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Samsung unveils the highest-capacity smartphone DRAM yet
Samsung has unveiled the highest-capacity smartphone DRAM chip yet, a 12GB LPDDR4X package that will give premium smartphones more memory than the average laptop. The chip will be ideal for complex multi-camera devices and folding smartphones with high-resolution screens. "With more smartphones adopting more features, Samsung has seen increasing demand for higher-capacity DRAM chips from phone makers," the company said.
US conducts criminal investigation into Facebook's data deals
Investigations into Facebook's data handling keep piling up. The New York Times has learned that federal prosecutors are in the midst of a criminal investigation into the data deals Facebook arranged with tech companies. It's not known when the investigation began or just what the focus is, but a New York grand jury reportedly used subpoenas to obtain records from two or more "prominent makers of smartphones." The deals included heavyweights like Apple, Microsoft and Sony.
Samsung Galaxy Buds review: A waste of good design
Apple has the AirPods for the iPhone, and now Samsung has a true wireless headphone made specifically for its Galaxy lineup. The Galaxy Buds offer a lot of the same features as most other true wireless earbuds: charging case, on-board controls, audio transparency, easy access to virtual assistants and more. There's one major caveat though: Unless you own one of Samsung's recent Galaxy handsets or an Android device, key features on the $130 Galaxy Buds won't be available to you.
Samsung Galaxy S10e review: Smaller, but not lesser
When it's time to start building their new, premium smartphones, companies like Samsung are usually driven by a simple mantra: "more." More power, more features, more cameras. And it's to the point where — after a while — it all starts to seem like overkill. Sure, all of these high-end devices are drool-worthy, but honestly, who needs that much smartphone? Maybe you do, since you're reading a review on Engadget. And so do I, as you might expect from a professional phone snob. The thing to remember is that, broadly speaking, we're the outliers here. Most people want a powerful, capable phone that doesn't cost $1,000 and won't feel obsolete in a year. That's where Samsung's smaller, $750 Galaxy S10e comes in. If phones like the S10+ represent the company at the peak of its hardware and software game, the S10e reflects an understanding that these new developments really shine when more people get to use them. The end result: A smartphone that, while not as flashy as its siblings, packs nearly all of the modern conveniences that make those pricier devices such a pleasure to use.
Spotify will be pre-installed on the Galaxy S10 and other new phones
Spotify and Samsung are expanding their partnership. The companies announced today that new Samsung smartphones will ship with Spotify preinstalled. For eligible owners of Samsung's latest flagship handset, the Galaxy S10, Spotify is offering six months of its premium subscription service for free.
24 hours with Samsung's Galaxy Watch Active
Samsung's Galaxy Watch Active is cute. That's obviously not the only thing going for the company's latest workout-friendly wearable, but its relative cuteness is surprisingly important here. After all, it directly affected the components Samsung used here, not to mention the overall experience of living with the Watch Active. And at $200, it's also relatively inexpensive for a fitness-focused Samsung smartwatch.
Samsung Galaxy S10 teardown shows what's behind the hole-punch display
Samsung's Galaxy S10 may be all display on the surface, but what's underneath that enigmatic exterior? Quite a lot, apparently. iFixit has torn down the entire S10 family, and it's evident that Samsung has stuffed each phone to the gills. Most notably, cooling is everywhere. The back cover, display and wireless charging pads are blanketed in graphite, while the touted copper heat pipe is much larger -- it's closer to that in the Galaxy Note 9 than the cooling you saw in the S9. The iFixit team believes this might be necessary to keep the reverse wireless charging from cooking the phone.
Harman patented flying robotic speakers
Imagine you're using a VR headset and as a car races past, you hear it whip from left to right. Only the sound literally moves from left to right because it's coming from a robotic speaker that zips across the room. From the looks of a new patent, audio company Harman is dreaming up speakers that would do just that.
Samsung's Galaxy Fold could lead to two more folding phones soon
If you, for some unknown reason, thought Samsung's flexible device rollout would stop with the Galaxy Fold then we have bad news. Bloomberg cites unnamed sources saying that the company is already working on a pair of follow-up smartphones, with one shaped like a clamshell (folding vertically so that the top meets the bottom) and another that folds away just like Huawei's impressive Mate X. The rumors suggest that the vertically folding device could appear late this year or early next year, while the one that folds out is due after that.
