Tech Brew Ride Home - Wed. 08/10 – The Samsung Galaxy Unpacked Event

Episode Date: August 10, 2022

All the headlines from this morning’s Galaxy Unpacked event. Walmart wants to ad video to keep up with Prime. Spotify quietly begins selling tickets. And if someone sends you some dirty ETH, and you can’t block receipt of it, are you in trouble? Sponsors: Storyblok.com/ridehome Links: The new Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is a little better and still too expensive (The Verge) Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip 4 lets you do more while it's closed (Engadget) Samsung goes big on battery with the Galaxy Watch 5 series (The Verge) Walmart Ponders Streaming Deal With Paramount, Disney and Comcast (NYTimes) Spotify starts selling live music tickets to fans directly (TechCrunch) Someone Is Trolling Celebs by Sending ETH From Tornado Cash (CoinDesk) 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 Wednesday, August 10th, 2020. I'm Brian McCullough today. All the headlines from this morning's Galaxy Unpacked Event. Walmart wants to add video to keep up with Prime. Spotify quietly begins selling tickets. And if someone sends you some dirty Eath and you can't block receipt of it, are you in trouble?

Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. At the unpacked event this morning, Samsung debuted the Galaxy Z-Fold 4 with 6.2 inch and 6.2 inch answers. 6.7-inch displays, Snapdragon 8 plus Gen 1 processor, 12 gigabytes of RAM, more than 256 gigabytes of storage, and 50 megapixel cameras, available to pre-order today for $1,799.

Quoting the verge. Samsung, purveyor of the only serious foldables available on a global scale, is taking a victory lap with the Galaxy Fold 4. As is tradition, the company has announced full details after a parade of teases and leaks, confirming what we strongly suspected. It's not a huge update.

The overall design is ever so slightly sleeker with a slimmer hinge and bezzles. This is mostly cosmetic and doesn't make much of a difference on how compact the phone folds down. Just the difference of a fraction of a millimeter, 15.8 millimeters thick at the hinge and 14.2 millimeters where the sides meet. It weighs a little less, 263 grams compared to the Z-Fold 3's 271 grams. It's still a heavy phone, which is to be expected for something that doubles as both a phone and a small tablet. I can't say it was noticeably slimmer or lighter than I expected, but the finish is fitting of a flagship device. It doesn't feel prototypy either. It's reassuringly solid, and I didn't feel like it needs to be handled with extra care. I'm a little nervous about how it

will deal with the dusty environment that is the bottom of my purse, but there's just one way to find out, so stay tuned. The hinge is still somewhat stiff by design so that it will stay put in flex mode, but the opening closing motion feels smooth, at least in the demo unit Samsung had on display last week. The Fold 4 remains IPX8 rated for water resistance, and like a true 2022 flagship, it includes a Snapdragon 8 plus Gen 1 chip set with 12 gigabytes of RAMs, starting with 256 gigabytes of storage and going all the way up to 1 terabyte. The Fold 4 gets a newer 50-mixel main camera, a more useful 3X telephoto camera, narrower bezels, and a slimmer hinge. There's a little more real estate on the front display, since it's a few millimeters wider. It's not much, but it does

make the display feel a little less cramped and a little more like a normal phone. There's still a gap when the phone is folded closed. Samsung hasn't achieved optimal foldable flatness yet. A handful of software updates aim to improve the multitasking experience and some changes to the display structure and its all-important screen protector should make it a more durable phone in the long run. But that's the gist of it. The $1,199 price is sticking around another year, making it an expensive slightly more mainstream flagship option, end quote. Also say hello to the Galaxy Z Flip4, featuring the same 1.9 and 6.7 inch displays alongside battery and camera upgrades and Snapdragon 8 plus Gen 1, starting at $999. Take it away in Gadget.

