SDC’s most diverse lineup of sessions and activities yet offered an SDC-record 6,000 developers, partners, business leaders and content creators a roadmap for innovating in the “Intelligence of Things” era. By spotlighting a “connected thinking” approach to innovation, and introducing exciting updates to its IoT, artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) technologies, Samsung hopes to arm developers with the tools and insights they need to help usher in a new phase of connectivity.

In case you missed it, here’s a rundown of five key factors that made this year’s SDC the best yet.

1. Inspiring Words

Day one of SDC 2017 kicked off with keynote speeches from Samsung and tech industry leaders, who began by revealing the company’s new, unified IoT platform: SmartThings.

The speakers outlined how the cloud-based platform, which combines three existing IoT services – SmartThings, Samsung Connect, and ARTIK – will offer seamless controls over IoT-enabled products and services, and serve as the foundation for one of the world’s largest IoT ecosystems. By providing access to one cloud API across SmartThings-compatible products, Samsung explained, SmartThings will ultimately allow developers to build connected solutions that reach more people.

Other highlights of day one’s keynote event included Samsung’s announcements of its plans to incorporate Bixby support into more Samsung and IoT devices; release Bixby 2.0 – an update for the intelligent assistant that’s more ubiquitous, open and personal; and advance its leadership in the field of AR through a partnership with Google.

Day two’s keynote speakers included Stan Lee, the chief creative force behind Marvel Comics, and Ariana Huffington, the founder and CEO of Thrive Global. Sharing their insights on topics including the creative process, innovation and “connected thinking”, the distinguished speakers inspired attendees to go further, break boundaries, connect people, and solve bigger problems.

2. A Full Slate of Diverse Sessions

SDC 2017’s sessions and activities focused largely on Samsung services and devices, intelligent technology trends, and exciting business opportunities. They also offered attendees a chance to listen to valuable insights from tech leaders on topics including AR, VR and game development, and on innovating with Samsung’s unified IoT platform.

The formats for the sessions, which numbered 49 in total, spanned everything from informative lectures, panels and speeches, to fun and engaging “Ask Me Anything” discussions. The sessions slate not only offered professional developers a wide array of enriching activities, but kids as well.

For SDC 2017, Samsung invited students from around the world to participate in an array of fun activities. Programs included the Samsung Kids Experience, which featured fun and immersive tablet-powered lessons, and Youth Track, which invited aspiring developers and creators from local high schools to take part in a special Gear 360 workshop.

3. An Up-Close Look at Dynamic Developer Tools

SDC 2017 also offered developers the chance to examine software development kits (SDKs) for various Samsung apps and tools, and test out a wide array of the company’s latest offerings. These not only encompassed Samsung’s Galaxy Apps ecosystem, mobile tools, and services such as Samsung Pay, Samsung DeX and Samsung Knox, but also devices like its IoT-connected Family Hub refrigerators, Smart TVs, the Galaxy Note8, and the Gear VR headset.

Visitors to the Bixby section of the booth were able to experience the intelligent interface’s convenient functions through firsthand demos. On the other end of the exhibition floor was the SmartThings Developer Zone, which presented developer tools for the new, integrated IoT platform, and featured showcases for Samsung’s SmartThings partners and the ARTIK IoT chipset.

The SDK Bar offered info on the complete range of Samsung SDKs and APIs that were being showcased at the event, and directed attendees toward their corresponding sessions. The stream.Code101 section, meanwhile, allowed attendees to learn, via hands-on tutorials, how to develop apps and immersive experiences for products including the Gear VR, the Gear 360, Samsung Pay and Samsung Pass.

4. Inspirational Citizenship Initiatives

Along with showcasing Samsung’s newest intelligent technologies, SDC 2017 spotlighted several Samsung initiatives designed to inspire developers to dream up fresh innovations, and help communities across the globe. The hands-on exhibits for Samsung’s citizenship efforts showcased innovative ways that Samsung technologies are being used to create solutions that target healthcare, education, and important social issues.

This year’s SDC featured several attention-grabbing examples from partners around the world that utilized the Gear VR. These included the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport’s #ByeByeBullying” campaign; a variety of health solutions developed by Nordic innovators; Limbic Life’s Limbic Chair VR, which has been used for stroke rehabilitation in Switzerland; and C-Lab’s Relumino, a Gear VR app that helps the visually impaired see the world more clearly. In addition, the exhibit’s Galaxy Upcycling section highlighted ways that Samsung products at the end of their life cycles may be used to create dynamic innovations.

5. The Most Fun and Immersive SDC Yet

SDC 2017 was jam-packed with fun and interactive activities that offered attendees an opportunity to relax, let loose, and enjoy immersive VR and live entertainment.

