Category Archives: Mobile

Clubhouse to be Available on Android Worldwide by Friday!

Last week we saw Clubhouse finally taking the plunge into Android. The blogpost from Clubhouse themselves, dated 9th May 2021 said that they will be pushing into the Android market with a Beta app starting with their home market, the United States of America. Apart from their home market though, they said they will be pushing into other English-speaking markets in the coming weeks.

We thought that we will only get Clubhouse in two to four weeks. To be fair, while Malaysia is considered a major English-speaking nation, English is not necessarily our first language if we are being politically correct. In that case, we were guessing that nations like Singapore and probably India to get Clubhouse first before Malaysia. India mostly because of its population density and the various Android devices that the market houses as well. The large and diverse sample sizes could prove useful for the Clubhouse development team in bug testing, stress testing, and even diagnosing porting issues.

We were proven wrong though. Just a week in and Clubhouse announced that the rest of the world will be getting Clubhouse on their Android devices. According to their twitter post that is about 14 hours old, the Clubhouse version of Android will see the light of day in Japan, Brazil, and Russia by Tuesday; that is tomorrow. Nigeria and India will see the Clubhouse app by Friday morning. The rest of the world will get the app by Friday too, albeit in the afternoon. Our prediction that India might get the stuff sooner than Malaysia did sort of come true.

Clubhouse on Android, as per mentioned last week, is still in Beta stage though. There will still be some bugs on the app, and we can expect the Android app to not have all the features available to users from the iOS camp. We are expecting improvements to come over the coming months to bring the Android version of the app to what the iOS users are already familiar with though. The only function we do not expect to make it into the Android app in Malaysia at least is their payments function. That feature is also not available on Clubhouse on iOS in Malaysia too.

You can expect Clubhouse to gain traction quickly in the Android playing field too. Despite other social media giants like Twitter and Facebook launching their own Clubhouse-like features, they have not gained the traction to match Clubhouse and therefore proved unpopular among users. But of course, there is one thing that might prevent a large influx of Android users into Clubhouse though. Clubhouse remains an invite-only platform. For you to start an account with Clubhouse and join conversations, you must have an invite from your friends already on the platform.

There are also issues and controversies raised surrounding the app itself too. There are issues concerning its security and privacy at some point. The app has also been criticized for not being friendly to the hearing-impaired community. The app is still quite young though; it is barely a year old, to be fair. There is still plenty to improve on at this point. Currently, the app has focused a little more on creators with plans to fund over 50 audio shows on Clubhouse as part of an accelerator program. They are also planning to introduce in-room tipping for creators, paid events, and even subscriptions into Clubhouse soon. Live podcasting from us anyone?

Samsung and Lenovo Not Attending MWC 2021 in-Person.

Mobile World Congress 2021 (MWC 2021) is upon us. The conference is set to happen in Barcelona next month and it is where some of the world’s electronics giants meet to introduce new products or new concepts for 2021. It is a place where we might get to see new smartphones being launched as well.

Last year’s MWC was cancelled for obvious reasons. While MWC has kicked-off as a physical event for 2021, a lot of people still think it is a bad idea to attend the conference in-person. One of those people who recently decided that it was not a good idea is Samsung. Lenovo joined that boat soon after.

Samsung cited health and safety reasons for not attending MWC 2021 in-person. This does not mean that they are not participating in the conference though. Samsung will still be present at MWC remotely. In other words, MWC 2021 will still happen for Samsung, but taken completely online.

Samsung and Lenovo join several high-profiled giants in their physical absence in Barcelona for MWC 2021. Among the big names that announced their physical absence at Barcelona includes Sony, Nokia, Ericsson, Oracle, and even Google. All of them cited health and safety concerns for their staffs for not attending MWC 2021.

All of this is not particularly unexpected though. The COVID-19 pandemic that started in 2020 is still a major global concern with new strains discovered every other month or so. The current infection numbers are not particularly encouraging as well, leading governments to close their borders and restrict movements and employing tighter regulations to curb the pandemic. The decision to bring events online is also inline of Apple, Google, and E3’s decision to bring their conferences and events completely online and completely free to attend for people around the world.

