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Talk about putting the kiss of death on a format that has just ever so barely just arrived, Samsung has said that it sees the Blu-ray format only lasting a further five years before it is replaced by another format or technology.

“I think it [Blu-ray] has five years left, I certainly wouldn’t give it 10,” said Andy Griffiths, director of consumer electronics at Samsung UK in a Pocket-lint interview.

Hoping to capitalize before it’s too late, Griffiths believes that 2008 is the format’s year.

Citing online rental sites like LoveFilm’s adoption of Blu-ray titles, the move to offer cheaper players and a now clear path to adoption following the Blu-ray HD-DVD battle, Griffith says the format will be a winner, although not for long.

Instead Samsung is putting its faith in its OLED technology. The new technology, which is “ready to rock,” is being held back at the moment due to high manufacturing costs.  

Check out more on what OLED may mean to you …

Tags: blu-ray, hd-dvd, lovefilm, oled, samsung

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Original post by nafiz

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

While we can’t say if it represents a general sentiment at Samsung or not, the company’s UK director of consumer electronics, Andy Griffiths, sure went out on a bit of a limb in a recent interview with Pocket-lint, with him saying that Blu-ray has, to paraphrase David Bowie, only “five years left,” and that he “certainly wouldn’t give it ten.” He did say, however, that he thought 2008 would be Blu-ray’s year, adding that “it’s going to be huge”, and that Samsung is “heavily back-ordered at the moment.” As for Samsung’s future after Blu-ray’s supposed demise, Griffiths seems to think that OLED will be the next big thing, and he’s pegging 2010 as a possible date for it to become mainstream and replace LCD. He didn’t offer a prediction as to when it will die out though.

[Thanks, Big W]

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Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: HDTV

We already caught sight of Sony’s Bravia Z4500 LCD TV with 200Hz “MotionFlow″ before and after it was officially unveiled at IFA, but it wasn’t the only such set on the scene, with Samsung also touting a “world’s first” 200Hz LCD TV of its own. Apparently, the distinction is that Samsung supposedly had the world’s first prototype, while Sony will actually be the first to market with one. All this is also slightly further complicated by the fact that Sony and Samsung have each also already introduced 240Hz LCD TVs in Japan, although we’re chalking those up to the usual 50 / 60Hz, NTSC / PAL differences. One thing that is clear, however, is that both sets sure are impressive, and you can get a taste of each by checking out Engadget en Español’s round-up at the link below.

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Original post by Donald Melanson

Filed under: Digital Cameras

Just weeks after Olympus and Panasonic launched the potentially revolutionary Micro Four Thirds system, in flies word that Samsung is looking to steal their thunder with a sure-to-be-incompatible alternative. Speaking at IFA in Berlin, Samsung Techwin executive vice president Byung Woo Lee confessed that the company was gearing up to introduce a new “interchangeable lens ‘Hybrid’ digital camera system.” The first model in the still unnamed system would reportedly carry Sammy’s own 14-megapixel APS-C sized CMOS sensor and a new lens mount, and while exact size specifications weren’t disclosed, you can rest assured that the end product will aim to deliver DSLR-like results in a much more compact frame. As with the aforementioned Micro Four Thirds, this method will also utilize electronic viewfinders and a live rear LCD for framing, though we won’t see anything on store shelves until early 2010. Talk about testing our patience.

[Via 1001 Noisy Cameras]

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Wireless

A little URL hacking by Engadget fan Leo, has revealed Sprint’s new My Xohm site and loads of service information. The site is clearly in a preparatory state with plenty of dead links and Latin dummy-text holding the pre-launch site format together. Nevertheless, there is quite a bit of detail here, some of which is certainly more than just idle filler. For example, based on the current text, we can expect the following at service launch in September:

• Nokia’s N810 WiMAX Edition — looks like a lock based on the liberal use of its image (above) across the pages.
• XOHM USB (ZTE’s T⅍) modem.
• XOHM Express Card (Samsung’s SWC-𐷬) modem with optional PCMCIA adapter.
• XOHM Modem (ZyXel‘s MAX-206M2) Ethernet hub / router with optional 4-hour battery — unfortunately, XOHM will not offer static IP addresses at this time.
• The XOHM portal (whatever that is) supports both Windows and OS X. However, the modems listed above and Sprint’s XOHM Connection Manager software are PC-only, sorry Mac owners.

Unfortunately, we can’t find any specific pricing information but the site does tell us that access will be sold by the day or by the month without binding contracts or cancellation fees. It also promises speeds between 2-4Mbps for downloads and 1-3Mbps for uploads. Not sure that’s worth the move to Baltimore but it’s certainly given us cause to pause at the thought. See the modems pictured after the break.

