Samsung goes with the Flow

Announced at its annual developer conference, which is currently underway in San Francisco, Flow is a new feature that will soon let users start a task on one device and complete it seamlessly on another.

Announced at its annual developer conference, which is currently underway in San Francisco, Flow is a new feature that will soon let users start a task on one device and complete it seamlessly on another.

One of the standout features of Apple's latest desktop operating system, OSX Yosemite, is something called Continuity. It lets users transfer work, projects or even just text messages and voice calls, between the desktop the iPhone and the iPad.

Flow offers the same seamless transfer but takes things a step further by adding devices like a Samsung TV into the mix so that it becomes a 70-inch widescreen videophone.

Flow consists of three components: Transfer, Defer and Notify. As its name suggests, Transfer allows you to move a file or a task from one device to another -- think photos, videos, webpages and documents.

Defer lets you put jobs on hold, then pick them up again on a different device and find them in exactly the same state. This would be great for trying to get projects finished at work but Samsung also points out that it can be used for fun too.

For example watching a film on a tablet on the way home from work then getting home, turning on the TV and picking up the action at the exact point where you left off.
Notify will push alerts to any screen be it the aforementioned TV or a smartwatch and can be used for checking the status of different devices. For example, you can check via a tablet if your smartphone needs charging.

However, don't expect Samsung Flow to appear in the Samsung app store or appear in the TouchWizz operating system before 2015. Samsung has only this week released the technology to developers who will work the various features into their apps in the coming months.