Gadgetory

good morning on Wednesday October 18th it is episode three hundred and one of the 359 podcast you know me I'm BB G and today it's the dream team the OGS the Ben Fox Rubin end the Reggie Chang yeah hi I was rolling with did you is that is that like your new thing I really like that you know me the BG I don't know that's that's pretty sweet like it it's true it does ring yes it's very beachy I definitely like your hype man intros and then we intentionally awkwardly were a No so that was sort of how this podcast started right - awkward guys talk about Wow anyway today we're going to be talking about foldable bendable expandable phones boasting foldable phones one from CTE that just got announced earlier this week and also the future of shopping and commerce how do I end up spending all your money of retailers sometime in the future including a IVR chat BOTS all that good stuff it was true it was such an awesome story I didn't read it so I need to get all my info from you thank you yeah well that's what the podcast vodka I learned something new every day on the pod for the record we don't actually socialize with each other in the office they actually have to put us in front of cameras trying to talk oh yeah very weird yeah so as always sending your questions and comments BBG we'll get to as many of them as you can at the end of the show without further ado let's get to the podcast in three two welcome to the 359 I'm Ben Fox Ruben I'm Roger Cham so this Chinese phone maker ZTE introduced a new phone called the axe on em which has two displays that can be folded out into one bigger display yep Roger you wrote about this I know I get it phones are really kind of boring now they're all fairly similar but is this really the solution uh no not necessarily I think this is a good first generation attempt I do appreciate the fact that it's different you know in a sea of slabs where it's just plastic metal glass all they all kind of look alike this is at least a different phone yeah I guess so look uh it looks like you appreciate like an indie film that you'll never watch right in the same so I think it's it is significant in a different way I don't think it's necessarily gonna be a blockbuster phone I don't know how many people gonna buy it but what it does do is hint at the future affordable phones that we've been talking about the idea of these phones that wrap around a wrist or screens that bend around that can fold over each other or that could even like be expanded like they stretch out you could basically have a yeah exactly - exactly which think we're a little further away from that but the bendable thing is totally truce is toi legit Samsung said it wants to build a bendable or foldable phone by next year I mean they're saying they're kind of hedging a little I'm saying that it may not actually happen you know depends on there's a lot of technical issues with that but that's what they're shooting for and I think the fact that ZT came out today with this phone or yesterday with this phone hopefully and my my hope is it jump-starts the rest of the industry started thinking about it or gets them the light little fire who starts thinking about this new move because I do think foldable phones could be sort of the solution to this phone fatigue we're having okay but one of the other trends that we were really looking at for a while were mods and that didn't really take off you mentioned in one of the stories in a story you wrote today about how the Amazon fire phone also tried to be a little bit different and also completely failed so is it really a smart move to try to get away from that tried-and-true concept I mean yes and no I think for coming like ZTE they have little to lose here one thing they're all fairly low price real low profile company you've probably never heard of it heard of ZT and we're talking about them now so there you go so they're mostly known for making budget phones they've created this foldable phone to create a little buzz and they've got 18t backing them in a big way so it's for them again I have a lot to lose and they are they're introducing a new concept that hopefully others pick up this baton and keep running and and really kind of push this forward in a meaningful way also we wanted to get to another story Amazon isn't the only company dreaming up the future of shopping at a conference this week Walmart's head of US ecommerce offered a handful of futuristic concepts he mentioned having a conversation with your voice assistant like Siri or Amazon Alexa or Google assistant to figure out what TV to buy now granted that would probably put a lot of the reviewers that work for C net out of business but like the concept of like a Jarvis style Alexa or something yeah it sounds really sexy and interesting but I think we're quite a few years away from yeah I don't think the AI is intelligent enough to really kind of get through the nuance some of your questions especially if they're you have like unusual circumstances right like maybe you're the living room is in a weird position right but you want a really specific TV or specific specs I worked in the VR aspect to be able to shop remotely and and how VR might change a shopping experience because if it can replace the experience of me going to Costco and fighting the crowds on a Saturday or Sunday like I would be all for that I pay up for that but one of the things that he also talked about with VR shopping is is that you would look for an item in its natural environment so as a for instance if you're shopping around for a tent you put on a VR headset and instantly you're transported to a campsite your voice assistant would be integrated into that where you could literally ask your voice assistant any question about this specific tent and it would be able to answer like you live in and swap in different tents like maybe yeah definitely you could go in it you could walk around it so those are some of the interesting concepts that he was talking about that are granted more futuristic but it you know maybe that is a future of how we're gonna shop and what commerce is going to look like anyway if you want to read more about these stories check us out on CNN I'm Ben Fox Ruben I'm Robert rain thanks for listening good show that's all we're done informative show weird I know where were these that's right geez we started really slow and we really picked it out when things got hot and the the the timer was going off right yeah and now we just kind of tuned everybody out what questions you know I should so like the shopping and commerce stuff especially is like that's that's my life right now like that's what I write about so any questions about that I'm obviously like very interested in but on top of that I used to cover component makers so the the I also wrote about this concept of like foldable