CES 2016: Samsung Introduced TVs, Smart Gadgets and Home Appliances

Samsung-CES-2016-2

Samsung had their CES 2016 keynote in Las Vegas in order to show what they’ve been working on and what they’ll offer customers throughout the year.

Las Vegas, Nevada is the main stage for CES 2016, the world’s greatest technology, electronics and consumer products show on the planet, where several industry giants reunite to show their projects for the year that has just started. Among all of these companies was Korean giant Samsung, particularly well known for their products when it comes to smartphones, TVs and several other devices and gadgets acclaimed worldwide. Among what they introduced at their keynote were tablets, virtual reality features and even Internet of Things solutions and gadgets for health.

Samsung TVs at CES 2016

Samsung started out their keynote talking about their new SUHD TVs with curved designed and improved image quality thanks to their new technology, quantum dot display. These new TVs are special for being the first to not have any cadmium among their components, making it truly an eco TV, but on top of this it features better contrast and a wider variety of colors than any screen before it – all of which can be appreciated from any point in the room without any kind of glare thanks to its curved screens. These TVs run on Tizen OS, through which users can access tons of movies, streaming services and games, but they also intantly recognize devices (video game consoles, blu-ray players, home theaters, or whatever) so they can adjust to these automatically, without users having to meddle with the settings.

After this segment, they discussed the future of their VR headset, the Gear VR, and their plan to produce cameras capable of recording in 360 degrees in order to create immersive experiences aimed to bring virtual reality to the masses, outside of the niche of enthusiasts and gamers.

The Internet of Things according to Samsung

Samsung introduced a new and spectacular fridge (seriously, this fridge stole the show) called the Family Hub Refrigerator, which helps families connect offering new ways to organize, shop, and buy food giving and receiving instructions through its 21.5 inches screen in Full HD LCD with a touchscreen. Among the things the Family Hub can do are included:

  • Food Handling: with three cameras located inside the fridge, anyone can check out the food inside from anywhere in the world through a smartphone app. What’s more, thanks to their association with MasterCard, Samsung will offer an online shopping service where you can order food from many different chains and retailers through the fridge’s interface (this service will only be available in the USA and South Korea as of now).
  • Family communication center: This fridge allow the family to write notes, take pictures and share a calendar or art from its touchscreen, so everyone can communicate without having to depend on paper and pens.

  • Internet of Things: Samsung are aiming to strengthen their ecosystem of interconnected products, and this fridge is a part of that. Users can control lights, unlock doors and more straight from the Family Hub, as long as the other products are compatible.
  • Connected entertainment: The Family Hub Refrigerator features a fantastic screen and set of speakers where users can stream their favorite TV shows, music, or any kind of media, which makes the kitchen feel more homely and bridge the gap between it and the livingroom.

Mobile productivity and premium wearables

In order to close their CES 2016 keynote, the Korean giant introduced the new Galaxy TabPro S, a new premium tablet with the best features from the Galaxy family as well as all of the perks of a Windows computer. It is designed to last and respond, and comes with a full keyboard and touchpad so users can pick how to control it. Despite this, the most interesting thing about it was its terrific 12″ inches Super AMOLED Display capable of Full HD Plus.

 

This tablet wasn’t the only thing they introduced on the last segment. There was also quite a bit on the Gear S2, a smartwatch that comes in platinum and rose gold variants with designs by Alessandro Mendini and Colombo. This new smartwatch by Samsung is the first one to offer Samsung Pay functionality, an alternative for your shopping which is making its debut in South Korea and the USA this 2016, and will receive expanded compatibility to many other devices.

Thanks to its innovative gadgets and interconection features, Samsung have proven why they are among the industry leaders, and why it’s more important looking towards the future than having nostalgia for the past.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories at The Samsung Galaxy S7 Will Come In Two Sizes and CES 2016: Everything LG Introduced At Las Vegas.

 

CES 2016: Samsung Introduced TVs, Smart Gadgets and Home Appliances

Samsung-CES-2016-2

Samsung had their CES 2016 keynote in Las Vegas in order to show what they’ve been working on and what they’ll offer customers throughout the year.

Las Vegas, Nevada is the main stage for CES 2016, the world’s greatest technology, electronics and consumer products show on the planet, where several industry giants reunite to show their projects for the year that has just started. Among all of these companies was Korean giant Samsung, particularly well known for their products when it comes to smartphones, TVs and several other devices and gadgets acclaimed worldwide. Among what they introduced at their keynote were tablets, virtual reality features and even Internet of Things solutions and gadgets for health.

