In this undated photo provided by Samsung, Samsung's foldable phone is displayed. Samsung's second attempt at a foldable smartphone will come with a $2,000 price tag and a few elite perks aimed at affluent consumers still able to afford the finer things in life during tough times. The phone, dubbed the Z Fold2, will include a VIP package that will provide access to fancy restaurants and golf clubs to supplement the device's multipurpose design. (Samsung via AP)
By Mike Liedtke
Samsung's second attempt at a foldable smartphone will come with a $2,000 price tag and a few elite perks aimed at affluent consumers still able to afford the finer things in life during tough times.
The phone, dubbed the Z Fold2, will include a VIP package that will provide access to fancy restaurants and golf clubs to supplement the device's multipurpose design.
When folded up, the device looks like most other phones. But when its interior 7.6-inch screen is opened up along its side hinges, it is quickly transformed into the equivalent of a mini-tablet.
“It's definitely a luxury device," said Drew Blackard, Samsung's vice president of mobile product management in the U.S.
Samsung provided a glimpse of the Z Fold2 last month while unveiling other new phones that cost at least $1,000 but waited until Tuesday to provide details about how much it will cost and when it will be in stores. Anyone willing to pay the Z Fold2's lofty price will be able to place an order online beginning Wednesday. It will be available in stores Sept. 18.
That will give the Z Fold2 a slight jump on Apple's next wave of iPhones. Those are expected to be released in October, a few weeks later than usual because of supply problems lingering from overseas factories that shut down during the early stages of the pandemic.
The Z Fold2 is supposed to be sturdier than last year's inaugural model. That initial foldable device proved to be far more fragile than Samsung had hoped, even after delaying its release by several months in an effort to fix issues noticed by people who received review models. Even with this year's improvements, the Z Fold2 will require special care that Samsung will explain in instructions accompanying the device.
The South Korean technology giant is hoping the versatility will infuse some excitement in a smartphone market that hasn't seen many breakthroughs aside from better cameras and other minor tweaks. The lull in innovation has caused more people to hold on to their existing phones for longer periods, dampening sales for Samsung, Apple, and other manufacturers.
The new phone will also be equipped with the technology required to work on new ultrafast wireless networks known as 5G that are rolling out. That's another advantage over older phones that Samsung believes will prod more people to consider splurging on a new device.
Blackard cites another reason new phones are likely to draw interest: Even as more people work from home on laptop and desktop computers, they also have been using their mobile devices more frequently. In some cases, the usage is up by 50 percent, he said, based on the data that Samsung.
Even so, Blackard conceded that the Z Fold2 is likely to have limited appeal at a time when the recession has caused the U.S. unemployment rate to soar and is forcing millions of households to pinch pennies just to pay the monthly rent or mortgage.
In an effort to reach all ends of the market, Samsung recently introduced a 5G phone, the Galaxy A51, that sells for $500.
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: Restaurants are struggling with record-high U.S. egg prices, but their omelets, scrambles and huevos rancheros may be part of the problem. Breakfast is booming at U.S. eateries. First Watch, a restaurant chain that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch, nearly quadrupled its locations over the past decade to 570. Fast-food chains like Starbucks and Wendy's added more egg-filled breakfast items. In normal times, egg producers could meet the demand. But a bird flu outbreak that has forced them to slaughter their flocks is making supplies scarcer and pushing up prices. Some restaurants like Waffle House have added a surcharge to offset their costs.
William Falcon, CEO and Founder of Lightning AI, discusses the ongoing feud between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, and how everyday people can use AI in their lives.
