WebProNews

Tag: Samsung

  • Craigslist CEO Goes Off on CNN’s Amber Lyon

    Craiglist CEO Jim Buckmaster wrote a feisty blog post aimed at CNN’s Amber Lyon. It begins:

    I see you’ve now gotten around to requesting an interview with me or a company spokesperson, 90 days after you ambushed our namesake and founder, Craig Newmark, following his May 20th talk on veteran’s affairs and other issues unrelated to craigslist, at a conference in Washington.

    You knew Craig was not in management or a company spokesperson, but setting CNN’s ethical code aside, you sidestepped company channels in favor of ambushing our semi-retired founder, complete with a misleading "set up" for your surprise questions. Now that CNN has aired your highly misleading piece dozens of times, mischaracterizing your stunt as a serious interview on this subject, and you’ve updated your "bio" to showcase this rare jewel of investigative journalism, you’re ready to try actually interviewing the company itself on this subject.

    According to a New York Times piece    , most people still decline to use location services. The article says these services (like Foursquare, Gowalla, Facebook Places, etc.) are mainly being used by "young, technically adept urbanites." They cite Forrester Research data, claiming that 4% of Americans have tried location-based services, and 1% use them weekly.

    Microsoft’s Hotmail now supports push email, calendar, and contacts with Exchange ActiveSync. Microsoft’s Aviraj Ajgekar calls this "another milestone fore Windows Live Services."

    Google showed off some of the products of its "Googley Art Wall" contest, which asked its product management teams to design their own walls:

    AOL’s MapQuest launched some new updates to its recent relaunch. These include a "pick your language" features, embedded maps, and "send to GPS".

    Twitter announced Site Streams, a new feature on its Streaming API, which lets services receive real-time updates for a large number of users. It streams events like direct messages, mentions, follows, favorites, tweets, retweets, profile changes, and list changes.

    Samsung announced that it has sold over a million Samsung Galaxy S smartphones in the U.S. in 45 days.

  • IBM Looks Into Accessible Mobile Interfaces, Google Giving up on Wave?

    IBM Looks Into Accessible Mobile Interfaces, Google Giving up on Wave?

    IBM has partnered with the Industrial Design Centre at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay on mobile web research. The initiative will focus on development of new designs of mobile device interfaces that can be used by people who are semiliterate or illiterate, as well as individuals who have limited or no access to information technology.

    Google appears to have somewhat given up on Wave, at least as a standalone product. The company posts to the Official Google Blog:

    We were equally jazzed about Google Wave internally, even though we weren’t quite sure how users would respond to this radically different kind of communication. The use cases we’ve seen show the power of this technology: sharing images and other media in real time; improving spell-checking by understanding not just an individual word, but also the context of each word; and enabling third-party developers to build new tools like consumer gadgets for travel, or robots to check code.

    But despite these wins, and numerous loyal fans, Wave has not seen the user adoption we would have liked. We don’t plan to continue developing Wave as a standalone product, but we will maintain the site at least through the end of the year and extend the technology for use in other Google projects. The central parts of the code, as well as the protocols that have driven many of Wave’s innovations, like drag-and-drop and character-by-character live typing, are already available as open source, so customers and partners can continue the innovation we began. In addition, we will work on tools so that users can easily “liberate” their content from Wave.

    Nielsen reports that the mobile Internet is more popular in China that it is in the U.S. "Widespread ownership of mobiles is only a fairly recent development in China, but consumers there have fully embraced the technology and in some ways are using it more robustly than their American and European counterparts," says Shan Phillips, Vice President, Greater China, Telecom Practice, The Nielsen Company.

    Nielsen also has another interesting report looking at who is buying the iPad, and asking if they will also buy an iPhone.

    iOS-user-profile

    WordPress has introduced its own "like" buttons. Now readers can "like" posts, although I’d say for publishers, the Facebook "like" buttons will be a lot more effective for driving traffic. Still, it’s nice to provide as many gateways for engagement as possible (without getting too cluttered, anyway).

    According to the Financial Times, Motorola and Verizon have teamed up on a "TV Tablet." This is a device with a 10-inch screen that users will be able to watch television on.

    Reuters reports that Sharp intends to launch a 3D smartphone this year. This would feature a 3D panel that can be viewed without special glasses and would have a 3D capable camera.

    According to Unwired Review, Samsung is considering puting touchscreen functionality on the back of a tablet. This is based on a patent application for a "mobile terminal having dual touch screen and method of controlling content therein".

    Meanwhile, as Engadget writes, Microsoft has been teasing an as-of-yet unannounced product via Twitter, saying, ""Don’t be so touchy…flat is where it’s at," and offering a small partial image of some object. This may or may not be a trackpad.

  • Free Case Not Enough? Samsung Gives Some Disgruntled iPhone Users Free Android Phones

    You may have heard that a few people have been dissatisfied with their recent iPhone 4 purchases. Apple has gone out of its way to make it up to them (whether or not they’ve done enough is debatable), but that hasn’t stopped people from complaining.

