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Korean tech giant Samsung is best known to US consumers for its Galaxy-branded Android phones, laptops, and televisions, but it’s looking to familiarize America with its broader range of products. Its latest round of new offerings includes a Galaxy-branded credit card and an AI overhaul for its personal health app.
As one of the Korean chaebols — mega-conglomerates — Samsung’s activities back home include far more than just consumer goods. It is, however, very tech-focused, operating in spaces like engineering and aerospace, as well as the home goods market.
Nonetheless, in the US, it’s the Galaxy brand that has the most resonance, and we’re likely to see its marketing efforts focus on expanding Americans’ understanding of what that means: the credit card, in particular, makes it clear that it’s no longer just about phones.
Samsung Health Assistant Now Open for Public Beta
Samsung started this latest push by launching its Health Assistant on July 21. It built this AI feature into the Samsung Health app and made it available as an opt-in beta to eligible US users. The company has not provided a timeline for a wider release.
The assistant looks at five categories that Samsung Health tracks daily: sleep, activity, mindfulness, vitals, and nutrition. The assistant explains how they interact, and users can receive recommendations based on their own data. It also works with Samsung’s daily readiness metric, Energy Score.
Samsung said that its own health knowledge base provides the recommendations and that physicians and certified health coaches have validated them. The company also made it very clear that Health Assistant does not provide medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment.
Samsung plans to add behavior-change coaching and weight-management services later. Both features will actively influence user behavior instead of only reporting on it.
In part, Samsung may be trying to keep pace with Google, which recently rebranded the Fitbit app as Google Health, while adding a similar AI-powered assistant.
Samsung’s Barclays Credit Card a US First
Samsung Electronics America and Barclays announced on July 20 that they would launch the Samsung Galaxy Card. The company is introducing its first credit card program in the US, with applications opening on July 22 for the general public.
The card has no annual fee and gives holders various rewards depending on the types of purchases they make.
Woncheol Chai, the head of Samsung’s Digital Wallet team, said the card forms part of the wallet ecosystem’s overall development and does not function as a standalone financial product. Barclays US Consumer Bank CEODenny Nealon described it as a way to meet customers directly inside Samsung Wallet.
Also in Consumer Tech News
Apple Upgrade Brings a Leasing Option for iOS and Mac Users
Apple will launch Apple Upgrade, a leasing program for most iPhone, Mac, iPad, and Apple Watch models, starting in the US on July 28, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Apple will make the program available both online and in US retail stores. Klarna will provide the financial backing, and approval will require a soft credit check.
The program will divide the device cost into equal monthly payments: 24 months for iPhone and Apple Watch, and 36 months for Mac and iPad. Customers who keep their payments current can upgrade to a new model after 12 payments, keep the device at the end of the term, or return it. The report mentioned certain exceptions, including the iPhone 16, MacBook Neo, and Apple Watch SE.
The new program may be just in time to soften the sticker shock for dismayed consumers. The announcement comes just a month after the latest round of Apple price hikes on hardware like iPads and Macs. Apple has said it can no longer absorb the rising cost of memory and storage chips, and must pass those costs on to consumers. So far, it has not adjusted iPhone and Apple Watch prices, but analysts expect new models arriving in September to cost more.
App-Controlled Insulin Pump Now Available to Medicare Recipients
In a bit of good news for US diabetes sufferers, MiniMed announced yesterday that its Flex system is now covered under Medicare. The device is roughly half the size of a typical insulin pump and pairs with an app for easy control.
It’s the company’s smallest unit and the only one with app-control functionality.