The conference featured a wide range of can’t-miss competitions that allowed coders, gamers, and entrepreneurs to test their skills to win bragging rights and gear. Contests included “SDC’s Got Code Talent”, an experts-only coding challenge with a Galaxy Note8 up for grabs, as well as the Soundcamp SDC Challenge, which saw contestants compose a signature song with the help of a real DJ in a quest to create SDC 2017’s top track.

In addition, the booth’s SDC Lounge included an LED “Google Play Music Wall” that visualized Google Play Music’s ability to recommend the right song for any moment. Speaking of music, the SDC Lounge also served as the stage for musician Daler Mehndi’s exclusive unveiling of India’s first VR music video. And of course, the lounge’s dedicated VRcade offered attendees more opportunities to enjoy immersive VR.

Day one of the conference closed with Samsung Celebration, an exclusive concert headlined by critically acclaimed indie artists Banks and Bonobo, while day two ended with a night of immersive content, networking, demonstrations, and can’t-miss experiences centered around VR.

And thus concludes another successful Samsung Developer Conference. For more info on the topics and innovations that were discussed at the event, check out Samsung Newsroom’s recap of SDC 2017’s keynote speeches.

Samsung has a long history as a leading pioneer in developing innovative technology that delivers incredible experiences and immerses users in amazing new realities. By combining our expertise in hardware design and engineering with the incredible advancements of our software, we are driving the digital future and creating previously unimagined opportunities for our developers and consumers alike.

The way we experience the world around us has changed drastically over the course of just a few short years. The rise of mobile technology means we are no longer confined to our physical world. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have added new layers of entertainment, information and education to our lives in ways that we have never experienced before.

And yet, it is still early days. At Samsung, we believe the democratization of this technology will foster a creative environment for developers to create amazing new applications and experiences. As these technologies move to the mainstream, it’s up to the industry leaders to adopt a collaborative and open approach to help AR and VR flourish.

Expanding our Worlds

Samsung introduced Gear VR nearly three years ago. Today, its rapidly expanding ecosystem features more than 1,000 apps, 10,000 high-quality videos through the premium 360-degree immersive Samsung VR service and noteworthy collaborations with top content creators and media brands. As a leader in virtual reality entertainment and devices, Samsung is already at the helm of building the technology for a next-level VR experience, changing how people use their smartphones and experience the world around them.

As the appetite for VR contents continues to grow, so has Samsung’s spirit of innovation. At SDC 2017 we showcased our latest VR solutions to help educate developers on the possibilities that exist when building within Samsung’s VR ecosystem. Samsung has developed a range of leading VR services including:

• Samsung VR, a premium video service offering the best in 360 immersive content taking you anywhere from the cockpit of an airplane, to the depths of the ocean or the far reaches of the universe with your Galaxy phone and a Gear VR.
• Samsung Internet VR, a Gear VR-optimized browser that allows users to surf the web and enjoy videos and photos on a large, virtual screen creating an immersive experience as if users were at the theater.
• Samsung PhoneCast VR, a first-of-its-kind application that translates 2D apps into 3D VR through mirroring for improved VR playtime providing an entirely new mobile experience.
• VRB Foto, a fun and social 360 photo sharing solution developed as part of Mobile Platform and Solutions lab of Samsung Research America, which allows users to create and share fun effects on top of 360 photos shot using cameras like Gear 360.
• Black River Studios, a division of Samsung R&D Institute of Amazonia (SIDIA) in Brazil, produces titles for Gear VR and Galaxy devices including Angest, Rock & Rails, and Finding Monsters perfectly suited for the upcoming HMD Odyssey.
• Samsung Gear VR Framework, an open source VR rendering engine with a Java interface for developing mobile VR apps offering a simple and familiar SDK for traditional Android developers without having to know multiple underlying VR SDKs.

Developers can pair these services with leading hardware like the Gear 360, as well as the recently released 360 Round – a new camera featuring 17 lenses able to capture a fully horizontal 360-degree sphere for developing and streaming high-quality 3D content for VR. Additionally, the new Samsung Gear 360 SDK now allows developers to build experiences that control Gear 360 cameras directly from an app while new software updates simplify how photos are shared with Samsung cloud integration. With these world-class hardware and software combinations, developers can create new digital environments that challenge our thinking of what’s possible while driving excitement and ultimately adoption of these new technologies.

As these technologies advance, we at Samsung believe that it’s important for the industry to provide greater access to this rapidly expanding market through an open approach to partnerships and close collaborations that drive valuable experiences for consumers. Our recent partnerships with top content creators like The New York Times gives our customers access to professional VR content while integrations with Microsoft have led to new innovations like the HMD Odyssey headset, considered the most immersive Windows mixed reality headset available. With dual 3.5-inch AMOLED displays, 110-degree field of view, and 360-degree Spatial Sound, the Samsung HMD Odyssey promises a journey to a world of games, videos, and socializing that knows no limits.

