Introducing the Power of Galaxy AI and Google’s Gemini AI Model
SAMSUNG’S BIANNUAL GALAXY Unpacked event is usually big when it comes to flashy new mobile devices, but at this year’s event, held today in San Jose, California, it’s the software that steals the show.
The new Samsung Galaxy S24, S24+, and S24 Ultra run Galaxy AI, the umbrella term for many of the new smart features debuting on phones.
Many (but not all) of these features are powered by Google’s Gemini AI model, some of which are already present on Google’s Pixel smartphones.
Google has long dominated the search engine simply by being the default everywhere; It is now using a similar strategy by leveraging Android to bring its AI prowess to a broader stage.
Presenting the Galaxy Ring: An Innovative Product Type
At the event, Samsung also announced the Galaxy Ring, an entirely new product category for the company.
He didn’t share many details other than how this smart ring integrates closely with the Samsung Health app and its feature set.
Smart rings have grown in popularity over the past three years, with Oura leading the way and others, like the Ultrahuman Ring Air, following suit.
We will update this story as we learn more.
Did Someone say Artificial Intelligence?
Forget about phones for a minute so we can talk about Galaxy AI. There’s a mix of on-device AI (via Gemini Nano) and cloud-based AI (via Gemini Pro) in the Galaxy S24 series, though Samsung is leaning more towards the latter.
If you see a star icon somewhere on the screen, this is an indication that there is an AI feature you can take advantage of. These interactions are powered by Google’s large language model.
For example, during a phone call, click the starred Call Help button and it will now translate the call in real-time, allowing you to speak to someone in another language, like Star Trek’s Universal Translator.
(13 languages supported). In the demo, I phoned a Samsung employee: he spoke in Korean and I heard his speech translated into English, and vice versa.
It was great to be able to have a full conversation without having to look up anything, and while it wasn’t the quickest back and forth, it was fast enough to keep the conversation alive.
Translation also extends to text messages. Since this translation capability is built into the Samsung keyboard, it doesn’t matter which messaging app you use in your conversations.
Speaking of which, there’s also chat help on the keyboard, which can change the tone of your sentences in conversations in case you want to sound more professional or casual, or if you need help correcting punctuation.
My favorite messaging add-on is Photomoji, which lets you create new emojis from your photos, just like Apple’s Visual Lookup, which turns your photo subjects into stickers.
Samsung’s built-in voice recording app gets some smart features similar to what you’ll find in Google’s Recorder app, including real-time transcription and speaker tags to indicate who’s speaking.
Are you using a Samsung web browser?
Click on the star icon and you can get summaries of the web page. Are you working on the Samsung Notes app?
You can summarize long paragraphs of text, check grammar and spelling, and even turn on different formatting options that can automatically add headings, headings, and bullets.
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This is a Samsung event, but Google is using the occasion to introduce a new search experience on Android called Circle to Search.
No matter what you’re looking at on the screen, press and hold the home button (or the tablet icon if you’re using gesture navigation) to open a new interface where you can circle a specific area of the screen with your finger.
This circled area is then entered into the Google search bar to perform a visual search.
You can enter additional text in your image query to make your search more specific.
It works anywhere on Android, even when watching videos in different apps, and will be available on the S24 and Pixel 8 series on January 31.
When Google added Magic Eraser to its Pixel phones, allowing you to remove objects in the background of photos, Samsung followed suit with a similar tool of its own called Object Eraser.
The Pixel 8 Pro introduced the Magic Editor last year, allowing you to move or resize subjects within an image while AI automatically fills in the rest to keep the scene realistic.
Naturally, this feature is now available on the Galaxy S24 series, where it is called Genetic Edition (a less fun name).
Arguably one of the best tricks I’ve seen in my short time with phones was Instant Slow-Mo.
Do you remember slow-motion videos?
It’s a feature I’ve always wanted to use more, but it’s hidden in the camera app menus, so I never remember it’s there.