While the numbers are dwindling, there are still some key attendees yet to announce their physical absence for MWC 2021 though. Among some of those names are LG and Xiaomi. LG though has announced that they are pulling out from the smartphone business recently.

GSMA claims that they have anticipated the move from manufacturers to back out of being physically present in MWC 2021. In light of the pandemic and their cancellation in 2020, GSMA has also developed their own virtual platform to ensure that participating brands can still have their MWC presence. The online platform also ensures that attendees still get to experience MWC 2021, albeit in a more personal and private manner.

Source: Reuters, Tech Crunch

Qualcomm Processors Have A Worrying Security Flaw

Qualcomm provides processors for nearly every smartphone OEM you can think of. The company’s success in providing stable, powerful systems on a chip (SoCs) have made it one of the largest suppliers in the world. However, the dependency on a single provider may not bode well for OEMs with a crucial vulnerability being discovered in these SoCs.

green and white lights
Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

An Isreali cybersecurity research firm called CheckPoint Research has found a crucial flaw in Qualcomm’s MSM (Mobile Station Modems) that could potentially affect user privacy. The MSM is an SoC itself which allows smartphones using Qualcomm’s processors to connect to cellular networks such as 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G. It also enables a slew of features that complement the connectivity including high definition recording of calls.

The vulnerability affects a protocol called the Qualcomm MSM Interface (QMI) which facilitates communication between MSM’s software components and other systems on the device it’s been deployed in. This vulnerability allows malicious actors (ie hackers) to inject malicious code into the modem. They can do this by deploying apps or other more intricate ways to access data such as user call history and SMS. The fact that the vulnerability could even be exploited to listen in to you conversations and unlock the SIM on the phone is all the more alarming.

Photo by Daniel Romero on Unsplash

Given the proliferation of Qualcomm processors in the market, an estimated 30% of devices worldwide are affected by the security vulnerability. However, in a research note, CheckPoint does indicate that Qualcomm has been notified of the vulnerability since October last year. Since then, Qualcomm and manufacturers such as Samsung have already been deploying fixes for the vulnerability. Of note, the vulnerability will be listed in Google’s next monthly Android Security bulletin. Samsung has indicated that the May 2021 patch does address the vulnerability and has been patching the vulnerability silently since January 2021.

The vulnerability classified as CVE-2020-11292 and has been noted to affect smartphones from OnePlus, OPPO, Google, LG, Samsung and more.

Clubhouse Coming to Android After More Than a Year in iOS Exclusivity.

There was a debate that raged on a bit in a certain new and upcoming social media app. The app was valued at US$ 4 Billion (MYR*) at its most recent fundraiser too. That social media platform is Clubhouse, and the debate was whether or not Clubhouse should remain an iOS exclusive platform.

For over a year, Clubhouse has remained exclusive to iOS. That is not without good reason though. Developing on iOS is a little more straightforward because there is not a tonne of scaling to work with, everything is based on roughly the same hardware architecture. You do not have to take different versions of iOS and iPhone devices into account either, the SDK will do its job and standardise experience across all iPhone devices. Obviously, with the amount of Android devices out there for different market segments, things become a little more complex when you want to develop on Android. This was the case of WhatsApp on iOS and Android all over again.

Still, the voice based social network app has been one of the most popular apps since the pandemic broke out and everyone in the world is expected to stay at home and lock themselves up. It gave people another way to stay connected with the rest of the world. It gave way to Elon Musk to connect with other people from other parts of the world without physically meeting them. Elon Musk could be one of the reasons why Clubhouse blew up too.

Still, because Clubhouse was a thing, Android users are now asking for the feature on their devices. Clubhouse also have been reportedly working on its Android app for some time now. Earlier in the year Clubhouse finally announced that they are going to put Clubhouse in Google’s Play Store. This week, they came through in the United States of America (U.S.A.).

