Tech Brew Ride Home - Tue. 09/01 – Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 Released; All The Details

Episode Date: September 1, 2020

It’s Phone Day! The Galaxy Z Fold 2 is unveiled. The world’s first smartphone with an under-display camera is unveiled (it’s the ZTE Axon 20 5G if you’re following along). Mark Gurman tells us everything we can expect from Apple through the end of the year. Walmart takes aim at Prime with Walmart+. Oh, and Zoom had quite the earnings report. Sponsors: Metalab.co Liftoff.to Links: Samsung's new Galaxy Z Fold2 packs a bigger 120Hz folding glass screen, Snapdragon 865+, and more (Android Police) ZTE unveils the Axon 20 5G, the first phone with an under-display camera (Engadget) Apple Preparing 75 Million 5G iPhones Alongside New Watches and iPad (Bloomberg) Kuo: mmWave 5G iPhone Shipments Likely to Be Weaker Than Expected in 2020-21 (MacRumors) Facebook Could Block Sharing of News Stories in Australia (NYTimes) Walmart+ launches Sept 15, offering same-day delivery, gas discounts and cashierless checkout for $98/yr (TechCrunch) Zoom shares soar after revenue more than quadruples from last year (CNBC) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On April 4th, 2023, around 2 in the morning, a man was found stabbed multiple times on a sidewalk in downtown San Francisco. Hey, who did this to you? What happened next turned the story into a political firestorm. Reports have identified the victim as Bob Lee, the founder of Cash App. From Bloomberg Podcasts, this is Foundering, the Killing of Bob Lee, beginning April 16. Welcome to the Tech meme right home for Tuesday, September 1st, 2020. I'm Brian McCullough today. It's phone day.

The Galaxy Z-Fold 2 is unveiled. The world's first smartphone with an under-display camera is unveiled. It's the ZTE-E-Axon 25G, if you're following along. Mark German tells us everything we can expect from Apple through the end of the year. Walmart takes aim at Prime with Walmart Plus. Oh, and Zoom had quite the earnings report. Here's what you missed today in the world of tech. Samsung snuck in an unpacked two virtual event this morning, where they officially unveiled

the Galaxy Z Fold 2, which will have 5G, a 4,500 MAH battery, 12 gigabytes of RAM, 256 gigabytes of storage, all in a 7.6 inch 120 hertz primary display. This bad boy will cost $2,000 and we'll start shipping September 18th, but you can hit smash on the pre-order button starting at 120. 1 a.m. tonight, quoting Android police. The successor to last year's Galaxy Fold packs plenty of improvements over the revamped and re-released original, including a more durable design, a folding glass and polymer display, a faster chipset, and bigger screens both inside and out. The two screens are where things have really improved. Samsung has upped the resolution and size for the interior

folding display, switching to a much smaller pinhole-style camera, while also pumping performance up to 120 hertz. The lone fly in the ointment is that like the Note 20 and Galaxy S20 series, you can't have both native resolution and 120 hertz together. You have to choose one or the other, and 120 hertz only works at a full HD resolution. The new folding screen will also be more durable as Samsung has switched to a layered glass and polymer structure like the recent Z-Flip and Z-Flip 5G. The hinge has also been made more durable thanks to inheriting other Z-flip tweaks, including a beefy cam, mechanism and dust sweeper built into the hideaway hinge. If somehow you do damage it, Samsung is offering one-time replacements for $149, the same as last time, end quote.

By the way, there's also a $3,000 Tom Brown edition of this phone, because, you know, if you're going to spend $2,000 on a phone, why not spend another $1,000 just for a special edition designed by a fashion guru? Voting TechCrunch. Further justifying the device's cost is the inclusion of a Galaxy Watch 3 and the Galaxy Buds Live, neither of which ship with the standard Z-Fold 2. And perhaps, even more importantly, it's something you can lord over the heads of your slightly more frugal friends who only shalt out for the regular fold, end quote. But you'll have to act quickly because only 5,000 units of this special Tom Brown edition will be produced. And yes, as rumored, the first smartphone with an under-display camera is here. It's called the

