Samsung Brings Flagship Innovation to More People with the New Galaxy A57 and A37

Hi Guys, 

Samsung is bringing intelligent innovation and premium mobile experiences to more users with the recently launched Galaxy A57 5G and Galaxy A37 5G. As smartphones become increasingly central to how people create, connect, work and play, Samsung continues to make meaningful innovation more accessible, delivering powerful performance and advanced camera experiences. Samsung is continuing its mission to democratise innovation by bringing some of the most-loved Galaxy S series experiences to more people.

The new Galaxy A series devices are designed for people who want smarter, more intuitive mobile experiences without stepping into ultra-premium price territory. Whether it is managing busy schedules, creating social content, staying organised, or protecting personal memories, the Galaxy A57 and A37 make advanced mobile technology feel accessible, useful, and seamlessly woven into everyday life.

At the heart of this shift is Samsung’s approach to making flagship features part of the mainstream smartphone experience.

Imagine sitting in a lecture, a brainstorming session, or a family meeting where ideas are flying across the room faster than fingers can type. With Voice Transcription, users can record conversations and convert speech into text in real time, helping students capture notes effortlessly, young professionals keep track of meetings, or content creators quickly turn ideas into captions and scripts. It transforms the smartphone into a practical productivity companion that works quietly in the background while life moves at full speed.

Photography and content creation have also become more intuitive with Object Eraser[1]. Everyday moments are rarely picture-perfect on the first try. A stranger photobombing an exquisite sunset photo, an unwanted sign in a travel snap, or clutter distracting from a carefully styled outfit can all be removed with a few taps. What once required advanced editing apps or desktop software can now happen directly on-device, giving users the freedom to create cleaner, more polished content instantly.

Then there is Circle to Search[2] with Google, a feature that feels almost futuristic in its simplicity. Users can simply circle an object, phrase, or image on their screen to instantly learn more about it without switching between apps. Spot a pair of sneakers you like on social media? Circle them to search. Watching a recipe video and curious about an ingredient? Circle it. It reduces the space between curiosity and discovery, making information feel more immediate and naturally integrated into how people already use their phones.

Samsung has also introduced upgraded Bixby[3] into the Galaxy A series experience, creating a more conversational and intelligent way to interact with your device. Instead of navigating endless menus, users can simply ask Bixby to set reminders, search for photos, manage schedules, or help control connected devices. In busy households, during commutes, or while multitasking through a packed day, it becomes a digital assistant that simplifies small but meaningful daily interactions.

Privacy, too, is becoming increasingly important in a world where smartphones carry deeply personal memories and sensitive information. Private Album offers users an added layer of security for photos and videos they want to keep separate from their main gallery. Whether it is important documents, family moments, creative projects, or personal memories, users have more control over what stays visible and what stays private.

What makes the Galaxy A57 and A37 particularly significant is not just the inclusion of these features, but what they represent. Samsung is narrowing the gap between flagship and mid-range experiences, ensuring that more users can enjoy intelligent, AI-powered mobile technology regardless of budget.

For many consumers, smartphones are now long-term lifestyle investments. People want devices that can keep pace with work, entertainment, creativity, and communication without compromise. By introducing premium-inspired functionality into the Galaxy A series, Samsung is reshaping expectations around what accessible smartphones should be capable of delivering.

The result is a mobile experience that feels smarter, more personal, and more empowering. One where innovation is no longer reserved for a select few, but designed to fit naturally into the lives of everyday users across South Africa.

[1] Results may vary depending on shooting conditions including multiple subjects, being out of focus or moving subjects.

[2] Circle to Search is a trademark of Google LLC. Results for illustrative purposes only. Available on select devices and internet connection required. Works on compatible apps and surfaces. Result may vary depending on visual matches. Check responses for accuracy.

