The Samsung Galaxy S8's near bezel-free curved edge display, encrypted facial recognition system, and physical button-free front face are the features that may be grabbing the initial headlines, but perhaps the smartest feature of Samsung's latest flagship phone is its ability to work as a desktop PC.
The Samsung DeX Station is a curved smartphone cradle-cum-dock. When you drop your shiny new handset in it and connect the dock to a monitor, keyboard and mouse, the phone becomes a secure Android-based desktop. With the DeX and the Galaxy S8 together, Samsung is essentially putting a Chromebook in your pocket.
"We developed Samsung DeX with the highly mobile worker in mind," said Injong Rhee, CTO of the Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics. "The smartphone has become the central point for the modern mobile professionals, and when giving a presentation or editing documents at a remote place, it means they can work effectively using one device."
The dock is also quite a smart piece of kit in its own right. It has an integrated cooling fan, features two USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet; and doubles as a fast charger.
And if the idea of turning a smartphone into a de-facto desktop sounds familiar, it's most likely because it was the standout feature of Microsoft's Lumia range of smartphones, which may have come to market far too late to challenge the iOS-Android duopoly, but when they did arrive, came with a host of productivity-focused innovations.
Therefore, it's good news that Samsung has worked with Microsoft to develop this new feature so that the Office suite of applications are optimised.
And because many people that require enhanced productivity features work in the creative industries, Samsung has also turned to Adobe to ensure that users can just as easily work on retouching images as they can editing a spreadsheet.
"Our collaboration with key partners such as Microsoft and Adobe was essential in the development of Samsung DeX, as they share our vision for building excellence in mobile productivity," said Rhee.
The Samsung Dex Station will go on sale alongside the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ in April and will be offered as both a bundle or a standalone device.
