As if the Galaxy S24 series and Galaxy AI weren’t enough, Samsung decided to “One More Thing” us by teasing the Samsung Galaxy Ring at Unpacked.
The company dangled the device like a carrot after boasting about the Samsung Health app. However, other than simply flashing it on the screen, we don’t know much else about the Galaxy Ring.
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Should you put a ring on it? I tried the Oura 3 for one month to find out.
Samsung Galaxy Ring teased at Unpacked
“Meet the Galaxy Ring, with AI technology [that] is empowering us to stay connected, unleash our creativity and build healthier habits all in more meaningful ways,” the company announced at Unpacked. “This is just the beginning, and we can’t wait for you to try it yourself.”
That’s it. We don’t know anything else about the Ring — no price, no release date, nothing.
If Samsung steps into the ring, pun intended, of miniature wearables, Oura may be in trouble. The company has been synonymous with health-tracking rings, offering options that start from $300.
Oura claims that it has the most accurate sleep tracking of any consumer wearable, according to a PR rep I spoke with at CES 2024. If that’s true, Samsung has its work cut out for it. If it can’t beat Oura with sleep monitoring, there are still plenty of other health metrics it can master, including heart rate, temperature, and stress (three features that Oura also tracks).
It’s worth noting that Samsung already has a significant presence in the wearable market, particularly when it comes to smartwatches. Its latest Galaxy Watch 6 comes with your typical array of wrist-based wearable tracking, including sleep coaching, fitness tracking, and heart-rate monitoring. Plus, it serves as an extension of your phone, allowing you to control you camera, take calls, and text — all from your wrist.
However, the Galaxy Ring will almost certainly be screenless, making it an ideal option for those who don’t need a wearable that keeps them connected to their phone. Similar to the Oura ring, it’ll likely stick to the basics, monitoring health and sleep, and feeding that information back to an app for logging and progress tracking.
We’ll just have to hear from the horse’s mouth, Samsung itself, to get more information about this Oura rival.
Samsung held Unpacked to unveil a major smartphone announcement. Say hello to the new Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24+, and Galaxy S24 Ultra.
But Samsung also had a few other other highlights up it’s sleeve. The company announced Galaxy AI, a set of AI-powered tools designed to work alongside the trio of next-generation phones. Samsung also revealed an entirely new product altogether.
Here’s everything you need to know about Samsung Unpacked.
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Credit: Mashable
Samsung Galaxy S24
$799
Galaxy AI
Samsung Unpacked’s real headliner wasn’t the new Galaxy S phones, which we will get to shortly. It was Galaxy AI.
Galaxy AI brings a slew of AI-powered features to all three of Samsung’s new phones and select other Android devices as well.
The first feature Samsung unveiled is real-time voice translations while on a call. Users can see text translations on-screen as well hear an AI voiceover translate the call verbally. AI translations also come to text messages as well, as texts automatically translate when a user both sends and receives them.
Samsung showed off it’s new AI-powered mobile translation features. Credit: GLENN CHAPMAN/AFP via Getty Images
Unpacked also showed off some Samsung Notes features, like the ability to clean up messy handwriting in order to make note-taking neater and more readable. In addition, the Note Assist feature can autoformat quickly typed notes into well-written summaries and easy-to-read bullet points.
Samsung also showed off its new AI photo and video features like AI-powered HDR, nightography, and video stabilization. The company boasted how it worked with Instagram to bring the first HDR-enabled photos to the platform.
However, the most unique AI feature here has to be the AI generations within the image editor. For example, these photo editing features can fill-in out-of-frame visuals and movie objects within the picture using AI. When utilizing these features, Samsung will add a watermark to the photo and label in the metadata that the visual contains AI-generated content.
Samsung also rolled out a partnered video with YouTube giant MrBeast to show off the ultra zoom on its new Samsung Galaxy S24 camera and how easily the AI can edit photos. MrBeast also showed off Samsung’s Quickshare feature, which can speedily send full-resolution images and other files across all Android devices and PCs.
Google and Circle to Search
Along with its own AI, Samsung has partnered with Google to bring the search giant’s own AI models to Samsung smartphones and other Android devices.
