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Samsung still doesn't know when the Galaxy Fold will launch
Remember how Samsung said it would narrow down its plans to relaunch the Galaxy Fold sometime in mid-May? Well, it's been a month -- and now those rumors of an extended delay appear to be coming true. A spokesperson has reiterated to CNET that a new release date is still due sometime in "the coming weeks," suggesting that you might not get a new release date until July or later. Given that the phone was originally supposed to be in customer's hands in late April, would-be buyers might just face a delay of three months or more.
Galaxy Fold delay will reportedly extend through June
It has been more than a month since Samsung announced a delay in launching its Galaxy Fold, and we still don't have a new release date. A few weeks ago, exec DJ Koh said "we will not be too late" and representatives indicated a date would be announced in the coming weeks but there has been no official update since then. Now Korean media outlets like Yonhap and The Korea Herald report, based on anonymous industry sources, that the flexible device won't launch next month either. While company officials maintained that a new launch date will be announced in a few weeks, Yonhap has heard that stabilizing the hardware quality in its units is taking longer than expected. It also apparently has to recertify the device for use with mobile networks, which may give more people in the industry a look at the process. Another official quoted mentioned that Huawei's US problems and their impact on its foldable Mate X could give Samsung more time to work out any issues. The FCC deadline for Samsung to either cancel preorders for the nearly $2,000 device or obtain consent for the delay is Friday, and it doesn't seem like we'll see anything official before then. All the reports indicate that Samsung still plans to release the Fold, it just might be a little later in the year than they were hoping.
How do you build a foldable screen?
In our show Upscaled we try and dig into the science and engineering behind our favorite bits of tech. In this episode, we're taking a close look at foldable OLEDs. Despite Samsung's Galaxy Fold being delayed, the Huawei Mate X is expected within the next few months, and Xiaomi and Lenovo have both showed off foldable prototypes.
Lenovo shows off foldable Razr with a fan render (updated)
It's no secret that Motorola is working on a foldable phone. According to Sina Tech, Lenovo shared a video with media today that shows the new, RAZR-like phone in action -- Engadget has since learned the video was an edited fan render Lenovo was using for a press demo. The video offers a glimpse of the device folding in half and opening flat.
Here's how Samsung may fix the Galaxy Fold's design flaws
When Samsung said it was delaying the release of the Galaxy Fold to fix its design issues, it didn't really say how it would address the flaws. You might have a clearer idea after today, though. Yonhap News claims Samsung will tuck the protective display layer into the body, preventing users from peeling it off under the mistaken belief that it's an everyday screen protector. It will also block the gaps at the top and bottom of the hinge to prevent debris from wrecking the foldable display, according to the South Korean news outlet.
Lenovo is working on a ThinkPad with a foldable display
Sure, foldable phones are intriguing, but have you considered foldable laptops? Lenovo has clearly been thinking about the concept for awhile, and today, it's ready to unveil an early preview of its latest experimental efforts. At its Accelerate conference in Florida, the company showed off the world's first foldable PC prototype, and we got to check it out at a recent briefing in New York.
Samsung promises more Galaxy Fold launch details by tomorrow
Samsung will decide about a new US launch date for the Galaxy Fold by tomorrow, according to a report from the Korea Herald. In response, a company spokesperson in the UK told Engadget in a statement that it's still planning to announce the date "in the coming weeks." CEO Dong-jin Koh told the Herald that it "has reviewed the defect caused from substances [entering the device] and we will reach a conclusion [about the launch] today or tomorrow." When the Herald asked whether the phone would launch this month, Koh replied that "we will not be too late." If the company can't launch the device by May 31st, it could be forced to refund US pre-orders for the $1,980 device.
Yes, Google is working on foldable phone prototypes too
In interviews leading up to this week's Google I/O event, the head of Google's Pixel division faced questions about foldable devices. Talking to CNET, Mario Quieroz acknowledged "We're definitely prototyping the technology. We've been doing it for a long time." Google's announcement last fall that Android would natively support foldable phones should've shown that it's at least considering the technology, however the question of when, or if, it should offer a product is hard to answer. Talking to Business Insider, the exec said that the technology will be important, but Google doesn't have anything to announce right now. For Samsung, jumping out of the gate with its Galaxy Fold has a number of potential benefits, since if the segment becomes popular it can license the underlying hardware technology to others. For Google, it makes more sense to wait and see if anyone can actually build a working device before investing heavily in something it's not sure people will want at the current price. That's why it's unveiling the midrange Pixel 3a this week instead of a $2,000 device that might not last an entire week.
Galaxy Fold review: A lot of money for a prototype
Click. Smack. Click. Smack. Click. Smack. I feel bad for the people in my life, because everywhere I've been for the past week, the sounds of opening and closing Samsung's Galaxy Fold have followed. Even if you're not prone to fidgeting, this $1,980 smartphone will do that to you. It might not be the first commercially available foldable device, but it is the first one from a company with the global influence to make foldable phones a reality for everyone. And it's a lot of fun to open and close endlessly. Click. Smack. Click. Smack. The Galaxy Fold is far more than just a party trick though: It contains multitudes. The Fold represents a new way of thinking about what modern phones should be able to do. It's an impressive technical achievement. Perhaps more than anything, though, it's a fragile, uneven first step down a path toward a new kind of personal computing. That's a mild way of saying that the Fold is profoundly cool but that almost no one should actually consider buying one. If you do, you're basically agreeing to be Samsung's guinea pig as it tries to figure out how to make this new kind of device truly valuable. At this point, the Galaxy Fold is a glorified bit of beta hardware. But even with all of its compromises, it offers a glimpse of a future that -- for me, anyway -- can't come soon enough.
