Samsung to launch revamped Galaxy Note 10.1, spacious fridge in India

Samsung to launch revamped Galaxy Note 10.1, spacious fridge in India

Betting big on premium products to boost sales during the upcoming festival season in India, consumer electronics major Samsung is planning to launch over half a dozen products including a 10-inch tablet and a spacious refrigerator in the next three months.

Focusing on increasing consumer base in the home appliance segment, Samsung will launch its new 'side by side' refrigerator by the end of 2013 in India. The fridge would cut down power consumption by 40 percent with a 10 year warranty, a top company official said.

"Ultra high definition TV is the next big thing in India as demand for Large screen TV is growing there. In the home appliance segment, we see the big demand in the refrigerator segment and that is why we are focusing on better looking ones as it would be a long term investment for customers," Samsung senior VP (CE division) Atul Jain said.

The side-by-side refrigerator would help customers due to its innovative design as there would be a show case for instant access of frequently used items and an inner case for longer storage ingredients.

Elaborating on the UHD TV market, Jain said there is a lot of demand for large screen TVs in India which are 40 inch and above.

"We have come out with a new technology called Evolution Kit using which customers can update their TV sets at par with the new technology devised by Samsung from time to time," Jain said.

Apart from the Note 3 and Gear which the company would launch on September 25, Samsung will come up with Note 10.1 in the last week of October, just before Diwali.

"The Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 Edition) would have features including a 10-inch display, 1.9 GHZ Octa Core processor (for 3G / WiFi only version) and 3GB RAM.

Further, Samsung will launch its 55 inch and 65 inch UHD TV in India next month priced at about Rs 3.25 lakh and 4.40 lakh, respectively.

Besides, it would bring its UHD TV of 98 inch and 110 inch sizes in India by next year.

Currently Samsung dominates the UHD TV 4K resolution market, Jain said. Its competitors are Sony and LG.

Meanwhile, company sources said Samsung aims to be the first in launching a OLED Curve TV in India and plans to bring the 55 inch version next year.

Jain said the industry demand for large screen panel TVs in India during 2013 is estimated at 5.5 to 6 million, of which 60 percent would be for LED screen.

Besides the company would launch a laptop --- Samsung Ativ Book 9 Lite. The laptop would have a display of 13.3 inch and a 4 GB memory along with a storage capacity of 128 GB. The battery life is up to 8 hours.

Sources said the product would be available in Indian markets during the last quarter of 2013.
Further the company would also launch its high end camera NX 300 this month.


It will be a 20.3 mega pixel camera with a 3.3 inch Amoled display with touch. 

New Apple TV could make an appearance at September 10 iPhone event

While tech enthusiasts and pundits are desperately waiting for Apple to unveil its new iPhones at an event which has been scheduled to take place on September 10, the company might throw in a surprise by unveiling a refresh of its media player, Apple TV, perhaps as the 'one more thing' announcement at the event.

It's known that Apple is testing a new version of the Apple TV operating system with developers. However, according to a new blog post by Panjiva, which calls itself a leading intelligence platform for global trade professionals, Apple has received three shipments of products marked as "Set Top Box with Communication Function" from BYD Precision Manufacture in Shenzhen, China.

The blog claims that it found the original bill of landing data from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security through its Panjiva Shipment Search tool. It mentions that the three shipments were received by Apple on August 11, August 18 and August 25, weighing 7,044kgs, 16,628kgs and 16,628kgs, respectively and being marked as "Set Top Box with Communication Function", "Set Top Boxes" and "Set Top Box with Communication Function," respectively.

It also adds that the most recent "set top boxes" shipment to Apple, prior to these, took place on December 5, 2012, from Hon Hai. The shipment contained Apple TV's, with the A1427 model number listed on the bill of lading.

While it could be possible that the new shipments also comprise of the current generation Apple TVs and Apple is simply shifting suppliers, the move to a new supplier could also mean that the said shipment is of a different device. No one except people inside Apple would know for sure whether the boxes are of a new iteration of Apple TV or a revamped new TV device that Apple's rumoured to launch in the future.

If it did receive new Apple TV hardware then it's likely that Apple could launch it along with the new iPhone(s). The last Apple TV refresh was in March 2012, though Apple did make some changes to the media player's internal components, as per some reports, earlier this year.

