A blockchain battle seems to be brewing in South Korea between two of the world’s most recognizable electronics giants, Samsung and LG.
That is, insofar as both enterprises — which are direct competitors across several arenas — have respectively made new advances toward blockchain technology and the cryptoeconomy.
For its part, Samsung has consolidated its blockchain work by releasing a development kit to help developers build on Ethereum more easily.
And LG currently has a subsidiary working on a supply chain platform powered by the company’s Monachain blockchain while its main arm seems keen on catching up with Samsung’s recent crypto-friendly smartphone — at least if a new patent filing is any indication.
Build a Dapp Using a Samsung SDK
The latest Samsung stir? The cryptoverse has started catching up with the fact the company, which made waves earlier this year for putting an in-built cryptocurrency wallet in its flagship Galaxy S10 smartphone, published a beta version of its Samsung Blockchain SDK last week.
Samsung has released a Blockchain SDK for Ethereum. https://t.co/Wa2R1p44qT
— christoph.burgdorf.eth ???????????? (@cburgdorf) July 9, 2019
The SDK, or software development kit, is based on Ethereum and can be found on the Samsung Developers portal site. It’s designed to help builders create decentralized applications (dapps) that can, among other things, leverage the Samsung KeyStore — the Galaxy S10’s secure private key management app.
As the kit’s overview explains:
“The SDK helps developers to manage blockchain accounts easily […] The SDK offers a payment gateway for cryptocurrency remittance with its UI. To use this payment solution, DApp needs a keystore. With this, Samsung Blockchain SDK links users not only to the Samsung KeyStore but also to any external cold wallets as well.”
For now, usage of the kit is restricted to a selection of devices, specifically the “Galaxy S10e, S10, S10+, S10 5G and the Galaxy Fold” models, as well as to developers in Canada, South Korea, and the United States.
Moreover, Ethereum is the only supported blockchain at this time. It’s an interesting dynamic that meshes with the company’s decision to launch the S10 with a wallet app that exclusively supported Ethereum and ERC20 tokens — Bitcoin support being the notable omission.
The release of the SDK arrives on the heels of reporting from April that pegged Samsung as being interested in issuing a token, tentatively dubbed by an anonymous company insider familiar with the matter as “Samsung Coin.”
At the time, that same insider said the company was working on an Ethereum-like platform, though it wasn’t immediately clear if the person was referring to an Ethereum spinoff. The source said the platform would likely be a “combination of public and private blockchains.”
LG Eyes Blockchain Logistics and a Crypto Wallet Trademark
On July 9th, trade publication ZDNet reported that LG subsidiary LG CNS would be collaborating with South Korean infotech company SayIT to create a food logistics platform for the domestic school lunch industry.
The platform will be underpinned by LG’s Monachain, which was released last spring. The idea of the system is to give students’ parents the ability to audit the quality of the food their children receive at school.
Zooming out, LG apparently has its eyes on manufacturing a crypto-friendly smartphone, too.
That’s inferred from a trademark application filed by LG Electronics Inc. on July 2nd for a “ThinQ” service that would, in part, be a cryptocurrency wallet and facilitate the “Issuance of cyber money.”
Of course, the patent could be a defensive one, but if LG does end up capitalizing on it, any ensuing phone that hosted the ThinQ would immediately become a competitor to Samsung’s and HTC’s pro-crypto smartphones.
