Samsung seeks to improve its productivity offering by cozying up to Microsoft

One of the more interesting parts of the Galaxy Note 10 launch was the announcement of a productivity partnership with Microsoft.

This seems to be more of a general increase in cooperation than anything substantively new. The aim of the move is to make it easier to switch between Samsung devices when using Microsoft stuff, such as the Office suite. Samsung does the full monty of devices that could be used for productivity, from laptops to smartphones, and reckons there’s untapped demand for switching between them as circumstances and whim dictate.

“We believe the mobile industry is on the cusp of a transformation, one in which individual devices give way to seamless, connected and continuous experiences, wherever we go,” said DJ Koh, head of IT & Mobile Communications at Samsung. “Open collaborations, like this industry-leading partnership with Microsoft, are instrumental in pioneering a new generation of mobile experiences. As new technologies like 5G become a reality, our partnership will play an important role in helping people live more fluid, flexible lives.”

“Microsoft and Samsung share a long history of innovation and collaboration, and today’s announcements mark the next stage in our partnership,” said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. “Our ambition is to help people be more productive on any device, anywhere – and the combination of our intelligent experiences with Samsung’s powerful, new devices makes this a reality.”

“Samsung’s deepening partnership with Microsoft was arguably the biggest news at the event,” said Ben Wood of analyst firm CCS Insight. “Samsung Mobile’s relationship with Microsoft started in 2015 when it first offered a trio of Microsoft apps and OneDrive storage on the Galaxy S6. This was followed by a “Microsoft Edition” of the Galaxy S8 in 2017. Being able to wirelessly connect your smartphone directly to a PC running Windows at the touch of a button is a big step forward. The cooperation between Microsoft and Samsung is a potent combination. Samsung can deliver unrivalled reach in terms of hardware and scale, while Microsoft is the leader in enterprise apps.”

The announcement was made as part of the launch event for the Samsung Galaxy Note 10, Samsung’s Q3 flagship smartphone event. The point of the Note range used to be that it was significantly bigger than the Galaxy but that is no longer the case, so it looks like Samsung is trying to focus on the productivity side of the Note instead.

And they might as well, considering how difficult it is to generate any buzz around new smartphones that are usually little more than spec upgrades. Perhaps conscious of the fact that the regular Note 10 is just 0.2 inches bigger than the Galaxy S10 Samsung has decided to make a supersized option with the ‘plus’ suffix, which offers 6.8 inches of shiny smartphone action.

The other big differentiator for the Notes is the S Pen, a smart stylus that allows you to write on the device and that sort of thing. This ties in neatly to the productivity narrative, especially since the devices come with handwriting-to-text software and the S Pen even has some gesture UI functionality. As you would expect from the Microsoft announcement, the phones have quick links to Office apps.

At the same event Samsung Also launched a new laptop and some tweaks to its smartwatch range. As is often the case, at least some of Samsung’s strategy seems to be defensive, presumably in anticipation of whatever Apple is going to launch on the next month or two. Last year Apple revealed a supersized phone and has long focused on productivity. We’ll leave you with a vid of the launch event and some specs.

Galaxy Note10, Note10+ Specifications