Samsung’s free, ad-supported streaming service is headed to some phones. The Samsung TV Plus mobile app will launch Wednesday in the Galaxy Store and on Google Play and work with Galaxy Note 20, Note 10, S20 and S10 series phones, the tech giant said Tuesday. The streaming service was previously only available on some Samsung TVs.
Samsung TV Plus offers free shows and movies from 135 channels, including Bloomberg TV+ UHD, Kitchen Nightmares, Baywatch and PlayersTV. The ad-supported service is already integrated with 2016-2020 Samsung Smart TVs and offers “hundreds of hours of binge-worthy shows and award-winning movies,” the company said.
Samsung has been trying to make inroads into streaming media for the better part of the past decade. It’s part of the company’s efforts to distinguish its devices from all of the other Android phones on the market by introducing unique software and services. But Samsung’s had more flops than successes, launching services only to scrap them a few months or years later. For one example, Samsung introduced its Milk Music service only to shutter it two years later. And instead of using its homegrown Tizen operating system in its high-end smartphones, Samsung has relegated the software to wearables and other products and continues to rely on Google’s Android software to power its smartphones and tablets.
When it comes to streaming video, Samsung faces a crowded field. In the US, Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime have garnered the most users, while Apple, Quibi and companies like Viacom CBS (CNET’s parent company) have introduced services of their own. The companies are all seeking to nab a bigger piece of consumer spending dollars. Samsung TV Plus offers free entertainment for people who own its devices.
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