The biggest announcement from Google at the Samsung event was the new Circle to Search feature.
Coming to the Samsung Galaxy S24 lineup, as well as some other Android devices, users will be able to perform searches by simply circling, highlighting, scribbling, or tapping an object on their screen. Users can search this way using text, photos, or even videos displayed on their device. For example, if their favorite creator is wearing a shirt they’d like to buy, the user can simply hold the Home button and circle the shirt. A Google search will then automatically be performed and link the user to result pertaining to the shirt and where they can buy it.
Samsung also announced that many of its announced AI features like translations will have seamless integration with Google’s phone-to-car service, Android Auto.
Galaxy S24 Ultra
The main event of Samsung’s smartphone lineup is the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The Ultra is the most powerful model of Samsung’s Galaxy phones and the latest version is no different.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Credit: Mashable
The Galaxy S24 Ultra is powered by Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 mobile chipset. Some benchmark tests have found the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 to be faster than Apple’s own speedy M1 chipset, so it’ll be interesting to see just how the Galaxy S24 Ultra performs.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra is 6.8 inches in size, like its predecessor, with a QHD display. The Android-device also comes with four rear-facing cameras: a 12MP ultra-wide camera, a 200MP wide camera, a 50MP telephoto camera with 5x optical zoom, and a 10MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom. Counting the 12MP front camera, the Galaxy S24 Ultra has a total of 5 cameras for users to choose from.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Credit: Mashable
The Galaxy S24 Ultra will be available with 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB storage. Samsung appears to have tossed the 8GB of memory version of the Ultra and all the devices come with a whopping 12GB of memory.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Credit: Mashable
The Galaxy S24 Ultra will start at $1299.
Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24+
The more affordable models of Samsung’s Galaxy S smartphones have received an upgrade, too.
And much like their more premium sibling, both the Galaxy S24 and S24+ will be powered by the latest Qualcomm mobile chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.
Samsung Galaxy S24 Credit: Mashable
The Galaxy S24 is much tinier than the Ultra, coming in at 6.2 inches with a FHD display. The Galaxy S24+ is only a bit smaller than the Ultra, 6.7 inches, and has the same QHD+ display.
Both smartphones have three rear cameras: a 12MP ultra-wide camera, a 50MP wide camera, and a 10MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom, as well as the 12MP front-facing camera.
Samsung Galaxy S24+ Credit: Mashable
The Galaxy S24 only comes with 8GB of memory, regardless if you opt for the 128GB or 256GB storage versions. The Galaxy S24+ start with the 256GB model and offers a 512GB storage version as well. However, the Galaxy S24+ offers 12GB of memory in both versions. So, it seems like if you’re not missing the extra camera and the higher quality photos of the Ultra, the Galaxy S24+ may provide the best bang for your buck.
The Galaxy S24 base model starts at $799 and the Galaxy S24+ starts at $999.
Samsung Galaxy Ring
The event was closing with an overview of some new Samsung Health features, such as sleep analysis, when a surprise was introduced on the screen:
A new wearable device called the Galaxy Ring.
The video was pretty much a teaser of what the device looked like, without any real details regarding its capabilities. But Samsung seemingly has big plans for the Galaxy Ring.
TikTokkers are obsessed with theories, particularly those about relationships. Take the invisible string theory, about crossing paths with your partner before you officially met, or the one about moon phases signaling compatibility. Another that may have popped up on your FYP lately is the “orange peel theory.”
The orange peel theory, as explained by TikTok user @annabhamm (Anna Birmingham) back in November, is about your partner performing tiny acts of service (which is one of the original five love languages), especially ones that you can do by yourself. For example: peeling an orange. Their response to you asking them to peel an orange, according to Birmingham, “reveals so much about their attitude towards you and your relationship.”
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TikTokkers have followed suit, filming themselves asking their partners this as if to test their devotion. Some “pass” immediately, like in user @sterlingmonett’s video, where her fiancé offers to peel, cut, or sauté it for her. Others need more convincing, like in this video from @vincentgiganteee where he first refused (to peel a grapefruit, as they didn’t have an orange), but eventually complied.