Samsung TVs at CES 2016

Samsung started out their keynote talking about their new SUHD TVs with curved designed and improved image quality thanks to their new technology, quantum dot display. These new TVs are special for being the first to not have any cadmium among their components, making it truly an eco TV, but on top of this it features better contrast and a wider variety of colors than any screen before it – all of which can be appreciated from any point in the room without any kind of glare thanks to its curved screens. These TVs run on Tizen OS, through which users can access tons of movies, streaming services and games, but they also intantly recognize devices (video game consoles, blu-ray players, home theaters, or whatever) so they can adjust to these automatically, without users having to meddle with the settings.

After this segment, they discussed the future of their VR headset, the Gear VR, and their plan to produce cameras capable of recording in 360 degrees in order to create immersive experiences aimed to bring virtual reality to the masses, outside of the niche of enthusiasts and gamers.

The Internet of Things according to Samsung

Samsung introduced a new and spectacular fridge (seriously, this fridge stole the show) called the Family Hub Refrigerator, which helps families connect offering new ways to organize, shop, and buy food giving and receiving instructions through its 21.5 inches screen in Full HD LCD with a touchscreen. Among the things the Family Hub can do are included:

  • Food Handling: with three cameras located inside the fridge, anyone can check out the food inside from anywhere in the world through a smartphone app. What’s more, thanks to their association with MasterCard, Samsung will offer an online shopping service where you can order food from many different chains and retailers through the fridge’s interface (this service will only be available in the USA and South Korea as of now).
  • Family communication center: This fridge allow the family to write notes, take pictures and share a calendar or art from its touchscreen, so everyone can communicate without having to depend on paper and pens.

  • Internet of Things: Samsung are aiming to strengthen their ecosystem of interconnected products, and this fridge is a part of that. Users can control lights, unlock doors and more straight from the Family Hub, as long as the other products are compatible.
  • Connected entertainment: The Family Hub Refrigerator features a fantastic screen and set of speakers where users can stream their favorite TV shows, music, or any kind of media, which makes the kitchen feel more homely and bridge the gap between it and the livingroom.

Mobile productivity and premium wearables

In order to close their CES 2016 keynote, the Korean giant introduced the new Galaxy TabPro S, a new premium tablet with the best features from the Galaxy family as well as all of the perks of a Windows computer. It is designed to last and respond, and comes with a full keyboard and touchpad so users can pick how to control it. Despite this, the most interesting thing about it was its terrific 12″ inches Super AMOLED Display capable of Full HD Plus.

 

This tablet wasn’t the only thing they introduced on the last segment. There was also quite a bit on the Gear S2, a smartwatch that comes in platinum and rose gold variants with designs by Alessandro Mendini and Colombo. This new smartwatch by Samsung is the first one to offer Samsung Pay functionality, an alternative for your shopping which is making its debut in South Korea and the USA this 2016, and will receive expanded compatibility to many other devices.

Thanks to its innovative gadgets and interconection features, Samsung have proven why they are among the industry leaders, and why it’s more important looking towards the future than having nostalgia for the past.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories at The Samsung Galaxy S7 Will Come In Two Sizes and CES 2016: Everything LG Introduced At Las Vegas.

 

Apple Makes Souffles, Samsung Makes Spaghetti

Apple logo

Tired of car analogies being used for tech companies and the products they make? Me too. I’m hungry. Let’s go for a food analogy. What could possibly go wrong? Let’s find out.

It’s that time of year again when Apple gives us a peek at all the goodies they have been teasing about all year. But Apple is not alone.

Everyone knows Apple will be unveiling the next generation of iPhone on September 9th: presumably, the iPhone 6. It is expected to come in two sizes: bigger, and biggerer. Naturally, Samsung has to get out there a few days earlier with an update to its big phone. Everyone else with a flagship has also staged an event.

But the real excitement is around the expected unveiling of the iWatch. Yes, I’m just going to go ahead and call it the iWatch. If Apple calls it anything else, they’re wrong! Apple can insist their music player is the iPod touch. But everyone else knows it’s the iTouch.

The iWatch is the only smart time piece anyone has cared about since the rumors started flying early last year. The only reason we have the Galaxy Gear is because, as usual, Samsung decided to make spaghetti and just throw something up against the wall to see what sticks. And they wanted to make sure they got their product out there before Apple. You might think of it as preemptive copying.

Samsung’s first smartwatch effort was a lamentable mess. They quickly turned their back on the first batch, and started cooking up a second right around the time buyers remorse could set in for the original gear. Thinking Apple’s iWatch was imminent, they threw out more smartwatches. This time, there were three: The Gear 2, Gear Fit, and Gear Neo. There were credible rumors that the Apple watch would focus on fitness. So they made sure they had the fitness angle covered.

But those watches just ended up being more spaghetti on the wall, while Apple’s iWatch was still baking. Obviously, Apple was not making a quick and dirty dish like spaghetti. They were baking a souffle. It is a dish that has to be carefully prepped and baked with delicate technique and timing. Any indelicate handling or impatience with the process would cause it to fail.

