Articles by Derrek Lee

Foldables will become more commonplace thanks in part to the Galaxy Z Flip 3.

What you need to know

DSCC reports that foldable displays will come down in cost as more OEMs release foldable smartphones.
Foldable smartphone shipments are expected to reach more than 50 million by 2026.
Companies are also gearing up their efforts with rollable smartphones.
The Galaxy Z Flip 3 is expected to be the best-selling foldable of 2021.

A new report from the Display Supply Chain Consultants (DCSS) sheds new light on foldable smartphone market growth over the next several years.

Fueled by recent launches of Samsung best foldable phones like the Galaxy Z Fold 3, DSCC now predicts that shipments of foldable smartphones will exceed 50 million by 2026 while raising its forecasts for 2021 and beyond. This is partly due to the decreased cost associated with producing foldable displays and the increase in companies producing components such as the Ultra-Thin Glass (UTG).

DSCC CEO Ross Young note…

Are you a fan of Pixel phones?

What you need to know

Google is opening up invites to its program aimed at fans of Pixel smartphones.
The program will offer exclusive access to Q&As, events, swag, and more.
U.S. residents can sign up now.

Ahead of the launch of its upcoming Pixel 6, Google is giving fans of its Pixel phones more ways to come together by opening up its Pixel Superfans community program.

Google describes Pixel Superfans as a “VIP experience for Pixel lovers,” giving members access to exclusives such as a member-only Facebook group, Q&As, events, offers, and more.

We were inspired to create the Pixel Superfans community because we know many of you love Pixel as much as we do, and we wanted to create a space where we could get to know each other.

It’s been a blast getting to know everyone so far, and we hope you’ll join this growing community.

Members have opportunities to share insights and ideas with the Pixel team, which could potentially help …

Facebook’s wearable vision is just getting started.

The idea of Facebook hardware is a prickly one, especially considering the privacy concerns. That said, Facebook is behind the ever-popular Oculus Quest 2, which is one of the best VR headsets you can buy. Now the company is taking its eyewear to a smaller form factor with its new Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses, and they might be worth a look.

The glasses look almost like regular Ray-Bans except for the addition of two small cameras on either side of the lenses. They’re used to capture video and take surprisingly decent photos, which can be viewed on a separate Facebook View app. Equipped with open-ear speakers and available in many shapes and styles, they’re a decent offering from the company with grand visions for wearables. That said, we want to know if you’d be interested in buying the Ray-Ban Stories.

Would you buy Facebook’s new Ray-Ban smart glasses?

Facebook is far from the first company to launch smart glasses, especial…

Google faces more employee payment problems.

What you need to know

Google has reportedly been underpaying thousands of its employees for years.
The company allegedly tried to hide the problem over fears of bad press and increased cost.
Google could face as much as $100 million in back pay.

Google allegedly underpaid thousands of temporary workers for years and held off on fixing the disparity.

According to a report from The Guardian, Google did not comply with pay parity laws in regions like the UK and Asia, where temporary workers are required to be paid the same rates as permanent employees performing the same work.

The Guardian notes that Google employs thousands of temporary employees globally who are paid by staffing agencies. However, Google apparently failed to update its comparative pay rate benchmarks for similar full-time workers, which meant that the agencies were paying the employees with outdated information.

Company executives allegedly became aware of the probl…

Sonos’ move isn’t completely out of the blue.

What you need to know

Sonos is reportedly raising the prices of several of its products.
Some products won’t see a price increase, while others will go up as much as $100.
The company hinted at the price increase during its earnings call in August.
Prices will go up on September 12.

Sonos makes some of the best Bluetooth speakers around, but many of them are about to become more expensive as the company raises the prices of more than a few devices in its product lineup.

The company has announced (via The Verge) that it will raise prices across its lineup on September 12. This includes the newly launched Sonos Roam, which is already expensive, to begin with.

The price hike will affect plenty of the company’s speakers, although some will be safe from the increase, such as the Sonos Move, Port, and Boost.

While September 12 doesn’t give prospective customers much time to process the changes, the move wasn’t exactly out of nowhere. Th…

This is not the Samsung/apple collaboration we imagined.

