Samsung kicked off its year with the first big phone event of 2024. The debut of Samsung’s newest smartphones — the Galaxy S24 series, which bring on-device generative AI along with upgrades to specs and cameras — was the main focus of today’s Galaxy Unpacked event. But Samsung had an unexpected product reveal at the end of Unpacked: the health-tracking Galaxy Ring, a new Samsung device with no official launch date yet.
As is usual for Samsung’s earliest event of the year, its S24 flagship phones took center stage. The company’s S-series phones rival Apple’s iPhones and are often the first to debut new mobile technology featured in other premium Android handsets that come out later in the year.
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Galaxy S24 brings AI, brighter screens and more
In 2024, that new technology is generative AI, which made a splash on the global stage when ChatGPT arrived in late 2022 and tech companies have rushed to integrate in their own products and services. Late last year, Qualcomm revealed that its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip would come with on-device generative AI capabilities, and the Galaxy S24 series are some of the first phones to launch with that silicon.
The S24 series uses a combination of on-device and cloud-based generative AI, called Galaxy AI, to pull off new tricks. Some we’ve seen before, like live translation, suggesting different tones for text messages and expanding photos beyond their original backgrounds. Others are new, like turning a regular-speed video into a slow-motion one by generating frames in between what’s been recorded.
Samsung shows off the Galaxy Ring at its Unpacked 2024 event.
And one more thing…
And to end the event, Samsung revealed a few new features coming to Samsung Health to improve sleep tracking and other health measuring — but the big tease at the end was a reveal of the Galaxy Ring, which presumably will be packed with sensors to monitor your health throughout the day.
Samsung didn’t share much about the gadget, including price or release date, so we don’t know much about how it compares to rivals like the Oura Ring, but we expect to hear more about the Galaxy Ring before long.
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Samsung unveiled its next-gen Galaxy S24 phones on Jan. 17. The media invitation said to expect Samsung’s “most intelligent mobile experience yet” in a nod to the forthcoming AI-powered features. The in-person event happened in San Jose, California, and streamed on Samsung’s YouTube channel.
CNET had on-the-ground coverage of the event as well as our own watch party for reactions and analysis of the reveals and any surprises.
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Article source: https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/everything-announced-at-samsung-unpacked-s24-phones-galaxy-ai-and-one-surprise-reveal/#ftag=CADe34d7bf