    Samsung Galaxy SSome of those people got lucky when they complained publicly on Twitter, because someone was listening. It wasn’t Apple, but Samsung, who decided to try and convert some of its competitor’s users to Samsung users. Samsung has been giving away its Galaxy S phones to some of the complainers, as first reported by Wired UK.

    "Recently there has been a real increase in online activity from consumers dissatisfied with some of our competitors’ products," Samsung told Wired. "We decided to contact a cross section of individuals to offer them a free Samsung Galaxy S as a replacement, as we’re confident that once people have the phone in their hands, they’ll see how impressive it is for themselves."

    While Samsung’s efforts may convert a few iPhone users to Galaxy S users, it might also effectively convert them to Android users, as the phone runs Android 2.1. That could be more long-term.

    You have to admit a free phone is a little more enticing than a free case.

    The move follows a newspaper ad taken by Samsung, which also mocked Apple’s reception issues.

    Publicity stunts? Sure. It’s working though isn’t it?

  • Here Comes Apple’s iOS 4

    Here Comes Apple’s iOS 4

    iOS4, the recently announced new version of Apple’s mobile operating system is due out today. Users of devices that utilize this OS are no doubt anxious to get it, but they shouldn’t have to wait much longer. Although as Brad McCarty at The Next Web points out, "Bear in mind, iPhone OS 3 (released last year) took the better part of the day to hit the public."

    Speaking of Apple, you may recall Steve Jobs unveiling FaceTime at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference a couple weeks ago. This is its video chat application for iOS. Today Silicon Alley Insider reports confirmation from Apple that FaceTime will not use up carrier minutes. This could make the feature a more attractive way of communicating.

    Robert Scoble points to a "first look" at a new Toshiba touch netbook prototype:

    Dell is reportedly in talks with Google that will likely see the utilization of Google operating systems on Dell products. Doug Caverly has more on this here.

    Dell has also launched its new Inspiron R series of laptops. Laptop Mag has a detailed write-up of it here(via TechMeme).

    Barnes and Noble introduced a new, lower priced version of its Nook eBook reader. This one is a Wi-Fi-only version, priced at $149. In addition, they lowered the price on the 3G version to under $200.

    Android Central has uncovered some specs for the Samsung Galaxy S Pro. The publication says it "may well end up being the hottest phone of the year."

    Digitimes Research claims that Nokia will launch an ARM-based tablet PC, most likely in the fourth quarter of this year. Nokia  is expected to go with MeeGo as the operating system.

    Microsoft recently unveiled Kinect (previously known as Project Natal). Kotaku is reporting that the company has now confirmed Kinect will be bundled with Xbox consoles, and "a $199 configuration of its new Xbox 360 will be available this fall."

  • Samsung “Considering Google TVs”

    Earlier this year, DisplaySearch put Samsung’s share of the global television market at 17.2 percent, and while that may not sound impressive, DisplaySearch also asserted that no company has ever reached the 20.0 percent mark.  It’s rather significant, then, that Samsung has Android TVs on the mind.

    Google AndroidA Samsung executive who apparently preferred to remain anonymous told Jin Hyun-joo of the Korea Herald, "We are considering Google TVs.  We are examining the business feasibility of Google TVs."

    Of course, that isn’t the same thing as an attributable quote verifying that Samsung will start shipping Android sets in the nth quarter of whatever year.  Still, since Panasonic ruled out the idea of pairing Android with its TVs last month, "considering Google TVs" counts for something.

    What’s more, Kim Kyeong-hyun, a vice president at Samsung, was willing to go on the record and said that Google, along with Apple, "will help expand the TV market," which has to be a positive sign.

    A hat tip goes to Paul Boutin, anyway, and we’ll keep an eye on the situation to see if Samsung gives Android the opportunity to invade everyone’s living rooms.

  • Yahoo and Samsung Announce New Global Partnership

    Yahoo announced a global partnership with Samsung today, which will see Yahoo services coming pre-installed on a variety of mobile devices from the manufacturer. The two companies have partnered since 2007, but that relationship is now being greatly expanded.

    "By making our most popular Yahoo! services available on Samsung mobile devices around the world, we’re providing consumers with personally relevant mobile Internet experiences that make it easy for them to stay connected to what’s important to them and explore the full potential of their device," said David Ko, senior vice president, Audience, Mobile and Local for Yahoo!. "We’re thrilled to deepen our relationship with Samsung and look forward to continuing to drive the global adoption of mobile Internet services."

    Dr. Ho Soo Lee, EVP, Media Solution Center, Samsung Electronics (L) and David Ko, SVP, Audience, Mobile and Local, North America, Yahoo! (R), sign strategic global partnership to pre-load Yahoo! services on tens of millions of Samsung devices. (Photo: Business Wire)

    Dr. Ho Soo Lee, EVP, Media Solution Center, Samsung Electronics (L) and David Ko, SVP, Audience, Mobile and Local, North America, Yahoo! (R), sign strategic global partnership to pre-load Yahoo! services on tens of millions of Samsung devices. (Photo: Business Wire)

    Yahoo services that purchasers of Samsung devices may find include:

    – Yahoo Mail
    – Yahoo Messenger
    – Yahoo Contacts and Calendar
    – Yahoo Mobile Front Page
    – Yahoo Search
    – Flickr
    – Yahoo News
    – Yahoo finance
    – Yahoo Weather

    "We want to provide our customers with the best possible services designed to enhance their mobile experience," said Kenny Lee, vice president of content planning at Samsung. "Our relationship with Yahoo! continues to grow and benefit our global consumer base, who wants access popular Yahoo! services from their Samsung phone."

