Samsung is working with Microsoft to bridge the gap between smartphones and personal computers.
The National looks at what this new agreement will offer customers.
Why are they partnering?
The new alliance will see an exchange of a series of apps and features that will make the new Note 10 smartphones work more like PCs. The alliance will allow Note 10 users to access some of the Microsoft’s most popular apps such as OneDrive and Your Phone.
“Our ambition is to help people be more productive on any device, anywhere … and the combination of our intelligent experiences with Samsung’s new devices, make this a reality,” said Shilpa Ranganathan, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for mobile and cross device experiences, in Microsoft’s blog post on the pact.
What changes are expected?
Users can instantly access their phone content – such as messages, images, videos, notifications and even the entire screen - on a bigger display of the PC by using Microsoft’s Your Phone app. They just need to link the smartphone to the PC by using the app, which will be installed by default in Note 10 series phones. No extra cable is needed, users only need to connect their Note 10 smartphone with their PC through a Windows setting.
Samsung said users will be able to make and receive calls on the PC by the end of this year.
Will it add to phone’s storage?
Note 10 users will be able to access Microsoft's OneDrive to manage their phone’s entire multimedia content. OneDrive will also make it easier to back-up, protect, share and access photos and files from either their phones or PCs. Microsoft announced that OneDrive will be integrated into the Samsung Gallery platform.
OneDrive will allow automatic syncing of photos and videos.
Does this give Samsung any edge over Apple?
The new partnership will certainly help Samsung, the world's biggest smartphone manufacturer, to compete more effectively with Apple – maker of the iPhone - that already offers similar options to its users. Apple already enables syncing of content between phones and computers and sells substantial storage for photos and other files. Apple's iWork productivity suite is free to every Mac and iPhone user, while its iCloud storage is considered one of the safest options to store data.
Under the new agreement, Microsoft's Outlook email programme and its Office productivity suite of Word, Excel and PowerPoint, will be added in Samsung's Note 10 line-up.
