Samsung at the CES: Tablets, PCs, 3-D TVs

Like LG before it, Samsung introduced a plethora of new smarter devices including tablet PCs, laptops, 3-D TVs and much more at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

David Steel, executive vice president of Samsung's North American operations, said giving consumers a smarter life, was the company's motto in 2011. The three pillars of this of this smarter life mentality include: smart design, smart experiences and smart connections.

This means products that are easier and intuitive to use. Products that are highly appealing whether it's in the home or your pocket with great user interfaces and displays. And with the ability to connect these products to each other, Steel said.

Of the products revealed by Samsung, the one that got the most buzz within the crowd was the Sliding PC 7 Series. Tim Baxter, president of Samsung America, and Doug Albregts, vice president of Samsung's enterprise business division, introduced what they say is a new form of product.

Even though the emergence of the tablet has created a new mobile entertainment/communication device that combines the best aspects of the laptop and smartphone, there are times when the standard PC with a keyboard is missed. The Sliding PC 7 Series is a mobile PC that begins in tablet form with multi touch apps, and then with a sliding keyboard becomes more like a traditional laptop, Albregts said.

The tablet/laptop combination device runs on Windows 7 operating system and is powered by the Intel Atom processor. Its screen quality is at 340-nit brightness and it has a 10.1 inch display supported by an enhanced HD resolution. It weighs 2.2 pounds and comes with either 32GB or 64GB models.

With optional 3G connectivity and a build-in accelerometer enabling either portrait or landscape viewing, it's as much a tablet as it is a notebook. The company says its versatility is its strong point.

This PC is perfect for everyone from students to mobile workers, the true audience is as versatile as the user, Albregts said. Along with the Sliding PC 7 Series, Samsung introduced another notebook lineup called the Notebook PC 9 Series. It has a streamlined design using duralumin, a lightweight material over twice as strong as aluminum.

Samsung introduced a new version of its Galaxy Tab, this one being Wi-Fi only. The Galaxy series, which has thus far covered tablets and smartphones, will expand into mp3 players with the Galaxy Player.

This is a smart mp3 player, it runs Android 2.2 operating system and is based on Samsung's smartphones. To further differentiate it from other mp3 players, there are 120,000 apps available, Omar Khan, chief strategy officer for Samsung mobile, said.

Along with tablets, PCs and mp3 players, Samsung unveiled a new 4G smartphone, the Infuse 4G. The AT&T based phone will run on the LTE network and has Super AMOLED 4.5 inch screen. Khan says its AT&T's thinnest phone available. It runs on a 1.2 gigahurtz application processor, uses the Android 2.2 platform and has both front and rear facing cameras.

3-D was one of Samsung's central themes during its CES presentation.This included the unveiling of new 3-D blu-ray players with system-on-chip technology for conversion, computer displays and HDTV monitors and a home theater projector. Samsung also unveiled more 3-D TVs, one of its biggest products from last year's CES.

Sales of 3-D TVs surpassed DVDs, HDTV and LED TVs in their first year. We're no less bullish now than we were last year. We expect 3-D TV sales to grow six fold to six million in 2011, from one million this year. We expect to put 3-D on more TVs and on larger screens. 3-D will be 60 percent of our new TV lineup in 2011, John Revie, senior vice president of Samsung's consumer business division, said.

Another product introduced at the CES by Samsung was an edgeless TV screen, without a bezel. This means Samsung was able to increase picture size by one inch without increasing the outside dimensions. Furthermore, for each of its new 2011 TVs, Samsung is including a feature called one foot connection. This means anytime an Internet ready device comes within range of the TV's home network, it will be automatically connected.

The company also introduced new blu-ray players, TV accessories and smarter' appliances. One such appliance was a fridge with an eight-inch screen that has a select number of relevant applications including a calendar, notebook and photos.