[Thanks, Leo S.]

Read — General Support FAQ
Read — Pricing and Speed
Read — My Xohm
Read — Devices

Continue reading Sprint leaks XOHM WiMax service details and devices

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Original post by Thomas Ricker

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Samsung’s upcoming BD-P2500 Blu-ray player promises BD-Live support out of the box when it ships in October, with its IFA announcement revealing identical specs and price ($499) to the Best Buy-exclusive BD-󃻶 already on sale. Of course, with HQV video processing and a wealth of audio support including 7.1 analog output and PCM or bitstream audio for Dolby Digital, Digital Plus, TrueHD or dts soundtracks, and DTS-HD HR (after a firmware update) and DTS-HD MA bitstream support, that’s not an entirely bad thing. Samsung, Panasonic, it’s taken you this many generations to get a satisfactory spec sheet, now what about the price?

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Original post by Richard Lawler

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

In a stunning attempt at making us afraid to pick up another Samsung DAP ever again, Samsung’s set-up for its new YP-Q1 and YP-U4 players was in the ass end of the huge Samsung hall at IFA, with lights enough to cook a chicken and some technical errors to boot. For starters, the ̫ (pictured) is just a pain to use, with capacitive touch controls that only work through tapping in the four directions (or center for select), instead a more natural scrolling motion. The screen is nothing special, and the interface seems a step back from Samsung’s other full-featured DAPs. If we were to say anything positive, the ̫ does feel nice and solid in the hand, but it’s nowhere near as thin or sexy as it could / should be. The U4 we tested wasn’t charged, and had rather infuriating surface and side controls that made us a little happy it wasn’t. It’s nowhere near as sexy in person as it was in those press shots, and could do to lose a few millimeters here and there.

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Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Displays

Just when you thought manufacturers couldn’t possibly manage another refresh of 22-inch LCDs, Samsung shows up at IFA with two of them. The 2233Hz (pictured) and the 2243Hz (after the break) SyncMaster desktop LCDs share a screen size, 1680 x 1050 resolutions, 300 nits of brightness and 5ms typical response times. Both displays also feature Samsung’s new Enhanced MPAII to drop Motion Picture Response time from 27ms to a mere 9ms, which should give ghosting-phobics some relief. Sadly, there′s no mention of DisplayLink, but of course there are DVI plugs with HDCP. The only differences we can find between the displays is four USB plugs (instead of two) on the 2243Hz, plus MagicRotation for pivoting the display. No word on when these will be available or for how much.

Continue reading Samsung kicks out SyncMaster 2243Hz and 2233Hz desktop LCDs

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Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

We heard the YP-Q1 was brewing, and now Samsung has confirmed the new player, along with a followup to the U3 thumbDAP, the previously rumored YP-U4. The U4 borrows a few design cues from Samsung’s TV lineup, but while it’s certainly sexier than the previous generation, we can′t help but think it looks a bit frumpy given the teensy grey OLED screen and stingy 2GB and 4GB capacities. The players boast 16 hours of playback, DNSe 2.0, and come in rose, purple and blue flavors. Meanwhile, the Q1 (pictured) seems to be frump grown up, with a 2.4-inch QVGA LCD and those purported 4, 8 and 16GB capacities. Samsung is also touting its DNSe 3.0 in the new player, which can “upconvert” audio to improve quality… supposedly. You can score one in October in black, white or silver, while the U4 (pictured after the break) should be shipping nowish.

Continue reading Samsung’s YP-U4 and YP-̫ DAPs go official

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Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Laptops

We′re not just staring down a boring press release of Samsung’s new X360, we actually got to fiddle around with it for a few minutes and came away fairly impressed. It has a build somewhere in-between the plastic-ish Voodoo Envy 133 and the rock-solid ThinkPad X300, though probably closer to the latter, and the sheen of Silver Nano Technology on the technology saves us from bacteria but adds a slightly cheap flavor to the keyboard. The isolated keys aren′t as deep as those found on Sony’s latest models, nor not quite as crisp as an Apple keyboard, but should make for a comfortable typing experience. The port layout seems reasonable, the LED-backlit screen bright and not-too-terribly-glossy, and the brushed metal finish on the back is surely a nice touch. We didn′t play much with the Korean OS, but Samsung claims the next-gen 128GB SSD offers a 25-50 percent boot time bump. Up against the MacBook Air the X360 is significantly thicker, but actually a tiny bit (3 ounces) lighter. We’ll leave it to you to decide the victor while we swap USB devices willy nilly in an attempt to finish this post.

