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Samsung Electronics today announced that the company has received ‘Tried and Tested Accreditation’ for its 2020 Smart TVs from the United Kingdom’s Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) which is the first time this accreditation has been given in the TV industry. RNIB awards its “Tried and Tested” accreditation to products, websites, apps or services which meet RNIB criteria for accessibility for consumers with impaired vision. This distinction enables the users to make easier purchase decisions and also underscores Samsung’s commitment to improving accessibility features on its TVs. Samsung has worked with RNIB since 2013 to ensure that Samsung products are suited with the proper features to offer accessibility for all consumers. Since 2014, Samsung has focused on enhancing accessibility features for users who are visually impaired, providing features such as ‘Voice Guide’ that enables the TV to read aloud program information and ‘High Contrast’ mode that displays graphic information with opaque black backgrounds and white font for enhanced visibility. In recognition of these features, RNIB presented its ‘Inclusive Society Award’ to Samsung Electronics in 2016. Since then, Samsung Electronics has continued to improve and expand the accessibility features on its TVs to better achieve digital inclusivity for deaf and hearing impaired people as well as blind and partially sighted people. Features include: With upgraded Voice Guide feature, users can listen to key information on programs as well as instructions for the remote control and accessibility features. Users also can adjust the pitch and speed of the Voice Guide to suit their preferences. The Digital Magnifier which enhances and expands text and images on large screens while mirroring the Samsung Galaxy smartphone to a TV.1 The Focus Enlarge feature magnifies specific fonts related to TV control, volume and menus. Automatic recognition and enlargement of the sign language area for the hearing-impaired as well as ability to adjust and move the subtitle positions. “With a growing variety of content and features, people are now having more fun with their smart TVs,” said Kangwook Chun, Executive Vice President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung is fully committed to providing comprehensive accessibility features on its TVs so that every user can enjoy their favorite content much more easily,” he added. David Clarke, Director of Services at RNIB, said, “RNIB is delighted to award our Tried and Tested certification to Samsung in recognition of the accessibility features within their TV. RNIB and Samsung have worked together since 2013, and each year the accessibility features on their televisions have been improved and expanded.” 1 Digital Magnifier may not be available on some Samsung mobile devices. View the full article

Start Date Aug 25, 2020 Location Online Join Samsung Evangelist Tony Morelan as he demonstrates how to build a mobile UI theme using Galaxy Themes Studio. Learn about icons and buttons, animations and wallpapers, sounds and more. The demo also covers how to publish your completed UI theme to Galaxy Store. Have all your questions answered in the live Q&A with Tony following the demo. View the full blog at its source

Make your app a Web Share Target to enable This was a feature I had set aside an afternoon to implement but in the end it only needed a moment and made the experience significantly better. Web Share Target allows your Web App to receive URLs from the operating systems just like native apps do. In the video below I use the share button in Samsung Internet to share the website’s URL with my Web App, which then retrieves and displays the associated feed information from the website. You add a Web Share target by adding the information into the Web App Manifest: "share_target": { "action": "/feed/", "method": "GET", "params": { "title": "title", "text": "text", "url": "url" } }, When it’s shared, it will open your WebApp at the following URL /feed/?url=[share url]&text=[share text]&title=[share title]. Not all of these get filled out, depending on what is being shared and what is sharing it. When sharing web pages to the app sometimes, the URL was in the text field rather than the URL field. So if you are expecting a URL you should probably check there as well. const { search } = new URL(req.url, "http://example.com"); const params = new URLSearchParams(search); const sharedURL = params.get("url") || params.get("text"); There are more options you can add to the share_target, for advanced features like sharing files, you can find out more information in the great article on web.dev: Receiving shared data with the Web Share Target API Note: At this writing, the Web Share Target API is implemented in some browsers (notably Chromium-based browsers like Samsung Internet) but it is still considered experimental and in “incubation” within the W3C. Make sure you take this into account when incorporating Web Share Target into your development plans. View the full blog at its source

Make your app a Web Share Target to enable This was a feature I had set aside an afternoon to implement but in the end it only needed a moment and made the experience significantly better. Web Share Target allows your Web App to receive URLs from the operating systems just like native apps do. In the video below I use the share button in Samsung Internet to share the website’s URL with my Web App, which then retrieves and displays the associated feed information from the website. You add a Web Share target by adding the information into the Web App Manifest: "share_target": { "action": "/feed/", "method": "GET", "params": { "title": "title", "text": "text", "url": "url" } }, When it’s shared, it will open your WebApp at the following URL /feed/?url=[share url]&text=[share text]&title=[share title]. Not all of these get filled out, depending on what is being shared and what is sharing it. When sharing web pages to the app sometimes, the URL was in the text field rather than the URL field. So if you are expecting a URL you should probably check there as well. const { search } = new URL(req.url, "http://example.com"); const params = new URLSearchParams(search); const sharedURL = params.get("url") || params.get("text"); There are more options you can add to the share_target, for advanced features like sharing files, you can find out more information in the great article on web.dev: Receiving shared data with the Web Share Target API Note: At this writing, the Web Share Target API is implemented in some browsers (notably Chromium-based browsers like Samsung Internet) but it is still considered experimental and in “incubation” within the W3C. Make sure you take this into account when incorporating Web Share Target into your development plans. View the full blog at its source

In this episode of POW, we interview Diego Lizarazo, Senior Developer Evangelist at Samsung. Diego is a self-proclaimed tech geek, and he is all about coding apps. Both Diego and I work together as part of the Samsung Developer Program, and I have invited Diego to be a future guest host on the podcast. Where my specialty is design, Diego’s specialty is coding, and his tech geek personality shines as we chat about his path to Samsung and how he is helping the developer community. Topics Covered: Journey to Samsung Developer Conferences COVID-19 Future of Gaming Game Development Global Developers Spanish Webinars Learning to Code Hackathons Tizen Tidbits View the full blog at its source

In this episode of POW, we interview Diego Lizarazo, Senior Developer Evangelist at Samsung. Diego is a self-proclaimed tech geek, and he is all about coding apps. Both Diego and I work together as part of the Samsung Developer Program, and I have invited Diego to be a future guest host on the podcast. Where my specialty is design, Diego’s specialty is coding, and his tech geek personality shines as we chat about his path to Samsung and how he is helping the developer community. Topics Covered: Journey to Samsung Developer Conferences COVID-19 Future of Gaming Game Development Global Developers Spanish Webinars Learning to Code Hackathons Tizen Tidbits View the full blog at its source

