Janhoi McGregor

Samsung's Galaxy S26 Ultra privacy display, quietly one of its best features, is becoming standard across every Galaxy S27 model, which includes the base, Plus, Pro and Ultra. A new report from Korean outlet The Elec explains how the tech works, and why Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO and vivo are all racing to build their own versions. But there's a catch for foldable fans: the Z Fold 8 line still won't get it because the technology isn't advanced enough for a flexible display.

Samsung's One UI 9 beta keeps expanding, with the Galaxy S23 FE, M34, Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 all confirmed in testing this week by firmware tracker Tarun Vats, alongside a leaked Galaxy A37 Geekbench listing. That brings the total to twelve devices in active development. Here's the full confirmed list, a recap of what One UI 8.5 already changed, and what's new on top of it before the Galaxy Z Fold 8 launches with One UI 9 next month.

https://www.forbes.com/video/2a0c32e3-20a7-4ab6-93b5-ea51410cf187/

Google has confirmed the Pixel 11 launches August 12. A new leak suggests that Google will make the same storage and pricing move Samsung made with the Galaxy S26: doubling base storage to 256GB while raising the price. The difference is Samsung had real hardware upgrades to justify it. The Pixel 11's leaked specs haven't pointed to any serious hardware upgrades yet. Here's why waiting for the inevitable post-launch discount is probably the smarter move.

A new leak suggests the Pixel 11 will start at $899, $100 more than the iPhone 17, flipping Google's usual price advantage over Apple. With cost no longer the easy sell, expect Google to lean hard on Gemini Intelligence's agentic AI features instead, features that come with real, unresolved security risks. There's also an awkward twist: leaks suggest the base Pixel 11 might not even have enough RAM to run Gemini Intelligence at all.

Summary Samsung's One UI 9 rollout just passed a real milestone, the first stable build for the Galaxy S26 Ultra has been spotted, alongside fresh testing confirmed for the Galaxy A57, A37, Galaxy S25, and even the Galaxy Z TriFold. That brings the confirmed testing and development lineup to nearly Samsung's entire current device range. Here's every device involved, what's actually new in One UI 9, and a realistic look at when your phone might see it.

Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8 pre-registration window closes when Unpacked begins tomorrow, and this year's guaranteed sign-up bonus is smaller than last year's, $30 instead of the Z Fold 7's $50. That tracks with reporting on Samsung's more conservative promotions this year due to the memory chip crisis. But based on how the Galaxy S26's discounts evolved from underwhelming to genuinely aggressive over several months, a smaller launch-day bonus may not tell the whole story.

Apple has officially raised iPhone 17 prices in Japan by up to 10%, but the move isn't actually new, Japanese retailers were already charging the same higher price weeks earlier, which I reported on at the time. The increase is driven by yen weakness, a different cause to the memory chip shortage behind Apple's Mac and iPad price hikes last month. So far, U.S. and other markets remain untouched, and there's a clear reason why Apple is protecting iPhone pricing longer than everything else.

Samsung is bringing silicon-carbon batteries to the Galaxy S27 series, with huge increases. Here's what that means and the risk Samsung is taking.

Amazon is offering a $350 gift card with the Galaxy Z Fold 8, beating Samsung's own $200 credit for buyers without a device to trade in. But Samsung's trade-in values are dramatically better for Galaxy device owners. Here's exactly which deal is worth your money, and whether it's worth waiting for the inevitable post-launch discounts instead.