Daily Tech Snippet: Friday, August 14

Samsung Introduces New Phones and Mobile Payments System: The South Korean manufacturer introduced two big-screen Galaxy phones on Thursday: the Note 5, which includes a digital pen, and the S6 Edge Plus, which has a curved screen that wraps around the sides of the phone and skips the pen. The Note 5 is slightly thinner than its predecessor, the Note 4, and has some software twists. For one, you can jot down notes with the pen even when the screen is off. You can also scribble notes on digital documents before sending them. The S6 Edge Plus can be customized so that the curved edges can quickly show your favorite apps or contacts by swiping from the sides. Both phones have 5.7-inch screens and support wireless power charging. While the phones are now available for ordering online, pricing and official release dates have yet to be announced. The new devices follow Samsung’s April release of the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, which will soon get price cuts after the company reported earlier this month that its profit had declined for the seventh quarter in a row. Analysts say that Apple‘s introduction last year of big-screen phones, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, as well as competition from Chinese handset makers like Xiaomi, are chipping into Samsung’s profit. Samsung on Thursday also introduced its mobile wallet system, a rival to the Apple Pay system and Google‘s Android Pay. The new wallet, Samsung Pay, is similar to Apple and Google’s offerings, and will work with a handful of previously released Samsung devices.

Apple might be bringing fighter-jet technology to car windshields: The world’s most valuable company is “very likely” working on a 27- to 50-inch head-up display, a technology most famously used by jet pilots, that could project vivid icons and information for drivers while on the road, a tech analyst with Global Equities Research said Thursday morning. The curved-glass screen could also be wired with sensors and “may be completely gesture-controlled,” a stealth project that analyst Trip Chowdhry said could be Apple’s “next generation” device, after gadgets such as the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. Rumors about Apple’s secret innovations have become a regular pastime for the many tea-leaf readers of Silicon Valley, and Chowdhry, who seems to be the only analyst so far to suggest Apple is working on a HUD, has been wrong before. But if Apple’s head-up display really is in the works, it could mark a huge leap for the $660 billion gorilla into an industry already packed with big-money carmakers and tech firms, and further embolden the idea that Apple is looking to stake new territory on the world’s roads. Apple’s hiring of auto-industry specialists and sightings in California of Apple-leased camera-mounted vans have fueled rumors that the software-hardware company is looking to build its own kind of car. In February, Reuters and the Wall Street Journal said that hundreds of Apple employees were working on a self-driving minivan, code-named Project Titan.

Uber Says Its Chinese Arm Could Eventually Go Public in China: As Uber Technologies raises money from private investors for its Chinese business, the ride-hailing company says the offshoot could one day list shares on the stock market in China. However, Uber Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick is a staunch proponent of companies staying private as long as possible, and the same is true for the Chinese unit, says Nairi Hourdajian, a spokeswoman for the company. “Of course there is the possibility that Uber China, which is a separate entity, could at some point in the future list on the Chinese stock market,” Hourdajian wrote in an e-mail. “But as Travis has always made clear, there are many advantages, for investors, to Uber being a private company, in particular having the freedom to take long-term bets.” The prospect for an Uber China initial public offering has been a hot topic of conversation in the local press recently. Liu Zhen, who heads Uber’s strategy in China, was quoted in the Beijing News as saying the Chinese unit may publicly list in the country. She also said the company—called Youbu, meaning “an excellent step forward”—operates as an independent corporate entity with support from Uber as a strategic investor, according to the report. Kalanick is currently running Uber’s Chinese arm, along with the global business, while the company seeks to hire someone to lead the operation. That person would probably report to Kalanick. The San Francisco company is aiming to raise $1 billion for Uber China at a valuation between $7 billion to $8 billion, two people familiar with the matter said in July. The Chinese search giant Baidu, which is already an investor in Uber, is expected to participate in the round, the people said. Uber is attempting to do what many other American technology companies have failed to do: compete with a homegrown tech company in mainland China. Uber is engaged in an intense fight with Didi Kuaidi, which was recently valued by investors at $15 billion.