Source: Clubhouse

The Clubhouse app is now in open Beta state in Google Play Store. While that means you get access to the most basic functions of Clubhouse like joining a chat room and moderate a chat for example, there are still some things that users on Android will not get access to for the time being. For one, Android users will not be able to report someone else for now. That feature will come soon though according to Clubhouse.

Translation and localisation will not yet be available as well on the Android version. Understandably, Clubhouse on Android is still limited to the U.S. and will be rolling out to other English-speaking regions within these few weeks. You cannot create club or manage any clubs at the moment too with the Beta version of Clubhouse on Android. You can read the full list of missing features on Clubhouse’s FAQ page.

The team behind Clubhouse is also noting that they will be collecting feedback from the community on the app. In the coming weeks, the team will be fixing all kinds of bugs and add more features before finally releasing the app properly on Google Play Store as a full app. The only thing that they have not changed their stance on is the invite-only system. You have to be invited into the app to sign up for an account. Signing up for the app is free though.

The Clubhouse app will be available in Beta in the U.S. region for now. As Mentioned the app will roll out in other English-speaking regions soon after. If you are keen to get on the platform with existing invites at hand, you can head over to Google Play Store to register as an interested user and be the first Android user when it becomes available in your region.

Wear OS Gets New GBoard -Fresher, Faster, Better

Google’s I/O is just around the corner and there are plenty of things to look forward to in Google I/O. One of them is improvements and updates to Wear OS. If you do not know what Wear OS is, it is basically Google’s perception of what a wearable interface should look like. The smartwatch OS can be found on plenty of smartwatches you can find on the market that is not a HUAWEI, or Samsung, or Fitbit, or Apple. In Malaysia, the most popular Wear OS smartwatch currently are still from Fossil.

While it is considered one of the major smartwatch interfaces you can find in the current market, contents for Wear OS can be limited. Of course, the app ecosystem for Wear OS is still growing and there are still room for improvements for the wearables that are equipped with Wear OS. Google also hardly updates or releases new apps on their own Wear OS, weirdly enough. Until now that is, with a certain GBoard.

GBoard is a keyboard, yes. In fact, it is one of the most popular and most loved keyboards in the world of Android. Some of the best and most popular Android smartphone sports GBoard as their default keyboard, that is how good it is. Wear OS also sports Google’s own default keyboard on the platform that has not been updated until now.

Previously known as Google Keyboard, GBoard gets a new update that borderlines a makeover of the app on Wear OS. The new Wear OS still retains the full QWERTY layout but with a more streamlined and cleaner design compared to the clunky Google Keyboard of old. Of course, GBoard also retains gestures and voice input functions. They are much easier to access now though.

Source: Google

The new GBoard also still has word suggestions, except that it is now scrollable instead of a drop-down menu. That makes word suggestion a lot more accessible and much more intuitive to work with. The word suggestion bar is also your quick access to input methods now. To allow for a bit more space and accessibility on the keyboard, the language toggle is now moved to the spacebar instead of a dedicated language button.

The update for Gboard for WearOS should be a huge welcome for the platform and its users. The platform, since its 2.0 release five years ago, have stagnated a little. Its last update was a minor update to version 2.23 with minute changes to improve its connectivity support and battery life mostly. Wear OS is expected to receive a major update in the upcoming Google I/O.  

Google I/O 2021 Full Schedule is Out – What to Expect from Google in 2021

Google’s I/O even is set to happen on the 18th of May 2021 onward (19th May 2021, following Malaysia time). Usually also, Google’s I/O is where Google announces their latest and greatest Android version. We can safely assume that the latest update to Android (Android 12) will be announced in Google I/O with Beta version rolling out immediately after.

According to their three-day conference calendar too, a new Android update is definitely on the cards with all the talk about “What’s new in Android”, and “What’s new in Material Design” talks. But Google I/O is more than just Android.  This year it really seems like Google’s biggest one yet.

