TECH

Samsung’s new foldables arrive at up to R$19,400, revealing AI-era inflation; see prices

On Thursday (6), Samsung announced pricing for its new line of foldable phones, including the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, Galaxy Z Fold 8, and Galaxy Z Flip 8. As expected, the devices arrived with higher price tags, reflecting the global shortage of memory chips caused by the boom in artificial intelligence infrastructure. The models are already available for purchase in stores and online.

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra—the direct successor to the Fold 7—launched at R$ 19,400 for the version with 1 TB of storage and 16 GB of RAM, a 16.9% increase. The 512 GB version of the Flip saw the steepest hike at 17.4%, rising from R$ 9,200 in 2025 to R$ 10,800 this year. During this period, the IPCA inflation rate was 4.64%. Meanwhile, the new "passport-style" Fold—which has no direct predecessor for comparison—arrived with prices ranging from R$ 12,600 to R$ 14,200(Currency of Brazil).

At the July launch, dollar-based prices saw even sharper markups. Almost all screen and memory configurations saw a US$ 100 increase, with the exception of the Fold 8 Ultra, which rose by US$ 200 for the 1 TB version. Between 2024 and 2025, the Flip line saw no price hikes, whereas the Fold line was already experiencing increases ranging from US$ 100 to US$ 240. Over the last two years, the largest proportional increases affected the models requiring the most memory. The 1 TB Galaxy Fold (with 16 GB of memory) became 19.5% more expensive, while the Flip (with 12 GB) rose by 14.8%. Renato Citrini, senior product manager at Samsung Brazil, told *O Globo* how Brazilian production and retail partnerships were crucial in managing how costs were passed on to consumers:

— Memory costs have an impact, but we can't simply pass the cost on based on a mathematical calculation, or we risk losing customers. We have to make adjustments here and there. Partnerships with carriers and retailers are key to keeping the final price as low as possible.

At launch, the tech giant ran a promotion allowing customers to double their storage capacity for half the price. Through carrier partnerships, devices can be discounted further when bundled with service plans, while retailers are offering installment plans ranging from 10 to 36 months. Until September 6, Samsung is also offering up to R$ 3,000 for other Samsung phones traded in through its exchange program.

Despite being one of the world's largest memory manufacturers, Samsung has been passing cost increases on to consumers—and it is not alone. In June, Apple raised prices on its computers and tablets, with hikes ranging from 6% to 29% for Macs and up to 36% for iPads.

This inflationary pressure stems from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, which has driven up demand for RAM and NAND memory chips. According to the consultancy TechInsights, component prices have quadrupled over the past year and are expected to keep rising. Earlier this year, PC manufacturers operating in Brazil spoke to *O Globo* about the difficulty of sourcing components; at the time, one executive predicted a market shortage of notebooks.

— The memory crisis is affecting the smartphone market in a dramatic and unprecedented way. The average selling price is expected to rise by 20.3% this year. Memory manufacturers prefer supplying AI data centers, which offer higher profit margins. Samsung and Apple have the margin to absorb some of the additional costs without losing sales, unlike brands that sell lower-priced smartphones. Consumers with less purchasing power are the ones most affected. "The moral of the story is that the world is undergoing a technological revolution driven by artificial intelligence, but we are already paying the price before we’ve even reaped the benefits," says Francisco Jeronimo, Vice President of Data and Analytics at the consultancy IDC.

This year, Micron, SK Hynix, and Samsung—three of the world's largest memory manufacturers—surpassed a combined market value of $1 trillion, driven by significant revenue growth resulting from the appetite for these components among companies like Meta, Google, and Amazon. In the most recent quarter, Samsung reported a 250-fold increase in profit for its chip division and stated that the memory shortage is expected to worsen by 2027.

During the announcement, Daniel Araujo, a vice president at the Korean giant, stated that rising memory prices are creating an "exceptionally challenging" environment for mobile device operations.

"We see no signs of a return to pre-AI-boom pricing. It is a highly volatile time that is impacting electronics across the board. The automotive market is feeling the impact, too. For upcoming product launches, we are already incorporating LPDDR5 RAM—which is more expensive—because DDR4 memory is being phased out. So, we have to be prepared to ensure there is no disruption in product supply," says Citrini.

