Features

By Ayah Murad

Clinical Dietician

Many people who set out on a diet automatically feel like they are depriving themselves and their bodies of food they want. This is why two out of every five people on a diet quit in the first seven days. Here is how to avoid being one of them!

People tend to quit early on because they concentrate too much on making diet mistakes and forget about the lifestyle changes. Creating healthier habits instead of jumping from one diet or dietician to another is a better way to get rid of that belly around your waist.

The scale is not your key to weight loss success

Our body is composed of bones, muscles, fat and water. When you lose weight, your body composition should be the main focus of weight loss. One study of 200 dieters showed that those who exercised lost less weight than those who dieted without exercise but those who dieted alone could not maintain the weight loss for more than a month while those who dieted with exercise maintained their weight loss for more than three months. That was all linked to the body composition of higher water percentage and muscle mass to fat percentage. 

Do not hesitate in taking the decision

Many people say that they will start their diet on a Monday or after the holidays. That is stalling. If it is really important to you, you would start in a heartbeat. No need to even wait until you buy certain ingredients — see what is available in your fridge and pantry and start now!

Eating habits do not change overnight

Make incremental changes and find suitable substitutions. Small changes over time can yield huge positive results. For example, eating yoghurt three times a day can help you reduce half a kilo of fat per month (it helps increase body fat breakdown and preserve your metabolism).

Weight loss can take time and that is okay!

It is totally okay not to lose weight immediately. Setting some realistic goals means not looking at the bulk number of your weight (do not even weigh yourself more than once a week). Your weight is just a number on the scale that can change according to the atmospheric pressure and differs with the type of scale and many countless other reasons. Bottom line? Do not judge the success of your diet plan on a number. 

Losing unreasonable amount of weight in a short time is dangerous

This will only end up frustrating you. If you do not see results within the time frame of your tight schedule, you will likely end up unconsciously sabotaging your weight loss efforts. Make short-term commitments like losing half a kilogramme per week, then 10 within a month.

Go easy on yourself!

Do not make your new diet too strict and restrictive. Try to find substitutions and compromise between your wants and needs, do’s and don’ts. If your favourite treat is ice cream, try to bring your own frozen fruits and mix them in a blender with a bit of yoghurt — it does not have added gelatine or unnecessary sugars. Plus, enjoy your favourite ice cream from time to time as deprivation is synonymous to failure. Tip: go out for the ice cream instead of bringing it home as you are likely to have a more reasonable portion size that way!

Making one poor choice is not end of the world

It will not ruin your entire diet if you eat that cookie or that piece of chocolate. Your goal should be to make better choices, not perfect ones. Focus on the positive changes you are making in your eating habits and give yourself credit for making changes that ensure better health. 

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine

Belt and Road: A Chinese World Order

Bruno Macaes

London: Hurst & Co., 2018

Pp. 203

By explaining the Chinese mega-project called Belt and Road, scholar Bruno Macaes touches on the vast, fast-paced changes that are sweeping the world today. These changes are not only technology-driven, though technology certainly plays a crucial role, but the big shift is in the centre of gravity of world power, economic and eventually political.

With the US seemingly in decline, “new powers have been emerging in Asia that can no longer be seen as pale or imperfect copies of Western society. With the disappearance of the old ideological battle lines and the establishment of new economic links, a new geographic entity started to emerge: Eurasia, the supercontinent extending from Lisbon to Shanghai or even Jakarta”. (p. 2)

China’s growing economic power is an essential part of the engine driving this new reality, and its Belt and Road plan seeks to capitalise on it. Already, “Eurasian trade in goods is now close to $2 trillion each year, consistently more than double the volume of Transatlantic trade and significantly more than Transpacific trade.” (p. 3)

The author was previously Portugal’s Europe minister and is now attached to several US think tanks and Renmin University in China, as well as being a frequent commentator for major international media. His previous book was “The Dawn of Eurasia”, so one can see that this is a subject in which he has great interest and, presumably, expertise. This time he tackles it from the Chinese vantage point.

While Belt and Road has been dubbed the modern Silk Road, it is so much more. While the latter was basically a trade route, Belt and Road sets the parameters for building major industrial zones (belts), connecting them by rail, road and sea with new transportation routes, and providing other infrastructure that will make this system fast and productive.

By developing previously remote areas and linking them to the global market, this plan would change the lives of millions of people previously on the margins or left out of globalisation. In fact, one of the attractions of Belt and Road for developing countries is China’s success in pulling hundreds of millions out of poverty as the country swiftly modernised. Central Asia in particular will be radically transformed if the Chinese plans are implemented.

