Samsung Aims To One-Up Apple With Galaxy-Exclusive Video Service App

Samsung hopes to convince holiday shoppers its smartphones and tablets have more to offer than Apple’s. The South Korean tech giant has launched the short-form Milk Video service only available on its Galaxy devices.

Samsung’s Milk service was created exclusively for mobile platforms, so you won’t find it on your desktop, laptop, gaming consoles, or connected TV. The video app will show trending videos and recommend personalized suggestions based on its users’ viewing, sharing, and following behaviors. Milk will only be available in the U.S. at its launch, but could expand to other countries in the future.

Part of the tech company’s goal with the app’s release (in addition to providing more bang for consumers’ buck than Apple) is to give its mobile customers one video destination instead of having to search across multiple apps for their entertainment. “There wasn’t (one) single place to go to find video that was fun to discover,” said Kevin Swint, Samsung’s VP of Content and Services, to Variety. “We hope to guide users to the best online video content out there.” Swint should know what he’s talking about, as he used to work for Apple itself as its director of iTunes movies stores.

Milk boasts 18 content partners who have signed with Samsung to distribute their content via the app. The entertainment companies include Condé Nast Entertainment, Maker Studios, Funny or Die, Vevo, Red Bull, Vice, Fandango, AwesomenessTV, BuzzFeed, Cracked, College Humor, Artists Den, @Hollywood, DanceOn, Machinima, Refinery29, TasteMade, and The Onion. It will also include videos from publicly-available sites like YouTube.

“We’re partnering with some of the best brands in new media to deliver great content across our consumers’ passion points: music, comedy, lifestyle and entertainment,” said John Pleasants

, EVP of Samsung Media Solutions Center America, to Variety.

Some of that great content will be new and exclusive. Funny or Die will debut two series in 2015 on Milk Video called The Q and Dumb Gentleman’s Handbook. Also set for release next year are clips from Red Bull’s Signature Series sporting events, as well as a yet-undefined weekly series from Vice.

And if consumers are still wavering between getting a Galaxy device vs. an Apple one (despite the iPhone 6’s reputation for bending), the South Korean electronics company threw in a couple of bonuses to sweeten the deal. While Milk Video is only available on Galaxy devices, users will still be able to share videos to Facebook, Twitter, or email. Additionally, Samsung will hold back on running ads on Milk’s licensed content (syndicated content will still show ads).

“It goes back to the goal of adding value to owning a Samsung device,” Swint said. And value seems to be Samsung’s latest strategy to improve its revenue. The company’s latest versions of their Galaxy phones have been directly competing with (and losing to) Apple’s similarly-sized iPhone 6 and 6+ devices without offering any sort of noticeable increase in quality or value. Milk Video could be one way they’re trying to remedy that problem.

Milk Video is available on Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy Note Edge, Galaxy Mega, Galaxy S III, Galaxy S 4, Galaxy S 4 mini, Galaxy S III mini and Galaxy S 5. If you own one of these (or plan to by the time the holidays are over), you can download the Milk app from Google Play.