New form factor...The latest addition to Samsung's foldable family is the new "standard" Fold 8, featuring a form factor reminiscent of a passport. It sports a 5.5-inch screen when closed and a 7.6-inch display when unfolded. The Fold 8 features a more modest camera setup, with two rear lenses and a resolution of up to 50 megapixels—whereas the Ultra model boasts a triple-lens array and 200 MP resolution, matching the Galaxy S26. Both models come with a 10 MP front-facing camera.

The Ultra version also offers up to 1 TB of internal storage, while the standard version tops out at 512 GB. Both models feature a titanium frame, which makes the display crease less visible. For the first time, all three smartphones utilize silicon-carbon battery technology, allowing for lighter devices with longer battery life—the new Fold weighs just 201 grams. By comparison, the iPhone 17 Pro, which lacks a foldable screen, weighs 206 grams.

"We believe the new model could help boost sales. It serves as an option for those who found the Ultra too large and the Flip too small. The new Fold is positioned as a device for heavy content consumers, while the Ultra is geared more toward productivity. The 4:3 aspect ratio is what people are most accustomed to," says Citrini.

mundophone

SAMSUNG

Samsung Galaxy S26 FE appears in three colors in allegedly official images

Allegedly official promotional images show the Samsung Galaxy S26 FE in detail. The next-generation Fan Edition is shown in three colors and is already listed in a description on the Samsung Galaxy Store, suggesting that the launch is imminent.

The successor to the Samsung Galaxy S25 FE is already in the starting blocks. Like its predecessor, this premium mid-range smartphone could be officially unveiled in early September. Android Headlines has now reportedly published the first official product images, offering the best look yet at the Galaxy S26 FE.

As expected, the design has hardly changed; the biggest difference is that the three rear cameras are no longer housed individually within the body but are part of a pill-shaped camera module. As before, the bottom bezel is slightly wider than the bezels on the other three sides, and the flat metal frame is always silver, although the back is available in green, blue, or black.

Meanwhile, Samsung has already listed the Galaxy S26 FE by name in the latest version of the Camera Assistant app in the Galaxy Store. Following the countless leaks of the past few weeks, Samsung’s software team apparently no longer feels the need to keep the upcoming launch of this mid-range smartphone a secret.

The design may follow the look of the Galaxy S26 series...The Galaxy S26 FE is expected to adopt an appearance similar to that of the other models in the Galaxy S26 family. An image linked to the device's registration with the Wireless Power Consortium shows three rear cameras grouped within a single vertical module positioned in the top-left corner. This change distinguishes the model from the Galaxy S25 FE, which features separate lenses placed directly on the back panel.

The phone is also expected to retain the more refined build typical of the Fan Edition line, featuring a flat aluminum frame and glass on both the front and back. The device is expected to continue offering IP68 water and dust resistance, although these details have not yet been confirmed by Samsung.

Despite the change to the camera module, the overall shape is unlikely to undergo major alterations. The Galaxy S26 FE may remain larger than the Galaxy S26 Plus, even while sharing a screen size close to 6.7 inches—a recurring characteristic of FE models. Straight edges and rounded corners are also expected to remain. Some leaks also point to color options including graphite, aqua green, and a third shade somewhere between blue and purple. Samsung has not yet confirmed the device's finishes, dimensions, or weight.

The Samsung Galaxy S26 FE is also expected to feature few significant changes in terms of specifications. Although Samsung is likely to use a new Exynos ARM chip, the smartphone is expected to feature, as before, a 6.7-inch AMOLED display, a 4,900 mAh battery with 45-watt fast charging, a 12 MP selfie camera, a 50 MP f/1.8 main camera, a 12 MP f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle camera, and an 8 MP telephoto camera with a tiny 1/4.4-inch sensor.

According to the tipster, Samsung is preparing to launch at least seven products: the Galaxy S26 FE, Galaxy A18 5G, Galaxy A18 4G, Galaxy A08 5G, Galaxy A08 4G, Galaxy Tab S12 Plus, and Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra.

Below are the potential launch dates and timeframes:

Galaxy S26 FE: September 4, 2026;

Galaxy A08 4G/5G: October 2026;

Galaxy Tab S12 Series: October 7, 2026;

Galaxy A18 4G/5G: January or February 2027.

Considering the launch dates of their predecessors and Samsung's annual update cycle, these dates and timeframes make sense. However, none of this has been confirmed by the company, so take this information with a grain of salt.