In the author’s view, “The best image of the Belt and Road is not the trains crossing the Eurasian supercontinent, or the ports and industrial parks opening up along the way. It’s the cities being built up from scratch. These are what will change the physical and human landscape of the planet, creating new ways of life, new ideas, new adventures.” (p. 151)

Macaes examines Belt and Road from many angles, such as how it embodies the Chinese philosophy of Tianxia, which stresses interdependence, cooperation and shared destiny, as opposed to what the Chinese view as the chaos and conflict of today’s world under Western leadership. Belt and Road can also be seen as the next stage of China’s trajectory from originally wanting to foment revolution, to learning from developed countries in order to modernize, to integration into the global economy and the adoption of a more active foreign policy strategy. 

There are many examples of how Belt and Road would benefit China’s economy, as well as the reservations of other countries — India, the US, EU and others. Some of the reservations are related to the fact that Belt and Road will mainly be financed by Chinese loans to the countries concerned, which raises fears of saddling developing countries with an unwieldy debt burden. Other negative reactions come from countries that simply don’t want to cede to Chinese power, for it is clear that: “Whoever is able to build and control the infrastructure linking the two ends of Eurasia will rule the word”. (p. 3)

Less self-serving would be objections to the security system planned for Belt and Road. Macaes reports that “Frontier Services Group, the security services firm founded by Erik Prince, former Blackwater chief… is actively working with China on Belt and Road projects”, perhaps hoping for a rebirth after Blackwater’s fiascos in Iraq, but more likely just to make money. (p. 128)

Another concern might be the environmental effects of such a huge undertaking, which the author says little about.

Despite reservations, the project is definitely expanding as seen in the fact that about one hundred countries have signed agreements with China on projects related to Belt and Road.

This book is interesting to read because the author has an engaging, animated writing style. Though Belt and Road is essentially an economic project, the book is written so that non-experts can understand it. It is recommended reading for those who are curious about who will rule the world when the US empire recedes.

Yet another benefit of eating a diet containing high amounts of wholegrains may be a reduced risk of liver cancer, a new US study suggests. 

The analysis of data on more than 125,000 men and women followed for an average of 24 years found that those who ate the most wholegrains had nearly 40 per cent lower odds of developing liver cancer compared with those who ate the least. 

There were just 141 cases of liver cancer in the study group, though, so more research is needed to determine why wholegrains might be protective, the researchers note in “JAMA Network Open”. 

Although deadly, liver cancer is relatively rare in the US, said senior study author Xuehong Zhang of Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. 

“The low number of cases is primarily because of the very low incidence of liver cancer in the United States [less than 5 per 100,000 individuals] although the incidence has been rapidly increasing in the past decades,” Zhang told Reuters Health. “As expected, we have documented no more than 200 [liver cancer] cases, despite the large sample size and long-term follow-up periods.” 

The researchers suspected that wholegrains might be protective against liver cancer because grains have been found to improve a number of well-known risk factors for the disease, Zhang said in an e-mail. 

“Consumption of wholegrains and dietary fibre, especially cereal fibre, have been associated with lower risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, which are known predisposing factors for [liver cancer],” Zhang said. “Besides improving insulin sensitivity, metabolic regulation and decreasing systemic inflammation, intake of wholegrains and dietary fibre may improve gut integrity, and alter gut microbiota composition, thereby leading to increased production of microbiota-related metabolites including short-chain fatty acids, particularly butyrate.” 

To look at the possible impact of wholegrains, Zhang’s team examined data gathered in two long-term studies of nurses and other health professionals. Along with a host of other health measurements, the 125,455 participants had filled-out detailed descriptions of their diets approximately once every four years. 

When it came to wholegrains, even those who ate the most consumed only about 33.28 grammes per day, Zhang’s team found. The researchers divided participants into five groups based on their average intake of wholegrains, as well as components of whole grain, bran and germ. They also looked at total dietary fibre from cereal grains, fruits and vegetables. 

After accounting for factors such as age, BMI, physical activity, smoking, type 2 diabetes, alcohol consumption and aspirin use, the researchers found that those who consumed the most wholegrains were 37 per cent less likely to develop liver cancer compared with those who consumed the least. 

Liver cancer risk was also reduced among those who ate the most bran, but not those who had the highest germ consumption. The same was true for the highest cereal grain intake, but not for fruit and vegetable fibre.

