'Developer Conference' Offline Event After 3 Years Since 2019
Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee Emphasizes 'Cam Tech' and 'SmartThings' in Keynote
Proposes Enhanced Innovation Platform and Personalized Experience
Offers Customized Services for Better Viewing Experience
Unveils Latest Galaxy Mobile User Experience 'One UI 5'
Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee is delivering the keynote speech at the 'Samsung Developer Conference 2022' held in San Francisco, USA.
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-sun] Han Jong-hee, Head of Device Experience (DX) Division (Vice Chairman), delivered the keynote speech at the 'Samsung Developer Conference (SDC) 2022' held on the 12th (local time) at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, USA. He emphasized the importance of 'Calm Technology,' stating, "Samsung's goal is to make life more convenient through technological innovation." 'Calm Technology' refers to technology that provides various convenient services intuitively and organically through the connection of diverse devices without users being consciously aware of it. Vice Chairman Han said, "Users do not need to worry about connecting various devices," adding, "That is our job, and we will do it." He also expressed pride, saying, "We feel proud to be stepping into the era of Calm Technology that connects countless devices and networks in collaboration with creative developers worldwide."
Since 2013, the annual 'Samsung Developer Conference' has been a platform where developers, designers, content creators, and industry stakeholders from around the world gather to share Samsung's operating systems and platform technologies. This year's event, held offline for the first time in three years, was attended by about 1,000 people.
'SmartThings' Experiences Over 500 Million New Users in 5 Years
At the event, Samsung Electronics introduced various innovative technologies and platform enhancement plans such as 'SmartThings,' 'Bixby,' and 'Samsung Knox.' Following the declaration of this year as the first year of SmartThings popularization at IFA held in Berlin last September, the event showcased home scenarios and the SmartThings ecosystem recreating various home situations with over 30 partner companies. Samsung emphasized that through SmartThings, not only Samsung's products and services but also devices from over 300 brands can all be connected. The latest Internet of Things (IoT) communication standard 'Matter' was also applied to SmartThings, enabling control of millions of compatible devices. Samsung plans to collaborate with Google to enable devices connected via SmartThings based on the Matter standard to also interoperate with Google's smart home system, 'Google Home.' Vice Chairman Han expressed expectations, saying, "SmartThings is not just a simple IoT platform but provides value beyond connection," and "Over the next five years, more than 500 million new users will experience it."
Samsung Electronics highlighted the voice support platform 'Bixby' as a tool to control devices connected through SmartThings. The plan is to provide users with an intelligent voice experience through AI solutions embedded in the devices themselves. On this day, Samsung introduced the 'Bixby Home Studio' development tool, which enables a more integrated voice command system. For example, when a user says, "Show me a movie on the TV," all devices connected to SmartThings such as the TV, soundbar, and lighting will simultaneously operate in an optimized manner.
Starting next month, Samsung Electronics will also support 'Latin American Spanish' for Bixby to serve consumers in Latin America. Previously, Bixby supported a total of 10 languages, including official Korean, English, French, Chinese, and Spanish.
Samsung Electronics also strengthened security. To enhance security in smart homes where more devices and networks converge, Samsung announced a new security paradigm called 'Samsung Knox Matrix.' Knox Matrix is characterized by devices protecting each other and utilizing blockchain technology to implement this. Through this, all connected devices are defined as one large ecosystem, and devices and networks are integrally protected. If an external attacker gains control over one device and attempts to spread the attack to other devices within Knox Matrix, the attacked device is immediately blocked within Knox Matrix. Users receive notifications about threats and can take appropriate actions.
Samsung Electronics also unveiled a new 'Security and Privacy Dashboard' that allows users to directly configure their personal information and privacy settings. The dashboard can scan current security vulnerabilities, recommend updates, and provide data management options to maintain personal information and security at the highest level.
Galaxy Smartphones: Enhanced Customization and Security
Samsung Electronics newly unveiled the Galaxy's new user interface 'One UI 5,' which strengthens customization features and improves productivity and personal information protection functions. 'One UI 5' added new mode and routine menus, enabling users to have enhanced personalized settings tailored to their lifestyle patterns. For example, when a user selects 'Exercise Mode,' all alarms are blocked during activities like running or swimming, allowing better focus on exercise.
The lock screen settings were also improved. Users can set videos as wallpapers and easily change clock and alarm styles directly from the lock screen. By utilizing the 'Dynamic Lock Screen' feature, users can freely select multiple images from their gallery to customize the lock screen according to their personality.
Samsung Electronics also introduced a new 'Text Call' feature. This allows the caller's voice to be converted into text and sent to the recipient when the user is unable to answer the phone. If the user replies via text, Bixby will convey the message vocally to the caller on their behalf.
A new daily health solution was also introduced. Samsung released the 'Samsung Specialized Health SDK' to developers, enabling the development of various applications utilizing the 'Samsung Bio Active Sensor' embedded in Galaxy Watches.
Providing Personalized 'Viewing Experiences'
Samsung Electronics introduced its collaboration with various leading companies to provide personalized 'viewing experiences.' The channel-based free video service 'Samsung TV Plus,' available on 460 million devices across 24 countries worldwide, has expanded its content and evolved its convenience. New partnership agreements were signed with 'Lionsgate' and 'Vice Media.'
The Samsung TV Tizen platform was also improved. Samsung Electronics collaborated with major gaming companies such as Xbox and NVIDIA GeForce Now to embed the 'Samsung Gaming Hub' service, providing features like AI upscaling and multitasking to deliver the best immersive gaming experience through Samsung Smart TVs. Collaborations with Nifty Gateway, LaCollection, Art Token, and Clippedrops introduced a non-fungible token (NFT) platform. Additionally, Samsung applied 'Salt,' a new content switching solution that allows enjoying the highest quality HDR 10+ content regardless of TV type.
Samsung Electronics disclosed its future investment and research roadmap to developers. Samsung announced plans to release code on GitHub that allows academics, researchers, and developers to operate a 'robot arm' to test and research new ideas in robot manipulation. Collaborations are planned with academia and medical institutions in various fields such as heart health, lung health, stress, blood pressure, and neuroscience. To this end, Samsung released the open-source solution 'Samsung Health Stack' to activate research and promote development in the health sector by academia and medical institutions.
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