Apple TV is a media streamer that lets users play content from popular services like YouTube, Netflix and Hulu Plus, as well as some other services like Vimeo, Vevo and HBO Go. It also offers access to Apple's iTunes Store, through which users can purchase or rent movies, or buy music. One of the major highlights of the Apple TV is support for Airplay which allows users to stream content wirelessly (over Wi-Fi) from any iOS device or iTunes (Mac as well as Windows) to the Apple TV. It can also be used to wirelessly mirror the display of iOS devices as well as Macs

Meet Sony's first curved LED TV

            

Sony unveiled a mountain of new gear at IFA press conference, but for whatever reason it decided to quietly slip this beauty out under all the noise. Comparable to the 55-inch OLED set that Samsung unveiled at CES, Sony's new 65-inch, 1080P, S990A is the first set to put a gentle curve on LED flatscreen technology. And since LED sets are pretty common these days, it means the S990A is available for pre-order right now for just $4,000, compared to the $9,000 that Samsung wants for its curvy offering. 

The 16:9 aspect ratio introduced with HDTV was designed to better fill a user's field of vision, and the gentle curve on the S990A takes that idea one step further with a slightly more immersive feel when you're sitting front and center. The effect is even more noticeable when you're playing games with a first-person perspective, but it works just as well for the home theater experience too. 

The S990A uses Sony's TRILUMIOS display technology, which has the ability to precisely control the set's LED backlighting in order to make colors seem particularly vibrant. And as much as it sounds like just a marketing buzzword, the results are colors and saturation that are very intense. As long as your source material hasn't been compressed to a muddy mess, you'll certainly see the difference on the S990A if you're upgrading from a flatscreen that's even just a few years old. 

To allow the 65-inch set to still be mounted to walls, the back of S990A doesn't match the curve of its display up front. It remains flat, which means that while the TV is thin in the center, it gets a few inches thick at the sides. But Sony has found a way to even promote that as a good thing, by using that extra space as resonance chambers for a set of four speakers on either side. 

Home theater enthusiasts will probably still want to stick with their own speaker setups, but those happy to rely on the S990A's will appreciate that the top speaker on either side is actually pointed slightly outwards to bounce the sound around a room, creating a faux-surround experience. You won't be fooled into thinking you're sitting in a movie theater, but it's adequate enough if the S990A topped out your budget. 

The downside, of course, to this recent trend of curved TVs is that you run into the same issues with viewing angles as we did with 3D sets. It's not quite as bad here, you can certainly sit pretty much anywhere in front of the S990A without any loss of image or color quality. But the sweet spot for the full immersive experience is still dead center, which limits how many people crowded in front are getting the best experience. 

However, the curve is so gentle that sweet spot issues aren't a complete deal breaker. And if you live alone and are looking for the ideal way to escape into a movie or a video game, the immersive feel of the S990A is most definitely noticeable. Particularly when you then go back to a perfectly flat set and wonder why the screen is curving away from you. And Sony has managed to price the S990A at a reasonable level so that this first generation of its curved sets isn't completely out of reach for most consumers.

Panasonic unveils 4K TV with HDMI 2.0

Panasonic has taken the wraps off its latest 4K television at IFA in Berlin.

The Viera WT600 is the first television that incorporates the HDMI 2.0 specification. It is a 65-inch set and comes with a 3840 by 2160 pixel display. The WT600 is also THX certified and outputs content at 120fps in 4K. The inclusion of the new HDMI standard means it the new set will be able to accept a 4K 60fps input from devices such as Blu-ray players and next generation games consoles. Alongside the HDMI 2.0 ports, it also comes with a HTML5 browser and H.264 decoder. That means that the television will be able to play content from USB memory sticks and always be compatible. Read more: Best televisions to buy in 2013 In addition to the internet access, it comes with Wi-Fi connectivity meaning you won’t need to run ethernet cables up to the set to update it. The Wi-Fi connectivity also means that you can access content on your home media server thanks to DLNA compatibility. The WT600 also has a built in camera for Skype chats. It is available for pre-order with the first sets expected to ship in the middle of October. No UK pricing has been announced, but it will retail in the US for $5999.99 (£3,840).