“AI will be the most important technology in 10 years, and mobile will be important”

During the presentation of the new Samsung Galaxy S24 series held in San Jose, California (USA), I was able to attend EL ESPAÑOL – El Androide Libre launch event directly. On this trip, in addition to starting to test the new functions of these terminals, we had the opportunity Chat with TM Roh, The Head of Samsung Mobile Division WorldwideIt has become clear that artificial intelligence in mobile phones will be the most important technological leap in the coming years.

Mobile phone sales have gone through a brief period, which is less pronounced in the upper range, because more users have chosen this type of model. For this reason, Samsung has doubled down on its bet with three models that resemble its predecessors on the outside but differ on the inside. But above all it has chosen artificial intelligence.

Galaxy AI is Samsung's brand for all artificial intelligence features The company has developed for its new models and the conversation with the Samsung manager revolved around that. The Korean company is clear that AI is here to stay Mobile phones are the best vehicle to use itAbove computers or new devices.

An AI in every phone

Since the advent of smartphones in the first decade of this century, the advent of artificial intelligence has been revolutionizing fields at an unprecedented pace. The capabilities of different projects are increasing, The time between iterations is calculated in months, not years.

Samsung is well aware of this and as TM Roh noted, “As a mobile industry leader, Samsung wants to set the global standard for free mobile AI based on years of data analytics, using innovative technology to improve AI for mobile devices, and open collaboration with industry leaders.” As mentioned, AI will be the most technologically relevant thing in the next 10 years.

Technically this will be done using a hybrid approach. Smartphones can use on-device AI (on device) It depends on your processors and Neural Processing Cores (NPU) capabilities. And AI running on the internet (Cloud AI), capable of performing more complex calculations, but also requires an internet connection to use.

Samsung has partnered with Google for many of the features included in the S24, but he has also developed several in his labs. The company has made it clear that its aim is to provide a better experience in this regard, either through its own developments such as translation and transcription functions, or through collaboration with other companies such as Google. Samsung will focus on three areas, when it comes The Development of AI: Communication, Productivity and Creativity.

The smartphone is still important

As we have seen in recent months Introducing products based on artificial intelligence, which will replace smartphones. Devices like the Human Pin or the Rabbit R1 use voice recognition AI systems instead of full operating systems with graphical interfaces. But Samsung is clear that the smartphone is the best device for interacting with new AI-powered projects.

It is clear that AI interface is important in mobile phones. Samsung has brought all the devices under one brand, with the same icon, makes each of the S24 functions that use artificial intelligence easily recognizable. Both functions created by Samsung and functions created by third parties have a star-shaped icon that makes it clear to the user when AI is being used on the phone.

Of course, Samsung is taking advantage Knox, whose digital security platform is specifically related to artificial intelligence, By giving the user the opportunity to use functions on or off the device, they leave the level of privacy they want to use in their hands. It could also be a differentiator with proposals from other competitors in the coming months.

Thanks for your dedication to mobile phones, Samsung will update less than 100 million devices this year to include artificial intelligence functions. Among them are 2023's Galaxy S or the latest generation of foldable devices. In this way, it is clear that the company is not going to use the new Galaxy AI functions only in the models that go on sale this year, it allows the buyers of the previous models to use them. This will be even more noticeable in the future as the company has started offering 7-year updates on some models, starting with the S24 series.

AI in the mid-range?

Despite the growth in sales of high-end models in countries like Spain, a large portion of the population is using mid-range models like the Samsung Galaxy A. That's why we asked TM Rowe. These new functions will, in the future, reach cheaper terminals.

Samsung's strategy is based on a two-pronged approach, AI on the device and in the cloud. This necessitates high-power processors and processing cores designed for artificial intelligence. These processors are expensive and used in high-end modelsBut not among those who want a very reasonable price.

“As the hardware performance of the Galaxy A series continues to grow, it is possible to use AI in the device in the future and then bring these features to this family,” TM Rowe added. That is, updating the current models of the Galaxy A family with AI functions is not technically possible, but Yes, in a few years, we may see terminals of this range with artificial intelligence functionsSimilar to what happens with the rest of the features like cameras, batteries or screens.

Free and paid AI

In presentation of S24 It is clarified that no artificial intelligence functions are applied, all free for S24 buyers. At the roundtable, TM Roe was asked if Samsung plans to monetize these features in the future, whether they will integrate payment methods or advanced versions.

The manager made it clear that we are at the beginning of a new era It is important to study how technology has evolved and, above all, what consumers are demanding. Samsung seems to be betting on basic AI functions, as seen in these first announcements, but also on other advanced functions, which will cost later. This matches Samsung's own statements on its website that “AI features will be free until the end of 2025 on compatible Galaxy devices” and “Availability of AI features provided by third parties may be subject to change and subject to any circumstances.” to Supplier's Terms and Conditions”.

The manager himself confirmed it Even basic AI functions running on a single device can cost a business, because you have to train models that will be installed later on mobile phones, and this represents a cost. Obviously, cloud operations are still more expensive, as online processing of each request from different devices is added to the exercise.

Evolutionary ring

One of the questions asked of TM Do in this roundtable was related to the Samsung Galaxy Ring. The new smart ring It was announced at the end of the launch event for their new mobile phones and they didn't give much information about it. A Samsung manager explained, “The role of the smart ring is important by strengthening Samsung health and being an always-on wearable device that allows it to collect more data than a watch.”

Obviously, many users don't let the watch sleep, which means data collection isn't permanent. In addition, the autonomy of the ring is greater than that of a smartwatch, as well as very comfortable to wear, almost invisible.

According to TM Roe, the device is clearly focused on the healthcare sector, Allows you to permanently measure sleep, heart rate and exercise. It will go on sale in 2024, though neither countries nor pricing have been confirmed, although its arrival in Europe has been announced.

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