ZTE-Axon 205G. It comes with a Snapdragon 765G, a 4,220 MAH battery, a 6.92-inch display, and a price tag of only $322. But the catch is, this phone is available only in China, quoting in gadget. No notch, no hole punch, no pop out, or flip-over camera either. Instead, ZTE has achieved what many consider the holy grail of smartphone selfie systems, an under-display camera. ZTE says it built the selfie snapper with five core technologies. The first is a special material, which through a combination of organic and inorganic film, allows plenty of light to pour into the camera. The second and third components are a dual control drive and unique driver circuit which work in tandem to synchronize the display and avoid interference. The system also

uses a special matrix that keeps the pixels, and by extension display performance, consistent while switching between photography and regular usage. Finally, ZTE has crafted a special algorithm to improve the under-display cameras photos. At the time of writing, ZTE hasn't shared any footage of the phone in action. We're curious to see if you can spot the camera from a distance, or example photos for us to scrutinize. It's not the only one working on this particular smartphone trick. We've seen Apo prototypes with a similar offering,

and Zhaomi has promised to launch a phone with an under-display camera next year, end quote. Our favorites, Mark German and Ming Chi Kuo are giving us a double dose of iPhone rumors today, so let's just do one big roundup. First, German has essentially put up his summation of what we can expect from Apple through the rest of this year. The headline, of course, is the 5G iPhones, of which Apple is apparently building around 75 million units, according to German. But also, he thinks we'll get a 6.7-inch iPhone Pro, which would be the largest iPhone

Apple has ever done. He also thinks we'll see two new Apple watch versions, an iPad air with edge-to-edge screens, and a smaller home pod, quoting German in Bloomberg. Apple anticipates shipments of these next-generation iPhones may reach as high as 80 million units in 2020, according to people familiar with this situation. Apple plans to launch four new models in October with fifth-generation wireless speeds, a different design, and a wider choice of screen sizes, the people said, who asked not to be identified discussing unannounced products. The four new phones will be split into two basic and two high-end models for the first time, and all will feature OLED displays with improved color and clarity. The two regular iPhones will come in a new 5.4-inch size and 6.1-inch option, while the pro devices will offer a choice of 6.1-inch or an enlarged 6.7-inch display,

which will be the largest Apple's ever put in an iPhone. Apple plans to ship the lower-end phones sooner than the pro devices, according to people familiar with the staggered release strategy. During a recent conference call, Apple said the new iPhones would ship a few weeks later than last year's models, which started shipping September 20th. This year's rollout is on course to be the latest since the release of the iPhone 10 in November 2017. The new Apple Watch lineup will include a successor to the Apple Watch Series 5 and a replacement for the Series 3 that will compete with lower-cost fitness devices such as those from Fitbit.

The smaller home pod will help Apple renew its push into the smart home at a lower price, albeit with fewer speakers inside the device than the current $299 model. Apple has also been developing a new Apple TV box with faster processors for improved gaming and an upgraded remote control. However, that device might not ship until next year, according to people familiar with its development. The company is working on a feature for the new remote, similar to Find My iPhone, that would make the TV accessory easier to find, end quote. Lord knows that last bit is very welcome, if we ever see it. As for our buddy Mingchi Quo,

he cautions that shipments of Apple's MM Wave-enabled 5G iPhones could be several million units lower than expected this year and next due to the impact of the pandemic, quoting Macrumors. In a new investor's note for TFI securities seen by Macrumors, Quo says shipment estimates for Apple's MM-wave enabled 5G iPhones are likely to be several million units lower than expected due to delays in the global rollout of Mwave base stations. Quote, we believe that due to the impact of the health crisis, the global 5G millimeter wave base station installation is lower than expected. Therefore, we estimate that the shipments of millimeter wave iPhones in 2020 and 2021 will be about 4 to 6 million and 25 to 35 million, respectively, which is lower than the market

consensus of 10 to 20 million and 40 to 50 million units. Quo's note harks back to a digit times report in June that claims shipments of MMWave 5G iPhones could be much weaker than expected this year because of a combination of production challenges and the impact of the health crisis. However, that report said shipping estimates of MMWave enabled 5G iPhones slated for launch this year would reach only 15 to 20 million units in 2020 compared to a previous supply chain estimate of 30 to 40 million units, end quote. This is a story I've passed on covering for a few weeks now, so it's probably long past time that I caught you up on this.

the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is drafting a parliamentary bill that would require social media and search platforms to negotiate with media companies and then pay them for content that appears on their platforms. So, already, Google hinted a couple weeks ago that it might have to cut off Google search and YouTube in Australia. Now, Facebook is saying something similar, warning that it will block Australian users and news organizations from sharing news stories on Facebook and Instagram if the ACCC's proposal passes, quoting the New York Times. By taking aim at Google, whose dominant search engine is the gateway for information and news and Facebook, the largest social network with billions of users, Australia's regulator seeks to

