China’s 2023 VR market shipments mark biggest drop in five years.
Meanwhile, China’s AR smart glasses market thrived, with TCL-RayNeo and Xreal dominating.
Apple Vision Pro to inject some positive energy into China’s VR segment in 2024, AR smart glasses market set for further growth.
China’s Virtual Reality (VR) market shipments dropped 61% YoY in 2023, marking its most significant downturn in the past five years. Conversely, Augmented Reality (AR) smart glasses shipments in the country surged 67% YoY. What factors drove this contrasting trend in China’s VR and AR smart glasses market? Looking ahead, what can we expect? This article aims to provide insights into these developments.
China VR Market Analysis, 2023
China’s VR market experienced a steep decline of 56% YoY in H1 2023, worsening to 65% in H2 2023. VR headset shipments in China decreased by 4% in H2 2023 from that in H1 2023. Demand in China’s consumer segment weakened during H2 2023, while demand in the enterprise segment remained relatively resilient.
Exhibit 1: Market Share (%) of Top OEMs in China’s VR Market
Source: Counterpoint China XR Market Tracker
Shipments of Pico VR headsets in China witnessed a 19% sequential decline during H2 2023, severely hurt by its parent company ByteDance’s strategic shift to reduce investments in XR. Sony’s shipments tumbled 46% sequentially in H2 2023 as the sales momentum of the PSVR 2 faltered in China. DPVR experienced an uptick in sales during H2 2023, with an impressive 121% sequential growth, primarily due to its focus on providing solutions for the enterprise market.
Other developments in China’s VR segment seemed rather subdued.
China AR Smart Glasses Market Analysis, 2023
In contrast to the weakness in China’s VR segment, China’s AR Smart Glasses market thrived in 2023, experiencing a remarkable 64% YoY growth. This growth can be attributed to several factors, including the aggressive release of new products by leading OEMs throughout the year, advancements in optical technologies and ergonomic design, enhanced compatibility with more devices, as well as OEMs’ offline expansion and increased marketing investments.
Exhibit 2: Market Share (%) of Top AR Smart Glass OEMs in China
Source: Counterpoint China XR Market Tracker Note: In Counterpoint’s sales tracker, AR smart glasses include glasses that enable optical see-through functionality only. Smart glasses without a display are not included in this classification.
TCL-RayNeo and Xreal maintained their market dominance in China throughout 2023.
TCL-RayNeo topped China’s AR smart glasses market in 2023 with an impressive 126% YoY growth. The company primarily focused on promoting three key products during the year – the RayNeo Air 1S, RayNeo Air Plus, and RayNeo Air 2. These products quickly rose to the top of China’s best-selling AR smart glass models list within their respective promotional periods.
Xreal ranked second in China’s AR smart glasses market, achieving 135% YoY growth in 2023. Throughout 2023, Xreal focused on promoting the Xreal Air, Xreal Air 2 and Xreal Air 2 Pro. The company excelled in extending the life cycle of its products through an aggressive marketing strategy.
Rokid, a pioneer in the enterprise AR segment, maintained its position as the third leading OEM in 2023. Meanwhile, INMO, an early adopter of waveguide solutions for commercial AR products, experienced over 200% YoY growth.
Alongside the established leaders, several new entrants made strides in China’s AR smart glasses segment in 2023. These newcomers included Meizu with its MYVU glass, ARknovv and its A1 glass and LAWK with its Meta Lens S1 glass.
China’s AR/VR Market Outlook
Apple’s foray into the VR segment in 2023 failed to ignite a new wave of “Metaverse” enthusiasm in China. However, the Chinese industry anticipates that the availability of the Vision Pro in the Chinese market in 2024, along with innovative applications developed by Chinese developers, will inject some positive energy into this segment. Chinese internet giants such as Alibaba and its subsidiary Dingtalk, Tencent, Trip.com, and gaming company miHoYo, have all announced plans to develop spatial computing-based applications for Apple’s Vision Pro. Nevertheless, we expect the Vision Pro, as well as other new VR/MR(Mixed Reality) products set to be released in China in 2024, to only have a limited impact on boosting the sales volume in this sector.
We expect China’s AR smart glasses market to see continued prosperity, although from a relatively small base. We expect more products featuring waveguide-based solutions to be commercialized in 2024, offering an enhanced experience for various outdoor applications and life assistance scenarios. With the ongoing advancements in AR display and optical solutions, processing chips, wireless connectivity with other devices like smartphones and PCs, as well as improvements in user interfaces and applications, the AR smart glasses market is poised for further growth.
Motorola, with its newly launched smartphones, is taking a different approach in a world obsessed with megapixels and hardware specifications. The brand is focusing on design and user experience with its new launches. At the Motorola Edge 50 Pro launch event in India, Tarun Pathak, Research Director at Counterpoint, sat down with Ruben Castano, Head of Design and Experience at Motorola Mobility, to talk about the brand’s strategic shift towards its lifestyle image, collaboration with Pantone and much more.
