Samsung Malaysia has literally launched a new promotion for the Galaxy S10 that features the flagship being sent very close to the first place that probably comes to mind upon hearing the word “galaxy.” Kicked off as part of the device’s launch, Samsung Malaysia strapped 10 of the tenth-anniversary devices to Samsung-branded weather balloons and set the smartphones up 80,000 feet to capture photographs at 4K at the edge of space.
The endeavor was intended to show off the durability and photographic capabilities of the newest Samsung Galaxy handsets, which survived the ascent and coming back down with no issues. Beyond that, according to Samsung Malaysia President Yoonsoo Kim, the launch was ‘a reflection of Samsung Malaysia’s vision in Samsung’, embodied with the associated hashtag “#S10BeUnBeaten.”
The contest associated with the promotion – pitting viewers against one another to guess where the smartphones would come down – has already ended but the resulting images are stunning in their own right and well worth a look.
A device 10 years in the making
Specifically, the device sent to the edge of the atmosphere by Samsung Malaysia is the new Samsung Galaxy S10 – as opposed to the Galaxy S10e or Galaxy S10+. Announced just ahead of MWC in Barcelona, the Samsung Galaxy S10 represents a middle of the road flagship offering from among what could easily be the best devices to land in 2019.
Like its promotional celebration, the handset takes the long-standing top-tier series to a completely different level from previous devices.
Starting at $899.99 in the US, the Samsung Galaxy S10 features a number of firsts including the world’s first Infinity O display panel with a single cutout holding the forward-facing 10-megapixel f/1.9 aperture camera. An ultrasonic fingerprint scanner is found underneath the 6.1-inch edge display on the Samsung Galaxy S10 too. The panel is a QHD+ AMOLED screen with a pixel density of 550ppi.
Internally, a Snapdragon 855 SoC or in-house Exynos 9820 drives the package — depending on the sales region — backed up by either 128GB or 512GB of storage expandable by a further 512GB via microSD card, 8GB RAM, and a 3,400mAh battery.
For the purposes of the photoshoot portrayed in the Samsung Malaysia promotion, the triple-rear camera is far more pertinent. That array is comprised of a 12-megapixel lens with a variable aperture set from f/1.5 to f/2.4. A 16-megapixel (f/2.2) ultra-wide-angle snapper capable of capturing a field of view of up to 123-degrees is set up next to that as well as a 12-megapixel telephoto lens (f/2.4) for up to two-times the zoom.
That’s backed by a suite of intelligent algorithms to ensure the best shot possible across as many as 30 different scenes with local tone mapping for optimized color accuracy.
Malaysia’s first phone in space?
Setting aside the achievement represented by Samsung’s latest smartphones and the photos snapped as part of the promotion, the space Samsung Malaysia launch may also be a noteworthy achievement for the country itself. According to the associated video, the event marks the first time any phone – Android, Samsung, or otherwise – has been launched into space from the region.