Among these videos are reactions to the theory itself. User @oliviasweats said the theory is stupid, and asked why people (primarily women) are testing their partners (primarily men) like they’re “in middle school.” But TikTokker @_ritabola_0 feels the opposite, saying she loves these videos and to keep them coming (and also urges women to delete dating apps).
Oranges — even peeling them — are already a talking point on TikTok. In November, a text slideshow of a(n assumed fictional) breakup went viral on the app. One partner iMessaged their ex how they miss when they peeled oranges for them and eventually sent an SMS message (meaning the ex blocked them) that “I peeled my orange today.” The poem “The Orange” by Wendy Cope, about finding joy in ordinary things, is also popular on TikTok. Videos about “The Orange” have generated over four million views on the app.
SEE ALSO:
Don’t trust the TikTok moon phase ‘soulmate’ trend
A peeled orange does sound nice — but ultimately, like other TikTok trends, this one shouldn’t make or break your relationship.
Starting at $799.99 (includes free storage upgrade)
Samsung has kicked off the new year with an AI-fueled refresh of its Galaxy S series lineup, and you could have one of the new devices in hand before January takes its leave.
Announced at its Galaxy Unpacked event on Wednesday, Jan. 17, the all-new smartphones include the Samsung Galaxy S24, S24+, and the S24 Ultra starting from $799.99, $999.99, and $1,299.99, respectively. All three feature subtle but welcome improvements over last year’s Galaxy S23 series from a raw spec standpoint, like a newer Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor and brighter screens with thinner bezels. More notable, though, is their support for a new suite of Galaxy AI features that put them closely in line with Google’s Pixel 8 devices, including live translation, gesture-based search, and photo editing tools.
SEE ALSO:
Samsung Galaxy S24 vs S23: Comparing price, specs and features
The new Galaxy S24 smartphones are now available for preorder before their formal launch on Wednesday, Jan. 31, and shoppers who reserve one ahead of time are eligible for a free storage upgrade. (For the first time, that includes the option to bump the Ultra model from 512GB to 1TB.) Select retailers and carriers are also throwing in free credits and gift cards with preorders; we’ve rounded up some of the best offers for deal hunters.
Keep reading for additional details about each phone’s specs, pricing, and availability:
Samsung Galaxy S24: Price and preorder details
The Samsung Galaxy S24’s Amber Yellow, Cobalt Violet, Onyx Black, and Marble Gray (left to right) colorways are available at all retailers. Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
The new entry-level Galaxy S24 starts at $799.99 — same as last year’s Galaxy S23 — with 8GB of RAM and a storage capacity of 128GB or 256GB. You can preorder it from Amazon, AT&T, Best Buy, and T-Mobile in four different colors, including Onyx Black, Marble Gray, Cobalt Violet, and Amber Yellow. Three more limited-edition hues (Jade Green, Sapphire Blue, and Sandstone Orange) are available directly through Samsung itself.
The tech giant’s latest starter smartphone features a 6.2-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x display with a 1 to 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, making it just a tad larger than its 6.1-inch predecessor. It also comes equipped with a slightly longer-lasting (in theory) 4,000mAh battery. Its camera setup carries over the 10MP telephoto lens, a 12MP ultra-wide lens, a 50MP wide lens, and a 12MP selfie camera from the Galaxy S23.
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Credit: Samsung
Samsung Galaxy S24
Starting at $799.99 + free storage upgrade
Samsung Galaxy S24+: Price and preorder details
The Samsung Galaxy S24+ is essentially just a larger, longer-lasting Galaxy S24. Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
The mid-range Galaxy S24+ comes in 256GB and 512GB storage capacities (both with 12GB of memory) starting at $999.99. It’s available in the same seven colors as the regular S24, including the three exclusives, and you can pre-order it from Amazon, AT&T, Best Buy, Samsung, or T-Mobile.
This one’s for anyone who wants more screen real estate and more time between charges: It’s largely the same as the base Galaxy S24, only with a bigger, higher-resolution 6.7-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x display and a beefier 4,900mAh battery.
