As 2020 comes to a close, Samsung’s President and Head of Mobile Communications Business, Dr TM Roh, has provided a glimpse of what to expect next year in a blog post. The Korean tech giant has made significant advancements in pushing the foldable form factor while expanding its portfolio of 5G devices. According to Roh, there are now twenty 5G devices in the Galaxy ecosystem.
So what’s to come in 2021? Here are 5 key innovations to expect.
More accessible foldable devices
Since the release of the first generation Galaxy Fold in 2019, Samsung has continued its momentum this year by releasing the Galaxy Z Flip and the Galaxy Z Fold 2. For 2021, Samsung says they will be expanding its portfolio of foldable devices while making this form factor accessible to everyone.
This tells us that consumers can look forward to more affordable Galaxy Fold and Flip devices sometime next year. The most affordable foldable device from Samsung at the moment is the Galaxy Z Flip which was launched locally for RM5,888.
Epic cameras for video
Due to the current pandemic, video has become more important not only for teleconferencing but also for users to create, share and to stream content. To meet the demands of the “video-obsessed” in 2021, Samsung promises to bring new advancements for video content creation. According to Roh, the new Galaxy devices will be more than ready whether it is to edit footages or having an intelligent multitasking lens to get the job done.
AI-assisted personalisation and optimisation
Samsung has shared that their engineers and developers have been working hard to expand its on-device AI capabilities for its Galaxy lineup. The devices will continuously learn from your daily activities and routines to improve your overall mobile experience. This includes taking better pictures and photos, maximising battery life and storage, optimising the display and more.
Samsung aims to expand its personalised capabilities to every facet of the Galaxy product portfolio to empower people to be more productive and to do all the things they enjoy. Since we are living in an interconnected world, Samsung will continue to support open source research and collaboration to ensure that new capabilities can be deployed across devices, applications and services to enable more people to benefit from the new technologies.
Ultra-Wideband
Ultra-Wideband (UWB) is seen as the next big thing in wireless technology. According to Samsung, they have already made advanced breakthroughs for UWB with open collaboration with key partners. According to the smartphone maker, they will be introducing new connectivity capabilities using UWB which would transform the way you open doors and experience seamless integration with your car through personalisation as part of your digital life.
Samsung also hints that UWB will allow you to quickly locate your personal items from keys to wallet, and you could also use it to locate your family pet. At the moment, UWB-enabled devices such as the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Z Fold 2 can enjoy better precision and accuracy when sharing files and photos using the Nearby Share feature. UWB also improves the SmartThings Find feature which can provide a clear AR view of the exact direction, distance and location of other Galaxy devices in your home.
S Pen for more Galaxy devices
In the past couple of months, it was speculated that Samsung might ditch the Galaxy Note series and they would add S Pen support for the new Galaxy S flagship lineup. To provide more clarity to the matter, Roh said Samsung has been paying attention to people’s favourite aspects of the Galaxy Note experience and they are excited to add some of its well loved features to other Galaxy devices.
This is a significant hint that the upcoming Galaxy S21 would support the S Pen stylus. As seen from the leaks, the Galaxy S21 doesn’t come with a silo so you would need to store the S Pen separately. We reckon Samsung might introduce a special cover with an S Pen holder.
Roh ends his post by mentioning that he’s looking forward to share more in January 2021. This is a clue that the next Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event will likely take place next month where they will introduce at least three Galaxy S21 models, a new Galaxy Buds Pro wireless headset and probably a new foldable device.
