14 DAY TRIAL // Yesterday, Samsung introduced its next-gen Galaxy Note 5 phablet during a big event in New York. And running on these new devices is an improved TouchWiz interface that brings to the table a host of new features and upgrades.
So if you missed the scoop yesterday, we’re going to take the opportunity and detail all the new feats for you in what follows below.
S Pen
The S Pen is the main reason customers keep coming back to the Galaxy Note series, so naturally, Samsung continues to add new features each year to keep users hooked.
This year, Samsung has made the smart stylus look even more like an actual pen, but the company has also tweaked things in the software department. For instance, the Air Command menu that automatically pops up when you take the stylus out will now constantly float on top of the screen.
Users can dismiss it at any time by flicking it to the top of the screen. A simple swipe with the S Pen over the screen will recall Air Command. By tapping on the Air Command persistent bubble, you’ll be faced with a full menu of functions.
Samsung also lets you do more with the S Pen: you can now take a screenshot (you can actually capture many pages in succession now), you can directly write on top of .pdf files, and Scrapbook now lets you categorize scraps a lot more easily.
Most importantly, users will be able to write directly from the lockscreen, so they won’t need to turn the phablet on when they want to quickly scribble something on their device.
Connect to other devices
Samsung has been offering SideSync for a while, but with the Note 5, the company is taking things to the next level. So from now on, you can wirelessly connect your phone to your laptop. You can use Samsung’s own program to mirror the handset’s screen on every Windows 10 and Mac computer, get notifications and transfer files.
SideSync 4.0 can also connect to every device around the house that is “smart,” like TVs and such.
Broadcast to YouTube feature in Camera app
The Camera app on the Galaxy Note 5 has been updated to support a new feat that will broadcast to YouTube right from the phone itself. The maximum resolution support is 1920 x 1080 pixels.
The feature offers a bunch of options like being able to schedule your broadcast or save your video on YouTube.
Samsung Pay
Samsung officially announced its own mobile payment services during the event, and the Galaxy Note 5 is going to take advantage of it. Samsung Pay differentiates itself from similar services because it works with most existing POS (point-of-sale) terminals thanks to the Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) and Near Field Communication (NFC) technologies included.
Samsung also announced partnerships with payment networks like American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa, plus all major banks like Bank of America, Chase, US Bank and others.
Samsung Pay is secured by your fingerprint at the time of purchase, as Apple Pay is, but it’s also secured on your card company’s side.
The system utilizes a simple way to go about things, all you need to do is swipe up from the very bottom of the screen, which will automatically bring up the last card you used. Then, all you need to do is authorize the payment.