JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – 20 March 2020 – Growth continues unabated on Samsung Pay, the most widely accepted mobile payment solution in South Africa. Samsung Pay has seen a dramatic uptake in usage reaching the one million transactions mark in August 2019 followed shortly thereafter by the two million transactions milestone in February 2020, clearly indicating its’ growing popularity. The effortlessly simple and secure mobile payment solution has changed the way we pay, with the ability to activate multiple payment cards from our banking partners in one digital wallet. Samsung Pay has partnered with the following major banking institutions including Absa, Standard Bank, FNB, RMB Private Bank, Discovery Bank, Investec and recently Nedbank.

“Samsung Pay has redefined what consumers can expect from a digital wallet,” said Justin Hume, Director: Integrated Mobility at Samsung South Africa. “It has paved the path to mobile payments in the country by providing our customers with a safe and secure service they can use almost anywhere they shop. The impressive growth locally shows that South Africans are joining the other 26 launched countries in proving the value of this intelligent payment solution.”

This secure and simple digital wallet instantly gives Samsung Pay supported Galaxy Phones and Wearables the functionality of bank and loyalty cards, that can be used almost anywhere you can swipe or tap a card. Samsung Knox technology build into your device constantly monitors your phone to keep your information safe. Your card information is encrypted in a separate and secure data vault at all times. Every transaction uses an encrypted digital token for added security, so your actual card number is never used during a transaction. Samsung Pay can be downloaded for free from the Google Play Store or Galaxy Store depending on your Galaxy device. Once you load your bank cards and loyalty cards, paying is always just a quick tap away. It’s convenience on the go.

* Samsung Pay can be used with the following devices: Galaxy Note 10+, Note 10, Note10 Lite, Note 9, Note 8, Galaxy Fold, Galaxy Z Flip, S20 Ultra, S20+, S20, S10+, S10, S10e, S9/S9+, S8/S8+, S7/S7 edge, A71, A51, A9, A80, A8, A70, A7 (2017), A5 (2017), A30s, Galaxy Watch, Galaxy Watch Active 2, Galaxy Watch Active, Gear S3 and Gear Sport Watch.

Choosing the right phone for your daily needs shouldn’t be a difficult choice and Samsung users have a great advantage over any other cell phone users – they’re completely covered by a highly customer-centred service. Life happens and with phones almost constantly in-hand, damage to a device is almost a given, whether from being dropped or some other accident.

Samsung Mobile Care (SMC) is on offer to users of SMC devices (this includes the Galaxy Note 8, S8, S8+, S9 and S9+) who register for the plan on the Samsung Rewards Platform. It offers users two screen replacements within a 24-month period, limited to one repair every 12 months. There’s also a free battery replacement with each screen repair. Once registered with SMC, users won’t have to fill out any forms and will enjoy quick and easy assistance.

Richard Chetty, Africa Services Director for Samsung South Africa, says, “We know that life happens and no matter how careful you are with your phone, screens can break, even though we’ve integrated Super AMOLED glass screen and phones are far more robust now. The SMC service is something we’re offering to customers to ensure they can stay connected and get on with their lives without hassle.”

To register for SMC, customers can download the Samsung Rewards App from the Google Play Store or the Samsung App Store. Once registered, users will be contacted by the sales team who will explain the product and confirm that cover is required. Users must register within 30 days of purchasing their new device.

Enhancing the service offering, Samsung also launched their Mobile Repair Vans, allowing customers to have their devices repaired where they are – whether at home or in the office. All users need to do is log their device concerns with the service centre on 0860 726 7864, where after a service partner will be dispatched to do the repairs, including device set up, wireless connections, software upgrades and registration of new Samsung products. Users who are SMC registered will get this extraordinary service without the nominal service fee.

“There are numerous advantages to being a Samsung customer – from the incredibly convenient Smart Switch offering, where you can seamlessly move data from one device to another, including calendar appointments, photographs and apps – to the premium service packages on offer,” concludes Chetty.

