There’s little doubt that we’ll see a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 and a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 in 2025 – and any lingering doubts now appear to have been dispelled, as codenames for these phones have leaked.
GalaxyClub (via GSMArena) claims to have received information about these phones, stating that they’re in the works with codenames of B7 (for the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7), and Q7 (for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7).
So far, so unsurprising; but alongside these, GalaxyClub claims there’s also a device with the codename Q7M.
So what could this be? The site doesn’t claim to know, other than suggesting that it could be some variation on the Galaxy Z Fold 7, but it puts forward two possibilities. One is that this is the rumored tri-fold Samsung foldable phone, although we’d think that would launch as a completely different model, rather than as a variant of the Galaxy Z Fold 7.
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The other suggestion GalaxyClub makes is that this could be a special-edition model, like we’ve recently seen with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition, which is currently exclusive to South Korea. But that phone was codenamed Q6A, following on from the Q6-codenamed Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6. So logically a successor would have the codename Q7A, not Q7M.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition is a slimmer, slightly better Z Fold 6 (Image credit: Samsung)
Affordable or ultra-premium?
So what else could it be? The other two possibilities we can think of are either a relatively low-cost Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, or perhaps an ultra-premium Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 Ultra.
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We might get more of an idea in July or August, as that’s when the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7, and at least the standard model of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, are expected to land.
The yellow flower of one of the rarest magnolias in Colombia
Scientists assessing dangers posed to the world’s trees have revealed that more than a third of species are facing extinction in the wild.
The number of threatened trees now outweighs all threatened birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians put together, according to the latest update to the official extinction red list.
The news was released in Cali, Colombia, where world leaders are meeting at the UN biodiversity summit, COP 16, to assess progress on a landmark rescue plan for nature.
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Trees are vital for life, helping to clean the air and soak up carbon emissions, as well as providing homes for thousands of birds, insects and mammals.
Ash trees are under threat from the fungal disease, ash dieback
More than 1,000 scientists took part in the assessment of the conservation status of trees, compiled by the plant conservation charity, Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Emily Beech of BGCI said 38% of the world’s trees are now threatened with extinction.
“Trees are highly threatened all across the world but now we have the tools that we need to make sure that we prioritise conservation action on the ground,” she said.
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Trees are at risk in 192 countries, with clearing land for farming and logging the biggest threat and, in temperate regions, pests and diseases.
Well-known trees such as magnolias are among the most threatened, with oaks, maple and ebonies also at risk.
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The monkey puzzle tree is now endangered in its native habitat across South America
Scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in London, are working to conserve trees across the world by collecting seeds and growing specimens in arboretums.
Conservation researcher Steven Bachman said the figures were “shocking”, with a knock-on effect for the many other plants and animals that depend on trees.
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“We are currently in a biodiversity crisis,” he said. “Many species of trees all around the world are providing habitat for many other species of birds, mammals, insects, fungi.
“If we lose the trees we are losing many other species with them.”
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Hedgehogs are in decline as natural land is lost to farming
As well as trees, the update to the extinction red list brought bad news for other plants and animals.
The hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) moved a step closer to extinction as populations shrink across much of Europe, including the UK.
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The much-loved mammal is losing its natural habitat due to the expansion of farming and land development.
There are also concerns for the survival of migratory birds, many of which make stop-offs on Britain’s vast shorelines and estuaries.
Four UK shorebirds – the grey plover, dunlin, turnstone and curlew sandpiper – are becoming more endangered on the red list.
RSPB Titchwell
The grey plover is only found at the coast in the UK and is mostly a winter migrant
At COP 16, world leaders are meeting to take stock of progress in meeting a pledge of protecting 30% of lands, seas and oceans by 2030.
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The summit is due to end on 1 November, with many issues still outstanding, including finance for preserving biodiversity across the globe and beefing up national plans for protecting nature.
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Countries are meeting in Cali, Colombia, at COP 16
Instagram has revealed that it lowers the quality of older, less popular videos – reserving higher quality for more popular content.
Adam Mosseri, head of the Meta-owned social media platform said on Sunday “we bias to higher quality… for creators who drive more views”.
He said Instagram reduces the quality of videos that have not been watched for a long time because most views occur soon after one is posted – but the quality will be improved if the video gets more popular.
But the revelation has sparked concern among some creators that it may impact the reach and visibility of their videos.
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“I think it’s simply wrong to adjust the quality of a person’s video based on performance,” wrote one person.
They said it was an example of why some people had become “jaded” with Instagram.
“The very heart of it has become solely dependent upon performance, metrics, views, and engagement – so much so that I can’t even control if the quality of my video is retained due to Instagram pushing a bias,” they said.
Social media consultant Matt Navarra told the BBC the move “seems to somewhat contradict Instagram’s earlier messages or efforts to encourage new creators”.
