Tech Break 3455

Megan Morrone and Father Robert Ballecer discuss the Note 7 fiasco which may have cost Samsung up to $17 billion in revenue and $30 billion in recall costs, stock loss and damage to the Samsung brand. Now the Korean electronics giant is looking for a hit to revive its smartphone line. According to insiders, Samsung is looking to throw every technological innovation possible into the Galaxy S8 in order to entice some of its lost users, but there MIGHT be a surprising roadblock to this effort: Google. Samsung recently acquired VIV, a virtual digital assistant, and is expected to integrate it into their S8, but Samsung has a non-Compete pact with Google as part of their patent-sharing agreement, and rumors are circulating that Google has already asked Samsung NOT to include a feature that would directly compete with the enhanced Google Now assistant. This is a story worth watching because it involves the largest single manufacturer of Android phones and their ambitions to be THE premier smartphone company, against Google, which is trying to keep Android from fragmenting even further.

Full episode can be seen at twit.tv/tnt/1662

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