Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest smartphone maker by sales, has announced that it will collaborate with Google to offer improved mobile messaging services.
 
The joint project is aimed at enabling, through what is called a rich communication services protocol, smartphone users to group chat, send messages over Wi-Fi, and exchange large media files across platforms without the need of an additional app or account.
 
“At Samsung, we adhere to a model of open collaboration to bring premium experiences to our customers across products,” said Patrick Chomet, executive vice president of Samsung’s mobile communications business in a press release.
 
“By furthering our robust partnership with Google, we will bring a richer messaging experience to our customers, letting them seamlessly chat with their friends and family across messaging platforms.”
 
The RCS protocol was developed more than a decade ago in a bid to make up for the shortcomings of SMS, but its use has been limited partly due to the popularity of existing mobile messenger apps, like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Apple’s iMessage.
 
Google and Samsung had previously rolled out their own RCS-based solutions, but the messaging services fell way short of joining the mainstream.
 
Starting with Galaxy S8 and S8+, Samsung plans to incorporate the RCS features in its flagship smartphones, including those in the pipeline.