Smartphone makers are packing their latest devices with impressive new AI tools, such as real-time voice translation and advanced photo editing, in efforts to reignite consumer demand.
The trend was on display at the telecoms industry’s biggest annual trade show, the four-day Mobile World Congress (MWC) that kicked off Monday in Barcelona, where device makers focused on the unique AI features of their new flagship devices.
“Phones have just become boring, they’re not as exciting as they used to be. The changes from one model to another are not that great,” Ben Wood, chief researcher at CCS Insight, told AFP.
While cameras, battery life and displays are “slightly better” than before, companies need to add more “exciting” features to their products to encourage people to upgrade their phones, Wood added.
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“Artificial intelligence is one way to do that,” he said.
South Korean giant Samsung’s booth at MWC prominently links its new premium Galaxy S24 series with artificial intelligence, which allows users to make or receive a call in a language they don’t speak and then receive a live translation of the call as audio as well as the screen.
The feature can handle 13 languages, including French, Japanese and Hindi.
The new devices — launched in January — also include an AI-powered photo editor that lets you easily move and delete objects and people from photos, then create content to fill in the blanks that match the environment.
“It changes everything”
Smaller device makers are also betting big on artificial intelligence.
China’s Honor launched its new flagship Magic 6 Pro AI-powered smartphone in Barcelona, which features a camera with motion-sensing capabilities that can automatically detect and photograph fast-paced actions such as sports at the best moment.
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The device anticipates users’ needs to help them navigate apps more efficiently. For example, it can recognize an address in a text message to automatically direct you to a map app.
“Artificial intelligence is changing everything,” Honor CEO George Zhao said, adding that it “can make fantastic things happen.”
Smartphone makers are now able to offer these kinds of AI-powered features — often directly in the handset without resorting to more time-consuming and costly cloud computing — because the computing power of AI chips has grown significantly, analysts said .
“This could potentially be the beginning of a new era for smartphones,” said PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore, adding that the challenge for device makers will be to inform consumers about the new AI-powered tools.
“Articulating the benefits of AI and new features to users will not be an easy task. Not all users necessarily know about AI and will be skeptical at first,” he told AFP.
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Falling sales
The focus on artificial intelligence comes amid sluggish smartphone sales as consumers take longer to upgrade their devices due to a lack of major innovations, high inflation and economic uncertainties.
Global smartphone shipments fell 3.2% to 1.17 billion units in 2023, the second straight annual decline, according to consultancy IDC, which forecasts a marginal recovery this year.
AI-powered tools could also become a new revenue stream for device makers. Samsung has hinted that it may introduce more powerful AI features in the future for paid subscribers.
“The kind of value it adds doesn’t seem like enough to justify spending money on it. But Samsung has more of an eye on the future when AI goes to a whole different level of experience and becomes even more powerful than humans then.” . might be willing to pay for it,” Wood said.
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“Everyone wants to grow service revenue. Everyone looks at Apple, especially in the mobile phone business, and they’re so jealous that Apple can generate so much revenue from a service model,” he added.
Apple charges its iPhone users for a variety of services, including extra cloud storage, which has boosted its profits.
Source: AFP