Text / Tencent technology Guo Xiaofeng
Since the Chinese version is about to go public in China, Samsung Electronics temporarily canceled Bixby's media briefing and was informed of the recent visit to Samsung's Suwon headquarters in Samsung.
What is Bixby? We see it on Samsung's newly released flagship Galaxy S8, Note 8, this year, which is the AI's fist product, Artificial Intelligence Assistant. According to Samsung's plan, Bixby not only Only used in smart phones, the future will be applied to other products such as flat panel TVs, refrigerators and even non-Samsung products.
Of course, the outside world is more concerned about what the next generation of smart phones Samsung will be like? What new technologies will be introduced? Whether as the outside world will launch a folding screen, flexible screen mobile phone? Tencent technology and Samsung mobile phone appearance, music, camera, antenna After a brief encounter with other business executives, they did not get a clear reply, but they also saw some contexts.
Bixby landed in China by the end of November
Walked into Samsung Korea's Suwon headquarters, which is like a small town. More than 30,000 employees work here, mostly R & D personnel, the ratio of 70% .Samsung many high-quality products are from here, so here is also known as Number city.
Bixby was the focus of the discussion after the official launch of the wearable device at the Samsung Innovation Museum.
Apple has Siri, Microsoft has Cortana, Amazon has Alexa, Google (Google) has Google Assistant, Samsung will not give up their own voice assistant.
Bixby debuted at the time of the release of the Galaxy S8 in March of this year, and according to Samsung Electronics, users can almost always do what Bixby can do via the touch screen, as long as the touchscreen does what they do, but Bixby's biggest bright spot is It adapts itself to the user's habits, which may not be what Smart Voice helps.
Bixby takes a long time to develop and learn because of adapting to other languages, until recently the English version was released, while the Chinese version just started beta testing in early November. However, it should be noted that during this period, Bixby not only finished in S8, Note 8 Other smart phones running outside, but also with other products to complete the adaptation.
Han Xiang-yu, who specializes in wearable products at Samsung Electronics, told Tencent Technologies that the recently released wireless earbud Gear Icon X already supports Bixby and will soon be available in China.
In June this year, Samsung Electronics released the Gear Icon X in the United States for $ 199.99. It uses a split earplug design, comes with a capsule-style storage box, but it is also a mobile power headset, headset can be fully charged two Times.
In addition to the usual Bluetooth headset features, it inherits the sports / heart rate monitoring module, real-time monitoring of fitness data Gear Icon X also built-in 4GB of storage capacity, you can put the music files directly into the headset out of mobile phones and other equipment For battery life, the use of Bluetooth connection case can be used continuously for 1.5 hours, direct play built-in track can be used for about 3.5 hours.Operation is simple, just tap or slide in the ear bud can perform cut songs or adjust the volume operating.
Of course, the most critical is that it can run Bixby. Click and hold the earplugs, you can access the voice control on the Galaxy phone, which is much more powerful than the Apple AirPods function.
It is reported that Samsung plans to launch Gear Icon X in the Chinese market before the end of this year, officially released Bixby Chinese version by the end of November.
Samsung Suwon headquarters Innovation Museum
In addition, Bixby will open up interface and development tools to developers like Alexa and Google Assistant, adding more applications and features, such as the ability to post any content on WeChat via voice command Bixby, Complement each other.I believe the Chinese version of the launch, Samsung will consider developing more native applications to support Bixby.
Han Xiangyu used one sentence to describe the future plan of Bixby, that is, all smart home devices will join Bixby in the future. At a recent Samsung Developers Conference, Li Renzhong, CTO of Samsung Electronics Wireless Division, released Bixby2.0 and said that Samsung will create more personalization Of the open artificial intelligence ecosystem.Ren Bell said, '1.0 version of the voice assistant Bixby is committed to understanding the smartphone user's operating environment and language communication environment before and after.As for the 2.0 version of Bixby, will be Samsung's smart TV, Refrigerator and other appliances on the general Internet of Things intelligent function system.
When visiting the Samsung Innovation Museum, Tencent Technologies saw a smart refrigerator that joined Bixby, which currently only supports Korean, obviously Samsung Bixby has more powerful features and better interaction than the current smartphone voice assistant.
Note 9 will be lighter thinner or folding screen?
In Seoul's R & D center, we learned about Samsung's mobile phone product design ideas and future ideas.
For the Galaxy series of product design, Samsung Electronics is usually used by different designers, Kim Kun Hwan is just released not long after the Note 8. In his view, a mobile phone product design, in line with market demand and users The design of habits is most important.
Samsung Electronics Seoul Research Center
The first generation of the Galaxy Note was designed by Samsung Electronics in 2011 as a product between smart phones and tablets, the biggest feature of which is the big screen. Remember that at the time, smartphones were portable and 4.3 inches Can be called a giant screen while the 5.3-inch Note came out, the sensation of the entire market, Note fame, handset manufacturers have followed suit, smart phones have entered the era of big screen.
The Note 8, the eighth generation of the Galaxy Note series, is still a big screen from the product design point of view, but does not extend the previously fattened Note look. The biggest change is the full screen, which is significantly more elongated than the previous generation.