The Galaxy Note20 series (Note20 and Note20 Ultra) are now available in the Remote Test Lab (RTL). If you're interested in testing your apps against the latest flagship phones from Samsung, the RTL contains actual devices that you can reserve and interact with using a web browser. View the full blog at its source

The Galaxy Note20 series (Note20 and Note20 Ultra) are now available in the Remote Test Lab (RTL). If you're interested in testing your apps against the latest flagship phones from Samsung, the RTL contains actual devices that you can reserve and interact with using a web browser. View the full blog at its source

In recent times more and more users have been required to watch sports events and movies from their homes, instead of going out to watch them. Along with this shift, the home has become increasingly prominent as an entertainment space. In light of this, Samsung Electronics has introduced The Terrace, a TV that is designed for use in outdoor living spaces. To talk about how The Terrace was brought from the planning stage to the development stage, and then on to being rolled out, Samsung Newsroom met with the product experts who were responsible for bringing The Terrace to fruition. Below, Samsung Newsroom talks to Giuk Ted Lee (Marketing), BeomEun Kim (Product Planning), Dongoh Kim (Mechanics R&D), Juyong Kim and, Seunghun Lee (Enterprise R&D), to hear exactly what went in to realizing premier outdoor viewing with The Terrace. Taking the Viewing Environment Outdoors Research conducted by Samsung Electronics has shown that around 50 percent of American households have an outdoor living space such as a terrace or yard. What’s more, across a range of territories, the habit of watching sports and movies outdoors has been becoming more popular. Speaking to this trend, BeomEun Kim, who was in charge of product planning for The Terrace, said, “Outdoor living spaces in which people can relax and entertain have been gradually growing more prominent. It was this trend that inspired us to come up with The Terrace, which offers the most optimal QLED viewing experiences in a range of outdoor conditions.” BeomEun Kim (Product Planning) And the outdoor TV market has been developing as well. As reported by market research publisher QY Research, global figures for outdoor TV sales – which stood at around 170,000 units in 2018 – are expected to hit 440,000 units by 2024. Giuk Ted Lee from The Terrace marketing team explained that, “When compared to the indoor TV market, the outdoor TV market previously sold more models that were smaller than 40 inches. However, from this year, the uptake of mid-to-large-sized TVs that are 55 inches or larger is expected to grow rapidly.” Optimal Outdoor Picture Quality Through Synergy With Global No.1 Digital Signage Technology Juyong Kim (Enterprise R&D) When it comes to the outdoor viewing experience, few factors are more important than picture quality. According to Juyong Kim, who was responsible for picture quality development, when viewing a TV outdoors it is difficult to make out what is on the screen with a brightness level lower than 1,000 nits. He emphasized that The Terrace delivers a maximum of 4,000 nits and an average brightness of 2,000 nits, which is three times brighter than the brightness levels offered by indoor TVs. This allows users to enjoy vivid images with original picture quality, even when the TV is viewed in broad daylight. Thanks to Samsung’s leadership in digital signage market, in which it maintained the number one position globally for 11 straight years – The Terrace team was able to deliver an optimal outdoor viewing experience. Seunghun Lee, who was in charge of overall product development, related that, “Digital signage, by its nature, must be equipped to maintain its performance while being subjected to a range of different environmental factors. Our experience in developing digital signage has proved extremely helpful in identifying and applying the optimal brightness levels for outdoor TVs.” Seunghun Lee (Enterprise R&D) The Terrace additionally includes the ‘Adaptive Picture’ feature, which allows users to enjoy optimized picture quality that adapts to the surrounding environment. With Adaptive Picture, artificial intelligence analyzes illumination levels in real-time and automatically adjusts screen settings, increasing brightness during the daytime and reducing glare at night and on cloudy days. The Terrace is also equipped with anti-reflection technology. When watching TV on sunny days, sunlight reflected by the display panel and other surfaces can cause discomfort for viewers, and glare can distort color and picture quality. Thus, The Terrace was designed to minimize discomfort caused by glare even in environments where light is coming from multiple directions. Seunghun Lee explained that this improvement in visibility was achieved by equipping the screen with surface-treated film to reduce glare. Durability That Withstands the Elements – Water, Dust and Heat Protection When developing an outdoor television, the issue of exposure to the elements is a key concern. Hence, The Terrace had to undergo rigorous testing during its development phase. Giuk Ted Lee reiterated that, “The Terrace was initially launched in North America, and will be released in a host of other markets soon. Because the outdoor TV will be expected to withstand a broad range of environmental factors, our simulations tested it in the harshest conditions and a range of climates.” Particular attention was given to water and dust protection, which are essential features for an outdoor TV, as small particles and liquids can enter the device through even the tiniest gaps if it is not properly sealed. Certified with IP 55 water and dust protection, The Terrace maintains its performance even in rainy or dusty conditions. Dongoh Kim (Mechanics R&D) Dongoh Kim from the R&D team said, “All areas where individual parts connect were protected with special materials. We have also sealed all of the gaps in the enclosure with waterproof tape and rubber seals. To facilitate the open cell structure, a thin layer of special adhesive was applied between the front of the enclosure and the cell that composes the TV screen.” Heat resistance is equally crucial for outdoor TVs, given that they are exposed to direct sunlight. Thus, the development team enacted numerous ways to ensure that The Terrace remains heat resistant, even under infrared and ultraviolet light. Although one of the most common means of protecting a TV from heat is through the use of a vent, the team had to explore different solutions, given that the inclusion of vents could have impacted the TV’s water and dust resistance. The team considered multiple heat resistance solutions for the outdoor television. This led to the development of The Terrace’s sealed enclosure technology, which distributes internal heat over the entire product without the need for a heat sink. The result? An outdoor TV that maintains the highest standard of performance up to an external temperature of 50°C. Smart Features to Deliver Unique Viewing Experiences So how was the user feedback following The Terrace’s launch? Giuk Ted Lee commented that, “The Terrace has been garnering great feedback from consumers in the North American market. Sales levels are good, and the reviews from users are positive as well.” While this feedback is encouraging, many markets still exist in which consumers are unfamiliar with outdoor televisions. We asked for tips on how to leverage The Terrace to empower users in every market to use the product to its full potential. BeomEun Kim noted that, “One of the advantages of The Terrace is that it can be easily connected to a smartphone. For instance, users can connect their phones via Bluetooth while listening to music, and the ‘Music Wall’ feature will display a series of patterns on the TV that complement the music. The ‘Multi-View’ feature also allows consumers to continue using their phones while also using them to watch content on their televisions, delivering a whole new experience.” She added that the ‘Tap View’ feature allows mobile content to be mirrored on the TV screen with a single tap of the bezel. Despite being pioneers when it comes to the new outdoor television segment, the team responsible for bringing The Terrace to fruition is already up for a new challenge. “The level of interest in outdoor TVs has been steadily growing. Our next goal is to introduce an outdoor TV that is portable, and can be brought along for activities such as camping trips,” the team related. We look forward to seeing what is next for Samsung Electronics as they look to continue expanding the definition of what a TV can be. View the full article