What you need to know

Samsung has released a new lineup of Galaxy Watch 4 watchbands and watch faces.
The limited-edition bands are made in collaboration with sustainable fashion designer Sami Miró.
The new bands are made from eco-friendly materials such as apple peels and other reused materials.

Samsung has unveiled a new lineup of Galaxy Watch 4 watchbands as part of a collaboration with Los Angeles fashion designer Sami Miró.

The new collection includes six new watchbands made from sustainable, post-consumer waste like apple peel skin and rubber-like TPU.

According to Miró, the designs are meant to express our connection with the Earth and blend with any outfit.

The inspiration behind the collection was to create designs that evoke positive energy and emotion for the person who really wants to be good to the planet and themselves.

The LA-based designer is known for her upcycled fashion pieces, having worked…

It’s been a long time coming, Twitter.

What you need to know

Twitter has started testing Tweet reactions.
The new reactions are designed to give users more expression as opposed to simply liking a tweet.
Reactions are being tested in Turkey while Twitter gains more insight into the feature.

Twitter’s ongoing round of experiments continues as the company begins publicly testing its new Facebook-like Tweet Reactions.

The announcement was made on Thursday by a member of the Twitter design team. The feature is aimed at giving users additional ways to express themselves and engage with tweets “when a simple Like doesn’t cut it.”

We set out to alleviate these issues by exploring what behaviors an overloaded Like was spurring on Twitter.

After much research we found that people were using many workarounds to do something they desired: quickly & meaningfully express how they felt about a piece of content

Given that a Like has been the only way to react to a tweet outside…

Working from home just got a bit more colorful.

What you need to know

Google is updating its Workspace apps on Android with new Material You styles.
Apps like Gmail and Google Meet will change based on the Android 12 dynamic theme settings.
Updates for Workspaces apps are rolling out as soon as September 9.

Google announced new visual changes for its Workspace apps on Thursday, adding new Material You designs as part of the upcoming Android 12 update.

With the change comes the Google Sans font for better readability and apps will receive more rounded navigation bars with improved floating actions.

Workspace apps “[o]n Pixel devices with Android 12 or newer” will also make use of the dynamic theming system, adding background colors and accents throughout the apps based on the set background of user-choice. Fortunately, it’s fairly easy to customize your phone’s theme in Android 12.

Apps receiving the new visual update include Gmail, Google Meet, Google Drive, Calendar, and mor…

Samsung goes for more immersion with bigger, stretchier displays.

What you need to know

Samsung showed off its flexible OLED display tech at Global Tech Korea 2021 this week.
The demo shows a 13-inch OLED display that stretches based on what’s being shown.
Samsung hopes to utilize its improved display technology in form factors beyond foldable smartphones.

Hot on the heels of LG’s “Real Folding Window” showcase, Samsung is taking its moment to shine with a new stretchable OLED display demo.

At this week’s Global Tech Korea 2021, Samsung presented an impressive 13-inch OLED panel that appears to stretch at varying degrees. The panel displayed a video of lava flowing while different sections rose and fell as if to mimic the flow of the lava and thus adding another level of 3D immersion to the content.

According to Changhee Lee, executive vice president of Samsung Display, the degree at which stretchable displays could be deformed “was about 5% in the past, but now it has imp…

Twitter’s “social privacy” features could save you from the wrath of the internet… maybe.

Update, Sept 7 (8:13 p.m. ET): Twitter starts testing the ability to edit the follow list

What you need to know

Twitter is reportedly working on a set of new privacy features.
Users may be able to edit their follower list, hide liked tweets, and remove themselves from conversations.
Twitter may allow users to hide old tweets after a set amount of time.

Twitter is reportedly working on a set of new privacy features that will allow users to better manage their online presence on the social media site. The new “social privacy” features are meant to make people more comfortable engaging on Twitter.

According to Bloomberg, Twitter is currently considering several features that users may find very helpful when navigating the site. One big one includes hiding old tweets from other users after a set amount of time. This could be anywhere from 30, 60, or 90 days, and tweets would be archived awa…