What you need to know
- Samsung has unveiled the Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro, its new $499 rugged smartphone, featuring a removable battery, and dual programmable keys.
- Microsoft has partnered with Samsung, bringing native push-to-talk via the Walkie Talkie feature for Microsoft Teams.
- Microsoft announced Walkie Talkie support for Microsoft Teams last week as an upcoming feature.
Samsung has unveiled the Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro, a new rugged $499 smartphone, packing mid-range hardware, and the oft-overlooked removable battery. Targeting the enterprise sector, the device obtains a sleek but hard-wearing exterior, primed for retail, manufacturing, and other roles out in the field.
The focus of the Galaxy XCover Pro lies with durability, embracing a rugged 6.3-inch design, certified for IP68 water and dust resistance, and capable of withstanding drops up to 1.5 meters. The 4,050mAh battery also provides a sizeable backup for all-day usage, among the few smartphone batteries hot-swappable on the fly.
Various enterprise-primed features accompany the Galaxy XCover Pro, including Samsung's point-of-sale solution, and the Samsung Knox security platform. The device is also lined with two programmable keys, with Redmond partnering with Samsung to integrate Microsoft Teams at launch. That provides a streamlined push-to-talk solution, using the recently-unveiled Walkie Talkie feature.
"Microsoft and Samsung have a deep history of bringing together the best hardware and software to help solve our customers' challenges," said Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, alongside the Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro announcement. "The powerful combination of Microsoft Teams and the new Galaxy XCover Pro builds on this partnership and will provide firstline workers everywhere with the technology they need to be more collaborative, productive and secure."
The Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro hits the U.S. in the first half of 2020, priced at $499.
