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Technology

Samsung's Galaxy Fold, Still Extremely Fragile, Goes on Sale in the US on September 27 (theverge.com) 47

Posted by msmash from the not-a-good-look dept.
After releasing it in South Korea and the UK, Samsung is finally ready to say when the Galaxy Fold will go back on sale in the US: September 27th. Samsung says it will be available both in an AT&T version and a standard unlocked version. It's a smaller launch than the first time around, as it will only be available in "select" AT&T and Best Buy stores -- plus Samsung Experience stores (it should also be available to order online). The Verge adds: Unfortunately, it seems that the "fixed" version of the Fold is still extremely fragile. And based on a new video Samsung released begging owners to treat their new phones with a "special level of care," Samsung knows it. A new durability test from popular YouTube channel JerryRigEverything proves it. With the first iteration of the Fold, there were multiple issues that reviewers encountered, like dust getting into the hinge and damaging the display, nicks and dings on the soft plastic, and the accidental removal of a thin display layer that looked like (but was not) a screen protector. Samsung reportedly fixed most of these issues with the 2.0 Fold by extending the top screen layer beneath the bezels so it would be impossible to peel it off, shrinking down the gaps by the hinge, and adding plastic caps to prevent dust or debris from getting in.

Despite all that, Samsung's video exhorts owners to handle their $1,000-plus phones with kid gloves. Some of Samsung's requests are more logical: the company advises against adding any additional screen protectors (which could interfere with the folding display). Others, though, like not applying "excessive pressure" to the touchscreen when tapping it, are a bit more unusual for a phone. Samsung also cautions that the Fold isn't water or dust-proof and that the magnets that hold it shut can interfere with other magnetic products, like credit credits, hotel room keys, or medical devices. Unfortunately, despite all those warnings, it looks like the new Fold is still almost absurdly easy to break.
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Samsung's Galaxy Fold, Still Extremely Fragile, Goes on Sale in the US on September 27 More

Samsung's Galaxy Fold, Still Extremely Fragile, Goes on Sale in the US on September 27

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  • Take FootGun (Score:4, Interesting)

    by RotateLeftByte ( 797477 ) on Monday September 23, 2019 @02:29PM (#59228000)

    Load
    Point at feet
    Pull trigger

    If Samsung think that dozens of people are NOT going to go out of their way to break their phones then they really do need to wake up and smell the shit that is heading their way.
    Didn't the exploding tablet teach them anything?
    Something like this after the fiasco earlier in the year HAS to be 100% bulletproof
    OR
    does being first matter so much?

    If I ever see someone with one of these things then I'll just feel sorry for them.

    • "Caution: Happy Fun Ball may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds.

      Happy Fun Ball contains a liquid core, which, if exposed due to rupture,should not be touched, inhaled, or looked at.

      Do not use Happy Fun Ball on concrete.

      Discontinue use of Happy Fun Ball if any of the following occurs:

      itching
      vertigo
      dizziness
      tingling in extremities
      loss of balance or coordination
      slurred speech
      temporary blindness
      profuse sweating
      or heart palpitations.
      ..."

    • "By buying this phone, you agree that EVERYTHING is your fault and *nothing* our fault. You horrible person! And in front of kids too! You should be ashamed!"

  • I appreciate that Samsung is trying to push the envelope, but... no.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Tablizer ( 95088 )

      I appreciate that Samsung is trying to push the envelope, but... no.

      In this case it's bend the envelope.

  • I thought I remembered there were a couple of people on Slashdot who pre-ordered this, I was wondering if they got a refund or if they'll be issued this new one, hopefully with some kinds of perks for the delay and trouble...

    Despite this one having issues I really like the idea of the folding screen and really hope they can make a solid version, or that this revision is OK (though the "still delicate" line from the summary worries me).

  • This is asinine.

    If you create a product, especially one intended for use in a "mobile" environment, you're just asking for trouble (can you say 100% Return Rate?) by making it so fragile it has little hope of surviving past the Warranty Period.

