You probably can't remember the last time you picked up a printed copy of a phonebook from Whitepages. The company still exists, though, and its database of phone numbers will be built into the new Samsung Galaxy S7. Even if you don't have a phone number in your contacts, the GS7 might be able to tell you who's on the other end before you pick up thanks to this feature.
When a call comes in, the Whitepages database will attempt to provide you with a name for the caller. This is a feature that some phones get via the Google dialer, but Samsung uses its own dialer app. I can't speak to how accurate Whitepages' data is these days, but I suppose it's better than nothing. In the event the number is considered spam or a potential scam, you'll see a warning so you can ignore or block the number. Should you encounter a spam caller that's not listed as such, you can report the number to Whitepages. This will help warn others who receive calls from that number and keep Whitepages' data up to date (I'm sure they'll be happy about that).
In addition to the incoming call features, you will also be able to search local businesses from the dialer using the Whitepages database. The Whitepages integration won't be available everywhere, though. Whitepages didn't list the specific countries. All we know is there will be 16 of them across North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
PRESS RELEASE
Whitepages Partners with Samsung to Bring its Leading Caller Identification and Spam Detection Service to the Galaxy S7
Mobile Data Leader Expands Globally Across Five Continents
SEATTLE and BARCELONA--(February 21, 2016)—Whitepages, the leading source for caller identification and phone spam detection services in North America, today announced a partnership with Samsung that will provide Galaxy S7 users with a seamless experience that helps to identify unknown callers and also protects them against the increased threat of phone spam and scams. The new service will be available for Galaxy S7 users in 16 countries across North America, South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East, providing an overall better phone experience that includes:
· Caller Identification: By leveraging Whitepages’ proprietary data set that includes more than 600 million active mobile and landline phone numbers in the US and over 1.5 billion unique numbers globally, users will be able to make informed decisions about whether or not to answer an incoming call.
· Spam and Scam Detection: With Whitepages’ state of the art phone reputation service, users will have much needed context for unsolicited spam and scam calls, giving them peace of mind when answering or ignoring a call. The service also includes a spam button for users to easily report spam numbers which will in turn, help other users from falling victim to fraudulent calls.
· Nearby Business Search: Powered by a global database of local business information, users will be able to search directly within the native dialer to easily find nearby businesses for any and all of life’s purchases and curiosities.
With this partnership, Samsung will provide a better phone experience that not only identifies unknown calls, but protects Galaxy S7 users from phone spam and scams. The issue of caller identification has come to the fore in recent years as phone scam and text spam has significantly increased due to a lack of filtering at the carrier level and a rise in automated VoiP /OTT platforms that have driven the cost of communication down to fractions of a cent. Of the 300 MM incoming calls that Whitepages scans per month in the US, more than 15 MM are classified as “unwanted”. In addition, in December, Whitepages released its annual “State of the Unwanted Call” report which revealed a 35 percent growth in spam and scam calls in 2015, as compared to 2014.
“We are pleased to work with Samsung on one of the great issues currently impacting mobile users worldwide,” said Alex Algard, Founder and CEO of Whitepages. “Ensuring phone safety through user-friendly services is what we do at Whitepages. We are happy to have worked with Samsung on the Galaxy S7 to provide their users with the greatest phone experience possible and further grow our footprint in the international arena.”
With this partnership, Samsung joins the ranks of T-Mobile which announced a partnership with Whitepages last year to bring the company’s caller identification and spam/scam protection app, Name ID, to T-Mobile phones. These partnerships with world class handset manufacturers and telecommunications companies are further affirmation that Whitepages is the vanguard of scam detection technologies and is the first line of defense for consumers’ mobile phones.
The new Whitepages caller identification and spam and scam detection features will be available when the Galaxy S7 launches in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with additional countries to come.
The Samsung partnership adds to Whitepages’ suite of Caller Identification apps from its Whitepages Caller ID for Android to its Caller ID for iPhone to its recent revamp of its Mr. Number app. To learn more about mobile partnership opportunities with Whitepages, please visit http://about.whitepages.com/partners/.