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Credit: Samsung
Samsung Galaxy S24+
Starting at $999.99 + free storage upgrade
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: Price and preorder details
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is the first Galaxy smartphone with a titanium frame. Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
Available in 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB storage capacities with 12GB of RAM, the high-end Galaxy S24 Ultra starts at $1,299.99 (or $100 more than the Galaxy S23 Ultra). It has a titanium frame à la Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro models — a first for a Galaxy phone — which comes standard in Titanium Gray, Titanium Black, Titanium Violet, and Titanium Yellow colorways; Samsung’s website also has it exclusively in Titanium Green, Titanium Blue, and Titanium Orange. Elsewhere, it’s up for preorder at Amazon, AT&T, Best Buy, and T-Mobile.
Sporting a 6.8-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x display made from durable Corning Gorilla Armor, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is the largest of Samsung’s three new smartphones and the only one that supports its S Pen stylus. It should also be the best at taking pictures: Samsung has bumped up its wide camera lens to 200MP and tacked on an extra 50MP telephoto lens. A 5,000 mAh battery rounds out its spec sheet.
At Unpacked, Samsung unveiled Galaxy AI, a set of AI-powered tools designed to make your life easier.
What really caught my eye, however, are the cluster of new Galaxy AI features that will help the awkward vacationers among us, particularly monolingual travelers, who often struggle with language barriers while visiting unfamiliar cities.
3 Galaxy AI features that break language barriers
Galaxy AI frees you from needing a third-party app to communicate with others who don’t speak your language. Translations and transcriptions happen right on the device, the new Galaxy S24 series to be precise, so you can enjoy a native experience without cluttering your home screen with various apps.
1. Real-time translations for calls
Let’s say you’re trying to book a reservation in Madrid, but you don’t know any Spanish beyond hola and adios.
Credit: Samsung
With Galaxy AI’s real-time voice translation feature, you can speak as you normally would, but then, an AI chatbot will step in to translate your words to person on the other end.
And once the person responds, Galaxy AI will translate that statement for you in your native language.
Interestingly, Galaxy AI will remember the language your contacts speak, so you don’t need to constantly tweak your settings before each conversation.
2. Interpreter
Galaxy AI can also step in as your personal interpreter. For example, if you get lost in a foreign country, you can use this feature to ask foreign passersby questions to help you get to your destination.
Credit: Samsung
In the demo showcased at Unpacked, Interpreter regurgitated an English-posed question to Spanish. When the Spanish speaker responded, it translated the statement to English, allowing the lost English speaker to finally get an understanding on how to get back on the right path.
3. Chat Assist
Galaxy AI is also beneficial if you’re texting someone who speaks a different language, too. Chat Assist, thanks to the AI processing that underpins it, can detect languages — and translate them, too.
Credit: Samsung
For example, I have family in France, but I don’t speak a lick of French. With Chat Assist, I can type messages in my native tongue, but it will translate them for the French-speaking person on the receiving end, sparing me from copying and pasting from third-party apps.
Final thoughts
According to Samsung, these three features support 13 languages, including English, Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Thai, Spanish, Japanese, and Vietnamese.
Samsung boasted that Galaxy AI delivers best-in-class intelligence for the Galaxy S24 series, and if these on-device AI features are as smooth as Samsung makes them out to be, the Galaxy S24 Ultra may very well be my next daily driver.
MrBeast may be the king of YouTube, but now he’s trying out something new with his content: Cross-posting his YouTube videos directly to Elon Musk’s social media platform, X.
Tweet may have been deleted
On Monday night, MrBeast, who is also known by his real name Jimmy Donaldson, uploaded a video directly to the Musk-owned social media platform for the very first time.
“$1 Car vs $100,000,000 Car!!!” posted MrBeast, sharing the title of the video alongside the full 16 and a half minute upload. “I’m curious how much ad revenue a video on X would make so I’m reuploading this to test it. Will share ad rev next week.”
Tweet may have been deleted
Musk immediately shared MrBeast’s post to his more than 169 million followers.
