Samsung Unpacked Predictions; More iPhone Fold Leaks; Anthropic-Claude Will Stay Ad-Free; Homeland Security-Trying to Force Tech Platforms to Hand Over Data on Anti-Trumpers

Samsung Galaxy Unpacked is coming up…rumored to be February 25th. Engadget.com reports that we can expect to see the next gen Galaxy phones…S26 if the current naming scheme continues. Word is, the design of the Galaxy S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra will stick with the form factor of the S25 series. All will run on the new Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip…although like in the past, some areas of the world will get the Exynos 2600 chip. One upgrade users will notice…the S26 phone will have a 6.3 inch FHD+ display, which makes it a tad larger than the 6.2 inch display. The phones will have 12 gigs of RAM…becoming necessary for AI features these days, and will have either 256 or 512 gigs of storage…and a 4300mAh battery…which is a bit larger than before. The cameras will stay the same. One plus…the phones will fully support Qi 2 wireless charging. Also coming at Unpacked…Galaxy Buds 4 and the previously reported Galaxy Z Trifold…which as we noted earlier will run a mind blowing $2900!

We had a story earlier this week about how the iPhone Fold will have a bigger battery than most folders…a welcome bit of news. Now, according to 9to5mac.com, there are additional details that have leaked out about the folder from Apple…due out in September. One will require some retraining by users. The volume buttons aren’t on the left side, but have moved to the top right…like the iPad Mini. The power button…which also activates Touch ID…and the AI button (often used as the camera button) stay on the right side. Apparently Apple did this because the mother board is on the right side, and they didn’t want to run wires across and behind the screen to the left side for buttons. The Left side is completely screen structure and battery. There will be a single punch-hole camera, with a smaller and cleaner ‘Dynamic Island.’ The rear dual cams, microphone, and flash are all horizontal on the right side. It may be that only two colors will be available…black and white. This makes sense, since most people put a case on expensive smartphones like Apple’s.

OpenAI seems to be going whole hog on ads in ChatGPT. Meanwhile, Anthropic has announced that their AI chatbot Claude will remain ad free. Theverge.com notes that Anthropic announced in a blog post quote “We want Claude to act unambiguously in our users’ interests…so we’ve made a choice: Claude will remain ad-free. Our users won’t see ‘sponsored’ links adjacent to their conversations with Claude; nor will Claude’s responses be influenced by advertisers or include third-party product placements our users did not ask for.” Many platforms and web sites, as well as services from tech companies are doing fees…just think of all those you pay out monthly…$9.99 here, $19.99 there, etc. Let’s hope Anthropic doesn’t cave and eventually charge fees for using Claude AND add in advertising…as some have done!

In a truly scary move, the Department of Homeland Security is low-key demanding tech platforms hand over user information about critics of the Trump administration. Techcrunch.com reports that the department has relied on administrative subpoenas in most cases. They have gone after anonymous Instagram accounts that share posts about ICE raids, as well as accounts that have criticized administration officials or protested government policies. Unlike judicial subpoenas, which are authorized by a judge after seeing enough evidence of a crime to authorize a search or seizure of someone’s things, administrative subpoenas are issued by federal agencies, allowing investigators to seek a wealth of information about individuals from tech and phone companies without a judge’s oversight. Note that administrative subpoenas can’t be used to get contents of your email, or do online searches, or get location data. They CAN demand things like what time a user logs in, from where, using which devices, and revealing the email addresses and other identifiable information about who opened an online account. Something to be aware of in this era of Trump.

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.