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“How can creators gain traction if their content is penalised for not being popular,” he said.
And he said it could risk creating a cycle of more established creators reaping the rewards of higher engagement from viewers over those trying to build their following.
Videos that have a higher resolution or contain lots of visual assets such as edits, images or other clips can demand more computing power to encode.
These will typically be larger in size than videos in a smaller resolution, meaning they require more storage space on servers.
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And one person said in response to Mr Mosseri’s post they understood the benefits of potentially reducing storage cost, but it did not outweigh the negatives.
“From a creator’s perspective, spending time on creating high quality content just for it to be downgraded to low resolution sucks,” they said.
In May, Instagram announced changes to its system for recommending content, particularly video, to “give all creators a more equal chance of breaking through”.
However, Mr Navarra said he agreed with Mr Mosseri’s assertion – when responding to user concerns about the impact on smaller creators – that people will always value a video’s content over its quality.
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He said creators should focus on how they can make engaging content that caters to their audience, rather than be overly concerned by the possibility of its quality being degraded by Instagram.
Mr Mosseri clarified to users on Sunday that Instagram does not decide to reduce or improve the quality of individual videos, but rather does so in an “aggregate” way and on a “sliding scale” – adding he believed the difference in quality “isn’t huge”.
“The goal is to show people the highest quality content that we can,” he said in his initial video response.
The BBC has asked Instagram for more information.
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The social media platform’s attempts to make video more key to its app experience have previously resulted in backlash from some users and creators.
Today’s best laptop deals are spread across retailers, with Amazon deals and Walmart deals having some laptops worth taking a look at. But the widest selection of all is at Best Buy, where you can find plenty of Dell laptop deals, HP laptop deals, Lenovo laptop deals, and even MacBook deals to choose from. We’ve tracked down what we feel are the Best Buy laptop deals worth taking a hard look at if you’re in the market for both a laptop and some savings. Reading onward you’ll find all of the details on how to save, as well as some information on which discounted laptop might best suit your needs.
The Acer Chromebook 315 is one of the larger Chromebooks you’ll find, as its display comes in at an impressive 15.6 inches. This makes it a great option for people who want some extra screen real estate, but who still like to do their work on the go. The Acer Chromebook 315 has plenty of power for a Chromebook, and is made as much for comfort as functionality. Its slightly larger size will come in handy when doing creative work and an integrated numeric keyboard gives it the feel of working on a desktop. The Acer Chromebook 315 is able to reach up to 10 hours of battery life on a single charge, meaning you can work on the go all day without needing to take a charger with you.
The HP 14-inch laptop is a sleek and fun computing device. It’s a great option for anyone searching the best laptops for high school students or the best laptops for college. It has an Intel Pentium processor and 4GB of system RAM that combine to push through homework assignments, work presentations, and hours upon hours of binge watching. The 14-inch screen sports HD resolution and makes this HP laptop a great way to enjoy movies, photos, and other digital content. The HP 14-inch laptop is able to reach up to 14 hours of battery life on a single charge, making it a great all-day option for people who like to do their work on the go.
The Lenovo IdeaPad 1 is a great alternative to the best budget laptops. It’s hard to beat this price tag when it comes to a Lenovo laptop, and even at this price point, the IdeaPad 1 doesn’t hold back on features. It has a 15.6-inch HD display that’s great for binge watching on, and it’s about as portable as most laptops get, coming in at just over three pounds and not much more than half an inch thick. You’re able to connect an HD monitor to this laptop via HDMI connection, and a built-in webcam with privacy shutter and dual array microphone makes it a great way to keep in touch with family, friends, and colleagues.
This 17.3-inch HP laptop is on the entry-level end of the model lineup, though it does have some slightly upgraded specs for getting your work or studies done throughout the day. It checks in with 8GB of RAM and a blazing fast 256GB solid state drive. It also has an Intel Core i3 processor and Intel UHD Graphics. While these are closer to the entry-level range, this laptop can still get things done. You’ll also find Windows 11 preinstalled to ensure you’re up and running in no time after breaking it out of the box.
With its unique design, the Inspiron 14 2-in-1 laptop is truly made to accommodate all users. It has a 360-degree hinge, so you can work in four different modes. A lift hinge keeps your wrist comfortable as you type, and a larger touchpad allows for extra room when navigating. The touchscreen is a Full HD display that works with ComfortView software to reduce harmful blue light emissions. It’s a comfortable device to work at or play with for hours at a time, and it even makes a worthy consideration if you’ve got your eye on the Apple MacBook Air M2 or anything from the Microsoft Surface lineup.