Outside experts said that with such a small number of cancers it is hard to have a lot of confidence in the association found by the researchers. 

Moreover, those who consumed the most wholegrains were also the healthiest study participants overall, said Robert Brown of NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Centre in New York City. 

They “had lower BMI, engaged in more physical activity, consumed less alcohol, were less likely to be smokers, were more likely to use aspirin and tended to have higher intakes of fruits, vegetables, total folate, multivitamin and dietary vitamin, but less fat, compared to participants who took in the least”, Brown said in an e-mail. 

Beyond that, Mariana Lazo of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore noted, “it’s important to be very cautious in singling out particular food items”. 

While the study is not strong enough to spark new recommendations with respect to liver cancer and wholegrains, “given the overall benefits of wholegrains relative to refined grains, shifting your diet away from processed grains is likely helpful to all people, including those at risk for liver cancer”, Brown said. 

Parents who are very controlling when interacting with their infants may increase the likelihood that their babies tune in to angry voices, a new study shows. 

When babies heard recordings of angry voices, an area of the brain involved in processing emotional vocalisations responded more sharply in infants with mothers and fathers who practiced more “directive” parenting, according to the study published in “PLoS ONE”. 

“The take-home message from this study is that strength of a six-month-old baby’s brain response to angry voices may be shaped by early parenting experiences, namely of ‘directive’ parenting”, said the study’s lead author Chen Zhao, who was a researcher at the University of Manchester in the UK when the study was conducted. 

“By ‘directive’ we mean it in a very specific sense, that is, the extent to which a parent tends to behave and/or comment in ways that control or restrict their baby’s involvement in play or communication. In the way we measured it in our study, such behaviours can be a subtle yet consistent pattern and may or may not involve the voice,” Zhao said in an e-mail. “For example, small but repeated intrusions by holding a toy close to the baby’s face or repeatedly calling for the baby’s attention.” 

It comes down to how often people go with this type of parenting style Zhao said. “We may infer that parents who habitually use directive style [as compared to those who don’t] may in everyday life also be quicker to express negative vocal emotions in order to elicit what they view as ‘desired’ behaviour from their baby.” 

Zhao and her colleagues studied the effects of parenting in 29 mother-child pairs. Mothers and six-month old infants were watched during play sessions and the mothers were rated on how often demands, intrusions and/or critical comments occurred. “Babies who experience what we call a directive style of parenting are likely to feel limited or restricted in what they can do, express and/or contribute to play.” 

Next, the researchers asked mothers to hold their babies on their laps while pre-recorded, non-speech vocalisations that were angry, happy or neutral were played. 

Since MRIs are loud and intrusive, the researchers turned to another technology to peer into the babies’ brains. Known as functional ‘Near Infrared Spectroscopy’, the technique measures blood flow to cortical areas of the brain. It involves a device that is “safe and portable and looks like a little cap placed on the baby’s head”, Zhao explained. 

The research shows that baby brains react more strongly to angry voices when their parents are more “intrusive and demanding”, Zhao said. Other research has shown that more sensitive parenting that is responsive to the baby’s needs and interests has a positive influence on language development, but it may also have an impact on how the baby processes emotional tones, she added. 

The new study is “really cool”, said Nathalie Maitre, a specialist in child brain development at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. “It’s really critical that researchers start looking at the ways that babies’ brains respond not just to sound, but also to the emotional envelope that surrounds that sound,” Maitre said. 

“These researchers were able to measure in real time how these babies were perceiving angry, happy or neutral sounds — that’s something that is needed in the field of developmental neuroscience in infants.” 

The impact of the Internet on our lives is such that it cannot be exactly estimated, measured or defined; this much is understood. There is another side of it that is as important as, if not more than, the Internet infrastructure itself – it is the mobile Internet. And this one is growing at incredible speed, with new applications and functionalities added, practically on a daily basis. A tangible proof of this world-changing, massive, global trend, is the Mobile World Congress (MWC) that was held this week in Barcelona, Spain, and that ended on Thursday.

Long gone are the days when mobile devices were used just to make phone calls. The number of applications on the Android operating system alone has crossed the 2.6 million landmark. It is overwhelming, by any measure. Even if you consider that a given batch of about 100 apps do more or the less the same thing, this still leaves about 250,000 different applications covering anything your imagination can think of.

The MWC in Spain has attracted more than 100,000 visitors. This is huge, by any standards, especially when you know that attendance was only possible on invitation, or upon buying a business pass at prices ranging from 800 to 5,000 euros apiece! Indeed, this is a highly professional, international gathering, not the kind of open exhibition where you go with kids and family to have fun, drink a soda, collect some colourful brochures and try to grab give-away gifts.