There have already been several leaks regarding these devices. The Galaxy S26 FE, for instance, recently appeared in the FCC database, revealing details about its processor. Additionally, the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra was spotted on Geekbench a few days ago, equipped with the powerful Dimensity 9500. Finally, images of the Galaxy A18 have also leaked, revealing its potential design.

mundophone

TECH

Artificial intelligence has accelerated system protection but created a bottleneck

For decades, discovering a serious software vulnerability required weeks of investigation, highly specialized professionals, and often a good deal of luck. This landscape has changed radically with the advancement of artificial intelligence. Today, automated systems can analyze millions of lines of code in just a few days and identify issues that would have previously gone unnoticed. However, this evolution has brought an unexpected consequence that is beginning to worry cybersecurity experts worldwide.

The digital security sector is undergoing an unprecedented transformation. AI-based tools are identifying vulnerabilities at such a high speed that the teams responsible for remediation are struggling to keep pace with this new tempo.

The latest figures clearly illustrate this shift. Major technology companies have recorded significant growth in the number of flaws patched in their flagship products, indicating that the capacity to detect issues has evolved much faster than traditional software update processes.

One of the most notable examples involves Microsoft. After recording a record number of patches in June 2026, the company surprised the industry again just a month later by releasing an even larger update; this included hundreds of vulnerability fixes—dozens of which were classified as critical—and addressed several flaws that had been exploited before the updates were even made available.

This trend was not limited to a single company. Widely used web browsers and enterprise platforms also saw historic increases in the number of vulnerabilities identified in their codebases.

While automated analysis tools have existed for years, the recent surge occurred because AI models have moved beyond simply testing random data combinations. They can now understand how the code functions, establish relationships between different parts of the system, and predict how minor flaws might be combined to launch more sophisticated attacks.

In practice, tasks that once relied exclusively on highly experienced researchers are now being performed at scale by AI models specifically trained for this purpose. The volume of discoveries is impressive, yet it creates a new bottleneck for the entire industry... The impact of this advancement has been evident in several major projects. The Google Chrome browser, for instance, saw the number of vulnerabilities patched in just two versions exceed the total identified over the preceding two years.

According to the company, artificial intelligence played a decisive role in this surge, significantly accelerating the flaw-identification process. Consequently, Chrome began testing an even faster pace for rolling out security updates to reduce the time between discovering a problem and fixing it.

A similar situation unfolded with Firefox. Following successful experiments using models developed by Anthropic to locate significant vulnerabilities, Mozilla expanded its use of these tools and uncovered hundreds of new issues in a single browser version.

Companies like Oracle also recorded a substantial increase in the number of patches released for their products. Most of these vulnerabilities were identified through internal analysis, reinforcing the trend of using artificial intelligence as a key ally for security teams.

However, there is an important detail that prevents alarmist interpretations: not all vulnerabilities pose the same level of risk. Amidst thousands of published patches, only a relatively small fraction represents truly critical threats to companies and users.

Even so, this avalanche of discoveries creates a new operational challenge.

Finding the flaws is no longer the problem; the challenge now is deciding what to fix first... As artificial intelligence exponentially increases the number of discovered vulnerabilities, system administrators face an increasingly complex task: setting priorities.

Each update requires careful analysis before installation. In corporate environments, applying hundreds of patches without a plan can lead to incompatibilities, critical system outages, and operational impacts just as significant as the flaws they aim to fix.

Consequently, security teams must assess which vulnerabilities pose the highest risk of immediate exploitation, which can wait for a scheduled maintenance window, and which have a negligible impact on a specific infrastructure.

This process demands technical expertise, testing, and planning—activities that still rely on human experience, even with the growing role of artificial intelligence.

The current landscape reveals a significant shift in the cybersecurity sector. For years, the primary challenge was uncovering vulnerabilities hidden within millions of lines of code. Technology has now largely resolved that issue.

The new hurdle lies in managing an ever-expanding volume of information. While the risk used to be overlooking flaws, the challenge today is transforming thousands of findings into effective patches without compromising system stability.

Paradoxically, the more efficient artificial intelligence becomes at hunting for vulnerabilities, the greater the responsibility placed on human teams to decide how, when, and which issues truly need to be addressed first.

mundophone

 

TECH

Harnessing statistics to improve personalized medicine

The future of federally funded research at Harvard Medical School — supported by taxpayers and done in service to humanity — remains uncertain. Learn more.

