IoT Infrastruture
Samsung Electronics is reportedly gearing up to unveil a new mobile cloud service called Samsung Artik. Samsung's strategy seems to showcase its Internet of Things (IoT) based cloud platform aimed at connecting all kinds of terminals that the company makes.
According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office on May 5, Samsung filed a trademark application for a cloud service called Samsung Artik (serial no. 86610549) on April 27. The submitted document said that the application is for a cloud computing system to connect, manage, and operate devices, in addition to M2M communication. The name Artik appears to be made by abbreviating and modifying the word “articulate.”
The industry is putting more weight on the possibility that Samsung's new mobile cloud service is for consumers rather than corporations on the grounds that the tech giant is pursuing an IoT system. In 2013, Samsung was planned to unveil its mobile cloud service named S Cloud in which large-scale investments had been made from 2011. However, the related project was suddenly suspended without any explanation.
An industry source close to the matter remarked, “Currently, Samsung is using at least three data centers of Amazon Web Services in London, Singapore, and Japan.” The source added, “The company apparently intends to enlarge data centers by negotiating with Microsoft and Oracle. Samsung's move is closely related to its ongoing mobile cloud business.”
Samsung's mobile cloud business differs from services that Apple or Google provides. Similar to S Cloud, Samsung Artik is also aimed at enabling various products such as smart electronics, cars, and other consumer products to communicate with each other, in addition to mobile devices. Software capable of storing and analyzing data in the IoT system is expected to be introduced as well. All of which indicate that the Korean tech giant has the ambition to provide a convergence platform for all kinds of electronic devices.
Samsung's recent move associated with the cloud business that started last year supports the idea. After acquiring Canada-based mobile printing solution provider PrinterOn in Sept. 2014, Samsung has been seeking a partnership with renowned cloud company VMware. In the case of the Galaxy S6, Windows Live is already used to enlarge the cloud storage space to the highest level in the industry.