One advantage of using Xamarin.Forms when creating an application is the accessibility of an experienced open source community. You can learn a lot and get many ideas for developing an application from the community. The best part is that there are tons of Xamarin.Forms extension libraries that can help you develop an application very efficiently and beautifully. Tizen support is frequently added to many third-party Xamarin.Forms UI libraries. Today, I would like to introduce some popular libraries that recently started to support Tizen. See how these libraries can boost your application. Sharpnado.Shadows Sharpnado.Shadows allows you to add as many custom shadows as you like (such as Color, Offset, Blur, Neumorphism) to any Xamarin.Forms View. SkiaSharp is used to implement Shadows for Tizen. Visit Sharpnado.Shadows to learn how to initialize and use Shadows in an application. Below shows a Shadows sample application running on Tizen. PancakeView PancakeView is an extended ContentView for Xamarin.Forms that includes rounded corners, borders, gradients, shadows, and more. It is essential to use gradient colors and rounded corners in a View to beautify an application. SkiaSharp is used to implement PancakeView, and Tizen support for PancakeView is included starting from version 2.1.0.714 of Xamarin.Forms.PancakeView. Visit PancakeView to learn more about PancakeView and what features are provided. Below shows a PancakeView sample application running on Tizen. CardsView CardsView provides many styles of Views (such as CardsView, CarouselView, CoverFlowView, and CubeView) which include fancy animation and effects. Visit CardsView to learn how to set up and use CardsView in your application. Below shows a CardsView sample application running on Tizen. Rg.Plugins.Popup Rg.Plugins.Popup is a cross-platform plugin for Xamarin.Forms which allows you to open Xamarin.Forms pages as a pop-up. Visit Rg.Plugins.Popup to learn more. Below shows an Rg.Plugins.Popup sample application running on Tizen. Thanks to all those wonderful community members who add Tizen support to their libraries. Now, not only can you experience a better development environment, but you can easily port existing Xamarin.Forms applications which use these libraries to Tizen. View the full blog at its source

Did you miss out on the latest Samsung Developers newsletter? Catch up now. If you don't currently receive the newsletter, you can subscribe here. View the full blog at its source

Did you miss out on the latest Samsung Developers newsletter? Catch up now. If you don't currently receive the newsletter, you can subscribe here. View the full blog at its source

Samsung Electronics is further expanding its HDR10+ streaming content offering with the addition of Google Play Movies to the services that support its next-generation picture-quality technology. Google Play Movies, the video streaming service operated by Google, started to support HDR10+ content in July this year. The HDR10+ service is now available on Samsung Smart TV in 117 countries including North America, Europe and Korea. Users can now enjoy high-resolution HDR10+ 4K HDR content on the Google Play Movies, with numerous HDR10+ titles available such as Joker, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Shazam!, and Crazy Rich Asians. Google Play Movies plans to support HDR10+ technology on other additional platforms in the future as well. HDR10+, which is the HDR industry standard led by Samsung Electronics, brings consumers perfect picture quality experience by optimizing brightness and contrast scene by scene for enhanced three-dimensional videos and accurate color expression. Samsung Electronics formed HDR10+ LLC (HDR10+ technology joint venture) in 2017 and started to engage in certification programs in 2018. Google Play Movies’s support for HDR10+ is expected to accelerate the expansion of the HDR10+ standard alliance, which already has 108 partners worldwide. “We are pleased to expand partnerships with the top global streaming providers,” said Younghun Choi, Executive Vice President and Head of R&D team, Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “We will continue to strengthen the leadership of our HDR standard and lead the innovation in TV technology in the global market.” View the full article

In this Samsung Developer Program online talk, learn how to integrate the Samsung In-App Purchase (IAP) SDK in your Unity games. You can get more info about the IAP SDK here https://developer.samsung.com/iap The Galaxy Store is a premium store that makes Galaxy mobile devices shine in their own, unique way. Discover how to use Samsung’s payment service to sell a variety of items in applications for the Galaxy Store. In this video, you will learn how to modify your Unity games and have a new way to monetize them, whether it is with one-off payments or subscriptions. Additionally, you will learn about the Samsung IAP Unity plugin’s methods and functionalities, making it easier to rapidly integrate with your existing games. You can connect with Diego, a Sr. Developer Evangelist, on Twitter Have questions? Post them in our forums. View the full blog at its source

In this Samsung Developer Program online talk, learn how to integrate the Samsung In-App Purchase (IAP) SDK in your Unity games. You can get more info about the IAP SDK here https://developer.samsung.com/iap The Galaxy Store is a premium store that makes Galaxy mobile devices shine in their own, unique way. Discover how to use Samsung’s payment service to sell a variety of items in applications for the Galaxy Store. In this video, you will learn how to modify your Unity games and have a new way to monetize them, whether it is with one-off payments or subscriptions. Additionally, you will learn about the Samsung IAP Unity plugin’s methods and functionalities, making it easier to rapidly integrate with your existing games. You can connect with Diego, a Sr. Developer Evangelist, on Twitter Have questions? Post them in our forums. View the full blog at its source

