Smartphones

vivo partners with UEFA to showcase latest X100 series phones

vivo becomes official smartphone of the UEFA EURO 2024

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vivo UEFA

vivo has partnered with UEFA last December 2, making the company’s latest X100 series among the official smartphones of the UEFA EURO 2024 Final next year.

The soon-to-be-released cutting-edge phones, which come in the X100 and X100 Pro variants, were featured during the tournament’s draw event in Germany.

The highly-anticipated international football competition kicks off on June 14 and culminates on July 14.

The month-long duration of the event provides vivo an exceptional opportunity to showcase its next-generation technology on the world stage.

At the backbone of the upcoming X series are in-house innovations and joint research and development in partnership with ZEISS. Fans can expect professional-level imaging capabilities that can capture the best football moments.

Aside from upgrades in imaging, customers can expect improvements on the X series’ design, performance, and battery.

vivo in sports

vivo has long established its presence in the sports world.

During the announcement of the brand’s partnership with the NBA, the vivo V29 5G series was showcased.

The company also recently conducted a 3-on-3 basketball series in the Philippines, which toured several schools in Metro Manila.

vivo’s venture into the football market is a bold and strategic move for the Guandong-based tech company. It is to further promote its products to the global sports audience.

The 2020 edition of the UEFA EURO totalled 5.2 billion viewers while the recent 2023 UEFA Champions League final match alone drew 450 million viewers.

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Samsung brings back the Galaxy Z Trifold

The brand’s first trifold phone comes back after being pulled from stores.

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Rumors of the Galaxy Z Trifold’s death have been greatly exaggerated. Recently, Samsung pulled its first trifold phone from its stores, heavily hinting that their three-screen experiment has ended. However, if you didn’t manage to grab one of these beasts during its first release, the Galaxy Z Trifold is back in stores.

At the start of this year, Samsung officially launched the Galaxy Z Trifold, ushering in its entry into the relatively infantile market. Naturally, the unique smartphone was a looker; however, with its eye-watering price tag, the demand is still low. Reflecting that, the brand reportedly pulled the device from the market last month.

Now, the phone is back once again. Interested users can grab the phone from Samsung’s website for the same US$ 2,899 price tag.

As with the other trifold phones (scant as they are), Samsung’s entry features three screens packed into one phone. Users can then fold the main screen in a variety of ways, introducing a lot of configurations to enjoy content. With how popular foldable phones are today, there’s certainly a market for flexible screens.

If you’re still in the market for Samsung’s first trifold phone, Samsung has not announced how long this latest batch will last, so get one while you still can.

SEE ALSO: Samsung has reportedly stopped selling the Galaxy Z TriFold

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Report: ‘Accessible flagship’ smartphones might provide best value this year

Next-gen hardware, AI optimization among consumer demands to justify price hike

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As global smartphone prices continue to rise, the “accessible flagship” segment could be the only bright spot for manufacturers this year.

But that’s only if they gamble and improve specs significantly for attractive devices. According to a recent Counterpoint report, taking into consideration MWC 2026 Barcelona insights, consumers are looking for significant upgrades for their next smartphone purchase instead of iterative updates.

This includes a combination of next-generation hardware, deeply optimized AI software, and affordability for a premium-grade experience.

The demand for these upgrades from one generation to another stems from a massive spike in memory costs. With smartphone manufacturers increasing their prices drastically, consumers in turn are demanding more in return to justify such adjustments.

As such, manufacturers like Samsung, Xiaomi, Google, HONOR, Motorola, and OPPO continue to democratize features once reserved for the most expensive handsets.

Chance for smartphone manufacturers to shine

It is clear that leading smartphone companies are focusing on next-generation chipsets, professional-grade imaging, and high-efficiency batteries, as well as AI adoption.

So those who successfully integrate cutting-edge hardware with deeply optimized AI software into such accessible flagship ((US$ 700 to US$ 999) devices will more likely win the battle.

According to the report, only Samsung and Xiaomi have released phones falling under the “accessible flagship” category so far this year. These are obviously the Samsung Galaxy S26 series and Xiaomi 17 series, although OPPO has also launched the Reno15 series.

This means there is an opportunity for other OEMs like Google, Motorola, and HONOR to launch better packages later in the year.

The report specifically mentions HONOR as a brand that has seen considerable growth in its accessible flagship tier (HONOR number series) sales outside of China in the last few years.

The report concludes by mentioning that in 2026, shipments are predicted to drop by 12% (year-on-year). Along with this, only improving specs significantly shall enable brands to stand out.

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Apple’s iPhone Fold reportedly hits engineering delays

But it’s still supposedly on track for a September launch.

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The foldable iPhone might be the most mythical device in technology today. Rumoured as far back as the launch of the very first Galaxy Fold, the so-called iPhone Fold has peeked in and out of the spotlight over the years but has yet to make its full debut. Sources today have speculated that Apple is readying its much awaited launch for this year; however, a few hitches might derail the expected unveiling.

According to Nikkei, Apple has pushed forward with the foldable iPhone’s test production phase, which marks an advanced stage in the device’s production. However, a source indicates that the device has encountered engineering issues, potentially pushing its launch back by an undisclosed amount of time. Apple is reportedly working on the issues now.

Opposite this report, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman reports that the iPhone Fold can still reach its projected launch later this September. As any fan of the iPhone can attest to, September is the usual ground zero for the latest generation of iPhones. Should Apple meet its September launch, the iPhone Fold will launch alongside the iPhone 18 series. This also makes it possible to be Apple’s “one more thing” for September’s event.

There’s a lot riding on Apple’s foldable phone. Fans have been clamoring for the iPhone Fold for a while now, especially since Samsung remains an undisputed cornerstone in the foldable market. Despite the demand, it might take a while for the foldable to truly take off. If Apple’s gingerly approach to foldables is any indication, the iPhone Fold will likely take a few iterations to match Samsung in terms of supply and market share.

SEE ALSO: Apple iPhone 17e review

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