Samsung's Galaxy Fold won't launch this week after all

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Washington Post

Technology
Samsung's Galaxy Fold won't launch this week after all

By Reed Albergotti
April 22 at 1:13 PM

Samsung announced Monday that it would delay the release of its new $2,000 flagship Galaxy Fold phone after reports of product defects affecting the screen, which folds like a sandwich, a major setback for what was the most highly anticipated new mobile device in years.

The phone was due to arrive in stores Friday. But last week, product reviewers who received the phones about a week before there were to be sold to consumers reported problems such as broken hinges that caused the screen to bulge. Samsung said it would make modifications to its screen design and announce a new release date "in the coming weeks." ... The company said its initial inspection of the damaged phones showed the problems could have been caused by impact to the hinges.

Last week, the company shrugged off the problems with the review units, saying they affected a "limited number" of phones. It said it was investigating the matter. Samsung also cited some reviewers' pulling off a protective film from the screen as a source of some of the problems. "Removing the protective layer or adding adhesives to the main display may cause damage," the company said in the statement.
....

It's the latest high-profile quality issue with Samsung phones. Within weeks of the summer 2016 launch of its Note 7 phone, some phones began exploding or catching fire. The company sent out replacement units, which also started exploding, and the company was hit with a government recall because of unsafe batteries. After many weeks of delays and damage to its reputation, Samsung officially pulled the phone from the market.

Reed Albergotti is The Washington Post's consumer electronics reporter, taking readers inside powerful and secretive companies such as Apple and shedding light on the murky and global industry responsible for building the myriad devices that touch every aspect of our lives. He spent 12 years at the Wall Street Journal and four at the Information. Follow https://twitter.com/reedalbergotti

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/04/22/samsungs-galaxy-fold-wont-launch-this-week-after-all/

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ETA, Tuesday morning:

Full disclosure: I own shares of Apple.

[Crowman2009]

1. $2000??!?!?!

I'm not paying more than $400 for a smartphone, and I tend to keep one for years until it sputters out completely.

[catbyte]

4. No kidding. I've had my Moto G Plus for almost 2 years and I love it. It cost me $225 on sale

and it does everything I need it to do. I love the lack of bloatware--I've got 121 apps installed and only have used 24% of my storage capacity. The camera is great, the battery is good. It can go for almost 24 hours without a charge, which I usually don't do, though. I've been using it a lot today. I turned it on at 0600 this morning. It's now 2015 and still has 6 hours of battery life left if I keep using it. If I just let it sit, it would be good until morning. What more does a person need?

[Crowman2009]

6. I bought a Kyocera because it's durable, can take a beating, and I can make calls in wet weather.

I've dropped it I don't know how many times. Sure it's heavy as a brick, but who cares! The damn thing even has an offline barometer and compass already installed.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. Finally getting chance to read this

Have been hearing about this device and given how several years ago, phone designers were prototyping twisty and bendy types of phones, it was surprising to see the result being what looks like a clunky version of that. Am guessing it's because of the need for a good-sized battery (where they have been slowly perfecting the bendableness of the screen itself).

Lenova had a prototype 3 years ago - https://www.cnet.com/news/bendable-and-foldable-phones-will-break-us-from-the-smartphone-rut/

And Samsung was originally slated to release theirs in 2017 but I expect their Note 7 problems (along with problems occurring their home appliances) seemed to basically stop them in their tracks.

I got a Note 9 last summer and so far it has been okay. It works great with the Gear VR too.

[catbyte]

3. How the hell are people with small hands like me supposed to hold it?

I'm a 5'1" female with hands to match, so how on earth am I supposed to talk on the goddamned thing? The fold out just looks like a small tablet. And for $2K?!? No thanks.

[jmowreader]

5. It has two screens.

When it's folded, it's cell phone size and there's a screen on the front of it. When you open it up, it's tablet size.

Strange thing is, an iPhone XR plus an iPad sold on the same invoice are less expensive than this Samsung phone.

[MineralMan]

7. My strategy: I have a flip phone for making and receiving phone calls

and texts. I also have a 6" Android WiFi tablet for use on the web. The flip phone fits in any shirt pocket and the tablet slides neatly into the pocket of my jacket. Those are always with me. Fully charged, the phone can be on and waiting for a call for at least a week without recharging. The tablet has an HD display, so I can use websites in normal full-screen mode. On days when I need a tablet with 4G phone service, which are rare days, the household also owns such a tablet, also with HD resolution, which can also be a wifi hotspot if I ever need that. If I need to do serious work when not in my office, I have a slim laptop that fits neatly in my briefcase. I have a 4G cell phone USB dongle for that laptop, so I can use it anywhere Verizon has coverage.

The cost of all that stuff? I don't know for sure, but it's not more than $1000, and both my wife and I use the devices.

I don't need a folding phone/tablet thingie that costs $2000. Nope. I'd rather have dedicated devices for specific uses.

That's just me, of course. My wife has her own devices.

Of course, for real work, we have desktop PCs with real keyboards and mouses, and honking big monitors. Those are hard-wired to the network with Ethernet cables. We're both writers, by profession. Only a good keyboard is adequate for that work.

[Crowman2009]

8. You know what's crazy?

My All-In-Once computer cost me less than $600, and its new!