“First MrBeast video posted directly on 𝕏!” Musk posted.
MrBeast’s about-face
The owner of the platform formerly known as Twitter has been quite active over the past year in reaching out to notable creators, podcasters, and political commentators on X, and asking that they upload their content to the site. In fact, Musk has previously replied to a few public posts from other users who had asked MrBeast to upload his videos to X, adding extra encouragement to their requests.
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YouTuber Rosanna Pansino claims MrBeast ‘lied and edited [her] out’ of a video
MrBeast’s recent decision to upload directly to X is an interesting one as he had been vocal about why he had not previously done so. In one post on X from Dec. 30, MrBeast replied directly to Musk and explained why he was hesitant to upload his content to the site.
Tweet may have been deleted
“My videos cost millions to make and even if they got a billion views on X it wouldn’t fund a fraction of it,” MrBeast said, adding a frowning smiley face. “I’m down though to test stuff once monetization is really cranking!”
YouTube has long-been the best platform for creators looking to directly monetize their content based on revenue share. As of now, no other social platform – and X is certainly included – has been able to provide its users with such a lucrative revenue model based on ad share monetization.
But, roughly two weeks later, MrBeast is now running such a test.
The results for MrBeast are “fixed”
It certainly will be interesting to see how MrBeast fares when it comes to monetization on X. As of publication, MrBeast’s video upload post has over 27,000 retweets and more than 277,000 likes. The MrBeast post containing the video embed has been viewed more than 68 million times as of this writing. (Note: X does not show how many times the video itself has been viewed. Musk removed this metric, which was previously public, last Spring.)
However, X’s monetization rules only count views from X Premium subscribers. This means that unless a user who views the content is paying $8 per month (or $16 per month for X Premium+) for X’s subscription service, a view from that user will not count towards a creators’ monetization.
With all that said, MrBeast will very likely receive a large payout from X.
Due to that monetization policy, payout amounts seem arbitrarily counted on the platform. For example, when the monetization program first launched, Musk’s favorite accounts, a group made up primarily of right-wing political commentators, influencers, and meme accounts, made as much as tens of thousands of dollars from a single payout.
On the contrary, when the monetization program widened to a broader pool of users, even popular accounts on the platform found that their highly viewed content generated much less than those highly publicized large payouts to Musk’s favorite posters.
Musk has a lot riding on the idea that MrBeast’s content will thrive on X, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see the platform paying him out beyond what revenue is actually generated from the revenue share.
In addition, MrBeast has pre-roll video ads displayed on his uploaded content. This is part of a pre-Musk program known as Amplify that’s not available for most X users. Before Musk came along with his own monetization program, selected publishers were getting paid by then-Twitter for running video ads that displayed before their own video content. X has continued running that program, and it still appears to be unavailable for most users.
Tweet may have been deleted
Furthermore, the ecommerce company Shopify has shared that they are running video ads specifically on MrBeast’s X video. This basically guarantees MrBeast’s X video will be monetized on multiple fronts, and in ways that most creators cannot monetize on X.
However, while this experiment will have enlightening results for MrBeast, it’s very clearly not an example of the broader creator monetization experience on X.
As if artificial intelligence wasn’t already scary enough, ChatGPT will get video capabilities. This comes directly from recently reinstated OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who spoke with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on his Unconfuse Me podcast.
This nightmare blunt rotation of tech overlords sat down on the pod to discuss the future of ChatGPT and the upcoming update, GPT-5. Altman says that this new generation of the lauded language model that powers ChatGPT will be “fully multimodal with speech, image, code, and video support.”
The most interesting bit of news from this podcast is the aforementioned video capabilities, on top of the GPT-5 release confirmation. The current version of ChatGPT already supports image and audio but with video, the breadth of what generative AI can do will massively expand.
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The potential use cases for an AI system like ChatGPT that can perform video analysis could lead to more reliability, and create a contextually aware chatbot, but applications for this new version could also be rife with misuse — especially in terms of privacy, which OpenAI has not had a great track record in. A lawsuit filed in June claims that OpenAI’s models were trained with “stolen” data.
