Today marks the beginning of Samsung’s Ocean Tech Week 2016 – a free, week long slate of game- and app-development courses held at its Samsung Ocean USP office, located in the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo.

The educational initiative will run through November 11 as part of São Paulo Tech Week, an annual festival that celebrates São Paulo’s creative DNA and entrepreneurial spirit by showcasing local talent and innovation. Tech talk permeates every corner of the city during the event-packed week, attracting thousands of like-minded ‘Tech Lovers’ and ‘Tech Makers’ to Latin America’s top tech hub.

“With Ocean Tech Week, Samsung is helping to establish an environment that promotes education and helps accelerate the development of applications that deliver better content and services to users,” explains Eduardo Conejo, Senior Manager at Samsung Latin America.

“We don’t want to simply stop at being a ‘Tech Maker’”, he adds, “We’ve undertaken this initiative because it gives us an opportunity to do more – to nurture and mobilize the innovative ideas of an entire city.”

Subjects to be covered during Ocean Tech Week 2016 include application and game development, the Samsung Mobile SDK, Android Codelab web services, building apps for wearables, and other topics related to mobile innovation.

Details on Ocean Tech Week 2016’s entire slate of events are available on the São Paulo Tech Week website: http://www.saopaulotechweek.com/.

Samsung Ocean USP

Samsung Ocean USP, the location for the week’s dynamic activities, is the result of a partnership between Samsung and the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo. The venue has hosted a number of other initiatives focused on innovation and entrepreneurship this year, including HALE Brazil, a hackathon that encourages students and companies to create socially beneficial projects, and Semana UX, a weeklong series of workshops and courses focusing on enhancing the user experience.

Innovation at Samsung

Samsung strives to create the future today through meaningful innovation – building an ecosystem of seamlessly connected products and services, and bringing the Internet of Things (IoT) into people’s lives.

Known for its industry-leading innovation and commitment to investing in future technologies, Samsung devotes more than 6 percent of its global profits toward research and development ($13 billion in 2015). Samsung’s bold and sustainable investments in innovation around the world not only push the boundaries of science and technology, but also demonstrate the utmost respect for local cultures and lifestyle trends.

Source: Brazil Newsroom

Samsung Electronics has announced that the Tizen App Challenge for Unity developers commenced on August 18th, 2016—prior to the launch of the Samsung Z2, a new smartphone running on the Tizen operating system. If you are a developer who has made a Unity-based game that has reached more than 10,000 installs, you’re eligible to enter the challenge.

The contest will run from August 18 to November 21, with a total amount of US$185,000 in prizes up for grabs. The first 50 apps can get US$3,000 each when the apps are started to be for sale in Tizen Store. Additionally, top prizes will be awarded to three participants whose games reach the highest number of downloads during the contest period, in the amount of US$20,000, $10,000 and $5,000, respectively.

The challenge consists of two steps. Contestants must complete both in order to register their app and secure a chance to win the prizes.

• Step 1: You’ll need to show that your game has been made with Unity and has reached at least 10,000 downloads in the Google Play or Apple App Store.
• Once you complete Step 1, you’ll receive a confirmation email from Samsung. Then you’ll be able to port your app to Tizen and register it in the Tizen Store.
• To complete Step 2, you must submit the unique Content ID you’ll receive once you’ve registered your app in the Tizen Store.

For more information on the Tizen App Challenge, visit http://unity3d.com/partners/samsung/tizen-challenge.

Samsung Printing Solutions today launched “A Guide to Developing and Launching Apps for Samsung’s Smart UX Center”, a step-by-step walkthrough for companies and developers with an interest in creating applications for the Android-based Smart UX Center to enhance their smart and mobile business experience. The guide has been distributed to Samsung’s international software vendors (ISVs) and other related companies.

The guide represents a major step forward for Samsung’s printing app ecosystem, spelling out the various roles and responsibilities in the app development process for Samsung Electronics offices around the world and ISVs. The guide provides an overview of how Smart UX apps are created, with key instructions regarding planning, development, sales and customer service.