Delivering the Promise of AR

Samsung is known for creating technology that breaks the boundaries of what’s currently possible. Augmented reality has introduced a new experience by bridging our digital and physical worlds. During the Samsung Developer Conference (SDC 2017), we shared our vision for the rapidly evolving AR landscape through our partnership with Google to extend the ARCore platform to more Galaxy devices (S8, S8+ and Note8) bringing the best AR experiences to our users. While this is driven by the strengths of our mobile devices, we believe the future of AR will extend beyond the smartphone as we apply advances in machine learning and computer vision to move from recording the world to understanding it.

Consider our Galaxy series, which has redefined standards for mobile cameras with dual-pixel sensors and advanced optics. By adding machine learning and computer vision to the equation, we have transformed the camera into a means of comprehending and contextualizing the world quickly and accurately recognizing the people, places and things in front of them.

That’s where Bixby Vision comes in. We introduced Bixby Vision earlier this year, further expanding our AR capabilities. Bixby Vision offers a new way to understand the world, seamlessly integrated into your smartphone camera. It provides a better understanding of the world through objects, scenes and text. Using the camera app and photo gallery, Bixby Vision uses a hybrid deep learning system that allows it to run on both the device and in the cloud, so it can better identify objects and provide new ways of understanding and engaging with the world around you.

As Samsung continues to build innovative applications and expand the AR capabilities of our devices, we envision a future in which digital experiences like AR break through to wide consumer adoption, providing users with a powerful new experience in their daily lives. Imagine the possibilities beyond gaming and entertainment. Municipalities can install digital signposts which overlay directions for visiting tourists. Businesses have the potential to train new employees on safety procedures for new machines and equipment with virtual guides. The opportunities are endless.

Growing the Ecosystem

While today we experience AR on our phones, at Samsung, we believe that tomorrow, this will go beyond smartphones. To ensure such innovations continue to drive the growth of VR and add to the rapid advancements in AR, Samsung is committed to growing its community of developers and collaborators to expand the presence of new reality experiences in our daily lives. By doing so, we will not only open new business opportunities for our partners, but also provide greater access for all to a rapidly expanding market. Through this extensive ecosystem, we envision a future that creates a seamless transition between the world as we know it, to the new worlds and experiences of the new digital reality.

* Bixby vision is currently available on the Galaxy S8, S8+, and Note8. 

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today introduced its integrated Secure Element (SE) solution for Internet of Things (IoT) applications that offers a turn-key service for both hardware and software needs.

As the benefits of IoT devices grow, so does the importance of security throughout the network that spans from cloud, servers and hubs to the individual connected devices. With both hardware and software support for the security requirements in today’s IoT devices, Samsung’s SE solution will help chip manufacturers to easily employ reliable security features, and bring innovative products and services to market faster.

At the hardware level, Samsung’s SE will stop and reset itself the moment it detects abnormal activity, thus protecting the sensitive data stored within the security IC (integrated circuit). The SE adopts embedded flash (eFlash) for the first time in the industry at the 45-nanometer (nm) process node, which brings faster data processing and more flexible software modifications compared to traditional EEPROMs (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory).

Samsung’s dedicated software for the SE supports various tasks such as personal verification, security key storage, and encoding and decoding. This software also allows key and authentication information to be safely transferred between devices, servers and clouds.

“Securing personal information stored on electronic devices and in the cloud is a top priority,” said Ben K. Hur, Vice President of System LSI marketing at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung’s Secure Element solution is another demonstration of our advanced security technology that has been proven through mobile application processors (AP), smart card ICs and other semiconductor products. We believe that applications for Samsung’s SE solution will continue to diversify along with the vastly expanding IoT industry.”

The SE and developer board are on display at the Samsung Developer Conference on October 18 and 19, 2017, in San Francisco, USA.

Samsung Electronics is launching the Samsung Connect Tag – a new way to keep track of the loved ones, valuables and all the matters in life. The Samsung Connect Tag is the world’s first consumer mobile product to use narrowband network technology (NB-IoT, Cat.M1), a specially designed cellular communication standard for small data utilization, low power consumption and the ability to securely connect to the internet for optimal location services. The Samsung Connect Tag offers smart location notifications based on a NB-IoT or Cat.M1 network, leveraging full internet services to identify location information for increased family security and peace of mind.

The Samsung Connect Tag will work with GPS, Wi-Fi-based positioning (WPS) and Cell ID, so it can receive accurate location information both indoors and outdoors for effortless location tracking. It can be attached to a young child’s backpack so his or her whereabouts can be tracked, clipped to a dog’s collar so it won’t go missing, and secured the keys so they are never lost. These tracking and notification abilities will minimize anxiety about the user’s favorite items or loved ones, offering an exciting way to use technology for increased family security and an enhanced lifestyle.