Corning is working on truly foldable Gorilla Glass
Foldable phones arrived in a big way over the last month, but there's a fundamental problem that they haven't quite figured out. The buzzworthy phones introduced at Samsung's Unpacked and MWC aren't truly foldable; they're bendable. The good news is Corning, the company behind Gorilla Glass, is hurrying to come up with a solution.
Samsung Health adds Calm's sleep and relaxation tools
Samsung had a surprise in store at Unpacked last month, when it revealed its Galaxy S10 camera app will include an Instagram mode. The company is adding another, more laidback third-party integration as Samsung Health users can access content from mindfulness service Calm as of today.
Samsung Galaxy S10+ review: Another predictably great flagship
With all the foldable fever burning through MWC 2019, it's hard not to feel a little disappointed that the phone I'm reviewing is the S10+ and not the Galaxy Fold. But that doesn't mean the S10+ is a bad phone, even if the flagship line, and smartphones in general, are growing a little stale. The S10 and S10+ are the result of years of fine-tuning a formula, so much so that it feels like there's little room left to grow. For its tenth flagship, Samsung decided to focus on the display, camera and software, bringing the S10+ closer to perfection than ever. Despite some quirks and a $1,000 starting price, this is an excellent handset that still manages to pack a few surprises.
Making sense of the 5G phones at Mobile World Congress 2019
After years of talk, the era of 5G is finally upon us. This time around, you couldn't take more than a few steps on the MWC show floor without bumping into someone driving a delivery truck via 5G, or seeing a man remotely directing a surgery across town thanks to 5G's ultra-low latency. (In case you hadn't heard, MWC is weird.) For most of us though, 5G just means faster data for our smartphones, so we wanted to take a moment to dig into what the 5G phones we found in Barcelona really bring to the table.
Engadget at 15: A look at how much tech has changed
A lot has changed since Engadget was born, both in the gadgets we use and what we do with them on a regular basis. When the site started in 2004, fitness trackers, voice assistants and electric cars were the stuff of fiction. Now most of these are commonplace, so much so that we put our trust in them on a daily basis. To celebrate Engadget's 15th birthday, here are 15 things that didn't exist 15 years ago.
MWC's folding fetish in seven GIFs
Besides whole new families of phones, the evolution of augmented reality and the true start of 5G networks and devices, you couldn't escape the folding phone. MWC went so hard on the old folding device trend, we began to see them even where they didn't exist.
Our favorite smartphones from Mobile World Congress 2019
The last week has been a whirlwind of jamón-flavored chips, 5G talk and things that fold, so naturally, we're still reeling a bit. As we begin pulling ourselves out of this trade show-induced stupor, though, we've taken stock of everything we've seen in Barcelona and compiled this list of our favorite smartphones from the show floor. Not everything that made the cut will be a massive success, or go on sale around the world -- still, because of the ambition and ingenuity that went into each of these devices, each is worth celebrating in its own way.
The final dispatch from MWC 2019
All the phones have been powered down here in Barcelona. Some have even been folded up to make the journey home. After a week's worth of flagships, foldables and 5G, we're departing MWC with a good idea of what the immediate future of phones looks like. We covered a lot of news over the last few days, and it's understandable if you didn't catch all of it. Here are the biggest stories from the show.
Samsung is giving away a screen protector with the Galaxy S10
If you're planning to snag a Samsung Galaxy S10 or S10+ when they arrive next week, you might be pleased to see your new phone will already have a screen protector installed. While the plastic protector might not be as tough as other glass-based options, Samsung has a good reason to include it -- some third-party protectors may not work with the in-display fingerprint scanner.
You can now remap the Bixby button on older Galaxy phones
When Samsung revealed its Galaxy S10 last week, one feature caused a buzz: the ability to remap the phone's Bixby button so that it opens any app. On older phones, the Bixby button simply opened Samsung's voice assistant, but that changed today. A software update is rolling out that allows you to remap the Bixby button on a handful of older models: Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy S9/S9+ and the Galaxy S8/S8+.
I have an opinion on folding phones
Do you want a folding phone? Seriously. Not in a "I agree with the concept of one," more: "I am willing to buy one in 2019." Samsung's Galaxy Fold and Huawei's Mate X have both officially broke cover, but there are so many questions left unanswered. Thanks to MWC, there's also no shortage of folding phone prototypes, concepts and teases. Depending on who you ask (including me), folding phones are already many things. So let's play Choose Your Own Opinion.