In its continuing efforts to differentiate itself from Google and other Android device manufacturers, Samsung is re-branding its existing App Store. In a blog post announcing the change, Samsung said:
Samsung Electronics launched Samsung Galaxy Apps, an app store that offers hundreds of apps exclusively available to users of Samsung Galaxy mobile devices. An improvement upon its predecessor, Samsung Apps, the new app store features apps that will allow greater customization of mobile devices and will also function as a platform to offer various promotions and discounts.Now called Galaxy Apps to capitalize on the success and brand recognition of the Galaxy product lines, the store is similar in overall design to others. You can browse by category of application (Games, Productivitity, etc.), by device (S5, Note 3....) or by broad categories such as "Staff Picks," "Hot & New," and "Today's Deal."There are also three categories of "Exclusives" (Galaxy Essentials, Apps for Professionals and Galaxy Spoecials), but we have yet to figure out what is exclusive about most of the apps in these categories. While there are some Samsung specific apps here, most are also available in Google's Play Store. Samsung says the Galaxy Specials are created using Samsung APIs, but it's hard to see what actual benefit there is to using the Samsung Special version of an app as opposed to the regular Play Store version.The Galaxy Apps store joins other Samsung services which appear to duplicate other offerings, such as Milk Music and Kindle for Samsung, as well as apps like Music Player and S-Voice which go up against Google's own built-in offerings. Samsung apparently views offering its own services, apps, and even the OS (see Tizen) as a way to stand apart from other OEMs using Google services. As WonPyo Hong, President of Samsung's Media Solution Center at Samsung Electronics said about this announcement:
At Samsung, we continuously strive to create value for our customers by providing differentiated solutions and services coupled with innovative devices. Samsung Galaxy Apps is an extension of that promise, as it offers our customers exclusive apps to enrich their experience.We're not sure this offers a huge advantage over Google's Play Store, but it can't hurt to check it out if you own a Samsung device. You might find just what you're looking for.[symple_button url="http://apps.samsung.com" color="blue" size="default" border_radius="3px" target="self" rel="" icon_left="" icon_right=""]Galaxy Apps[/symple_button]