Whereas the term “mobile” would first make you think of smartphones and tablets, the concept has now extended well beyond these devices. At the MWC you could understandably see the impressive booths of Samsung, Huawei and the like, but also those of Mercedes-Benz, BMW and other carmakers, for instance. This in no way means that the celebrated German car manufacturers are changing their plans and are now designing smartphones, but simply that mobile applications are everywhere, in virtually any manufactured machine, device or appliance.

Actually the automotive world is a prime place where countless, highly critical mobile applications are being implemented. This ranges from integrated GPS and mapping, to engine management and remote troubleshooting (and eventually repair…) of any problem or malfunction that could affect your car.

Intelligent Connectivity, 5G mobile networking, AI (Artificial Intelligence), Amazon Entertainment, Humanoid Robots, Mind Hygiene and Economic Gaming are only some of the fascinating, avant-garde topics that were the subject of lectures and conferences during the congress.

The number of exhibitors was in the hundreds, with all the big names in the IT industry participating, as well as many from most other industries too, since there is now hardly any sector that is not using mobile networking or that is involved one way or another in the matter.

Among the Jordanian participants, the presence of ProgressSoft Corporation was particularly remarkable. The leading, innovative and pioneering Jordanian company is “a global provider of real-time payment solutions serving 370 banks, central banks, mobile network operators and financial institutions in 24 countries across the globe”. ProgressSoft was there with an impressive group of its top management and its business development staff, to showcase its know-how and top mobile payment products.

Whereas the core infrastructure of the Internet is mainly cabled, with fibre-optic technology essentially, actual usage by the consumer is going mobile everywhere, especially at the individual level, with the trend continuing, unabated.

Adolescents with asthma do not always speak up during doctor visits and often leave with questions, a study suggests. 

About a third of teens with asthma do ask questions of doctors, but parents typically do most of the talking, the study authors found. 

“As teens grow up and become more independent, it becomes more and more important that they can manage their asthma on their own, without relying on their parents,” coauthor Scott Davis of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill told Reuters Health by e-mail. “If we can make teens more confident in asking their doctors the questions they have, they may be more likely to learn the skills they need to control their asthma.” 

Writing in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, Davis and colleagues describe what happened when they gave 185 asthmatic adolescents a one-page list of 22 questions about asthma medications and asthma triggers, before the youngsters doctors’ appointments. 

Previous studies have shown that physician-patient interactions are improved when patients have access to a “question prompt list”, which allows them to check the questions they want to ask during a visit and write in their own questions. 

On average, teens in the current study checked about four questions. About 11 per cent wrote in one or two questions. 

The most frequently checked question was “How severe is my asthma?” which was checked by about half of the teens. About a third of teens who checked questions asked, “What causes my asthma?” and “How can I make my asthma better?” The most frequently checked medication questions were, “How long do I hold my breath after I inhale my medicine?” and, “Should I use my asthma medicine before I play or exercise?” 

Only about a third of kids who checked at least one question actually asked at least one question during their appointment. 

The question most often asked after being checked on the list was, “What causes my asthma?” However, only 10 per cent of teens who checked “How do I prevent breathing problems?” actually asked the question. 

Of the asthma medication questions, 40 per cent of teens who checked “Should I always carry my asthma medicine with me?” and “Is it okay to take my asthma medicine with my other medicines?” raised those questions with their doctor. At the same time, nobody who checked important questions such as “Can you show me how to use my medicine?” and “Can I show or tell you how I use my medicine, so you can tell me if I am doing it right?” actually asked their doctor. 

“Parents have a role to play in empowering their teens to speak up during medical visits and ask questions,” Davis said. “Teens with asthma especially need to know how to use their inhaler correctly but are often reluctant to ask their doctor to show them.” 

 “As a clinician, it becomes second nature to direct conversation to the adult caregiver, especially if there is a longstanding relationship between provider and caregiver,” said Dr Tamara Perry of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. Perry, who was not involved with this study, has researched how teens may use smartphone apps for self-management of their asthma. 

“As children grow up, clinicians and caregivers have to be intentional and remain mindful that adolescents don’t always feel empowered to ask questions,” she told Reuters Health by e-mail. “It’s up to us to help them engage in their care by bringing them into the conversation.” 

Weight-loss surgery has more benefits than simply slimming a patient down since it may also result in lasting improvements to sexual functioning, a new study suggests. 