    If this were Apple, there would be Torches and Pitchforks, and Class-Action Lawsuits even before the Product was released!

    Let's see what the Samsung apologists come up with to excuse the inexcusable...

  • ...we had to use iPhone 4s. Now we have foldable phones. I love living in the future!

  • I want a phone that can be folded eight times, becoming so small that you can lose it in an older phone's headphone jack.

  • A technology solution in search of a problem, stretched beyond its capacity of the occasional gentle bend.

    Hint: My Flexon glasses frames cracked after a few years of normal metal fatigue even though I only folded them in half 3 times soon after I got them, like they show in the ads.

    They broke at the connector bar between lenses, at the joint where the nose bar went into a connect tube attached to a lense rounder, and not even at the demo fold point, about 8 mm nearer the middle of that connector bar.

  • Would it be the end of the (smartphones) world if they simply used two displays side-by-side?

    • There would be an enormous backlash from whiny ungrateful developers. Samsung is trying harder to attract low-grade talent than they're trying to attract repeat customers. I can only speculate as to why they think this is a smart plan. Maybe they think there is an unfilled market niche for being the antithesis of Apple.

    • I think the problem would be that apps would need to be rewritten to handle the 2 displays. Would you app flow across both screens? Show some information in Screen 1 and some in Screen 2? Show everything in one screen and ignore the other one entirely? Would app developers need to make a "dual screen" and "normal screen" version of their app? Would app developers even bother making a dual screen version when 99% of the smartphones out there run single screens?

      You get around this problem with a foldable scre

      • I think the problem would be that apps would need to be rewritten to handle the 2 displays. Would you app flow across both screens? Show some information in Screen 1 and some in Screen 2? Show everything in one screen and ignore the other one entirely? Would app developers need to make a "dual screen" and "normal screen" version of their app? Would app developers even bother making a dual screen version when 99% of the smartphones out there run single screens?

        You get around this problem with a foldable screen. It's all just one screen and is treated as such. Of course, the downside is that you introduce a whole host of other problems like making the phone more fragile. I'll just stick with my plain-old single screen smartphone.

        As far as the software would know , it'd be one screen. /Whispers don't tell the software it has two separate displays, it has no idea...

        • Resulting in text and images splitting down the middle? The touchscreen wigging out if you try to draw your finger across the middle of the screen? Ewww no thank you.

          Dual-screen could work but it would be quite a software engineering problem. Pseudo-single-screen using two panels that lock together perfectly seamlessly in "full-screen" usage or allow one to fold back at other times is mostly going to have the same problems that the Galaxy Fold is running into.

    • You would think that would be a reasonable solution, especially if they made the two screens with as near to zero bezel where the edges met and some kind of clever hinge that got them right next to each other.

      I think the problem ultimately is that fucking everything people look at is in the center, and there would be a noticeable edge/line/whatever and it would ruin the effect.

      Obviously there's still some value in a two-screen phone setup, but I'd guess no phone vendor was ever smart enough to think about b

    • The point of a foldable screen is that you can show a single wide window, like a web page or video. This wouldn't be very effective if the text or the video were split with a thick black column down the middle.

      Personally I'm looking forward to reading my web pages at twice the font size I do now, and then folding up the device to carry it in my pocket. It would be all the advantages of phones and tablets in a single device.

      I wouldn't pay 4 times my current phone price for this feature, but this is how featu

      • I wouldn't pay 4 times my current phone price for this feature, but this is how features start - first expensive and reliable.

        I think you mean expensive and unreliable. As this device from Samsung to eloquently illustrates.

        • A lot of first generation electronic products are expensive and reliable. Over time, they get cheaper and less reliable and robust as the parts that were once specialty items become commodities, and manufacturers dial in the price/failure ratios.

          Take an old DVD player I had that was a first generation. It weighed 10-15 pounds or so, and everything in it was metal. Most of the internal components were Japanese made, and specific to that product. I could have dropped that thing off the roof and it would have

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • OK, cases and screen protectors are out. Phone costs more than $1,000 USD (I will not comment on intelligence around a purchase like this).