As people around the world increasingly demand convenient and efficient collaboration technology, the time has come for major industry players to combine their expertise and create solutions that allow users to get the best experience, no matter where they are. The video conferencing market is set to reach a revenue of $50 billion (USD) by 2026, from having only reached $14 billion in 2019.1 This dramatic acceleration in the market is due to the current global climate, which has shifted the way businesses behave and operate. As such, video conferencing has quickly become an important platform for communicating and ensuring business continuity. In fact, global weekly downloads of business apps surged from 33.7 million in early October 2019 to 80 million in mid-April 2020.2 Video conferencing app downloads have also increased from five million a week to 50 million in the same period. As a leader in visual display, Samsung understands the demands of the new video landscape. To provide businesses and employees with the tools they need to work effectively from any location, it has partnered with Logitech, a market leader in video and personal collaboration solutions. This partnership brings together the industry’s most comprehensive display lineup including digital signages and desktop monitors, with Logitech’s wide variety of video conferencing solutions for both meeting rooms and personal desks. Samsung’s displays can turn any space – in-office or at home – into a productive workstation. Samsung monitors are available in a wide range of sizes, resolutions and screen types, from ultra-wide curve to traditional flat screens, to offer users the perfect fit. When paired with Logitech’s USB-compatible conference cams such as MeetUp and Rally, and webcams such as Brio, C930e and C925e, any location can be transformed into an integrated workspace, saving users’ valuable time while still providing powerful functionality. “Globally, there is a growing need for enhanced collaboration solutions that can enable businesses to maintain continuity in the current landscape,” said Paul Kim, Vice President of Visual Display Business, Samsung Electronics. “We believe our partnership with Logitech, bringing together its dynamic video conferencing portfolio with Samsung’s unmatched visual display technology, can play a major role in shaping the future of work and we’re excited for what is to come.” To learn more, please visit the microsite here. 1 Video Conferencing Market by Global Market Insights: https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/video-conferencing-market 2 Video Conferencing Apps Surge from Coronavirus Impact by App Annie: https://www.appannie.com/en/insights/market-data/video-conferencing-apps-surge-coronavirus/ View the full article

