Samsung Galaxy Fold, Microsoft Surface Duo and the future of smartphones

Today on The Daily Charge, Microsoft bets big on their new dual screen duals and NEOs going up against Apple and Samsung. Taking a test ride in New York City's first recovered. And the full review of the galaxy fold. [MUSIC] Good morning and welcome to cnet's daily charge it's Thursday, October 3rd. I'm Ben Fox Reuben. And I'm Scott Stein. And here are today's headlines. After five months of delay, the Samsung Galaxy fold is now on sale. It's $2,000. It's got a foldable plastics 7.3 inch OLED screen and its second screen is 4.3 inches on the front But Scott will revolutionize the smartphone. Well, I think Samsung is trying to figure out where and a lot of companies are trying to figure out where to revolution revolutionize the smartphone, but I think this is not the point to get on board looking at Jessica Because review on CNET, it's expensive,- Mm-hm. It doesn't have the water industry resistance, it's a fragile phone, battery life is shorter. You know, nobody has figured out really how to use these screens. With software and apps, so, these are a huge amount of drawbacks, on a $2,000 phone compared to anything else on the market, that Samsung or anyone else makes. So, you can tell between this and Microsoft that people are trying to figure out the future. But we're not there yet. And you're basically buying a prototype concept device. At a premium. So one thing that Jessica mentions at the end of her video review is that foldable phones are not an inevitability. We're still kind of groping around to try to figure out what the future of smartphones are. What's your perspective on that? Because you write a ton about phones. Obviously the iPhone has been very incremental the past couple of years, but there's this expectation that eventually Apple will get into a foldable phone. Do you see it as a potential inevitability or is this at least something that we're gonna be dabbling around with, with Smartphones for at least the next couple years? I think we're definitely gonna take stabs at it but I look at phones and future tech, I use a lot of different devices. I'm not saying everyone will do this but I wear a lot of things on my face. I will experiment with VR and AR. I think about where those screens are coming from, maybe it's on the phone. Maybe it's something you're casting to. I still like the idea of phones that connect to something else and become like a TV? Like a Samsung Dex, yeah. Becomes a monitor for a computer or connects to your TV. We've talked about that for years and we're not really there still but it's obviously technicly posible. I think that there's a convience to fold Holding it open. But I think the ways that you get your second screen and your extra information are going to come from all over the place. That's a good point. Yeah, that's the promise of 5G. That's the promise of like this super streaming, interconnected life. So by the time we get to dual screens, I feel like we're also gonna have many other ways to tackle that. So I like, it but I didn't like the Nintendo DS when it came out, and then I liked it later. So maybe I'll change my mind on folding phones, but they seem cumbersome to me. Well, speaking of the Nintendo DS, Yeah, I gotta bring it up. I'm sorry, that was, that was a little mean, but I'm gonna do it anyway, Microsoft introduced another concept for the folding phone at its launch event yesterday. The Microsoft Surface Duo. It has two 5.66 inch displays connected by a hinge in the middle. It also doesn't come out until later next year. Right so this is kind of a hinge instead of a crease. How revolutionary do you look at this or do you just think it's kind of two displays pasted together? Well other phones have done this too. We've listed them on CNET and there have been hinged dual screen phones but Microsoft doing this is really exciting and interesting. I think it's a bet on again trying to figure out that future. I think I like the laptop one, the Neo, more. The bigger one. Yeah, because I think you're unfolding and use it like a laptop, and I love that keyboard. So you've a real physical keyoard that's gonna shift around and become the trackpad or the touch bar thing, which they call Wonderbar. But [LAUGH] whatever. So- [LAUGH] But that's trying to figure out like, I don't wanna type on a screen but I want a keyboard and it looks like the super iPad. That's exciting. The other one is a bigger phone. It's 25.6 inch display. So it's a big Whatever it is that's the duo, the duo, which is it, but what's fascinating to me is the the collaboration with Google and Android. Microsoft plus Google Android to me says that Google can obviously work on making dual screen phones now. But maybe the use cases aren't there. Microsoft is a practically minded productivity company. So this is a year long task. Figure out, can we come up with functional things? which I'm sure they will. So I think that's a great, that's a great company to put on tackling that challenge and will benefit all the Android folding phones. Sure, okay. It sounds promising. But, [CROSSTALK] Absolute. it's a research project. It's like, we''ll see what it is when it get's there. I agree with you on that. Yeah. However, if anything, people have started to get a little bit uncomfortable with The creeping prices in phones. Yeah we don't know. This is, this is potentially doubling the price of a thousand dollar phone. Right. We already know the full that's $2,000. This phone the duo is probably gonna be really expensive too. The valuable expensive. Do you think people are gonna bulk at this and you know only neo hipsters are gonna be interested Yeah [LAUGH] Inp purchasing this? [LAUGH] Yeah I think people will balk at it or we just choose not to get it. I think this is something again, like they're gonna lead with this as a future move, have it bleed down into other types of products that kind of happened with other and there have been tons of weird windows, laptops and devices over the past number of years. So this is almost like just more of that. Plus Android. I think a lot of people don't do it. I think it's good if it's an all in one do everything thing, Like if it's your laptop, if it's your tablet, if it's your communicator or whatever you want to call it Well you're paying enough for it You're paying enough You would hope so It better be. Yeah it's like your car So, hopefully it's that the fact that they have two devices though suggests that they haven't quite solved the do everything between all of it because you do have to now pick the small or large. How small is that small Always, does it feel good to type on, how many apps are gonna be working nicely. Android- Which one is gonna be more like an laptop, I wonder if the neo, which is the bigger one is almost like a laptop. Either way, I don't like- I gotta think their deal is gonna feel more Microsoft yeah. I do want to get to one more story this is not about foldable phones unfortunately But maybe a fun we'll do this one day. Uber is making its uber copter service to JFK airport available to all its customers around New York City You pay $200 to get a drive to a helipad, then a helicopter to the airport. The total time in the air is about eight minutes. Would you use this service, 200 bucks to the airport fairly seamlessly and you got a nice view of stuff? It's amazing, it's like a John Carpenter movie in 2019. Like it's escaping, it's escaping Manhattan. For real in a helicopter. The price does not seem as high as I thought it would be. No, no it doesn't. But then again like a lot of this stuff is subsidised. I would think starting off. Sure. Hey, if that goes from New Jersey to JFK that would be pretty snazzy for 200 Sure, in a pension and how many are there available. It seems like an emergency move. Like traffic is backed up I need to make my flight but will it be available to escape the city at that point. In the event of your emergency. The zombie appocalypse. Yeah, zombie appocalypse and then the Uber helicopter is not there So the price seems surprisingly good. I might even try it- I don't ride helicopters. For that price, yeah. I'm envious that Tim Stevens got to try it out. He did, right? Yes, yeah. And check out the video, definitely the video- Right. Is a lot of fun, so- It's crazy. For the Daily Charge, I'm Ben Fox Ribbon. And I'm Scott Thanks everybody for joining us. [MUSIC] Can't get enough? Check out the daily supercharged, our extended post show with special features audience Q&A and in depth previews. 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