[3] Bixby service availability requires Samsung Account login and data connection. Available functions and features may vary by country, region and language. Bixby only recognises certain accents and dialects of English (UK), English (US), English (India), French (France), German (Germany), Italian (Italy), Japanese (Japan), Korean (South Korea), Mandarin Chinese (China), Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish (Spain) and Spanish (Latin America). Other supported languages may be added in the future. Not all accents, dialects and expressions may be recognised, and actual performance may vary depending on pronunciation, voice level and the surrounding environment. Use of Bixby may be limited in certain situations such as when recording media (Video/Game/Voice), during calls, Maximum Power Saving mode, Emergency mode and Samsung Kids. Service availability may vary by country/service provider/language/device model/OS version. Bixby controls selected apps, other apps to be supported. To control SmartThings enabled devices with Bixby, first connect the devices to the SmartThings app. For more information, visit the SmartThings website (www.samsung.com/smartthings).

Listen to audiobooks - https://www.amazon.in/dp/B077S5CVBQ/?ref=assoc_tag_sept19?actioncode=AINOTH066082819002X&tag=thelifesway0f-21

Subscribe: YouTube Membership

The Life's Way Blog

Support on Patreon

All Social Links

Aum Namah Shivay!

Your Lifestyle and Technology Blog for the Last 13 Years

One UI 5 Gets Personal: Bringing You More Ways to Create Your Own Mobile Experiences @SamsungMobileSA

Hi Guys, 

In today’s world, our smartphones have become indispensable. They may be small, but they are capable of holding our entire world within them. This is why Samsung Electronics initially developed One UI in order to better connect innovative hardware with intuitive and easy-to-use software that gives people greater control over their mobile devices.

In the upcoming weeks, Samsung is excited to be bringing their latest One UI offering, One UI 5, to the millions of Galaxy users around the world with new features that offer everyone the freedom to choose their own mobile experience.

Here’s what to expect from One UI 5;

Use Your Phone Your Way

One UI 5 represents Samsung’s most personalised mobile experience yet, designed to give people greater options for tailoring their devices exactly how they’d like – and this begins with communication.

The new Bixby Text Call1 feature allows users to communicate in the manner that is most convenient to them. With Bixby Text Call, you can answer phone calls simply by typing a message. Samsung’s intelligent platform Bixby converts the text to audio and shares it directly with the caller on the line on your behalf, and shows you what the caller is saying by converting their voice to text. This feature is perfect for those moments when you need to communicate but can’t or can’t necessarily be heard, such as when in a library or at a noisy concert. With this feature, you can take your calls in any environment without being disruptive or missing a beat.

Match Your Phone to Your Lifestyle

What you need from your device can change throughout the day. The features you utilise for your morning routine to get you up and action might not be the same as what keeps you focused during the working day. With the Routines, you can trigger a sequence of actions on your device based on your activities, and with One UI 5’s Modes, you can create customised settings for different parts of your life from sleeping and relaxing to exercising and driving.

For example, while you’re exercising, your priority might be to mute notifications in order to stay in the zone and play music. Alternatively, when it’s time for bed, turning off sounds and turning on Dark mode can help you wind down.

One UI 5 also offers a fresh, new look and feel that makes the user experience more welcoming and seamless. From bolder, simpler app icons to a streamlined colour scheme, Samsung has paid attention to the intricate details for a more engaging mobile experience.

Samsung also refined the notifications in One UI 5 to be more intuitive, making them effortless to read at a glance as well as offering more defined answer and decline buttons when receiving a call through the redesigned pop-up call display.

Beyond overall design aspects, personalisation and the ability to express oneself is also key part of everyone’s mobile experience. In order to take this to the next level, One UI 5 now supports easy and diverse customisation directly within the lock screen. With just a few taps, you can trim a video to transform your most memorable moments into a moving tribute on your phone. You can make this lock screen feel even more customised by changing the wallpaper, clock style, and notification pop-ups all from one screen.

A Mobile Experience Built Around You

In addition to providing you with options to curate a customised look and feel for your device, One UI 5 also offers new features that help you get things done more efficiently. For example, widgets in One UI 5 come with exciting new options and the ability to keep your Home screen neat and tidy with new Stacked widgets. This new feature lets you drag and drop widgets on top of each other and swipe left or right to quickly and easily scroll through each one, to free up space on your Home screen and use it more efficiently.

In order to help further streamline mobile tasks and activities, One UI 5 also comes with new Smart suggestions for widgets. Based on your usage patterns and the context of your mobile activity, Smart suggestions automatically suggest apps and actions that make the mobile experience even more deeply personalised.

