Founded in 1938, Samsung is the largest chaebol in South Korea. The myriad of companies under its brand are some of the biggest in their respective industries, but Samsung Electronics is the most notable. It makes some of the most popular phones in use today, and its flagship portfolio includes the Galaxy S-series and foldable Z-series devices. It also makes televisions, tablets, computers, headphones, and many of the displays, chips, and batteries found in devices from Apple, Sony, and others.
The crowd has been relatively quiet thus far, but Gemini on the wrist got some claps, woos, and enthusiasm from the crowd. Gemini isn’t just coming to the Galaxy Watch 8 series though; It’s rolling out to compatible Wear OS watches — the Galaxy Watch 8 series is just the first to get it out of the box, without relying on a software update.
Samsung is highlighting the acquisition of Xealth to enable connected healthcare so that physicians can see your wearable metric data. This is essentially telehealth, and signaling where Samsung’s head is at for its overall wearable and health tech strategy. To quote Xealth’s CEO just now: A “bridge between wellness and healthcare that allows digital health to scale.”
We just got a big video about the Running Coach feature on the Galaxy Watch 8 series. “If you’re a runner, this definitely made you want to run.” As a runner, I plead the fifth. But we do have Jacob Kiplimo, the half-marathon world record holder onstage now sporting a Galaxy Watch. Blink, Jacob, if you need our help.
There’s one more flip phone this year and this “Fan Edition” didn’t exactly get a big spot in the presentation. It’s $899, which sure, that’s a few hundred bucks cheaper than the Z Flip 7. But its... not that cheap? I dunno. It exists.
You can read everything that’s up in my hands-on, but here in the Unpacked warehouse, we were just treated to a light show and a 50-foot SQUIRCLE view of the Galaxy Watch 8 and 8 Classic. “These aren’t just pretty faces,” Samsung says. They’re calling it a “cushion system” but I’m telling you this is a SQUIRCLE.
The bigger front screen on the Galaxy Z Flip 7 makes space for my favorite new lock screen feature: a clock the gets dynamically shorter and longer depending on your wallpaper photo. It’s on iOS 26 too, so I guess Long Clock is officially a trend.
They should’ve just done a livefeed of Allison liveblogging. Do I want a $2,000 foldy phone now? I think I do? Am I losing it? I can’t get over it.
That’s the starting price for the Z Fold 7, which goes up for pre-order starting now. Better hope those trade in deals are strong!
Samsung has been highlighting creators and their work throughout this keynote. We just saw one video from a creator highlighting the new blue color of the Z Fold 7. (It’s very blue and fetching.) There was even an influencer sign at check-in, and they have their own prime seating inside Duggal Greenhouse while several tech journalists were scrambling to find a single seat. It’s a new era, man.
We are two years into the era of AI on phones and I’m just going to say it: I don’t need any more explanations about how AI can generate useful summaries of text for you. I get it! Let’s just take this for granted and not trot it out at every product launch, please? Anyway, the new foldables have lots of AI. Again.
She has Slack pulled up, she’s taking photos, she has the CMS on one screen. This is the future of mobile blogging. Meanwhile, I have two phones and a laptop too and I’m struggs to func.
Android and Pixel boss Rick Osterloh is here to talk about Gemini on Samsung phones. He’s plugging Circle to Search getting access to AI mode, plus Gemini Live on the Z series. Samsung and Google are good friends, Google and Samsung would like us to remember.
The newest Fold is the thinnest Samsung foldable ever, and Samsung calls it an “ultra” experience... without actually calling it an Ultra phone. Weird! But it really is super thin!
Unpacked is underway, but just before “Golden” from K-Pop Demon Hunters was blasting in this industrial warehouse. I’m bopping along to it while Allison is blogging from the Z Fold 6. That’s dedication. The wifi is struggling, though, because, well, it’s a metal warehouse.
TM Roh is getting us started with some lofty talk about how technology improves lives. Also, we have our first mention of AI phones, so take a drink. I would but we’re not allowed even water in here.
Gemini’s on the wrist, there’s a new Antioxidant Index, and a slightly updated Ultra, too.
Samsung’s summer foldable extravaganza starts soon and we are here in Brooklyn ready for the big unveil. We’re expecting to check out foldables, wearables, maybe even a trifold if we’re lucky. Stay tuned!
Samsung Electronics keeps promising a turnaround but it’s once again projecting a dismal quarter, with weak AI chip sales to blame for a projected 56 percent plunge in operating profit. At 4.6 trillion won for the April-June period, it would be its weakest result in six quarters.
Some images that reportedly show the new Galaxy Watch 8 (40mm/44mm dial size), Watch 8 Classic (46mm), and Watch Ultra (47mm) have leaked ahead of the Samsung Unpacked event on Wednesday, where they’re expected to be officially unveiled. The round body of the Watch and Watch Classic has notably been updated to the round watch face and squircle body design used by the Ultra, alongside other changes and specification upgrades.
The company’s second US chip plant — initially planned for a 2024 start — has been delayed to 2026, which Nikkei Asia reports is down to a lack of local customers. The company was just awarded $4.7 billion in US funding from the CHIPS Act.
TSMC suffered its own problems opening a plant in Arizona, but lack of customers wasn’t one of them — it has deals with Nvidia, AMD, Amazon, and Google, including Nvidia’s Blackwell AI GPUs.
The Samsung Wallet now supports digital key compatibility with Mercedes-Benz models starting July 2025, the company said. Samsung phones can already be used to unlock and start a variety of automotive brands, including Audi, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Ram, and Polestar vehicles. Samsung has also been working with smart lock manufacturers to enable its phones to be used to lock and unlock homes and residencies.
That’s according to CNET, which interviewed Hon Pak, Samsung’s head of digital health, about new features coming to One UI 8 Watch, including an AI running coach and a non-invasive antioxidant level check that might be impressive if it actually does what it claims.
Apparently Pak said Samsung is “exploring” a premium subscription, perhaps bringing new features for free to the latest Samsung smartwatches, like the upcoming Galaxy Watch 8, but charging for older hardware.
Rumors have long had it that this year’s Galaxy Z Fold phone will be substantially thinner, as Samsung tries to keep up with Oppo and Honor, and now the company itself has hinted at the same.
It says this year’s Fold is “our thinnest, lightest and most advanced foldable yet,” with a picture that certainly looks thin, as it promises to bring the Ultra experience to foldables.