address what it calls power imbalances between news publishers struggling with the collapse of traditional media and conglomerates with thriving online ad businesses. Facebook said publishers and users in Australia trying to share news on its site would be greeted with a notification saying they were no longer able to do so and pointing to the legislation. Quote, the proposed law is unprecedented in its reach and seeks to regulate every aspect of how tech companies do business with news publishers, said Will Easton, managing director of Facebook in Australia and New Zealand in a company blog post on Monday evening. Mr. Easton added that it would force Facebook to pay news organizations for content that the publishers voluntarily placed on its

services, end quote. Now, on the one hand, if people can't share news stories on social media, you know, maybe Australians would one day wake up to a return to, you know, peace and harmony across the land. That's the easy snark, right? But the argument could be made that the law, if enacted, could also add to the spread of disinformation, since news from legitimate sources might be harder to find. As Sarah Fryer tweeted, the next obvious question is, what is news on Facebook? And that is a very, very messy question. If they get rid of just mainstream publishers, they'd have to pay and leave up hyper-partisan polarizing news that could be a bad thing for Australian democracy, end quote. But also, isn't this just a bit of an overreach?

Facebook said this on a blog post, quote, we are left with a choice of either removing news entirely or accepting a system that lets publishers charge us for as much content as they want at a price with no clear limits. Unfortunately, no business can operate that way, end quote. And also, Facebook seemingly has a hard time keeping fake news off its platform already. If it could suddenly effectively banned real news, then might that be pretty revealing about their true motivations and or their cost and profit incentives? Walmart has unveiled a new membership service it is calling Walmart Plus, launching on September 15th for $98 a year. For that price, you will get free, unlimited same-day delivery, fuel discounts, and something called Scan & Go. This is not exactly a

tech story, right, Brian? Except, you know, exactly what this program is. is trying to combat, don't you? Quoting TechCrunch. At launch, the new program promises more than 160,000 items for same-day delivery with no per-delivery fee on orders totaling $35 or more. This is the same value proposition that Walmart's existing delivery unlimited program offers today. With the launch of Walmart Plus, delivery unlimited members will be moved to the rebranded and expanded

service. In addition to delivery savings, the new Walmart Plus membership will include fuel discounts of up to $0.5 per gallon on any fuel type at nearly 2,000. Walmart, Murphy USA, and Murphy Express stations nationwide. Walmart Plus members will enable the discounts by using the Walmart mobile app, either by scanning a QR code or entering a pin at the pump. Further down the road, the program will expand to include Sam's Club fuel stations as well. The Scan & Go membership perk, meanwhile, lets Walmart Plus members pay without having to wait

and checkout lines. A nice perk to have amid a pandemic where time in store means time exposed to potential carriers of the novel coronavirus. using the Walmart app customers scan items as they shop, then pay for them using Walmart pay for a touch-free checkout experience. Walmart two years ago had tested cashierless Scan & Go technology in its stores but killed the program due to shopper theft. Arguably, fewer people will use Scan & Go because it's a paid service, which could help

store staff better combat the earlier problems, end quote. And finally today, this is the first time I've ever reported their earnings, I think. maybe I reported their first ever earnings a while ago. But listen, these are earnings worth reporting. Zoom reported Q2 revenue of $663.63 million, which was, get this, up 355% year over year. Their 370,000 or so customers with 10 employees or more was up 458% year over year. And even their net income of $186 million was impressive since that net income number was only $5.5 million. last year. And you've got to figure, Zoom has spent a lot on infrastructure to keep things running over this past year, so to have any profit at all is worth noting. Quoting CNBC, Zoom averaged

148.4 million monthly active users in the quarter up 4,700 percent year over year. RBC analysts led by Alex Zuckin wrote in a note distributed to clients on August 17th, citing data from App Annalic startup sensor tower. The analysts have the equivalent of a buy rating on the Zoom stock. Shares rose 40% in After Hours trading last night, and excluding that after hours move, Zoom shares are up 369% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P 500 index is up about 9%. During Monday's trading session, Zoom stock increased almost 9% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P ended the day lower. Zoom's market cap now stands at more than $129 billion up from $25 billion a year ago. The company is now larger than IBM and

AMD, end quote. I'd also note that Zoom's PE ratio is an eye-watering brain bleeding 1,797. And here I thought Apple had a rich PE ratio at a measly 40. That's all for today. I'm running late because I had my first dentist appointment this morning since the pandemic struck. All good on the teeth front, I guess. First one into the office as well, so feeling sanguine about my exposure risk this morning. Still haven't gotten a proper haircut, though, because I still feel like that's too risky to risk. Not brave enough for that, even though the test positivity rate here in New York City is creeping all the way down to half a percentage point at this point. But hey, we officially got word that school is opening this month, so at least here in Brooklyn, things are okay.

Talk to you tomorrow.