Launched in Johannesburg and Pretoria during December 2017, the service vans are now available in Durban and Cape Town as well. This innovative service applies to the Galaxy S8 and Note 8 devices purchased in South Africa. The process is simple; all customers need to do is call 0860 726 7864.  The call centre will establish the repair type required and dispatch a van from the allocated service centre, which will be located within a specific radius from a customer’s home or office. All it costs is R150.00 for the call out fee. Should additional charges apply, customers will be alerted by the service centre allocated to the call out.

Richard Chetty, Director of Services for Samsung South Africa, says, “This is another innovation which affords Samsung users convenience that fits into their lives and enhances their experience of the brand. Service is a vital part of Samsung’s product offerings and are excited about how the mobile service vans are going to positively impact user’s lives.”

The service includes labour and parts as stipulated by the terms and conditions on the device’s warranty card. Service people will assist with device setup, wireless connections, registration of new Samsung products as well as product training on the device for users.

“Feedback from people who have used the service has been incredibly positive. It’s not easy to fit activities like repairs into your daily schedule, and customers love the fact that we’ve removed the hassle factor for them,” concludes Chetty.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, 25 January, 2018 – With about two weeks to go until the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, Samsung Electronics, Worldwide Olympic Partner in the Wireless Communications Equipment and Computing Equipment category, unveiled the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games Limited Edition. To further extend its Olympic legacy of supporting athletes and the Olympic family, Samsung will provide the exclusive devices, which are a special edition of the Galaxy Note8, as encouragement to do bigger things at the Olympic Winter Games, while also helping maintain real-time connections and capturing and sharing memories with those near and far.

In collaboration with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the PyeongChang Organising Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG), Samsung will deliver over 4,000 devices to all Olympians as well as the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic family, including IOC and POCOG staff allowing them to lean on Samsung mobile technology to enhance their experiences and connect more conveniently. The PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games Limited Edition will include the bold new features of the Galaxy Note8, such as the innovative bezel-less 6.3-inch Infinity Display that fits comfortably in one hand, enhanced S Pen for efficient productivity and Samsung’s best-in-class Dual Camera. Exclusively for the Games, the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games Limited Edition will showcase a shiny white back glass to celebrate the winter theme and gold Olympic rings – inspired by the Olympic Torch – an expression of the Olympic Movement with the union of five continents and unity worldwide.

“Throughout our 20-year legacy as an Olympic partner, Samsung has showcased our support of the Olympic Movement by helping spread the Olympic Spirit and enhance connections through our latest technological innovations and immersive experiences,” said Younghee Lee, CMO and Executive Vice President, Samsung Electronics. “We’re proud to provide the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games Limited Edition to all athletes in an effort to help them to stay connected, capture and share one of the most memorable moments of their lives.”

The PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Games Limited Edition will feature celebratory pre-loaded PyeongChang 2018 themed wallpapers, allowing recipients to stay connected in style through Samsung’s most advanced mobile technology. As an added element, useful apps will be pre-installed to help cultivate the utmost Olympic Games experience.

“Samsung’s commitment to the Olympic Movement has increasingly enabled meaningful connections through innovative mobile technologies over the past 20 years,” said IOC President Thomas Bach. “Samsung’s creation of an Olympic Games Limited Edition device reinforces Samsung and IOC’s shared desire to spread the Olympic spirit. It’s because of dedicated partners like Samsung that we’re in the position to provide unforgettable experiences at the Olympic Games time after time.”

Samsung to Provide Galaxy Note8 to Paralympians

Displaying commitment to the Paralympic Movement, Samsung will provide smartphones to all Paralympians at the Paralympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018. Each Paralympian will receive the Galaxy Note8 along with cases that feature the Paralympic Games logo and be exposed to how breakthrough mobile technologies can help make the digital world more accessible for those with disabilities. Samsung has been a World Paralympic Partner since the Olympic Winter Games Vancouver 2010 and an advocate for the Paralympic Movement striving to inspire the spirit of progress and the human challenge ever since.

