Technologies

Samsung’s Flip Phone Concept Gives You a Dual-Folding Experience

Samsung’s Flex In & Out Flip concept is like a Galaxy Z Flip you can fold in both directions.

At CES 2024, I watched a Samsung representative open the shiny Flex In & Out Flip concept device and fold it in both directions. Unlike the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and other flip phones you can buy today, it folds completely backwards so that you use the phone’s 6.7-inch screen even when the device is shut.

I wasn’t allowed to bend the Flex In & Out Flip concept device myself, but it’s a standout concept from Samsung’s Display team that could provide a glimpse at where foldables are heading. Samsung Display’s entire booth was full of foldable concepts in all shapes and sizes, and it’s all part of an ongoing effort to make devices that roll, flex, bend, fold fit more interestingly into our lives.

When the Flex In & Out Flip is bent backwards, one side of the device is shorter than the other, to avoid covering the camera. The larger side was big enough to show several icons in the phone’s quick settings menu, media playback controls and the time and battery level. The phone was running a looped demo video rather than actual software, but the simulation still provided a sense of how the user interface would adapt to the phone’s movements.

Read more: The Most Eye-Catching Mobile Tech at CES 2024

The low-hanging fruit would be a more flexible Samsung Galaxy flip phone. That said, the Flex In & Out Flip is only a concept for now, so there’s no indication that the technology will ever show up in a real product just yet.

But it shows that Samsung may be thinking about ways to make its nearly 4-year-old flip phone line more versatile and potentially more useful. Samsung has shown concepts of its larger book-shaped Galaxy Z Fold-like design that can bend all the way backwards, but this is the first time it’s showing a flip phone with that capability publicly.

Read more: Best Flip Phones

Based on the limited time I’ve had to check out the concept so far, it seems like the biggest benefit would be having one screen that can be used consistently whether the device is opened or closed. The Galaxy Z Flip 5 has a reasonably large external screen, making it much more useful for using apps and reading notifications than the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and other older models. But since it’s a separate screen, you still have to customize it to your liking and choose which apps you’d like to use on it.

I’m curious about whether using the same screen on the inside and outside could provide a more consistent experience. However, since the Flex In & Out Flip is just a concept and not a product, who knows whether I’ll ever get that answer.

The company also says it’s tested the concept’s durability by folding it in extreme temperatures ranging from -20 degrees Celsius to 60 degrees Celsius and bouncing basketballs on its foldable panels. Over the summer, CNET got a closer look at how Samsung tests the durability of its foldable phones on a visit to the company’s headquarters in South Korea.

Samsung also showed several other flexible and foldable display concepts during CES, including the Flex Liple, another flip phone prototype with a display that curves around its top edge. There was also the Rollable Flex, which can expand its screen up to five times in size by unraveling like a scroll, and the company also showed new high resolution displays for mixed reality headsets.

The Galaxy Z Flip 5 and the Motorola Razr Plus, which has a similarly spacious front screen, both show the promise of having a phone with a secondary screen that can fit in the palm of your hand. The Flex In & Out Flip concept, should it ever surface in a product, feels like it could be another step in that direction.

Samsung Concept Flip Phone Lets You Bend It in Both Directions

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Technologies

Can’t Wait for New Emoji? Here’s How to Create Your Own on iPhone

Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhones can create custom emoji in a few easy steps.

Apple brought new emoji to all iPhones when the company released iOS 26.4 on March 24. The new emoji include «🫍» orca, «🫪» distorted face and «🫈» hairy creature — or as we might normally call it, Sasquatch. According to Emojipedia, there are 3,953 emoji with more on the way, including a pickle. But there’s no emoji for a dog wearing pajamas, a plate with burgers and fries and many other things. But if you have Genmoji on your iPhone you can create these emoji and many more.

Apple released iOS 18.2 in 2024 and the company introduced its own emoji generator, called Genmoji, to Apple Intelligence-capable iPhones at that time. The Unicode Standard, a universal character encoding standard, is responsible for creating new emoji, and approved emoji are added to all devices once a year. With Genmoji, you don’t have to wait for new emoji to appear on your iPhone each year. You can just create them as you need them.

Read on to learn how to use Genmoji on iPhone to create your own custom emoji. Just note that only iPhones with Apple Intelligence, like the iPhone 17 lineup, can use Genmoji at this time.

Note: The new emoji may not display correctly for Apple users whose devices aren’t on a 26.4 software version.

How to make custom emoji

1. Open Messages and go into a chat.
2. Tap the plus (+) button next to your text box.
3. Tap Genmoji.

You can then type a description of an emoji into the text box near the bottom of your screen and tap the check mark on your keyboard to enter that description into Genmoji. You can also tap different suggestions and themes that are right above the text box. And with iOS 26 or later, you can also combine and use emoji to create others rather than describing a new emoji or using suggestions.

Your iPhone will generate a series of new emoji for you to pick from according to your description, and you can swipe through these new emoji. When you find the one you want, tap Add in the top right corner of your screen and the new emoji will be available to use as an emoji, tapback or a sticker. Now you don’t have to wait for the Unicode Standard to propose, create and bring new emoji to devices.

For more iOS news, here’s what to know about iOS 26.4 and iOS 26.3. You can also check out our iOS 26 cheat sheet for other tips and tricks.

Technologies

Save Over 20% on This Handy 10,000-mAh Anker Nano Power Bank

Keep your devices charged on the go with this Anker Nano power bank, now down to just $46.

We’ve just spotted the Anker Nano 45-watt portable power bank for just $46 at Amazon right now. This saves you $14 — a 23% discount on its list price. Though it’s $6 more than the lowest-ever price we saw during Black Friday, it’s still a solid discount when you take the rising cost of tech accessories into account. It also matches the lowest price we’ve seen in 2026. It comes in four colors: black, green, pink and white. They’re all on sale for the same price.

This Anker Nano portable charger weighs approximately 8.2 ounces and measures a compact 3.21×1.99×1.42 inches. Despite its small size, it has a retractable cable and supports fast charging in compatible Apple, Samsung, Google Pixel and other smartphones. It also has a large 10,000-mAh capacity and a smart display so you always know how much juice is left in your power bank.

The Nano can charge an iPhone 17 to up to 50% battery in an estimated 20 minutes, and is powerful enough to charge tablets and laptops. Need to charge your devices while charging your power bank? You can do so safely thanks to pass-through charging so you’ll never have to go without battery life.

We’ve also compiled a list of the best power banks for iPhones and for Android, in case this deal isn’t quite a fit for you.

Why this deal matters

If you travel, have a long commute time or are otherwise always on the go, a portable charger can help you keep your devices fully powered. This 45-watt Anker Nano power bank is compact, includes a loop that lets you keep track of it easily and has a built-in cable so you don’t have to keep up with extra cords. Amazon’s $14 discount makes this a solid deal for anyone looking for a compact power bank.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, April 8

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for April 8.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Hint: It uses a lot of the letter Z for some reason. Read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.