You can easily extract text from images and paste it into a note. Whether it’s quickly capturing event details from a poster you want to send to a friend, or easily saving a phone number from a business card, One UI 5 makes it easier than ever to be productive with smart text extraction.

Furthermore, you can also control all the devices connected to your smartphone in the new Connected devices menu, where you’ll be able to access all features that work with other devices such as Quick Share, Smart View and Samsung DeX. You also now get easy access to the Auto switch Buds menu, which lets you automatically switch your Buds from one device to another for more seamless inter-device operation.

Convenient Security and Peace of Mind

Samsung understands that there is no privacy without security, so in One UI 5, these two settings have been brought together in one clear, easy-to-navigate dashboard, making it easier than ever for you to keep your device protected and your sensitive information private.

This new Security and privacy dashboard has been designed to be as simple as possible to make it quick and easy to understand your device’s status. With one quick glance, you can get a quick overview of your device’s security and find suggestions and warnings depending on the status.

To make sure your private information stays private, One UI 5 also features a new notification on the Share Panel2 that warns you if you’re about to unwittingly share a photo that contains potentially sensitive information such as an image of your credit or debit card, driver’s license, ID or passport.

Built For Galaxy Users, By Galaxy Users

Samsung has worked hard over the last few months to make sure One UI 5 provides our best mobile experience yet, and in order to make sure these changes resonated with real users, Samsung received feedback from the thousands of Galaxy users participating in our One UI Beta program.

The One UI Beta Program ensures that Samsung delivers mobile experiences that truly meet the needs of Galaxy users. Through this program, participants can get early access to the interface and share their feedback to help create the best experience possible. This year saw Samsung open up its Open Beta program for One UI 5 earlier than ever before to ensure everyone had access to the exciting new user interface as soon as possible.

Subsequently, the feedback received during this process has shaped the upcoming One UI 5 experience in more ways than one. From small details, such as smoother gestures for a refined look and feel, to whole features, users informed the development journey. Users noted that the Security Dashboard was a much-valued feature, setting the stage for additional updates that give people greater control over their privacy, and feedback also showed that the new Bixby Text Call feature was seen as incredibly useful for answering calls in challenging environments. As a result, this feature is set to support English early next year.

Stay tuned to learn more about One UI 5 and how you can make your mobile experience exactly the way it should be - uniquely yours.

Disclaimers:

1 Bixby Text Call is now available in Korean with One UI 4.1.1, and an English version is planned for early 2023 via a One UI software update.

2 Enhanced photo share feature is available only when the system language is set in English (US) or Korean. In the case of ID, availability may vary depending on the language.

Samsung proudly supports Busan’s bid for the World Expo 2030 and so do I.

Cheers!!!

Subscribe to my YOUTUBE Channel for product reviews and mystery unboxings. #TheLifesWay. Support me with $3.34 only per month - https://www.patreon.com/TheLifesWay Namaste! https://t.co/gUHjo8DQ7h 

Do You Want To Wake Up to The Voices of Your Fav Celebrities? @SamsungMobileSA #CelebrityAlarm

Hi Friends, 

How would you like to be woken up in the morning by your favourite South African personality? Now you can with the Samsung Galaxy Celebrity Alarm feature. Users of Galaxy devices1 can customise their phone notifications and alarm noises to the voices of selected popular personalities.

This release is inspired by the success of the #CassperNyovestAlarm last year. The Cassper version of the Celebrity Alarm will be available for free on the newly launched Galaxy A30s and Galaxy A31. Samsung sees the Celebrity Alarm as a major appeal to those who also enjoy the Galaxy A series, which offers Samsung’s premium smartphone innovations at an affordable price. Celebrity Alarm, which can be downloaded on all Galaxy ranges1, currently features the voices of Baba Mthethwa, Cathy Mohlahlana, Maps Maponyane, Cassper Nyovest and many more popular personalities and their signature voices – and this number is constantly growing.

The Celebrity Alarm functions not only as a customised alarm clock but also provides notification alerts for various day-to-day scenarios – users can get the day of the week and current time alerts in a celebrity’s voice.