About Samsung’s Involvement in the Olympic Games

Samsung began its Olympic Games involvement as a local sponsor of Olympic Games Seoul 1988. Beginning with Olympic Winter Games Nagano 1998, the company extended its commitment to the Olympic Movement as the Worldwide Olympic Partner in the Wireless Communications Equipment category, providing its proprietary wireless communications platform and mobile devices. These innovative mobile technologies provide the Olympic Community, athletes and fans around the world with interactive communications and information services, and Samsung Pay. Samsung hosts various Olympic campaigns to share the excitement of the Olympic Games with people around the world and enable everyone to participate in the Games through its innovative mobile technology. Samsung’s commitment as a Worldwide Olympic Partner continues through PyeongChang 2018, and Tokyo 2020 in the Wireless Communications Equipment and Computing Equipment category.

Today’s technology is advancing faster than most people can decipher logic from hogwash in the previous sentence. With Samsung’s new offering, you don’t need to understand any of the complicated terminology offered up be tech geeks. Bixby is a recently launched, highly intelligent virtual assistant for  smartphones,, which offers a new way to interact with your phone. Its smart interface makes engaging with your device, services and apps more intuitive and seamless. Simply put, Bixby will be there for you at 2 o’clock in the morning when neither of your friends are up for a two and half hour telephone conversation.

Here are ten things you don’t (and need to) know about Bixby.

1. Bixby is gender neutral. Bixby can be modified to speak in either a female or male voice. (Like Ironman you can have your own F.R.I.D.A.Y or Jarvis)
2. Bixby is customisable, meaning you can switch off your phone’s alarm in the morning, have the weather for your city read back to you, and have a recipient of your choosing receive a warm and fuzzy good morning text, simply by using a voice short cut like “good morning Bixby.”
3. Bixby understands the way you actually converse without having to resort to that robotic-speak. It even understands cross-application commands.

For example, you could ask Bixby to “send the picture just taken to Mom,” Bixby will know which photo you are referring to and will text it to your mom.

4. Bixby is no quitter. Even when Bixby does not understand the request, instead of giving up, Bixby will ask for more information to be able to complete a task.
5. With comprehensive functionality, Bixby lets you switch from voice command to touch, vision, text and back to voice. In other words, if you don’t want Bixby talking back to you, you can use the app or touch to perform the same tasks. Should you opt for the voice function, you can have Bixby type out an email by simply by dictating it. Bixby can even read it back to you, and if you feel edits should be done, Bixby can edit it for you.
6. Bixby doesn’t forget. Bixby Voice records all of the questions you ask, along with all the answers that it has delivered in response. You can then look back at something you’ve asked in the past. You can pull up these archives from within the Bixby app.
7. Bixby Vision allows you to translate texts, search for images in the way your camera sees images (similar to Google reverse search) and shop for those items.
8. Bixby pays attention. It learns your daily patterns, speech type and preferences to improve and give you better results.
9. Bixby can handle complicated tasks like opening an app in split-screen view, rotating misaligned photos, reminding you where you parked, playing videos on a nearby TV, and composing emails. It can even gather all the photos you took last week into a new album labelled “Vacation” and share it with your friends.
10. Bixby can perform two-step actions like, “Call an Uber and text the details to my mother” or “Open Instagram and post my most recent photo.”

Already Bixby has over 10 million users world-wide and that number is set to grow exponentially when Samsung integrates Bixby into its other smart appliances like TV’s and web operating fridges.

Whether you have a walkable IoT, a PhD in IT or simply use your device as a mobile office, Bixby is here to make your life easier in the process.

Apps are so much a part of everyday life that many of them are becoming verbs – instead of asking a person to send a message on WhatsApp, its more common to say, ‘WhatsApp me’. When it comes to language skills as well, short messaging has brought about a whole new vernacular to be learned and interpreted (especially by parents of teenagers).

