Good morning. Today I’m reading about an incredible medical plagiarism scandal, replaying the original Ocarina of Time ahead of its remake’s November 5th release, jamming to the dark new Fontaines D.C. album, and using Gemini to prep for the upcoming fantasy basketball season.
As a reminder, Inbox is the tech newsletter that goes beyond the news cycle. We cover the most important 9to5Google stories from the last couple of days along with a few highlights from around the web. We publish every Tuesday and Thursday, and if you like what you read, please subscribe.
Inbox is written by Daniel Bader. Read previous issues here, and then catch up with Ben Schoon’s excellent Weekender column published every Sunday.
⭐️ Starred
Over the course of Friday, it quickly became clear that demand for the iPhone Duo far outstripped initial supply. Apple’s first foldable went on sale at 8am on the 16th, and delivery dates immediately got pushed back to November, then December, and now January. Analysts had warned that Apple wouldn’t be able to keep pace with interest, despite the phone’s $2,000 price, but the company called it “nothing short of extraordinary” in a statement released to the media.
Samsung was benefiting before Apple even opened the order books. Its UK mobile leadership says purchases of the Galaxy Z Fold 8 family are up 16% since launch, while Google searches for Samsung foldables rose 300% over the preceding month.
The big question, though, is whether the Duo’s existence will bring the book-style foldable — and by extension, the $2,000 smartphone — into the mainstream. Samsung has been beating this drum since 2019, but foldable share still sits at a mere 2% of the overall smartphone market, and most units sold are the smaller, cheaper flip-style variety. The Duo is expected to give Apple a 25% share of the entire foldable market by the end of 2026, which should broaden acceptance of the form factor across the industry.
I’m not surprised by the uptick in interest; the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is undoubtedly my favorite foldable ever, owing to its novel and pocketable design. I’ve always enjoyed reading on book-style foldables, but with the Fold 8 I often forget I’m using a phone entirely.
Will there be a day when, say, a decade from now, foldables are the conventional smartphone choice and slab phones of any kind are considered budget alternatives? In a world where component prices stay elevated and companies continue to pad their margins with premium options at the expense of the entry class, that’s a real possibility. Either way, the Duo validates far more than Samsung’s decision to experiment with foldables all those years ago; its unprecedented demand hints at a sea change in how people want to use their phones, and the compromises they’re willing to accept in order to get there.
- iPhone Duo orders are delayed into 2027; here are the Android foldables you should try instead
- iPhone Duo has a bigger battery than Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Pixel 11 Pro Fold
✉️ Inbox
- The biggest reason not to buy a Googlebook is all about timing. Ben’s Weekender essay focuses on how the Googlebook OS fiasco is exacerbated by the fact that every Googlebook laptop is like $300 too expensive.
- XREAL 1 Pro+ has exactly the right hardware upgrades at the same $599 price. If the $1,279 XREAL wants for the Aura feels steep, this entertainment-focused option is a perfect alternative.
- Google rolling out Universal Cart that lets you shop the web and find deals with Gemini, Search. I suspect we will look back on the introduction of Universal Cart as the beginning of the end of traditional Google Search.
- YouTube reportedly ‘looking’ into adding audiobooks to Premium. Competition in the market? We love to see it.
- Google AI Mode and AI Overview updates work to elevate links. I continue to be skeptical that this move will enrich anyone on the publishing side, but at least the additional link visibility is an ethical win that we can all get behind.
- Amazon launches two Bee AI recorders to remember everything you say. Nope. Absolutely not.
- Google updates Android earthquake alerts with more info, expands to 200+ regions. This is a good news story for anyone in a region commonly affected by earthquakes, and I hope it saves lives.
- Gemini 4 Argon is now rolling out to Google’s Antigravity for AI Pro subscribers. Paid AI Pro subscribers. Paid.
- Nest’s Halloween doorbell chimes are live now through November 1. I love these chimes and I hope one day we’ll be able to vibe-code our own.
- ChatGPT gets deeper Google Chrome integration including control over tabs. I’ve been using this for a few days and it’s fantastic. Must-install if you’re a paid ChatGPT user.
- Android 17 QPR2 Beta 7.1 rolling out for Pixel
- Walmart’s $60 Google TV streamer might be the only good deal left in streaming. The days of cheap streamers are gone (see the new $300 Apple TV 4K), so get it while it’s hot.
- Google support pages start defaulting to AI chatbots – it might be for the best. This felt inevitable.
- The COROS Pace 4 is a smartwatch for running and clear reasons to buy over Wear OS. Nicholas Sutrich is our newest contributor and this is his first post! Go welcome him in the comments.
- Wyze’s latest weight scale has a display you can actually see, Google Health sync. Why did it take so long for someone to figure this out?
- Google TV shows off its ‘new’ features in fullscreen roundup when you turn on your TV [Gallery]
- Android Auto ‘Work Account’ support would allow for easy switching in work vehicles. This is a good, albeit niche, idea.
- Spotify’s ‘QR code verification’ cracks down on sharing and could ban you for a year. Yikes, that’s not particularly customer-first, is it?
