Samsung

Unsurprisingly, the theme of the event is focused around AI, according to an announcement on Samsung’s Newsroom: “AI for All: Connectivity in the Age of AI.”

The show kicks off at 5PM ET on January 8th and will be streamed live. Perhaps we’ll see the announcement of the Galaxy S24 lineup?

OnLeaks and MySmartPrice have published renders showing off the reported design of Samsung’s unannounced Galaxy A55. Its design and specs look broadly similar to its predecessor, the Galaxy A54, which is our current pick for the budget handset with the best screen. But, if MySmartPrice’s information is accurate, we might be getting a slightly bigger 6.5-inch screen with the A55.

Here’s an image of the updated UI, from Samsung’s blog post. In that post, Samsung’s Yonghoon Choi says that the company has seen a 60 percent increase in “global viewing time” on Samsung TV Plus over the past year.

If you’ve ever poked around the world of high-end audio, you’ve come across Roon — it’s basically a very fancy riff on the classic iTunes app that can stream to all sorts of fancy devices. Well, it just got bought out by Harman, the parent company of JBL, Harman Kardon, Infinity, and others. (Harman itself was bought by Samsung in 2016 as part of a bet on connected cars, which, well, sure.)

Along with this forum post, a press release says Roon will not become a proprietary hell app:

Aligned with its ‘work with all’ strategy, HARMAN is committed to growing Roon’s open device ecosystem which includes collaborating with more than 160 other audio brands, delivering audio to more than 1000 high-performance devices.

People who can afford to pay for a high-end music service that works with their high-end music gear love change so we’ll see how this goes!

The family that founded Samsung, and has ruled it for three generations, has a long history of convictions, pardons, convictions, pardons, conv... you get the idea. Jay Y. Lee, current boss and grandson of the founder, is facing a possible five-year jail term over accounting fraud, after having been granted a presidential pardon for a separate conviction in 2021. Lee contends he did no wrong in a trial that has lasted three years. A decision is expected within months.

Samsung has disclosed a data breach affecting some customers of its UK e-store between July 2019 and June 2020, according to emails sent to customers shared on X, and verified by TechCrunch. Although financial data or passwords weren’t impacted, contact information like names, phone numbers, email addresses, and postal addresses were. The UK’s data watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office, is “making enquiries.”

CNBC reports Airbnb bought the “stealth mode” Gameplanner.AI for almost $200 million, and notes its plans to use generative AI for trip planning help.

The article says Gameplanner.AI was founded in 2020 by former Siri co-founder Adam Cheyer, whose later work included co-founding Viv Labs, which Samsung bought to make Bixby.

The Android 14 rollout timeline posted by Sammobile only applies to the European market, but other regions shouldn’t be far behind. After hitting S23 owners in the US this weekend, the One UI 6.0 update is expected today for A34, A54, Z Flip 5, and Z Fold 5 users in Europe, with most remaining phones expected by the end of the year.

Because Nilay doesn’t usually have enough stuff to fiddle with during the Vergecast recordings, you know what I mean? There was a ton of news this week, from the AI Pin to the Steam Deck to custom GPTs. But that’s all just the sideshow to the grand (or not so grand) finale of Nilay’s experiments with Samsung Dex. Is it the end of the road, or the beginning of the future? You be the judge.

The three companies announced an Android AR / VR headset in February but with few details. UploadVR and Korean business outlet The JoongAng report rumors of a late 2024 launch, after Apple introduces its Vision Pro.

Last month Samsung closed a $218 million deal to acquire eMagin, a US company developing Micro OLED tech that execs have said could surpass the panel in the Vision Pro, could be two to three years from being commercialized.

Samsung appears to have given up on the Bespoke Studio that lets you customize certain Galaxy Z Flip and Galaxy Watch devices, according to SamMobile. “As of this writing, some Bespoke Studio pages are still online but they no longer offer an option to buy any Galaxy devices,” SamMobile reports, and that’s what I’m seeing, too.

Don’t worry, though: You can still use the Bespoke Design Studio to make a custom Samsung fridge.

As expected, the company’s memory chip woes continue to weigh-down quarterly earnings, but it sees recovery in the year ahead. Samsung says that demand for generative AI should be a boon to its foundry business, as will an expected return to growth for premium smartphones, PCs, and TVs which will also benefit Samsung Display.

You know, unless WAR.

I wouldn’t say the 2003-era SGH-E700 it’s based on is as iconic as, say, Nokia’s 3310 or the Motorola RAZR. But the limited edition “Galaxy Z Flip 5 Retro” has a nice blue and silver color scheme, and a nostalgic Flex Window design. It’ll be available in “limited quantities” in Korea, the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Australia next month.

Amazon seems to be holding a clearance sale on refurbished 2021 Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 — there’s a few handfuls of “renewed” units that all cost under $300 today. Here’s the unlocked model.

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