In the multicentre study that included more than 2,000 men and women who had problems with sexual functioning before surgery, researchers found that more than half reported improvements in their sex lives within a year of the surgery. The improved functioning continued for most of these patients through five years of follow-up, the study team reports in “JAMA Surgery”. 

“Satisfaction with sexual life is improved by one year after bariatric surgery, and this improvement is maintained in both men and women by five years post-surgery,” said the study’s lead author, Kristine Steffen of the School of Pharmacy at North Dakota State University in Fargo. 

At the start of the study, the 1,607 women and 429 men included in the analysis had filled out questionnaires that asked about sexual function and satisfaction, and all had reported problems. The questions included whether, in the past month, the individual had “felt sexual desire or interest, that is, desire or interest to engage in any activity that is arousing to you, alone or with a partner”, as well as how often they had participated in sexual activity, how much their physical health had limited sexual activity and how satisfied overall they were with their sex lives. 

The questions were asked again one year and five years post-surgery. Prior to surgery 1,015 of 1,456 (69.7 per cent) women and 304 of 409 (74.3 per cent) men said they were not satisfied with their sex lives. Among the participants who were dissatisfied, 56 per cent of women and 49.2 per cent of men experienced meaningful improvements at one year. 

Specifically, men were 1.57 times more likely than they were before the surgery to experience improvements in the frequency of feeling sexual desire, 1.53 times more likely to experience improvements in the frequency of sexual activity, 3.97 times more likely to experience fewer physical limitations to having sex and 2.37 times more likely to experience improvements in satisfaction with their sex lives. 

Women were 1.5 times more likely a year post-surgery than before their operations to experience improvements in the frequency of feeling sexual desire, 1.53 times more likely to experience improvements in the frequency of sexual activity, 3.7 times more likely to experience fewer physical limitations to having sex and 2.11 times more likely to experience improvements in satisfaction with their sex lives. 

Many of these improvements lasted for a full five years. For those who had improvements at year one in physical limitations, for instance, three-quarters of the women and more than two-thirds of the men continued to report improvement at year five. 

“There were significantly fewer women who had improvements in frequency of desire, frequency of activity and degree to which physical health limits sexual activity at year five post-surgery compared with year one post-surgery,” Steffen noted in an email. 

“In women, early improvement in satisfaction with sexual life was maintained by year five. In men dissatisfied before surgery, early improvements were maintained by year five in all domains except the degree to which physical health limits sexual activity.” 

“[The new study] highlights the importance of looking beyond what we traditionally look at with bariatric surgery”, said Kimberley Steele of Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore. “Traditionally we’re looking at weight-loss outcomes and outcomes related to weight loss, such as diabetes, cholesterol, hypertension and sleep apnoea.” 

Steele, who was not involved in the study, said she hopes it will raise awareness about “something that is not talked about that often: sexual function”. Almost 70 per cent of women and 74.3 per cent of men listed that as a problem for them preoperatively, she noted. 

“This was a nice way through validated surgery and a large cohort to show how weight loss through bariatric surgery improves sexual function and therefore quality of life,” Steele said. “More women than men seek bariatric surgery. By raising awareness that weight loss improved sexual dysfunction and therefore also quality of life, maybe this will encourage more men to consider the option of bariatric surgery.”

LOS ANGELES — Universal’s “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” debuted atop the North American box office, taking in $55 million, industry tracker Exhibitor Relations said on Monday.

The animated film ended the weekend ahead of the two earlier instalments in the “Train Your Dragon” series — neither of which hit $50 million — making it the top domestic opener of the year, according to Variety magazine.

Voiced by Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Cate Blanchett and F. Murray Abraham, the new instalment tells the story of young Hiccup and his dragon Toothless, as a surging dragon population forces them to seek a “Hidden World” supposed to be a utopia for the winged creatures. 

Last weekend’s box office leader, Fox’s “Alita: Battle Angel”, clung to the second spot, but only after dropping sharply to take in just $12.3 million. The sci-fi fantasy stars Rosa Salazar as a cyborg who has lost her memory.

In third was “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part” from Warner Bros., which took $9.7 million. The animated story of love and chaos in an apocalyptic toyland features the voices of Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks and Will Arnett.

MGM’s “Fighting With My Family” placed fourth at $7.8 million. The semi-serious wrestling comedy stars Florence Pugh as a young woman struggling, along with her family, to make it big in the pro-wrestling world. Dwayne Johnson as “The Rock” encourages her on her quest.

