back to article Samsung turns to smart home, wearables chips as mobile declines

Looking for a radical change in culture and product mix is Samsung, which has ridden high on the smartphone boom but is now refocusing its growth efforts on the IoT, chips and displays. The decade of the smartphone will end this year, and growth in sales will fall below 10 per cent for the first time ever, according to …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    At CES, Samsung showed off some of the innovations

    like a camera showing the owner what's inside his fucking fridge.

    Samsung - never stop inventing...

    1. Semtex451
      Coat

      Re: At CES, Samsung showed off some of the innovations

      But they're right about the death of the smart mobe, I received a Samsung strap-on for Xmas.

      My sister gave it to me. I'm not proud but I'm still enjoying it.

      1. Dan 55 Silver badge
        Coffee/keyboard

        Re: At CES, Samsung showed off some of the innovations

        I propose that wearable should be depreciated and strap-on be added to El Reg's nomenclature with immediate effect.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: At CES, Samsung showed off some of the innovations

        "My sister gave it to me. I'm not proud but I'm still enjoying it." - I read that sentence to mean that you are your sister are particularly close - the 'it' referring to the strap-on.

        Some judicious editing of your post may be in order to ensure our more sensitive commentards don't get social services on you.

        1. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

          Re: At CES, Samsung showed off some of the innovations

          A dirty mind is like a never ending party.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Mushroom

    Welcome to your shitty future....

    ...where your £800 oven stops working because they can't be arsed to patch it to the latest version of software and it's no longer compatible with your new fridge.

    IoT - products made by design students / loners with fuck all concept of reality.

    1. Lars Silver badge
      Coat

      Re: Welcome to your shitty future....

      I have exactly the same feeling, lots of rubbish that will stop working within 3 years and is not worth fixing as it will cost less to buy a new one whatever, which is of course the whole point. I will try to stay away from it as long as possible.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Samsung have shown that they can't be trusted in terms of quality, reliability, privacy and customer support. Why on earth would you want more of their rubbish in your house?

  4. SVV

    Yet to see a post ever that's enthusiastic....

    about any Internet-of-Things "innovation" featured here on this site. Should be getting those investing in this pointless stuff and over hyping it a bit worried, as it's usually the technically minded who are the first to embrace useful innovatons enthusiastically.

    And we IT folk know that installing version 1.0 of an IoT door lock is a terrible idea in place of sticking with the traditional physical key. You either face the possibility of it being hacked, or your smartphone gets nicked and the "open automatically without asking for password" option has been foolishy turned on. And if you have to get your phone out and enter a password, then what's the point anyway - it neither saves time nor offers any further increased funtionality or benefits.

    Having to crow about this amazingly new iinnovation the Wearable Processor Unit seems to give the game away. Anyone who buys something that constantly monitors their heart rate, blood pressure, etc is either (a) suffering from a serious condition that probably needs hospital care ot (b) a hypochondriac.

    1. Steven Roper

      Re: Yet to see a post ever that's enthusiastic....

      For me the enthusiasm is dampened more by the dystopian aspects increasingly manifesting behind technology, more than the convenience factors. Every time I see a new invention like an IoT air conditioner, lights or sound system, the first thing that comes to mind isn't something like "Wow, I can tell my aircon to turn on half an hour before I get home," or "I could have my home entertainment system ready to binge-screen Game of Thrones as soon as I put my feet up."

      No, the first thing that comes to my mind when I see a new tech innovation these days is "Who does this thing phone home to? What data does it send them? How and for what purposes is that data profiled and analysed? How much are they going to ransom-rent me per month to continue using it?"

      The insatiable greed of Big Business, and the boundless powerlust of Big Government and Law Enforcement, has completely destroyed in me any desire to embrace any new technology. There once was a time when I would have welcomed all this home automation, personal enhancement and cybernetic advancement. Now it merely makes me feel like I'm being crushed into an ever-shrinking box from which there is ultimately no escape.

      There are those here who call me paranoid. Fair enough, if the kind of dystopia this world is rapidly turning into suits them, good bloody luck to them. But my only wish is to remain in control of my own life, to make my own decisions knowing they are of my own will.

      Not to monitored constantly and narrowly for even the slightest infraction of a raft of unjust laws enacted only to benefit wealthy bankers or pious moralists, and not to be bled dry by the endless machinations of financial vampires determined to find ever more efficient ways to wring another bloody penny out of me.

  5. Archaon

    Hrm

    'Sorry, the 'SamsungCook' app is not supported by Android 7.x (Marshmallow Pasta Bake) and cannot be downloaded to your device. To resolve this please replace your oven with a model which is compatible with SamsungCook version 7.1.pie.'

    The future doesn't look bright...because the fecking oven light is controlled by an unsupported app and you can't turn it on.

  6. spudmasterflex

    Oh Samsung

    With my recent experiences of Samsung, my brand loyalty is over with them.

    Having had several Samsung phones since switching from apple, from the first note series on to the s4,s5 and most recently note edge.

    The glass broke through my own fault on my note edge, I called the repair centre and was greeted with a cost of £200 for the glass only plus labour charge depending on how long it took to fix, this is the walk In service in Wembley btw. I asked on lead time and was greeted with well however long it takes to get the parts in I guess, at which point I hung up and flogged it on eBay.

    Along with the crap firmware rollout on most of their gear, I'm done.

    I'm not an apple hater or a lover but at least the fixed cost they offer is reasonable at £70 all in for a screen repair.

    1. Vic

      Re: Oh Samsung

      I called the repair centre and was greeted with a cost of £200 for the glass only plus labour charge

      Really? That should be about £50 all-in...

      Vic.

    2. Yugguy

      Re: Oh Samsung

      Wileyfox do screen repair cover 10 pounds a year.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "from door locks to security cameras.... managed from a single dashboard on the TV"

    Like many people I just live in a small apartment... So who exactly is this for, bankers in McMansions?

    Why can't Samsung just keep selling large-screen TVs with great pictures that can't spy on you? Not a single store in my area had anything but Smart TVs during Christmas... WTF??? ... Why is the entire electronics industry so completely deaf right now? Their obsession with the internet of shit is akin to governments wanting encryption backdoors and not listening to anyone.. The world is f*cked!

    Please Samsung, sell me a 100 inch dumb TV at yesterdays prices!

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/09/03/samsung_iot_vision_sad_weird_creepy/

    1. Steven Roper

      Re: "from door locks to security cameras.... managed from a single dashboard on the TV"

      I can see emerging in the not too distant future, an underground market based on "after-sales IoT modding." The "modders" will, for a small fee, remove the cameras and microphones and phone-home shit from your "smart" devices in order to keep your home free and under your control.

      Like the console mod-chippers of yesteryear, you'll likely find them in the more disreputable sections of sites like Craigslist and Locanto and/or operating out of fleabag basement rentals in the seedier parts of town...

  8. Yugguy

    Charge less

    I know I sound like a broken record.

    But I have a Wileyfox Swift, just as well made and specced as a Samsung that costs twice the price and it isn't riddled with Samsung bloatware apps that I don't want but can't remove.

    Why would I ever buy high end again?

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like