Samsung CES Press Conference Gives Us Hope for 2009

Amid Samsung's "Touch of Color" blue lights, music and a club atmosphere, they gave us the first real hope for 2009. In stark contrast to many of the other announcements and press conferences coming from CES in Vegas, Samsung talked about their new plan for the next year. Among some of their biggest announcements is a partnership with Yahoo for real internet TV and pencil-thin Blu-ray players.



Although we're not entirely sure how to take Samsung's press forward attitude, it was a breath of fresh air. It literally was exciting and Samsung showed us they are committed to moving technology forward. In fact, in "Sharp" contrast, other manufacturers are digging trenches to wait out the storm, Samsung seems to be holding nothing back. It definitely gives you hope for the future.

Now on to the announcements: Sure you've heard of internet TV. Yeah, it sounds great in theory but it would be nice if it actually worked. Enter Samsung's Luxia HDTV line and its partnership with Yahoo. David Steele, VP of marketing at Samsung said the widget is "putting the interactive experience into the hands of the consumer. You decide what you want to download." You will be able to access sites like YouTube, eBay and CBS all with your TV remote - real internet TV.

The internet TV will be open sourced, similar to the Android platform for cell phones so you choose what you want on your screen. Samsung also announced partnerships with Netflix and Pandora to make your Internet@TV (surely you could have come up with a better name than that Samsung) experience a truly innovative one.

Product Announcements:

Samsung Luxia 6000 LED HDTV: Touch of Color chassis (unique design with "prism-like edges with chrome accents," doesn't sound tacky at all)

Samsung Luxia 7000 LED HDTV: Again with the Touch of Color and add Internet@TV (aka Medi@ 2.0 or Yahoo! Connected TV) capable

Samsung Luxia 8000 LED HDTV: Touch of Color, check; Internet@TV, check; Slim style, check; add on 240hz refresh rate and you've got the whole package

750 LCD HDTV series: Samsung announced they are revamping their 2008 model and adding a 240hz refresh rate

PDT850 Plasma HDTV: it's only 1 inch thick; it will come in 50 inch and larger screen; Internet@TV capable

Samsung 3D monitor: The 223rz 22-inch monitor will have 120hz and will be 3D capable and targeted mostly toward gamers - however you need to additional pieces of equipment to make it work: the special glasses (lame!) and an emitter box

BDP-4600: The world's slimmest HD Blu-ray player at only 1.5 inches thick - ejects discs in 1 second (hold your horses); 1GB internal memory; Wi-Fi ready and integrated with Netflix and Pandora; can be mounted on the wall

HT-BD8200 home theater sound bar: All in one entertainment center - 5.1 surround sound; 1080p playback; HD; plus, Samsung says you can take it from the box to completely installed in just about 10 minutes; wireless subwoofer with Bluetooth

Palm Theater P3 MP3 player: .39 inches thick; haptic vibrating feedback on the touchscreen (similar to what the BlackBerry Storm has); portable video player

A first: HMX-H106 HD camcorder - first 64 GB SSD built in; it can record 12 hours of HD footage at 1080p

Odds and Ends: They also announced a new wall mount for their flat panel TVs. Instead of a 2-inch gap, there is only going to be a .6-inch gap between the wall and the screen.

Samsung has also standardized their user interface across all their products. This new UI will allow you to use all the Samsung products in the same way. Cameras, video-enabled MP3 player, TV: you name it.

A lot of product, a lot of news. Compare our impressions of Samsung's press conference with some of the others we attended:

Sharp

Panasonic

Cisco