The titular edge on Samsung's Galaxy S6 Edge smartphone has always seemed to be more about novelty than functionality. It looks really cool, yes, and it's an impressive manufacturing feat, but how useful is it really? Samsung obviously wants to make a more compelling argument for the edge, and with today's update to Android 6.0 Marshmallow for the S6 and S6 Edge, the company is adding a handful of features and improvements to the software.

The edge interface can now be more than twice as wide

First up, the portion of the screen dedicated to the edge interface can now be extended from 260 pixels wide to 550 pixels. This allows for more content to be displayed and enables new features. (It also, presumably, extends the edge's interface onto the main, flat part of the screen.) There's a new panel available with shortcuts to frequently used apps, and Samsung has updated the contacts panel with names under photographs, and extended the edge's apps feature to display 10 instead of five apps. Users can also now change the appearance of the tab used to access the edge interface, tweaking its size, position, and transparency.

There are new edge panels for Yahoo sports, finance, and news. (Image credit: Samsung)

Quick Tools, including the ruler, compass, and flashlight, are now available in their own panel. (Image credit: Samsung)

The contacts used to show just faces (left), now it shows names as well (middle), and a new settings shortcut. (Image credit: Samsung)

The tab used to access the edge interface can now be adjusted. (Image credit: Samsung)

Widening the interface means fitting more apps in. (Image credit: Samsung)

All in all these are pretty small updates, but it's good to see Samsung continuing to hone the Edge. It also says it's continuing to work with third parties to add new functionality, and the Marshmallow update comes with a trio of new edge features from Yahoo. Panels for finance, sports, and news, letting users see stock reports, match scores, and headlines "right on the edge of their screen." Of course, you could just get all this information on the front of your screen, but where's the fun in that.

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