When is GPT-5 coming out
Users can expect GPT-5 to drop sometime this year, according to Altman.
Altman has made it clear that he hopes to push ChatGPT’s capabilities further and further. The dizzying speed of these developments was rumored to be part of the reason Altman was briefly ousted as CEO by the nonprofit board of directors at OpenAI amid concerns about the ethical dilemmas and potential far-reaching implications of these technologies.
Microsoft, the company that generated Gates’ enormous fortune, has invested billions into OpenAI, integrating its models into its Copilot product, which offers a hint as to why Altman may have chosen this podcast as a place to break news. Altman said during his sit-down with Gates that as of right now, the current interactions of ChatGPT “is the stupidest these models will ever be.” The goal with GPT-5 then, Altman elaborated, is that this new model will be able to reason better and be more reliable — particularly in light of the application’s famous “hallucinations,” in which the chatbot confidently blurts out untrue statements. Altman wants this more accurate ChatGPT, then, to know everything about you and your data — to a degree that sounds eerily personal.
“People want very different things out of GPT-4,” Altman said on the podcast. “We’ll make all that possible, and then also the ability to have it use your own data.”
He added that a crucial part of the development of his company’s products will be the ability to deeply understand personal details — things like emails and calendars, as well as further connection to “outside data sources” so that ChatGPT gets the full scope of you.
As the 2024 presidential election approaches, OpenAI knows its tech is in the hot seat. The Washington Post dubbed this year’s race the “AI Election,” and the World Economic Forum’s recent “Global Risks Report 2024” ranked AI-derived misinformation and disinformation alongside challenges like climate change.
In a blog post shared today, OpenAI outlined the ways it intends to protect the integrity of elections and handle election interference, including “misleading ‘deepfakes’, scaled influence operations, or chatbots impersonating candidates” on its platforms.
DALL-E Images
In its post, OpenAI notes that “tools to improve factual accuracy, reduce bias, and decline certain requests” already exist. DALL-E, for example, can decline “requests that ask for image generation of real people, including candidates,” though the blog post doesn’t specify if or when DALL-E makes that decision.
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Just how restrictive is OpenAI’s DALL-E 3 on ChatGPT?
OpenAI also promises better transparency around the origin of images and what tools used to create them. By the time DALL-E 3 rolls out later this year, the company says, it plans to implement an image encoding approach that will store details of the content’s provenance.
OpenAI is also testing a new tool that can detect whether or not an image was generated by DALL·E, even when the image has been “subject to common types of modifications.”
Chat GPT content
OpenAI doesn’t announce anything too new when it comes to ChatGPT and instead points to its existing usage policies for the platform and its API.
They do not currently allow people to build applications for political campaigning and lobbying, for example, or to create chatbots that pretend to be real people, including candidates or governments. It is also against ChatGPT’s usage policies to create applications “that deter people from participation in democratic processes” or that discourage voting.
SEE ALSO:
Microsoft’s Bing AI chatbot Copilot gives wrong election information
The blog post does promise that ChatGPT will soon offer users greater levels of transparency by providing access to real-time global news reporting that includes attributions and links. The platform is also improving access to authoritative voting information by teaming up with the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) and directing users to CanIVote.org when asked “certain procedural election-related questions” like “where to vote?”
Users should also be empowered to report potential violations while using the platform, an option available on the company’s “new GPTs.”
Be safe out there and use your best judgment as the election approaches. If you’d like to learn more about how to identify how to spot election misinformation, check out ProPublica’s guide.
Ayo Edebiri is a supremely talented actor and comedian. She’s quickly become a person whose mere presence in a project likely makes it worth watching.
The Bear? Beautiful, moving, stressful, and, at times, hilarious. Theater Camp? No business being as stupendously funny as it was. Bottoms? Fantastic film.
But she’s also funny in a way that comic geniuses from a different era might not be able to pull off. She’s clearly a person well-versed in how the internet works who enjoys a good online bit. She has a sense of humor that works on the internet. And, importantly, she understands that committing to a bit only makes it funnier.
