By William Callahan
The September DACS meeting was truly a unique meeting; for the first time presenters from Best Buy showcased products and services from Samsung. The presenters, Cindy and Chris, provided a substantial amount of in depth information in a friendly and easy to understand manner.
Cindy and Chris started off by explaining the importance and process of backing up a Samsung device. Today, people are tied to their cell phones; we text one another, take countless photos, and use our phone as a media player. Our phones hold a significant amount of our lives that, if lost, could be devastating. Phones, when compared to personal computers, have a much higher risk of system failure; a simple drop from a few feet off the ground is enough to total your smart phone. To combat this issue, Cindy and Chris described two common methods to back up the data on you smart phone.
If a Samsung device supports the use of hot swappable Secure Digital (SD) cards, the user may utilize the Android system to back up specific user data. For example, a user may choose to back up their photos, texts, call log, and contacts. Additionally, the user may utilize other applications, such as Easy Backup & Restore that provide more comprehensive backup solutions to SD cards. By utilizing an SD card backup, the user can restore common data to a compatible Android OS if a system failure occurs with the original smart phone.
The speakers also stressed the importance of using other backup methods such as Cloud storage. Imagine that you decide to only backup your data to an SD card. What if, for example, your smart phone had been dropped in water? Not only would the core components of the phone fail, but the SD card would fail also. This is where the use of Cloud storage comes in handy. Using cloud storage provides the same functionality as SD card backups with the exception that the data is stored in a secure server somewhere around the world. Currently, Samsung is working towards releasing a new application called the Samsung Cloud which will provide backup utilities. However, this application is still under development. As a result, Samsung users must default to a third party application, such as G Cloud Backup, until Samsung releases the Samsung Cloud. Of course backing up to a cloud requires an internet connection. To avoid unnecessary data usage fees, users should back up their system while connected to a wireless access point.
Transfer of existing phone data to a new Samsung device has never been easier. Samsung provides an application called Smart Switch that can pull data from an existing Apple smart phone or android device to your new Samsung phone. This includes your contacts, email address accounts, installed applications, and even the layout of those applications on your screen. Users start by downloading the Smart Switch application to their old device. New Samsung devices come with Smart Switch preinstalled. Once installed, the user connects the two devices with a USB cable or through wireless communication. From this point on, with Smart Switch open on both devices, the user only has to select the data they would like to transfer and start the process. Smart Switch makes transferring to a new Samsung device easy.
Samsung has stepped up the available authentication methods on the Note 7 by providing an Iris scanning capability. This method is said to be even more secure than fingerprint technology. This is due to the fact that fingerprints are left all over the things that we touch, including our phones. Essentially, we are leaving our password everywhere by using fingerprint technology. On the other hand, we do not leave traces of an iris everywhere we go. According to Cindy and Chris, both the new iris scanning camera and the algorithm behind the authentication is advanced enough to detect when a real eye is being shown to the phone. This should stop attackers from employing static images of your iris to unlock your phone. Unlocking your phone with Samsung’s iris scanning is easy and reliable.
Samsung Pay provides payment methods using both Near Field Communication (NFC) and Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST). NFC is a new technology that uses paying at supported terminals within a few inches of your device. The key point with this payment method is that the terminal must support NFC payment, which is not always the case. MST, however, allows the user to pay at almost any terminal that allows them to swipe their card. This technology works by transferring magnetic signals to the card terminal, tricking the card terminal into thinking a card was swiped. As a result, nearly all payment terminals are supported. Cindy noted that even if a cashier tells you beforehand that you cannot pay with your phone, as long as you are able to swipe a card, chances are that Samsung Pay will work.
Samsung provides an exciting new application called SideSync. With Samsung’s SideSync, you can now mirror your Samsung phone’s screen to any nearby Samsung tablet, PC, or Mac. SideSync provides the user with the ability to completely control all functions of their phone including making phone calls, getting notifications, and even controlling the camera! It is important to note the technologies through which you may connect to SideSync, however. Currently, SideSync allows the user to connect to another device over either WiFi or Bluetooth. For WiFi connections, the two devices must be on the same local network. You cannot, for example, connect to your phone at home from a business. Bluetooth, on the other hand, requires that the two devices be within the range limits of Bluetooth itself. Of course the connection range and reliability are dependent on interference from other devices and obstacles such as walls.
Cindy and Chris showcased a wide variety of products and services that Samsung provides. Much of the information Cindy and Chris presented is in no way well known by all Samsung users. Even I, a Samsung customer for over four years, was amazed to learn about many of the capabilities that my own devices have, which I have never utilized. Many thanks to Chris and Cindy for their wonderful presentation on Samsung devices.