Each tab can exchange information to make creating, prioritizing and completing tasks more efficient. For example, users can quickly create a calendar entry based on email content, or locate related items with the tap of a button.

These communication tools are woven together via a unified search feature to help users easily find exactly what they need to see. From Focus tab, users can see a summary of major notifications via the easy-to-read, card-type UX, that can be customized based on the user’s preferences. Furthermore, Samsung Focus will push reminders and suggest actions such as joining a conference call when appropriate.

Samsung Focus’ streamlined interface also features a notification bar and a floating action button that give users more control over their work environment. And, because the mobile app can be synced with a PC, users can switch back and forth between devices anytime, anywhere.

The features of Samsung Focus work in tandem to enhance workplace productivity, from managing emails to dialing in on a conference call.

Keyword Setup

With simple setup for keywords in Focus Tab, Samsung Focus displays a notifications of email or schedule contains a previously registered word, such as “conference” or “business trip.” This feature ensures that users never miss out on essential information.

Priority Sender

An alert notifies users of emails from preset priority senders to flag importance.

Conference Call

Making conference calls has become simpler with Samsung Focus. Users can now make a meeting request via email directly through the app, and can also instantly dial in with a single tap.

History

The app automatically sorts emails and schedule events so users can manage previous messages and appointments with ease.

The latest version of Samsung Focus is available for download on Google Play and is supported on Samsung smartphones running Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow or later.

“As a committed leader of the Tizen platform, we strive to further benefit, expand upon and evolve the Tizen ecosystem,” said Woncheol Chai, VP of Global Product Management, Mobile Communications Business, Samsung Electronics. “We’re excited to launch this new incentive program to help develop and bring the best of mobile apps to the Tizen community as well as provide customers with a better mobile experience.”

The new program will run from February through October 2017, and developers who create mobile apps for Tizen, such as gaming, social and lifestyle apps, are eligible to apply. Every month, each of the top 100 apps downloaded from the Tizen store and pre-registered to participate in the Tizen Mobile App Incentive Program will win $10,000.*

Apps already available in the Tizen store, as well as new apps, can be entered to win. All developers must do is ensure they register their apps for participation by visiting incentive.tizenstore.com. Individuals can begin applying to participate in January 2017. The winners will be notified on the 10^th of each month starting on March 10, 2017 and ending on November 10, 2017.

The announcement was shared today at the NASSCOM Game Developers Conference, India’s largest confluence of game developers. For more information on the new incentive program, please visit incentive.tizenstore.com.

Tizen developers can also monetize their apps through mobile advertisements with the InMobi Ad Software Development Kit (SDK). Developers can learn more and download the SDK at developer.tizen.org.

* In the event that two apps reach the exact same number of downloads, the earlier registered app will receive the $10,000 prize.

Until a decade or so ago telephones were all about hardware. The dawn of the smartphone, however, turned that on its head. In the mobile and tablet industry, where apps are now arguably more important than the devices they run on, software developers are now enjoying a golden era. Samsung’s Smart UX Center, first unveiled in 2014, is seeking to bring the same kind of metamorphosis to the printing business.

The party has begun, says Samsung Printing Solutions. And the good news is that software developers everywhere are invited.

Vast Potential

At first glance, the Smart UX, Samsung multi-function printer(MFP)s’ tablet-like interface, simply looks like a modern touchscreen. However, a clue as to its true potential can be found in its name, says Jooho Um, Principal Engineer at Samsung Printing Solutions.

He explains, “The Smart UX allows for a familiar user experience whereby people download, delete and update apps as they would on a smartphone. The joy of this system for end-users is that if they know their way around a smartphone, they pretty much already know their way around the Smart UX Center too.”

According to Principal Engineer Hyunjong Kang, another software developer at Samsung, the fact that the Smart UX Center is Android-based means creating printer software is now a game almost any developer can play.

And although app developers like Kang have already produced a range of handy apps for the Smart UX Center (some 33 to date in his case), non-Samsung developers can take advantage of this new platform too.

Kang says that Samsung sees itself as a technology leader, but now intends to let developers all over the world shape the future of app creation for the Smart UX Center. “We have just created the core technology,” he explains. “The multitude of developers out there will do the rest.”

“Just as the Smart TV has become the focal point of the smart home, the Smart UX Center has the potential to allow the MFP to become the hub of the office,” says Hyoeun Kim, Senior Engineer at Samsung Printing Solutions. “That means any business with an MFP will be needing a lot of apps in the very near future – presenting a great chance for developers.”

Enabling Creativity

Software experts with a wide range of backgrounds are quickly coming around to the notion of the new platform. Smart UX center apps are created using Samsung’s Software Development Kit (SDK), which is based on the easy-to-use Android API system.