The Interview
Key takeaways from the discussion:
Lifestyle branding, new design language:
• Motorola is transforming into a lifestyle brand with a new design language that prioritizes ergonomics.
• Castano emphasized ageless and genderless aesthetics.
• Castano also underscored the importance of color, material, and finish (CMF) as a decision factor for consumers.
• The Motorola Edge 50 Pro features a vegan leather back, offering consumers a better grip and a way to express themselves with their devices.
• The new pearl finish was developed in partnership with high-end fashion brand Mazzucchelli.
Strategic partnership with Pantone:
• Motorola has collaborated with Pantone, a world leader in color expertise.
• This partnership gives Motorola access to color trend forecasting about 6-18 months in advance.
• Pantone’s expertise is also being used for display calibration and ensuring color accuracy from capture to display.
• Motorola focuses on both global and regional customization based on research in specific markets.
AI integration:
• Moto AI focuses on AI that is meaningful for consumers by offering enhanced experience.
• AI in camera to improve photography and videography, Style Sync feature to create personalized wallpapers using AI, and background optimizations to elevate performance, battery, display, and more.
Focus on user experience and connected ecosystem:
• Motorola is moving beyond tech specs in marketing and focusing on user experience.
• Motorola is also leveraging Lenovo’s security solutions for enhanced phone protection.
• Smart Connect, a cross-platform connectivity solution to connect Motorola smartphones seamlessly and wirelessly with Windows PCs and tablets.
• Seamlessly drag and drop to transfer content like photos and videos, or copy text across devices, into presentations, and more.
Analyst takeaways:
• Motorola has been doing well lately, one of the key reasons is that the brand is riding on the premiumization trend driven by its Edge and Razr portfolio. Motorola’s premium series (>$600 wholesale) sales grew 33% YoY globally in Q1 2024.
• Motorola is aiming to strive for meaningful device experiences by integrating AI across its ecosystem products and taking a beyond-device approach, shifting the conversation beyond specifications.
• Motorola is taking up deeper and more strategic industry partnerships instead of a wide range of partnerships. One such example is its partnership with Pantone which helped it to differentiate its devices from design, display, and camera perspectives.
• According to Counterpoint, product design is one aspect where Motorola is doing better than some of its competitors.
Qualcomm has launched the Snapdragon X Plus platform, setting a high benchmark for the first AI PCs to be launched in 2024.
The Snapdragon X Plus is the second chip under the Snapdragon X series, which was announced in October 2023 as the company’s flagship ARM-based processor for Windows PCs.
The biggest talking point of the Snapdragon X series is on-device AI capabilities. At 45 NPU TOPS, the two chips are among the most sophisticated AI PC platforms in the market.
Qualcomm Technologies announced the launch of the Snapdragon X Plus platform on April 24. The Snapdragon X Plus is the second chip under the Snapdragon X series, which was announced in October 2023 as the company’s flagship ARM-based processor for Windows PCs. Further, the Snapdragon X Plus is a cut-down version of the Snapdragon X Elite, but both chips boast impressive features, setting high benchmarks for the first AI PCs to be launched in 2024.
CPU: Best in Class in Raw Computing Power, Superior Power Efficiency
Platform
Features
Snapdragon X Elite
Qualcomm Oryon 12 cores, up to 3.8GHz, 42MB cache capacity
Snapdragon X Plus
Qualcomm Oryon 10 cores, up to 3.4GHz, 42MB cache capacity
Thanks to the Oryon CPU cores, which represent Qualcomm’s first attempt to design its own ARM processor at 64-bit, the Snapdragon X series offers ‘best-in-class’ CPU performance. Qualcomm believes the Snapdragon X Elite and Plus offer 41% and 28% faster CPU performance (multi-threaded) than the competition, respectively. Besides, both can achieve peak PC performance at 48% and 39% less power than the competition. These come down to Qualcomm’s heritage in ARM processor designs which champion users on the move, where optimizing resource efficiency is prioritized. The immediate user experience takeaway will be faster app launch speeds and web browsing, and longer battery life when using productivity and video apps.
Source: Qualcomm
WATCH: “AI PC” Era Beckons with Snapdragon X Elite: Deep Dive with Qualcomm’s Kedar Kondap
GPU: Top Graphics for Immersive Entertainment
Platform
Features
Snapdragon X Elite
Adreno GPU, up to 4.6 FLOPS
Snapdragon X Plus
Adreno GPU, up to 3.8 FLOPS
The Snapdragon X series comes with integrated GPUs capable of running most games consistently at 30-40fps and topping at 60fps. The highest-payload AAA games should be perfectly playable on the GPU, satisfying the needs of most casual gamers. However, we believe Qualcomm will be wary of venturing into the gaming laptop race due to different market dynamics, and different user behavior expectations, such as a much heavier and bulkier form factor, which, more often than not, is plugged into a power source.
