The upcoming new foldable display from Samsung, reportedly called Galaxy Z Flip, may be launching soon and because of its form factor, there are rumors that the Korean OEM will be adding a new feature to it after launch: a native video chat service supported by the Android system. In fact, talks between Samsung, Google, and Korean mobile carrier SK Telecom are supposedly ongoing to bring this to all its upcoming smartphones, including the aforementioned clamshell device and the flagship Galaxy S20.
According to the Korea Herald, the three companies are talking about bringing this video messaging service to the devices that are supposed to launch next month. They may also be linking the current video chat service Google Duo to the rich communication services that are already available in current flagship devices including the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy S10 series. The planned video chat service “would advance cross-device messaging services.”
This would be applicable for videos that are less than 5MB and will be free of data charge, which is good news for those running on a limited amount of data per month. It will also be a native competitor for other over-the-top messaging services like WhatsApp, Viber, Kakao, etc. It will be a good addition to the current default messaging service of Samsung without having to download a separate app or pay extra data charges.
Connecting RCS with Google Duo will support the current trend of video chatting which some prefer over actual video phone calls. And with the form factor of the reported Galaxy Z Flip, this will be pretty handy as you can use the upper part for the video chat while still be able to do other things if you need to multitask. The question would be if this would be a Korea-only feature or if they will eventually be able to adapt it to other markets as well.
The Galaxy Z Flip or whatever it will be called and the Galaxy S20 are expected to be launched this February 11. We might find out more about this video chat service upon launch or later on when they start selling the devices.