According to the calendar also there seems to be a new Chrome OS lined-up for announcement with its own keynote. There is also a new update to Google Assistant in Google I/O. Smart homes ecosystem is getting some attention this year too at Google I/O with its own keynote segment. Google Play and Google Pay also get some new updates this year from Google I/O.

Oddly enough though there are no mentions of Wear OS within the schedule. While that also means that there should not be any update to Wear OS for the time being, do not discount Wear OS to be updated later in the year. Google’s acquisition of Fitbit will also not be addressed in Google I/O 2021, in this case. The Fitbit acquisition could also mean a new hardware announcement from Google in the wearable space though.

There are also numerous rumours surrounding Google’s upcoming or speculated Pixel device, the Pixel 5a. Alongside that, Google is also supposed to be announcing their new TWS earbuds in the conference. According to the schedule, there seems to be no acknowledgement on the hardware end of things. Most of the time though, hardware announcements are made in the first keynote of Google’s I/O. We are still expecting some new hardware from Google from Google I/O though. If you are too, keep your eyes peeled on Google’s I/O 2021.

Time to Upgrade: Samsung Stops Updating the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

Samsung’s brilliant Galaxy S8 series is now a four-year-old flagship smartphone. Four years, in today’s standards, is a long time to own a smartphone and keep it running as your daily driver. The Samsung Galaxy S8 was different though.

The Galaxy S8 series was the first smartphone from Samsung that came out from the drama that was the Samsung Galaxy Note7 series. It was also Samsung’s first foray into the ultra-thin bezel design language with edge-to-edge displays fronting the devices. While the overall design of the device has not changed that much though, it was one good-looking high-end device and feels it too.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus was also Samsung’s first device to come with Android 7.0. But it was not the Samsung that we were used too as well with a complete overhaul of the iconic Samsung interface. The Samsung Galaxy S8 series was the first Samsung One UI device ever, and Samsung never looked back. To be fair, we never looked back into TouchWiz UI too, with good reasons.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ has now officially been removed from Samsung’s security updates page altogether. Last year, they have been removed from monthly update list to quarterly update list. That means also that your Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ will remain as it is from this point onward.

It is not the entire Samsung Galaxy S8 line-up that gets the axe though. The Samsung Galaxy S8 Active and S8 Lite will still be getting quarterly and biannual updates for now. The Galaxy S8 active and Galaxy S8 Lite was launched a little later than the main flagship models launched in the 1st quarter of 2017.

In that case, while you might be tempted to swap the Samsung Galaxy S8 devices for a newer device, you might want to keep in mind that the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ are still great devices in today’s standards. We are not saying you should not upgrade, because we think you should take a look at today’s flagships and get what tickles your fancy through the highly competitive smartphone plans from your favourite telco. The Samsung Galaxy S8 still can be used as your secondary device for example. You could even turn it into your IoT controller or sensor if you want to with Samsung’s Galaxy Upcycling at Home programme.

With the removal of Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and S8+ from the supported updates list, comes a slew of changes too to other devices being moved from regular monthly updates to quarterly and biannual updates from this point onward. True to Samsung’s words, firmware updates for their devices are kept to about 4 years. As we mentioned earlier, four years is a long time for a modern smartphone. Four years update cycle is also longer than most manufacturers in the industry currently. To check if your Samsung Galaxy device is still supported and updated, check out their updates website.

Samsung Galaxy Book Odyssey is the First Gaming Notebook with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 and RTX 3050Ti

Samsung’s April 2021 Galaxy Unpacked event saw the new Samsung Galaxy Book devices with Samsung’s Galaxy integration. While you can spec them with NVIDIA’s GeForce MX450 discrete GPU, they are not really made for gaming though. For proper gaming, you need something a bit more powerful, a bit beefier. You need a Samsung Galaxy Book Odyssey gaming notebook.

