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LG's new bending 'glass' might make your next folding phone a lot more durable
LG doesn't make folding phones, but it might make folding phones stronger
LG may have made an ignoble exit from the smartphone market earlier this year, but as a gigantic international megacorp, it still has its hand in. LG Chem, the branch of the company that developers new materials and energy systems, has something that might turn the eye of their in-country rivals at Samsung: a new material that can bend like plastic while being hard as glass.
Samsung seems to have just given up on keeping its new folding phones secret at this point
Well the leaks start coming and they don't stop coming
With less than 48 hours to go until Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event, you'd be forgiven for thinking we're all out of potential leaks flaunting the company's upcoming folding phones. Of course, you'd also be wrong. Following up on its own internal video tease a few weeks ago, Samsung accidentally published an ad on YouTube showing off both the Galaxy Z Flip3 and Z Fold3, in case you need further evidence of what's on the way later this week.
Microsoft's follow-up to the Surface Duo seems to forget the one thing we actually liked about the first
What good is a thin chassis when the camera bump is so massive?
Microsoft's first-generation Surface Duo is — to be blunt — not a particularly good phone. It also, presumably, hasn't sold well in its first year on the market, dropping as low as $1,000 off its initial MSRP just a few weeks ago. And despite a promised Android 11 update that is still MIA, it seems as though Microsoft isn't ready to throw in the towel on its foldable phone series just yet.
A new FCC filing confirms the Galaxy Fold3 will support Samsung's S Pen Pro
The next-gen foldable continues to leak
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We have been eagerly awaiting Samsung's next generation of folding phones for a while now, but it looks like we might finally be finally coming up on an announcement. After two recent FCC filings revealed the existence of the Z Flip3 and Z Fold3 closing in on a launch, a third report gives us some new insight on the latter's stylus support.
Will you be one of the lucky three to grab the Galaxy Z Fold2 at its lowest price yet?
It's nearly half off MSRP, but you better move it
Samsung's foldable phones are the best ones on the market right now, but boy, are they ever pricey. The Galaxy Z Fold2, for example, launched at an astronomical $2,000. But right now, you can get one from Microsoft for a whopping $800 off — "just" $1,200. But you'd better hurry.
Is $550 cheap enough for you to finally pick up Microsoft's Surface Duo?
Give it a chance, what do you have to lose?
Microsoft's Surface Duo failed to ignite sales charts when it launched last fall, and it wasn't much of a splash with critics either. Since then, we've seen the Duo's price drop time and time again. But we get it. Some of you are holding out just to see how far it can fall before picking up one of the most unique handhelds on the market today. Your patience continues to pay off — Woot has the Duo on sale today for $550.
As folding phones gained momentum last year, Microsoft released its own take. The Duo is not a good phone for a number of reasons: it's big and awkward, it's got an unusual form factor that's not particularly well supported, and its camera is bad. But it sure is unique, and today, you can grab one for 0 on Woot — the lowest price for it we've seen so far.
Android Studio Emulator updated with enhanced support for foldables
There are also new performance enhancements
Android Studio is the main SDK for developing Android applications and games, and it has a built-in device emulator for testing projects across a wide range of hardware setups. Google just released a massive update for the Android Emulator with improved support for foldable devices, performance enhancements, and a few bug fixes.
Huawei unveils updated Mate Xs foldable with an eye-watering €2,499 price tag
Incremental upgrades and no Google apps make this a hard sell
At a live-streamed event today that was supposed to take place as part of MWC in Barcelona, Huawei unveiled the latest iteration of its folding Mate Xs smartphone. It’s mostly unchanged compared with its predecessor in terms of design, although the hinge has apparently been shored up and it now features the company’s latest mobile chip, the Kirin 990 5G.
Following all the previous rumors renders and confirmed specs for the Galaxy Z Flip have just been published, courtesy of @rquandt and WinFuture. This gives us the clearest glimpse of the upcoming folding phone that we've seen yet, showing off the phone's front design, hinge, tiny clamshell-mounted display, and side-mounted fingerprint sensor in surprising detail, and illuminating its interior with a full spec sheet.
If you've been impatiently waiting for OnePlus to release a folding phone, we finally know why the OEM hasn't taken the plunge yet. At CES last week, Nilay Patel and Dieter Bohn from The Verge chatted with OnePlus CEO Pete Lau (and his interpreter, Eric Gass) about the company's Concept One phone, 5G technology, and when consumers should expect a OnePlus foldable device to hit the market (spoiler: not anytime soon).
There has been much hype surrounding folding phones, and while the Samsung Galaxy Fold was almost launched, canceled at last minute, and then relaunched, the Huawei Mate X has been taking its sweet time. This is bound to change, as the company has confirmed that it's launching its own take on foldables in China this month, while a video showing off the device and its retail box has been making its rounds on Twitter.
As part of today's Android Q Beta Program announcement, Google revealed a handful of changes made to the platform to better help developers build software support for folding form-factors. In addition, the Android Emulator will soon be updated to support switching between display types (i.e., folding and unfolding). Surely developers will get right on that.
There were a lot of individual phone announcements at MWC this year, but by far the most popular concept at the event was The Folding Phone. Almost every OEM has either revealed or is working on its own entry into the new form factor. All that's left for success is consumer interest, and hence this week's poll.