Furthering Samsung’s commitment to a seamless IoT experience across devices, the Samsung Connect Tag will be tied to the SmartThings ecosystem, working in conjunction with the user’s smart home appliances through Works with SmartThings. The geo-fence feature on the Samsung Connect Tag will notify the user’s chosen smart devices when he or she approaches – so if the user wants lights and TV to turn on while getting home from a nightly run, the Samsung Connect Tag can trigger these products as the user enters the pre-define zone, so the user will get a notification when the child enters the schoolyard or a dog jumps the backyard fence.

The Samsung Connect Tag also offers several key features to minimize anxiety and increase usability. If the user loses car in a large outdoor parking lot, the on-demand function will allow requesting any Connect Tag’s location when desired, simply by pressing a button on the smartphone.

The Send my location function will send their current location to their guardian, so even a young child can let you know exactly where he or she is and can go pick him/her up safely. Additionally, periodic location notifications will show a trace the loved ones location record.

Connect Tag features a compact size, measuring just 4.21 centimeters wide and 1.19 centimeters thick, as well as IP68 water and dustproof rating for durability. The battery can last for up to seven days on a single charge, minimizing the need to constantly swap out or plug in the device. Connect Tag comes with an exclusive ring that easily attaches to bags, collars or key rings.

Connect Tag will be showcased at the Samsung Developer Conference 2017 on October 18-19 at Moscone Center in San Francisco, California, United States. It will be available for purchase starting in Korea before expanding to select countries in the coming months.

*All functionality, features, specifications and other product information provided in this document including, but not limited to, the benefits, design, pricing, components, performance, availability, and capabilities of the product are subject to change without notice or obligation.

Samsung Connect Tag Specifications

Samsung Electronics released its keynote speaker and program schedule for Samsung Developer Conference (SDC), the arena that brings together some of the world’s most prominent innovators, entrepreneurs, artists and storytellers that are shaping the future of connected thinking and technology.

SDC 2017 will feature a special keynote from DJ Koh, President of Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics, who will unveil Samsung’s vision to connect all devices and services in an intuitive way and discuss a new initiative to create a seamless cloud experience for users. Additional notable keynote speakers include Samsung Electronics Executive Vice Presidents Injong Rhee, Head of R&D, Software & Services of Mobile Communications Business and Eui Suk Chung, Head of Service Intelligence of Mobile Communications Business.

Special guest participants will include Stan Lee, world renowned former editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. Rain Paris, musician and YouTube star, will join Lee to lead a discussion of how connected thinking motivates creativity and disruption in a session called “Marvel, Movies and Music.” Arianna Huffington, Thrive Global founder and CEO, will join Marc Mathieu, CMO of Samsung Electronics America, in a keynote conversation on Samsung and Thrive’s shared philosophy on the use of technology to create social good. Additionally, SDC 2017 will feature a Creators Track, with talks from some of the most innovative and creative minds at the intersection of intelligent technology and design.

“At Samsung, the concept of connected thinking is at the heart of everything we do,” said DJ Koh. “Developers and partners are the backbone of Samsung experience and their work continues to enable us to drive innovation. That is why I am thrilled to be a part of this event and unveil some exciting news with this community at SDC 2017.”

“I am truly thrilled to have been asked by Samsung to keynote at their annual conference,” said Stan Lee. “Samsung has a long history of creating technology that helps push the limits of human creativity and as they continue to innovate, we’ll have greater opportunities to deliver our creative visions for the enjoyment of others.”

At SDC 2017, attendees can expect to learn about Samsung’s new initiative in creating a seamless cloud experience, which is part of its broader efforts to provide an easy and consistent user experience across devices. Samsung will also showcase its commitment to an open ecosystem of partners in areas including IoT and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Attendees will also have the opportunity to help build the next generation of services by learning about myriad topics including enterprise, games & entertainment, health, intelligence, IoT, mobile, payment, security, smart TV, virtual reality and wearables through technical talks, hands-on experiences and thought leader panels.

This year’s event will also feature activities such as stream.Code101, an in-depth and hands-on instruction for developers around emerging services such as VR, Samsung DeX and SmartThings, as well as Open Theater, an open stage for events and presentations such as startup pitch idea presentations, an Ask-Me-Anything session with Stan Lee and more.

SDC 2017 is a two-day event for leaders to network and learn about the next wave of intelligent technology. You can learn more about the SDC 2017 speakers here, and the full agenda here.

Register for SDC 2017

To sign-up for this year’s conference, visit https://www.sdc2017.com and register for your place today. Additional information can be found on Twitter (@samsung_dev) and at the hashtag, #SDC2017.