7
Verge Score
Time for Samsung and Google to make some room in the midrange.
A smartphone without apps — that’s the idea behind a device Brain.ai and Deutsche Telekom plan to announce at Mobile World Congress. Brain.ai is the startup behind an iOS app called Natural that uses AI to create a central interface for various shopping, travel, and food delivery apps. This latest concept seems similar, except it’s a whole phone. Ambitious! We’ll look out for it at MWC.
I joined my pals Chris Niccolls, Jordan Drake, and Jaron Schneider on this week’s PetaPixel Podcast to talk about some of our favorite subjects: computational photography, Sony camera menu systems, and whether or not photos are real. Check it out for a delightful chat with some of the very best photography nerds I know.
With its newest devices, Samsung cleverly mixes original AI features with some familiar concepts.
The entry-level price of flip-style foldables has been creeping down recently, but book-style folding phones like the Galaxy Z Fold 5 remain pricey. That might change soon, according to WinFuture. A new leak reveals codenames for upcoming foldables — Q6 and B6, likely the Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 — and a third: Q6A. Maybe an A-series Fold? Yeah? Please, Samsung?
8
Verge Score
The Galaxy S24 Ultra is packed with top-tier hardware, but its highly touted AI features are hit-or-miss — and the price is higher than ever.
AST SpaceMobile, which is building the first space-based cellular network, recently secured new investments from some familiar names: AT&T, Google, and Vodafone.
Adding up to $306.5 million, that’s a hefty vote of confidence in the company’s approach, which would harness a fleet of low-orbit satellites to make direct connections to smartphones — no special equipment required. Who knows? Space 5G could be coming to Android phones sooner than later.
7
Verge Score
While Samsung and Google were busy shipping AI features as fast as possible, OnePlus doubled down on the essentials.
