Samsung innovating hard

[LIVEFRMNYC]

Back on topic!
I can't wait for this!
The Foldable Tablet: Samsung’s Newest Innovation Could Debut By 2015

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http://topmobiletrends.com/foldable-tablet-samsungs-newest-innovation-debut-2015/

I can't wait until folding screening hit the market.

 

[scott craft]

Along with foldable screens I'd also love to see a home button fingerprint scanner combo built into a screen.

 

[jamezr]

Along with foldable screens I'd also love to see a home button fingerprint scanner combo built into a screen.

That is going to be the next big trend in the smartphones. Integrated fingerprint scanners on the screen. I can't wait!

 

[scott craft]

That is going to be the next big trend in the smartphones. Integrated fingerprint scanners on the screen. I can't wait!

When I was on android I loved on screen keys, but I like the security and convenience of physical home buttons with fingerprint scanners. A combination would be especially nice with force touch like the next iPhone is rumored to have.

 

[jamezr]

When I was on android I loved on screen keys, but I like the security and convenience of physical home buttons with fingerprint scanners. A combination would be especially nice with force touch like the next iPhone is rumored to have.

Count me in too. I would love to the bezels shrink down to nothing because the home buttons were on screen.
The usual 5.7 inch phone would be the size of a 5 inch phone because they would all screen.

 

[grkm3]

I don't know if this is on topic... but anyone think we're going to see next year's Galaxy S have the full Samsung gamut? Screen, speakers, SoC, camera, and so forth?

Pretty close right now with the s6. Samsung could not keep up with demand so some got the Sony camera and most got the Samsung isocell sensor.only 2 carriers got the Qualcomm modem because of CDMA and the patent license Samsung would need to pay was cheaper to just buy a Qualcomm modem.

 

[Savor]

Samsung is great at hardware.

Still shaky at software and services.

 

[Abazigal]

Great that they just work for you and you are happy with them Enjoy!
But lets stay on topic.

There was a meaningful topic to being with?

Sorry, that was, in hindsight, quite snarky and undeserving.

That said, I do express skepticism about Samsung because they're not very good at software, which ultimately constrains their success as an Android vendor, but the problem goes deeper (which one might be aware of if you've watched even a couple of minutes of a Samsung product presentation at their zenith). A culture of copying does not make a great company, it makes for a company that (in Samsung's case, however skilled its engineering prowess) is eventually is going to fade into the dark.

So yeah, Samsung can continue to "innovate" and churn out 4k or 8k displays and 16-core processors. I don't feel it is meaningful innovation which will allow Samsung to sufficiently differentiate themselves from their competitors.

 

[jamezr]

Pretty close right now with the s6. Samsung could not keep up with demand so some got the Sony camera and most got the Samsung isocell sensor.only 2 carriers got the Qualcomm modem because of CDMA and the patent license Samsung would need to pay was cheaper to just buy a Qualcomm modem.

They can't keep up with the demand for the S6 and S6 Edge. I was in BB checking out the SP3 and stopped by the Samsung section. The mobile guy were hanging out there. They said they were out of stock on the S6s for all carriers except Sprint. They said they always run out before the next shipment. They said the S6 was the biggest selling phone they had. It will be interesting to see the next quarter's sales metrics

 

[jamezr]

There was a meaningful topic to being with?

Sorry, that was, in hindsight, quite snarky and undeserving.

YES...Samsung innovation is a meaningful topic. You know you have the option to not participate if you do not like the topic.

 

[Abazigal]

YES...Samsung innovation is a meaningful topic. You know you have the option to not participate if you do not like the topic.

It's not that I dislike the topic. I just don't agree with its premise or the direction the discussion was headed.

Yes, you can choose to focus on Samsung's hardware achievements in a vacuum, but I think that past a certain point, it becomes a dull and meaningless exercise if you don't delve into how exactly they can contribute to a meaningful user experience for the end user, and whether it allows Samsung to differentiate itself from its competitors.

 

[maflynn]

Samsung is great at hardware.

Still shaky at software and services.

I think this sums it up, we've seen some pretty cool products roll out of Samsung, but the software is lacking to the point where it hamstrings the hardware.

 

[jamezr]

It's not that I dislike the topic. I just don't agree with its premise or the direction the discussion was headed.

Yes, you can choose to focus on Samsung's hardware achievements in a vacuum, but I think that past a certain point, it becomes a dull and meaningless exercise if you don't delve into how exactly they can contribute to a meaningful user experience for the end user, and whether it allows Samsung to differentiate itself from its competitors.

I think you don't see the overall picture. Samsung is more than just smartphones. The lead or are near the top of a ton of other markets. The ram the make and fab themselves is regarded as the best. The innovated a new mobile SSD drive in the S6. They lead the world in screen/display technology. Thats just naming a few off the top of my head.
So you can choose to focus and portray the negative if that is your agenda. Hater gonna hate no matter what.

 

[jamezr]

I think this sums it up, we've seen some pretty cool products roll out of Samsung, but the software is lacking to the point where it hamstrings the hardware.