Source: Counterpoint Research
Building on the productivity theme, the Snapdragon X series GPUs can support up to three external 4K UHD monitors running at 60Hz. As the boundaries of the office blur and home entertainment requirements become a higher priority, these are important GPU features for the next-generation mobile workstations.
AI: Built-for AI Workloads on the Edge
Platform
Features
Snapdragon X Elite
Hexagon NPU, 45 TOPS
LPDDR5x, with RAM bandwidth of 135GB/s
Capability to run 13B+ parameter models on-device
Generates 30 tokens/sec for 7B LLMs
Snapdragon X Plus
The biggest talking point of the Snapdragon X series is on-device AI capabilities. At 45 NPU TOPS, the two chips are among the most sophisticated AI PC platforms in the market. According to Counterpoint Research’s definition of AI PC, the Snapdragon X series currently is the only platform available in the ‘AI-Advanced Laptop’ segment.
Qualcomm says it is working closely with major app developers (see below), focusing on two areas – delivering a top Windows-on-ARM user experience and scaling up AI features and capabilities. Questions from the industry on AI use cases are growing too loud to ignore, and Qualcomm suggests that a gradual process is underway with app developers to move key processing workloads from the CPU to the NPU. This will open up the opportunity to adopt multi-format models in the future, which can help the device deliver a more personalized user experience through inferencing at the edge.
Source: Qualcomm
Qualcomm demonstrated AI capabilities including real-time translation, image generation (Stable Diffusion) and image editing (GIMP). We felt the most impressive demo was Stable Diffusion, generating 10 images from text prompts at less than a second per frame. Nevertheless, these are well-known AI use cases that are unlikely to move the needle materially for the market.
The upcoming Windows 11 update, expected to be announced in late May, could be the turning point in the AI PC race, as the long-rumored AI Explorer feature will solidify the use case of AI on PCs. In short, AI Explorer (likely activated via Copilot) can help the user track all activities, such as apps, text, webpages, documents, photos and audio, via a searchable memory, using natural language. The Snapdragon X series will be among the first candidates to receive these AI updates.
BONUS VIDEO: On-Device AI on PC: Generate Text and Images Within Seconds
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Product positioning
The Snapdragon X series is aimed at the top end of the laptop space, with the likes of Apple’s M series and Intel’s Core Ultra being considered as key competitors. The Snapdragon X series has a decent edge in absolute performance but a much larger lead in power consumption. We think the key positioning message is a mobile generalist workhorse, capable of heavy-duty creative tasks and future-ready for hybrid and multi-modal AI scenarios.
In addition to the obvious benefits of ARM-based processors, like power consumption, Qualcomm will be keen to highlight the growing gap between traditional x86 CPUs and SoCs as all-inclusive platforms, with the latter offering graphics, audio, connectivity, sensor and security features that are bundled with the Snapdragon X series platform. This opens the opportunity for more heterogenous systems and seamless user experiences in the future, potentially also extending to closer integration between Snapdragon’s PC and mobile platforms.
We think the first batch of Snapdragon X series laptops will be positioned as consumer devices, as we expect x86 to continue to dominate the ‘for business’ laptop segment. As a matter of fact, Microsoft is expected to launch soon both the Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 with Intel Core Ultra 5 and 7 and Snapdragon X Elite processors. The Intel models are officially dubbed ‘Surface Pro 10 for business’ and ‘Surface Laptop 6 for business’. We think the first Snapdragon X series laptops will be priced at close to $1,500, but in the medium term, mid-to-high-end AI laptop prices should drop toward the $1,000 level.
What next?
There is a palpable sense of excitement as the AI PC era edges near. May and June 2024 are expected to be busy as players put the final touches on their first AI PC offerings. The Windows 11 update on May 20, the Computex event on June 3 and Apple’s WWDC on June 10 will set the stage for the first innings of the AI PC race. The first AI PCs should go on sale by mid-2024, but shipments should take off only by 2025. By the end of the decade, almost all PCs will be AI PCs. However, between now and then, a lot of work, such as defining new features, creating fundamentally different consumer and business use cases, and more ecosystem support, will need to be undertaken.
In the coming days we will publish a full report on Counterpoint Research’s learning during recent events hosted by Qualcomm, including further analysis on the key selling point, positioning and competitiveness of the Snapdragon X series, and expected market implications in the fledging AI PC sector. We also preview the potential key AI features and use case enhancements that are likely to arrive on the first Qualcomm Snapdragon X series PCs, set to arrive in stores by mid-2024.
Although smartphones have become an indispensable tool for many, the environmental impact of these devices has also emerged as a growing concern. To address these concerns, smartphone makers are moving towards sustainable practices like using recycled materials, removing charging bricks from the box, and even making these devices easier to repair. The Fairphone 5 from Dutch smartphone maker Fairphone is the world’s most sustainable smartphone, thanks to its focus on ease of repairability and longevity. At MWC 2024, Jan Stryjak, Associate Director at Counterpoint Research, sat down with Monique Lempers, Fairphone’s Chief Impact Officer, to discuss the company’s mission and how it stays ahead of the curve in the sustainable smartphone space.