Today, we're talking with Ed Mills, Co-Founder of Hitcents, and Alfred Nguyen, Creative Director and Producer of Forgotton Anne for Throughline Games. Hitcents is a full-service video game publisher and developer, focused on bringing to market high-quality, indie-developed titles. Founded in 1999 as a software company, Hitcents’ passion for games slowly took over and pivoted the company. By 2012, the company was full steam ahead in the gaming industry as a developer and publisher. To date, it has worked with notable and well-recognized brands and celebrities, such as The Godfather, NBA, Tom Hanks, Adam Levine, One Direction, and Floyd Mayweather. One of its most celebrated franchises is Draw a Stickman, which has been played more than one hundred million times and has global success on the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Steam, and mobile. Tell us about Hitcents. Ed: Hitcents is a full-service video game publisher and developer, but that is not where we started. Our journey is part of what makes us such a unique company. Hitcents was basically started as a software company on the carpet floors of our home in Kentucky when my twins Clinton and Chris Mills were 16-years-old. Over the last 20 years our focus has changed, but the core of everything we do is still software. Bootstrapped, with no outside investments for 20+ years, gaming has been a key driver of our success for more than a decade. We’ve had success across the gaming spectrum, from PC to console games to mobile apps. Our most successful titles are: Draw a Stickman - The franchise has been played more than 100M+ times. Draw A Stickman: Epic 2 - Has seen 18 million purchases and installs across multiple platforms. The Godfather: Family Dynasty - We were the first company to bring Don Corleone to mobile. Currently, we work with a wide range of indie games and developers, and are always open to good gaming content. We publish games created by one-person developer shops, like Get to the Orange Door, a retro futuristic rogue-lite FPS releasing in 2020, to games created in other countries that have more of an edge and statement, like the cinematic platformer Ministry of Broadcast, which also launched in early 2020 and deals with concepts such as big brother, fake tv and a satirical look at politics, plus many more. Can you share how you started as a game developer and ultimately became a game publisher? Ed: It’s kind of crazy how we got started in games. Hitcents was more of a complex ecommerce web agency and our creative director had an idea to draw a stickman and bring it to life on a browser. The weekend we launched Draw a Stickman we had millions of visitors, which ended up crashing our servers for all our clients. Needless to say, it seemed tragic at the time, but the brand Draw a Stickman emerged as a successful, long-standing IP for Hitcents. The brand has won 5 Webby awards and made both Hollywood and the game industry take note of us. As a result, A-list clients started to come on board with new content and connections, bringing us early success in games. This led to our partnering with CAA for IP-related games. Hitcents has many popular titles. We want to focus on Forgotton Anne. Can you tell us about this game, available now on Galaxy Store? Ed: Forgotton Anne is a seamless cinematic adventure with meaningful storytelling and a light puzzle platform. You play Anne, the enforcer, who keeps order in the Forgotten Lands as she sets out to squash a rebellion that might prevent her master, Bonku, and herself from returning to the human world. In the game, you step into a hand-animated realm of wonder in which everyday objects take on a life of their own. Imagine a place where all that is lost and forgotten goes -- old toys, letters, socks. Forgotten Lands is this magical world inhabited by Forgotlings; living mislaid objects longing to be remembered. In my opinion, and I’m sure the readers will think I’m biased, but the opening sequence in Forgotton Anne is so much fun to watch. I now know where all my lost socks go. Forgotton Anne has a stunning visual style and interactive game experience. What systems do you use to create game concepts and story characters? Alfred: To create Anne and Forgotten Lands, our artists use Adobe products, as well as Clip Studio Paint and TV Paint to design, paint, and animate most of the sprites you see in the game, as well as the detailed environmental assets. With the protagonist Anne alone more than 5000 frames were drawn! For story overview and testing, we used a lot of documents, spreadsheets, and a free software called Twine that is great to test branching dialogues. How important is user experience when designing your games? Alfred: The user experience is very important when designing a game. It is always a delicate balance between taking the player into consideration and staying true to a specific intention. Knowing that sometimes a player might not immediately like a specific design, even though it adds a dimension that contributes positively to the game experience as a whole. This was the case when it came to prioritizing fluid animation over some degree of the controls’ responsiveness, or when we decided not to include Game Over, as it would negatively affect the pacing of the game. Forgotton Anne features light puzzles and platforming sections. However, it is very much a story about Anne and letting the player make choices in her stead, to see how the consequences play out. How will the player use Anne’s authority and deal with conflicts? Alfred: When designing we let storytelling and emotions come first. Then we discuss how we can make things the most intuitive for the largest target audience. However, as developers we have to accept that different players like different things. In the end, we are just happy that as many people as possible love the game! What are some of the challenges you face while developing your games? Alfred: One challenge was to create a seamless cinematic experience where the player doesn’t feel a traditional cut between storytelling cutscenes and gameplay. The way we managed this was to ensure that there were no loading screens while playing and that all cutscenes were rendered in-game so the player was not presented with a different aesthetic when a longer story scene played out. The whole game is voice-acted and we created a ‘talk animation system’ to make it feel like the words were acted out. This really adds to the immersion. Artwise we aimed for an incredibly rich and detailed painted environment. This presented its own challenge, as we had to make sure the player could discern how to navigate the 2.5D world, allowing for some travel in the z-depth axis at certain intersections. Which objects would the player be able to interact with or bump into and which were decorative elements? Something that sounds very trivial, like walking up and down stairs, was actually also a challenge as we wanted Anne to feel real with her animations, unlike many other 2D games. If you pay attention, you will notice her feet place themselves correctly on the steps, as do her hands when she is climbing ladders. The tone of the game was also a challenge we wanted to get right. The premise of the game is very outlandish and quirky, with echoes of fairy tales like Beauty and the Beast, but at the same time we wanted to create a very realistic world. We were trying to strike a tone that could easily go from emotional and serious when dealing with themes of consumerism and authoritarianism to funny and endearing using the diverse cast of Forgotling characters. Are there common errors made by developers while programming games? Alfred: Scoping a game is always really hard. In early development you tend to be overambitious, and rightly so, as you need to explore the best version possible of the game you are making. However, it is important to constantly update plans and make the necessary cuts when necessary, as most developers don’t have the luxury of working without deadlines. These cuts tend to be a good thing, as it sharpens the concept and forces the developer to prioritize what is really important to the game and player’s experience, instead of falling into the typical pitfall of feature-creeping, i.e. adding features to the game due to the worry that it is not fun enough for players. Forgotton Anne boasts a number of awards. What is the basic structure for developing a successful game? Ed: We don’t think there is a secret formula to creating hit games, or the market would be flooded with them. But, there are some universal truths one can rely on for added probability. One of them is knowing your intentions and having a capable team that has the necessary competences to execute. Communication is key, as it does not matter how skilled each individual is on the team if there is a lack of understanding between the people. I also strongly believe in an organic approach to development, where you need to accept changing circumstances and adapt quickly to them. We rarely set out knowing exactly every little detail of the finished game. If we did, it would prove to be detrimental to the creative process, as half the fun is coming up with solutions and discovering great ideas over the course of realizing the initial vision. While iterating on gameplay mechanics, we might discover a great opportunity to emphasize a storytelling aspect, or perhaps a piece of composed music could inspire how a sequence could play out. There is still so much to explore with the medium of games and its storytelling potential. That is really our aim and we hope that it translates to some originality that resonates with players. How do you stay up to date with the latest game and software trends? Ed: There are a couple of ways. Every major platform on mobile and console has a developer conference and these shows offer the best avenue to listen and learn. Another popular option is to go with an established publisher that often has early access to beta programs and has boots on the ground looking for the latest changes and opportunities to use tools that make a better product and potentially make work quicker. As a publisher, we are always playing and researching as many games as we can; reading up on trends in the industry -- who’s hot, what’s not; and researching new technologies and marketing techniques. What advice do you have for indie developers attempting to develop a successful game business? Ed: Start with a team, even if it's just 2 people. To make a game it requires many skill sets. I like to see experts, or someone that desires to be an expert, at each position or task. For example, you can have one team member specializing in art design plus knowledge of UI (User Interface) and UX (User Experience), who can complement a programmer. The more well-rounded each team member is the more fun the project and the less time wasted searching for answers to complex development problems. Create a GDD (Game Design Document) that maps out the major aspects of the game. This will save countless hours of unneeded art and programming. It's ok to iterate upon your GDD, but do start with a solid foundation. Choose the best language/engine to make your game. Though Unity is great for 3D games and can port over to Android with relative ease, sometimes it can lose the true feel of doing the code in its native environment if you are producing a 2D game or an app. The best advice I can give is to find a team member with the skill set that complements your game or app idea. If you are a programmer, stay with what you know and get better at it. Decide what your time commitment is to making your game, i.e. months? years? Paid games are easier to go to market than free-to-try, but free-to-try will get you more downloads over time. This question can be a blog all on its own, so again having a good publisher can help more than almost anything. With all of your current success, what is next for Hitcents? Ed: The Godfather:Family Dynasty game has become over the past 3 years one of, if not the most, successful mobile Paramount game. Hitcents is planning the next big game with a known brand on par to the success and magnitude of the Godfather. The biggest thing for our future is knowing the words cross platform means playing across your mobile device, PC, and console, not just across mobile platforms. Our future is about consumer choice, bringing all the options to our players and letting them choose what they want to play, where they want to play it, and what device they want to play it on. Ideally, your Samsung Galaxy phone can play and progress while you are on the go, and then you can pick up on your console at home where you left off. It's an exciting time for gamers! What motivated Hitcents to bring your games to Galaxy Store? Ed: Galaxy Store provides Hitcents with the opportunity to diversify our sales, by opening a new revenue stream. It allows us to widen our customer base and gain access to Samsung device owners globally. What Samsung Developer Program services did you take advantage of when publishing Forgotton Anne to Galaxy Store? Ed: We integrated Samsung In-App Purchase payment service, which is used to make a one-off payment for goods or to pay for a regular subscription. It allows Hitcents to sell premium content and virtual goods, including in-game items available for purchase during game play. Did you use any marketing services to support driving both awareness and downloads for your game on Galaxy Store? Ed: Marketing and monetization is another key component of every developer’s journey. We found the Galaxy Store badge can be used as a resource on our website and media to support marketing our game on Galaxy Store. Adding Galaxy Store badge has put users one click away from downloading our game on Galaxy Store. The guides and downloadable content provided easy-to-follow instructions. Thanks to Ed Mills and Alfred Nguyen for sharing how they create and distribute successful game titles. Follow us on Twitter @samsung_dev for more developer interviews and tips for building games, apps, and more for the Galaxy Store. View the full blog at its source

