Special feature for bike riders on new Samsung Galaxy J3

Samsung India Electronics on Thursday launched the Samsung Galaxy J3, a new phone featuring an industry-first special bike mode, especially designed to enable responsible and hassle-free riding. Upon activating the ‘S bike mode,’ the phone will allow one to notify callers while on the saddle, informed a press release. Priced at INR 8,990 the Samsung Galaxy J3, designed in India, is exclusively available on an e-commerce website.

All the user needs to do is to switch on the S bike mode of Galaxy J3 before setting off on the ride, and the dual-sim smart phone will automatically inform the caller that the user is currently riding a bike and is unable to take the call, added the release. The caller may choose to press 1 to express urgency to talk with the biker for which the biker will have to bring his bike to a halt in order to take the call.

The S bike mode also sports an intuitive user interface where users can see a log of call notifications while the mode is enabled. It also has a Smart Reply feature where selected contacts will receive an auto-SMS with an estimate of when the user is likely to be available for a call basis a trip destination entered by the user. 

Senior vice president of Samsung India Electronics, Asim Warsi pointed out the need for such a feature being the inspiration behind this innovation. “While studying the consumers’ phone usage behaviour, we realised that incoming calls are a major distraction to bikers. We are very happy that we have come up with something that will benefit millions of two-wheeler users and promote responsible riding,” he said.

The phone comes with features like a vivid display on a 5 inch HD super AMOLED screen and sophisticated imaging capabilities with high-res front and rear cameras. The phone is equipped with a 1.5 GHz Quad Core processor and 1.5 GB RAM for easy multi-tasking and fast speed.

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How it works

Step 1: Galaxy J3 has in-built NFC hardware and the device ships with an S bike mode NFC Tag. This tag can be affixed at a convenient place (eg. helmet or a fuel tank) and the user can gently tap the device on this tag to activate/deactivate the S bike mode. The user also has the option to use the quick panel to activate/deactivate this feature. 

Step 2: Urgent Call Alert System - All callers hear a pre-recorded message that informs callers that the Galaxy J3 user is riding a two-wheeler and is unable to take the call. The S bike mode user does not get any notification that there was an incoming call (to avoid distraction). In case the call is urgent, the caller may choose to press 1, which allows urgent calls to go through.

Step 3: Motion Lock - This feature ensures that if the S bike mode user decides to take the urgent incoming call, he will need to bring his bike to a halt to be able to answer the call. The phone will not allow the incoming call to get answered owing to motion lock. This safety feature is designed to encourage responsible riding.