And that’s how we got to Ayo Edebiri being Ireland’s favorite daughter. You see, back in March, Edebiri joked with a Letterboxd interviewer that she played Jenny the donkey in the Irish film The Banshees of Inisherin. Edebiri, slipping into a pretty solid Irish accent, joked about spending months on all fours, working her, ahem, tail off in the role. This, of course, was just a bit. But a funny one.
“I lived in Ireland for about four months, and I got really in character, and I was on all fours for four months, and it was really painful, but beautiful, as well,” she joked.
But she has stuck with that bit. And Irish folks have loved it. Edebiri, who is actually from Boston, thanked the country after winning a Critics’ Choice award. She also shouted out Irish cities and her Irish brethren at the Emmys this week, which is how a lot of people learned about the bit.
“Shoutout to my people! Shoutout to Derry! Shoutout to Cork! Shoutout to Killarney! Shoutout to Dublin!” Edebiri said in an interview.
Tweet may have been deleted
Tweet may have been deleted
The bit has fully caught on. When Edebiri was nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award, for instance, the Twitter / X account @filmindublin ran with the joke, claiming her as an Irish great.
Tweet may have been deleted
Tweet may have been deleted
From there the jokes have kept on coming. It’s a good bit, and honestly, some wholesome internet fun.
And it’s not the first time Edebiri pulled off something like this. She had large swaths of the world believing she was the showrunner behind FX’s Kominsky Methodsimply because it seemed like a funny idea. Edebiri sort of just mentioned it in interviews and her bio and…it worked.
“I just thought what an incredible world that would be if a young Black woman in her mid-20s created this show where Michael Douglas and Allan Arkin are acting,” she said on The Late Show. “Have I watched a single episode? No. But I already get the gist, you know what I mean?”
So if you see Edebiri in a project you should probably watch it, but just maybe don’t believe all of her supposed biographical information on the internet.
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The Marvels, the latest theatrical MCU release, is already headed to the small screen. While the film only flew into theaters in November, it’s making its streaming debut this month — well, kind of. It won’t be available on Disney+ quite yet, but it will be available to watch on digital video-on-demand (VOD) services like Apple TV and Prime Video starting Jan. 16. Physical DVD and Blu-Ray editions will also be landing in stores Feb. 13. Here’s what you need to know.
What is The Marvels about?
A superheroine-stuffed sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel, The Marvels‘ premise centers on Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) learning her powers have become entangled with those of Captain Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) and super-fan Kamala “Ms. Marvel” Khan (Iman Vellani). Of course, there’s a space baddie causing the character collision named Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton). Dar-Benn is determined to save her dying planet by stealing the atmosphere and life-sustaining resources from others. The Marvels must get it together and join forces to stop her.
Like most films in the MCU, a little back story could help you get a better grip on the plotline of The Marvels. You should definitely watch Captain Marvel beforehand, and the shows WandaVision and Ms. Marvel are recommended.
Get a sneak peek at the story in the trailer below.
Is The Marvels worth watching?
The Marvels is the shortest Marvel flick to date, coming in at one hour and 45 minutes. You’d think that would be a welcome relief, but alas, Mashable’s Kristy Puchko notes in her review that its length might actually be its biggest blunder. She writes that the “space-trekking romp with action, comedy, charm, cameos, and a cat that spews tentacles” unfortunately is riddled by a “panicked pacing that doesn’t so much reflect the characters onscreen battling for their lives, but the Disney execs desperate to battle off the audience’s superhero fatigue.”
“The Marvels is at its best when it takes a breath to let its heroines have fun. A training montage of transporting while playing double-dutch, cutaways to a gawking Monica and agog Kamala while Carol sings to a dazzling prince — these are when this movie comes alive,” Puchko concludes in her review, adding that Vellani’s Kamala is a “ray of light” and a stand-out in the film. All in all, it’s a short and sweet film with a lot of star power, but once again MCU compromises tend to weigh it down.
When is The Marvels coming to Disney+?
The Marvels will definitely be headed to Disney+ at some point, but that day is not today. While we await its appearance on the streaming service, you can still watch the film via digital VOD services like Apple TV or Prime Video starting Jan. 16. The Disney+ release will most likely be shortly after its Blu-Ray and DVD release on Feb. 13. We’ll keep you updated when we get the deets.