Today, we're talking with Ed Mills, Co-Founder of Hitcents, and Alfred Nguyen, Creative Director and Producer of Forgotton Anne for Throughline Games. Hitcents is a full-service video game publisher and developer, focused on bringing to market high-quality, indie-developed titles. Founded in 1999 as a software company, Hitcents’ passion for games slowly took over and pivoted the company. By 2012, the company was full steam ahead in the gaming industry as a developer and publisher. To date, it has worked with notable and well-recognized brands and celebrities, such as The Godfather, NBA, Tom Hanks, Adam Levine, One Direction, and Floyd Mayweather. One of its most celebrated franchises is Draw a Stickman, which has been played more than one hundred million times and has global success on the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Steam, and mobile. Tell us about Hitcents. Ed: Hitcents is a full-service video game publisher and developer, but that is not where we started. Our journey is part of what makes us such a unique company. Hitcents was basically started as a software company on the carpet floors of our home in Kentucky when my twins Clinton and Chris Mills were 16-years-old. Over the last 20 years our focus has changed, but the core of everything we do is still software. Bootstrapped, with no outside investments for 20+ years, gaming has been a key driver of our success for more than a decade. We’ve had success across the gaming spectrum, from PC to console games to mobile apps. Our most successful titles are: Draw a Stickman - The franchise has been played more than 100M+ times. Draw A Stickman: Epic 2 - Has seen 18 million purchases and installs across multiple platforms. The Godfather: Family Dynasty - We were the first company to bring Don Corleone to mobile. Currently, we work with a wide range of indie games and developers, and are always open to good gaming content. We publish games created by one-person developer shops, like Get to the Orange Door, a retro futuristic rogue-lite FPS releasing in 2020, to games created in other countries that have more of an edge and statement, like the cinematic platformer Ministry of Broadcast, which also launched in early 2020 and deals with concepts such as big brother, fake tv and a satirical look at politics, plus many more. Can you share how you started as a game developer and ultimately became a game publisher? Ed: It’s kind of crazy how we got started in games. Hitcents was more of a complex ecommerce web agency and our creative director had an idea to draw a stickman and bring it to life on a browser. The weekend we launched Draw a Stickman we had millions of visitors, which ended up crashing our servers for all our clients. Needless to say, it seemed tragic at the time, but the brand Draw a Stickman emerged as a successful, long-standing IP for Hitcents. The brand has won 5 Webby awards and made both Hollywood and the game industry take note of us. As a result, A-list clients started to come on board with new content and connections, bringing us early success in games. This led to our partnering with CAA for IP-related games. Hitcents has many popular titles. We want to focus on Forgotton Anne. Can you tell us about this game, available now on Galaxy Store? Ed: Forgotton Anne is a seamless cinematic adventure with meaningful storytelling and a light puzzle platform. You play Anne, the enforcer, who keeps order in the Forgotten Lands as she sets out to squash a rebellion that might prevent her master, Bonku, and herself from returning to the human world. In the game, you step into a hand-animated realm of wonder in which everyday objects take on a life of their own. Imagine a place where all that is lost and forgotten goes -- old toys, letters, socks. Forgotten Lands is this magical world inhabited by Forgotlings; living mislaid objects longing to be remembered. In my opinion, and I’m sure the readers will think I’m biased, but the opening sequence in Forgotton Anne is so much fun to watch. I now know where all my lost socks go. Forgotton Anne has a stunning visual style and interactive game experience. What systems do you use to create game concepts and story characters? Alfred: To create Anne and Forgotten Lands, our artists use Adobe products, as well as Clip Studio Paint and TV Paint to design, paint, and animate most of the sprites you see in the game, as well as the detailed environmental assets. With the protagonist Anne alone more than 5000 frames were drawn! For story overview and testing, we used a lot of documents, spreadsheets, and a free software called Twine that is great to test branching dialogues. How important is user experience when designing your games? Alfred: The user experience is very important when designing a game. It is always a delicate balance between taking the player into consideration and staying true to a specific intention. Knowing that sometimes a player might not immediately like a specific design, even though it adds a dimension that contributes positively to the game experience as a whole. This was the case when it came to prioritizing fluid animation over some degree of the controls’ responsiveness, or when we decided not to include Game Over, as it would negatively affect the pacing of the game. Forgotton Anne features light puzzles and platforming sections. However, it is very much a story about Anne and letting the player make choices in her stead, to see how the consequences play out. How will the player use Anne’s authority and deal with conflicts? Alfred: When designing we let storytelling and emotions come first. Then we discuss how we can make things the most intuitive for the largest target audience. However, as developers we have to accept that different players like different things. In the end, we are just happy that as many people as possible love the game! What are some of the challenges you face while developing your games? Alfred: One challenge was to create a seamless cinematic experience where the player doesn’t feel a traditional cut between storytelling cutscenes and gameplay. The way we managed this was to ensure that there were no loading screens while playing and that all cutscenes were rendered in-game so the player was not presented with a different aesthetic when a longer story scene played out. The whole game is voice-acted and we created a ‘talk animation system’ to make it feel like the words were acted out. This really adds to the immersion. Artwise we aimed for an incredibly rich and detailed painted environment. This presented its own challenge, as we had to make sure the player could discern how to navigate the 2.5D world, allowing for some travel in the z-depth axis at certain intersections. Which objects would the player be able to interact with or bump into and which were decorative elements? Something that sounds very trivial, like walking up and down stairs, was actually also a challenge as we wanted Anne to feel real with her animations, unlike many other 2D games. If you pay attention, you will notice her feet place themselves correctly on the steps, as do her hands when she is climbing ladders. The tone of the game was also a challenge we wanted to get right. The premise of the game is very outlandish and quirky, with echoes of fairy tales like Beauty and the Beast, but at the same time we wanted to create a very realistic world. We were trying to strike a tone that could easily go from emotional and serious when dealing with themes of consumerism and authoritarianism to funny and endearing using the diverse cast of Forgotling characters. Are there common errors made by developers while programming games? Alfred: Scoping a game is always really hard. In early development you tend to be overambitious, and rightly so, as you need to explore the best version possible of the game you are making. However, it is important to constantly update plans and make the necessary cuts when necessary, as most developers don’t have the luxury of working without deadlines. These cuts tend to be a good thing, as it sharpens the concept and forces the developer to prioritize what is really important to the game and player’s experience, instead of falling into the typical pitfall of feature-creeping, i.e. adding features to the game due to the worry that it is not fun enough for players. Forgotton Anne boasts a number of awards. What is the basic structure for developing a successful game? Ed: We don’t think there is a secret formula to creating hit games, or the market would be flooded with them. But, there are some universal truths one can rely on for added probability. One of them is knowing your intentions and having a capable team that has the necessary competences to execute. Communication is key, as it does not matter how skilled each individual is on the team if there is a lack of understanding between the people. I also strongly believe in an organic approach to development, where you need to accept changing circumstances and adapt quickly to them. We rarely set out knowing exactly every little detail of the finished game. If we did, it would prove to be detrimental to the creative process, as half the fun is coming up with solutions and discovering great ideas over the course of realizing the initial vision. While iterating on gameplay mechanics, we might discover a great opportunity to emphasize a storytelling aspect, or perhaps a piece of composed music could inspire how a sequence could play out. There is still so much to explore with the medium of games and its storytelling potential. That is really our aim and we hope that it translates to some originality that resonates with players. How do you stay up to date with the latest game and software trends? Ed: There are a couple of ways. Every major platform on mobile and console has a developer conference and these shows offer the best avenue to listen and learn. Another popular option is to go with an established publisher that often has early access to beta programs and has boots on the ground looking for the latest changes and opportunities to use tools that make a better product and potentially make work quicker. As a publisher, we are always playing and researching as many games as we can; reading up on trends in the industry -- who’s hot, what’s not; and researching new technologies and marketing techniques. What advice do you have for indie developers attempting to develop a successful game business? Ed: Start with a team, even if it's just 2 people. To make a game it requires many skill sets. I like to see experts, or someone that desires to be an expert, at each position or task. For example, you can have one team member specializing in art design plus knowledge of UI (User Interface) and UX (User Experience), who can complement a programmer. The more well-rounded each team member is the more fun the project and the less time wasted searching for answers to complex development problems. Create a GDD (Game Design Document) that maps out the major aspects of the game. This will save countless hours of unneeded art and programming. It's ok to iterate upon your GDD, but do start with a solid foundation. Choose the best language/engine to make your game. Though Unity is great for 3D games and can port over to Android with relative ease, sometimes it can lose the true feel of doing the code in its native environment if you are producing a 2D game or an app. The best advice I can give is to find a team member with the skill set that complements your game or app idea. If you are a programmer, stay with what you know and get better at it. Decide what your time commitment is to making your game, i.e. months? years? Paid games are easier to go to market than free-to-try, but free-to-try will get you more downloads over time. This question can be a blog all on its own, so again having a good publisher can help more than almost anything. With all of your current success, what is next for Hitcents? Ed: The Godfather:Family Dynasty game has become over the past 3 years one of, if not the most, successful mobile Paramount game. Hitcents is planning the next big game with a known brand on par to the success and magnitude of the Godfather. The biggest thing for our future is knowing the words cross platform means playing across your mobile device, PC, and console, not just across mobile platforms. Our future is about consumer choice, bringing all the options to our players and letting them choose what they want to play, where they want to play it, and what device they want to play it on. Ideally, your Samsung Galaxy phone can play and progress while you are on the go, and then you can pick up on your console at home where you left off. It's an exciting time for gamers! What motivated Hitcents to bring your games to Galaxy Store? Ed: Galaxy Store provides Hitcents with the opportunity to diversify our sales, by opening a new revenue stream. It allows us to widen our customer base and gain access to Samsung device owners globally. What Samsung Developer Program services did you take advantage of when publishing Forgotton Anne to Galaxy Store? Ed: We integrated Samsung In-App Purchase payment service, which is used to make a one-off payment for goods or to pay for a regular subscription. It allows Hitcents to sell premium content and virtual goods, including in-game items available for purchase during game play. Did you use any marketing services to support driving both awareness and downloads for your game on Galaxy Store? Ed: Marketing and monetization is another key component of every developer’s journey. We found the Galaxy Store badge can be used as a resource on our website and media to support marketing our game on Galaxy Store. Adding Galaxy Store badge has put users one click away from downloading our game on Galaxy Store. The guides and downloadable content provided easy-to-follow instructions. Thanks to Ed Mills and Alfred Nguyen for sharing how they create and distribute successful game titles. Follow us on Twitter @samsung_dev for more developer interviews and tips for building games, apps, and more for the Galaxy Store. View the full blog at its source

