Future Samsung devices rumored to support theme customization

Those who bemoan the look of Samsung’s customized Touchwiz interface may have been pleased to hear that the Galaxy A3 and Galaxy A5 were Samsung’s first Android phones to feature theme support, as well as new metallic bodies. There’s even better news for those into cosmetic customization, as sources are suggesting that Samsung is planning to make themes support a priority for all of its future devices.

The stock themes will apparently be similar to those included with the current Galaxy A series, but may also extend to include the changing of system fonts, sounds, and something else called Events. Events seem to allow for system customization based on specific dates, such as birthdays or national holidays.

To facilitate easy switching of themes, the source suggests that Samsung is also planning to launch a theme store (see logo on the right). What isn’t clear at the moment is whether Samsung will also support third party themes or if customization choices will be locked to a small selection modelled on Samsung’s own tastes.

The anticipated Galaxy S6 could be the first flagship to show off Samsung’s new theme features. Would you like to see Samsung adopt a deeper level of theme support in the future, or could the company better spend its software resources on something else?

Samsung says all its products will be IoT enabled within 5 years

B. K. Yoon, Samsung’s co-CEO took to the stage at CES 2015 on Monday to declare that all Samsung’s products will be Internet-of-Things (IoT) enabled within five years. Five years in technology is a long time, just look back to 2009/2010 and see what smartphones existed then, or take a look at Android 1.5 Cupcake. So in one sense Yoon’s vision isn’t impossible. However what is more interesting is that he said that 90% of Samsung products would be able to connect to the web by 2017. Now that is only 2 or 3 years away (depending if he meant by the end of, or the beginning of 2017). That is a bigger challenge.

Samsung makes a huge range of products. OK, its smartphones are already connected devices, as are its Smart TVs. But what about its washing machines, air conditioning units, and microwave ovens? Yoon said in his speech, “five years from now, every single piece of Samsung hardware will be an IoT device, whether it is an air purifier or an oven.”

This means that Samsung is serious about IoT. However before we look how Samsung plans to promote this technology, we need to ask two questions. First, what is the benefit of an IoT enabled microwave oven? Second, will Samsung make a mess of this?

In answer to the first question, I am a bit of a pessimist (or maybe realist). Although I can see the advantages of Smart Homes and Home Automation, and I understand the benefits of monitoring our household appliances in terms of energy consumption, I must say I can’t really see the benefit of an IoT enabled microwave oven or of a web connected vacuum cleaner. In our family we use our microwave oven scarcely, and other than how much electricity it has consumed, I can’t really see any benefit in being able to interrogate it about how many minutes it has been active this month, how many times the door has been opened, or how often we used the defrost setting. Seriously, I can’t.

Which leads me to my second question, if Samsung has committed to making all of its products IoT enabled within five years that means it will add IoT just for the sake of adding it, rather than because an appliance needs it. This could mean that we end up with devices that are IoT enabled but yet pump out worthless information. Also, the cost of such products will be higher as they are now more complex, and they pose a security risk.

There is also the question of how an Internet enabled fridge is going to help a family living below the poverty line in a war zone. If Samsung can’t make the cheapest possible fridge then it is performing a disservice to those people. Adding IoT tech will increase the cost of that fridge. We can only hope that the IoT chips and circuits needed to web enabled these fridges will only cost pennies within 5 years from now.

Open Standards

Our IoT components and devices will be open. We will ensure that others can easily connect to our devices.

But leaving behind the questions of why? and should we? Samsung is right about one thing, in this new IoT utopia, for everything to work there needs to be high levels of interoperability. All these different sensors, devices, IoT hubs, and IoT gateways need to be able to work together. “We have to create an open IoT ecosystem,” said Yoon. “The IoT experience needs to be seamless.” To that end Yoon promised that all of Samsung’s products would be built on open platforms. “Our IoT components and devices will be open. We will ensure that others can easily connect to our devices,” Yoon said during his keynote. “Without this kind of openness, there won’t be an Internet-of-Things.”

And Samsung is in a good position to drive these open platforms and to use them on their products. Last year Samsung sold over 665,000,000 devices, that is over 20 devices per second.

If IoT features become a selling point for more than just mobile devices than it is guaranteed that other large consumer electronic manufacturers like Sony, Phillips, and LG will follow. However an IoT standards war is probably on the horizon. This is because to make something “open” just means you need to publish it, and maybe throw in a little source code. However that doesn’t mean that every appliance will speak the same lingo. In the bizarre world of technology you can have several open platform standards that aren’t compatible, but yet everyone can claim to be open. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.

What do you think? Do you like Samsung’s vision? Are you looking forward to IoT enabled products?

Samsung’s new mid-rangers Galaxy E5 and Galaxy E7 debut today in India

Samsung has officially launched two new devices: the “smaller” Galaxy E5 and the more phablet-sized Galaxy E7. Samsung has stated that these devices are designed for younger users, and will deliver a “best selfie experience” to those using them.

To enhance the “selfie experience”, Samsung has equipped both devices with front facing 5MP cameras and features including “wide angled selfie (which can cover angles up to 120 degrees), selfie with palm gesture, and selfie with voice command”.

Both devices have Super AMOLED displays and are 7.3mm thick. Although they aren’t high end devices like the Note 4 or Galaxy S5, they will include features such as Ultra-Power Saving Mode, Private Mode and Multi screen, which are often only included in flagships.

The phablet sized Galaxy SM-E700F is equipped with a 1.2GHz quad core processor, a 5.5-inch display, BT 4.0, a 13MP rear camera with a 5MP front facing camera, 16GB internal memory (expandable up to 64GB via microSD), a 2950 mAh battery, and TouchWiz powered by Android KitKat. Overall dimensions for the device are 151.3 x 77.2 x 7.3mm.

The smaller Galaxy SM-E500F has a 5 inch display, a 1.2 ghz quad core processor, an 8MP rear camera with a 5MP front facing cam, BT 4.0, 16GB internal memory (expandable up to 64GB via microSD), a 2400 mAh battery, and TouchWiz running over Android KitKat. Overall dimensions are 141.6 x 70.2 x 7.3mm.

The devices will launch in India first. Samsung didn’t mention price or which (if any) additional markets the devices would roll out to (or if a Lollipop update is planned), but did say that “features and functions will vary by market”, which would seemingly indicated that the devices may not be limited to India. We will update this article as we learn more.