How to watch The Marvels at home
In the meantime, those who are dying to see the superheroines take on a space baddie in The Marvels can add the film to their digital film collection beginning Jan. 16. With your purchase, you’ll also get access to some fun exclusive bonus content, including bloopers, behind-the-scenes making-of content, and other Easter eggs.
Here are the best digital platforms for purchasing the film.
Buy in UHD on Amazon Prime Video — $19.99
Buy in 4K UHD on Vudu — $19.99
Buy in 4K on Apple TV+ — $19.99
Buy in 4K on Google Play — $19.99
Buy in 4K on YouTube — $19.99
Best Disney+ deals for those who can wait
If you can wait a month or so until the Disney+ streaming release date to watch The Marvels, you’ll undoubtedly save some money. Below, we’ve rounded up the best ways to sign up for Disney+ and keep some extra cash in your pocket.
Best Disney+ deal for most people
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Credit: Disney+
Disney+ monthly subscription
$7.99/month with ads or $13.99/month no ads
You can secure a Disney+ subscription for a single month for only $7.99, as long as you don’t mind watching a few ads throughout the film. Technically, you won’t save any money, but you also won’t waste any if you remember to cancel your subscription immediately after watching The Marvels. If you can’t bear the interruptions caused by ads, you’ll have to pay $13.99/month instead.
Best Disney+ bundle deal
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Credit: Hulu / Disney+
Disney Bundle Duo Basic (Hulu + Disney+)
$9.99/month with ads
Already have a Hulu account? Bundle it with Disney+ for just $2 more per month and save 37% compared to paying for each separately. That brings your grand total to just $9.99/month for both. You could also throw ESPN+ in the mix for another few bucks and pay just $14.99/month for all three (with ads). Once again, you’ll have to deal with ads interrupting your viewing experience, but since you’ll technically be getting Disney+ for only $2 per month (depending on how you look at it), it’s really not so bad. Ads just give you time for discussion or bathroom breaks, obviously.
Best Disney+ free trial
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Credit: Verizon
Disney+ Premium (no ads)
free for 6 or 12 months with eligible Fios internet accounts (save up to $109.99)
Those who use Fios home internet can score either six or 12 free months of Disney+ Premium (no ads) depending on your plan. If you’re on the 2 Gig Streaming or 2 Gig Complete Package, you can get an entire year of streaming for free, while those on the 1 Gig Streaming or 1 Gig Complete Package can secure six free months. Check the terms over on the Verizon website to see if you’re eligible and learn how to activate your offer.
Best Disney+ free trial runner-up
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Credit: Verizon / Disney+
Disney+ Premium (no ads)
free for 6 months with eligible Unlimited plans (save $65.94)
Extended free trial alert: Verizon Wireless customers with eligible unlimited plans can score six free months of Disney+ Premium (no ads) as well. While most of these eligible plans are no longer available, you can still activate your free trial if you signed up previously. The following accounts are eligible for the free six-month Disney+ promotion:
5G Do More
5G Start
Welcome Unlimited
One Unlimited for iPhone
Get More Unlimited
Do More Unlimited
Play More Unlimited
If you’re on the 5G Get More or 5G Play More plan, you’re also eligible for the Disney Bundle for free. Check your plan and learn more about eligibility and terms over at the Verizon website. The Disney+ promo through Verizon is only available through midnight on May 17, 2024, so be sure to activate your free trial before that date.
Best free Disney+ deal
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Credit: Total by Verizon
Disney+ Premium (no ads)
free with the Total by Verizon $60 plan
As long as you’re on the $60/month prepaid unlimited plan through Total by Verizon, you can access Disney+ Premium (no ads) completely free. No fancy eligibility terms; just keep your account in good standing. If you cancel or switch, your Disney+ subscription is no longer valid. Those on the $50/month prepaid unlimited plan can also score six free months of Disney+ as well, which is plenty of time to watch The Marvels and other MCU favorites.