Scientific advancements — including understanding health conditions and developing new treatments — hinge on data and its implications. Statistician Alex Luedtke is developing new methods to make data analysis as efficient and effective as possible with the goal of improving personalized treatment recommendations in mental health and other fields.

Luedtke joined the faculty in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School last summer as professor of health care policy. His work combines statistical methodology with machine-learning techniques to draw cause-and-effect conclusions from messy biomedical data and speed discovery.

“I really enjoyed the mathematical sciences, but I wanted to do something with them that felt meaningful,” said Luedtke, who previously held faculty appointments at the University of Washington and Fred Hutch.

Luedtke has received an Emerging Leader Award from the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies, the Mortimer Spiegelman Award, and a National Institutes of Health Director’s New Innovator Award.

Harvard Medicine News spoke with Luedtke about his collaborations at Harvard and his ongoing efforts to build new approaches to data analysis that could facilitate personalized medicine and improve patient outcomes.

Harvard Medicine News: Tell us a little bit about the focus of your research.

Alex Luedtke: I’m a statistician. Causal inference and machine learning are my two main areas, so broadly speaking, I try to pull cause-and-effect answers out of real-world data.

A lot of my work focuses on what we call efficiency theory, which is a fancy name for using data as well as possible. We’re trying to get the most precise answers possible from a limited amount of data.

One specific question I’m working on, which I started back during my doctoral dissertation at the University of California, Berkeley, is the extent to which individualizing treatment decisions can help improve outcomes for people. Based on patient characteristics, how can we best decide whether we should give them treatment A, B, or C? In my previous role, I did this in infectious disease settings, but increasingly nowadays I’m doing it in mental health with collaborators here at Harvard.

HMNews: What infectious diseases were you working on?

Luedtke: I worked on vaccines trials, both for HIV and then also COVID. I served as a study statistician, which meant that I would monitor the trials as they went and also determine what statistical methods would be used to analyze the data from those trials.

Clinical trials are a classic use case for efficient statistical methods. It’s very expensive to recruit new people into a trial and to run a trial longer to keep accruing more information about participants. And ethically, you want to be able to terminate a trial if a vaccine isn’t working. So it’s best for everyone involved to figure out whether a vaccine is effective as quickly as possible.

HMNews: What do your current mental health collaborations look like?

Luedtke: I actually started collaborating with [McNeil Family Professor of Health Care Policy] Ron Kessler, who is in my current department, back in 2016. In our collaborations, we work a lot on figuring out whether individualization will help for treating mental health disorders. We’ve looked at depression and at schizophrenia. We take the statistical methods that I develop for treatment individualization and apply them directly to his messy datasets, most of which are from observational, non-randomized trials.

That’s been a lot of fun. When statisticians develop new statistical methods, we always develop them in the cleanest possible setting where we get to see the outcomes on everyone, and we have a random sample from the population we care about. The moment we start touching real data, we don’t get that. Patients drop out of the study or are just lost in the registry. And sometimes the patients who drop out are different than other patients in some meaningful way that actually has something to do with whether the treatment works.

And so a lot of my work with Ron is looking at each particular dataset and asking: How was the data generated? Why are data missing? What do we have to do statistically to make sure that we can develop unbiased conclusions at the end? Ultimately, that analysis helps us determine if it’s worth individualizing treatments for these mental health disorders and make recommendations to help physicians provide the best care for their patients.

HMNews: So how do machine learning and AI come into it?

Luedtke: AI looks at prediction problems — trying to predict what will happen in the world we have now. Causal inference asks: If we were to go in and change something in the world — introduce a new treatment or make a treatment more widely available — what will happen?

The challenge is that we’re changing something. Even if we have data from the world as it is now, we won’t have data from the world as we want it to be. One of the projects I’ve looked at is training these generative AI tools to essentially create new data for a world in which we change the treatment.

It’s similar to how we train existing generative AI models, but with the extra challenge that we want to determine cause and effect and we don’t have existing data from that scenario.

HMNews: I know you’re just getting started here, but over the coming years — or decades — what are you hoping to accomplish? Where do you want to move the needle forward in your field?

Luedtke: Historically, statisticians derive new methods by sitting down with a pen and paper and writing out how we think the data were generated and then spending a bunch of time building an estimator — a new way to analyze that data. Then methodological statisticians work to prove those results, essentially certifying the analysis strategy. Once that’s done, we can go out and use it on real data. This is a lot of what statistics has been for a hundred years.

