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Samsung Is Preparing Its Own Metaverse Hardware in Partnership With Google and Qualcomm
Samsung, the Korean electronics company, has revealed it is working to build its own metaverse and extended reality devices, hinting at the possibility of the launch of a VR headset in the near future. TM Roh, head of Samsung mobile experiences business, stated that the device will be built in partnership with Google and Qualcomm.
Samsung to Enter the Metaverse Hardware Business
Samsung, the Korean mobile company, revealed it will be joining the market of metaverse and VR (virtual reality) headsets soon. The company announced that it is already working on what it calls “extended reality” hardware, hinting at the production of a VR headset.
TM Roh, Head of Samsung mobile experiences business, confirmed that such a device is in the works, but did not offer a launch window for the hardware. However, he reported the involvement of Qualcomm, the fabless chip maker, and Google, as partners. On Feb. 1, Roh told The Washington Post:
Many different companies … have been making these announcements about different realities, so we have also been making similar preparations, no less than any others.
Ro explained that Samsung had delayed its participation in the market, stating that the market was still not ready and that other similar devices launched by competitors did not have the expected success.
More VR Devices
Samsung joins the rows of manufacturers that have already launched metaverse devices, such as Meta and HTC, and others that are planning to do so in the near future, like Apple. Ro stated that Samsung’s new device will be powered by a Qualcomm chip specially designed to perform better in virtual reality applications, and will use an OS powered by Google.
The determination of Samsung to jump into what is configuring to be a crowded market might answer to an expansion push away from traditional smartphones to something more. Nokia, another phone tech company, predicted that metaverse tech will replace smartphones in the second half of this decade.
However, in opposition, Ro believes this new family of devices does not represent any danger to what smartphones offer today. He stated:
Smartphones will continue to build on the features and the needs of consumers and will provide even more new experiences.
To Roh, there can be an integration of metaverse and smartphones to complement their experiences and develop further from there. Samsung’s involvement with the metaverse is not new, as the company has already made several investments in projects in the area.
What do you think about Samsung’s new metaverse hardware? Tell us in the comments section below.
How Samsung Will Help The Bank Of Korea With CBDC Development
Started by the end of July 2021, the Bank Of Korea central bank digital currency (CBDC) project has been gaining traction. Per a report by the Korea Times, the project will be aided by electronics company Samsung.
The company and the financial institution will build the platform that will support the CBDC. In addition to Samsung, the Bank of Korea has brought in other partners from the private sector, such as Ground X, a blockchain-based division from another company called Kakao.
The Times cited a source on an executive position to support its claims:
Samsung Electronics has recently decided to participate in the BOK-led CBDC pilot project, under which interested parties will research the practicalities of the CBDC in a test environment.
Representatives from Samsung and the Bank of Korea have spoken about the benefits of CBDCs and their potential to improve the country’s payment system. The Times claims that Samsung and the Bank of Korea will test the “usability” of blockchain systems on the Galaxy mobile.
Specifically, the Kakao consortium and Samsung Group’s two tech affiliates will launch a pilot program aimed at checking on money transfers and remittances between countries, issuing and distributing the CBDC and monitoring how that eventually works in virtual environments.
Samsung To Test CBDC Functionality With Its Smartphones?
The sources quoted by the report said the project will have two main focuses on the Samsung side: the capacity to conduct payments to other devices and the possibility
(…) payments via mobile phones using the digital currency with no internet availability, or to send CBDC remittances to other mobile phones or to other connected bank accounts.
The objectives will be carried out by the company’s IT unit and an affiliate called Escor. These entities will handle the procedures for the experiments with the central bank digital currency (CBDC), the Times reported.
Apparently, high-ranking officials at the Central Bank of Korea have dismissed cryptocurrencies and their potential to improve the current financial systems, mainly due to the volatility of the assets. However, China’s own digital currency, the e-CNY or digital yuan, has brought concerns to its neighbors in Asia.
The development of South Korea’s CBDC will initially operate in a virtual environment during its test phase. Samsung and other partners involved will look for issues and bugs and the technical limitations of the project.
Later, in mid-2022 the project will be focused on “offline payments”, e-commerce, remittances, and other applications. The CBDC will allegedly also have advance privacy features developed in collaboration with private banks.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin trades at ,913 with a 2% loss in the 24 hours chart.
BTC with minor losses after rejection at the high ,000 in the daily chart. Source: BTCUSD Tradingview
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Samsung Adds Support For Hardware Wallets On Galaxy Devices
Samsung Electronics has added new support assets for blockchain users with hardware wallets this week. The move will impact mobile Galaxy owners, allowing them to use third-party hardware wallets with the Samsung Blockchain Wallet app. In their press release, Samsung has sought out to explicitly provide hardware support for Ledger Nano S and Nano X. The company stated, however, that they plan to support more cold-storage wallets moving forward.