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Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Laptops

Newsflash, Samsung: your (previously rumored) new 𕤨 laptop isn′t actually lighter than air. Also newsflash: it’s still pretty special. Samsung shouted a resounding “me too!” today with its new 𕤨 13.3-inch ultraslim / ultralight / ultraportable laptop. Weighing in at 2.8 pounds and measuring as thin as 0.66-inches (1.2-inches on the fatter end), the laptop is based on a Centrino 2 ULV processor and is built to compete. 1GB of RAM is standard — there’s room for up to 4GB — and you can pick a 64GB or 128GB SSD, or opt for a 5400RPM 120GB HDD if you’re feeling boring. Graphics come from 󗼔 integrated graphics, and the screen runs at 1280 x 800. The best and worst news comes with the inputs and outputs; Samsung didn′t integrate an optical drive, but did find room for a 7-in-1 card reader, three USB ports, PCI ExpressCard/34, HDMI, VGA, LAN and a docking port. There’s naturally WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR and a 1.3 megapixel camera. Battery life is specced at 6 to 10 hours, but we’re guessing the upper end of that spectrum will add considerably to the weight. No word on price or availability, but as far as we know Samsung hasn′t gone backsies on its “no computers for those dirty Americans” policy, so it looks like we’re stuck with the other dozen or so similarly specced laptops out there.

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Original post by Paul Miller

Filed under: Displays

Samsung’s dropping four new digital photo frames at IFA, and wonder of wonders, they′re actually somewhat interesting — particularly since they can all act as UbiSync secondary monitors for your PC. The 8-inch, 800 x 600 SPF-85H and SPF-85V and 10-inch, 1024 x 600 SPF-105P and SPF-105V all feature Samsung’s usual piano black finish with hidden touch controls and an integrated speaker the two V models have integrated 802.11 wireless and can pull photos off RSS feeds, FrameChannel, or Windows Live Spaces, while the two standalone units have 1GB of internal memory. The eight-inchers will be $129 and $199 when they hit in September, while the 105P will arrive in October for $199 and the 105V will come in at $289 in November.

[Via Digital Picture Frame Review]

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Original post by Nilay Patel

Filed under: Storage

We have a strange feeling there’s more marketing hoopla here than anything else, but whatever the case, Samsung sure feels like its newest line of SSDs will work just great within low-cost laptops. The outfit has begun to sample “low-density, higher-performance solid state drives that are only 30-percent of the size of 2.5-inch SSDs and highly cost-efficient to manufacture.” The MLC-based drives only come in 8GB, 16GB and 32GB flavors, and read / write performance ranges from 90MB/sec to 70MB/sec, respectively. Mass production is scheduled to crank up next month, and while you’d expect SSDs aimed at netbooks to boast remarkably low price tags, Sammy doesn’t even bother spilling those beans.

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Original post by Darren Murph

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

It’s not officially announced yet, but Samsung’s expected to announce the YP-Q1 PMP at IFA this week. The vertically-oriented player will come in 4, 8 and 16GB varieties with a 2.4-inch QVGA screen, support for MP3, WMA, WAV, Ogg, FLAC, MPEG4 and WMV, and an FM RDS radio. No word on pricing yet, but does anyone else think it’s funny that Samsung will now have two entirely different slow-selling Q1s?

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Original post by Nilay Patel

In Singapore, the Dutch consumer electronics maker Philips is designing a multimedia server to stream audio and video through the air, from the Internet to any device in the home.

In Munich, a former unit of Siemens envisions a cordless phone that would double as a music player, wirelessly drawing music from home computers.

In Japan, members of Sony’s global “digital home team” are redesigning 90% of the company’s home electronics components to connect wirelessly to the Internet by 2011.

Across the consumer electronics industry, the leading players are revamping their audio and video equipment for a future centered around the Internet, a world in which televisions, stereos, computers — even kitchen appliances like dishwashers and refrigerators — can communicate with each other over a wireless home network.

Some industry executives say the new focus on Internet content and wireless networks reflects a fundamental shift in home entertainment. 

Expanded lines of “networked entertainment equipment″ took center stage this week at the Internationale Funkausstellung in Berlin, the largest consumer electronics convention in Europe, with 1,200 exhibitors and 200,000 visitors.

Sony is introducing plug-in adapters to enable some of its Bravia television sets to connect to the Internet wirelessly. Philips is demonstrating a line of hard-disc stereo systems that can wirelessly read and play music stored on personal computers or laptops in other rooms, streaming music selectively through the house.

Pioneer, Samsung and Sharp are presenting flat-panel TVs that hook up to the Internet, some with wires, some without. Hewlett Packard′s MediaSmart LCD TV will wirelessly stream high-definition video. 

More at the International Herald Tribune.

Tags: HP, philips, samsung, sharp, siemens, sony

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Copyright VoIP & Gadgets Blog

Original post by nafiz