Not only does Celebrity Alarm provide you with a unique way to receive daily alerts, but the stars’ messages also vary depending on the weather, day of the week and the time. For example, if the weather is cold, Cathy Mohlahlana may greet you with “It’s very chilly outside, are you wearing warm clothes?”, and on Fridays, Baba Mthethwa will remind you to get ready for the weekend with

“Hothaaata banna! It’s a shuuuuprapapaaaaa, shuuuuprapapaaaaa…”

The Celebrity Alarm can be downloaded from the Galaxy Store for R9.99 per download – for 3 months*. Once a user’s desired celebrity voice has been downloaded, it will automatically be saved in a device’s alarm sound list – this is then customisable from within the settings of the Clock app. Once a user has set an alarm, they can choose their desired celebrity voice by clicking on ‘Alarm Sound’ → ‘Celebrity Alarm’ → ‘Selected Voice’, or ‘More celebrity alarms” → ‘Galaxy Store’ → ‘Selected Voice’.

1 Celebrity Alarm is supported on the Galaxy A Series, S Series and N Series. To use Celebrity Alarm, update the ‘Clock App’ to the latest version.

*Terms and conditions apply. R9.99 promo offers available until 30 September 2020.

Cheers!!!

Support me if you like reading this blog post by buying me a cup of tea or coffee - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/TheLifesWay Contact at thelifesway@gmail.com to collaborate and promote your services and products. Subscribe to my YOUTUBE Channel for giveaways, product reviews and mystery unboxings. #TheLifesWay #9YearsofTheLifesWay. Namaste!

Walking The Talk: User Experience Trends in #Voice & #Video By Thibault Dousson @Lenovo_Africa #DifferentIsBetter

Hi Friends,

Written by Thibault Dousson, General Manager, Lenovo South Africa & SADC

At the intersection of customer-centric innovation and user experience (UX), we’re also seeing some profoundly interesting trends developing in the global technology UX space, which are changing the way we interact with, and think about, computing.

While pointing, clicking, and typing still have their place, we’ve also cemented tapping and swiping into our collective consciousness in the past few years. Additionally, speaking is now becoming a fixture. Although the voice is not yet a popular interface in South Africa, I think it will soon grow in usage here, as voice and intelligent assistants continue to evolve at an impressive rate.

This makes sense for sheer convenience when you consider that research shows we can type about 40 words per minute, but can only speak about 150 words per minute comfortably. Soon, we won’t just use voice activation in smartphones, speakers, and cars, but far more ubiquitously with laptops, and multiple devices around the home and office.

Moving to multimodal input
In fact, our interaction with smart devices will become more multimodal, moving toward what is most natural for the user or the environment they are in. That means instead of using voice or keyboard and mouse or tapping and swiping in isolated ways – we’ll increasingly use them together in more layered ways (imagine touching the screen while voicing a command). We’re beginning to move in this direction with innovations like far-field mics facilitating voice-enabled intelligent AIs such as Cortana and Alexa in some of our Lenovo laptops because it can be easier to talk to your PC in addition to using a traditional input like the mouse. The layering of visual and audible content, as well as voice and touch, is another example because sometimes it’s just easier to tap the desired result versus saying a command out loud or glancing at the display for data instead of listening.

Overall, the voice is an area that still needs to evolve – and it will. We’re currently in what I call the ‘Wild, Wild West’ of voice. Just consider the multiple voice offerings all jostling for customer attention: Alexa, Cortana, Google Assistant, Siri, Bixby, and so on.

Choices to fit your needs
The unanswered question in the face of these options is chosen. In my view, consumers will not want to be confined to one ecosystem. I believe the longer-term winners in voice will be the companies that make offerings which are interoperable with others – like our latest ThinkPad X1 series and Yoga 730 that are Cortana and Alexa-ready. The point is to empower users to play music, get news, or shop online using just their voices. This reflects a shift that is redefining the PC to something much more than a work-focused or task-based machine; in various form factors, PCs will fit into your suite of home-based consumer products, capable of being your intelligent digital assistant and playing a role in running your home appliances – all via voice.

The evolution of sight + sound
This leads me to a point about a growing user experience trend around the integration of video and voice. Over the next year or so, when customers speak a command, we’ll increasingly see a tailored response applicable to that command. For example, a simple question might be answered solely by your voice assistant. But a more complex request may provide the user with a more rounded response: it could be a graphical visualization or even a video. In line with this direction is our new Lenovo Smart Display with Google Assistant built-in. It’s all about the evolution of sight and sound with the intention of saving a user’s time and making their home life smarter and more convenient by adding context-relevant visuals. Users will be able to begin their morning with the latest weather, traffic situation, and meeting schedules, or relax in the evening by video-calling friends and watching YouTube – once again, just by using their voice.

