Dominic Preston
Gemini Task Automation is rolling out for real.
It’s been in beta for a little while, but Samsung’s new foldables mark the official launch, together with an expansion to more than 40 apps.
Dominic Preston
News Editor
News Editor
Dominic Preston is The Verge’s UK-based News Editor, and puts together the newsletter The Daily. He’s a Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future food systems and public health fellow for his food writing. He’s been in journalism since 2013, after picking up two degrees in philosophy that he still hasn’t figured out what to do with. His career in journalism started out with covering movies and games before moving onto the tech beat. He was previously the deputy editor at Tech Advisor and a managing editor at Android Police, and will jump at any excuse to review an Android phone. When he’s not writing about tech he’s usually writing about food instead, on his Substack newsletter Braise. Contact him on Signal for tips: @dompreston.01
More From Dominic Preston
Plus the first specs, including a battery life better than Meta’s.
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Samsung’s foldables will get Google’s easier Android switching.
Samsung Smart Switch will make it easier to jump from iOS to a Galaxy Z Flip 8 or Fold 8, sharing photos, videos, contacts and more with just a QR code, no iOS app install required. Similar features are already rolling out on some Pixels with Android 17.
Dominic Preston
My FanCam is Samsung’s AI video editor for focusing on your favorites.
A fancy person detection algorithm picks subjects to focus on, and crops video to track your favorite. Samsung is pitching it for fans and stans, but I suspect it’ll get more use at kids’ ballet recitals.
Dominic Preston
Silicon-carbon — by Samsung.
For the first time, Samsung’s three new foldables use silicon-carbon batteries, meaning higher capacity in a smaller space. Samsung says it’s focused on maintaining longevity and stability, sometimes worse with silicon cells, but that’s stopped it hitting the enormous capacities of rivals like Oppo and Honor.
But $1,900 is a hell of a lot for a phone with no telephoto camera.
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
I’m at Galaxy Unpacked ready for Samsung’s new foldable.
So far it’s mostly teasing novel ways of slicing pizza, but presumably it’ll all make sense soon.
Photo: Dominic Preston / The Verge
Dominic Preston
A tale as old as time.
Company announces clever modular or replaceable hardware; company uses proprietary tech for the purpose; the hardware becomes obsolete when replacements dry up. Let’s hope Glorious’ hot-swappable headphone batteries don’t suffer the same fate.
bennyfactor:
if these batteries could be the exact same shape as either one of the skinnier sony infolithiums, or one of the long-running pager / dumbphone battery formats, so that there would be a definite aftermarket of batteries for it, it’d be perfect. My concern with something like this is if you don’t buy like 3 spare batteries at the same time you get the headphones, you won’t be able to find any for sale a few years later.
Get the day’s best comment and more in my free newsletter, The Verge Daily.
Dominic Preston
Samsung just updated its Galaxy Watch app.
Android Authority spotted that a new version of the Galaxy Wearable app is rolling out with a simplified three-tab layout, refined UI, and new home tab with useful shortcuts to key watch settings. It’s presumably no coincidence that it lands the same day Samsung is due to launch new Galaxy Watches at Unpacked.
Image: Samsung / Android Authority
Reports of a new wider foldable phone suggest Samsung is ready to take a risk.
Dominic Preston
Most Popular
Most Popular
- The Light Flip is a minimalist flip phone with a point to prove
- The FCC is planning to retroactively ban disguised DJI gadgets
- Apple’s rumored ‘Upgrade’ program brings lease-to-own pricing for iPhones, Macs, and iPads
- Neill Blomkamp’s new zombie AI ‘film’ is just slop warmed over
- Samsung’s wider Z Fold 8 feels just right