Samsung acquires Canada-based digital advertising startup to display tailored ads on Smart TVs

Just six days after it revealed that it had purchased US-based cloud service firm Joyent for an undisclosed figure, Samsung has today announced that it has also acquired a Canada-based digital advertising startup, which operates under the name AdGear.

The manufacturer hopes that its latest takeover will enable it to dramatically improve the quality of the advertisements it’s displaying on its Smart TVs in the United States and hopes to use AdGear’s expertise in managing data to transmit tailored ads for end users.

During its six years of existence, AdGear has managed to drum up a lot of interest and now provides its services to advertisers, media agencies and publishers all over the world, which is why Samsung has decided that the company will continue to operate independently as a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Canada Inc.

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New interview reveals that the Gear 360′s design was inspired by astronauts’ helmets

Samsung has already published interviews providing us with a deeper insight of what went into designing its Charm fitness tracker and Galaxy S7 edge Injustice Edition, and now it has taken to its official Newsroom to answer many of our questions about its first 360-degree camera, the Gear 360.

A handful of consumers’ most frequently asked questions were answered during the interview, including how the team came up with the Gear 360′s design, where the inspiration for the unit came from and what challenges had to be overcome to get the device on the shelves.

If you’d like to find out the answers to these questions, simply hit the source link below to read the full Q&A over on Samsung’s website.

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Galaxy Note 7 to have dual-edge curved design, no flat variant in the works

A poster leaked recently intended to put the question “Edge, non-edge, or both?” to rest didn’t for many who were still hoping that Samsung would create a flat Galaxy Note 7 alongside of the Galaxy Note 7 edge. When a European Galaxy Note 7 model number leaked appearing to be a non-flat version, we cautioned our readers at the time to take the idea with a grain of salt. Unfortunately, tech journalists not affiliated with the site have taken the idea and proclaimed to their readership(s) that a flat Note 7 is in the works, but we said then and there that nothing coming out of Korea indicates that a flat Galaxy Note 7 is on the way. Now, we’re getting what should be a second wake-up call for the non-edge crowd.

Korea is now telling us that “Samsung is not considering launching a flat screen version of the Note phone.” Samsung is having a change in strategy, with the company aiming more for profitability instead of marketshare these days without neglecting either, and the decision to go full-on with the Galaxy Note 7 edge instead of crafting a flat variant seems to be in line with the Korean giant’s new direction. Not only will the Galaxy Note 7 edge help Samsung increase its overall profit, but it will also give Samsung the opportunity to showcase its newest idea that is becoming something of the new fad, even for Chinese smartphone manufacturers.

The edge is “the new flat,” with the edge serving a number of purposes for the smartphone experience. Not only can you get news feeds, app shortcuts, and so on with the edge, you can also use the edge to write on the screen (which Samsung is saving for the upcoming Galaxy) and aesthetically, the smartphone as a whole is easier to hold and easier to press against the ear when making a phone call, for example. Screenshots and photos seem to just “roll off the edge” when using the Galaxy S7 edge, for example, but what the next Galaxy brings to the table in the Note phablet will be Samsung’s best work ever.

Samsung will start mass production on the upcoming Galaxy in July and announce the Galaxy Note 7 on August 2, 2016, in New York City. Even for those who still want to hold out hope for a flat variant, we continue to advise you to err on the side of disappointment rather than the side of surprise.

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The Galaxy Note 7, with Adoptable Storage, would showcase the strength of microSD card storage

Samsung has brought back microSD card storage in the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, having made the feature cooperate with the company’s faster flash memory (UFS 2.0) that made its first appearance in the Galaxy Note 5. Around the time of the official announcement, it was believed that the pre-installed Marshmallow sweetness would bring Adoptable Storage, an implementation that lets you insert a microSD card and use it for additional internal storage. In other words, in the same way that you can save all apps, photos, screenshots, downloads, and even Twitter images (for example) to your device’s internal storage, you’d be able to do the same with adoptable storage. Adoptable storage would treat your microSD card as additional internal storage and would work in the same way as native storage.