The Odyssey namesake from Samsung is technically nothing new. Their very popular gaming monitor line-up bears that coveted name. Now that name comes to a gaming notebook and it seems like a no-brainer. At the same time, it is a little bit of a surprise too.

While Samsung has dabbled in gaming, they have only been dabbling in the display part of gaming. They produced the desirable Odyssey G9 ultra-wide gaming monitor, and recently made TVs that supports up to 120Hz for the next-generation gaming consoles. Still, they are no newbies to the video games industry.

Source: Samsung

The Samsung Galaxy Book Odyssey is a little odd though. It is not meant to be the most powerful gaming PC out there. It could come packing Intel’s most powerful mobile based CPU, the 11th Generation Core i7, but it does not come with NVIDIA’s most powerful GPU in their mobile GPU ecosystem. Instead, Samsung took this opportunity to introduce the world to a brand new NVDIA GPU that is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050Ti.

There is not much in terms of information on the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050Ti though. In our books, the GeForce RTX 3050 and RTX 3050Ti looks like replacement models to the older GeForce GTX 1660 and GeForce GTX 1660Ti discreet GPUs made for entry-level gaming PCs. In effect, the Samsung Galaxy Book Odyssey is made to be an entry-level gaming PC. In that sense, we do not expect NVIDIA’s highly acclaimed Ray Tracing technology to be available to the notebook.

It is still a Samsung Galaxy Book though so it still has Smart Things integration treatment. You can get your Samsung tablet to be its secondary display too, if you want. Heck, you can properly play AAA titles on your tablet if you do that. Easy Bluetooth connection feature ensures that you can easily connect your Bluetooth headphones to the PC quickly and painlessly. Your smartphone experience can easily be integrated with Link to Windows and Your Phone app on the PC.

Source: Samsung

It is, technically, the heaviest Galaxy Book that will be launched to date though. It weighs 1.85kg, which is really not heavy in the world of gaming notebooks. It is also about 17.7mm thick, which is also not all that thick for a gaming notebook. Its aluminium body looks sturdy and sleek, very much like a modern professional notebook. Its subtle logo and muted colour help it blend in your workplace and meeting room. The Pro Keyboard works with you to keep your emails churning out like a proper professional.

You can opt for up to 1TB of SSD storage for fast access to not just your files, but your games. The SSD also helps reduce loading screens. With up to 32GB of RAM, you will not be wanting more too, even if you need it for heavy video work. Speaking of videos, you are getting a 15.6-inch LCD display with Full HD resolution. No mentions on its refresh rate at this point though. We may only know closer to its launch date in August 2021.

They did not mention its battery life too, although we suspect something closer to 8 hours with 83Wh battery pack. In real life, you can expect something closer to 4 hours of battery life. It comes with a 135W fast charger though, to get the large battery quickly topped up. It is also a unique fast charger, because it is a USB Type-C charger which also means you can fast charge your smartphones with the same charger.

The Samsung Galaxy Book Odyssey will be available in August 2021 onward in selected markets. We cannot confirm if Malaysia will be part of those select markets at this point of time. The Galaxy Book Odyssey will set you back US$ 1,399 (MYR 5,742*) onward.  For more information on the Samsung Galaxy Book Odyssey, you can head over to Samsung’s website.

*Based on approximate exchange rate of US$ 1 = MYR 4.10 as of 30/04/2021

Samsung Launches the Samsung Galaxy Book at US$ 549

Samsung’s Galaxy name is not just stuck to smart home products and smartphones anymore with the most recent Galaxy Unpacked 2021 event (April). Now, you can find the Samsung Galaxy name on notebooks. To be fair, this is not the first Galaxy notebook there is, but the last Galaxy notebook did not arrive in Malaysia and was short lived.

This is supposed to be different though, this Samsung Galaxy Book. It is supposed to be better, more seamless, more integrated. It is no Samsung Galaxy Book Pro though, so you cannot expect the same thin and light experience.

