallels with Samsung's double recall of 2016's Galaxy Note 7, after numerous reports that its battery overheated and sometimes caught fire. Screen issues tied to the Galaxy Fold have "broken" the phones, but have not been reported to cause a fire or any other damage to people and property.

galaxy-galaxy-fold-82

Multitasking on a larger screen is one benefit of a foldable phone like the Galaxy Fold.

 Angela Lang/CNET

Samsung said last week in a statement that it's investigating the review units in person to determine the cause of the screen issues: "A limited number of early Galaxy Fold samples were provided to media for review. We have received a few reports regarding the main display on the samples provided. We will thoroughly inspect these units in person to determine the cause of the matter."

The company also told CNET in a statement last week: "We are taking all necessary measures to ensure that information about protective layer is clearly delivered to our customers. Materials in the Galaxy Fold box, including the quick start guide, will include information about the protective layer. Samsung.com will have a dedicated Galaxy Fold FAQ for consumers to learn more about caring for the Galaxy Fold, including information about the protective layer. Retail representatives and customer care are trained with information about the top protective layer."

CNET is keeping an eye on developments with the Galaxy Fold. While we're continuing to review the early production device, we will not assign a rating until after we test the final production phone we ordered. See how it's going with our Galaxy Fold so far.

Originally published April 12.
Update, April 22 at 7:52 a.m.: Adds the WSJ report about the launch delay.

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https://www.cnet.com/news/samsung-said-to-delay-two-galaxy-fold-launch-events-will-the-foldable-phone-ship-on-time/

2019-04-22 14:53:00Z
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Samsung’s Galaxy Fold Smartphone Release Delayed - The Wall Street Journal

An attendee holds a Samsung Electronics Co. Galaxy Fold mobile device during an unveiling event in New York on April 15. Photo: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg News
By

SEOUL— Samsung Electronics Co. is delaying the expected Friday rollout of its Galaxy Fold smartphone until at least next month, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest fallout from a product headache that began with tech reviewers reporting their test devices had malfunctioned.

The Galaxy Fold phone—priced at nearly $2,000 and the industry’s first mainstream foldable-screen device—was slated to hit shelves this week in the U.S. But problems with phones being used by reviewers have changed those plans, the people said.

The new rollout is expected in the coming weeks, though a firm date has yet to be determined, they said.

Though the company’s internal investigation remains ongoing, the Galaxy Fold phone’s reported issues stem from problems affecting the handset’s hinge and extra pressure applied to the internal screen, the people said.

A Samsung spokeswoman didn’t have immediate comment. The company had previously said it would adhere to its plans for the Galaxy Fold phones to hit shelves on April 26 in the U.S.

Multiple tech reviewers publicized their problems last week, encountering issues after using the handset for just a day or two.

Some reviewers had unknowingly ripped off part of the phone’s display, believing it to be a protective cover. Others had problems with hinges or flickering screens. Multiple outlets also reported they didn’t have any issues with their Galaxy Fold handsets.

For the unintentional screen removal, Samsung has said it would give consumers clear warning to not remove the display’s top layer.

Samsung, the world’s largest phone maker, has pinned high hopes on the Galaxy Fold handset, which folds in half like a book. It boasts a tablet-sized screen measuring 7.3 inches diagonally. When closed, it sports a second, smaller outer display that can perform most tasks.

WSJ's Joanna Stern had big plans to review Samsung's first foldable phone. Then other Samsung phone screens started breaking and she accidentally began to peel off the screen protector that's not really a screen protector. Here's her non-review.

The delayed launch came hours after the South Korean technology giant abruptly scrapped prerelease media events planned for Hong Kong on Tuesday and Shanghai on Wednesday, a company spokeswoman said earlier on Monday, adding the journalist briefings would be rescheduled at a later date.

The South Korean technology giant didn’t specify why the two media briefings had been aborted.

“We are conducting a thorough inspection into the issues reported by some of the reviewers of early Galaxy Fold samples,” said a Samsung spokeswoman, in earlier comments. “We will share the findings as soon as we have them.”

The smartphone industry is closely watching the release of Samsung’s Galaxy Fold phone, the first mainstream foldable-screen handset. It drastically updates the smartphone’s look, changing the rectangular design that the ubiquitous product has been stuck with for more than a decade.

Samsung executives view its foldable-screen phone as a way to distinguish the company as a product innovator versus key competitors—especially against China’s Huawei Technologies Co., which is building a rival product.

The Huawei device, called the Mate X, is expected to be released this fall, meaning Samsung, even with the delayed Galaxy Fold rollout, still has several months of lead time. Huawei’s foldable-screen phone, though, features a bigger screen than the Galaxy Fold’s and will command a price tag of about $2,600, more than 30% higher than Samsung’s.

The Suwon, South Korea-based company needs a sales lift after reporting an 8% decline in smartphone shipments in 2018, a bigger drop than the industry’s 5% slide, according to Strategy Analytics, a market researcher.

Though the broken Galaxy Folds don’t pose a safety risk, the product-performance hiccup was a reminder of the 2016 global recall of Galaxy Note 7 handsets due to overheating batteries. The incident tarnished Samsung’s brand and cost it billions of dollars.

Write to Timothy W. Martin at timothy.martin@wsj.com

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https://www.wsj.com/articles/samsungs-galaxy-fold-smartphone-release-delayed-11555941705

2019-04-22 14:20:00Z
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