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Galaxy Store: Best App Design and Innovation of 2020 Awards ceremony
Samsung has announced the winners of 2020 Best of Galaxy Store Award to celebrate the collaboration of app designers and developers for the Galaxy Store. The awards recognize content developers for excellence in design, innovation, quality, and performance.
The 22 winners of the third edition of the Award were revealed at the virtual 2020 Best of Galaxy Store Awards ceremony. In addition to recognizing the best apps, games, watch faces, and smartphone themes, Samsung has expanded its awards to include Bixby.
The Galaxy Store received a redesign this year, adding new features to give gamers more ways to discover unique gaming experiences and take unique benefits for Galaxy users.
With a new and efficient layout and a selection of great games and gaming features, the Galaxy Store has become the ultimate mobile destination for both casual and hardcore gamers.
Also Read: Galaxy Store- Everything App your Galaxy device needs, together in one place
The Galaxy Store includes themes and watches faces, allowing users to customize their Samsung devices to suit their mood and express their personality.
Here is a highlight of the winners from 2020 Best of Galaxy Store Awards
Best Themes Collection – butterfly-effected GmbH
Butterfly-effect GmbH smartphone and watch themes with dynamic animation effects and stunning designs take the mobile user experience to the next level. To bring fans closer to their favorite characters, the German digital content provider has partnered with the world’s most popular brands such as Minions, South Park, Hello Kitty, and more.
Download URARITY watch faces from the Galaxy Store here.
Best Watch Face Collection – URARITY Design Studio
Design studio URARITY’s Terra Mechanica theme became an instant hit with Galaxy Watch users when it was released in early 2020. During the development process, the company built a physical watch using all the moving parts to achieve the theme’s ultra-realistic watch faces.
Download URARITY watch faces from the Galaxy Store here.
Best Innovative Made for Samsung – NBA Top Shot for Samsung (Dapper Labs)
NBA Top Shot is a digital platform and game for basketball fans to collect, trade, and own the best moments in league history on Blockchain. To access the game, fans can visit the Samsung Galaxy Store or the NBA Top Shot website.
Once they are logged in, they can instantly access a variety of packages that contain various rare and infrequent top shots. The packs include game-game altering Buzzer Beaters, monster dunks in Throwdowns, and NBA Playoffs plays for fans to collect and own.
Download NBA Top Shot from the Galaxy Store here.
Game of the Year – Fortnite (Epic Games)
Samsung Galaxy device owners can download the hit title from Epic Games, Fortnite, winner of the prestigious 2020 Best of Galaxy Store Award for “Game of the Year.” Users can enjoy super smooth gameplay as they squad up with friends and explore the world of Fortnite.
Download Fortnite from the Galaxy Store here.
Bixby Capsule of the Year – Spotify
The Spotify Capsule enables Bixby to immediately act on voice commands like “Play my Discover Weekly” or “Play pop music,” giving you seamless access to all of your favorite music via Bixby.
Owners of select Samsung Smart TVs, monitors, The Premiere 7 & 9 projectors, or The Freestyle 2nd Gen can stream Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Flight Simulator 2024 and hundreds of other games with Gaming Hub Xbox Game Pass.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Flight Simulator 2024 are two of the most popular games of 2024. Thanks to Samsung Gaming Hub, you don’t need to download any of the Xbox Game Pass titles, no meaning no storage required – just jump in and play.
The company has also built an engaging gameplay experience designed by fans, for fans through The Six, challenging players’ knowledge and providing another way to interact with the world of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
Notably, Samsung’s Gaming Hub is available on a variety of Samsung screens. It includes the AI-powered 2024 TV lineup, monitors, projectors, The Premiere, and The Freestyle 2nd Gen projector, offering instant access to console-free gaming.
Anyone with a Samsung Smart TV will be able to use their remote to jump in and play. This way, Gaming Hub provides a co-branded experience, giving Call of Duty fans another way to engage with the franchise they love.
For starters: The Six offers daily trivia where players can answer a series of six questions in competition with other players around the world. Correct answers with the fastest response time will achieve higher scores.
Samsung could launch the Galaxy ixi-O AI Phone next year. The company has collaborated with LG Uplus to develop a custom smartphone. The device is said to feature Galaxy AI and LG Uplus’s AI call assistant ixi-O.
Sources citing KEDGlobal revealed that Samsung and LG Uplus working together to develop the Galaxy ixi-O AI Phone. It’s a big development in the smartphone industry, while the handset is highly likely to be Korea-limited.
Samsung fans are well aware of the Galaxy AI feature suite. ixi-O is an AI-powered digital assistant developed by Korean carrier LG Uplus. The company plans to enter the smartphone market, featuring its own-developed AI assistant.
The report indicates that Samsung and LG Uplus’ ixi-O AI Phone will launch as early as next year. The development project focuses on crafting a “real AI phone” that goes beyond simply integrating AI assistant services into a smartphone.
ixi-O comes with useful features such as AI call answering, detecting voice phishing in real-time, recording and summarizing phone calls and converting voice conversation into text – all within an on-device environment.
Image: ixi-O AI | LG Uplus Newsroom
Based on specifications, the Galaxy ixi-O AI Phone will be based on a Galaxy phone available globally. The design will match with a global Galaxy smartphone, but the software may be tweaked as per the carrier’s requirements.
A custom Galaxy phone isn’t shocking or impossible in South Korea. Samsung releases Quantum, Buddy, and Jump-branded phones in the market. The company collaborates with Korean carriers to bring these devices to mainland Korea.
The carrier introduced an on-device AI-powered ixi-O assistant earlier this month. LG Uplus will initially target its consumer base for the new AI Phone. However, the AI Assistant may be expanded to a broader audience across Korea.
Samsung could use Gauss2-based Galaxy AI on the Galaxy S25 Ultra. The company’s next-gen Generative AI model is 1.5 to 3x faster than the first-gen Gauss model. The DX division is already using Gauss2 to ramp up internal productivity.
Gauss2 offers improved performance and efficiency in simultaneously handling various data types. In the previous article, we’ve demonstrated its three distinct models that cater to different purposes: Compact, Balanced, and Supreme.
Samsung says the second-gen Gauss model offers equal or superior performance in response generation than leading open-source generative AI models. That said, the Galaxy AI will become faster and smarter with the inclusion of Gauss2.
Thanks to faster processing speed, Gauss2 enables quicker AI response generation. This way, the Galaxy user won’t have to wait much time. The company stated that it will continue to expand the reach of its AI-based services across all product lines.
That said, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is likely to boast Gauss2-based Galaxy AI. This upgrade will result in even faster processing of tasks and execution. Features like composition, image generation, and translation would benefit from Gauss2.
Earlier, we broke the news that Samsung is crafting an advanced AI technology. The Gauss2 press release indicates that the future Galaxy AI iteration could be integrated with knowledge graph technology to offer relevant results.
The Galaxy S24 series also uses Google’s Gemini Nano AI model. The fruitful collaboration offers futuristic capabilities on Galaxy devices. Samsung is rumored to use an enhanced version of Gemini Nano across the Galaxy S25 lineup.
Meanwhile, Samsung’s development may have indulged Gauss2 capabilities on the Galaxy S25 series. Integrated with new processors and optimized software, the company’s AI model would offer faster, reliable, and smarter results.