Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2023: all the news and updates from the event

I’m as intrigued by a Google/Samsung AR/VR teamup as the next person, but these are some of the most impressively inane statements I’ve ever read. Meaningful plans! The spatial internet! A new generation of immersive computing experiences! It’s the XR hype equivalent of foam packing peanuts. Somebody’d better show up to the next Samsung Unpacked in Google Glass.

Samsung just showed up Google yet again, promising “four generations of OS upgrades and five years of security updates” for its new Samsung S23 phones on the Galaxy Unpacked 2023 stage. Google’s phones still only give you three years of new features.

The live presentation has just wrapped up in a tidy 59 minutes. Now... more hands-on device time. There’s an “experience” waiting, and it’s just a five block shot straight downhill from the auditorium. Better than up I guess?

Both Qualcomm president and CEO Cristiano Amon and Google SVP Hiroshi Lockheimer came on stage to talk about a new partnership with Samsung related to AR, VR, and XR. But there are no further details other than “this is happening”, so I guess it’s not yet a reality.

We've got Qualcomm and Google execs on stage with TM Roh talking about the integrations between their products and XR.

The Samsung SmartThings Station is a 15W wireless charger for Samsung phones, with a whole SmartThings hub in it, plus a Matter controller, Thread border router, and Zigbee. Jennifer Tuohy has the full review coming later this week.

Samsung is highlighting the customizability of One UI 5.0's lock screen. That was kind of iOS 16's thing too. Custom lock screens are fun and good, fwiw. More of them, please.

Samsung boasts that the new Book3 line has “3K” displays. Not 4K, not 2K, but 3K. (They are 2880 x 1800 pixels.)

Intel H-Series, Nvidia RTX, OLED screen, the works. The Galaxy Book3 Ultra has the chops for professional work and gaming in a lightweight (as workstations go) chassis. As I write this, Samsung is demonstrating rendering, gameplay, and phone connectivity features at its Unpacked event.

Galaxy Book 3 Ultra got a big, flashy introduction on stage. We're hearing all about the specs right now and it's pretty clear that Ultra means "no compromises" in Samsung.

Full-well capacity, ISP, we’re talking about it all. I guess with not much else changing on the phone elsewhere, it makes sense to do more of a deep dive. Also, I’m a nerd, and 100% here for it.

We’re 20 minutes into this event and Samsung’s already told us that all of the vignettes for the event were filmed on the S23 Ultra and we’ve gotten cameos from Ridley Scott and Na Hong-Jin.

Video performance on smartphones has been dominated by the iPhone for years, we’ll have to see if Samsung’s latest changes that.

Our least favorite word for low-light photography is back. Samsung’s highlighting the low light video capabilities of the S23 Ultra with... another film by another director. And it looks dark.

Samsung’s event just started a few minutes ago, but you can read about all of its news already. Leading the pack is the new S23 Ultra, which looks a lot like last year’s S22 Ultra, but comes with a 200-megapixel camera. Here’s Allison Johnson’s first look.

Apparently Ridley Scott, the director of Alien and Blade Runner, is best known for... Alien Covenant. (Alongside, yes, Gladiator and The Martian.)

Welp, I was wrong. Samsung’s new 200MP sensor in the S23 Ultra features some under-the-hood updates to better gather light. I was betting that Samsung wouldn’t get into the weeds in this presentation, but they sure did. Guess I owe you all $5.

Galaxy Unpacked is underway and we’re on the ground in SF. I’m sensing big megapixel vibes... stay tuned as all is revealed.

This livestream pre-show music really does sound like a Sims loading screen.

Former Verge Executive Editor and current Google employee Dieter Bohn is on the ground at the Samsung event, which warms my blogger heart.

Current Verge reviewer Allison Johnson is also there too, stay tuned for reports from the ground from her.

We expect to see some new phones and laptops from Samsung today, which it will announce during its first in-person event in three years. But you don’t have to be there in person to see it all, there’s still a live stream that anyone can tune into for the news. The show starts at 1PM ET / 10AM PT.

This one’s pretty simple — it’s Galaxy S23 Day. Samsung will show off some new hardware (including stuff that’s already leaked) during its event that will start at 1PM ET.

We have all the info on how to watch the livestream, and if you just want to keep up with the announcements as they happen, you can follow our storystream for the event.

Then later this afternoon, we’ll hear an earnings report from Meta.

The official reveal is only a few hours away but Evan Blass, better known by his @evleaks Twitter handle, is spoiling the party with tons of pics, video, and even a full spec sheet. Check out his feed if you just can’t wait.