• by P.J. Bednarski  @pjbtweet, February 13, 2019

Next Wednesday, the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event in San Francisco will officially show off the new “foldable” Samsung smartphone that tech fans and marketers have been waiting months to see. The company will also unveil its S10 smartphone.

Before that happens, though, Samsung has caused a stir with a massive billboard campaign in hot spots all over the world. They announce, “The future unfolds” in Hangeul, the ancient Korean script. 

To the billions of people who don’t speak or read Korean, the billboards are baffling -- but, presumably, really cool. 

Some of the boards announce Samsung is the sponsor; some don’t. Samsung has put them up in iconic spots around the world, including New York City’s Times Square,Milan’s Piazza del Duomo, Madrid’s Callao Square, Moscow’s Hydroproject Building, Singapore’s The Heeren and  the Place de la Concorde in Paris (shown above).

On Twitter, #SamsungEvent contains a short video using the logo and the Feb. 20 unpacking date in type that appears to visually wrap around, hinting at the foldable phone which -- according to the best leaked videos, folds out like a cigarette case to create a larger screen. 

The hoopla isn’t really so much about the foldable phone, which will be very expensive -- as much as $1,800 -- and won't be equipped with the latest 5G technology until next year.

From a practical point of view, though, the new S model is more important -- and the very successful S-series of smartphones celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.

Though Samsung’s had a relatively flat news year, that beats Apple’s more recent iPhone woes. 

In the past, Samsung has introduced its new phones at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. This time it’s using an auditorium in San Francisco where Apple has made its product introductions in the past, a move that has obvious in-your-face connotations. 

New Yorkers will get their first chance to see the phone right after the unpacking by visiting the Samsung store at 837 Washington Street, which will live-stream the event starting at 1 p.m.. But attendees must RSVP first.