The interview
Key takeaways from the discussion:
Focus on sustainability and reducing e-waste:
• Fairphone is committed to focusing on real innovation and tackling e-waste.
• E-waste is the fastest-growing waste stream globally.
• The Fairphone 5 is the most sustainable and circular smartphone on the market.
• The Fairphone 5 is designed to last longer, be easily repaired and reduce CO2 footprint and waste.
Fairphone vs competition:
• Fairphone started as an awareness campaign to inspire the industry.
• Eventually, it evolved into a company offering scalable solutions.
• Fairphone focuses on product longevity compared to the competition which focuses on recycled materials and the traditional sales-driven model.
Longevity beyond hardware:
• The Fairphone 5 comes with 10-year software support.
• Fairphone chooses components like chipsets that will also be used for IoT products, thus ensuring they come with broader software support.
Analyst takeaways:
• Fairphone is undoubtedly the most sustainable smartphone company in the world. As a pioneer of smartphone circularity, it sets the benchmark against which other manufacturers should be compared. In an ideal world, all smartphones would be made the Fairphone way.
• But this is easier said than done. It is one thing to create a sustainable smartphone when you are selling a few hundred thousand of them a year. It is entirely another thing to replicate when you have hundreds of models in your portfolio and sell hundreds of millions of phones a year.
• Nevertheless, consumers are becoming increasingly aware and concerned about the environmental impact of smartphones, so sustainability among smartphone OEMs will become more and more important. By blazing the sustainability trail and showing others what can be achieved, Fairphone can influence larger players, such as Samsung and Apple, and especially most Chinese OEMs who are sustainability laggards, to up their game and move the industry in a fairer direction.
Postpaid iPhone promotions in the US were generally very competitive in Q1 2024, with carriers offering similar deals on the iPhone 14 and 15 series.
In the second week of January, AT&T ended some holiday promotions and increased prices for many iPhone 14 and 15 series models.
We think AT&T faces some risk of underperforming for the quarter relative to competitors in part due to these softening iPhone deals and lack of high-value device promotions.
At the start of Q1 2024, postpaid iPhone promotions in the US were very competitive, with carriers offering similar deals on iPhone 15 and 14 series devices. All carriers have had offers to get the iPhone 15 Pro for free and the iPhone 15 Pro Max for $199.99 since device launch. In the case of Verizon and T-Mobile, promotions remained consistent throughout the quarter, with the two offering most of the same deals at the end of the quarter as they did at the turn of the new year.
However, in the second week of January, AT&T ended holiday promotions and increased prices for the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, and 3rd Generation iPhone SE. During the holiday season, the big three carriers all had deals to get the iPhone 15 for free, but after the promo change, AT&T’s best offer for the iPhone 15 stood at $129.99.
In February, AT&T further increased the price of the iPhone 15 Plus to $395.64 with the purchase of a new line. There are currently no listed trade-in deals for the model. AT&T has had the highest price for this device since launch, where its best offer was $99.99. T-Mobile and Verizon both had, and still have, deals to get it for free. For many customers looking to trade in a device, it is cheaper to get an iPhone 15 Pro Max at AT&T than it is to get an iPhone 15 Plus. This could be affecting the sales of the Plus model at AT&T stores.
AT&T Best Offer for iPhone Devices, Weeks 1-13 of 2024
At Verizon and T-Mobile, iPhone pricing has remained consistent. All Apple devices are priced the same as they were at the start of 2024, with the exception of the iPhone 14 Pro Max. T-Mobile lowered the cost of the 14 Pro Max by $99.99, offering it for free with a trade on a Go5G Next plan.
iPhone 15 Minimum Prices at Big 3 Carriers, Week 12 of 2024
The current iPhone promotion landscape for carriers is very competitive, with T-Mobile and Verizon offering promotions of similar types and values. Most of the recent promotional changes have been price increases at AT&T, which has distanced it from the other two carriers. It is either maintaining the status quo with the other carriers or falling behind in terms of minimum cost for Apple devices. This could impact its subscriber retention and addition.
The main thing AT&T has going for it is that its deals are universal. Almost all AT&T device promotions apply to both existing and new customers, whereas there are sometimes specific requirements customers have to meet to get better promos at other carriers. For example, AT&T has the 3rd Generation iPhone SE listed on its website for $71.64 (or $1.99 per month) after discount with the purchase of a new line. T-Mobile offers the device for free with the purchase of a new line and trade-in of an old device. But without the trade-in aspect of the deal, T-Mobile is selling the device for $215 with the purchase of a new line. So, when comparing similar deals, AT&T’s prices are actually very competitive. However, it only offers one standard deal on most devices while T-Mobile and Verizon often have 3-5 different promotions for a particular model. Therefore, it is important for consumers to read the details of these promotions. Some of the deals on T-Mobile and Verizon’s websites will look very strong, but may only be available for specific plans and customers, or require trade-ins. In contrast, AT&T often boasts more modest discounts, which tend to apply to a wider range of buyers.