Changing orientations
We expect to see an increase in both video content and video usage frequency as this trend takes hold. Data suggests that smartphones are held in portrait mode up to 94% of the time – which has been driving the use of portrait video, given that smartphones are the dominant consumption device. As a result, more portrait video is showing up in other form factors such as laptops, tablets, desktops, and now in the Lenovo Smart Display that transitions seamlessly from landscape to portrait mode. And with millions of millennials live streaming and watching hours of videos online each day, we will see better cameras, better displays, more augmented reality (AR) video content, and more evolved AI that does a better job analyzing video to help with better user recommendations.

I’m excited about what these voice and video trends will bring. Expect users to become more willing and savvy as they use voice skills with devices in more sophisticated ways. And expect voice to become more intelligent and useful in AR settings, IoT applications in the smart home and office, and for handling the better cross-device interaction. Interesting times are ahead.

Cheers!!!

Contact me at editor@thelifesway.com to collaborate on paid/sponsored campaigns. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra!

It's Time To #UnboxYourPhone As #GalaxyS8 Launches in #SouthAfrica @SamsungSA

Hi Guys,

The long wait is over, with the new Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ hit local stores on May 5, 2017. The smooth, bezel-less Infinity Display of the new smartphone enables users to see and do more than ever before, while the smooth lines and ergonomic curvature of the device, ensures that the phone looks great and fits comfortably into your hand.

These latest designs are available with either a 5.8-inch or 6.2-inch display and come with an upgraded 8MP F1.7 front camera, complete with smart autofocus. In addition, there is a 12MP F1.7 Dual Pixel rear camera, delivering enhanced multi-frame image processing, for sharper photos, even in low-light environments.

“The phone is also water and dust resistant, making it ideal for South Africans, as we tend to spend a lot of time outdoors. This means users have the freedom to explore, stay connected and capture their adventures,” says Craige Fleischer, Director of Integrated Mobility at Samsung South Africa.

Security is of paramount importance and the Galaxy S8 and S8+ come with enhanced biometric capabilities, including an advanced iris scanner and facial recognition technology, as well as the advanced Samsung KNOX platform. The upgraded specs of the two phones offer both increased performance and efficiency thanks to the industry’s first 10nm processor, Gigabit LTE and Gigabit Wi-Fi compatibility and the first officially designated Mobile HDR Premium screen.

Samsung’s key partnership with Google Play Music will continue with the launch of the Galaxy S8. Users will now have access to special features created specifically for Samsung customers. In order to qualify, purchase a Samsung tablet or smartphone from the 29th of March 2017 and it will come with a free three-month trial of Google Play Music. Consumers will also have double the storage in their Music Locker and can now store up to 100 000 songs, not to mention the free storage space and easy access to all music.

“The launch of the Galaxy S8 is complimented by an expanded ecosystem that features impressive new services and devices, including Bixby, the Galaxy S8’s intelligent new interface; Samsung DeX, which provides a desktop-like experience for the Galaxy S8; intuitive IoT device management via Samsung Connect; expanded healthcare solutions through Samsung Health; and so much more. The Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ are designed to allow users to see and experience more than ever before and to do so safely and securely, while at the same time enabling consumers to project an image of stylish simplicity,” concludes Fleischer.

Customers will be able to obtain their device in a range of rich colour palettes, including Midnight Black, Orchid Gray and Maple Gold. Several more colours are also due to be launched later in the year. The Galaxy S8 will retail at a Recommended Retail Price (RRP) of R15 499 and the Galaxy S8+ with an RRP of R17 499.

Cheers!!!

Support me if you like reading this blog post by buying me a cup of tea or coffee - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/TheLifesWay Contact at thelifesway@gmail.com to collaborate and promote your services and products. Subscribe to my YOUTUBE Channel for giveaways, product reviews and mystery unboxings. #TheLifesWay #9YearsofTheLifesWay. Namaste!