Apple is reportedly planning to launch three new iPhones this year.
The timing of the news, a day after Samsung unveiled its latest Galaxy S9 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, may seem coincidental. But Mark Spoonauer, editor-in-chief at Tom's Guide, says the American tech giant is nervous about more than just its rivalry.
“I think they’re sweating in general, not necessarily because of competition,” he said. “There was so much hype behind the iPhone X and that sales reportedly are not where they were expected to be.”
According to Bloomberg, Apple will unveil three new devices this fall. One would be the company’s largest yet, with a 6.5-inch screen, another will offer some upgrades to the current iPhone X, and the last is a more affordable version of the $1,000 smartphone.
Samsung is trying to capture some of the users seeing sticker shock with its S9. But a cheaper price tag and a better camera may not be enough to bite into Apple’s U.S. market share, Spoonauer says.
“I think what Samsung needs to do is strengthen their software and their services to make people feel more comfortable about making the switch,” he says. “Just talking to people around the city today, they loved the design of the S9, but they’re nervous about leaving Apple’s ecosystem.”
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/the-battle-is-on-samsung-galaxy-s9-vs-iphone-x).
While slumps within the crypto market have typically correlated with major developments, such as China's crypto crackdown or Tesla reversing course on accepting bitcoin, the current slide is coming at a time when the stock market is at or near record levels. Reporter Alex Vuocolo talks about the role of the crypto derivatives market in bitcoin's latest price drop, as well as the future of sustainability in the space.
According to a recent report from T-Mobile, spam call traffic doubled in 2021. The company says so far they have been able to block just 21 billion spam calls for their customers this year. Despite telecom giants blocking these calls, a number of customers continue to receive these spam calls, especially during the holiday season. Founder and President of Vertical Consultants Hugh Odom, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Venture capitalists and CEOs are clashing over the future of the internet. Web3 is the tech world's name for a decentralized, blockchain-based internet that runs on cryptocurrency. It was recently the topic of a tweet from Block CEO and former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey who wrote that Web3 will not actually be owned by users, and instead be controlled by rich venture capitalists. Dorsey later shared that he was blocked on Twitter by Marc Andreesen, co-founder of VC firm Andreesen Horowitz, which has invested billions of dollars into Web3 and crypto projects. Correspondent for DealBook from the New York Times, Ephrat Livni, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss what this could mean for the future of Web3.
Prices at the pump this year reached a seven-year high, and a new forecast from GasBuddy shared with CNN predicts that gas prices will only continue to rise in 2022 and that the national average could even reach $4.00 a gallon; however, analysts at GasBuddy say anything could happen when it comes to gas prices in the future, as the pandemic has made it difficult to make any predictions about the economy. Consumer Energy Alliance federal policy advisor Michael Zehr joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