I’m very interested in speeding up this process. If you tell me that I’m going to get a new dataset that was generated in a certain way with specific quirks, I’d rather avoid sitting down with the pen and paper at all.

This isn’t a new interest for me. A few years ago, we published a paper in Science Advances on getting a machine to work out a statistical procedure on its own, rather than a person deriving it by hand. Back then we had to train a model from scratch for every new statistical setting we wanted to handle.

Now AI models can carry what they learn in one setting into settings they’ve never seen. This ability is behind the scientific foundation models people are building in other fields, where a single model generates predictions across a whole scientific domain. I’m trying to build something similar for statistics: give the model a new statistical setting, and it works out the estimator. We have to be very careful about how we build it, but it could let us skip the slowest and most error-prone parts of the current process.

If we can do that, we can speed up how quickly we are able to draw scientific conclusions from data and translate them into treatments that can start helping patients.

 by: LAURA CASTAÑÓN---https://hms.harvard.edu/news/search?topic%5B21%5D=21

TECH

Can wind capture atmospheric water and convert it into freshwater?

A new atmospheric water harvesting system could turn wind directly into drinking water, without first converting the wind’s energy into electricity. The technology combines highly porous hygroscopic polymer sponges with eddy current heating, creating a compact approach designed to extract moisture from air and release it as freshwater. In experiments conducted under changing outdoor conditions, the system produced as much as 9.9 liters of water per day for every kilogram of sorbent material.

The work, published in Advanced Functional Materials, addresses a major limitation of many sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting systems. These systems use materials that attract and retain water vapor from humid air, but the captured water must later be removed through a regeneration step. Conventional designs generally rely on sunlight or electrically powered heaters to warm the sorbent. That additional energy requirement can restrict their use in remote locations, especially where electrical infrastructure is unreliable or absent.

The new strategy relies on hygroscopic polymer sponges engineered with a highly interconnected macroporous structure. Their open network of pores provides a large internal surface area and allows humid air to move efficiently through the material. Hygroscopic chemical groups within the polymer attract water molecules from the atmosphere, causing the sponge to absorb moisture even when the surrounding air is not saturated. Once loaded with water, the sponge can be heated so that the absorbed moisture evaporates and can be collected as liquid freshwater.

The researchers integrated the sponges with a wind-driven eddy current heating system. Eddy currents are circulating electrical currents induced inside a conductive material when it is exposed to a changing magnetic field. The electrical resistance of the material converts these currents into heat. In the reported device, wind energy powers the mechanical process that generates the changing magnetic field, allowing the system to produce heat directly rather than sending the energy through a wind turbine, electrical generator, and separate heater.

That direct energy pathway is central to the system’s claimed efficiency. According to the researchers, the wind-powered heating process achieved an energy conversion efficiency exceeding 90 percent. By avoiding intermediate electricity generation, transmission, and electrical heating stages, the design can reduce energy losses and simplify the hardware required for sorbent regeneration. The approach also allows the heating process to operate independently of sunlight, potentially extending water production into cloudy weather, nighttime operation, and locations where solar energy is inconsistent.

During operation, the polymer sponge first captures water vapor from ambient air. When the sponge reaches its moisture capacity, wind activates the eddy current heating component, raising the temperature of the sorbent. The heat weakens the interactions between the hygroscopic polymer and the captured water, driving evaporation. The released vapor is then directed toward a cooler surface, where it condenses and can be collected. Repeating the adsorption and desorption cycle allows the same sponge material to harvest water continuously.

The reported production rate—9.9 liters per day per kilogram of sponge—was measured under fluctuating ambient air conditions rather than in a perfectly controlled, constant-humidity environment. That detail is important because atmospheric water harvesting performance depends strongly on relative humidity, temperature, wind speed, and the duration of each adsorption and regeneration cycle. A sorbent may collect water rapidly during humid periods but require longer exposure when the air is dry. The system’s performance will therefore vary from one climate and season to another.

The researchers believe the technology could be especially valuable in wind-rich coastal and island communities, where atmospheric moisture and wind resources are abundant but freshwater supplies and electrical grids may be limited. It could also serve remote settlements, emergency response operations, and off-grid facilities that need a decentralized source of water. Unlike systems dependent on large solar collectors or grid-connected heaters, a wind-driven design could be deployed in areas where strong winds are available throughout much of the day.