    So, just create a container that the phone is safe in. Make the bendy part a cord rather than a screen. Shoot, ditch the screen, let's have some buttons. And rather than internet, give it a big ole book listing people's contact information (the Facebook before Facebook).

    I figure it could fit the top of a car, and have battery life of several days, could even use safe

  • Full text of new Galaxy Fold ad and instructions (Score:5, Funny)

    by meta-monkey ( 321000 ) on Monday September 23, 2019 @02:57PM (#59228112) Journal

    Yes, it’s Samsung Galaxy Fold! The phone sensation that’s sweeping the nation! Only $1980 at participating stores! Get one today!

    Warning: Pregnant women, the elderly, and children under 10 should avoid prolonged exposure to Samsung Galaxy Fold.

    Caution: Samsung Galaxy Fold may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds.

    Samsung Galaxy Fold contains a liquid core, which, if exposed due to rupture, should not be touched, inhaled, or looked at.

    Do not use Samsung Galaxy Fold on concrete.

    Discontinue use of Samsung Galaxy Fold if any of the following occurs:

            itching
            vertigo
            dizziness
            tingling in extremities
            loss of balance or coordination
            slurred speech
            temporary blindness
            profuse sweating
            or heart palpitations.

    If Samsung Galaxy Fold begins to smoke, get away immediately. Seek shelter and cover head.

    Samsung Galaxy Fold may stick to certain types of skin.

    When not in use, Samsung Galaxy Fold should be returned to its special container and kept under refrigeration. Failure to do so relieves the makers of Samsung Galaxy Fold of any and all liability.

    Ingredients of Samsung Galaxy Fold include an unknown glowing green substance which fell to Earth, presumably from outer space.

    Samsung Galaxy Fold has been shipped to our troops in Saudi Arabia and is being dropped by our warplanes on Afghanistan.

    Do not taunt Samsung Galaxy Fold.

    Samsung Galaxy Fold comes with a lifetime warranty.

    Samsung Galaxy Fold! Accept no substitutes!

  • Remember Kramer from Seinfeld saying that about cash?

    Watch people actually do that with this abortion.

  • ... That we haven't developed flexible glass yet, at least not flexible enough.

    It's like transparent aluminum from that old star trek movie.

    Still waiting on that transparent aluminum , without it there is no possible way to get a whale into space.

  • I remember my iPad 1. Worked out of the box nearly perfectly. No strange warnings. Dropped it several times with no problem. Used it for quite a few years, basically until obsolescence, tho it was working fine when I upgraded. Kid used it for a few more years for videos.

    That's how you really want to do new tech. None of this "don't breathe on it, it'll die" stuff. Granted, Samsung is running out on the branch a bit further with flex-screen phone. Kudos for them for stretching ahead, but maybe a tad too
  • The problems with a bendy plastic screen are obvious and unavoidable. I guess Samsung were smart to put the bendy part on the inside (unlike the Huawei) but it's still going to be easy to trash it - coins, grit, finger nails even. What a disaster.

  • Folding screens are a deeply flawed gimmick and no amount of hype by Samsung, or any other manufacturer, will change that. Nor will chasing the engineering necessary to make them not excessively delicate. They are the definition of a solution in search of a problem.

  • Having any moving or bending parts is a recipe for early device failure. I had two different sliding keyboard Android phones that failed early and it was always the interconnect between the two halves. If you bend anything back and forth enough times it will fail. The only 'moving' part I would want in my phone is the spring for the SD card slot and I want to avoid that too if possible.

  • So apart from the hinge and plasticy cover, is this device actually fun or revolutionary to use?
    I'm actually quite over all the hype about people trying to break it.
    There are a group of users who treat their devices with care and respect. Maybe business users, maybe the Asian market. I am more interested to hear from them how they leverage this device

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