The concept of an outdoor TV may seem like an unfamiliar one, but demand for such solutions has increased a lot recently as more and more users look to expand their premium viewing experiences to outdoor environments. Particularly in North America, where a large portion of the population lives in stand-alone houses with areas for outdoor recreation, it is not uncommon to see outdoor TVs installed in spaces such as barbecue areas and terraces. Starting with the release of The Serif in 2016, Samsung Electronics has been delivering televisions that closely reflect the lifestyles of its users. In May of 2020, Samsung’s first outdoor TV, The Terrace, was launched in the North American market (alongside The Terrace Soundbar) as part of the company’s expanding lifestyle TV portfolio. According to market research publisher QY Research, the global numbers for outdoor TV sales – which stood at around 170,000 units in 2018 – are expected to hit 440,000 units by 2024. But exactly how different is an outdoor TV from a regular television? Read on for Newsroom’s deep dive into the features and benefits of Samsung’s new The Terrace and The Terrace Soundbar offerings. Clean, Sharp Picture Quality in a Range of Conditions Walking the streets, it is not uncommon to see people shading their phones from the sunlight and struggling to make out what is on their screens. This happens when the brightness of the phone’s display is not high enough to counter the glare caused by the external light source, and is also an issue that affects outdoor TVs. However, with The Terrace delivering an average brightness level of 2,000 nits (and a peak brightness level of 4,000 nits), users can comfortably view content even in broad daylight. With its QLED display, anti-reflection technology that eases glare and Adaptive Picture feature that automatically optimizes the display’s brightness according to the surrounding lighting conditions, both visibility and top-tier picture quality are ensured. The Terrace is powered by Tizen, an open-source platform that allows content from Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ to be streamed with vivid picture quality, regardless of which operating system is being used. This service additionally supports the Apple TV app1 and AirPlay 2.2 With built-in Wi-Fi and LAN, The Terrace can be used simply and conveniently without the need for additional purchases or connections. There are a host of ways for users to enjoy mobile content on a large screen with The Terrace as well. For instance, Tap View feature allows what is displayed on the user’s Galaxy smartphone to be mirrored on their TV screen with a single tap. What’s more, Multi View feature allows the TV screen to play media from multiple sources, allowing users to watch TV on part of the screen while mirroring their phone screen on another part. When it comes to a TV that is intended for use outdoors, resistance to rain, wind and dust is of high importance. The Terrace carries an IP55 certification from the International Electrotechnical Commission, meaning that it delivers reliable water and dust resistance, and ensures peace of mind for users whose televisions are subjected to adverse conditions. The IP Code rates the level of protection a product carries against the ingress of dust, water or contaminants, with IP55 meaning that the product is highly protected against dust and will work without fault in the rain. Experience Deep, Rich Sound With The Terrace Soundbar A TV designed for use outdoors must, by necessity, deliver sound differently from those that are used indoors. The Terrace Soundbar was built to accompany The Terrace television and provide rich sound to complete the premium viewing experience. Distortion Cancelling was applied to The Terrace Soundbar to enable it to deliver deep, powerful low-register output without the need for an accompanying subwoofer. A total of four woofers in The Terrace Soundbar create 210 watts of sound to enhance the sense of immersion for the viewer. To add convenience to the viewing experience, both The Terrace and The Terrace Soundbar can be controlled by a single remote, which also features support for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth®. What’s more, the Tap Sound feature allows users to enjoy music or sounds from their Galaxy smartphone on The Terrace soundbar with a single tap too. The Terrace Soundbar likewise carries IP55 dust and water protection to allow users to enjoy premium television audio in a broad range of conditions, worry-free. According to its vision of ‘Screens Everywhere’, Samsung Electronics has been expanding into areas such as ultra-high definition, new form factors and new viewing spaces, and in the process charting new waters as far as the television viewing experience. We expect to see The Terrace make a mark as it stretches the home entertainment experience into the outdoor environment. 1 Apple’s new video content streaming service, launched in the first half of 2019, which provides access to a range of content including movies and TV series 2 A feature that allows music, videos, and images stored on an Apple device to be streamed or viewed on external devices View the full article