The new clamshell foldable now lets you do more while it's closed. You can take higher quality selfies from the 1.9 inch external screen and start recording a video in Quickshot that continues when you open the phone to the half-folded flex mode. You can also use the closed flip as a digital car key for outboard calls and texts, and for payments and controlling smart things home screens. You might not have to rely on the 6.7 inch 120 hertz, 1080p main display as much as you think. There are some meaningful, if modest hardware upgrades, of course. The main camera now packs a 65% brighter sensor compared to its equivalent in the Galaxy Z Flip 3, while a Snapdragon 8 plus Gen 1 chip provides the obligatory boost to processing power. Samsung is also tackling battery life

complaints with a larger 3,700-m-hour power pack up from 3,300-mph hour, and faster wired charging that brings the Z-flip 4 to 50% in about 30 minutes. You still won't get more than 8 gigabytes of RAM, but a new 512-gigabyte storage option should appeal to avid media consumers. The design will still seem familiar, but there are some noticeable tweaks. You'll see a slimmer hinge, straighter edges, and contrasting hazed back glass. The body includes material from recycled fishnets. And yes, there are new colors. You can get the Z-Flip 4 in blue and pink gold, as well as the more familiar, borough purple, and graphite. Bespoke edition customization is still available if you prefer to mix and match color choices. As with the Galaxy Z-Fold 4, the Z-Flip 4 is available to pre-order

today and will reach stores on August 26th. The base price hasn't changed for the new model. It starts at $1,000 for a 128 gigabyte version. While that still makes it relatively affordable, as far as foldables go, you'll still be paying a premium for a smaller footprint in your pocket, end quote. Rounding out the event, Samsung also announced the $230 Galaxy Buds 2 Pro with a smaller form factor, improved active noise cancellation, 24-bit hi-fi audio, and more. Pre-orders on that. start today as well, and they debuted the $280 Galaxy Watch 5 and $450 Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, both with a touch bezel and improved bioactive sensor pre-orders open today as well, quoting the verge. It seems that company took criticisms about the Galaxy Watch 4's poor battery life to heart.

Both the Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro boast bigger batteries, faster charging, and increased durability to boot. With the Galaxy Watch 5 series, Samsung once again is shaking. up its smartwatch lineup. While the Galaxy Watch 4 series rebranded the main Galaxy Galaxy Watch and watch active lines from the Tyson era, this year's event introduces a new model altogether, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. Whereas the Vanilla Galaxy Watch 5 is the entry-level flagship, the Pro is meant to be a more premium version aimed at outdoor enthusiasts. Neither has Samsung's iconic physical rotating bezel, though they both have the more subtle touch bezel. For physical bezel fans, the Galaxy Watch 4 classic will remain as a

mid-tier option between the watch 5 and the pro. The Galaxy Watch 5 comes in 40mm and 44-millimeter sizes, while the Pro comes in a single 45-millimeter size. All the watches are powered by the same 1.18 gigahertz X-Neos W920 processor with 1.5 gigabytes of RAM and 16 gigabytes of internal storage. The Galaxy Watch 5 lineup also has an improved version of the 3-1 bioactive sensor first introduced on the Watch 4, which enables ECGs, heart rate, and body composition analysis. Samsung says that the improved sensor adds more advanced sleep tracking features to the watch five, including personalized sleep coaching. You also get built-in GPS, contact list payments, optional LTE, Bluetooth 5.2, and Wi-Fi. Both watches also feature 5 ATM and IP68 dust and water

resistance. New this time around is a body temperature sensor. Doug Wegner, Samsung Electronics America's head of wearables and accessories, told the verge that the temperature sensor will add another data point for sleep tracking, but that's about it for now. According to Wegener, adding the sensor was meant to give developers more options in designing new health and wellness features. The big hardware gains this time around have to do with battery life. The watch five has a 13% larger battery, 284-m-hour battery in the 40-millimeter watch five, and a 412-mamp hour battery in the 44 millimeter. That should translate to about 40 hours on a single charge. The pro has an even larger 590-m-mph hour battery that's rated for 80,

