Surprise, they’re getting bigger and better.
Can anyone figure out the foldable? Samsung hopes the third time’s the charm. Alongside its new Note 20 series, the company revealed the Galaxy Z Fold 2, with more screen on both the folding surface and the secondary outer display. The latter was a weak point on the original Galaxy Fold, a tiny mediocre screen that was hard to use.
The Fold 2 also appears thinner than the original, partly thanks to shorter fiber brushes between the hinge parts, meant to clean out trapped dust and particles. The company has also reengineered the display layers for improved durability — a question that still lingers around foldables.
As the line between the flagship Galaxy S and Galaxy Note series blurs — they’re all big phones now — foldables could be the new Note. Maybe.
For now, Samsung’s third folding phone still doesn’t appear to be reinventing what smartphones can offer.
What you need to know about the new Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra
Samsung has officially revealed the Galaxy Note 20 ($999) and Note 20 Ultra ($1,299), and the more expensive model comes with some major differences. The Note 20 Ultra has a 6.9-inch screen, though it has a narrower, taller build, making it easier to handle than you might think.
The Note 20 is a little smaller at 6.7 inches, but that still makes for a pretty big phone. It also has a lower resolution and the typical 60Hz refresh rate. Meanwhile, the Note 20 Ultra gets an ultra-smooth 120Hz screen. Camera specs, similarly, separate the two, making the Note 20 a harder device to recommend, at least going on spec sheets. Take a look for yourself.
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Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Live offer ‘open’ ANC and hands-free access to Bixby
They’re weird looking, but Samsung’s next-generation wireless buds are here. Their curved bean shape is apparently meant to mimic the crevices of your ear, and they sit flat on the outside of your ear canal without a tip that goes inside. Instead, a pair of speakers on the underside of the Buds Live beam sound in on each side. This allows for “open” active noise cancellation (ANC) tech. Rather than piping outside noise in with an ambient sound mode, the Buds Live has vents that let you hear what’s going on around you. The ANC focuses on low-frequency noise.
Disney has no idea what it’s doing with ‘Mulan’
Is Disney’s direct-to-streaming release of Mulan a calculated shot to kill movie theaters, a dastardly plot to eliminate movie ownership in favor of leases that keep customers hooked on Disney+ or something else? Devindra Hardawar explains the factors that make this look more like a salvage operation than strategic attack, and why fumbling the rollout could upset “premium VOD” possibilities in the future.
Zoom adds silly filters and more noise suppression options
Zoom’s upgraded its video conferencing app with a bunch of social media-inspired filters and overlays, as well as settings sliders to improve the brightness and fidelity of your video stream. (So they can better see your janky pirate eye-patch?)
Looking at the more buttoned-down features, background noise suppression will soon have four options — auto, low, medium and high — so you can fine tune your audio levels on calls.
