Smarter life with smarter gadgets

MANILA, Philippines—Reinforcing its foothold and seeking to capture demand growth in the markets of Southeast Asia, Oceania and Taiwan, Samsung recently presented to the media and regional dealers a wide array of gadgets and home appliances belonging to what it calls “Smarter Life” portfolio.

During the Samsung 2011 Regional Forum held two weeks ago, the tech giant unveiled its brand-new lineup of smart mobile phones and tablet; televisions and home theater systems; IT solutions, including notebooks; and a complete range of home appliances—from refrigerators to vacuum cleaners.

All this, according to Samsung Asia director for trade and marketing Stanley Goh, will lead consumers to a “smarter life,” which is the path Samsung is taking to achieve its goal of becoming the preferred brand in the region.

Its new product portfolio promises smarter designs which, according to Goh, will enable consumers to do more with their devices; It also offers a smarter experience, given the wide variety of applications, games and programming across all devices, and smart connection, which ensures that Samsung devices are easy to connect with each other, creating new value for each of the products.

Samsung’s “Smarter Life” portfolio will be made available in Southeast Asia, Oceania and Taiwan starting this month.

Notebook Series 9

At the launch held in Singapore two weeks ago, Samsung’s Galaxy smart phones, Galaxy Tab 10.1 and its new TV and home theater lineup grabbed the limelight.

Apart from the Notebook Series 9, which Samsung will launch in Makati on Tuesday, the Philippine market may have to wait a bit longer for the other products to appear on shelves.

Weighing only 1.21 kilograms, measuring 16.3 mm in depth and with a screen size of 13 inches, the Samsung Notebook Series 9 combines elegant design, performance and durability, and promises to provide a new dimension in mobile computing.

Crafted from duralumin, a lightweight material that is twice as strong as aluminum, the notebook underwent an exhaustive testing process to ensure that it would be durable enough for use at home and on the go.

The flowing line on the side of the Notebook Series 9 gives the device an aerodynamic look, which the company likened to a premium sports car.

Its SuperBright Plus display with 400nit brightness is two times brighter than conventional displays. Its vibrant color reproduction and super contrast ratio further set the Samsung Notebook Series 9 apart from the rest in its class.

The notebook will be sold here for P79,999.

Smarter phones

“Experiencing more with less.” That’s what the world’s thinnest smart phone, Galaxy S II offers. This lightweight phone, measuring only 8.499 mm, is equipped with a dual-core application processor that allows fast Web browsing, multitasking like in a PC environment, supreme graphics quality and responsive 3D user interface on the large screen. It offers speed in mobile downloading with its HSPA+connectivity, while its BlueTooth 3.0 +HS reduces data transfer time.

Galaxy S II runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread and includes access to Samsung’s four new content and entertainment hubs that are seamlessly integrated to provide instant access to music, games, e-reading and social networking services.

It is equipped with Samsung’s new crystal-clear Super Amoled Plus screen which, the company says, is more energy-efficient. With the Galaxy S II are the Samsung Galaxy Ace, Fit, Gio and Mini, each designed to fit specific needs of particular segments of the market.

The Tab

The Galaxy Tab 10.1, Samsung’s first Honeycomb-based, dual core Android 3.0 smart media device, has a 10.1-inch screen and surround-sound speakers but remains one of the lightest and slimmest media devices in the market.

It is 10.9 mm thick and weighs only 599 grams. The latest Galaxy Tab enables users to enjoy multimedia functions without compromising mobility. It has an 8 megapixel AF rear-facing camera and 2 megapixel front-facing camera. The cameras enable users to capture videos with full HD recording capabilities.

With the Android browser and Flash, it allows users to experience Internet content on the go, according to Samsung.

Apart from being phones, the Galaxy smart phone series and the Tab also serve as remote controls for Samsung smart TVs and the TVs’ second screen and extended keyboards, too.

Smart TVs

Taking convergence a step farther to enable the best marriage yet between Samsung consumer TV and mobile devices, the company’s new TV models, especially its flagship LED line (D8000 and D7000), have built-in Wi-Fi and a second TV function that enables the television unit to encode and wirelessly transmit live broadcasting to the new Samsung Galaxy devices (SII and the Tab).

“This means you can use your Galaxy Tab as a second TV screen and take your TV with you in other parts of your house. You can also watch different channels or a DVD on your Tab, while your wife is watching the live broadcast on the set in the living room. That reduces stress on your marriage,” Goh said at the launch.

That’s “Smarter Life,” Goh said, stressing that only Samsung’s smart TVs offered a comprehensive ecosystem of content and services, integrated across the devices that people use most.

This is achieved through the “Smart Hub” feature, which is present in the entire 2011 Samsung LED TV and Blu-ray lineup and the D800 Plasma series. This feature allows users to search, explore and access content on their smart TV.

The “Search All” feature in the hub helps users find and access content across the Internet and on any connected storage, PC or mobile device within the home network. The smart TV also lets users view 3D premium video on-demand, missed TV shows and other programs on high definition screen.

“Your Video” delivers content recommendations based on user’s viewing history. “Web Browser” offers consumers full browsing capabilities from their TV, while “Samsung Apps” offers more apps than any other TV platform.

Samsung has redesigned the TV screen by reducing the bezel to 0.2 inches in the new LED TVs, making the screen virtually edgeless and giving consumers extra screen without increasing the outside dimension of the set.

To complete the home viewing experience, Samsung will also serve up groundbreaking 3D and other TV accessories, apart from its latest Blu-ray disc players.

Samsung is already No. 1 in television in the region, and these new models and the brand-new experiences they offer are seen to cement its position.