I think your right to a point. I think TW has a some great features but they need to optimize it more so it uses less resources. They are headed in the right direction so far but could still use some improvement.

 

[Abazigal]

I think you don't see the overall picture. Samsung is more than just smartphones. The lead or are near the top of a ton of other markets. The ram the make and fab themselves is regarded as the best. The innovated a new mobile SSD drive in the S6. They lead the world in screen/display technology. Thats just naming a few off the top of my head.
So you can choose to focus and portray the negative if that is your agenda. Hater gonna hate no matter what.

I am not hating Samsung. I am just calling it as I see it.

In the very least, owning the hardware stack doesn't seem to have paid off all that handsomely for Samsung (9% smartphone profits compared to Apple's 89%, with the irony being that Apple gets many of their parts from Samsung). If hardware was all that significant a factor, we would be seeing its impact already. You are ignoring the fact that other competitors are also producing hardware that is comparable to Samsung's own hardware (maybe not necessarily every bit as good, but "good enough" to evaporate whatever advantage Samsung has in the hardware department.

Samsung's hardware advantage is quickly being negated by Chinese vendors because their costs are just so much lower. They have no other advantage.

I see Samsung eventually reaching a point where it may simply be more profitable to sell components to other OEMs than selling their own phones.

 

[jamezr]

I am not hating Samsung. I am just calling it as I see it.

In the very least, owning the hardware stack doesn't seem to have paid off all that handsomely for Samsung (9% smartphone profits compared to Apple's 89%, with the irony being that Apple gets many of their parts from Samsung). If hardware was all that significant a factor, we would be seeing its impact already. You are ignoring the fact that other competitors are also producing hardware that is comparable to Samsung's own hardware (maybe not necessarily every bit as good, but "good enough" to evaporate whatever advantage Samsung has in the hardware department.

Samsung's hardware advantage is quickly being negated by Chinese vendors because their costs are just so much lower. They have no other advantage.

I see Samsung eventually reaching a point where it may simply be more profitable to sell components to other OEMs than selling their own phones.

You do know that Samsung sells more phones than Apple does in US? So why on earth would they stop selling phones? They can always get better at software. But you can't always get better market share. If they get better at software with the already industry leading hardware they will dominate the mobile space.

 

[I7guy]

I think you don't see the overall picture. Samsung is more than just smartphones. The lead or are near the top of a ton of other markets. The ram the make and fab themselves is regarded as the best. The innovated a new mobile SSD drive in the S6. They lead the world in screen/display technology. Thats just naming a few off the top of my head.
So you can choose to focus and portray the negative if that is your agenda. Hater gonna hate no matter what.

"Hater gonna hate"? Okay then.

Samsungs other businesses and innovations (to stay on topic) have not trickled down to their mobile phone business in terms of profits. Their sales are off the charts for the mobile division but not the case for the profits.

It's ironic that Samsung as a corporate entity has to be aggrandized on a forum discussing phones.

 

[Abazigal]

You do know that Samsung sells more phones than Apple does in US? So why on earth would they stop selling phones? They can always get better at software. But you can't always get better market share. If they get better at software with the already industry leading hardware they will dominate the mobile space.

For one, I think it's worth noting that many of Samsung's phones sold are low-end, low-margin phones that earn them little profit. I think it says a lot when you sell more phones than Apple, yet earn like a tenth of their profits. What's the point of selling that many phones if you are not earning any money from them?

Apple's strength is that they are not afraid to sacrifice market share to maintain their margins. Samsung made the mistake of prioritising short-term market share over long-term sustainability, and they are now paying the price of their folly.

Second, I feel there is a limit to how much Samsung can get better in the software department when they do not control the underlying OS. They will never get to own the whole stack the same way Apple does. Samsung is never going to be able to optimise their hardware to the software the way Apple can with their custom A-series processors. Samsung is never going to have their own thriving app store on the same scale as Apple's. Just pushing out a simple software update is easily a frustrating 6-month wait, unlike Apple, who just flicks a switch and all users around the world get to download it immediately.

Third, I believe Samsung's problems go deeper to the cultural level. Apple's obsession with controlling both the software and the hardware stemmed from their caring immensely about the end product and the end user experience, which in turn allows Apple to rise beyond arrogance, in-fighting and complacency. The end result are great products which delight the consumer and make them more than willing to shell out whatever the asking price is set by Apple. (Note: This is not to say that everything by Apple turns out perfectly, but the process that goes into deciding Apple's product offerings at least does have that level of detail and obsession, that Apple has become one of the most powerful brands in the world, and not unfairly so).

I simply do not see the same degree of "care" by Samsung. They simply throw everything against the wall and see what sticks. That's not what a company who "cares" about the end user experience does.

 

[epicrayban]

I don't understand this knock on Samsung software. Is it solely because they didn't shave down and optimize TouchWiz enough (despite cleaning up and streamlining things significantly from past iterations)?

Because Samsung software has influenced a lot. Multi-window is a sought after feature. Hello S-pen? Weren't they first to do quick toggles, too, (not sure on that one)?; or at the least, first to allow you to customize them, no?