Some of the processes outlined in the guide include:

• App development: Software vendors develop a Smart UX app using the Software Development Kit (SDK), provided by Samsung upon request.
• Contract matters: Vendors discuss terms with Samsung pertaining to sales, revenue sharing, customer support and other app-related issues.
• Verification & Validation (V&V): After completing the development stage, the ISV requests Samsung to test the app’s efficacy.
• Registration: Apps that pass V&V are registered on the Smart UX Center and made available on the Printing App Center.
• Revenue calculation: Vendors determine apps’ supply price to Samsung, who will help determine the appropriate retail price for end-users.
• Customer service: Developers can adapt ISV customer service policies and establish contact points for app developers. This helps customers, and also Samsung, to get in touch should an issue occur.

“With our expertise in the printing industry, Samsung has been actively cooperating with app developers to vitalize the global printing app market,” said David SW Song, Senior Vice President of Printing Solutions Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung will continue to seek ways to improve the printing environment for offices everywhere and strengthen its position as the leading company in the global printing ecosystem,” he added.

The flexibility and customizability of Smart UX Center apps are enhancing productivity and the work environment in offices around the world, while also cutting costs.

In Italy, for example, Massinelli, a Samsung dealer, has helped its client create a digital catalogue app on the Smart UX Center to save on expenses previously used for printing and sending hardcopy catalogs.

Another Italian dealer, Gaviolli Printing Solutions, has successfully developed a new app called the Visitor Registration App. This program allows visitors to events to self-register and receive informative printouts.

Further information about Smart UX App development and registration can be found on Samsung Printing App Center (http://printingapps.samsung.com) or Printing Solution Market Support Portal (http://www.samsung.com/global/printingmsp/knowledge/Smart-UX-Center.html?guide=apps).

As a movable media device, the Galaxy View is a new and unique mobile product in the market. At 18.4 inches, the Galaxy View is very convenient for enjoying content at arm’s length wherever someone wants, from any room in the house, with a big, immersive screen.

So it is not surprising the Galaxy View is also getting its own range of apps, to better take advantage of its full range of functions and features. Two apps that have recently debuted use Galaxy smartphones to make the Galaxy View even more fun and convenient, both for watching media content and gaming. Together with a third app, Family Square, the Galaxy View is quickly gaining a special ecosystem of programs that express its full functionality and versatility.

Remote Control

Rather than always stretching and reaching for the Galaxy View every time they want to change the volume or what they are watching, now people can use the Galaxy View Remote. The Galaxy View Remote connects any smartphone running on Android (versions 4.4 and up) to the Galaxy View via Bluetooth, turning the phone into a remote control. Users can turn the screen on and off, adjust the volume, select content and more, easily and directly their phone.

Once the Remote app is installed, it changes the phone’s screen into a familiar-looking remote control device, with volume up and down buttons, and four-way directional buttons, as well as a full keyboard when needed. With the Remote app, enjoying movies, TV shows and other content on the Galaxy View is easier than ever.

S Console Gamepad

Another major feature of the Galaxy View is its ability to be a platform for video games. The large screen and stereo speakers make it immersive and engaging. However, many games require complicated gamepads, with a great number of buttons and direction controllers, in order to be used properly.

The S Console Gamepad app can turn a Samsung smartphone into a gamepad, allowing users to enjoy console games in the mobile environment. S Console works for the Galaxy Note4, Note Edge and Note5 phones, as well as the Galaxy S6 series, connecting the smartphone to the Galaxy View by Bluetooth.

Optimized for more than 100 games, S Console supports six different types of gamepads, allowing users to pick the one that is best for each game. In addition to the Basic style default controller, some of the preset S Console options include Racing style for driving games, RPG style for first-person games and Console style for a maximum number of buttons and options. While most of those options are dark colored consoles, users can also choose white options, Casual style and Arcade style. Or, if someone prefers, there is an edit feature so they can create their own individualized gamepad.

Family Square

Another unique app for the Galaxy View, one that comes pre-installed, is Family Square. Family Square is like a dashboard for sharing photos and messages between family members on the Galaxy View—like a digital version of how families leave notes and drawings for each other on the refrigerator or counter.

But Family Square also has the ability to be paired to smartphones and mobile devices (any that use Android 4.4 and up), for added usefulness. Each member of the household registers their device for the Galaxy View, and then photos and other content can be sent directly from their devices for sharing on the View.

Those three apps, Family Square, Galaxy View Remote and S Console are making the Galaxy View even more useful for all members of the family, offering new ways to enjoy content around the home or while on the move.