Well, Samsung now lets you convert any video you recorded into a slow-motion video by simply pressing and holding it in the Gallery app.
Press the Edit button to choose the duration and speed of the slow motion.
It uses a technique called frame interpolation to achieve the slow-motion effect, where new frames are generated between the actual frames of the footage so that the action looks smooth as if it had always been filmed that way.
Finally, if you’re an avid Android Auto user, you’ll be happy to see that long incoming messages or busy group chats will automatically be summarized while you’re driving, and you’ll also see more suggested responses and actions, like Share.
ETA, quick links to a restaurant mentioned in a conversation, or options to contact someone.
No more constant beeps (I hope).
Phone It In
correct. New phones! If the word “iterative” needed an example in the dictionary, I would point to the Galaxy S24 range.
This does not affect the quality of these phones at all; They’re too similar to last year’s Galaxy S23 models to ignore.
They all have the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, brighter AMOLED displays, and cameras with larger sensors to capture more light.
Samsung is taking a page from Apple and adding only titanium to the Galaxy S24 Ultra (the smaller S24 and S24+ are still made of aluminum).
This is a more durable material, yes, but it’s also supposed to be lighter, a feature I noticed in the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Unfortunately, the weight saving here over the S24 Ultra is around 1 gram. Yes, one gram. amazing.
The S24 Ultra has a flat 6.8-inch display, which means the edges of the glass don’t curve back into the back frame.
Hello! I’m glad to see this is a plague that has plagued smartphones over the past few years.
Sure, it looked futuristic, but it was a worse experience, as my grips often interfered with my on-screen interactions.
Thanks to thinner bezels around the displays, the S24 and S24+ now have slightly larger displays, measuring 6.2 and 6.7 inches respectively.
Both are now able to increase the screen refresh rate from 1Hz to 120Hz, which means all your interactions will feel smoother and you’ll be able to save some battery life.
Camera Innovations, Battery Upgrades, and Pricing Details
Speaking of which, the S24 has a 4,000 mAh battery capacity and the S24+ has a 4,900 mAh battery capacity, which are modest improvements over their predecessors.
The S24 Ultra retains the same 5,000mAh cell as last year’s model.
As for the cameras, the S24 and S24+ are identical: a 50MP primary sensor joined by a 12MP ultra-wide-angle and a 10MP telephoto lens that offers 3X optical zoom.
The Galaxy S24 Ultra has a 200-megapixel primary sensor, a 12-megapixel wide-angle lens, a 10-megapixel telephoto lens with 3X optical zoom, and a 50-megapixel telephoto lens with 5X optical zoom.
This newest camera is a step back from the 10X optical zoom that Samsung previously offered, something that can’t be found on any other phone sold in the US.
I’m disappointed by its disappearance, although I hope the 5X zoom will be more useful in everyday situations.
Unfortunately, Samsung has not adopted the Qi2 wireless charging standard on the S24 range, claiming that it is too new to be added to its phones.
The Qi2 is exciting not only because it’s more efficient and faster at charging our devices wirelessly,
but it also offers Magnetic Power Profile, which uses magnets built into devices to properly align them with charging pads, just like MagSafe does.
The addition will mean a greater degree of cross-compatibility between iPhone and Android accessories, but unfortunately, you’ll have to wait until 2025 (or later this year) to use them.
The Galaxy S24 costs $800, while the S24+ costs $1,000. The Galaxy S24 Ultra is the only one whose price has increased by $100 from last year; It will cost you $1300.
The good news is that Samsung promises seven years of software updates, consistent with Google’s Pixel devices.
This means that your money will hopefully go a long way as you can keep your device for longer.
Pre-orders are open today and as usual, Samsung is running a promotion that lets you get a free storage upgrade;
For example, the 512GB Galaxy S24 is priced the same as the 256GB version during this period.
The phones officially hit stores on January 31.
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