Samsung Galaxy S9 is Here; Sony Xperia XZ2 Gets 3D Scanning; Nokia Bows Retro Matrix Banana Phone; Apple Working on High End Over Ear Headphones

With all the leaks, there was precious little unknown about the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus, but they were finally shown over the weekend at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. 9to5google.com notes that we did get the pricing, which isn’t as bad as predicted. The S9 will be $719 unlocked, and the S9+ weighs in at $839. They can be preordered March 2nd, and will be out March 16th. As predicted, it has a dual aperture camera, with the settings f/1.5 and f/2.4. The larger S9+ has the dual rear cams, too. Both phones have Face Unlock as well as IrisScanning. Samsung’s ‘Intellegent Scan’ turns out to actually just be a way to fallback to IrisScan if Face Unlock can’t be used. IrisScan and your fingerprint are still used for secure authentication, like Samsung Pay.

Sony has really never been able to gain traction in smartphones like they have in other electronics, so with the Xperia XZ2, they tout features ported over from their other devices. Zdnet.com reports that the phones have added 3D scanning to the front cam. This isn’t a huge feature now, but can create 3D selfies that can be uploaded to Facebook and be for avatar creation…which could be used in gaming features later. Sony has added a vibration system that they say adds to the ‘feel’ of bass heavy music, and they claim the screen tech comes from their Bravia TVs.

Once dominant, Nokia has been an also-ran in the era of smartphones. Now owned by HMD, the Nokia brand is re-introducing the Nokia 8110 from the 1999 movie ‘The Matrix.’ It comes in black like the movie, and banana yellow. Theverge.com says t’s still just a feature phone, not s smartphone, so you can’t run all your Android apps on it, but on the plus side…25 days of standby battery and it will be on sale in May for only $97. Use it and throw it in the trash when you’re zapped back to the Nebuchadnezzar.

A world away from smartphones….Apple is working on some high end over hear headphones to be released later this year. They will be Apple branded, not Beats, according to macrumors.com. The rumor is that they will have the ease of use of AirPods only with better sound. The leak indicates that the ‘cans’ will be more expensive than AirPods, but not as pricey as some super premium headphones, so may be in the price range of Apple’s Home Pod…under $400.