Galaxy Store sellers running user acquisition campaigns can see detailed user attribution reports within Galaxy Store Statistics. Our newest documentation details how these statistics are organized to allow you to see which campaigns are most effective. If you are using a third-party mobile management partner such as Appsflyer, Adjust, Branch, Kochava, or Singular, these tools are now integrated with Galaxy Store. Take control of your app's success and understand where users find your content. View the full blog at its source

Galaxy Store sellers running user acquisition campaigns can see detailed user attribution reports within Galaxy Store Statistics. Our newest documentation details how these statistics are organized to allow you to see which campaigns are most effective. If you are using a third-party mobile management partner such as Appsflyer, Adjust, Branch, Kochava, or Singular, these tools are now integrated with Galaxy Store. Take control of your app's success and understand where users find your content. View the full blog at its source

Looking to show off your design chops? You can now submit your portfolio to Samsung and apply to become a Galaxy Watch face or Galaxy Themes seller. The submission window is open August 12 - August 25. Galaxy Watch Check out our latest how-to blog and read up on the new process for watch face design reviews. Then head over to the submission page and complete your application. Galaxy Themes Watch the video below for an overview of the process and what you need to prepare. Then download the Themes Submission Starter Kit and let the creative juices flow. Once you've assembled everything, complete your application here. The application process is very selective, and only the best of the best are selected. Think you have what it takes? We can't wait to find out. Like the designs featured in the banner? You can check out Joe and Dog and many other designs on the Infinity Watchfaces website. View the full blog at its source

Looking to show off your design chops? You can now submit your portfolio to Samsung and apply to become a Galaxy Watch face or Galaxy Themes seller. The submission window is open August 12 - August 25. Galaxy Watch Check out our latest how-to blog and read up on the new process for watch face design reviews. Then head over to the submission page and complete your application. Galaxy Themes Watch the video below for an overview of the process and what you need to prepare. Then download the Themes Submission Starter Kit and let the creative juices flow. Once you've assembled everything, complete your application here. The application process is very selective, and only the best of the best are selected. Think you have what it takes? We can't wait to find out. Like the designs featured in the banner? You can check out Joe and Dog and many other designs on the Infinity Watchfaces website. View the full blog at its source

Start Date Aug 11, 2020 Location Online Continuing our webinar series for game developers, join this Samsung Developer Program online talk and learn how to integrate the Samsung In-App Purchase (IAP) SDK in your Unity games. The Galaxy Store is a premium store to make Galaxy phones come alive in their own, unique way. Discover how to use Samsung’s payment service that makes it possible to sell a variety of items in applications for the Galaxy Store. At the end of this talk you will have the knowledge to modify your Unity games and have a new way to monetize them, whether it is with one-off payments or subscriptions. Additionally, we will check the Samsung IAP Unity plugin’s methods and functionalities, facilitating a rapid integration with your existing games. View the full blog at its source

Start Date Aug 11, 2020 Location Online Continuing our gaming webinar series, join this Samsung Developer Program talk and learn how take integrate the Samsung IAP SDK in your Unity games. The Galaxy Store is a premium store to make Galaxy phones come alive in their own, unique way. Discover how to use Samsung’s payment service that makes it possible to sell a variety of items in applications for Samsung Galaxy Store. At the end of this talk you will have the knowledge to modify your Unity games and have a new way to monetize them, whether it is with one-off payments or subscriptions. Additionally, we will check the Samsung IAP Unity plugin’s methods and functionalities, facilitating a rapid integration with your existing games. View the full blog at its source