Jin Guohuan told Tencent Technologies: 'The reason for this narrower narration than the previous one is that after the investigation, we found that it is more suitable for one-handed operation of the user, the feeling of the most comfortable, and the best screen ratio when the application is displayed in full screen. '
Unlike previous design-focused technologies, Samsung phones are now more focused on market needs and user habits. "Mobiles are a technology-intensive product that designers have many ideas for, but based on consumer habits and incorporating the latest technology, they are designed first Questions to consider. 'Kim Gu Hwan said.
For example, in the Chinese market for many years, Samsung Electronics launched the clamshell design W heart of the world series, priced over 10,000 yuan, but the Chinese market demand for clamshell design.It is reported early December, Samsung W2018 will be released in Xiamen.
There is news that Samsung is developing a collapsible screen smartphone called the Galaxy X. Jin Guohuan did not give a positive answer, but he said that in the future mobile phone design should return to the essence of technology to be integrated into life and the operation should be simplified. Lighter and thinner
The same concept in the Samsung mobile phone camera design is also true. Note 8 using a double camera configuration, but with other brands of smart phones dual camera programs are different.First in the sensor, are used to support full dual-core focus 12 million pixels Sensor, and wide-angle + telephoto lens program, and both lenses support OIS optical image stabilization technology.
The advantage of this is that, thanks to the bistability of dual optical anti-shake technology, the overall picture quality of the Note8 is very high when shooting in a dynamic environment, which effectively avoids the 'sticky film' problem caused by hand swaying, which also makes it The world's first smart phone with two optical image stabilization cameras,
Li Yong, vice president of camera research at Samsung Electronics Mobile Division, told Tencent Technologies that he would not meet the high-quality demands of basic shooting no matter how he designed the camera. He did not think this would be the future As for the artificial intelligence in the camera algorithm, Samsung said still under study.
It is reported that the Galaxy X network will use Samsung's flexible OLED screen, and 100% full screen, which is not impossible with Samsung screen technology advantages, but these are the antenna design of Samsung mobile phones, security requirements are A new challenge.
When visiting the Samsung mobile antenna design laboratory, Tencent Technology undoubtedly found that it is studying MIMO 8x8 antenna design, the specific application to which a product-related persons did not disclose.Currently, the use of MIMO 2x2 smart phones has been common, MIMO 4x4 only Some models, including the Galaxy Note. Different MIMO antenna technology represents the ability of mobile phones to receive data is different, to know with the advent of 5G and the future of more high-speed network, the first smart phone with multi-antenna design in the Internet and other data transmission It will be faster.
Samsung eyes Huawei, millet and OV
In the latest third-quarter earnings report, Samsung Electronics delivered a good result, achieving operating profit of about 128.1 billion US dollars, up 179% year on year, setting a record for the quarter. Performance generally agreed that, in addition to the continuation of the previous quarter Storage, and screen growth, the hot sales from the Galaxy S8 and Note 8 series have contributed to Samsung's recovery in the high-end smartphone market.
However, it should be noted that Samsung mobile phones are still facing strong competitors, China's Huawei is one of them.
During the visit, Tencent Technologies and Samsung Electronics Mobile Communications Division had many high-level contacts, talk between, they admitted that the rapid development of China's mobile phone brands in recent years, especially the impact of Huawei's mobile phone to Samsung.
Market research firm Strategy Analytics latest report shows that Samsung Electronics 2017 third quarter of China's smart phone market share of only 2%, ranked ninth, and the agency expects Samsung smart phones in China in the fourth quarter of this year's share will be further To 1.6%, which means that Samsung's market share in China dropped sharply by more than 90% in less than five years. In 2013, Samsung's market share in China reached 20% in the second quarter of 2013 Peak, ranked first.
Behind the reasons The industry knows that the fierce market competition, Huawei, millet, OPPO, vivo, Jinli and other domestic brands rise, is an important reason for the Samsung mobile phone slide.
In addition, the share of Samsung mobile phones in overseas markets is also being eroded.According to foreign media reports, AppBrain latest data show that Huawei's sales in Europe continued to grow in the past few years, Huawei has been vigorously promoting the European market, the effect is significant. Regional market share even exceeds Samsung, but Samsung is still dominant in this competition, such as in the Czech Republic, Samsung's market share reached 33.2%, which is the lowest in Europe. However, this figure is still Huawei double.
But it is undeniable that Huawei is already Samsung's most powerful competitor in the handset business.Samsung Electronics executives told Tencent Technologies: 'It's a good thing for competitors, Huawei's impact on Samsung will also stimulate Samsung Make a better product.
There is also a bad news for Samsung and Apple: Some foreign media said Huawei Mate 10 is about to land in the U.S. market and cooperate with AT & T, Huawei officials declined to comment.
For another Chinese mobile phone brand Xiaomi, Samsung believes that the pace of development is staggering, especially in overseas markets this year.IDC latest data show that Samsung and Xiaomi in the third quarter of this year with a 23.5% share of Indian smartphones Market first.
As with the Chinese market, Xiaomi's aggressive online pricing strategy has made it a temporary winner in the Indian market, and of course, Samsung is not at a loss. It is understood that Samsung Electronics through Galaxy J and Galaxy ON series of mobile phones, hoping to better performance and more Concessionary price competition with Xiaomi.As Samsung Electronics executives said, millet in India, although the rapid development, but mostly low-end products, the performance is not as good as Samsung.
In evaluating OPPO, vivo, Samsung praised its channel and marketing capabilities, but Samsung will not consider such a move for the time being, find celebrities for the phone endorsement.