Page 24 - ARUBA TODAY

A24 TECHNOLOGY
Friday 14 February 2020
Samsung's new foldable phone: Cheaper, but still a novelty

By RACHEL LERMAN and The foldable phones rep- agonally. Samsung says it
KELVIN CHAN resent manufacturers' added fibers to the gap
AP Technology Writers attempt to energize a between the hinge and
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — market where sales have the phone to keep out
Samsung on Tuesday un- slowed. Many consum- dust and improve hinge
veiled a new foldable ers are holding onto old function, likely to address
phone, the Galaxy Z Flip, phones longer, in part be- shortcomings of the Gal-
its second attempt to sell cause new phone features axy Fold.
consumers on phones with offer increasingly marginal On the more traditional
bendable screens and benefits. But these foldable front, Samsung offers its S
clamshell designs. models come with higher series. In a nod to the start
The new phone can un- price tags and are likely to of the 2020s, the South Ko-
fold from a small square appeal for now mostly to rean company showed off
upward into a traditional tech enthusiasts and oth- the Galaxy S20, S20 Plus
smartphone form, and will ers at the forefront of tech- and S20 Ultra, skipping di-
go on sale Feb. 14 starting A Samsung worker gives a demonstration of the Galaxy Z Flip nology. "While there's a lot rectly to the S20 from its
Phone at the Unpacked 2020 event in San Francisco, Tuesday, of excitement around this previous S10 series.
Feb. 11, 2020. new category, it is still early The S20 phones are de-
Associated Press days and they will evolve signed to take high-quality

at $1,380. The company ing. The Fold, which car- significantly." said Paolo pictures in dark settings,
announced the phone ries a price tag of nearly Pescatore, an analyst at Samsung product man-
at a product event in San $2,000, folds at a vertical PP Foresight. "While these ager Mark Holloway said.
Francisco. crease rather than horizon- innovative new designs are The phones can take both
Samsung's first foldable tally as a flip-phone design nice to have, they're not video and photos at the
phone, the Galaxy Fold, fi- would. Motorola has also must-have, sought-after same time, using artificial
nally went on sale last Sep- taken the flip-phone ap- features among users." intelligence to zero in on
tember after delays and proach with its new $1,500 The Z Flip can stay open the best moments to cap-
reports of screens break- Razr phone. at different angles for use ture the still images.
watching videos or taking Samsung's renewed focus
photos. When the phone on the camera follows oth-
is closed, it will take selfies er smartphone makers. Ap-
and display notifications ple last fall announced the
in a small window on the iPhone 11, which offers an
cover. Unfolded, its screen additional lens for wider-
measures 6.7 inches di- angle shots and combined
multiple shots with software
to improve low-light imag-
es. Google's Pixel phones
also offer a similar low-light
feature.
Samsung's S phones al-
ready offer the wider an-
gle and some features for
low-lighting. But the com-
pany says the new phones
will focus on high-resolution
photos and the ability to
zoom in 30 to 100 times,
depending on the model.
The camera on the S20 se-
ries is "a giant leap," said
Patrick Moorhead of Moor
Insights & Strategy, who
argued that people might
gravitate toward the more
expensive models even as
the sales of smartphones
slow.q