It is not that much thicker though at 15.4mm. You do not get the beautiful display that is the AMOLED panel from the Galaxy Book Pro, but it is still an expansive 15.6-inch display pushing Full HD in resolution. With up to an 11th generation Intel Core i7 supported by an NVIDIA GeForce MX450, the Samsung Galaxy Book can still be one powerful workhorse for all your entertainment and work needs.

Source: Samsung

You also get to opt for up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage for all kinds of multitasking needs. If you think that 1TB is a little small, you can expand with another SSD slot within the svelte body of the Samsung Galaxy Book. Covering all the internals is also the same Pro Keyboard you would find on the Samsung Galaxy Book Pro and Galaxy Book Pro 360.

For all day battery you get a 54Wh battery pack within the Galaxy Book. Of course, unlike its Intel EVO approved sisters, you might want to carry the charger around with you. It is the same 65W charger you get from the Galaxy Book Pro and Galaxy Book Pro 360 though. That means carrying and deploying your charger is not more of a hassle than charging your smartphones with USB Type-C charging.

While you do not get a lot of the same hardware treatment from the Galaxy Book Pro series, the Samsung Galaxy Book is also one capable Samsung device that should fit into your Galaxy lifestyle easily. It still allows you to work with a Samsung Galaxy tablet as a secondary display. Link to Windows and Your Phone app works better than ever now too. The Galaxy Book also connects to your Galaxy Buds easily with Easy Bluetooth connection.

The Samsung Galaxy Book is available in Mystic Silver and Mystic Blue colour options. The notebook will be available 14th May 2021 onward in selected markets at US$ 549 (MYR 2,253*). There are no information or confirmation on its availability and pricing for the local (Malaysia) market just yet. For more information on the Samsung Galaxy Book, you can head over to Samsung’s website.

*Based on approximate exchange rate of US$ 1 = MYR 4.10 as of 30/04/2021

Samsung Unpacked Event Launches the Samsung Galaxy Book Pro and Galaxy Book Pro 360

Samsung just had an unpacked event last night and we found it quite odd. We did not expect a major unpacked event to happen at this time of the year. Still, it happened, and they launched something we did not really expect them to launch since a few years ago.

Welcome to Samsung’s first notebook PC product in many years. Welcome to the Samsung Galaxy Book ecosystem. First on the menu, are the Samsung Galaxy Book Pro and the Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360.

We are going to assume that the Samsung Galaxy Book and Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 is the premium thin and light in their expanding stables of notebook products. The Galaxy Book Pro is light though at less than a kg. Specifically, it weighs just a little under 870g (13.3-inch). The 15.6-inch variant is not that much heavier too at a maximum of 1.15kg.

Source: Samsung

The Samsung Galaxy Book Pro and Galaxy Book Pro 360 are Intel EVO certified platforms with some new tricks up their sleeves to make it even more seamless for users than ever; we will talk about this later. Intel EVO also means that it packs Intel’s latest 11th Generation Core i7 (up to) to boot. Alongside Intel’s Core processors also is a very capable Intel Iris Xe Graphics. You can opt for an NVIDIA GeForce MX450 discrete GPU (Galaxy Book Pro 15.6-inch) too if you want to and it is available in your region. The powerful Intel processor can be matched to an ample 32GB (up to) of RAM to make quick work of your tasks on the Galaxy Book Pro. It even packs up to 1TB of SSD space to store all the important documents and even your videos.

There is more inside the Galaxy Book Pro and the Galaxy Book Pro 360 though. All Samsung Galaxy Book Pro models, including the 360, packs WiFi 6E capabilities for smooth, stable network experience anywhere they can find WiFi signals. The Galaxy Book Pro 360 (13.3-inch) even has a SIM tray with 5G capabilities. The Galaxy Book Pro (13.3-inch) only has LTE capable SIM tray at this point, but LTE is plenty useful too when you are constantly on the go.

