During the event, Samsung highlighted its consumer-centric approach to innovation. In particular, the company showcased how advancements in AI, IoT and security work alongside the breadth of Samsung’s portfolio to create experiences that fit into how people live, ultimately unlocking a new era of connectivity and collaboration.

“We are proud of the pioneering work we are able to do in partnership with the creative developer community,” said DJ Koh, President and CEO of IT & Mobile Communications Division, Samsung Electronics. “As society becomes more closely connected through new tools and devices, we want to make people’s lives easier and smarter – wherever they are.”

Platforms Designed for Connected Experiences

A strong platform of technologies across AI, IoT and security enhances the consumer experience and accelerates the ability of developers to build creative applications. Samsung detailed its plans to strengthen core platform technologies such as Bixby, SmartThings and Samsung Knox.

During the SDC21 keynote, Samsung announced improvements to Bixby, which has become a central part of the user experience for more than 300 million Samsung devices. Bixby now uses on-device AI and deep neural networks to process commands on devices themselves. Thanks to on-device AI, this development makes the service up to 35% faster than before.

For developers, Samsung also announced the Bixby Home Platform, which serves as an intelligent layer between Bixby’s natural language processing and SmartThings. With the platform, voice commands can now be executed more intelligently, taking into account the state and context of various devices.

Samsung made further announcements with regard to SmartThings, including how the platform will be fully integrated with Matter, the newest standard in smart home compatibility. Matter solves developer interoperability challenges and with an expansive list of partners, will be the catalyst that makes smart home connectivity nearly effortless. SmartThings Hub software will also be embedded into the Samsung product portfolio, which includes Samsung Smart TVs and Family Hub refrigerators.

Samsung believes that consumer data and personal privacy is just as important as the experiences they enable. Samsung is committed to providing a seamless consumer experience, and to ensuring that its devices and services are secure from beginning to end. Samsung Knox, the company’s defense-grade security platform, offers built-in protection for more than 100 million Samsung devices. To further secure consumer data, the Samsung Knox Vault comes in a combination of security-specific hardware (a new secure processor and isolated secure memory) and new integrated software that shields the most secure data from the Android OS and applications. During the SDC21 keynote, Samsung highlighted the importance of collaboration and its philosophy of open innovation to improve security and privacy, reiterating its work to continue releasing security analysis tools as open source projects.

Samsung also outlined its Privacy Principles at SDC21, highlighting the three commitments that guide all innovation at the company: Protection, Choice and Transparency. With these principles, consumers, developers and partners are given the information needed to make decisions about how data is managed. The company offers users the option to review and manage their permissions from the privacy setting on their Galaxy devices and Smart TVs and discloses Samsung’s privacy policies through the Privacy Portal. Going forward, Samsung will collaborate with global security experts while continuing to release open source security analysis tools to make its ecosystems more secure.

Tizen Takes Smart TV to New Heights

Based on its ‘Screens Everywhere, Screen for All’ vision, Samsung continues to build on its position as the world leader in TVs by developing new experiences that enhance connectivity, functionality and immersive entertainment. At SDC21, Samsung introduced various ways that Samsung TVs are enabling new experiences, including:

• Video communication based on partnership with Google to allow users to enjoy better video calling on TVs via AI-enabled focus and zoom features.
• Samsung Health on Smart TVs that connects with a webcam to analyze movements and provide real-time feedback during a workout.
• More realistic gaming thanks to HDR10+, with automated settings for low latency and HDR calibration.

For enterprises, Samsung will launch Tizen for Business. This service supports interactive e-boards in schools, kiosks in malls, and even displays in restaurants, airports and subways. With new management portals, businesses can conduct real-time monitoring and control screens remotely, easily applying settings to multiple devices with one simple touch.

With the Tizen TV Platform Licensing, manufacturers who want to introduce a premium TV platform like Tizen can do so quickly with minimal cost. This enables them to use the Tizen TV presence to promote their products in the Smart TV market, and ultimately, help more consumers enjoy Tizen.

Innovating Across the Galaxy Ecosystem

Samsung provides a user experience that meets the needs of all users and devices. And with an expanding range of device types and form factors, developers have a breadth of opportunities to innovate in new ways.

At SDC21, Samsung introduced the new One UI 4, the latest version of its user interface for mobile devices. One UI 4 will provide new levels of customization to enable users to create an experience and a device that is truly theirs. It combines Samsung’s leading privacy and security features with options for users to personalize permissions so that they are always in control of their data when using a Samsung device.

Samsung demonstrated the possibilities of One UI 4 to developers at the event, particularly for foldable devices such as the Galaxy Z Fold3 and Z Flip3. Thanks to One UI 4, users will be able to make use of features such as Flex mode and Multi-Active Window, which enable users to enjoy more intuitive and user-friendly experiences that are unique to the foldable form factor. SDC21 also included a Galaxy Watch session that showcased developer tools to help them build new apps in the new watch app ecosystem.

Samsung invites developers and partners on its journey to bring new and secure experiences to life. For more information about the Samsung Developer Conference 2021, please visit developer.samsung.com.