We think AT&T faces some risk of underperforming for the quarter relative to competitors in part due to these softening iPhone deals and lack of high-value device promotions. In Q4 2023, AT&T executives described the company’s device promotions as “disciplined” while labeling competitors’ promotions as “rich”. The carrier was proud that it was able to out-add Verizon despite these weaker promotions. But this may not be duplicatable in Q1, especially due to the additional customers AT&T likely lost following its network outage on February 22, along with the fact that a lot of iPhone promos at AT&T are weaker than they were in Q4 when compared to the competition.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming a ubiquitous technology. However, a major downside is that AI processing in the cloud requires a massive amount of power. In this regard, on-device AI can be a boon for sustainability as it processes data directly on a device, which translates into less energy consumption and a smaller carbon footprint. Qualcomm is already focusing on on-device AI, energy-efficient chipsets, and collaborating across industries to promote sustainable practices. At MWC 2024, Jan Stryjak, Research Director at Counterpoint Research had a quick chat with Angela Baker, Qualcomm’s Chief Sustainability Officer on the company’s sustainability efforts and initiatives in this area.
The Interview
Key takeaways from the discussion:
On-device AI for efficiency:
• On-device AI processing is a key driver for sustainability.
• Energy consumption can be reduced by processing data on the device, rather than sending it to the cloud.
• Qualcomm is already researching to quantify these efficiency gains.
5G for efficiency across industries:
• Beyond smartphones, various industries can benefit from Qualcomm’s tech.
• 5G is a good example as it is 90% more efficient than 4G networks.
• It can improve efficiency in agriculture, manufacturing, and connected vehicles.
• With future generations like 6G, Qualcomm will focus on building even more energy-efficient networks.
Balancing sustainability with growth:
• It is always a challenge to align business practices of selling new devices versus promoting sustainability.
• Qualcomm is addressing this by extending software updates for IoT devices (8-10 years).
• Qualcomm is also diversifying into new markets like automotive and IoT.
Adapting to regulations:
• New regulations around sustainability reporting (e.g. CSRD in Europe) are driving Qualcomm’s efforts.
• Qualcomm is conducting a double materiality assessment to align its ESG reporting with the financial strategy.
Analyst Takeaways:
• Qualcomm is at the forefront of AI innovation, and its key messages at MWC were around on-device AI, energy-efficient chipsets, and collaborating across industries to promote sustainable practices.
• There are two key questions around sustainability for tech companies in the AI era. The first is how to improve or even maintain energy efficiency given the vast requirements of 5G networks and AI processors. The second is how to balance sustainability (for example, by increasing device durability) with business growth (for example, through the sale of more devices).
• Qualcomm has a good answer to the first: 5G is more efficient than 4G, and combined with AI, it can bring about efficiency improvements in other sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and connected vehicles, not just the mobile space. As for balancing sustainability versus growth, this is much more of a challenge, but diversification into new markets like automotive and IoT can help.
• To become truly sustainable, companies need to ingrain their eco targets into their business KPIs and not just a part of marketing or CSR/ESG reporting. Qualcomm is doing this better than many other companies, as sustainability appears to be more tightly aligned with the company’s goals and business models.
Samsung’s latest Galaxy S24 smartphones have introduced a significant leap in Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities, with an emphasis on generative AI (GenAI) features. Leveraging the power of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC for Galaxy for on-device processing and super-fast 5G, and Google Cloud for hybrid AI functionalities, the Galaxy S24 lineup shows Samsung’s commitment to AI integration with Galaxy AI.
Using Gemini LLM’s AI capabilities, Samsung and Google are bringing new ways to search with the new ‘Circle to Search’ feature. Gemini Nano brings the new Magic Compose feature to Google Messages (the default messaging app on the Galaxy S24 series) enabling different messaging styles, completely on-device, without needing an internet connection. There is also the Gemini Pro which powers summarization features, cutting long stories short, in apps like Voice Recorder, Samsung Internet Browser, and Samsung Notes. Lastly, using Google’s Imagen2 with text-to-image diffusion technology, Samsung is bringing intuitive photo editing with the new Generative Edit feature. Both Generative Edit and Summarization features require an active internet, making them hybrid AI features.
There are also other features like Live Translation, instant slow-mo, and generative wallpapers that make Galaxy AI a differentiating feature, setting the Galaxy S24 apart from its competitors. We have been using the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra for over three weeks now, and we will summarize our experience and how to use all these Galaxy AI features.
Senior Analyst Akshara Bassi, who tracks HPC and the cloud market, said, “Integrating AI, specifically at the Edge through native and cloud integration, will spur AI adoption across consumers who have yet to see its use beyond the text and image use cases. This will bring a more personalized user experience supercharged through Google’s multimodal AI – Gemini Pro. Additionally, the cloud-enabled solution will allow the likes of Google to tap into other smartphone players by letting them experience AI, thus turning into AI proponents, and possibly nudging them to upgrade to native AI-enabled chipsets for smartphones.”
