Samsung Unveils Two New Foldable Smartphones in a Bet on Devices with Bending Screens

 Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Phones displayed during the Galaxy Unpacked 2023 event at the COEX in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (AP)
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Phones displayed during the Galaxy Unpacked 2023 event at the COEX in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (AP)
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Samsung Unveils Two New Foldable Smartphones in a Bet on Devices with Bending Screens

 Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Phones displayed during the Galaxy Unpacked 2023 event at the COEX in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (AP)
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 Phones displayed during the Galaxy Unpacked 2023 event at the COEX in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, July 26, 2023. (AP)

Samsung Electronics on Wednesday unveiled two foldable smartphones as it continues to bet on devices with bending screens, a budding market that has yet to fully take off because of high prices.

The clamshell-designed Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5, a larger device that opens and folds like a book, will be available for pre-orders starting July 26 in certain markets including the United States and South Korea.

Built with 6.7-inch and 7.6-inch main screens, the phones have bigger displays than Samsung’s previous folding devices and are equipped with more advanced cameras, providing crisper visuals and more features for work, text and video chats, movies and games, the company said. Designed to be compact and easy to carry, the Flip 5 is also built with a 3.4-inch cover screen that allows it to be used folded in half.

The phones, which run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor chips, are slightly sleeker and lighter than their predecessors but designed to be more durable and shock-resistant.

All that technology comes with hefty price tags. In the United States, Flip 5 will start at around $1,000 while the Fold 5 is set at $1,800.

Samsung, a South Korean technology giant that’s also a major producer of computer memory chips, has been the longest provider of folding phones, releasing its first devices in 2019.

The company announced the new phones at a lavish product event in South Korea’s capital, Seoul, choosing one of the markets where folding phones are closer to being mainstream products than novelties.

There’s optimism in the industry that the global market for foldable phones is beginning to grow at a faster pace with other vendors like Google, Motorola and Huawei now providing competition to Samsung.

According to Counterpoint, a technology market research firm, global shipments of foldable phones will approach 19 million units in 2023, which would mark a 45% increase from 2022, mainly fueled by rising consumer demands in China.

The shipments may exceed 100 million units by 2027, Counterpoint said in a report released Wednesday, although that projection was based on a presumption that Apple would eventually release a foldable iPhone, sometime around 2025. Apple, which closely competes with Samsung for the top spot in global smartphone shipments, has yet to confirm any plans for foldable devices.



OpenAI Finds More Chinese Groups Using ChatGPT for Malicious Purposes

FILE PHOTO: OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken February 8, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken February 8, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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OpenAI Finds More Chinese Groups Using ChatGPT for Malicious Purposes

FILE PHOTO: OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken February 8, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken February 8, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

OpenAI is seeing an increasing number of Chinese groups using its artificial intelligence technology for covert operations, which the ChatGPT maker described in a report released Thursday.

While the scope and tactics employed by these groups have expanded, the operations detected were generally small in scale and targeted limited audiences, the San Francisco-based startup said, according to Reuters.

Since ChatGPT burst onto the scene in late 2022, there have been concerns about the potential consequences of generative AI technology, which can quickly and easily produce human-like text, imagery and audio.

OpenAI regularly releases reports on malicious activity it detects on its platform, such as creating and debugging malware, or generating fake content for websites and social media platforms.

In one example, OpenAI banned ChatGPT accounts that generated social media posts on political and geopolitical topics relevant to China, including criticism of a Taiwan-centric video game, false accusations against a Pakistani activist, and content related to the closure of USAID.

Some content also criticized US President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, generating X posts, such as "Tariffs make imported goods outrageously expensive, yet the government splurges on overseas aid. Who's supposed to keep eating?".

In another example, China-linked threat actors used AI to support various phases of their cyber operations, including open-source research, script modification, troubleshooting system configurations, and development of tools for password brute forcing and social media automation.

A third example OpenAI found was a China-origin influence operation that generated polarized social media content supporting both sides of divisive topics within US political discourse, including text and AI-generated profile images.

China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on OpenAI's findings.

OpenAI has cemented its position as one of the world's most valuable private companies after announcing a $40 billion funding round valuing the company at $300 billion.