What Is Samsung Flip? Galaxy S9 Maker Announces Interactive Board For Workplace

Samsung has announced the Samsung Flip, an interactive display tool for the workplace. The South Korean tech giant intends to replace traditional flip charts and analog boards with this new device that comes in handy when employees are organizing, facilitating and recapping meetings.

“These days, many companies are embracing open-plan office environments where meetings are more likely to occur spontaneously rather than being planned in designated rooms,” Principal designer of the UX Team of Samsung’s Visual Display Business Jeannie Kang said in a press release. “We wanted Samsung Flip to fulfill the need for a collaboration tool that could easily fit into today’s evolving workspace.”

Kang went on to say that they came up with the idea for Samsung Flip after a thorough analysis on what works and what’s needed in a collaborative environment like the office. “So, we spent a great deal of time studying users’ collaboration patterns at work, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of both digital and analog tools to determine the necessary functions of the product and cut out the rest.”

After spending three years collaborating with numerous experts from various fields, Samsung has finally created the product it believes can simply office meetings. The Galaxy S9 maker even says that Samsung Flip literally has the potential to “flip” the workplace into an entirely new space. And that’s because the device makes presentations and note-taking a breeze during meetings.

It’s worth noting though that Samsung created the Samsung Flip while envisioning an office tool that can be used during small-scale meetings like brainstorming sessions. “While presentations are usually given in mid- to large-sized meeting rooms, brainstorming often takes place in smaller spaces,” Hyunho Choi of Samsung’s Enterprise Product Planning Group explained. “We determined that 55 inches is the ideal size for a display being used in these more compact areas, which usually accommodate groups of five to 10 people.”

Samsung also saw to it that Samsung Flip can be configured to portrait or landscape orientations to match the needs of its users. The 55-inch display is attached to a movable stand, so it’s easy for users to move the device around as needed during meetings. There’s also what the company calls as Passive Pen, which replaces the traditional marker. Samsung says using the Pass Pen on the device’s ultra-high definition display feels like writing on actual paper.

Samsung designed Samsung Flip and Passive Pen to be the high-end replacements of the white board and marker setup in offices. The display has “exceptional pressure sensitivity,” so it can produce the right thickness of the lines based on the pressure users put while writing on it. The device’s UI features various marker and highlighter tools that users can select and use during their presentations for clarity and creativity purposes.

Users don’t need to worry about erasing sketches and notes on the Samsung Flip’s display. The device does not require a separate eraser. Human hands would do. Erasing is as easy as swiping the hand across the display. And because the interactive board continuously saves data when it is being used, users can easily retrieve erased information or retrieve content that they had mistakenly wiped off.

Samsung Flip has different connectivity options. Users can choose from USB, PC, mobile ports and wireless connectivity when they need to transfer the minutes of the meeting to another device. It also has screen-sharing functionality, so users can connect smartphones, tablets and PCs to the board during meetings. This way, everyone in the small group can view and follow what’s being written on the display real time.

Choi clarified that Samsung Flip isn’t just for displaying written ideas during meetings. It is more than that, for it can foster collaboration and cooperation among groups through its many other functions. “Samsung Flip isn’t just for displaying materials. You can write on the screen, connect it to a smartphone, run an app, capture that screen, add more content and save it,” Choi said.

There is no information about Samsung Flip’s official release date yet. When Samsung showcased the new device at CES 2018 earlier this month however, the company said that it is slated to become available in the U.S. and Europe markets later this month. Samsung also noted at the time that it is selling its digital whiteboard through online and brick-and-mortar furniture retailers, as well as traditional B2B display channels.