Backup calling, direct voicemail features in smartphones originated in India: Samsung official

New Delhi, Apr 17 (PTI) Key features like backup calling and direct voicemail in Samsung smartphones originated in India and have been adopted across devices globally, according to a top official from the Samsung Research Institute in Noida.

Samsung R&D Institute (SRI) Noida Managing Director Kyungyun Roo told reporters that their team in India has contributed heavily to adding advanced features, such as privacy display, Now Nudge, Now Brief, Call Screening and direct voicemail in the company’s latest flagship device Galaxy S26.

“The idea for backup calling came from India. You know, we always carry two SIM cards because in some places, one operator’s SIM may go out of network coverage, at other places, another one’s may go out of coverage.

“The backup calling solution actually came about from that concept. We proposed it to Suwon (R&D headquarters in South Korea), and they came back and said it’s a great idea. Now, it is part of every Samsung phone. This was initiated from India,” Roo said.

The backup calling feature uses the data service of the second SIM available in the smartphone to route the call.

Samsung launched the Galaxy S26 series smartphone in February, which is the company’s third AI smartphone.

Like its predecessor, the S26 series is also being manufactured by Samsung at its Noida plant in India.

“The last feature where we contributed is Direct Voicemail. This feature was developed based on feedback from Indian customers. We developed this one onto the A-series first, and it has expanded onto the flagship S-series also. Our application team collaborated with the Suwon office for this feature,” Roo said.

He said that the SRI Noida team worked closely with the Suwon R&D Centre to enable “Privacy Display” technology, which protects people around the Galaxy S26 from viewing the content on the screen.

SRI Noida worked on a call screening feature, which performs like a user’s personal assistant using AI. The technology allows users to answer, transcribe and filter calls.

Roo said that the SRI Noida team developed a one-stop creation and customisation of AI-based image creation for the creative studio. The app creates visuals using prompts, sketches, and some images.

He said that SRI Noida registers many IPs annually, which are mostly focused on the AI domain.

“For expertise build-up, we have trained all our employees in ML and AI. We also have an engineer exchange programme with Korea, through which some of our engineers go to Korea, and some of the Korean engineers come here. We collaborate closely as a global one team,” Roo said.

He said that SRI Noida also collaborates with top-tier universities like the IITs in India for technology development.

“We already have MoUs with six IITs. We have some collaborative projects and a higher education program. We are also collaborating closely with the top-tier startups in India for India-based service,” Roo said.