It’s been a busy week for Samsung news
- Samsung just released Android 17 updates for Galaxy S23 and several more devices. Android 17 is a bigger update than one might think, primarily for its improvements to stability and performance.
- Samsung’s Android 18-based One UI 10 update sounds like it might be a big deal. One UI 9 is still steaming from the oven, but we’re already dreaming of ways its successor will copy iOS.
- I’ve struggled to use Samsung displays for years, but the Galaxy S27 may finally fix that; here’s why
- Galaxy S26 Ultra is one of the ‘best inventions of 2026’ thanks to its Privacy Display. Eh.
- Galaxy S27 reportedly skips Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 due to overheating. I don’t think this rumor has legs; Samsung always goes with the best SoC available unless it’s an absolute disaster (see the Snapdragon 810 debacle), and I doubt this one is.
- Samsung reportedly hasn’t finalized Galaxy S27 details, considers February launch. Wouldn’t surprise me if they’re trying to keep costs down.
- Dizzying lineup of Galaxy Z Fold 9 devices leaks, including the Galaxy Z ‘Slide’. Next year’s Galaxy foldable lineup looks crowded.
🤝 Cc: Ben Schoon
Welcome to Cc:, where I ask interesting people in the community about what’s making them happy both inside and outside the world of tech. This week, I’m speaking with Ben Schoon, 9to5Google’s Senior Editor and one of the best disc golf players I know.
Who are you?
Ben Schoon
What do you do for work?
I am the Senior Editor at 9to5Google, covering daily news, reviews, and more.
What do you do for fun?
Disc golf has basically taken over my non-work life. I’ve got a 170-plus-week streak of playing at least once a week, I frequently play in and even run tournaments, and I’m absolutely hooked.
What is your relationship like with technology these days?
I still deeply enjoy tech, but the AI era has certainly changed my outlook, and not always in the best ways. On the bright side, it’s cool to see the explosion of what tech can do. On the downside, let’s just say that humanity tends to take the path of least resistance, and AI enables that in some frightening ways.
What are three apps you can’t live without and why?
- Nourish has been a huge part of my weight-loss journey over the past couple of years, helping me log food more easily while also connecting with an actual nutritionist.
- UDisc might as well be in my dock row given how frequently I’m out on the disc golf course.
- Beeper continues to be indispensable given my multi-device lifestyle.
What is a gadget that you love right now?
The Fitbit Air has been a refreshing bit of simplicity in a busy tech life.
How does AI fit into your life right now?
As mentioned, my relationship with AI isn’t always positive. Lately I find myself more and more frustrated by the impact it’s made on day-to-day life for everyone, and wishing we could go back. Ultimately, I barely find myself using AI in my own life, but I do appreciate those occasional bits of delight that come from finding a good use for it.
What’s a TV show you recently watched and loved?
Recently started listening to the “How We Made Your Mother” podcast and it’s unlocked a fresh rewatch of the early seasons of HIMYM with some new perspectives.
What’s a movie you recently watched and loved?
Project Hail Mary hasn’t left my mind all year. It continues to be a source of joy from its excellent visuals and plot, and the vocal stims that still find their way into daily conversation with my wife and me.
What’s a game you recently played and loved?
Star Wars: Galactic Racer has me hooked right now. I love a good racing game, and this one delivers a real challenge.
What’s something offline you do every day that brings you joy?
Spend time around my crazy doggos.
➡️ FWD:
This section has some of our favorite stuff from around the internet. Great videos, weird memes, fun reads, recommended apps, whatever. Send us your recommendations!
Over the weekend, I caught up on some podcasts and just happened to listen to an episode of The New York Times’ The Daily from a few days ago. “When A.I. Comes for Your Purpose in Life” features an interview with mathematician and Cornell University professor Steven Strogatz, and is among the most poignant and honest conversations I’ve heard about how AI stands to reconfigure everyone’s jobs — even the ones we previously considered unassailable.
There’s recently been an abundance of great reporting on how AI is changing the fields of mathematics and science. But I think some of it lacks the emotional intelligence to acknowledge that LLMs are not just disrupting jobs and preempting discovery; their seemingly infinite potential undermines what it means to be a human solving problems for their own sake. As people become increasingly comfortable offloading their cognition to machines, what happens to their relationship with their own brains?
🗑️ Trash
Anthropic recently announced that it would set aside 5% of its shares to be used for the “public good,” a vacuous claim that has shades of effective altruism. Elon Musk, who is practically single-handedly bankrolling the Republicans’ midterm election, then came out with a similar, more direct offer: “Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every kid in America. This will be the first of many.”
The moves are a direct result of a growing public backlash against AI’s negative impacts on culture, on employment, and increasingly on the environment, but laundering one’s reputation with the promise of future beneficence often has the inverse effect.
Like what you just read? Subscribe to Inbox today and get it in your email every Tuesday and Thursday morning. Got feedback? Send us an email.
You can also support us by becoming a 9to5Google Pro member, starting at just $5/month. You get bonus podcast episodes, access to our members-only Discord server, and lots more.
Thanks for reading, and have a great day. I’ll talk to you on Thursday.
-Daniel
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments