Samsung launches new phones, devices, including a Flip and a Fold

Forbes, CNBC cite Tala anew as fintech leader in growing PHL market

By Roderick L. Abad Contributor

MY first Android phone was the Samsung Galaxy S3 and I remember that I had to take a few lessons from an Android expert in order to learn how to navigate it. I used that phone for years, after which I gave it to my daughter. Eventually, my S3 went to a third owner—my nephew.

I also used a Samsung Note for several years. Two years ago, I rediscovered Samsung, thanks to the Z Flip 3.

Samsung has just launched new devices, including the Z Flip 5, and the Z Fold5, at Galaxy Unpacked 2023, which wa’s livestreamed from South Korea.

The 3.4-inch by 1.9 inch Z Flip 5, which runs on Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy, has a Flex Hinge and a Flex Window. It’s also thinner by 2mm at 15.1mm than the Flip 4. The hinge is also more durable and has a premium open/close feel. The crease is less noticeable that the Samsung Flip phones of previous generations. The Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 is also stronger.

At the heart of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 is the best selfie experience. Multi-frame processing combines multiple images to create a single image with the AI Object Aware Engine. AI analyzes subjects and scenes to dramatically improve detail and clarity in digital zoom. It also has multi-layer-beast sophisticated technology for natural tone control and skin texture expression. Multi-frame processing also reduces noise and improves clarity at low light in video and photos. The Flip 5 is also powered by ISOCELL, the same image sensor in the Galaxy 23.

The Flip 5 comes in colors inspired by nature, including Mint, Lavender, Cream and Graphite.

Samsung’s Fold phones are Korean drama staples but in real life, these are productivity and multitasking powerhouses with large greens, S Pen, and flexible powerful cameras.

The Z Fold5 is lighter by 10g at 253g and thinner by 2.4mm at 13.4mm. It runs on Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy and makes use of AI via the Machine Learning Algorithm. The Fold5 provides a flagship camera experience with tele (3x), wide 50 mp OIS, and ultra wide 12 mp. It comes in Icy

BY MATT O’BRIEN AND ZEKE MILLE�

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON—President Joe Biden said Friday that new commitments by Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and other companies that are leading the development of artificial intelligence technology to meet a set of AI safeguards brokered by his White House are an important step toward managing the “enormous” promise and risks posed by the technology.

Biden announced that his administration has secured voluntary commitments from seven US companies meant to ensure that their AI products are safe before they release them. Some of the commitments call for third-party oversight of the workings of the next generation of AI systems, though they don’t detail who will audit the technology or hold the companies accountable.

“We must be clear eyed and vigilant about the threats emerging technologies can pose,” Biden said, adding that the companies have a “fundamental obligation” to ensure their products are safe.

“Social media has shown us the harm that powerful technology can do without the right safeguards in place,” Biden added. “These commitments are a promising step, but we have a lot more work to do together.” provides outstanding vividness with real black and high-color reproduction. The display has a 16:10 ratio. For enhanced eye comfort, the new tablet has Low Blue Light, Eye Care Display, and Eye Comfort Mode.

Two other tablets—the 11-inch Tab S9 and 12.4-inch Tab S9+—were also released.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy on which the tablets run will give the user faster and more responsive performance, and dynamic graphics. Gamers can play more than dynamically with Ray Tracing, which provides lifelike and detailed images.

With the new outdoor visibility features, the images and video are bright and clear in any weather.

The Intelligent Outdoor Algorithm automatically detects high illumination and enhances visibility in outdoor environments through tone mapping (contrast, color and skin tone).

The tablets are built to last with flagship quality, armor aluminum, and IP68. They can endure 30 churn out new images and other media has brought public fascination as well as concern about their ability to trick people and spread disinformation, among other dangers.

The four tech giants, along with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and startups Anthropic and Inflection, have committed to security testing “carried out in part by independent experts” to guard against major risks, such as to biosecurity and cybersecurity, the White House said in a statement.

That testing will also examine the potential for societal harms, such as bias and discrimination, and more theoretical dangers about advanced AI systems that could gain control of physical systems or “selfreplicate” by making copies of themselves.

The companies have also committed to methods for reporting vulnerabilities to their systems and to using digital watermarking to help distinguish between real and AI-generated images or audio known as deepfakes.

Executives from the seven companies met behind closed doors with Biden and other officials Friday as they pledged to follow the standards.

“He was very firm and clear” that he wanted the companies to continue to be innovative, but at the same time “felt that this needed a lot of attention,” Inflection CEO Mustafa Suleyman said in an interview after the White House gathering.

“It’s a big deal to bring all the labs together, all the companies,” said Suleyman, whose Palo Alto, tablet to the smart phone and images can be dragged and dropped immediately.

Samsung also released the Galaxy Watch 6 and Watch 6 Classic which have features that include Sleep Coaching, Personalized Fitness Coaching and Enhanced Health Insights.

The Refined Circle Frame elevate the wearable experience with all new designs and optimized performance. The display and screen are 20 percent larger and brighter, the battery is bigger, and the bezel is 30 percent slimmer and the rotating bezel is 15 percent thinner. Users can mix and match a variety of straps with a with a wider selection of new watch faces. The Galaxy Watch 6 is 40mm and 44mm while the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is 43mm and 47mm. The new Samsung watches get call and text notifications, have a camera controller, camera, remote view, and Google and third-party apps. More information is available at www.samsung.com/ ph/. ■

California-based startup is the youngest and smallest of the firms. “This is supercompetitive and we wouldn’t come together under other circumstances.”

The companies will also publicly report flaws and risks in their technology, including effects on fairness and bias, according to the pledge.

The voluntary commitments are meant to be an immediate way of addressing risks ahead of a longerterm push to get Congress to pass laws regulating the technology.

Some advocates for AI regulations said Biden’s move is a start but more needs to be done to hold the companies and their products accountable.

“A closed-door deliberation with corporate actors resulting in voluntary safeguards isn’t enough,” said Amba Kak, executive director of the AI Now Institute. “We need a much more wide-ranging public deliberation, and that’s going to bring up issues that companies almost certainly won’t voluntarily commit to because it would lead to substantively different results, ones that may more directly impact their business models.”

While voluntary, agreeing to submit to “ red team” tests that poke at their AI systems is not an easy promise, said Suleyman.

“The commitment we’ve made to have red-teamers basically try to break our models, identify weaknesses and then share those methods with the other large language model developers is a pretty significant commitment,” Suleyman said.

A GLOBAL financial technology (fintech) company that is present in the Philippines, Kenya, Mexico and India, Tala has been consistently recognized by media giants for its innovative way of giving loans to underserved markets worldwide.

For the seventh straight year, the firm has been included in the prestigious Forbes Fintech 50 list and the fourth successive year in the exclusive CNBC Disruptor list.

“From day one, Tala has been focused on delivering essential financial services to the world’s underestimated and underbanked people. We are honored to be recognized for our impact year after year, and we thank our 8 million customers worldwide for trusting Tala with their financial needs,” Tala chief executive officer and founder Shivani Siroya said.

To date, the mobile lender has disbursed more than $4 billion to customers across three different continents. In the Philippines alone, more than three in four Filipino borrowers report that their daily lives have totally improved after partnering with the credit provider.

Customers are highly satisfied and cite Tala’s efficient loan approval process and its reliable and easy-to-use application as the key reasons.

About 98 percent of borrowers agree that they understand the terms and conditions of their loan, as 99 percent of them trust the fintech with their personal information.

“At Tala, we are committed to helping Filipinos achieve financial inclusion by giving them reliable and convenient access to credit. We have helped more than two million people in the Philippines to have a financial identity and visibility,” noted Tala senior director and global customer experience operations Iona Iñigo-Mayo.

Such recognitions from Forbes and CNBC are a testament to the company’s unwavering commitment to bringing microloans to consumers and micro-entrepreneurs in the country via modern technology and machine learning strategies.

Its flexible, customer-centric loan products and services are indicative of the firm’s transition to becoming a leading financial partner for the nation’s underbanked and unbanked sectors aiming to reach their financial goals.

“As we help improve people’s financial situation and achieve their goals, we strive to further promote financial literacy and collaborate with companies and organizations that are working to make financial services more accessible,” he said.