Samsung made a decision not to introduce Adoptable Storage into the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge because the company’s consumer research indicates its consumer base wants the freedom to transport microSD cards from its phones to other portable devices, a freedom that would be impossible with Adoptable Storage.

And yet, I want Adoptable Storage. I understand that my view here disagrees with Samsung’s consumer research, but I want Adoptable Storage in the Galaxy Note 7. Not only do I want it; I also think there are some excellent reasons why Samsung should go with Adoptable Storage in the upcoming “Galaxy.” Here are my two reasons.

Reason #1: MicroSD card storage doesn’t let you save all apps to the SD card

My Galaxy S7 edge has a 128GB Samsung microSD card (I wouldn’t buy one from any other manufacturer if I were you), and I’ve recently taken time to reconsider what many consumers see in microSD card storage as such a good thing. I had my issues with microSD card storage back in the Galaxy S5, and, two years later, this first reason still rings true. Though we’ve gotten faster cameras, higher-resolution displays, faster flash storage, more premium build quality, and better-performing batteries, microSD card memory has progressed very, very little.

Even after two years since the Galaxy S5, users still can’t save all apps to the microSD card. Yes, you can save some apps to your microSD card, but you have to check the storage of each app to see which ones are transfer-friendly. Consumers praise this feature as a must-have for phones, but why would anyone want microSD card storage when it just creates fragmentation for smartphone performance? Why rave about the “freedom” one has with microSD card storage when having all that “storage freedom” comes with limitation in something as basic as what you can and can’t use it for?

After all, if functional features expand capabilities, why is it that “expandable” microSD cards limit app storage? Just because microSD card storage can save media (videos, photos, music, etc.) doesn’t mean that we can overlook its limitation and flaws. MicroSD card storage, like native storage, has its flaws, and not everyone views microSD cards as the best storage means.

Adoptable Storage in the Galaxy Note 7 would fix this issue: apps could be saved in the same way with Adoptable Storage that they are saved on the device with native internal storage.  MicroSD card storage just isn’t smart enough yet, and Adoptable Storage would give us not just microSD storage, but smart microSD storage that would work with, not against, native storage.

Reason #2: MicroSD card storage doesn’t know how to merge pre-SD card media and post-SD card media

MicroSD card storage isn’t smart enough to let you use its storage for every app possible on your smartphone, but that isn’t all: microSD card storage also doesn’t know how to merge pre-SD card media and post-SD card media. I’d been using my Galaxy S7 edge without a microSD card for weeks before I purchased and then installed a microSD card. Upon installation, there was a popup message that said that from this installation forward, all camera photos would be saved to the SD card.

And yet, there’s a problem here: what about the camera photos stored in native storage? Why is it that, when you place a microSD card into the device, it isn’t smart enough to ask you “would you like to move your current camera photos and other media to your SD card?,” with a menu that would let you check the data you want to move over to the new expandable storage?

The same can be said for screenshots: I created an album called “Screenshots” on my SD card, then proceeded to take a screenshot. The result? The Galaxy S7 edge saved it to my native storage and didn’t recognize my SD card even lives in the device. So, when I take screenshots from now on, I have to move over the duplicate screenshot folder to the SD card. It’s as if native storage doesn’t want to be “friends” or even play nicely in the sandbox with microSD storage.

My 200GB of Google Drive storage and my 1.1TB of Microsoft OneDrive storage don’t need me to continue moving camera photos to storage after I select my camera to “automatically save” images to my account. Additionally, cloud storage will backup photos saved to native storage when cloud storage was absent or disabled, not just the photos you took with cloud storage enabled. Cloud storage just seems smarter in that I can select what to save to it once (not every time I need to move something) and it does exactly what I need. Press “camera backup” once, and you need not remember to move over those unboxing photos (or even unboxing screenshots from YouTube videos) once you set the option in place.

