Samsung Steals the Show with Impressive Announcements

Flourished with style, aesthetically pleasing, and full of spectacular announcements that each competed for the spotlight, Samsung’s CES 2019 conference was one of the best. With the stated goal of creating more “connected living” for their consumers in 2019, Samsung announced and detailed a wide variety of products, ranging from smarter (and higher resolution) TVs to robots.

Here are all the products Samsung spoke about at their massive conference:

98” QLED 8K TV

Samsung’s dedication to their television line is unrivaled. Their MicroLED technology offers modular design, immersive viewing, and landscape screens, completely personalized for a viewer’s space and needs. More impressively, their QLED TV lineup took a giant step forward with the announcement of the 98” QLED 8K TV. Ready to support HDMI 2.1 and native 8K, this TV offers incredible color and enhanced contrast.

In addition, the TV is supported by an AI which upscales images to 8K, regardless of original resolution. It’s Quantum Processor 8K sharpens details, eliminates jagged lines, and restores pixels.

This QLED TV also comes in 65”, 75”, 82”, and 85” screen sizes. Select TVs are currently available for pre-order.

TV Functionality and Compatibility

Samsung TVs will not only have incredible 8K resolution on a 98” screen, they will also have more cross-platform compatibility than ever before. By the end of 2019, TVPlus service will offer free content on at least 80 channels. Additionally, Samsung customers in over 100 countries will be able to see iTunes movies and TV shows natively on screen. Not only that, but Samsung will also offer cross-platform interaction with Apple Airplay on its lineup of smart TVs as well as control compatibility with Bixby, Amazon Echo, and Google Home.

Samsung’s AI will also make navigating all these new options easier: Universal Guide uses AI to provide better recommendations based on the user’s subscription services and TV habits. This recommendation system will work cross platform, rather than only recommending within a certain app or streaming service. Bixby can also give suggestions based on only a few prompts.

Family Hub 2019

Family Hub 2019 has a whole new design and is integral to Samsung’s vision of a connected life. Family Hub 2019 can send a memo using voice commands, control multiple devices at once, receive notifications from other smart devices inside the home, seamlessly integrate with smartphone applications, and provide a space for family pictures and notes, just like refrigerators of old.

The last feature is called Family Board. A canvas to share pictures and notes, this can be personalized for each user, family or lifestyle. Bixby is easy to operate, activated by a simple voice command and allows you to operate hands free in the kitchen.

Computers

In 2019, a whole new line of PCs are ready to be deployed. Starting with the Notebook 9 Pro, this laptop was designed for the next generation workforce. Well crafted metal and diamond cut bezel house 8GB of RAM, an 8^th generation i7 processor, and 256 GB storage. While it comes with a pen, the advanced Notebook 9 Pen connects to your mobile phone ecosystem and can maximize your Notebook 9 Pro experience. For gamers, Samsung announced the Notebook Odyssey, a powerful laptop utilizing Nvidia’s new GeForce RTX 2080.

For those looking for desktop monitors, Samsung offered a new Samsung Space Monitor. It’s low profile arm clamps to a desk and can store flat against the wall. Cables can be hidden within the arm, creating the ultimate minimalist setup.

Robots

A surprise announcement at the end of the conference, Samsung literally rolled out the Bot Care, Bot Air, Bot Retail and GEMS. Bot Care looks to be an in-house solution for daily healthcare as it monitors and provides feedback for sleep, vitals, medication intake, exercises and blood pressure. Bot Air checks air pollution and if necessary, helps purify it. Bot Retail works with your shopping style and makes it easier for you to purchase products. GEMS, unlike the others, was more of an exo-suit made to support the legs, help wearers walk and improve mobility.

With all these announcements, Samsung really set the bar high for 2019. Given their 50 year history of industry leading technology, I don’t doubt that Samsung will not only achieve their goals, but also exceed them.

Small Notes:

• 2019 marks the 50^th anniversary of Samsung Electronics.
• According to their press conference, 71% of Americans own at least one Samsung device in their homes.
• The start of the conference focused on 5G – the first Samsung 5G smartphone is slated to be released in the first half of 2019 – and AI. This focus makes sense with their slate of home appliances and Bixby capabilities.
• TVs will now have Far Field control. Essentially you can use voice control from farther away.
• New premium washer and dryers were announced as well. These can interact with other smart devices in the home and can automatically suggest wash cycles, be set to run at a specific time, and finish a full load in 30 minutes with SuperSpeed Feature.
• Samsung helped announce the new Digital Cockpit 2019, an in car experience fully integrated with Bixby that blends smart lifestyle with personalization and safety.
• The company is working to enable on-device AI solutions to leverage AI without connecting to a server. In this vein, they announced the mobile processor Exynos 9 that can perform AI tasks 7x faster than previous models and the Exynos Auto v9 which brings AI to automobiles and powers in vehicle infotainment systems.