    While the announcement did not reveal specifically what devices that will come loaded with Yahoo services, it did say that it will include those running the Samsung bada and Android platforms.

  • Close-Up with Samsung’s New Line-Up

    Close-Up with Samsung’s New Line-Up

    One of the most discussed displays at CES 2010 was Samsung‘s exhibit. WebProNews and many other event attendees were amazed by the collection of TVs, 3D innovations, and a new category of e-readers Samsung had to offer at the conference.

    LCDs, Plasmas and LEDs were among the list of TVs presented at CES. With a range of 19-65-inch TVs, Samsung had a full lineup to offer. Each of the new models featured a new technology called AllShare, which allows users to connect telecivion to other devices (digital cameras, computers, mobile devices, and more).

    Samsung Apps was also revealed at CES by the company. Allowing users to download contect for their TVs, just like on mobile phones. Informational apps, gaming apps, and movie-streaming apps were among a few of the wide variety of apps the company has to offer.

    3D capabilities are also available in the 3 TVs high-end versions. Some of these TVs allow any 2D content to be processed in 3D. As Scott Cohen told WPN, users can watch anything in 3D with Samsung.

    With Samsung’s Plasma line developing and growing, picture-quality enhancement have become a main focus for the Samsung team. Deeper blacks and better motion would increase the picture-quailty, but with the new customizable features that allow users to adjust the picture to their preference, Samsung seems to have it in the bag.

    The LED’s are all under 2-inches deep with the flagship model at only 0.3 inches equaling out to be thinner than a pencil. The line has lower power consumption, vibrant colors, and brightness.

    The TVs were a big hit at the event, but Samsung’s category of e-readers also has the interest of many individuals. The screen sizes range from 5-10 inches Samsung also announced their partnershitp with Google Books for category of e-readers.

    All these Samsung products will be available during the first half of 2010. To find out more, visit www.Samsung.com.

  • Samsung Unveils App Store for HDTVs

    Samsung unveiled its own app store for HDTVs at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. With Samsung Apps, users can download and purchase applications from select 2010 Samsung HDTVs, Blu-ray Players and Home Theater systems via the upgraded Internet@TV – Content Service.

    "Samsung’s goal over the past two years has been to really push the envelope in terms of consumer experience with connected TV, and 2010 is no different," said Kevin Kyungshik Lee, Vice President of Visual Display at Samsung Electronics. "The upgraded Internet@TV feature with Samsung Apps is another major step in terms of a truly personalized, easy to navigate and convenient connected TV experience, which is why we’re offering it in the vast majority of TV models 40 inches and above and now extending those capabilities across multiple products."

    Samsung Apps

    Apps will span categories of video, information, lifestyle, games, and sports. Content partners will include Accedo Broadband, AccuWeather.com, The Associated Press, Blockbuster, Fashion TV, Netflix, Picasa, Pandora, Rovi, Travel Channel, Twitter, USA TODAY, and Vudu.Samsung says more apps from partners globally will be available within the year.

    While users can currently go to SamsungApps.com, the TV section is not open for business just yet. It will be coming in July with a variety of services (both in free and paid). Samsung Apps Mobile is already launched in England, France, Italy, and Korea, and will expand to approximately 50 countries worldwide in 2010.


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  • Samsung Unveils First E-Readers at CES

    At the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, Samsung introduced its first e-book reading devices. They’re called the E6 and the E101, coming in six and ten-inch screen sizes. 

    "We’ve used our expertise to create a high-quality e-book with today’s on-the-go consumer in mind," said Young Bae, director of display marketing, Samsung Information Technology Division. "Samsung is addressing a common frustration that users experience with many of today’s digital readers with a stylus that allows them to annotate their favorite works or take notes. Coupled with wireless functionality that enables sharing of content, this is a truly multi-faceted device."

    The E6 and E101 enable handwriting directly onto the display, letting users annotate their reading selections, calendars and to-do lists with a built-in electromagnetic resonance (EMR) stylus pen. Samsung says the pen prevents mistypes caused by hands and other objects that graze the screen’s surface. It comes with a variety of pen and eraser thicknesses.

    Samsung Ereaders

    According to the company, the Samsung e-book displays reflect light naturally and deliver an appearance similar to that of printed paper, allowing people to read more naturally than they would with other backlit electronic paper devices.

    "The E101 boasts a ten-inch screen, while the E6, is the more portable sibling at six inches," says Samsung. "Because Samsung’s e-book is not backlit, the power consumption is lower than that of other portable display devices. Only four hours of charging prepares the battery for up to two weeks of use, depending on the extent of daily use."

    Samsung the devices will be available early this year with the E^ priced at $399 and the E101 priced at $699.

    Watch for more WebProNews coverage of CES, with exclusive video interviews coming soon.
     

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