Plus there are things like Smart Stay that works effectively, and pop out windows that really show the prowess of the hardware (I've said this before, we're approaching desktop-like functionality on a smartphone in the palm of your hands). Pop-out feature essentially lets you "minimize" apps, like minimizing windows on a desktop, to do things in the background.

How about power saving modes? And ultra power saving modes? Weren't they first to that, too? Or features like wave to wake the phone, and all those other gesture-related things? Or how about swipe left on a contact to text, or swipe right to immediately call -- wasn't that their feature first? Weren't they first to do one handed mode, too, where you could essentially shrink your entire screen left justified or right justified to help during one handed use?

There are probably other examples of new or interesting takes on their software-end. And while not everything lands successfully (again, what does? Apple Maps, anyone?), there's still no denying they're doing influential things on the software front.

And if it is solely just because Samsung can't manage RAM properly or haven't shaved TouchWiz enough, well, like Jamerz said earlier: at least they're on the right track. Reviews and users all around have praised Samsung for toning down TouchWiz this year. They could've gone further, sure, but they're not sitting idle on it.

Unless there are other reasons that aren't apparent to me why we're disregarding Samsung's software....?

EDIT: I also forgot to mention, their camera app is superb.

EDIT 2: They also do innovative software when they come up with hardware advances. The Edge has its unique set of special features. This is new hardware and software in its infancy, but still new.

Again, not saying they're kings of software and software innovation, but they're not nobodies either. Heck, they're influencing both Apple and Google.

 

[maflynn]

I think your right to a point. I think TW has a some great features but they need to optimize it more so it uses less resources. They are headed in the right direction so far but could still use some improvement.

They've definitely improved it, but its not there yet.

 

[MRU]

EDIT 2: They also do innovative software when they come up with hardware advances. The Edge has its unique set of special features. This is new hardware and software in its infancy, but still new.

As I mentioned prior - the software often can seem like an after thought to justify new hardwares existence. The edge features aren't really innovative at all and indeed could just as easily be carried over to a device with no curved edge and wouldn't be out of place.

Likewise is more a case of if you look under the hood of TW is where it hasn't been cleaned. It's like Samsung have swept the surface but kept the mess under the rug. They were rightly praised for cleaning a lot of the 'front end' but equally just as heavily criticised from the likes of Erika Griffin, MBKHD for just hiding the mess underneath rather than really clean it.

They've definitely improved it, but its not there yet.

Yep. Just do what HTC did prior to Sense 5 and what Moto has done. Start with a clean slate. Rebuild TW from the ground up - remove the legacy redundant files and services - some of which are from 2008!

It's no good just washing your face Samsung if your underpants are all skid-marked and crusty.

You can only use your fantastic hardware to muscle through bloated software for so long. Give that amazing hardware even more reason to shine - a new 'truly' lean TW on the S6/S6 Edge hardware and it would be awesome.

As it stands - it feels like Samsung hardware is constantly hindered or tempered by its software- rather than it just excelling. They finally nailed aesthetics - just need to finally nail the software.

They made such a big play on DDR4 and 3GB of fastest ram possible in any phone - and yet the software is very sadly making a bit of mockery of it. That genuinely is a real shame.

I honestly think there is just as much, and needs to be as much importance in innovation & refinement in software - as there is in hardware. I certainly do not think other than perhaps battery life improvements - there would be much need to enhance the hardware on the Galaxy S7 over the S6 - so just wish they would focus all their attention and innovation/refinement on software for the S7 and wow - we would all be in for a treat then.

Give us the software - the hardware deserves.

 

[jamezr]

"Hater gonna hate"? Okay then.

Samsungs other businesses and innovations (to stay on topic) have not trickled down to their mobile phone business in terms of profits. Their sales are off the charts for the mobile division but not the case for the profits.

It's ironic that Samsung as a corporate entity has to be aggrandized on a forum discussing phones.

I think your agenda is clear here........what does profit have to do with innovation?

 

[jamezr]

Apple's strength is that they are not afraid to sacrifice market share to maintain their margins. Samsung made the mistake of prioritising short-term market share over long-term sustainability, and they are now paying the price of their folly.

I will agree with you on that. Apple is the most profitable company in the world in not mistaken. That is their focus. Now lets not turn this into a Apple versus Samsung war again. Lets stick to the thread topic.

 

[I7guy]

I think your agenda is clear here........what does profit have to do with innovation?

As is your agenda. Didn't you already say that Samsung "sells more phones". I was taking your statement to the next step; samsungs sales don't translate into profits for them.

So then I'm not sure what your original statement about sales had to do with innovation either.

Let's stay on topic.

 

[jamezr]

As is your agenda. Didn't you already say that Samsung "sells more phones". I was taking your statement to the next step; samsungs sales don't translate into profits for them.

So then I'm not sure what your original statement about sales had to do with innovation either.

Let's stay on topic.

You're not going to derail this thread.
Samsung innovation leads to more sales because people like their ideas and products. Then my post was in reply to someone else's post. You should get context when posting on the thread.