Samsung is closely following in Apple’s footsteps

Sep 1, 2015 12:21 GMT  ·  By

Back at WWDC this summer, Apple introduced a Flipboard-like news curating app called Apple News. The application includes articles specifically built for it, but can also pull content from everywhere else on the Internet. Well, as it turns out, if Apple is doing it, Samsung wants to do it too.

This week, Samsung has announced a partnership with Axel Springer, a well-known publisher of European newspapers like Die Welt, Bild and Fakt. Together, the two will be developing a novel news platform called “UPDAY.”

The applications is aimed exclusively at Samsung Galaxy devices and we have to assume that future high-end as well as low-end devices will be bundled with the new service. Apparently, the development of the app is quite far along, so the beta version is expected to land in the Google Play Store this Thursday.

UPDAY will launch in beta soon

UPDAY is being described as an “aggregated news content platform” with stories being selected both algorithmically and by a team of news editors. What’s not clear is how much exclusive content Axel Springer will produce for the Samsung Galaxy devices.

Since Axel Springer is a very popular news entity in countries like Poland and Germany, this is where we’re going to see the app go live in the beginning. Later on, the service will be offered to an extended number of European markets.

If the app proves to be successful, Samsung might want to consider launching it for other Android devices out there, but at this point, it’s still too early to tell.

“Over the past few years, there have been many occasions in which Axel Springer and Samsung, one of the world’s most innovative consumer electronics companies, have exchanged views on the fantastic technological opportunities for journalism in the digital age. These discussions have now resulted in this exciting strategic partnership. It is a privilege to be collaborating with Samsung to bring creative new services to the market in 2016 and beyond,” Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer, declared.

The statement implies that UPDAY is not going to be the only product produced by the collaboration between Axel Springer and Samsung. So we might be in for other curated news services in the upcoming future.