Meanwhile, the dining room has been getting rowdy. Everyone only showed up for a taste of the iWatch souffle. They have been demanding that Apple hurry it up. Either take it out of the oven or take it off the menu. Still, they wait, and the line to get in keeps growing. Many have been contenting themselves with Samsung noodles and Pebble meatballs. Curiously, no matter how much spaghetti Samsung makes, people keep waiting for the iWatch souffle. Why?

Testing

No one knows what methods Apple uses for testing product concepts. However, they do it, and they do it well. Even generation one of an Apple product is quite good. They are usability experts. When you pick up an Apple product, it feels like they thought of everything.

When you pick up a new Samsung product, it feels like you are a beta tester. This is even more true with Samsung software. One of the things that almost universally surprised and disappointed those of us who covered the unveiling of the Galaxy S4 event was the degree to which nothing worked. It all felt half-baked, slapped together. At Apple events, journalists are always gushing about how well the announced features seem to work.

What Samsung lacks is a disciplined testing program for the software products they release. What they need is a greater commitment to software testing that doesn’t take shortcuts through critical processes. Major firms have the kind of test automation that allows companies to:

  • •Easily create test cases for UI and non-UI functions and use them for manual and automated testing
  • •Achieve automation rates greater than 90% for end-to-end testing
  • •Enjoy the advantages of services virtualization and minimize maintenance efforts with a model-based approach

Experience

To carry our metaphor to the breaking point, People pass up meal after quick service meal for Apple’s annual offering because they want an experience not found elsewhere. Apple products are known for providing end-user experiences that seem to transcend the technology bits. This was best stated in Apple’s iPad 2 ad entitled, “We Believe”:

This is what we believe. Technology alone is not enough. Faster, thinner, lighter: those are all good things. But when technology gets out of the way, everything becomes more delightful, even magical.

Apple’s competitors sell products. Apple’s sells experiences. Spaghetti is just food. A souffle is an experience.

In defense of spaghetti

Despite the care taken to make it, and the experience of enjoying a nice souffle, most people have never had one. They can’t cook it, nor do they go to the kinds of restaurants that serve it. But almost everyone loves a good dish of spaghetti. It is easy to make with countless variations. It is quick, cheap and accessible just about anywhere. If you are hungry, spaghetti may not be the best meal you’ve ever had, but it is filling. And you can have some right now. No waiting.

What I’m saying, in case you have lost the thread of the metaphor, is that there is something to be said for Samsung’s method. It is not all bad. It has been a good appetizer. But let’s be honest. The main dish is set to finally be served in Cupertino on September 9th. Bon appetit.

Maybe we’ll just go back to car metaphors…

Samsung’s Gear VR Headset Could See the Light of Day at IFA 2014

Samsung Gear VR Headset 01

The virtual reality headset developed by Samsung is closer to becoming a reality. According to Sammobile, who have also gotten their mittens on photos of GEAR VR, the device will be launched at IFA 2014.

Gear VR, as Samsung’s product is rumoredly going to be called, will function in a manner that makes it closer to Google Cardboard, rather than to Oculus Rift. Samsung’s VR headset will only be compatible with Galaxy smartphones (most probably only flagships such as S5 or Note 3), so the South Korean company has a precise target audience in mind. On top of that, this design enables Samsung to create a VR headset that doesn’t have an exorbitant price.

Galaxy smartphones will connect to Gear VR via USB 3.0. The necessity for a high-speed connection rose from high bitrate of the material that’s projected in the headset. The virtual reality effect is achieved with the help of the accelerometer, gyroscope and processing power included in the smartphone. Basically, the headset relies on the smartphone to do the head-tracking required for the VR effect.

If the above picture is real, it means that Samsung has also decided on how to call its VR headset. It’s good to see that they went for a simple name that’s incredibly easy to memorize.

Oculus currently reigns supreme in the world of VR headsets (which frankly, doesn’t really have that many members), and Samsung somehow admitted that it couldn’t have possibly developed Gear VR from the ground up, alone. More precisely, the Korean company collaborated with Oculus VR (or, in other words, with Facebook) in order to create the software for Gear VR. As far as the hardware is concerned, Samsung took the matter into its own hands, and to be honest, the headset doesn’t look bad at all.

As IFA 2014 takes place as usual, in Berlin, from September 5 to 10, we’ll have to wait till then to see if the above photos are real, and if Samsung’s device represents a threat to Facebook’s Oculus and Sony’s Morpheus VR headsets. Another star that Samsung might launch at IFA 2014 is the Galaxy Note 4, which should also work with Gear VR. The problem is that the Note phablets are made for productivity, while Gear VR is clearly built with gamers in mind, so it will be interesting to see the reaction of past and future Note users.

Be social! Follow Walyou on Facebook and Twitter, and read more related stories about Samsung’s game-changing VR and Samsung’s VR headset.