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Samsung SideSync: A better way to sync (and share!) Android to your Ativ PC for FREE

Back when I was building my own PC’s, one of the biggest reasons why I chose to do configure my own hardware and install a fresh non-OEM copy of Windows was that if I bought a branded PC, there was sure to be bloatware installed. Bloatware: the software that came with a branded PC adding custom UI’s and other features that were redundant to Windows. It was a way for manufacturers to differentiate themselves from the rest but the irony was everyone had their own version of bloat and this significantly slowed down Windows. Which is one of the reasons why in this new Windows 8 era, Microsoft had decided to release its own Surface hardware.

Committing to a brand of hardware — whether it be a phone or laptop — became a form factor and price issue. If you think about it, most computers today have the same hardware installed beneath the hood and at ceteris paribus, what makes one stand out from the other is the marketing budget. Which brings me to the point of all this: Samsung has finally given people a reason to stay within their eco-system by introducing exclusive software that’s definitely not bloat.

samsung sidesync

When you plug in a Samsung Android device into a Samsung Ativ PC / ultrabook you will have the option to use SideSync, a new synchronization software that’s exclusive to the Samsung ecosystem. Essentially it’s a better synchronization program that allows you to:

(1) drag and drop files from Windows to Android and vice versa
(2) control your Android device from your keyboard (and touchscreen Ativ)
(3) use your monitor as a second screen (your mouse can hover onto the smartphone as well)

This basically allows you to:

(1) move files in real time without having to press a sync button
(2) send SMS using a keyboard
(3) view documents on a bigger screen without having to move files from the phone
(4) simulate the entire Android experience on your desktop w/ your phone

SideSync Compatibility:
PC : Samsung ATIV PCs (ATIV TAB/ATIV BOOK/ATIV ONE)
Phone : Samsung Android Phone or Tablet (Jelly Bean OS and above)
Camera : Samsung Galaxy Camera

Check out another demo I took here:

You can find more details on SideSync with this link. Remember, it’s free to download, if not already installed on your Ativ device. To download the software, proceed here via your mobile device or simply search for SideSync on the Samsung App Store (not Google Play store).

The move to bridge the gap between Android and PC is an aggressive one, as Samsung aims to give consumers an ubiquitous choice with operating systems as they introduce their own custom processor technology, the S Quad Core (an AMD partnership), which will make its way to the Philippines through the Ativ Book 9 Lite which will retail in the Philippines for PHP 29,999.

By Jayvee Fernandez

Jayvee Fernandez is a tech enthusiast and sitting Techbology Editor for The Philippine STAR.

He is also an EAN certified SCUBA Diver and underwater photographer based in Metro Manila, Philippines. His photos and videos have appeared in various international and local publications including Random House Germany, Discovery Channel Canada, and CNN.

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