Under the banner “Creating Possibilities, Shaping the Future,” Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., today unveiled its vision for smarter living at the company’s 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) press conference. Attended by more than 1,700 industry partners and media, Samsung showcased its next generation devices and services, led by an 88-inch SUHD TV and Samsung’s Milk VR virtual reality video service. With a focus on bringing the future into the home and creating experiences that enhance consumer lifestyles, the 2015 portfolio has already received 36 CES Innovation Awards.
“Delivering great experiences will be our focus in 2015,” said Tim Baxter, President and Chief Operating Officer of Samsung Electronics America. “More than ever, Samsung is focused on smarter living at the intersection between great technology, content and services. And, it’s our insight – that all innovation has to be focused on the consumer experience – which is underpinning Samsung’s success.”
SUHD TV Takes Picture Quality to New Heights
Samsung unveiled the 88-inch JS9500 TV, powered by a proprietary, eco-friendly nano-crystal display technology and intelligent SUHD re-mastering engine. The SUHD TV is innovative in every way, delivering superior picture quality with stunning contrast, striking brightness, spectacular color and superb UHD detail.
The SUHD re-mastering engine automatically analyzes the brightness of images to minimize additional power consumption while expressing stunning contrast levels – producing images with much darker blacks and an elevated brightness two-and-a-half times brighter than conventional TVs with twice the color adjustment points.
SUHD TV’s nano-crystal semiconductor transmits different colors of light depending on their size to produce the highest color purity and light efficiency available today. This technology produces a wide range of more accurate colors, providing viewers with twice the color adjustment points and 64 times more color expression than conventional TVs.
Collaborating with 20th Century Fox, Samsung is optimizing content to deliver the premium quality of SUHD and give consumers an unrivaled UHD viewing experience. Most recently, Samsung partnered with the Fox Innovation Lab to re-master specifically for SUHD TV the critically acclaimed film, Exodus.
Renowned Hollywood colorist Stephen Nakamura explained to the press conference the importance of SUHD’s color. “Color really sets the tone for a movie. It can completely change the mood and the feel,” said Nakamura, who has worked on X-Men, Days of Future Past, Quantum of Solace and Exodus. “I recently re-mastered Exodus for the SUHD TV, and the experience was incredible. It really brought the film to life in ways I never thought possible.”
“Samsung is advancing UHD to the next-generation viewing experience, bringing never-before-seen-on-TV colors come to life in your home,” said Joe Stinziano, Executive Vice President of Samsung Electronics America.
Samsung also unveiled the result of its collaboration with Yves Behar, the renowned designer and founder of the award-winning design firm Fuseproject. The 82-inch S9W TV is an exquisitely curved panel that sits on a metallic cube, reminiscent of a sculpture, giving any living room the ambience of an art gallery.
From 2015, all new Samsung Smart TVs will be powered by Tizen, which not only provides better connectivity, but also gives developers a more robust and easier platform for which to create new applications. Most importantly, it ensures that consumers will have access to a much broader range of Smart TV content and services than ever before.
Samsung also introduced innovative audio products that give consumers a more dynamic, surround-sound audio experience. Developed by Samsung’s new state-of-the-art audio lab in Los Angeles, California, the WAM7500/6500 deliver a 360-degree sound experience thanks to Samsung’s proprietary ring radiator technology, which enables true omni-directional sound both horizontally and vertically. The WAM7500/6500 fills the room with truly balanced sound. Led by the WAM7500/6500, Samsung plans to expand its audio line-up in 2015, focusing on a range of omni-directional 360 speakers and curved sound bars.
Samsung was joined by Mike Dunn, President of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, to announce the launch of the UHD Alliance, which aims to create a unified criterion for premium UHD platforms to ensure that consumers get the best possible UHD experience; the alliance brings together leading Hollywood studios, consumer electronics brands, content distributors, post-production and technology companies.
Digital Appliances Designed for a Better Lifestyle
Innovation for Samsung’s Digital Appliances is putting the company on track for yet more success, following a year of unprecedented growth in the company’s home appliances business.
The Chef Collection, infused with the know-how of Michelin-starred chefs, truly transformed the kitchen appliances category during 2014. Now, Samsung is launching the second phase of the project, bringing their passion for cooking directly into the kitchen. Star chefs will share their recipes and tips and tricks through the Chef Collection App, which – thanks to regular updates – will help consumers create that perfect culinary experience. For a limited time, consumers who purchase a Chef Collection appliance package are eligible to receive an exclusive Chef Collection tablet with the pre-installed Chef Collection app. It will guide consumers through the cooking process step-by-step. The tablet also comes with a custom butcher block and an engraved tablet stand.
Samsung’s new award-winning Flex DuoTM oven range with Dual DoorTM brings perfect flexibility to the home kitchen. It’s a concept that combines three ovens into one. The two doors integrate to provide three cooking configurations. The oven can either be large enough for that perfect big meal, or quickly transform into two ovens to make two separate dishes, such as a roast in one and a cake in the other. The Smart Divider separates the ovens to make sure neither heat nor smells transfer from one dish to the other – performance, efficiency and flexibility combined in a single oven.
For any family with children, persistent stains in the laundry are a frequent problem. Samsung makes it easy to pre-treat stains with the Samsung activewashTM top-loader washing machine. Treatment and pre-wash take place in the activewashTM’s built-in sink, complete with water jet and scrubbing surface, from where laundry can be dropped straight into the washing machine below. No more drip trails from the sink to the washer. Additionally, Samsung’s proprietary Super Speed technology has now reduced wash time to as little as 36 minutes.
Samsung also launched its POWERbot VR9000 robotic vacuum cleaner. Its Digital Inverter Motor delivers up to 60 times stronger suction power than previous robotic vacuums. Thanks to Visionary Mapping Plus, the POWERbot creates a complete map of the home, and calculates the most efficient cleaning path. It even finds its way back to its docking station for recharging.
MILK VR Delivers Virtual Reality Content
Samsung continues to innovate in the mobile space. While next-generation devices will follow in the footsteps of the Galaxy Note Edge, the Gear S and the Gear VR, content offerings will continue to expand through Samsung MILK. Until now a streaming music service with millions of active users worldwide, Samsung MILK is not only adding its video discovery service, MILK Video, but will also expand to Smart TVs, and – for the music part – to the Web as well.
Fans of the Samsung Gear VR – the virtual reality headset powered by the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 – will also be able to tap into the Milk experience, with a daily stream of immersive 360-degree videos and VR channels for music, sports, action and lifestyle. The service will offer both “Instant Play” (progressive streaming) and “Best Quality” (download) options in the highest quality available (4K x 2K). Through daily content updates and curating of new videos, Gear VR users will always have fresh, immersive videos to explore. In a first of its kind announcement, Samsung is partnering with Skybound Entertainment, producers of The Walking Dead, to create in 2015 the first mystery suspense thriller entirely produced for VR. Additionally, through content partnerships, including those with the National Basketball Association (NBA), Skybound Entertainment, RedBull, Mountain Dew, Acura, Artists Den, Refinery 29 and Boiler Room, Samsung will continue to bring dynamic virtual reality content to consumers.