“In this era of mobility and contact-less interactions, we expect our connected devices, such as smartphones or tablets, to be highly secure so as to protect personal data and enable fintech activities such as mobile banking, stock trading and cryptocurrency transactions,” said Dongho Shin, senior vice president of System LSI marketing at Samsung Electronics. “With the new standalone security element solution (S3FV9RR), Samsung is mounting a powerful deadbolt on smart devices to safeguard private information.”

Samsung’s new security solution is an enhanced turnkey that follows the first-generation solution (S3K250AF) announced in February. The new security solution is a state-of-the-art component that offers higher assurance levels than its predecessor’s CC EAL 5+ with an industry-leading CC EAL 6+ certified-hardware secure element, S3FV9RR, and powerful security software. CC EAL 6+ is utilized in applications that demand the most stringent security requirements in the market such as flagship smartphones, e-passports and hardware wallets for cryptocurrency.

With twice the secure storage capacity, the new security solution also supports hardware-based root of trust (RoT), secure boot and device authentication that brings mobile security to the next level. Especially for service providers, manufacturers and organizations, secure device authentication is enhanced with the RoT when running proprietary applications on a mobile device. As a bootloader initiates, a chain of trust is activated through which each and every firmware with approved keys is sequentially validated. This secure booting process is handled by the RoT, guarding the device against any possible malicious attacks or unauthorized software updates.

As a standalone solution, the new security solution can work independently from the security performance of the device’s main processor. This makes the solution extremely versatile, expanding the security capabilities of mobile devices, IoT applications, and other devices in all performance levels. In addition, manufacturers can be assured that devices produced at an off-site location are not tainted with non-authorized firmware. The solution also meets the hardware security module requirements for cryptographic operations outlined by an upcoming mobile operating system version.

Samsung’s new security solution, S3FV9RR, is expected to be available within the third quarter of this year.

At Samsung, security is a top priority.  We are the first Smart TV manufacturer certified by the International Security Standard Common Criteria (CC) for two consecutive years. Much like a bank uses multiple levels of security (camera, vaults and security guards) to protect your valuables, Samsung Smart TVs feature a “Three Stage Model Security Solution” to provide layers of protection for consumers. The solution works by embedding security features during three different stages involving the platform, application and hardware.

Platform Stage

In the initial Platform security stage, Samsung Smart TVs are designed to encrypt certain data – such as user account and password data – before it is stored. Subsequently, a standardized encryption process is deployed to protect the data when communicating with external servers to help prevent attackers from stealing your data. Also, the Smart TV seeks to detect and block malicious applications and unauthorized files attempting to access the device, helping to preserve stable operational environments for the Smart TV.

To dive into detail, when connecting with a server, Samsung’s Smart TV first looks to verify the authenticity of the certificate transmitted by the server. Then, it creates encryption keys that are used for communication with the server. During exchanges with servers, communicated content is encrypted in order to help protect the confidentiality and integrity of user data from threats of unauthorized access and data modification.

Samsung Smart TV platform is designed to detect and block various attacks that threaten the operational environment of the TV. Utilizing the Platform security technology, stable software operating environments are provided where a variety of Smart TV services can run in a more secure manner – attempting to block certain unauthorized codes from accessing the TV and from attacking vulnerable spots within the platform.

Additionally, Samsung Smart TVs utilize the protected virtual keyboard and number pad, “Secure Keyboard,” in an effort to protect users’ personal information such as credit card numbers and passwords.

Application Stage

Next, at the application stage, Samsung Smart TVs leverage anti-malware engines to help prevent external intruders from attacking your network. This stage is designed to block many phishing sites on the web from accessing devices and detect infections from certain malicious codes.

In specific, Samsung’s Smart TVs use security features on their Web Browser, along with the Smart security feature to safeguard internet-based services on TVs. The Samsung Smart TV Web Browser has a security feature that creates a pop-up alert when the user clicks on certain suspicious web sites. By prompting the user to proceed or reject the pop-up, this can help to prevent personal information from being leaked through covert phishing or malicious web sites.

In an effort to detect and prevent malicious software (malware) from attempting to sneak into the TV system and cause damage, Samsung’s Smart TVs utilize the anti-malware vaccine engine which seeks to prevent harmful codes from running, and monitors the system and analyzes information linked to malicious files. In addition, Network Protection works to obstruct malicious external attacks that could penetrate user’s networks.

To add an even further, dual-layer of protection, Samsung also recently introduced the enhanced security application “McAfee Security for TV” to its Smart TVs which once activated monitors for malicious software.

Hardware Stage

Finally, through the Hardware security stage, Samsung’s Smart TV offers an additional security solution based on chip architecture which is designed to prevent data from being leaked by separating the physical space in the hardware for the core software to operate in. Also, through the process of authentication based on hardware, Samsung Smart TVs are only operated with a Tizen platform. Secure technology, with a strong foundation at the hardware level promotes the stability of the Smart TV platform and applications.

Samsung understands that security and trust are critical to the adoption of Smart TVs and that trust depends on safe and secure connections. The next TV you buy will very likely be a Smart TV, and Three-Stage Model Security Solution is just one way that Samsung is working to safeguard user information and drive the adoption of Smart TVs.