The Acer Nitro V is a good gaming laptop to consider if you’re looking for a laptop with a larger screen. It has internal hardware that’s difficult to find at such a great price, including an AMD Ryzen 5 processor, 16GB of RAM, and the powerful NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 graphics card. These work together to make your gaming experience immersive and smooth, and a 512GB solid state drives makes for a lot of space to store your favorite PC games. This even makes a great laptop if you like to do your gaming on the go, as it’s able to reach up to 13 hours of battery life on a single charge, and the 15.6-inch screen goes a long way toward creating an immersive gaming environment.
The Apple MacBook Air M2 has been one of the most popular laptops on the market, and it will be hard to top the price you’re seeing here with this Best Buy laptop deal. It has the Apple M2 chip that provides a great harmony of performance and efficiency, with the MacBook Air M2 providing some of the longest battery life you’ll find in a laptop. This build comes with a 256GB solid state drive, which should be plenty of capacity for most people. You might need more if you’re planning to house any sort of media library or do some video editing, but you can always put one of the best external hard drives alongside the MacBook Air M2.
While the HP Victus 16 is geared toward gamers, it makes a great laptop option for anyone looking for a good balance of performance and affordability. You’ll be getting some quality specs as the Victus 16 is built for this deal, with gaming level performance at its forefront. It comes with Windows 11 and HP fast charging technology as well, so it makes a great laptop for everyday productivity and taking your work on the go. You can keep in touch with friends and family with its Full HD camera, and its micro-edge display allows for a larger screen in a smaller footprint.
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 is a powerful laptop that comes highly reviewed by Best Buy customers. It is favored for its high resolution and 15-inch screen. This build includes 8GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD storage, and 17 hour battery life. Our Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 review highlighted additions like thunderbolt 4 and 3:2 aspect ratio screen. However, we’ve noted that the leap between the Surface Laptop 4 and Surface Laptop 5 isn’t as big as we might’ve hoped. However, judgements like this weren’t with a big sale going on being factored into the calculations. In other words, if your old Surface Laptop 4 is starting to show some wear and you’re wanting to stay with the same line, now is the time to buy.
The Apple MacBook Pro M3 can be a tough one to find discounted, as it’s Apple’s newest generation of professional laptops. But you’ll get the M3 chip with this MacBook Pro, which is a powerful and efficient processor made by Apple that will provide a lot of of performance for users across the board. It also includes Apple’s 14-inch Liquid Retina XDR display, which is one of the best you’ll find in a laptop. Rounding out the specs of this MacBook Pro M3 are 1TB of solid state storage and 16GB of system RAM.
Neil deGrasse Tyson explores the cosmos in his new book, “Merlin’s Tour of the Universe,” where he answers readers’ questions on galaxies, black holes and more. He joins “CBS Mornings” to share more his cosmic journey.
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Next year, we’re expecting a huge leap in Tensor for Pixel smartphones. But the year after could see another big leap, this time for wearables. As Google is expected to start using a custom Tensor chip for its Pixel Watches in 2026 with the Pixel Watch 5. This is according to Android Authority.
This chipset would use older CPU cores, which is pretty common with wearable chips, as they tend to prioritize efficiency over cutting-edge performance. Not much is known about this chip right now, but we do know that it is likely to use one ARM Cortex-A78 core and two ARM Cortex-A55 cores. Google is also apparently assessing RISC-V as a potential alternative to ARM. The modem is still a mystery at this point.
These cores are pretty old, with the Cortex-A55 having debuted back in 2017, but that is the way to go with wearables. Both Samsung and Qualcomm have been going the same route with their wearable chips. In fact, the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 which is inside the Pixel Watch 3, uses Cortex-A53 cores, which first debuted in 2012.
How will this change Pixel Watch?
How will this move to Tensor change the Pixel Watch going forward? Well, for one, it means Google won’t release the same watch twice with the same processor. The Pixel Watch 2 and 3 both use the same Qualcomm processor. But it will also let Google do more of what it wants to do with Wear OS on Pixel and more with Fitbit, making features work better and exclusive to Pixel.
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Lately, we’ve seen quite a few features being exclusive to Pixel, before rolling out to the rest of the Android world. In fact, the foldable features in Android 15, were already available on the first-generation Pixel Fold – which launched with Android 13. Now, we’ll likely see the same thing with Wear OS moving forward.
