After years of theory and CES examples of bendable LCD screens, Samsung has officially unveiled its foldable phone. The Galaxy Fold is coming, but is it any good? Speaking of things with Android, another major ad fraud scheme was uncovered by Oracle — Time to dive in.
Double Your Phone Size, Double The Money
It’s coming. Samsung’s foldable phone is coming. Announced last week at a special “Unpacked” event in San Francisco. CEO says the device can easily fit into consumers’ hands like a traditional phone but can expand to tablet size to watch videos. With the Galaxy Fold featuring a 4.6-inch HD+ Super AMOLED (21:9) display that folds out into a 7.3-inch QXGA+ (QHD+) Dynamic AMOLED (4.2:3) “Infinity Flex” display, the potential is there that the foldable functionality could conceivably be used for larger screens.
Samsung also briefed analysts and journalists on 5G versions of its existing top-end Galaxy S phones.
The Galaxy Fold is expensive too. Almost double Apple’s current flagship phone. At $1,980, a consumer could purchase a Galaxy S10e (also announced last week), an iPad Pro, some very lovely wireless headphones and still have change. This is not a phone for those who don’t want to cut themselves on the bleeding edge. Samsung is also not the first to release a foldable phone, so it’s unknown if consumers want potentially 17mm thick bulges like it’s 2005 in their pocket for the option of a larger screen on occasion.
In the US, the Galaxy Fold will go on sale in the United States on AT&T and T-Mobile beginning April 26. So far, Samsung has announced the phone will come in some bold and standard colors: Martian Green, Astro Blue, Cosmos Black, and Space Silver. It will be available in both 4G LTE and 5G versions.
Oracle Catches DrainerBot
Oracle has just uncovered a sizable mobile advertising fraud operation called “DrainerBot,” spread across hundreds of affected apps such as Perfect365, VertexClub, Draw Clash of Clans, Touch ‘n’ Beat – Cinema, and Solitaire: 4 Seasons (Full)., which Oracle says have been downloaded over 10 million times total.
The scheme served invisible ads to Android users, depleting their data and battery life. According to Oracle’s press release on their investigation, the apps contained malicious software development tools from Tapcore.
Oracle’s senior director of software engineering Chris Tsoufakis said that the app developers themselves might not have been aware of the malware.
Tapcore claims to help app developers generate revenue even if apps were pirated. However, the company is using a tactic that loads mobile video ads on users’ phones without them being aware of it. This is never a good experience for users and runs counter to our own policy of advertiser transparency. We’re proud of our Moat, IAS, and DoubleVerify scores, too. We’re also an Oracle partner in multiple areas and are TAG Certified Against Fraud. We’re just saying.
App piracy is more prevalent on Android than iOS, but even pirated users can be monetized using standard apps from most ad networks, including AdColony.
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