Fifth place went to “Isn’t It Romantic” from Warner Bros., which took $7.1 million. It stars Rebel Wilson as a rom-com hating New Yorker who, after suffering a blow to the head, finds herself living in her own romantic comedy.

Rounding out the weekend’s top 10 were “What Men Want” ($5.2 million), “Happy Death Day 2U” ($4.9 million), “Cold Pursuit” ($3.2 million), “The Upside” ($3.2 million) and “Run the Race” ($2.2 million).

By Stephen Nellis and Paul Sandle

SAN FRANCISCO/LONDON — Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. on Wednesday unveiled a nearly $2,000 folding smartphone in a bid to top the technology of Apple Inc. and Chinese rivals and reignite consumer interest amid slumping sales. 

The Galaxy Fold will go on sale on April 26 and take advantage of new and faster 5G mobile networks. The device looks similar to a conventional smartphone, but then opens like a book to reveal a display the size of a small tablet at 7.3 inches. 

The device “answers sceptics who said that everything that could be done has been done”, DJ Koh, chief executive of Samsung Electronics, said at an event in San Francisco. “We are here to prove them wrong.” 

Samsung remains the world’s largest smartphone maker with nearly a fifth of global unit sales but underperformed a slumping market last year. Chinese rival Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. — whose Mate series of phones also command premium prices — gained market share. Other Chinese makers like Xiaomi Corp. have also been increasing prices, leaving Samsung to defend its turf against upstart rivals in addition to its longtime foe Apple. 

With the foldable phone, Samsung is going on the offense on two fronts in the smartphone race: it is offering an eye-catching new feature with the big, bending screen and the first 5G connection in a premium phone, a feature analysts do not expect Apple to match until 2020. 

Samsung is also making improvements to its flagship Galaxy S devices and plans to offer a 4G version of its folding phone. 

It also challenges the notion of what a phone can cost, debuting at nearly twice the price of current top-of-the-line models from Apple and Samsung itself. 

Patrick Moorhead, founder of Moor Insights & Strategy, said the new folding device could help Samsung stay at the top and lure consumers to upgrade devices that have looked largely the same over the past five years. 

“Samsung and Apple go back and forth” to lead the premium smartphone market, Moorhead said. “I think this is Samsung’s chance to take back the innovation crown.” 

And even though the $1,980 starting price is steep, some dedicated Samsung fans said they would pay it. Navneet Kumar Singh, a Samsung enthusiast from India who travelled to San Francisco to watch the launch, is ready to place his order. 

“The prices of the flagship models have been a little aggressive in India,” he said, “But in the end, if you invest the money you’re getting a different experience.” 

Samsung also introduced several accessories to compete against Apple, including a pair of wireless headphones called Galaxy Buds. The headphones include wireless charging, a feature that Apple has promised to put into is competing AirPods but has not yet released. 

Samsung also said that its new Galaxy phones will be able to wirelessly charge its headphones and new smartwatches by setting the accessories on the back of the phone. 

10 times faster 

Along with the folding phone, Samsung also added new cameras and a 5G version to its Galaxy series of phones. 

Verizon Communications Inc. will be the first carrier to offer service for Samsung’s 5G phones. The networks are expected to be 10 times faster than current ones, improving viewing of live news and sports events. 

Folding phones? Makers pray you’ll want one

With the 5G versions of its flagships, the Korean electronics maker looks to have beaten Chinese rivals in the 5G race, although the device will operate only on the small number of networks launching later this year. Apple is not expected to release a 5G smartphone until late 2020. 

The new networks are not available in many places yet but will roll out this year and next. Consumers who want to hold on to their phones for several years before upgrading may be tempted to buy a 5G phone now so that it will be able to take advantage of those networks later, said Bob O’Donnell of TECHnalysis Research. That could sway some Apple buyers over to Samsung and other Android makers with 5G devices. 

“People are going to be thinking about, am going to be able to use this a year from now? Two years from now? Three years?” he said. 

Rival smartphone makers are expected to announce 5G models at next week’s Mobile World Congress, the industry’s top annual event, in Spain. Samsung said its 5G handset would be available in the early summer. 

The Galaxy 10 series needs to appeal to consumers who are reluctant to upgrade for only incremental technological improvements in performance. 

All of the Galaxy series of rigid phones except the 5G will be available from March 8, with the S10+ priced from $1,000, the S10 priced from $900 and the smaller S10e from $750. 

The mainline S10 compares with $999 for Apple’s iPhone XS and $858 for Huawei’s premium Mate 20 Pro.