With the gaming industry moving toward the mobile market ahead of the 5G and streaming revolutions, Samsung wants to be the smartphone of choice for mobile gamers.
At its annual Samsung Unpacked event yesterday, the tech company showed off its latest hardware, emphasizing the new Galaxy Note line that includes the Galaxy Note 10 and the Galaxy Note 10 Plus. The presentation flaunted the usual upgrades in the photo, video, charging, and other categories. But it also highlighted the smartphones’ gaming prowess.
“About 60% of the U.S. [gaming] population is now on mobile gaming. It just makes sense,” said Suzanne De Silva, head of mobile product strategy and marketing at Samsung.
Both Galaxy Note 10 models have a game-boosting A.I. software that optimizes performance, as well as a vapor cooling chamber to keep the phone from overheating—even while using extra power. These may be familiar features to people with gaming PCs, but they’re rarities on smartphones. Still, they’re not unexpected add-ons from a company like Samsung, which builds both handheld and desktop devices.
Samsung also announced it partnering with Discord, which will bring voice chatting to multiplayer games and allows players to view mobile game stats.
With the impending arrival of Google Stadia and xCloud from Microsoft, which was heavily featured at Unpacked, the timing of a game-focused Samsung device makes sense. Last year’s emphasis on 5G has positioned Samsung well ahead of competitors on the next generation mobile network.
‘You’re going to see some incredibly realtime super console-type experiences,” De Silva says. “We’re already there, but I think in the future it’s going to be almost distinguishable. The best gaming console is the one you have with you.”
The move might feel a little niche to people who don’t consider themselves to be gamers—or even to those whose gaming stops at Candy Crush. But De Silva notes that bringing performance up to gaming level means making an all-around, more powerful smartphone.
“Gamers look for performance—gaming is probably one facet of their smartphone lives,” De Silva says. “Whether you’re gaming on the go, editing, being productive, these are devices that are for those people who are looking for performance.”
“Our devices are a reflection of the way that consumers are using them today,” she added. “But in addition to that, we always look for opportunities to give consumers things that they probably never thought they wanted.”
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