Samsung Galaxy Fold Launch Delayed?
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| Samsung Galaxy Fold Launch Delayed? | |
| Number | 818 |
| Broadcast Date | APRIL 22, 2019 |
| Episode Length | 4:34 |
| Hosts | Rich Stroffolino |
Samsung is reportedly delaying the Galaxy Fold launch worldwide, Sri Lanka blocks access to social media platforms following suicide attacks, and SiriusXM launches a streaming service.
Headlines
- Samsung announced it was delaying Galaxy Fold launch events in Hong Kong and Shanghai previously scheduled for this week. Samsung did not announce the reason. The Wall Street Journal reports that, according to sources, Samsung plans to delay the entire launch of the Galaxy Fold until at least next month, with the US launch originally scheduled for April 26th. The delay comes after several tech reviewers reported issues or failures of the Galaxy Fold display.
- Huawei released its first quarterly earnings report, in Q1 the company generated 179.7 billion yuan ($26.8 billion) in revenue, an increase of 39% on the year, with an overall net profit margin of 8%. The company stated it now has more than 40 signed commercial 5G contract and has shipped more than 70,000 5G basestations worldwide. The company shipped 59 million smartphones in the quarter. While no numbers were given for the same time last year, analysts estimated 39.3 million phones in Q1 2018. Company chairman Guo Ping stated he expects the consumer, carrier and enterprise business groups to all post double digit growth for the year.
- SiriusXM launched dedicated streaming service with two tiers SiriusXM Essential and Premiere. Essential available now at $8 a month and provides access to 200+ channels including all music, comedy and news offerings. Premiere adds in two Howard Stern channels as well as NBA, NHL and NCAA sports and costs $13 a month starting in mid-May. The services can be played on smartphones, smart speakers, game consoles, and streaming video devices.
- The Sri Lankan government blocked access to social media and messaging platforms on Sunday following suicide attacks that killed more than 290 people. The block was put in place to prevent the spread of misinformation to foment further violence, and according to the Defense Ministry, the block is temporary until investigations into the attack are concluded. The digital rights organization NetBlocks reports that Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Viber, Snapchat and YouTube are among the effected platforms. Sri Lanka instituted a similar block in March 2018 out of concern that militant organizations were using them to coordinate ethnic unrest.
- The French government launched Tchap on April 18th, an end-to-end encrypted messaging app designed to replace government use of other messaging services. Tchap is based on the open source Riot messaging app, and source code is published for it on GitHub. The app is designed so only French government employees can sign up for an account, but on the day of the launch, security researcher Baptiste Robert discovered a flaw that could let anyone register by adding a government email domain on top of their normal email address, and potentially view internal communications. The flaw was subsequently patched.
- Speaking to The Verge, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau stated the upcoming OnePlus 7 device will also launch with a OnePlus 7 Pro variant. The Pro will include a 5G modem and an upgraded screen, although no specs were given other than it will be "“super-smooth and very crisp" and cost 3x the typical phone panel. No pricing for the Pro model was announced.
- The analyst Niko Partners passed along the new rules for game approval in China originally announced at an April 10th conference by China’s State Administration of Press and Publication (SAPP). Game approvals recently resumed in the country after being frozen in April 2018. SAPP has reviewed the backlog of applications through July 2018 and will allow new applications on April 22nd. Game content will now be reviewed by Online Game Ethics Committee, a group of game experts and scholars who will evaluate content based on social values. SAPP will limit the number of approvals each year, stopping approval for low-quality copies, poker and mah-jong games, as well as immoral or obscene games. The regulator estimates less than 5000 games will be approved in 2019, compared to the 8561 games approved in 2017. HTML5 and mini games in messaging apps will now need to seek approval under the news rules, and anti-addiction policies that were in place for PC titles will be extended to mobile.
- Zillow announced 3D Home, an iOS app to capture and share 3D tours of properties for sale. The app uses an iPhone or compatible 360-degree camera to capture all rooms, and then uses computer vision modeling to adjust exposure levels and stitch together multiple rooms into an entire home tour. The service has been in a pilot for over a year, and now rolls out to the US and Canada.
Links
| Preceded by: "Week in Review for the Week of 4/15/19" |
Samsung Galaxy Fold Launch Delayed? |
Followed by: "Twitter Q1 Earnings Beat The Street" |