The Galaxy Note 7, with Adoptable Storage, would fix the issue by eliminating this fragmentation of current microSD storage that separates your media pre-SD card installation and post-SD card installation. It would perform like native storage and save all photos without a glitch.

Conclusion

Expandable storage is touted as the top feature everyone should want in a phone. Galaxy Note 4 owners will gladly tell you if you’re a Note 5 advocate that microSD storage is lacking on the Note 5 and that if a device doesn’t have microSD card storage, it’s not for them. And yet, when you examine microSD storage with its fortes and flaws, what Note 4 fans love about it becomes less clear.

Adoptable Storage would utilize microSD storage to its full potential. It would allow consumers to have Smart MicroSD storage that would know a screenshot is a screenshot, camera photos are camera photos and not create duplicate files. Like cloud storage, Adoptable Storage in the Galaxy Note 7 would save everything and utilize all of your device storage (not just part of it). Adoptable Storage would not fight against native storage but cooperate with it. A world in which microSD storage is smart would change the game. As good as many think a Galaxy Note 4 was with microSD storage, Adoptable Storage in the Galaxy Note 7 would be and perform better than any microSD storage-endowed Galaxy Note yet.

And the day Samsung ditches microSD cards/storage as they are, and implements them as Adoptable Storage so that I can fully utilize them, I’ll see microSD storage as more of a friend and less of an enemy. Unfortunately, as to the greatness of microSD storage, the verdict’s still out.

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Samsung announces human-centered vision for IoT, plans $1.2 billion investment in R&D

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman & CEO Dr. Oh-Hyun Kwon introduced Samsung’s vision for “Human-Centered” Internet of Things today and also announced its plans to invest $1.2 billion over the next four years in US-based R&D and investments led by the Samsung Strategy and Innovation Center, Samsung Global Innovation Center and Samsung Research America, which together account for over 15,000 of the company’s employees across the United States.

“I am excited to show how we are moving IoT to the center of our strategy and am delighted to announce that Samsung is planning to spend $1.2 Billion in US-centered IoT investments and R&D over the next 4 years,” said Kwon. He called on his peers to start talking and thinking differently about Internet of Things with a human-centered approach, acknowledging the life-changing possibilities of technology, and working together to bring these benefits to the society.

Kwon also said that for a human-centered approach to IoT the process needs to be open and collaborative so that all tools are open to people who want to work in this field, and that all technology connect to and play nicely with each other so that the boundaries holding back scale can be removed. He also announced Samsung’s role as co-founder of the National IoT Strategy Dialogue which will be hosted by the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI). The purpose of this dialogue is to develop a National IoT strategy as a tool to inform policy makers of the potential of these technologies for individuals, communities, and the US economy.

These announcements were made today at Samsung-hosted forum in Washington, D.C. entitled Internet of Things: Transforming the Future. The event was attended by leaders from the technology industry, influencers, and policy makers.

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Samsung wants to be a global top-three player in 5G networks

Samsung has been working hard to develop 5G mobile network technologies. It has collaborated with Japan’s KDDI for this purpose and it’s now leading the way for standardization of 5G mobile technology. The company also showcased the world’s first end-to-end 5G solution back at the Mobile World Congress this year. A company executive makes no secret of the fact that Samsung wants to be a global top-three player in 5G mobile networks and it’s going to do that by moving into potentially lucrative markets like the United States quickly.

Samsung’s networks business ranks behind the likes of Nokia, Huawei, and Ericsson as it backed technologies like CDMA and WiMax that never really took off. It sees an opportunity to make up lost ground by moving fast with 5G which is undoubtedly the next-generation standard for telecom operators as it will offer speeds ten times faster than 4G. Kim Young-ky, Samsung’s network business chief, told Reuters that “We plan to move quickly and want to be at least among the top three with 5G.” Samsung expects to have more than 10 trillion won ($8.6 billion) in annual sales of 5G communications equipment by 2022, that’s going to be a big improvement for the company that only generated 3 trillion won in revenue from its networks business last year.

