Microsoft Partners with Samsung on Foldable-Aware Apps

Samsung today announced two new foldable smartphones, and they include updated Microsoft apps tailored for those unique experiences.

“At its latest Unpacked event, Samsung announced two new smartphones: the Galaxy Z Fold3 5G and Galaxy Z Flip3 5G,” Microsoft’s Athima Chansanchai writes. “The company’s partnership with Microsoft, which delivers a seamless bridge between Windows PC and mobile devices, has also expanded to further integrate Microsoft Office, Teams and Outlook into the smartphone experience.”

Windows Intelligence In Your Inbox

Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday — and get free copies of Paul Thurrott's Windows 11 and Windows 10 Field Guides (normally $9.99) as a special welcome gift!

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

The new Samsung foldables are not inexpensive: The Galaxy Z Flip3 starts at $999 while the Galaxy Z Fold3 starts at an incredible $1799. But Microsoft users who purchase one of these devices are in for some treats, of sorts.

On both devices, you can use Teams to display a PowerPoint presentation on one side of the folded display and the faces of your co-workers on the other. Teams also let you bring up Whiteboard and draw what you’re discussing using an S Pen. Microsoft Outlook supports a new dual-pane mode that lets you read an email on one side while previewing others on the other side.

You can also use Multi-Active windows to run multiple apps side-by-side. “For example, you can open Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint and easily drag and drop a table right into your presentation, [or] even run two instances of the same app,” Samsung’s Patrick Chomet says.

Good stuff.

Tagged with

Share post

Please check our Community Guidelines before commenting

Conversation 9 comments

  • igor engelen

    11 August, 2021 - 1:51 pm

    <p>I wonder if this is will remain Samsung only or go back to Android too in some form.</p>

  • wunderbar

    Premium Member
    11 August, 2021 - 1:53 pm

    <p>What’s the news here? Android apps that supported multi-tasking already worked in the dual app view on the Fold 2 (and other samsung phones)</p><p><br></p><p>And the "dual pane" mode is just…. tablet mode.</p>

  • sofan

    11 August, 2021 - 2:25 pm

    <p>Two weak tech companies are partnering on google platform??</p>

    • darkgrayknight

      Premium Member
      11 August, 2021 - 5:42 pm

      <p>I’m not sure where you get "weak tech" being a descriptor for Samsung or Microsoft and if two non-Google companies are partnering to implement things missing on Google’s platform, "weak tech" describes Google’s platform more than those writing on top of it.</p>

  • jgraebner

    Premium Member
    11 August, 2021 - 2:59 pm

    <p>I admit it. I’m a gadget addict. 🙂 I just pre-ordered a Galaxy Z Fold 3. </p><p><br></p><p>The offer was kind of hard to resist. I have a Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and they were offering $850 for the trade-in. They also gave me another $50 in trade for a really ancient Samsung tablet that has been collecting dust on a shelf for a couple years, plus a $200 accessory credit (that I applied towards the new watch) and a year of free Samsung Care+. I’ve lusted after the folding phone concept from the beginning and third generation is usually the point where it is reasonably safe to jump into something like this.</p>

    • ronh

      Premium Member
      11 August, 2021 - 4:27 pm

      <p>Can’t lose when Samsung sweetens the pot.</p>

    • JE

      11 August, 2021 - 5:36 pm

      <p>Good man. Follow your heart and be proud.</p>

    • dstrauss

      18 August, 2021 - 2:06 pm

      <p>Same here, but coming from an iPhone 11 Pro (only $600) but all the rest of the goodies, as long as I added the Watch4 Classic to the basket first so I could get max trade-in on my Apple Watch 6. Still a huge price purchase, but this may be the first time I’ll succeed leaving the Walled Garden. That is a tall order for an iPhone user since 2007. They had me though when I saw a demo of cut and paste between a table in Excel and a PowerPointless presentation (in landscape mode). That, and a Kindle book looked almost exactly the same size as on my wife’s iPad Mini 5.</p>

  • bats

    12 August, 2021 - 10:04 am

    <p>I don’t know if this is going to work. The faces on one side is one thing, but a powerpoint presentation on the other side? The information is going to be small, for the Host. It’s hard to imagine a virtual meeting where the presenter is presenting on a screen less than 8 inches. Perhaps, if one of the participants is mobile and has to, just has to, share his document (on his Android device) and relinquishes control to the host, who is on a bigger computer…..yeah, I can see that. </p>

Windows Intelligence In Your Inbox

Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Thurrott © 2024 Thurrott LLC