hours or 20 hours of continuous GPS usage on a single charge. Aside from adding bigger batteries, Samsung also improved charging speed. It claims that you can go from zero to 45% battery in just 30 minutes. For folks interested in sleep tracking, the company says you can get eight hours of battery in just eight minutes. We'll have to see in testing how much mileage these bigger batteries actually get, especially with power-guzzling features like the Always on display and Google Assistant enabled. After all, Samsung promised 40 hours of battery life last year,

but both the Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic fell well short of that. estimate. Still, if all Samsung does is nail battery life, it'll go a long way toward fixing the gripes we had with the Galaxy Watch 4. Otherwise, the Galaxy Watch 5 is an incremental update. The main design changes are a more durable Sapphire crystal display and a curvier back, so the 3-1 sensor makes better skin contact with the wrist. The more meaningful updates will come from software. The Watch 5 series will ship with the 1UI Watch 4.5, which adds a host of new accessibility features, a better typing interface and dual sim support. Apps like SoundCloud, and Dizer are also coming to WearOS3, as is the ability to use voice navigation on Google Maps

directly from the wrist. And after months of waiting, Samsung Galaxy watch owners can finally use Google Assistant on their watches. Don't panic Bixby lovers, Samsung promises all five of you that Bixby's still available on the Watch 5 and Pro. The flashier updates are reserved for the pro given that it's the new model and it's aimed at a completely different audience, aka the Garmin and Polar Crowd. It's more durable with a titanium case and a harder 29 GPA sapphire crystal display compared to the Watch 5's 24 GPA display.

It also has a snazy new magnetic clasp. But outdoor enthusiasts will probably be most stoked by the pro's mapping features. You can now download GPX routes for hiking and cycling, complete with turn-by-turn navigation. It also has a trackback feature so you can return the way you came.

While this is a staple on Multi-Sport GPS watch, is it's not something you generally find on an advanced flagship smartwatch. Even so, Samsung's ability to lure away Garmin lovers will really come down to whether the pro can actually deliver on a multi-day battery, end quote. I guess you got to match your competitors, right? So if you're Walmart and you have Walmart plus, your version of Amazon Prime, can you offer everything that Prime offers, including free streaming content? Sources are telling the New York Times that Walmart has held talks with Paramount, Disney, and Comcast as the retailer explores bundling a streaming service into its Walmart Plus membership program.

Quote, it is unclear whether any of the streaming companies are inclined to reach a deal with Walmart. Disney operates the Disney Plus, ESPN Plus, and Hulu streaming services. Comcast owns the Peacock Streaming Service, and Paramount runs the Paramount Plus and Showtime services. A Walmart Plus membership, which costs $12.95 per month includes free shipping on orders and discounts on fuel. It also includes a free six-month subscription to the Spotify premium music service. As the streaming field gets more crowded, the biggest media companies have turned to giants in other industries to find new subscribers. Wireless providers like Verizon and T-Mobile have struck

deals to offer their customers free or discounted subscriptions to streaming services like Disney Plus or Paramount Plus as an extra incentive to sign up. Media companies in turn receive an influx of new customers whose subscriptions are subsidized by their wireless partner. The logic is, is similar for Walmart, according to two people familiar with the company's strategy. The retailer is increasingly looking to build its relationship with its customers beyond the footprint of its big box stores, particularly given the dominance of Amazon.com's prime membership program. Walmart, with its thousands of stores frequented by millions of customers weekly, has long been a center of gravity in the entertainment sector. The retailer's power to sell

