The presentation of Samsung’s new high-end smartphones left very little room for the hardware part. It was indeed better not to blink so as not to miss the technical sheet of the Galaxy S24, S24+ and S24 Ultra. The objective of the Galaxy Unpacked event was above all to demonstrate new software products labeled Galaxy AI. A series of features boosted by artificial intelligence, which we will not fail to test and which will be available free of charge on a reduced number of models.
According to a footnote on the official Samsung website, these could quickly become chargeable. The message, still present on the brand’s Canadian website, specifies that “Galaxy AI features will be provided for free until the end of 2025 on supported Samsung Galaxy devices”
Patrick Chomet, Head of Customer Experience Office at Samsung, actually mentioned during our discussions the possibility of paying for certain AI-related options, in addition to basic functions (instant translation tools, etc.). “Value-added services, for example third parties, may be added [aux fonctions Galaxy IA], for which users will be able to pay. That said, we are not there yet”he cautiously advanced at the end of Unpacked.
Between operating costs and current lawsuits, the monetization of artificial intelligence is becoming a major topic. Microsoft has just offered its subscription offer, which allows the use of generative AI in its Word, Excel and PowerPoint tools. If Samsung followed suit, it would create a new source of revenue for the South Korean giant in a smartphone market that has been in decline for two years.
For the moment, the functions of generative photo editing, instant call translation, or even automatic document synthesis, will be available for free across the entire Galaxy S24 series upon their release on January 31, 2024.