WATCH: Galaxy AI: All the GenAI Features on the Samsung Galaxy S24
How to use Galaxy AI Features on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Series
Circle to Search: A new way to search, shop and translate!
Search has been fundamental to our internet experience, and after more than two decades, Samsung and Google are changing how we search. Found something intriguing while scrolling through Instagram Reels, a website, or even a photo? Simply draw a circle around it, and Galaxy AI will pull up relevant information along with links, be it a product, place, or even a piece of artwork.
The new “Circle to Search” feature combines Google Lens and text search, and it is activated by pressing and holding the home button. Users can even draw a circle around text to quickly translate it. All this takes place on the same screen, without switching between apps.
Activate the Circle to Search feature by heading to — Settings > Display > Navigation bar > and then toggle “Circle to Search.”
Live Translate: Break language barriers to communicate easily
Traveling to a foreign country or chatting with your international friends? Language will no longer be a barrier to your communication. With real-time translations for both voice calls and text messages, you can have a seamless conversation on the go. This feature works across apps like the dialer for phone calls, voice recorder, text, and instant messaging apps, be it WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, and more.
The live translate feature is natively built into the keyboard app, so third-party apps are out of the picture. In the Samsung Internet Browser, you can also translate the entire web page to read comfortably in your native language. Users also get native interpreter mode for two-way voice translation. It is more like having a personal interpreter with you all the time. And as all this works on-device, even in-flight mode, your chats are secure without compromising on privacy.
Bonus: Users with Galaxy Buds TWS and S24 can speak directly into their Buds mic and listen to the translated voice without having to pass the phone back and forth.
AI Summarization: Save time by getting a gist of lengthy articles within seconds
No time to go through long-form text, lengthy articles and transcripts? The AI summarization works perfectly across web pages on Samsung’s Internet Browser, Samsung Notes, and the Voice Recorder app. Users will see a new Galaxy AI Star Icon on the browser tab of these apps, tapping the icon will provide a quick, short or detailed summary of the text in just a few, easy-to-consume bullet points. However, for the AI summarization feature, an internet connection will be needed.
Meanwhile, the Voice Recorder app can be used for transcribing voice to text, which also works in offline mode.
In the Samsung Notes app, users can get a quick summary of the notes in a few bullet points. The Galaxy AI can also correct spellings and translate text. What’s even more interesting is if you have jotted down meeting notes, the Galaxy AI can also format them with relevant headers and bullets and create a nice-looking cover image too. For these features to work, an internet connection and a minimum text length of 200 characters is required.
Chat Assist: Improve your conversational tone in messages and chats
Chat Assist enhances messaging across various apps, offering tone customization, spelling and grammar checks, and more. As these features are a part of hybrid AI, they need an internet connection to work.
Users can improve their writing style by choosing between different conversational tones (professional, casual, polite, or using emojis). This feature can come in super handy when communicating over messaging apps with your boss, colleagues, friends, and family. Users can also use AI to do a quick spelling and grammar check. As it uses hybrid AI, these features need an internet connection to work.
Magic Compose: Say goodbye to writer’s block!
Struggling to compose a text message? Magic Compose in the messaging app can offer context-aware, AI-generated suggestions and pre-composed replies for messages. When composing a message in the messaging app, users will see a sparkly pencil icon to pull up the Magic Compose option.
Users can keep changing the style of the auto-generated replies until they find the right words that fit the tone. They can choose between presets like formal, chill, lyrical, and even a Shakespearean tone. All this happens on-device, and the auto-compose features work even when there is no internet connection.
Generative Edit: Unleash your creativity and photo editing wizard with AI editing
Most of us capture a lot of photos using our smartphones and sometimes wish we could remove unwanted objects or people from the frame. Other times, we wish the frame was a bit different or the subject could have been slightly away from the center. Generative Edit can make that happen.
The Generative Edit is one of the most interesting GenAI features on the Galaxy S24 lineup. Using Google’s Imagen 2 text-to-image diffusion technology deployed on Vertex AI, Generative Edit brings some nice and intuitive photo-editing capabilities similar to Google’s Magic Eraser and Adobe’s Generative Fill.
Simply go into the Gallery App > Select the photo > Tap edit > then select Generative Edit, the blue circle with three stars. Next, using your finger (or S Pen), select the subject, and move around the screen or erase it. You can also pull up a subject from a different photo and add it to the edited one, thus creating a completely new photo. The editing is not always flawless, but the trick just works most of the time. This feature needs an internet connection to work though. Another thing to note is that photos edited in generative edit mode have a watermark on the bottom left and also add metadata, suggesting that it is an edited photo.
There are two more features in the Gallery App and they do not require an internet connection to work. When you select a photo in the Gallery App and tap on the “i” icon at the bottom, the AI will analyze the photo and offer suggestions to remove reflections and shadows from the photos. It works quite well, though sometimes the shadow removal feature could make the photos look washed out.