Samsung Blockchain
The journey to initiate hardware support, of course, started with straightforward blockchain integration. In 2019, Samsung released Samsung Blockchain and dedicated crypto wallet support, without extensive fanfare. The company rolled out the blockchain software in tandem with the Galaxy S10 release. A major focal point for the blockchain offering is the included software development kit. The kit opened the door for Samsung to support developers in creating decentralized apps. Dapp support is driven through the Blockchain Keystore SDK.
Of course, the other major emphasis of the Samsung Blockchain is security. This comes by way of the company’s self-described ‘Samsung Knox’ and ‘Trusted Execution Environment (TEE)’. Knox is a secure holding space for crypto users that is separate from the main operating system, accessible only via PIN or biometric authentication. Knox is essentially a “secure processor dedicated to protecting your PIN, password, pattern, and Blockchain Private Key”, as the company describes it.
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Galaxy Support
The update to begin supporting cold-storage wallets will be applicable for Galaxy users running Android 9.0 and above. The company also cautioned that in the initial roll-out, Nano X bluetooth features may be limited.
The Korean-based firm continues to keep promotional activity around new blockchain-related features somewhat under the radar, despite continuous and evolving support.
BTC's consistency has given more companies good reason to integrate | Source: BTC-USD on TradingView.com
Continued Crypto Support
Samsung has continued to release crypto-related support with a relatively quiet approach. In 2020, the firm partnered with crypto exchange Gemini to streamline Galaxy users consumer experience. The company continues to offer consumer and developer assets, such as a dedicated crypto newsfeed available in the Blockchain Wallet app. For developers in particular, offerings include extensive resources, such as APIs that allow dapps to securely sign for transfers of virtual assets.
After initially support ethereum in 2019, and adding bitcoin shortly thereafter, the company now offers over thirty coins, including stablecoins. Samsung continues to stay relatively quiet despite what seems to be continued investment. In a public statement, head of blockchain and company VP Woong Ah Yoon stated that monthly active users of the blockchain app have doubled over the past seven months. Without sharing hard figures, Yoon added the smartphone wallet is currently used to hold hundreds of millions of USD in AUM (assets under management).
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Samsung Quietly Adds Bitcoin to its Blockchain Keystore
Korean tech giant Samsung has added Bitcoin support to its Blockchain Keystore SDK. This will eventually allow users to use Bitcoin with applications via the company’s secure storage hardware featured on supported devices.
In addition to adding Bitcoin, the Samsung Blockchain Keystore SDK will also support the Klaytn network too. Klaytn is the blockchain effort by Korea’s largest social messaging company, Kakao.
More Bitcoin Support Comes to Samsung Devices
When Samsung first revealed its cryptocurrency support earlier this year, Bitcoin proponents were dismayed to learn that the tech giant did not appear to be supporting their favourite crypto asset. However, that has slowly changed with the company revealing more plans to allow the number one digital currency a place on its flagship range of devices.
The latest step towards full support is the launch Bitcoin functionality with the firm’s SDK that interacts with the safe storage system featured on the newest Galaxy models. According to a page on the company’s developer-facing website detailing the feature, those requesting early access to the Blockchain Keystore SDK will now be able to interact with decentralised applications using both the Bitcoin and Klaytn blockchains, as well as Ethereum.
The page was actually updated on August 8 but the company has been so quiet about it that it was not noticed by NewsBTC until Reddit user ThatOfficeMaxGuy pointed it out via the social news platform earlier today.
According to the post, the Blockchain Keystore SDK will allow Android applications direct communication with the cryptocurrency-focused keystore featured on more modern Galaxy devices. This will allow users to sign transactions, as well as directly reference blockchain addresses.
The SDK is not production ready for now. This is likely why the firm has decided not to make any big announcements regarding it. The launch of the SDK itself last month was accompanied by similarly little fanfare.
The Blockchain Keystore SDK is currently being offered to developers via an application process only. Samsung hopes to provide full access by the end of 2019. According to one of the FAQs on the website:
“Official version of Samsung Blockchain SDK will be announced by the end of 2019. In the meantime, developers can request a partnership to use the beta version of the Samsung Blockchain SDK.”
A huge name like Samsung supporting Bitcoin functionality and putting the cryptocurrency literally in the palms’ of millions of users could do wonders for its adoption around the world. That said, there do appear to be some restrictions on who will be able to access the features.
Understandably, only those in possession of Samsung’s newest Galaxy handsets will benefit from the Blockchain SDK. Also, it is restricted to use in Canada, Germany, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, USA, and UK. Finally, only applications interacting with either the Ethereum, Bitcoin, or Klaytn networks will be supported initially.
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