Samsung DeX is Samsung's version of Continuum. A noble sentiment, but is it a solution looking for a problem? We suspect it might be.
The post Can Samsung DeX succeed where Microsoft failed? Should it? appeared first on Pocketnow.
Bixby has some lofty ambitions, and Samsung is going all in on it. And it needs Bixby to succeed, as I have previously written. Bixby is slated to be the ultimate warrior of personal assistants, growing to a full ecosystem of devices and content. Soon, we’ll see Bixby enabled phones, IoT devices, and more. These devices will all work together in perfect harmony.
But there’s something even better than Bixby will do. Bixby will allow you to use your voice to do anything that you can do by touching the device. Need to launch an app? No problem. Need to grab a screenshot? Done. Want to start watching a particular show on Netflix but you’re up to your elbows in cookie dough? Well…not yet. But definitely, probably, maybe, soon…ish. Samsung hopes.
All aboard!
Because a key factor in getting Netflix to launch a particular show while you’re elbow deep in cookie dough is to have Netflix on board the Bixby train. Netflix is going to need to add Bixby integration into its app in order for Bixby to do that. You know what we call that? We call that risk. Allow me to explain.
You might argue that Samsung is big enough and impressive enough to go to app developers and get them to play nicely. Well, sure. There was another company that was pretty huge and needed to bring developers on board to develop for its platform. It’s called Microsoft, you might have heard of it. At the risk of ripping a bandage off a still fresh wound, how did that turn out for Microsoft?
Apples to oranges
Now, you might retort with something like, “Microsoft was trying to push a whole operating system, not some stupid personal assistant!” and you would be correct. Microsoft was asking developers to basically write apps from the ground up in order to adopt the Windows Phone (now Windows 10 Mobile) platform. Samsung, on the other hand, is only asking devs to integrate an SDK into existing apps. It’s not a 1:1 comparison – I totally get that. But how much of a departure is it really?
Samsung is still calling on developers to put extra time, energy, and resources into integrating an assistant that is going into, what 20% of phones in the world? Maybe, depending on whose numbers you look at. Plus, they’ll have to support it on the back end. This is not really a small ask. It’s not like Bixby is going to be driving sales of apps. It’ll be a nice-to-have, not a necessity, at least in the short term. Maybe there is a day in the future when all apps will be 100% voice controlled, but will that day be ruled by Bixby? I’m not so sure.
Looking ahead
The hard part about this is, if there is a company that can make this happen, it’s Samsung. It has the money and the popularity to push its agenda forward. So Bixby could be the start of the next big thing. It’s easy to laugh off or [...]
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The Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus is a lovely phone. I’ve been lucky enough get hands on with it before it goes on sale, but it has a big, big problem.
It’s packed full of power, has a dazzling display, strong camera and eye-catching design – but so does its smaller, cheaper sibling, the Samsung Galaxy S8.
In fact, the only differences between the two handsets are 1) screen size, 2) battery size and 3) price.
You may want a large screen, but unlike last year where we got a 5.1-inch Galaxy S7 and 5.5-inch Galaxy S7 Edge, the standard Galaxy S8 packs a huge 5.8-inch display.
At 6.2 inches the Galaxy S8 Plus screen is monstrous, yet it feels unnecessary alongside its already-large non-plus namesake.
The bigger 3,500mAh battery (vs 3,000mAh in the S8) is a nice addition, but Samsung’s S7 duo had one of the better battery performances of 2016’s flagships and the Galaxy S8 should continue that trend - plus with fast and wireless charging, if you do run low it’s easy and quick to top up.
All this dampens the appeal of the larger power pack in the S8 Plus. Then comes the price.
Samsung has upped the cost of its new flagship duo, with the Galaxy S8 featuring an already wallet-troubling $720 (£689, AU$1,199) price tag.
The S8 Plus meanwhile, demands $825 (£779, AU$1,349) for the privilege of a bigger screen and battery - which doesn’t sound like great value for money to me.
The reason Samsung has got the Galaxy S8 Plus is simple. Apple.
Back in 2014 Apple launched the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, six months after Samsung launched the singular Galaxy S5. Five months after the iPhone 6 launch, Samsung introduced the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge.