The system is not intended to make freshwater production independent of engineering constraints. Practical deployment will require durable sorbents that can withstand repeated swelling, drying, heating, and cooling cycles. The device must also manage airborne dust, salt, and other contaminants, particularly in coastal environments. Water quality will depend on the composition of the sorbent, the collection surfaces, and any purification steps added after condensation. Further testing across dry, humid, hot, and cold climates will be needed to determine how consistently the laboratory-scale performance can be maintained in long-term operation.

Even with those challenges, the combination of atmospheric moisture capture and direct wind-to-heat conversion offers a new direction for renewable water technology. Instead of treating wind solely as a source of electricity, the approach uses it as a direct thermal resource for regenerating a moisture-filled sorbent. If the materials remain stable and the system can be scaled economically, wind-driven atmospheric water harvesting could provide a flexible source of freshwater for communities facing water scarcity and limited access to conventional infrastructure.

References: Li, Haiqing et al., “Wind-Driven Atmospheric Water Harvesting Enabled by Highly Interconnected Macroporous Hygroscopic Polymer Sponges and Eddy Current Heating”

SONY

Sony makes 100 – 400 mm full-frame zoom lens 80% cheaper and 65% lighter

Sony demonstrates that full-frame zoom lenses with long focal lengths don’t have to be heavy or expensive. While the brand-new FE 100–400 mm f/5.6–8 isn’t particularly fast, it is comparatively compact and affordable. Sony nevertheless promises fast autofocus, optical image stabilization, and sharp photos.

Sony is expanding its lens lineup with a third 100–400 mm zoom lens. However, while the two older models were relatively fast for a telephoto zoom lens with a maximum aperture of f/4.5, the new model has a maximum aperture ranging from f/5.6 to f/8, depending on the focal length. This also makes it more difficult to use teleconverters, which effectively reduce the lens’s light-gathering ability even further.

Super-telephoto shooting in a compact, lightweight package...This lightweight, compact 100–400mm super-telephoto zoom lens weighs just 654 g (23.1 oz.), with a maximum diameter of 78.2 mm (3-1/8 in.) and a length of 164.5 mm (6-1/2 in.). Fill the frame with distant subjects and use telephoto compression to achieve unique perspectives in panoramic shots. An optional teleconverter extends the reach to 800 mm—or 1,200 mm in APS-C format.

This decision offers significant advantages in terms of the lens’s price and weight. With a list price of $850, the new lens is $3,450, or 80 percent, cheaper than the Sony FE 100–400 mm f/4.5 GM. Weighing 654 grams, the new lens is also about 1.2 kilograms, or 65 percent, lighter. The lens is 16.4 cm long with a diameter of 7.8 cm. Despite its lower price, Sony has opted for a complex design consisting of 15 elements in 10 groups and includes Optical SteadyShot (OSS).

An optical design featuring two ED glass elements and two aspherical elements effectively reduces chromatic aberration and other distortions, delivering sharp, clear subject rendering at both close and long ranges. A 9-blade circular aperture contributes to smooth, natural bokeh. With up to 0.41x magnification and a minimum focusing distance of just 0.86 m, you can also capture impressive close-ups of flowers and insects.

Easily capture challenging subjects handheld...Dual linear motors drive fast, precise, and quiet autofocus, effortlessly locking onto and tracking moving subjects. When paired with the α9 III body, continuous shooting at up to 120 fps is possible with full autofocus performance. The lens's optical stabilization also works with compatible camera bodies to deliver enhanced stabilization performance, effectively compensating for the pronounced blur that can occur with telephoto lenses and ensuring consistently stable framing.

Two ED lenses and two lenses with aspherically ground surfaces are designed to deliver high image quality across the entire zoom range. With a minimum focus distance of 0.86 meters, the lens achieves a maximum magnification of 0.41. The lens barrel features three sliders that can be used to lock the zoom, switch between autofocus and manual focus, and turn image stabilization on and off.

Pricing and availability...The Sony FE 100–400 mm f/5.6–8 OSS full-frame zoom lens will be released in late August 2026 at a suggested retail price of $850.

 

mundophone

TECH

"AI can optimize, but it doesn't replace the information captured by the lens," says Zeiss executive

German company Zeiss, one of the world's leading manufacturers of lenses and optical technologies, has been adapting to a landscape of photography increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence. Today, in partnership with the Chinese company vivo Mobile—which owns the Jovi brand in Brazil—Zeiss is launching a camera system designed for the X300 smartphone series, comprising the Ultra and Fashion Edition models.