Instant Slow-mo: Add drama to your regular videos
As the name suggests, this GenAI feature lets you slow down your ordinary videos by adding a slow-motion effect. It works on videos shot between 720p to 4K resolution by filling in the gaps between frames using generative AI. In the Gallery App, users simply need to tap and hold the video to see what the effect will look like, and then tap on the edit button, select the portion that needs to be slowed, adjust speed, and save the video.
If your video was shot at 30fps, it can be slowed down to half or quarter speed, whereas 60fps videos can be slowed down up to one-eighth speed. We tried recording some videos at different resolutions and frame rates and noticed that videos shot at 60fps offer better results.
Generative AI Wallpapers: Create your own, unique wallpapers
A lot of us like to personalize our smartphones with different wallpapers and themes. Now, with generative AI, users can create their custom wallpaper using different themes such as Imaginary, Mineral, Terrain, Painting, and more. Each theme has a pre-defined key phrase where one can change up to three keywords to better describe an image they are looking to generate.
Users can let their imaginations run wild with the text prompts, but they cannot be changed beyond the pre-defined ones. Still, there are enough keywords and themes available to generate interesting wallpapers. The Generative Wallpapers can be created by heading over to Settings > Wallpaper and Style> Change Wallpapers > Generative (inside the creative category).
Initial thoughts
AI has existed on smartphones for more than half a decade now, but with on-device GenAI capabilities, smartphones have now become even smarter and more supercharged. The impressive new AI features will help boost productivity and creativity. We are only just scratching the surface, but as more OEMs and app developers start integrating more intelligence into their apps, the experience can be further redefined.
However, the Galaxy AI features are not perfect. Sometimes the translation is not accurate. The photos edited using generative edit are not pixel-perfect, but all these are still early examples, and with more data, new use cases, and wider adoption, it will likely improve, especially considering everyone is putting their efforts into AI.
Following its launch, the Galaxy AI features will be free until 2025. Although Samsung has not revealed its future pricing plans, it may go for a subscription model which could very well be an additional source of revenue via software services.
A new Google Store is now open on Newbury Street in Boston, Massachusetts. This marks the fourth experience store that Alphabet has opened in the US.
Google is aiming to boost Pixel’s mind share and to showcase the latest Pixel features with these brick-and-mortar stores.
Stores focus on leaving consumers with new Android experiences and knowledge rather than trying to convert them over to a Pixel device.
A new Google Store is now open on Newbury Street in Boston, Massachusetts. This marks the fourth experience store that Alphabet has opened in the US, with the first one opening in Chelsea Market, Manhattan, in 2021. Here are five takeaways from visiting the new store and speaking with several store representatives:
Boosting Pixel presence: Google Pixel’s presence in the US smartphone market has grown over the years, but the brand still in third place after Apple and Samsung in terms of premium smartphone sales. Google has done a lot in terms of marketing sponsorships over the years, from big WNBA and NBA partnerships to celebrating music and 50 years of hip-hop and supporting small and POC-owned businesses. Opening another experience store will help Google take Pixel to many of those who are not fully aware of Google’s offerings.
Personalized shopping returns: After the COVID-19 pandemic, life for consumers has been very “digital first” when it comes to shopping. But Google and others like Verizon, which is opening hundreds of new ‘Total by Verizon’ locations across the country, are betting on a better in-person customer experience.
Showcasing Pixel’s capabilities: All the reps at the new Google Store came equipped with their own work Pixel devices to showcase Gemini’s large language model (LLM) LaMDA on the spot, or highlight Pixel’s prowess in photography and GenAI tools like the Magic Eraser. Customers should leave the store with at least a seed planted of the software capabilities of the latest Pixel hardware line-up. There are many features that Pixel has to offer but it is hard sometimes for consumers to fully understand everything these devices are capable of.
iOS conversion not a focus and that’s OK: When asked what a rep would do if an iOS user came to the store, the response was to show them interesting features of Pixel devices that iPhones don’t have, such as Gemini or the Pixel 8 Pro’s built-in VPN. However, it is understandable that an iOS user with multiple Apple devices, such as iPhone, AirPods, Watch and MacBook, won’t easily be converted over because the whole ecosystem of the consumer is iOS based and it would take a lot of money to switch over everything.
Events and experiences needed: Granted, this is a brand-new store, but hopefully there will be something planned for the future, like the Google Visitor Experiences that are available in the other locations. Flagship stores are a wonderful way to introduce new people, especially young and old (which are vital customer segments), to new technology and features.
Overall, this is a positive development for Google, especially if it is able to keep the footfalls high by organizing interesting events and experiences. Educating consumers on the latest Pixel hardware and software developments as well as the overall Pixel ecosystem of devices will be the key to Google’s longevity in the US market, especially the crowded and heavily consolidated US smartphone market.
