Android By Russell Holly Feb. 25, 2014 2:01 pm
If you’ve been using Samsung phones and tablets for a little while now, you might notice something missing from the Galaxy S5. The Media Hubs, which Samsung has used to sell music, movies, and books on their devices for years has been completely removed.
As the most successful Android OEM out there, Samsung has had more time than most to experiment with additional revenue models for their devices. One of them has been around since the original Galaxy Tab, but you won’t find it on the new Galaxy S5 flagship. The Media Hub, which has grown into a digital store for movies, music, and books is not only gone from Samsung’s list of pre-installed apps, but the services aren’t anywhere to be found in the Samsung App Store to be installed later. The reason Samsung pulled the plug on this service is clear, and it’s not because it wasn’t successful: Google told them to. There’s a good chance that the S5 won’t be the only device this year to be found lacking these Samsung services.
It’s no secret that Google has a fairly tight grip on the way certain parts of devices that are GMS certified look. If you want Google’s apps on your device, there’s a few rules you need to follow. Some of those rules include the placement of the Google Play Store and Search box, while others discourage actively competing with Google when in certain aspects. This clearly hasn’t stopped Samsung from making their phones unique and iconic, in fact you can usually spot a TouchWiz phone from across the room if you’re a proud owner of eyeballs. However, it’s an absolute truth that Samsung’s Media Hubs are competing directly with the Google Play Store when it comes to digital entertainment.*As part of a long term agreement, Google and Samsung agreed to patent cross-licensing and a modification of how Samsung handled their user experience.
There’s no guarantee that Samsung will eliminate the Media Hubs altogether. The service is still completely active on other devices, and the website for this combination of services is still running and there’s no sign that it is going away anytime soon. It may even come back in future devices if Google and Samsung adjust their agreement. For now, however, the Media Hubs are gone and there’s currently no clear way for users who already have a library of content on those services to easily access them on the Galaxy S5.
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As the most successful Android OEM out there, Samsung has had more time than most to experiment with additional revenue models for their devices. One of them has been around since the original Galaxy Tab, but you won’t find it on the new Galaxy S5 flagship. The Media Hub, which has grown into a digital store for movies, music, and books is not only gone from Samsung’s list of pre-installed apps, but the services aren’t anywhere to be found in the Samsung App Store to be installed later. The reason Samsung pulled the plug on this service is clear, and it’s not because it wasn’t successful: Google told them to. There’s a good chance that the S5 won’t be the only device this year to be found lacking these Samsung services.
It’s no secret that Google has a fairly tight grip on the way certain parts of devices that are GMS certified look. If you want Google’s apps on your device, there’s a few rules you need to follow. Some of those rules include the placement of the Google Play Store and Search box, while others discourage actively competing with Google when in certain aspects. This clearly hasn’t stopped Samsung from making their phones unique and iconic, in fact you can usually spot a TouchWiz phone from across the room if you’re a proud owner of eyeballs. However, it’s an absolute truth that Samsung’s Media Hubs are competing directly with the Google Play Store when it comes to digital entertainment.*As part of a long term agreement, Google and Samsung agreed to patent cross-licensing and a modification of how Samsung handled their user experience.
There’s no guarantee that Samsung will eliminate the Media Hubs altogether. The service is still completely active on other devices, and the website for this combination of services is still running and there’s no sign that it is going away anytime soon. It may even come back in future devices if Google and Samsung adjust their agreement. For now, however, the Media Hubs are gone and there’s currently no clear way for users who already have a library of content on those services to easily access them on the Galaxy S5.
More...
