The Trifold Boom

That the folding ability of phones, piggybacking on screens getting thinner and thinner, is jumping to another level was clear when Huawei came out with a trifold phone, the Mate XT, which looked just slightly bulkier but whose screen size could then be extended thrice once unfolded. Samsung had been a pathbreaker of folding phones with its Z Fold and a patent application shows it is also getting into trifolds. Some reports say that Samsung will launch four foldables in 2025. Trifolds are breaking the barrier between smartphones and tablets, because they resemble the former in size but when unfurled can be as wide as an iPad. They don’t come cheap. The Huawei trifold costs over $3,500, which would be what someone pays for a high-end Macbook laptop. But, as the demand broadens, prices will drop as has
happened in the past with all mobile technologies. Supply is also increasing. At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last month, besides the regulars like Samsung, a Chinese brand Tecno had a model that merged a flip design with a trifold.

WhatsApp Music

WhatsApp users have a new feature to make their profiles stand out. The platform has announced that status updates on the app can now have music to go along with it. There is a massive library with millions of songs to pick from and images will have 15 seconds and video status updates 60
seconds of music that will play along.

Ceramic Protection

One company, Corning, has long been associated with the smartphone screen’s toughness. Their Gorilla glass is ubiquitous in most phones and it is getting tougher still. A new upgrade called Ceramic promises protection even after 10 drops on an “asphalt-like” surface where ordinary glass broke at one drop. It is going to hit the market soon with Motorola phones.

Uber For Teens

Taxi aggregator Uber has launched its Uber for Teens in India, a safe way for those between the ages of 13 and 17 to use the platform and book rides. It has an emphasis on monitoring by parents. The account set up by the teenager is linked to that of parents who get notified on their phones about trip updates. They can also make
the bookings.

artificial intelligenceCeramicTech talkUberWhatsApp