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Samsung announces the world’s first holed smartphone

Named the Galaxy A8s

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When Stephen Curry starts banking impossible threes, you’re in for an absolute show. Likewise, when a technology company starts hammering home tons of new developments, you’re in for a wave of hype. Whatever your choice of playmaker is, it shouldn’t get in the way of an outstanding game.

Like Curry, Samsung has found its rhythm as of late. Despite winding down the year, the company has jumpstarted the hype train early for next year. Already, they are reportedly developing multiple new form factors. These include a foldable smartphone, fully integrated screen, and all-screen fingerprint reader.

As of today, add another one to that growing list. After officially announcing the Galaxy A6s and A9s, Samsung teased an entirely new form factor for the future. Named the Galaxy A8s, the new smartphone will tout a hole on the display, rather than an unsightly notch.

More specifically, the smartphone’s display will sport a tiny hole on the upper-left corner. The hole will house the phone’s front-facing camera. Presumably, the sensors will sit around this area. Regardless, the new design will minimize, if not eliminate, the phone’s bezels.

Of course, with today’s current designs, the phone might still have a tiny top chin for sensors. However, Samsung is concurrently developing a solution for this. According to other reports, the company is creating a fully integrated screen that buries the sensors underneath the screen.

With the announcement, Samsung overtakes Huawei in formally announcing a holed phone. Previously, Huawei was reportedly building a phone with the same form factor. Sadly, the company hasn’t announced anything regarding this development.

For now, the future Samsung Galaxy A8s brings this form factor into reality. Unfortunately, Samsung has not added any more details about the phone. As of now, Samsung’s holed phone remains a distant (but assured) point in the future.

SEE ALSO: Samsung teases its foldable smartphone’s launch date

News

OPPO Find X9 series are now live in China

Global launch to follow on October 28

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Just days after vivo’s widely-anticipated X300 series, its sister brand OPPO releases the Find X9 series. It’s their latest line of flagships for 2025.

Flagship Find

The OPPO Find X9 and Find X9 Pro are the next line of smartphones equipped with MediaTek’s latest Dimensity 9500 SoC based on a powerful and power-efficient 3nm process.

Much like its closest cousins, the base and Pro models of the Find X9 differ in certain aspects.

First and foremost, the Pro has the bigger 6.78-inch display. Meanwhile, the vanilla variant has a “more compact” 6.59-inch.

OPPO says though that both units boast an ultra-thin 1.15mm symmetrical bezels on all sides.

Moreover, battery capacities are also different.

The Find X9 has 7025mAh while the Find X9 Pro possess a larger 7500mAh battery.

These phones are expected to run the all-new ColorOS 16 with primary focus on silky-smooth animation, as well as smarter AI feats, seamless connectivity between PCs, Macs, and other accessories, as well as band overall user experience.

Hasselblad Legacy

Different from what OnePlus is doing, OPPO continues to strengthen its partnership with the renowned Swedish camera-maker Hasselblad.

With this continuous collaboration, both the Find X9 and X9 Pro feature the Hasselblad Camera System alongside OPPO’s all-new LUMO Image Engine.

Furthermore, the Find X9 Pro offers a 200MP telephoto camera co-developed with Hasselblad — both in sensor calibration and optical design.

Additionally, these Find models also deliver exceptional video capabilities with up to 4K / 120fps Dolby Vision support as well as LOG recording with ACES support for that seamless and professional workflow.

The Find X9 series are also concert-ready with cutting-edge telephoto optimizations such as Stage Mode and AI Sound Focus.

Pricing and Availability

The OPPO Find X9 are available in three colorways: Titanium Grey, Space Black, and Velvet Red.

Meanwhile, the Find X9 Pro is being offered in two shades: Silk White and Titanium Charcoal.

In line with the China-exclusive launch, the announcement of the Find X9 series slated for global markets will be held in Barcelona, Spain on October 28th.

Mark your calendars!

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Accessories

Samsung launched a charger that’s incompatible with all its phones

None of their phones have built-in Qi2 magnets.

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In the world of wireless charging, Qi2 is where it’s at. The newer magnetic system automatically aligns the phone with the best positions to charge wirelessly. That said, it’s taking a while for most smartphones to get the charging standard. In an odder twist, Samsung, who does not currently have any native Qi2 devices, has launched its own Qi2 chargers.

In the United States, Samsung rolled out the Qi2-compatible Single Wireless Charger and Car Wireless Charger. As both their names indicate, the chargers will allow for wireless charging in a variety of situations.

Retailing for US$ 34.99, the single puck can charge by up to 25W when paired with a charging adapter (sold separately). The car charger, on the other hand, comes with its own 12V car adapter and a rotating mount. It’s very pricy, coming in at US$ 84.99.

Now, the kicker is that the chargers are compatible with Samsung’s current flagships including the Galaxy S25, the Flip7, and the Fold7. Technically, yes, these smartphones can charge using this duo. However, none of them have the built-in magnets to natively connect to the pucks. They need a separate case with a Qi2-certified magnet included.

It seems pretty scummy to offer a Qi2 charger for smartphones without the magnets built inside. On the bright side, it’s a good sign that Samsung’s upcoming smartphones, starting with the Galaxy S26 early next year, will likely offer Qi2 charging natively. (At least, we hope. Otherwise, this might be the priciest charger in recent memory.)

SEE ALSO: Samsung Galaxy S25 FE review: Closer to flagship than ever

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Apps

ChatGPT will soon allow NSFW conversations

The platform will start age-gating users in December.

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Every day, we inch closer and closer to the strange reality of Joaquin Phoenix’s Her. Today’s AI-powered chatbots have inevitably adapted to address our more carnal desires. Some, such as those offered by xAI, are even explicitly designed to only flirt with the user. Soon, ChatGPT will offer the same thing: a way for adult users to… well, be adults.

Through a post on X, OpenAI’s Sam Altman reiterated ChatGPT’s impending drive to introduce age-gating in December. Keeping younger users from the platform will open ChatGPT to more “mature” conversations. Altman specifically names “erotica” as one of the potential uses of a looser platform.

Additionally, ChatGPT is rolling out an update which will make the platform more personable and comparable to actual conversations. This includes using more emojis or talking like a friend.

The platform is also adding more safeguards when it comes to mental health issues, given that more people are using it as a makeshift therapist. Recently, Altman made sure that ChatGPT treated mental health with more delicateness. To some, especially those without such issues, the platform became more unusable. To bring back how it used to be, the platform will add better tools to detect whether the user is in “mental distress.”

Finally, OpenAI is implementing a backend solution to mental health by creating a new council of researchers and experts to accurately determine the impact of AI on mental health. Currently, it’s still unknown how much this new technology is helping (or harming) our wellbeing.

SEE ALSO: ChatGPT Go now available in the Philippines, more Asian countries

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