Samsung keeps the surprises coming with foldable phone
Almost every feature and specification was known in advance when Samsung launched its new S10 smartphone range in San Francisco this week.
Not only were there no surprises in the phones, but the level of innovation they revealed implied that the industry had run out of surprises.
This is despite the fact that the Galaxy S10+, the flagship of the range, does set new standards for handsets. It is the first phone in the world that offers one terabyte of storage — that is 1,000 gigabytes. With expandable storage, that can be pushed to 1.5TB.
It is also the first with a video technology called HDR10+, which uses artificial intelligence to analyse every frame of a video, and optimise its colours based on what it perceives as the content of that frame. Previously, this technology was only available in high-end TV sets from Panasonic and Samsung.
Yet all of this is seen as more of the same, even if better than the “same”.
The surprise lay elsewhere. It had been expected that Samsung would announce a foldable phone, but it was also expected that this would be a future device, announced now but to be unveiled at a later event.
Instead, Samsung lifted the curtain on the Galaxy Fold, the first foldable phone from a major manufacturer. The device was available for trying out at launch, both in
San Francisco and at events around the world where the main launch was streamed via live video feeds.
In Johannesburg, about a dozen Fold units were available for trying out. Both the announcement of the Fold and the opportunity to try it out then and there had audiences of hardened journalists cheering.
Their celebration was for a compact smartphone with a relatively small 4.6” screen on the front, but which folds open to reveal a 7.3” screen inside. The fold is invisible, and the phone becomes a mini tablet.
It uses software technology called “app continuity”, which allows an app to be opened on the front and, in mid-use, continue in use on the inside, on a far larger screen. In effect, the Fold hides a digital working surface that is also an entertainment and communications device that can be slipped into a pocket.
The inside screen can also be split into three working areas, each displaying a different app, such as viewing a video while chatting with someone on WhatsApp and keeping a Word document open for reference. In single-segment mode, the screen is large enough for a comfortable Netflix viewing experience for one person.
The surprises kept coming, as Samsung revealed that the Fold would be the first handset with two batteries, one in each half of the unit, with the energy from both combined into one power source.
Cost was the only unpleasant surprise: a mere $1,980 when it goes on sale on April 26. In SA, multiply that by at least 20 for the rand price. However, the price is a red herring. The real purpose of the phone is Samsung’s strategy for retaining technology leadership, after losing the limelight to Huawei in the past year.
Surprise, then, has become the real currency of the smartphone world.
Goldstuck is founder of World Wide Worx and editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram on @art2gee
Open the Galaxy Fold and it becomes a mini tablet that fits in your pocket