Samsung has officially announced the 5G version of its Galaxy Z Flip foldable phone. Called the Galaxy Z Flip 5G, the phone is nearly identical to its 4G predecessor. The major changes include the 5G radios, a slightly upgraded Snapdragon 865 Plus processor, and the price: it’s $1,449.99. That’s a $70 premium over the 4G version, which Samsung says will stick around at the same price. The original Galaxy Z Flip was probably the best folding phone. Although it doesn’t fold fully flat, the Z Flip is well-designed and has proven itself to be more durable than other folding phones. All that said it is still too expensive to be a mainstream phone. In point of fact, we were expecting the Z Flip 5G to be announced at Samsung’s August 5th event as well, but it looks like Samsung wanted to clear the decks to give more room to the Note 20.

Microsoft teams up with NBA for virtual Basketball fans

When the National Basketball Association restarts its corona virus-interrupted season on July 30 in its "bubble" in Orlando, Florida, the stands could have more than 300 fans - none of whom will actually be in the arena. Microsoft and the NBA said that they have joined forces to put "virtual" fans in the stands of each game using Microsoft's Teams app and giant screens. The two will equip each game court with 17-foot-tall LED screens that wrap three sides of the arena. The virtual stands will be filled with fans that use the Teams app to log in and sit alongside each other using a new feature of the app called "Together mode" meant to simulate a group of people sitting in a room. The NBA suspended its season in March after a player for the Utah Jazz tested positive for the novel corona virus. The league plans to restart the season in a so-called bubble at Walt Disney World Resort where players, staff and media will be tested and quarantined in an effort to keep everyone inside safe from contracting the virus.