Samsung has postponed Galaxy Fold launch events in China
The $2,000 Galaxy Fold is already off to a bumpy start no thanks to some broken review units (ours is fine, by the way), and though the April 26th launch in the US remains unaffected, folks on the other side of the world aren't as lucky. Over the weekend, Samsung announced that it has postponed the press events in Hong Kong and Shanghai, which were originally scheduled for April 23rd and 24th i.e. this coming Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
Samsung speaks up about broken Galaxy Fold review units
Even after extensive durability testing, reports surfaced yesterday that several Galaxy Fold reviewers had already suffered from broken devices. It appears they're experiencing more than one type of issue, mostly tied to the device's innovative folding display technology, and in a statement released tonight Samsung said it "will thoroughly inspect these units in person to determine the cause of the matter." According to Wall Street Journal reporter Joanna Stern, the Fold's planned April 26th launch is still on with no hint of a delay.
Samsung Galaxy Fold hands-on: Satisfying despite the crease
Samsung is gearing up to launch its long-teased foldable flagship and after months of hype, we're finally getting a chance to actually touch the Galaxy Fold. If you're interested in dropping the cool two grand that Samsung is asking for the Fold come April 26th, you're probably wondering what it looks like and whether it's worth the money. Well, at first glance, I can tell you that it definitely has a crease and seems quite sturdy.
Leaked Galaxy Fold pops up in a video with a significant seam
Samsung's first foldable Galaxy phone is still more than a month away from launch, but as tends to happen, it looks like someone has gotten their hands on one early. It's unclear if the one appearing in a phone unlocker's YouTube video is a retail version or an early prototype, but SamMobile notes it appears to originate from Vietnam, which is home to one of the company's manufacturing hubs. The video is a much clearer hands-on than anything we saw that the Galaxy Fold's unveiling event (it stayed in glass cases and in the hands of demonstrators), but what jumps out the most is a visible crease on the unfolded screen.
Samsung's Galaxy Fold could lead to two more folding phones soon
If you, for some unknown reason, thought Samsung's flexible device rollout would stop with the Galaxy Fold then we have bad news. Bloomberg cites unnamed sources saying that the company is already working on a pair of follow-up smartphones, with one shaped like a clamshell (folding vertically so that the top meets the bottom) and another that folds away just like Huawei's impressive Mate X. The rumors suggest that the vertically folding device could appear late this year or early next year, while the one that folds out is due after that.
Corning is working on truly foldable Gorilla Glass
Foldable phones arrived in a big way over the last month, but there's a fundamental problem that they haven't quite figured out. The buzzworthy phones introduced at Samsung's Unpacked and MWC aren't truly foldable; they're bendable. The good news is Corning, the company behind Gorilla Glass, is hurrying to come up with a solution.
Our favorite smartphones from Mobile World Congress 2019
The last week has been a whirlwind of jamón-flavored chips, 5G talk and things that fold, so naturally, we're still reeling a bit. As we begin pulling ourselves out of this trade show-induced stupor, though, we've taken stock of everything we've seen in Barcelona and compiled this list of our favorite smartphones from the show floor. Not everything that made the cut will be a massive success, or go on sale around the world -- still, because of the ambition and ingenuity that went into each of these devices, each is worth celebrating in its own way.
Motorola confirms its foldable phone is coming
By now, it's not much of a secret that Motorola is working on a folding phone of its own: A patent for such a device surfaced late last year, and a subsequent report in The Wall Street Journal basically confirmed the company's plans. Despite the ensuing hype, Motorola has mostly kept quiet about its progress, but in an interview with Engadget this week, Motorola VP of Global Product Dan Dery shed some additional light on the company's ambitions.
The LG V50's Dual Screen is a half-step towards a foldable phone
Despite foldable phones being all the rage at MWC, one of the bigger companies at the show didn't have one. LG has been clear that it won't introduce a foldable phone anytime soon, choosing instead to focus on its 5G flagship, the V50 ThinQ. And it's for good reason. As the company's head of mobile Brian Kwon told The Korea Times earlier this month, LG's more pressing concern "is to regain its market position. Considering this situation, it is too early for LG to launch a foldable smartphone." So instead of trotting out a foldable model for the hordes in Barcelona to swoon over, it showed off a second-display case for the V50 ThinQ. Or as LG calls it, the Dual Screen.
A closer look at the foldable Huawei Mate X
The battle for foldable supremacy is raging on, and Huawei has a strong contender in the Mate X. But just like with Samsung's Galaxy Fold, we haven't been able to actually touch Huawei's bendy handset. Still, we were able to get a closer look at the fascinating flagship today at MWC, as well as get some answers to questions that we've had since first checking out the device. First up -- Huawei told Engadget the Mate X will launch in June.
Oppo's prototype foldable phone looks a lot like the Huawei Mate X
Nope, we're not quite done with foldable phones from MWC just yet. Following its 10x camera zoom technology unveil over the weekend, today Oppo surprised us with its very own foldable phone, but in a not-so-official way. The company's vice president, Brian Shen, took to Weibo to show off said device which, much like the ones from Royole and Huawei, folds outwards. What's awkward is that Oppo's prototype bears a striking resemblance to Huawei's Mate X, especially with this hinge design and also that camera strip on the back when folded.