The Internet of Things (IoT) landscape has been evolving, and the choice of connectivity technology depends on specific applications. Satellite connectivity has recently gained momentum after Apple introduced the feature in its iPhone 14 and subsequent models. Beyond smartphones, there are numerous use cases, including maritime, monitoring, and tracking, where satellite connectivity can complement existing cellular, LoRa, or other connectivity technologies.
What is Satellite IoT Connectivity?
Satellite IoT refers to systems and networks where a device connects via satellite. Satellite-enabled devices collect data, which is then transmitted to a satellite within the chosen network. The satellite subsequently relays the data to a ground station, from where it is forwarded to the application endpoint for processing and analysis.
There are generally three primary types of satellite networks that can be used for IoT connectivity: Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), and Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO). These satellite networks are distinguished by their deployment location, orbital height and ground coverage area.
Among these, LEO satellites are the preferred choice for satellite IoT applications due to their proximity to the earth’s surface and their lower power requirements compared to GEO satellites.
Benefits of Satellite IoT:
Typically, IoT devices establish internet connections through terrestrial networks like cellular and Wi-Fi. In remote regions with inadequate cellular coverage and limited fiber connectivity infrastructure, satellite IoT is emerging as a popular alternative.
Larger and Broader Coverage: Satellite-based IoT offers a larger coverage area compared to cellular IoT networks, making them the preferred choice for large-scale, multi-purpose IoT deployments.
Greater Reliability: Reliability is crucial in wireless applications, particularly for critical purposes like military communications. Satellites are a more reliable option than cellular networks, it achieves over 99.9% availability with proper constellation arrangements. This level of reliability is essential for mission-critical applications such as disaster management and military operations.
Better Security and Protection: Satellite networks incorporate advanced security measures such as anti-jamming mechanisms and robust cryptographic coding, making them much more difficult to manipulate or breach.
Longevity of the wireless networks: In general, we have seen a new generation of cellular mobile communication technology replace the existing ones every decade. However, satellite networks have remained active for over two to three decades. showing that satellite networks have a higher longevity than cellular networks.
Targeted Applications:
Satellite IoT can be used in various IoT applications but is best suited for applications where deploying other wireless network-based solutions is challenging.
Maritime: In maritime shipping, communication between ports and ships is of utmost importance along with real-time monitoring of the vessel location. However, in the middle of ocean there are no terrestrial networks, therefore satellite IoT is ideal for reliable communication between ships and ports.
Oil & Gas Pipeline Monitoring: Most of the oil and gas pipelines move through the oceans and deserts where cellular network is not available. Monitoring of these pipelines to check potential leakages is important which is why sensors are directly connected to the satellite to transmit data in real time.
Construction: Many construction projects exist in remote areas that are far away from any network infrastructure. In such locations, satellite IoT is an ideal option for tracking heavy construction equipment and machinery.
Agriculture: To implement precision agriculture, connectivity is important. However, many rural areas have poor cellular network coverage. Hence satellite IoT is a suitable option for the interconnectivity of sensors to collect and analyse important data such as temperature and soil moisture.
Mining: Satellite IoT is a suitable solution for tracking heavy equipment, providing remote maintenance, and enabling emergency alerts in mining areas. It offers reliable communication even during natural disasters such as earthquakes and landslides.
Transportation: During transportation, tracking vehicles, containers or other logistics can face a gap in the cellular network coverage area. For tracking continuously, satellite IoT will be useful in transportation services.
Satellite IoT vs Cellular IoT:
Although satellite IoT and cellular IoT are different from each other, satellite IoT is not intended to replace cellular IoT. Instead, it is designed to complement cellular IoT networks. Many applications demand uninterrupted coverage, and by combining satellite IoT with terrestrial networks, a hybrid connectivity solution can enhance communication. The new 3GPP Rel 17-18 compatible modem, standardized by 3GPP, facilitates both satellite and cellular IoT connectivity using the same module. Altair was the first to introduce the LPWA-based hybrid chipset ALT1350, which supports both non-terrestrial and cellular connectivity, improving communication for specific applications. Additionally, Qualcomm, UNISOC, and u-blox have launched hybrid (Cellular + Satellite) chipsets tailored for tracking applications.
Satellite IoT Ecosystem:
The Satellite IoT Ecosystem can be categorized into three primary segments – Connectivity, Hardware, and Solution. The end users vary depending on the application, which can include asset-tracking vendors, tractor OEMs and maritime vendors. The below figure shows the ecosystem in more detail.
Future Potential:
Satellite IoT can be applied in two primary ways within IoT. First, it serves as the backbone for connecting devices, while the second involves satellite IoT acting as a backup connectivity option alongside terrestrial network. The integration of satellite capabilities with cellular networks in 3GPP releases 17-18 has played a pivotal role. This integration treats satellites as a form of roaming, offering a seamless and extended coverage area. This hybrid approach is gaining popularity across various applications. With component providers already ready with cost-effective solutions, we expect increased adoption of satellite connectivity in the coming year.
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