Although managing apps has become almost second nature to most users, it can be challenging at times. Craige Fleischer, Vice President of Integrated Mobility, Samsung SA says, “The Galaxy Note8 has made it far easier to manage your most used-apps by allowing you to open two at a time – and the extra-large screen means you can easily navigate both.”

Using two apps at a time makes for easy multi-tasking. For example, if you’re watching a movie on your phone and simply must find out what other productions the leading lady was in, you can keep the film going while you do an internet search for the actress. You could also take a quick screen shot of an outfit or piece of furniture from the movie and post a pic of it on social media with a hand-written note over the image to find someone to make it for you. Multi-tasking just became a real and viable option.

With all the multi-tasking now possible, the concept of how we use time may need to shift – most people have the perception that time not spent productively is time wasted. But, even if you are spending a month a year using your favourite apps, it may be because you’re having more and better experiences at the same time. Instead of standing in a queue at the bank, you can do your banking while you’re waiting to go into a show or concert. You’ll have done all your banking and other admin by the time you’re ready to video or photograph your experience.

Apps have made the world a different place – allowing you to experience what you want to experience, when you want to, as well as to share your opinions and encounters in real-time while tracking your health, listening to music, leaning a new language or making hand-written notes that’ll save to the cloud. Just about every need you have has been ‘apped’. If you’re up for ‘apping’ your life, make sure you’ve got the optimal device to manage it all with ease.

Household innovations like dishwashers or electric lawnmowers are consistently developing to give people more time. Technology has evolved to enable just about everything to be mobile. But even with time-saving devices and software, there often still doesn’t seem to be enough in a day.

It all goes back to equating time with money – the more you can do in an hour, the more valuable you are. As life becomes ever more frenetic, the lines between work and leisure become more blurred, so it takes more organisation to balance.

Making Time

The world is full of creatively busy people who want to do all they can to achieve their potential, to live a life rich in moments and make the most of their time. These are today’s doers. But they are more than just the busy executive who must keep myriad appointments and pieces of communication in mind.

Take a working mother for example. According to time-use expert Geoffrey Godbey from Penn State University in the US, working mothers with young children are the most time-scarce members of society.

She’s got to juggle up-to-the-minute details of her children’s schedules with her work time-table, as well as manage numerous household responsibilities. She also needs to spend quality time with her children and of course, capture those special moments for posterity.

Then there’s the university student who needs to keep abreast of study schedules and have access to learning material or additional research; but who also wants to create a good study-life balance by maximising social interaction making sure those moments are posted on social media.

Or the architect who needs to draw a concept design on site, taking the raw landscape into account while also checking municipal building regulations and referring to the client’s e-mailed brief.

Busy people who want to do more need tools that can do more.

Go Big and Do More

Samsung have created a smartphone that’s geared towards today’s doers. In fact, it’s more than a smartphone – it’s a superphone.

Celebrating people who don’t just think, but do, the Galaxy Note8 features a bigger screen that allows you to open and use multiple apps. The S-pen makes note-taking quicker and easier. The professional dual camera lets you cash in on your creativity by taking both portrait and landscape shots at the same time, or capturing that perfect moment on film – enriching your story. The super-smart Bixby acts as a personal concierge and helps you to adapt your daily journey to give you time to do more. All that and it can also be connected to a DeX station and monitor for a desktop experience.

“It’s a busy world and being able to get out there and do more with efficiency and creativity is something doers aspire to. The Galaxy Note8 is the perfect tool for people who aren’t afraid to break beyond boundaries and achieve it all,” says Craige Fleischer: Director Integrated Mobility.

Humans strive to make the most of their time and get the best value out of it. Even leisure time needs to be filled with useful activity. Doers know how to get the most out of each day. They know that planning, flexibility, versatility and multi-tasking are the keys to moving beyond thought and into action.