Samsung Challenges XR Market with Qualcomm and Google... "Changing the Future of Mobile"

Galaxy Unpacked 2023 Held
Galaxy S23 Ultra Camera Confidence... Even Films Movies

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] "Qualcomm aims to bring another transformation to the mobile future by creating next-generation extended reality (XR) experiences together with Google."

On the 1st (local time), Tae-moon Roh, President of Samsung Electronics MX Division, stated this at the 'Galaxy Unpacked 2023: Share the Epic' event held at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco, USA.

Samsung Electronics unveiled the Galaxy S23 series smartphones and Galaxy Book3 series laptops on the same day. President Roh said about the new products, "The Galaxy S23 series is the best among all Galaxy S series so far," and added, "The Galaxy Book3 series is Samsung's first Ultra PC. The Ultra brand means the best of the best."

(From left) Cristiano Amon, CEO of Qualcomm; Tae-moon Roh, President of Samsung Electronics; Hiroshi Lockheimer, Senior Vice President of Google, explaining XR collaboration.
[Photo by Samsung Electronics YouTube]

President Roh introduced Cristiano Amon, CEO of Qualcomm, and Hiroshi Lockheimer, Senior Vice President of Google, who attended the Unpacked event, and announced the XR collaboration.

CEO Amon said, "I am confident that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip for Galaxy will provide great satisfaction to Galaxy users," and added, "We are continuously collaborating to deliver next-generation experiences on other Galaxy products such as laptops, tablets, and XR. We are striving to open a new era that offers experiences breaking down the boundaries between the real and digital worlds in the XR field."

Senior Vice President Lockheimer said, "Google is investing in exciting areas such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR)," and explained, "Cutting-edge hardware and software are necessary to provide next-generation experiences. That is why the partnership with Samsung and Qualcomm is exciting."

The XR devices developed by Samsung Electronics are expected to be equipped with Qualcomm chips and Google's operating system (OS). With Apple preparing to launch mixed reality (MR) devices within the year, Samsung is teaming up with Qualcomm and Google to compete head-to-head.

On February 1 (local time), at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco, USA, Samsung Electronics President No Tae-moon unveiled the Galaxy S23 series at the 'Galaxy Unpacked 2023'.
[Photo by Samsung Electronics]

The highlight of the Unpacked event was the camera of the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Despite being a smartphone camera, it delivers professional-grade performance. Samsung showed strong confidence by shooting all the presentation videos introduced at the event with the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra applies a 200-megapixel image sensor and an f1.7 aperture module to its rear camera. The adaptive pixel technology, which maximizes photo shooting efficiency, has also been improved. Depending on the shooting environment, it automatically switches between 200 million, 50 million, and 12 million pixels to produce optimal results regardless of day or night. The OIS angle for shake correction has been doubled, and 8K video supports larger pixel sizes and 30 frames per second shooting for clear and smooth footage.

President Roh said, "The most impressive feature is the professional-grade camera that can take the best photos in any lighting condition," adding, "It opens the way to unleash the best productivity and creativity in the palm of your hand."

He also collaborated with world-renowned film directors such as Ridley Scott, famous for 'Gladiator' and 'Alien 1,' and director Na Hong-jin of 'The Wailing,' producing films shot entirely with the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Director Scott, who released the film 'BEHOLD' shot with the Galaxy S23 Ultra, said, "This small device will replace all large filming cameras in the future," and added, "At first, I was worried about the lack of various options usually available when working, but after adapting, I was truly amazed. It is really special."

Director Na produced the film 'FAITH.' Cinematographer Jung Jung-hoon said, "(When shooting in dark environments) smartphones have device limitations, so we usually need to prepare brighter lighting, but that ruins the atmosphere," and explained, "We tried to reduce lighting and emphasize darkness as when shooting a regular film with the Galaxy S23 Ultra, and surprisingly, a lot of detail was preserved."

Samsung also unveiled the Galaxy Book3 series laptops, including the high-performance Galaxy Book3 Ultra, Galaxy Book3 Pro 360, and Galaxy Book3 Pro. Additionally, they explained their efforts in eco-friendly technological innovation, such as using 12 recycled material components in the Galaxy S23 Ultra.