Are Samsung’s folding screens sturdy enough?

It's Thursday, August 03, 2023.

For all the hype around folding phones, there’s plenty of anxiety concerning how well those bendable screens survive long term. Depending on who you ask, they’re either weaker than spider silk or hardy enough to make your average lumberjack weep with envy. That’s why Sam Rutherford took matters into his own hands, spending the last year running his own durability test. He’s been using his Z Fold 4 without a case, leaving its factory-installed screen protector as the only defense.

At the dawn of the Z Fold 5, Rutherford is now ready to reveal how well he got on with its predecessor. Turns out that while the frame is now chipped and scratched, the screens “still look great,” with Samsung’s work in this area paying off. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for a similar experiment undertaken on a Z Flip 4, the more pocketable handset in the lineup. In that case, it might be wise to make sure you live close to an authorized service center, so you’re not left without a phone for a week at a time.

– Dan Cooper

You can get these reports delivered daily, direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here!

The biggest stories you might have missed

Alienware announces a new-look Aurora R16 desktop

Xbox gamers can now stream directly to Discord

Meta releases an open source AI kit that creates audio from text prompts

Google's Chrome updates bring improved search to mobile and simpler desktop downloads

Nintendo brings 'Mario Kart 8' and 'Splatoon' for Wii U back online August 3rd

ByteDance sued for allegedly collecting biometric data without consent

The Sonos Move 2 will reportedly offer stereo audio and 24-hour battery life

The IRS wants to phase out most IRL tax documents by 2025

AI-assisted cancer screening could cut radiologist workloads in half

China considers limiting kids' smartphone time to two hours per day

It’s another initiative to reduce smartphone addiction.

Draft legislation proposed by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) would further limit phone use for under 18s. It’s part of the country’s attempts to curb smartphone addiction, which already sees limits on when kids can play games each week. This proposal would see 16- to 18-year-olds get two hours of use per day, while kids from eight to 15 get an hour – hard luck for the under eights, who’ll get 40 minutes a day, plus limits on what they can access.

Continue Reading.

Canon's new security-focused SPAD camera can capture color video in complete darkness

It uses a SPAD (single-photon avalanche diode) sensor.

Promotional image of Canon's new MS-500 SPAD video camera designed to capture color video in ultra-low light.

If you have $25,000 and a passion for nighttime photography then Canon’s new MS-500 is the gadget for you. It’s a camera that, the company promises, can shoot clear color video in light as low as 0.001 lux, which, for the non-technical among us, is pretty darn dark. This particular unit is designed as a security camera for high-security facilities, but the novel sensor that enables its nighttime powers will, surely, come to other hardware as the technology matures.

Continue Reading.

Kickstarter projects will soon have to disclose any AI use

The platform is taking a stand against the risks of automated plagiarism.

Kickstarter projects submitted on or after August 29th must disclose if they’ve used AI. The platform’s head of trust and safety said the crowdfunding site wants to ensure creators aren’t making bank on the back of stolen work. Creators who are using AI will also have to state they have the proper credit and permission to use those outputs.

Continue Reading.

IBM and NASA teamed up to build the GPT of Earth sciences

An open-source climate model will leverage millions of terabytes of NASA data.

In 2024, NASA expects to generate a quarter million terabytes of data from its Earth science experiments alone. So impossible would it be to wrangle that amount of information that the agency has turned to IBM and HuggingFace for help. The trio has constructed an open-source foundation model, which will form the backbone of an AI to track deforestation, predict crop yields and log greenhouse gas emissions.

Continue Reading.

X Blue subscribers can now hide their shame and checkmarks

Mission… accomplished?

Imagine getting so worked up at a fraud-prevention tool you spend $44 billion to undermine its use. Now imagine other people being so worked up about that tool that they spend $8 a month to undermine its use. How darkly funny would it be if, having spent all this time, money and effort to get what they perceived as a badge of honor, suddenly realized it wasn’t at all. You’d probably laugh if they then all opted to hide the badge they craved for so long, wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t you?

Continue Reading.