In an exclusive interview with *O Globo*, Oliver Schindelbeck, Senior Manager of Smartphone Technology at Zeiss, states that lens and smartphone manufacturers will increasingly need to work together to develop more powerful cameras. "The next major steps likely won't come from a single 'magic' component, but from fine-tuning all the elements," he said.

How has the company been adapting traditional camera lenses for smartphones that are becoming increasingly thin and AI-equipped?

Today, imaging systems need to be intelligently designed, incorporating advances in multi-camera setups, chips, software, and AI. Yet, the fundamental laws of optics remain the same, whether working with a professional camera lens or within the space of a few millimeters inside a smartphone. Light still needs to be guided, directed, and corrected. In a smartphone, however, users still expect a device that is thin, lightweight, and convenient. This means every element requires precise balancing: lens design, materials, coatings, mechanical tolerances, sensor characteristics, manufacturing capabilities, and software processing.

And how is AI changing cameras?

AI is a very powerful tool in mobile imaging, but that doesn't make optics any less important. In fact, I would say it increases the need for a solid optical foundation. Anything the lens fails to capture correctly is either lost or must be reconstructed later—and reconstruction always has its limits. AI can assist with scene understanding, segmentation, noise reduction, depth mapping, or stabilization, but the foundation remains the optical image that reaches the sensor. The best results come from when optics and AI complement each other.

Is there a limit to what AI can achieve?

Yes, there are limits. AI can optimize, interpret, and enhance the image, but it cannot replace the physical information captured by the lens. A good lens helps deliver sharp detail, contrast, natural rendering, and stray light control before image processing even begins. Especially in challenging situations—such as strong backlighting, night scenes, telephoto shots, or fine textures—optical quality remains decisive. In other words, software can do a lot, but it works best when starting with high-quality optical data. The greatest progress occurs when both worlds develop in close alignment.

And how does the joint development process with a smartphone manufacturer work in practice?

It is a long-term collaborative engineering process. We have a six-year partnership with Jovi. We contribute expertise in optical design, coatings, validation, color, and image standards. Meanwhile, a manufacturer like Jovi leads the integration with the smartphone, software, and AI, as well as product implementation.

How do you adapt optical knowledge for an era where algorithms actively shape the final image?

In traditional photography, we think primarily about the lens, sensor, and post-processing. In smartphones, the image is shaped by an even closer interaction between optics, the sensor, the chip, software, AI, the display, and the user interface. Our role is to help translate optical principles and image standards into this compact, computational environment. A good example is portrait rendering. The goal isn't just to blur the background, but to create a believable visual impression that reflects the character of photographic optics.

Today, a smartphone packs a main lens, an ultra-wide, a telephoto lens, and various zoom levels into a space of just a few millimeters. What is the biggest engineering challenge in delivering this range of focal lengths?

The biggest challenge is physical space. Size matters—especially for smartphones—because consumers prefer devices that are slim and easy to carry. At the same time, focal length literally implies length. We need space to guide light through the lens system, particularly for telephoto imaging. But these limitations don't mean innovation stops; on the contrary, they make collaboration even more crucial. Progress stems from a combination of superior optical designs, new materials, more effective coatings, smarter stabilization, more powerful chips, AI-driven processing, and precision manufacturing. The next major leaps likely won't come from a single "magic" component, but from fine-tuning every element of the system so they mutually enhance one another's performance.

Can the smartphone already be considered a professional tool for photographers?

Professional cameras remain vital for specific workflows, specialized lenses, larger sensors, controlled production environments, and maximum flexibility. Smartphones aren't simply replacing professional cameras; they complement them and make professional-quality imaging accessible to a much wider range of users.

How does the company view the future of smartphone lenses? Will we continue to see multi-camera devices, or is the trend shifting toward simplifying hardware and offloading more of the workload to AI?

I expect both trends to continue. Multiple cameras and varied focal lengths are useful because they offer users different perspectives. Meanwhile, AI and computational photography will make transitions between these perspectives smoother and improve the final result. I don't believe the future is simply about less hardware and more AI. The future lies in a more integrated system that operates so naturally that the user can focus on the subject rather than the technology behind it.

mundophone