Camera
In other, more exciting news, Samsung announced a range of
new WiFi enabled cameras for the South East Asia and Oceania markets. These new
compact point and shoot cameras use their WiFi connections to enable them to
share pictures instantly with other devices, like you laptop or smartphone.
They are also able to use Samsung's AllShare Play to share saved pictures with
other Samsung devices; just like the Smart TVs mentioned earlier.
WB850F Samsung
Now, the ability to instantly transmit pictures to other
devices sounds like a great idea; especially since it'll save space on your own
camera. Being the techies that we are, we're definitely going to allow our
cameras to piggyback on our phone data connection via WiFi and have an almost
infinite amount of storage for taking pictures while travelling. All Samsung
needs to do now is introduce a Samsung Smart Server to tie all these gizmos
together. No, their cloud storage on AllShare Play doesn't count because it’s
only 5GB worth of storage for free.
In terms of technical bits, the Samsung WB850F has a 16.2
megapixel camera with a 21X optical zoom and BSI CMOS sensor. All of which is
connected to a 3.0- inch VGA AMOLED screen for making sure you managed to take
a decent picture. For those who want more control, the WB850F also offers a
Full Manual Control option; which let's users take control of the shot. Quite
useful for budding photographers who want a cheap camera to learn the tricks of
the trade on.
In terms of
technical bits, the Samsung WB850F has a 16.2 megapixel camera with a 21X
optical zoom and BSI CMOS sensor
Finally, in keeping with Samsung's obsession with making
everything remote operable by app, these phones can be controlled via app.
Which means no more ridiculous timers on the camera and the mad dash to get
into position. The wireless connection also allows for the camera to do other
things like direct upload to social media sites like Faeebook, Youtube and
Pieassa (nice of them to include this last one). It also includes an email
feature for those pictures you want to share privately, or with people who
don't have Facebook (yes, they still exist).
Ultrabooks
Speaking of other gizmos tied to the AllShare Play service,
Samsung also announced their newest lineup of Ultrabooks and notebooks. Both
the second generation Series 9 notebook and the Series 5 ULTRA Ultrabook cross
dangerously into each other's territory; the lines blur considerably when
looking at them and what they can do.
The Series 5
ULTRA
The 13-inch Series 9 notebook comes in at 12.9 mm thin and
pushes to be the world's thinnest notebook chasis. Samsung
claims that this form factor comes after some 33,000 hours of eraftmanship to
create this precision engineered single-shell body. There's also the 15-inch
version which comes in at 14.9 mm and weighs 1.65kg. That size brings it pretty
darned close to being an Ultrabook in its own right, which isn't such a bad
idea. A 15-inch screen on an Ultrabook might lose some portability, but will
definitely gain in the l-can't-see-the-sereen-it's-too-small department.
The 14-inch ULTRA
comes in at 20.9 mm thin
On the other hand, we have the Series 5 ULTRA; the successor
to the previous Series 5 Ultrabooks. This time around the ULTRA comes with a
pimped out interior filled to the brim with goodies. The 14-inch model comes
with a second generation Intel Core Ĩ5 processor, 8GB
of RAM and an AMD Radeon HD graphics card. If that isn’t enough, it also
features a 256GB SSD and optical disk drive. For those who want to sacrifice a
little speed for more storage space, there is also the option to have a regular
HDD; but that also comes with the ExpressCache technology to gain a little more
speed. These high end components allow the Series 5 ULTRA to boot in just 10.5
seconds.
All this power comes at a price though, the 14-inch ULTRA
comes in at 20.9 mm thin. Which is when you think about it, not very thin at
all. While it's being marketed as an Ultrabook, the ULTRA could easily be
mistaken for a notebook or laptop. Although, it still has one more trick up its
sleeve for putting on over the competition.
This last trick is quite a good one. Samsung has designed
these Ultrabooks to provide easy access to their RAM and memory storage device;
meaning that customers who are unsatisfied with the large amount of speed are
able to open it all up and upgrade their Series 5 to something faster.
Final Thoughts
Samsung appears to be getting ready for a massive push in
the South East Asian market with all these devices (and appliances). Last
year's gains in terms of market share and experiencing their 41-percent in
sales growth have galvanised the Korean giant into pushing further into
everyone's game. On the other hand, the push has the feeling of something
missing.
Samsung appears to
be getting ready for a massive push in the South East Asian market with all
these devices (and appliances).
Their mobile offering are great, and the Galaxy Beam is a
fantastic bit of innovation; but it's nothing new. The Beam has been in some
markets for months now, and announcing (again) at a forum this size feels like
filler for something that should be there but isn't. Perhaps we’re just a
little disappointed at the lack of mention of the anticipated Galaxy sill,
which Samsung is still being elusive about and pushing the Galaxy Note instead.
The work to tie all their devices together via the AllShare
Play service presents another interesting study. On one hand it makes accessing
files much easier across all the platforms, without having to use a cloud
storage service (even if AllShare Play does come with a cloud storage option);
but on the other hand, it stealthily tries to lock in users to one
manufacturer. The best way to make full use of the service is to only use
Samsung products; but this might not sit well with consumers. Modern consumers
was to be able to choose their gadgets from a variety of manufacturers, it's
part of the reason why Android is so successful. People want the option to
purchase gadgets from whichever manufacturers they want, and that's exactly
what they do. It's because of this that AllShare Play might not see the
widespread use that Samsung hopes.
Samsung- AllShare
Play
On the other hand, they appear to be going in the right
direction with their audio docks and WiFi appliances. The audio docks are able
to connect to both Samsung Galaxy devices and Apple products; which is an
important part of trying to market an audio dock anywhere in the world. Now if
only they followed the lead of the WiFi equipped air conditioner which can be
controlled via Android app; which can be downloaded and installed on any
Android phone.
In conclusion, the plethora of products that was on display
at the Samsung SEA Forum is great. And readying them all with the capability to
link up and share data via WiFi and/or Bluetooth, sure is a nice little
proposition.
