Today’s tech news live: the latest on Meta’s Twitter killer Threads and more
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Leaked: the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5âs lovely gapless design
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 is expected to make its official debut at the Galaxy Unpacked on July 26, but as is tradition weâve been given a good glimpse of its design thanks to some leaks. And the latest one has revealed a gapless design that means thereâs no unsightly space between the two screen halves. Lovely. Â
Since we wrote the story, WinFuture has also unleashed a torrent of press images of the Z Flip 5, alongside the Z Fold 5. As weâd seen before, the latter has a much larger cover screen that could help you do much more with your favorite apps (Iâm particularly liking the idea of using Google Maps without opening the phone, while a Google Keep to-do list would be handy, too).Â
Whatever kind of phone youâre after, it looks like July 26 will defintiely be worth circling in your calendar.
Juicy iPhone 15 rumors suggest a battery life boost
If one of your main reasons for an iPhone upgrade is battery life (which is the case for most people, according to a new TechRadar survey launching tomorrow) then youâll be happy to hear that the latest iPhone rumors are predicting a big boost in stamina  â for the whole series.
As the owner of an increasingly tired iPhone 11 Pro, that sounds good to me. One of the main temptations of a Plus or Max has been their battery life, but according to a Foxconn employee (reported by iTHome) even the iPhone 15 will get an 18% larger battery, with the iPhone 15 Pro getting a 14% boost in capacity.
The question now is whether or not to wait for the iPhone 16, which will likely cram the iPhone 15 Pro Maxâs periscope zoom into a smaller phone â a decision thatâs likely to give photographers a serious dilemmaâŠ
Has Metaâs Threads got snagged on EU laws?
In less good news for Threads (or anyone living in the EU), it looks like the app wonât be launching outside of the US and UK to start with. According to the Irish Independent, a Meta spokesperson has said that the Twitter rival wonât be rolled out in the EU âat this pointâ. Weâre just confirming this with Meta and will update here when we hear back.
This explains why the app hasnât been appearing in the App Stores of EU countries. The reason is apparently Europeâs tougher privacy laws â while the EU regulator hasnât blocked the app, Meta seemingly needs more time to prepare it for a full launch in Europe.Â
Still, a Meta spokesperson told Bloomberg that itâs preparing to roll out Threads in 100 countries with âmore coming soonâ, so hopefully it wonât be too long before the EU can join the chat.
Metaâs Threads has gone live (kind of)
The Threads app isnât due to go live until tomorrow (July 6), but we were given a sneak peek of the interface earlier today. Thatâs because the web version went live early, seemingly accidentally as it’s no longer available. A small band of influencers and brands were merrily posting away â no problem, Meta, our early invite must have got lost in the postâŠ
I had a quick tinker and itâs, well, a text-based Instagram. You can go into dark mode by clicking the Threads logo at the top. And your options are mainly writing posts, liking posts and replying. But itâs clear this will give Twitter a massive shove when itâs already very off balance â this week weâve already seen Twitter spring ârate limitsâ on users with no warning, and put a new version of the popular Tweetdeck behind a paywall.Â
This weekâs rumblings are the real billionaire cage fight, it seems…