The energy sector could face disruption if Donald Trump wins a second presidential term eight days from now, with clean energy investors likely to face volatile trading particularly if the outcome of the election remains unclear well beyond Nov. 5. Trump has chipped away at Vice President Kamala Harris’ small lead as the campaign enters the final week of the race, according to national opinion poll averages . The candidates are in a dead heat in the so-called Blue Wall states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. A Harris victory is expected to largely preserve the status quo of the Inflation Reduction Act, which has accelerated the transition to renewable energy resources. A Trump win, on the other hand, could bring disruption though this will depend on whether the Republican party also sweeps Congress. The former president is threatening to terminate the IRA, or what he calls the “Socialist Green New Deal,” according to his campaign platform. Solar stocks have broadly sold off this month as the polls have tightened with shares of First Solar and Enphase down more than 20%. The Invesco Solar ETF (TAN) and the iShares Global Clean Energy ETF (ICLN) have tumbled more than 9% and 10%, respectively. “We expect outsized volatility following the election on the back of investor positioning, especially in the case of a red (Republican) or blue (Democratic) sweep, as markets react to potential shifts in fiscal policy,” Dimple Gosai, an analyst at Bank of America, told clients in a note this month. Trump’s support for fossil fuels is unqualified. He has boiled his energy agenda down to three words: “drill, baby, drill.” While Trump’s platform says he wants to unleash production from all sources, the document specifically calls out oil, gas and nuclear. Nowhere does his platform mention solar or wind power. How voters perceive the two candidates’ energy policies could end up playing an influential role in the outcome of the election altogether. Natural gas is an important industry in Pennsylvania, the crown jewel of the campaign with its 19 electoral votes. Whoever wins the Keystone State will likely become the country’s next president. While Harris has abandoned her previous opposition to fracking, it’s unclear if her shift to the center on natural gas will help push her over the finish line in Pennsylvania. Clean energy Executives of publicly traded solar companies are confident that tax benefits will remain in place regardless of who wins in November. This is because the clean energy manufacturing boom has disproportionately benefited Republican congressional districts . While the election will bring short-term volatility, the solar industry remains well positioned for long-term growth, according to Bank of America. Wind and solar deployments actually grew by 28% under Trump compared with President Barack Obama ‘s second term, indicating that the expansion of renewable energy is increasingly driven by the market, according to the bank. The IRA, however, passed without any Republican support and there is a risk of repeal if the GOP sweeps Congress. Trump wants to make the tax cuts passed during his first term permanent. Republicans could seek to repeal the IRA to free up money to finance those tax cuts. Trump has also floated the idea of up to 20% tariffs on all imports and 60% or more on goods from China, which would hurt solar companies that do not have a strong domestic supply chain. In a repeal scenario, residential solar installations would become more expensive and less attractive to consumers with companies such as Enphase and SolarEdge likely taking a hit, according to Bank of America. The end of benefits for domestically sourced content and higher tariffs would also inflate the cost of utility-scale solar and battery projects, hurting Array , Fluence and NextTracker , according to the bank. First Solar is widely regarded by analysts as the renewable stock that is best positioned to weather the election regardless of the outcome. The solar panel maker has a domestic manufacturing base that would insulate its business from Trump tariffs, according to Bank of America. The company could add customers as Chinese competitors are pushed out of the market, according to the bank. FSLR YTD mountain First Solar shares year to date. A lot will depend, however, whether there is divided government. A Democratic Congress would likely prevent a full repeal of the IRA, according to Bank of America. “A Harris victory or Dem win in the House could alternatively spur a massive relief rally,” Steve Fleishman, an analyst at Wolfe Research, told clients in a note this month. “We recommend investors keep powder dry and be ready to take advantage of potential opportunities.” Fossil fuels Despite Trump’s rhetoric, the election will probably have a marginal impact on the oil and gas industry, according to Roger Read, an analyst at Wells Fargo Securities. Oil and gas production was solid from Obama’s second term through the Trump and Biden administrations, Read said. Though Harris supported banning fracking during her bid for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 presidential primary, the U.S. has produced record amounts of oil and natural gas under the Biden administration. Oil production has remained strong across administrations because of the facts on the ground, according to Read. The shale revolution has unlocked a resource that the industry can exploit at an economic advantage, according to the analyst. A Trump administration could make permitting new production on federal land in New Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska easier, benefiting the producers and ultimately pipeline companies, Read said. The vast majority of shale acreage in the U.S., however, is on private land, according to a Morgan Stanley report from August. About 25% of oil and 10% of natural gas production is on federal land and waters, according to the bank. “While it’s easy enough to say that under a Trump administration regulations will be a little easier, both in the permitting side and adding the necessary infrastructure, it’s not in the way we look at it as a game changer,” Read told CNBC. A Trump victory could have an impact on global oil prices through tighter sanctions on Iran. The Biden administration has eased back on oil sanctions enforcement against Tehran, allowing the Islamic Republic’s crude exports to rebound by nearly 1 million barrels per day, according to Morgan Stanley. The resumption of so-called maximum pressure by Trump could take several hundred thousand barrels of Iranian oil off the global market, according to Morgan Stanley. This would benefit the oil majors Exxon and Chevron, whose stocks typically follow the trajectory of crude prices.
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