stretchable displays and I totally agree with you that this could very well be the thing that shakes us out a phone fatigue and significantly changes the way for gonna look if you take a look at that concept video that stems I put up a couple years ago granted it was in 2013 yeah exactly this was again a concept video not natural product it was amazing right like it was phone on the outside you fold it out there's a bigger screen in the inside well that's that's crazy it was like it was like mystery actual phone wallet exactly yeah yeah but if that if there was an extra screen on top of one side that billfold alright so that's three I mean that I think that was that answer the biggest issue that Brian had with the axe on em where the two screens are on the outside and they they flip up to create like a bigger screen but that bottom screen is maybe prone to scratches or dents or maybe maybe a grog last five is super strong that's what Corning tells it's the contagion fried-chicken DoubleDown a phone like it's it's also it's not a seamless display there's no like that black bar they've done a good job so there was a phone that looked like this before the Kyocera echo it had a huge border around it so when they folded up as a single screen that was really thick black border there - zj's credit they made a little bit smaller but it is still there just not a full seamless experience when you had that combined screen you know the the more useful scenario that they gave me was two screens right like male on one email on one watching video like this yeah you're holding like this Oh male and then you're multitasking with it and your multitask and your basically you're watching a video or you're watching YouTube on the top screen you're commenting on the second screen or you're instagramming on the second screen you're doing different things yeah because one of the things that we really need to do is be more sucked into our phones by doing even yeah and actually I'm guilty of what some stacking I I use my phone while watching my TV right could you imagine watch your TV and then watching another video and then texting or emailing right once three now on three screens well and then you throw in an AR headset and bingo you're in the future there you go yeah I think that may have happened in Back to the Future actually so way to go Marty McFly jr. you predicted all of this now just get us that friggin hoverboard right Oh bored one that doesn't explode alright question time first of all there's more than a few people in the chat pointing out there's not really bending or folding the rack to screen it is yes but it is a phone that technically folds it's not the screen that falls but the device is selling action yes and to my point like I feel like this is a hint or suggestion to where we actually will go and I think that's where we want to be is with actual legit foldable phones we're not there yet the technology is not quite ready yet but you know big companies like Samsung are working on it so right that gives me some hope and and a big hurdle to this is the fact that all the other aspects of the phone also need to be unbend enfold like LG and samsung i think have done a much better job figuring out how to bend and fold the display yep but you have to figure out how to brighten the battery chips circuitry all that other stuff I mean it's doable it's definitely possible but I mean lenovo showed off a concept of c+ a year ago at their tech some in SF where the phone actually wrapped around your wrist and it was a working phone I mean it's a working prototype but you can do it that sounds cumbersome though at the size it would have to be to be a functioning phone the width that would need to be just sounds bulky on my wrist well yeah I mean I think the example of going around your wrist is more like showing how it can bend less about like this is this is the way you're gonna have you this is your new SmartWatch that's a giant thing around your wrist there's more like check it out it can actually bend around your wrist by seizing that's that cuz yeah that's awkward right all right the - asks how much how medic an you get can you have multiple apps on multiple screens uh that's a great question I didn't ask about that I know there were multiple apps you're fired sorry is in more than one app per screen like like four apps running yeah I mean every phone multitask but it's an interesting thought if you do two things at but as far as I can tell it was one app per screen got it yeah wondering I'm like I don't know could you really would you really well I'm thinking about like what the kind of heavy lift thing I do on a desktop where I'm multitasking kind of situation would I do that and my from my pocket know like I'm I guess you know no I take it back if I was to do something like to take a video we're working on and have it playing back and doing like timecode notes on - that'd be kind of handy actually especially with the stylus - yeah like I could see - - is very I think it's a very easy concept understand like writing email on one maybe having been watching a video on the other yeah or even having my two emails was like sure reply email the old email you're referencing mine those all make sense - I think we would all readily admit though that ZTE is not the one that's really gonna push this whole thing forward once samsung comes out with something like this whether it is truly a foldable display or not then people are really gonna start paying attacks I don't think Samsung should come out with anything unless they've got like a full legit foldable screen like the hinge thing is a knight like I said it's a nice hint what we're gonna get but I mean Samsung would correctly embarrass themselves if they came out with like a hinge phone and I don't think they would right that's not that's not what they've been talking about and that's certainly not what they promised with that exact sizzle reel back in four years ago yeah shut up everybody pointing out how Westworld did it first what Simmons probably still did at first Simpsons yeah yeah now there's just a few people in the chat bringing up how West world had like a folding full of kind of fun I mean yeah but what's wrong was like last year talking about this for like a couple years now and not only that that's baking a part also it's called audience building no it has been in sci-fi novels for course and I would say like yeah I would've bet they've got it somewhere some future episode definitely yeah all right so we've talked about ZTE we've talked about axon axon axon acts off okay very fine we have talked about the potential for Samsung and Anirudh asks do you think any other major OEMs will follow suit from this who else is going to Humble down the the foldable LG could do it all LG definitely do it lenovo has showed off concept