Tech giant Samsung is reportedly looking at ways it could change the form factor of its smartphones to be better suited for generative AI apps and functions.
In a recent interview, the president of Samsung’s Mobile Experience unit, Roh Tae-moon, told the Australian Financial Review that a new generation of “AI phones” would look “radically different” from standard phones.
A successful implementation would make the “AI phones” more “mobile” and could have more sensors and bigger screens than the phones available today.
Roh also told the AFR that a “lion’s share” of Samsung’s mobile phone research and development is now directed at these phones, but didn’t share what form factors the company was looking at specifically.
The form factor is a hardware design aspect that defines and prescribes the size, shape, and other physical specifications of components.
Since the invention of Apple’s iPhone, most smartphones have adopted a slim rectangular form factor in various sizes.
Roh’s comments come months after Samsung rolled out its “Galaxy AI” system to several Samsung phones in May. The system aims to streamline existing features, add new tools for users and improve Samsung phones' overall functionality.
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Meanwhile, a few other market participants have attempted to create their own line of AI devices with their own unique form factors — though they’ve failed to hit mainstream so far.
Rabbit R1 captured considerable hype when it launched in March 2024, promising to offer an AI device where users could interact with it through voice and have tasks performed on their behalf.
However, commentators such as popular tech reviewer Marques Brownlee have slammed it as “borderline non-functional” with terrible battery life and isn’t very good at answering questions.
NEW VIDEO - Rabbit R1: Barely Reviewablehttps://t.co/CqwXs5m1Ia
This is the pinnacle of a trend that's been annoying for years: Delivering barely finished products to win a "race" and then continuing to build them after charging full price. Games, phones, cars, now AI in a box pic.twitter.com/WutKQeo2mp
— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) April 30, 2024
Brownlee described a similar product — Humane AI — as “the worst product I’ve ever reviewed.”
Samsung’s biggest phone manufacturing competitor, Apple, announced a partnership with ChatGPT creator firm OpenAI back in June to build AI features for the iPhone. Google has also been working AI into its smartphones and its Android operating system.
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