Category Archives: Samsung

Chameleon cars, urine scanners and other standouts from CES 2023

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AI-ovens, dual-display or 3D screen laptops and satellite SOS texting shine at Las Vegas tech show

From colour-changing cars, dual-screen laptops and satellite emergency texts to AI-ovens and a urine-scanning smart toilet upgrade, the annual CES tech show in Las Vegas had more concepts of the future on show than ever before.

The biggest consumer gadget show of the year was still quieter than pre-pandemic levels, with the global economic slowdown biting big tech along with everything else.

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What your smart TV knows about you – and how to stop it harvesting data

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Modern TVs gather data that can be monetised. How much of this surveillance can you avoid without turning your smart TV dumb?

Watching TV feels like a benign pastime, but as all TVs become “smart” – connected to the internet via your router – they are gaining the ability to watch you too. As soon as you switch them on, smart TVs made by the likes of LG, Samsung and Sony are gathering data from the TV itself, as well as from the operating system and apps. Then there are the devices you plug into your TV, such as Google’s Chromecast, Apple TV and Amazon’s Fire Stick.

A TV is no longer just a device for showing you content – it has become a two-way mirror allowing you to be observed in real time by a network of advertisers and data brokers, says Rowenna Fielding, director of data protection consultancy Miss IG Geek. “The purpose of this is to gather as much information as possible about your behaviour, interests, preferences and demographics so it can be monetised, mainly through targeted advertising.”

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The 20 best gadgets of 2021

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From smartphones to folding skis, the year’s top gizmos selected by tech experts from the Guardian, iNews, TechRadar and Wired

Cutting-edge tech is often super-expensive, difficult to use and less than slick. Not so for Samsung’s latest folding screen phones. The Z Fold 3 tablet-phone hybrid and Z Flip 3 flip-phone reinventions are smooth, slick and even water-resistant, packing big screens in compact bodies. The Fold might be super-expensive still, but the Flip 3 costs about the same as a regular top smartphone, but is far, far more interesting. Samuel Gibbs

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Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 review: the new Google smartwatch

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Wear OS 3 watch ups ante for Android wearables, now faster and feature-packed with body-fat scanner

The Galaxy Watch 4 is Samsung and Google’s attempt to combine efforts and compete with Apple’s smartwatch – and it gets about 80% of the way there.

The Android smartwatch comes in two designs and four sizes, starting at £249 ($250) for the Watch 4 and £349 ($350) – as tested – for the Watch 4 Classic. They succeed the £269 Watch Active 2 and £399 Watch 3 respectively.

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Disgraced Samsung boss released early from South Korean prison

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Billionaire vice-chair was serving 30-month sentence for bribing country’s former president

The billionaire boss of South Korea’s Samsung empire hs been released from prison after serving 18 months of a 30-month sentence for bribing the former president of South Korea Park Geun-hye.

Lee Jae-yong, Samsung’s vice-chair and de facto leader, apologised to the country for his actions upon his release from Seoul detention centre. “I’ve caused much concern for the people. I deeply apologise,” Lee, 53, told reporters on Friday. “I am listening to the concerns, criticisms, worries and high expectations for me. I will work hard.”

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Samsung launches first water-resistant folding phone and Google watch

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New flip phones and phone-tablet hybrids, plus updated earbuds and first Google Wear OS 3 smartwatch

Samsung is taking a big step towards making folding-screen smartphones mainstream with the launch of a pair of the first water-resistant models as part of its big tech event for the second half of 2021.

The new and improved Galaxy Z Flip3 folding-screen flip-phone and Z Fold3 folding phone-tablet hybrid were announced on Wednesday during a livestreamed event, alongside a Google watch co-developed in an attempt to take on the dominant Apple Watch – the Galaxy Watch4.

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Samsung boss to be freed from jail after bribery sentence

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Billionaire Lee Jae-yong will be released in South Korea on Friday having served 18 months in prison

The billionaire boss of South Korea’s Samsung empire will be freed from jail on Friday after serving part of a 30-month sentence for bribing former South Korea president Park Geun-hye.

Lee Jae-yong, Samsung’s vice-chairman and de facto leader, will be released on 13 August, the country’s justice minister announced in a live TV briefing.

Lee was caught up in a huge corruption scandal that brought down the government Park in 2016. Park was sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined 18bn won (£12m).

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Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra review: the new king of Android phones

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Great screen, performance and battery plus new camera with dual 3x and 10x lenses for super zooming

The Galaxy S21 Ultra is Samsung’s new superphone for 2021 – and comes out firmly as the best of its type, with a price to match.

Equipped with a new more powerful camera system – with not one but two optical zoom lenses on the back for a huge 10x optical zoom – it costs from £1,149 and leads Samsung’s 2021 mobile line, which also includes the smaller and cheaper £769 S21 and £819 S21+.

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Galaxy Buds Pro review: Samsung’s AirPods Pro-beating earbuds

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Great sound, solid noise-cancelling, decent battery, comfortable fit and small case are potent combination

Samsung’s latest Galaxy Buds Pro earbuds add noise-cancelling, virtual surround and improved sound, making them a challenger to Apple’s AirPods Pro.

At £219, they are the new top-of-the-range earbuds from Samsung, sitting above the £179 Galaxy Buds Live and £159 Galaxy Buds+.

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Lee Kun-hee, Samsung Electronics chairman, dies aged 78

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Transformative leader who took over from father made Samsung a global name with turnover worth a fifth of South Korea’s GDP

The Samsung Electronics chairman, Lee Kun-hee, who made the South Korean company a global name, has died at the age of 78.

Under Lee’s leadership Samsung rose to become the world’s largest producer of smartphones and memory chips, with overall turnover equivalent to a fifth of South Korea’s GDP.

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Samsung Galaxy Fold delayed after folding feature breaks screens

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Reviewers reported the screens on the $2,000 Galaxy Fold flickering, freezing and dying on test units within days

Samsung is pushing back this week’s planned public launch of its highly anticipated, $2,000 folding phone after reports that reviewers’ phones were breaking.

The company had been planning to release the Galaxy Fold on Friday, with a 3 May release date in the UK, but instead it will now run more tests and announce a new launch date in the “coming weeks”.

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Galaxy Fold: Samsung investigates as screens break in first days

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Flexible screen failed on several £1,800 tester devices in run-up to public release

The screen at the heart of Samsung’s new Galaxy Fold phone, which literally folds in half, has been failing in testers’ hands within days, prompting concerns about the durability of the £1,800 device.

The company distributed the device to publications across the US on Monday before its release to the public on 26 April. But within two days testers were reporting that the all-important central flexible screen started to break under normal use.

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iPhone slump: the rivals taking a bite out of Apple

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As firm’s stock falls over sales warnings, it has competition in bid to be the best smartphone

As Apple’s shares tumble after its cut in forecasts, the company is laying the blame squarely on the economic slowdown in China. But that is only part of the problem.

Never before has Apple faced such fierce competition from a multitude of rivals from around the globe, all vying for a slice of the lucrative premium smartphone market. Matching or exceeding Apple’s iPhone on hardware quality, these phones are arguably more capable, often cheaper and, perhaps crucially for China, made by local firms, not only those from the US and South Korea.

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