The South Korean firm already had a big screen handset in its Galaxy Note series, but it seems like it was desperate to keep up appearances versus Apple so rolled out two new handsets regardless.
At least it still made some sense, with one flat-screened phone and a larger, curved screen device. It repeated the trick with S7, and again I gave Samsung a pass because there was a bigger difference between the two phones.
There's no free pass this time round though. With news that Samsung is going to start selling refurbished, non-exploding Galaxy Note 7 handsets soon, and rumors of a Galaxy Note 8 launch later in the year the Galaxy S8 Plus feels even more unnecessary.
Check out our Galaxy S8 vs Galaxy S8 Plus video below to see the difference between the two phones for yourself
The Galaxy S8 has a bigger screen than the LG G6, Huawei P10 Plus, HTC U Ultra, Sony Xperia XZ Premium and iPhone 7 Plus - it comfortably meets the “I want a bigger screen on my flagship phone” requirement without the need for the Galaxy S8 Plus.
The simple answer would be, “don’t buy the S8 Plus then”, but I can’t help but wonder what could have been. Samsung could have saved itself time and money by bringing us the Galaxy S8 only, which in turn may have seen it come with a more appealing price tag, and letting its Note series offer the super-supersized screen experience.
But here we are, with two ridiculously good looking phones, but really all we need is the one.
Snapchat is taking a step towards becoming a short-form, mobile version of YouTube by adding a new search tool that lets you browse through over a million public stories from the comfort of your smartphone.
For some time users have been able to post to a public Our Story feed as well as the private My Story option that only your friends can see. Our Story is designed to create curated highlights of big events, like music festivals or sports games, and now those stories are going to be searchable.
Snapchat says it's applying some "advanced machine learning" so you can look for anything from puppies to places with a few taps. It also sounds like some of the curation process will be automated too, so content from users can be uploaded and filtered more quickly.
So, when you're bored of everything your friends are posting, you can search for Snapchat Stories around the theme of Easter, or posted down at your local bar, if there are enough Snapchatters there at the time.
Eventually, you could search by background music or caption, if the algorithms get smart enough. You probably won't see the Search for Stories feature appear just yet in your own app though - Snapchat is rolling out the option slowly, starting in a select number of cities in the US.
It makes a refreshing change to be able to report on a new feature Snapchat is adding rather than an existing Snapchat feature that Facebook is trying to rip off - but for the time being Mark Zuckerberg and his team haven't got around to following suit.
There's no real need to figure out what our podcast is about this week. Four tech editors sitting in a rented apartment talking about the Galaxy S8.
The post Geared (360) for the Galaxy S8 | #PNWeekly 246 appeared first on Pocketnow.
If you have a fondness for both Samsung hardware and Microsoft software then we might just have the perfect pair of phones for you: a Galaxy S8 or S8+ crammed with Microsoft apps, available in store soon for those of you in the US.
ZDNet reports that these "Microsoft Edition" phones will need to be unboxed in a Microsoft-run store, connected to the in-store Wi-Fi, and then populated with Microsoft's key Android apps, like Cortana and Office.
"Microsoft Store is committed to empowering its customers to achieve more through Office and Microsoft applications," Microsoft said in a statement. "The new device customization is an example of bringing together Microsoft applications on more devices so customers can work, play and connect from their pockets."
While the move may raise a few eyebrows, it's the next logical step for Microsoft, which has been pushing its own apps for iOS and Android for some time now. The tech giant also develops lock screen and launcher apps for Android that effectively turn Google-powered devices into Microsoft-branded ones anyway.
Apple's handsets are much more tightly locked down of course but by making apps like Cortana available on multiple platforms, Microsoft is conceding the mobile OS space to Apple and Google while wanting to make sure Windows loyalists can carry on using their favorite programs.
You can pick up your Microsoft-themed Galaxy S8 or S8+ for $749.99 or $849.99 from April 21, Microsoft says, though there's no word yet on whether the scheme will roll out beyond the US. It shouldn't be too difficult for anyone to achieve the same end result with a quick visit to the Google Play Store anyway.