Both the Samsung Galaxy Book Pro and Galaxy Book Pro 360 comes with AMOLED (Super AMOLED for Galaxy Book Pro 360) display pushing images at Full HD 1080p resolution. What that means is that you get crisp, saturated, vivid, and very pretty images and videos on your Galaxy Book Pro and Galaxy Book Pro 360 notebooks. Thanks to the added colour accuracy, editing photos and videos on the notebook should be an experience. You can even edit your photos via Samsung’s own Gallery app now ported to Windows on the Samsung Galaxy Book series.

Source: Samsung

They have redesigned the keyboard as well for a better typing experience. The new Pro Keyboard, as they know it, supposedly features an optimum key travel of up to 1mm and is designed to be quieter and softer than ever before. All that allows for a smooth and comfortable typing experience especially when you are working on long emails. The Pro Keyboard is also a repositioning of the keyboard to maximise your typing position and therefore maximizing the trackpad for a more intuitive navigation through Windows 10.

Both notebooks in the series receive AKG’s treatment for audio with Dolby Atmos certification. That also means immersive sound on both ultrabooks. You even get to immerse yourself in movies even longer with up to 20 hours of video playback time and 16 hours in work/play time from the battery. Of course, that is what is being quoted by Samsung anyway, we have not had our chances to put it through our paces, so we can only take Samsung’s word for it at this time. Both notebooks also come with 65W Fast Charging via USB Type-C ports. The chargers are included of course. You can use the same charger to fast charge your Samsung Galaxy S21 device too.

What’s more impressive is that they managed to fit both the Galaxy Book Pro and Galaxy Book Pro 360 with a full-sized HDMI, and a full-sized USB Type-A port into the slim bodies of both notebooks. But that is really not the most impressive part of the notebook. The most impressive part of the Samsung Galaxy Book Pro and Galaxy Book Pro 360 is how well they seem to integrate Samsung’s own ecosystem into Windows, and how Samsung integrates their Android experience into Windows.

If you are already a Samsung device user, you get to benefit plenty from the Samsung Galaxy Book Pro and Galaxy Book Pro 360. For one, you get a very familiar S-Pen on the Galaxy Book Pro 360. It is about as big as the one you get from the Samsung Galaxy Tab S, and it is as brilliant, supposedly. But if you own a Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 for example, you get to treat that tablet as a secondary display. It is a secondary touch sensitive display too, so you can naturally draw on the tablet and transfer it to the Samsung Galaxy Book Pro series instantly and seamlessly.

Easy Bluetooth Connection automatically detects other Samsung devices like the Samsung’s Buds earphones line-up for example, or even the Galaxy Watch devices. That also means you do not have to dig through Window’s annoying Bluetooth settings to pair up your earphones and synchronize your Samsung Bluetooth devices. But Samsung’s collaboration with Windows also means that it is now easier than ever to link your Android smartphone to windows with Link to Windows and Your Phone app. You need not download DeX anymore to get your device to seamlessly work on Windows.

You even get access to Smart Things within the Galaxy Book Pro and Galaxy Book Pro 360 to control all your smart home products from your notebook instead of your smartphone. Quick Share is now a part of the Windows ecosystem so you can start sharing any files instantly to Android devices in your vicinity quickly and seamlessly. These are truly the next step to integrate your devices into a single ecosystem, a way to access everything anytime, anywhere, every time, everywhere.  

The Samsung Galaxy Book Pro and Galaxy Book Pro 360 will be available May 14th onward in selected markets. The Galaxy Book Pro starts at US$ 999 (MYR 4,098*) and is available in Mystic Silver, Mystic Blue, and Mystic Pink Gold colour options. The Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 starts at US$ 1,099 (MYR 4,509*) and is available in Mystic Navy, Mystic Silver, and Mystic Bronze colour options. There are no confirmation or information currently on its availability or official pricing in the local (Malaysia) Market. For more information on the Samsung Galaxy Book Pro and Galaxy Book Pro 360, you can head over to Samsung’s website.

* Based on approximate exchange rate of US$ 1 = MYR 4.10 as of 29/04/2021