Samsung, Citrix turn Galaxy S8 into desktop environment via the Samsung DeX
Owners of the new S8 will be able to pop their phone into the Samsung DeX, a new docking station, for a desktop experience.
At Samsung Unpacked on Wednesday, Samsung and Citrix unveiled a joint collaboration that will enable customers to turn the Samsung Galaxy S8 into an enterprise-ready desktop environment.
samsung galaxy S8
Owners of the new S8 will be able to pop their phone into the Samsung DeX, a new docking station, for a desktop experience. By using Citrix Receiver to run virtualized applications, that experience can include enterprise apps that otherwise wouldn't run in an Android environment.
The Citrix Receiver is a small bit of client software that creates a connection to a server or cloud backend infrastructure and opens up a secure, encrypted channel. That allows Citrix to remotely project the screen of a running Windows application on an Android device.
Running the best desktop experience will of course depend on variables like the network and bandwidth, and whether a user's phone can connect with other devices like printers.
"We bring a lot of network optimization, device peripheral optimizations to the table, and that's one of the reasons Samsung wanted to partner with us on this product," Calvin Hsu, VP of product marketing at Citrix, told ZDNet.
As for the device itself, the DeX is "smartly designed," Hsu said, with features like a built-in fan -- and noise reduction capabilities that match the frequency of the fan. The DeX plugs into any display with an HDMI port.
Citrix anticipates a variety of enterprise use cases for the DeX, such as companies looking to transform their workplaces with "hot desking." It could also be used in professions that require a lot of mobility; insurance adjusters, for instance, could use the DeX to finish work started out in the field, assessing claims.
In addition to this application delivery capability, Citrix is helping Samsung provide mobile security and management, with XenMobile enterprise mobility management, XenApp and XenDesktop, and support for Secure Apps with Samsung Knox. Citrix XenMobile also supports new the Samsung capability called Enterprise Firmware-Over-The- Air (E-FOTA), which gives IT admins greater control over when devices get updated, as well as what version is updated.
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