music, movies, and merchandise made the company's headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, a destination for studio chiefs, musicians and entrepreneurs looking to court the company's favor. As the consumption of music, movies, and TV shows shifts online. Walmart has explored different strategies to retain its media primacy, including buying a streaming service called Voodoo and investing in Echo in interactive video company, end quote. Spotify has quietly begun selling event tickets to users in the U.S. directly instead of redirecting buyers to Ticketmaster or Eventbrite, quoting TechCrunch. The company's new website lists upcoming concerts and lets users purchase tickets to these shows through debit or credit cards. Users need to have a Spotify account to buy

tickets, though. The company hasn't officially announced the launch of its ticketing platform, but Chris Messina first noted about the site being available for the public to book tickets earlier today. The site lists gigs that are available to book on the homepage and under the My Events section, users can see their past and upcoming ticket bookings. Currently, the Spotify ticket site lists gigs for artists like Limbeck, Crow, Annie Deges. DeRuso, Four Years Strong, and Tokomonsta that are performing in the U.S. in the coming months. The company revamped its in-app live event discovery page in June with better gig discovery for events around the user's local area. Until now, Spotify used its ticketing partners like Ticketmaster, AXS, DICE, Eventbrite, and Sea Tickets to list these events for ticket booking.

It used to link out to these partners from the event page. With the launch of its ticketing platform, this may change. While currently, events listed on the Spotify ticket. site are not available on the live events page. The company's support page says, quote, some tickets listed there on the live events page are available for purchase directly from Spotify, end quote. Tickets directly sold through Spotify are also not currently listed on the artist page. The firm didn't share any information about plans to list directly ticketed events on the live events page and artist pages. Spotify's ticketing site's legal section says that

the company only acts as a ticketing agent and takes a booking fee. It also mentions that it can be selling tickets on behalf of third parties, which can include venues, event promoters, fan clubs, and artists as their disclosed ticketing agent. We have asked the company for details on what cut, if any, it takes from ticket sales and how this differs from affiliate fees it earns from its third party ticketing partnerships, but it didn't share any information about it, and quote. Hey, Chris, making the news actually happen. Finally today, an anonymous tornado cash user has been sending ETH to high-profile crypto users such as Jimmy Fallon and Brian Armstrong from a sanctioned address or wallet. All of this is likely to either troll these celebrities or make a

point, quoting CoinDesk. Affected wallets include those controlled by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, TV host Jimmy Fallon, clothing brand Puma, and a wallet created for donations to Ukraine, according to EtherScan. Prominent crypto figures such as artist Beeple and more mainstream celebrities such as comedian Dave Chappelle also received Ether. The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control, or OFAC, a watchdog agency of the U.S. government, sanctioned Tornado Cash on Monday, prohibiting U.S. persons and entities from interacting or transacting with the privacy tool. A U.S. person includes anyone on U.S. soil as well as any American citizen abroad. Tornado Cash is a mixer, a protocol designed to pool funds in an effort to obfuscate the origin

of any given transaction. U.S. officials allege that a significant number of funds flowing through the mixer were tied to criminal activities such as North Korea's proceeds from hacking various crypto exchanges and services. The idea to send 0.1Eth to Celebrity Wallets appears to have originated on Twitter in a Monday post by user Depression 2019, who has since retweeted screen grabs from the on-chain transactions. The gag effectively points out the absurdity of such sanctions for users receiving funds from blacklisted addresses that they have no power to decline. The open nature of crypto is designed to cut out intermediaries like the traditional financial sector that would use banks and other financial institutions to act as gatekeepers against such transactions. Because Tornado Cash

is a sanctioned entity, U.S. persons would likely be under a legal obligation to block incoming transactions from its wallets. OFAC rules mandate that U.S. persons freeze any transactions or funds sent from Tornado Cash. It isn't possible to block an incoming transfer on-chain, so exchanges and other parties would most likely have to block the addresses on users' behalf. This may not be easy for celebrities and businesses with public wallets that aren't operated by an exchange or similar type of business, end quote. Ain't it just like the night to play tricks when you're trying to be so quiet? We sit here stranded, though we're all doing our best to deny it. Talk to you tomorrow.