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Samsung Pay exhibits accelerated growth by launching in three new markets in three weeks

We recently asked our readers if they believed that Samsung Pay was not rolling out as fast as it should be and the majority agreed that the rollout is slow. Samsung has pointed out in a new post on its blog today that its mobile payment service has exhibited accelerated growth by launching in three new markets over the past three weeks. Samsung Pay launched in Spain which is its first European market and it then made its way to the first market within the South East Asian region: Singapore. Last but not the least, it also went live in the first market within the Oceania region: Australia.

Samsung Pay was first launched in South Korea where it has processed more than $1 billion in transactions already. It later went live in the United States and is now supported by 300 major and regional banks and credit unions. Value added services like gift cards, membership and loyalty features have been added as well for more than 110 merchants. The company says that the launches over the past three weeks are a significant milestone in the global expansion of Samsung Pay and it reiterates that the service is going to be launched in additional markets like Brazil, Canada, and the United Kingdom later this year.

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Samsung keeps profits first in overhauled smartphone strategy

Samsung is overhauling its smartphone strategy as it seeks to remain competitive in this tough market and plug declining profits. A Samsung Electronics executive cited in a report out of Korea says that the company has been looking for growth in terms of shipments for years, and now it’s preparing for the “post-smartphone era” which is why Samsung’s handset division is now focusing on profitability as a priority over growth.

The executive was quick to point out that this doesn’t mean Samsung is going to let its rivals take over the top spot in favor of more profits. It plans on keeping the company-set share according to markets and maintain shipment target of around 400 million units. The executive also said that Samsung will launch promotional campaigns for its mobile devices if it has to but “the company will be unlikely to initiate cash-intensive promotions to clear inventory and increase market share.” It’s expected that this change in strategy could improve the mobile division’s profit margin up to 17 percent during the second quarter as opposed to 15.8 percent from the previous quarter. One of the big reasons why Samsung is making this strategy change is described by the executive as the onslaught of budget Chinese smartphones as well as lukewarm consumer response to “fancy features” in expensive handsets.

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Samsung reducing DRAM investment to focus on NAND flash

At its investor relations event for institutional investors, Samsung has revealed that it’s going to reduce investment in DRAM to focus more on NAND flash. This is the first time that Samsung has directly confirmed its plans to reduce investment in DRAM. It has previously been reported that Samsung has seen a decline in DRAM sales that have hit the company’s bottom line.

Samsung’s NAND flash business is a cash cow for the company and it can make up for declining sales in the DRAM sector. Constant cost reduction has enabled Samsung to further increase its margins in the NAND sector from 17 percent to 25 percent this year. Samsung is now expected to increase its investment in production facilities for NAND flash memories as it seeks to keep competitors like SK hynix and Intel at bay. Samsung remained at the top of the global NAND flash market last year with a 31.6 percent market share and it’s not looking to concede that anytime soon.

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Samsung fails to qualify for EV battery subsidies in China

Samsung SDI has failed to receive certification from the Chinese government for subsidies on batteries for electric vehicles. It’s not the only Korean battery maker that has failed to qualify as LG Chem is in the same boat. Failure to get certification means both companies will not be subsidized for car batteries starting 2018 so their cost of doing business in China goes up significantly, at least for electric cars.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China recently made the fourth announcement of companies that have been certified as battery makers that meet China’s regulations. No Korean company is included in the list of 31 companies that have been certified, the report suggests that they were left out due to ministry not being satisfied by their compliance with regulatory rules as well as because of some issues with documentation. If Samsung SDI does not get a subsidy in China that’s equal to half of the electric vehicle’s total price it’s going to be very hard for the company to compete with those who will be getting subsidies. It simply won’t be able to match them on price even if it has the better product and regardless of the fact that Samsung SDI opened up an electric vehicle battery plant in Xi’an just last year.

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