products so they could definitely do it and then Samsung has I think Samsung's the only one who's basically publicly committed to making something next year it's so it sounds to me like it's a lot of the folks that are in the component supply business like they they control those factories and therefore are able to yes it did help it helps that LG makes the screens that Bend and also has a separate unit that makes the battery and all these different components so so don't expect this in an iPhone anytime soon oh no you're looking for that kind of like those kinds of groundbreaking innovations even if they don't aren't successful you're not getting it from an iPhone you're getting it from these different devices right we mentioned the fire phone with all those front-facing cameras that was innovative it just wasn't a popular phone let's fly through just a couple more all right Danny Green says Danny Green bendable foldable this has to shorten the lifespan how long do we expect these to live and to branch off from that Matthew - our again what cases for bendable foldable look like and fantastic question and does anyone remember the entourage edge the dual screen - tablet oh no entourage edge that doesn't remind me of I think it may have been ZTE that created like a nested phone / tablet do you remember that also in Nokia morph no no that was it was another Chinese phone maker yeah it wasn't ZT it was it was I remember I wrote about it because Intel I had no no it was it was like a lower tier it was like phone in a tablet into a laptop no no it was a phone that that you you put it inside a tablet and then they and then it turned itself into a tablet well if you go back to the Motorola Atrix that was basically what was you you plug that into a laptop and it acted as the brains of that laptop so to go to Dash's question I think that if created correctly you might not need a case because it would just fold in on itself and the displays would be protected by the body yeah I don't know if I'd like the design cuz if I'm pulling out of my pocket every time if I have to open it up that's an extra step that I don't wanna take like it has to have another screen on the outside cuz I don't want to always fold it out to use it right you used to you did used to roll a razor I'll probably become how long ago was the Motorola RAZR move in late Nokia 3100 or 31 what is it that 3,300 3,300 sorry yeah also to Danny's question about lifespan it's it's probably true that people might have a bit of hesitation about yeah the length of the life of those phones especially because people do tend to keep their phones a little bit longer right as you mention know that the what is the running average two years everybody's kind of like falling into this two years three year three year yeah I used to be two years I used to haven't looked at the stats more recently but the way that it's been going is is that it's been bar Belling where people will either get a new phone every year or they'll keep them for three to four it makes a lot of economical sense to keep it nowadays make some way more sense to keep the phone now than in the past with contracts right the hope would be that somebody like Samsung wouldn't come out with a phone like this that they readily knew how to like a shorter lifespan by right that might be asking them a little too much all right let's pivot real quick for one last question before we wrap it up today Tyson says do you think that there will be VR headsets everywhere or our company's going to get in on a universal AR technology where everyone would just have minimal glasses and you would just look at the products I mean I think that either one is way off in the future I think the idea of the universal AR standard is a nice dream but it's a pipe dream at this point everyone else every company's building their own version of AR and so it's it's they're all kind of competing right now so the idea that they're all gonna standardize with like a single pair of glasses this seems really unlikely I think we're gonna get a lot of fragment fragmented attempts at AR for a long time I think with VR shopping specifically the usages that I've seen so far mostly in the luxury space because most people don't want to pay for and can't afford a VR headset so these are really more for super users will say they're getting a lot cheaper they are I know and there's the cardboard option which is super cheap but also kind of crappy but there are like hundred dollar options you know add-ons for Samsung or daydream that aren't that expensive and give you a pretty decent VR experience my expectation though again from shopping is is you you're already in the store let's say you're at a Best Buy or a Walmart and there's there's a display there with VR we're providing a lot of additional details and resources that it will actually give you a reason to stop they're put on a VR headset maybe there's somebody there to help guide you through the process I think that that's something that you might be able to see sometime in the future if it hasn't already the real benefit of VR like is the remote capability like the fact that I don't have to go to Walmart that I could just sit home put on my VR headset and cry and shop at Costco or Walmart and just be like oh I'll buy that send it to my house the reality of going to obtain virtual reality yeah yeah pretty much yeah I go I go there I shop my VR headset on my virtual reality headset they just I don't think enough people have VR headsets for that - really I know but I agree with you that the shopping from your from your couch because I've got three are three VR headsets in my closet collecting dust I'm like I need a reason to use them well they're trying to figure out how to do that all right fine all right we are out of time today but we gotta make a special shout out yeah a very special shout oh my god we had something really cool happened last night we want to share it with everybody check this out right here our buddy Assad made us a special poster to celebrate our 300th episode it was very awesome it's very much made my day it's just another one of those situations that proves like you meet some really cool people and your day-to-day and whoever thought that us hanging out here in this weird-ass purple room would have turned into something where we make friends on the internet and they're really really nice and talented and nice people the internet that's just the form doesn't yeah Thank You Tube right that's I mean seriously this was awesome thank you thank you Assad so much and on that note let's uh wrap it up for the day Ben take it away let's do it the 359 is available on iTunes tune in citrus SoundCloud Feedburner google play music and and of course of course cnet.com cap thanks everybody for watching we'll see you again tomorrow see you tomorrow you