This means that developers familiar with building Android apps could feel intrinsically drawn to the idea of creating apps for the Smart UX Center. However, the Samsung developers say the fact that the SDK is so intuitive means you do not have to be a smart app development expert to get involved, either.

Kim says, “At first we had a lot of SDK requests from developers without much of a printing background – from people who had created apps for other smart devices. More recently, though, people with more printing experience and less in the way of smart apps are starting to get involved too. In many cases, there are developers who want to create Android versions of existing print apps. The SDK lets them do precisely that.”

Kang agrees that making Android apps with the SDK is a win-win situation for both designers and users alike. He notes, “Android is user-friendly when it comes to making apps, and users also find the platform easy to work with. I also feel that you can develop apps much faster with the SDK than with other tools.”

Expanding Business Horizons

As business printing solutions can be even costlier than print hardware, software experts who develop particularly useful paid apps could stand to earn substantial rewards in what is now very much a nascent software field. Enterprises increasingly need customization solutions – something that app developers can now provide with the Smart UX Center.

Although the mobile and printing app development processes are very similar, understanding the subtle differences between the two could be key for any developer looking to score success with a Smart UX Center app.

“The biggest difference between printing software and mobile apps is that the former often involves developing apps for the business community,” explains Um. “That said, developers can make apps targeted at very different groups of people. Dealers, IT decision makers (ITDM) and end-users all require very different workflow scenarios, so all need very different kinds of app.”

Developing the Future

If likes of Um, Kim and Kang are correct, the future is looking very bright for Android app developers everywhere. And as software professionals look to diversify their activities, consumers and businesses owners are already starting to feel the benefits.

“This has torn up the rule book,” says Kang. “Just like as modern people cannot imagine their lives without their smartphones, enterprises of the future won’t be able to recall how they got by in the days before the Smart UX Center.”

Read more about Samsung Printing Solutions’ activities and latest products at:

http://samsungprintingsolutions.com/

You can also follow Samsung Printing Solutions at:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/samsungprinting

Original article:

http://samsungprintingsolutions.com/2016/08/samsung-software-professionals-smart-ux-center-creating-endless-opportunities-for-developers

This summer, a select group of high school juniors and seniors tackled these very challenges at the fourth annual Samsung Mobile App Academy – a five-day program that took place across the United States at these top-notch universities:

• University of Miami
• Rice University
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• University of California at Berkley
• Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
• University of Maryland

More than 1,100 students applied but only 60 were accepted for each of the six Academy sites where participants learned how to conceptualize, build and market apps that addressed a specific issue in one of four categories: health, education, environment, and community investment/sustainability. With the expansion of the program from three to five days, this year’s participants were challenged like never before – to create a fully functioning app from concept to completion.

That’s a huge accomplishment considering it can take weeks or even months to develop some of the sophisticated apps we use every day.

While many of these blooming app developers are high-performing students, they came to the Academy with varying degrees of coding expertise. But no matter their background, the program was carefully designed so that everyone had a valuable experience. So valuable that some students traveled as many as 120 miles round-trip, every day, for five days to attend the Academy during their summer vacation.

“I never felt left behind even though I had no previous experience with coding,” said Nicole, a 12^th grade student from New Jersey who had a change of heart regarding technology after her Mobile App Academy experience. “Majors that involve a lot of technology don’t seem uninteresting anymore.”

Aside from the technical and social aspects of the camp, building an app that addressed an issue with personal relevance to the students created another layer of satisfaction. Topics ranged from depression – a medical condition that people battle on a daily basis, to providing care for an elderly loved one with limited financial means, to water conservation as Californians battle one of the longest droughts in recent history. Through the Mobile App Academy, students were able to express what they find meaningful and leverage that to help improve the world using technology.

“The most valuable thing that I learned is my app can impact society and I have the power to change it through coding,” said Robin, a 12^th grade student from California. “I have been influenced to follow a computer science career.”

In February 2016, Samsung will award five Mobile App Academy winners up to $20,000 in scholarships for their mobile apps. With so many inventive and thoughtful ideas, narrowing it down to five won’t be easy, but the goal is for every student who attended this year’s Academy already feels like a winner for what they accomplished in just five short days.

As the world’s largest global technology company, we see it as our responsibility to foster students’ interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects along with instilling a sense of responsibility to use their talents to better the world. Mobile App Academy is just one of the many programs where we use Samsung technology to teach relatable STEM skills that can be applied to future careers. As software continues to play a critical role in our daily lives, any one of these young minds could create the next breakthrough in app development.

To learn more about the Samsung Mobile App Academy, please visit www.scholastic.com/samsungacademy/index.aspx.