SAMSUNG

Samsung SPH-A580 FCC Approved, More Entry Level Samsung Flips

2005-12-15T17:58:00.000-08:00

Thursday, 15 December 2005

The SPH-A580 is an Entry-Level Vision handset slotted between the SPH-A560 and SPH-A820. Adds Vision and a monochrome exterior display to the former.

Click for More

In addition, the SPH-A420 will launch as a Voice-only handset, although it is not yet known if it is slotted below the SPH-A560, or a replacement for it.

The SPH-A780 is similar to the phone that has been FCC approved for over a year. Entry-level Multi-Media handset.

Samsung SPH-A900, SPH-A920 Released

2005-12-05T18:07:00.000-08:00

Monday, 05 December 2005

Sprint has fully released the SPH-A900 and SPH-A9200, and are expected to be in most retail locations this month. High-traffic stores will get the first shipements.

Specs remain mostly the same for the two handsets, with the long rumored TF card slot A900 being canned by Sprint CEBU.

14.5mm thick design
Bluetooth 1.2
1.3MP rotating camera with video recording functionality
Video Ringers/Content on exterior display
Picsel File Viewer Suite
PictBridge functionality
2.2" 320x240 262K internal display
Speech-to-text conversion technology along with full voice commands
MIDP 2.0 enabled, MM capable
Dual stereo speakers with speakerphone
3-D games and user interface
Intenna
EV-DO functionality

Bluetooth 1.2
Intenna
Dual stereo speakers with speakerphone (in hinge)
TF card slot
176x220 262K TFT
65K STN external
Front MP3 controls
1.3MP camera
MIDP 2.0 enabled, MM capable
EV-DO High-Speed compliant
PictBridge functionality

Bush Praises Samsung

2005-11-26T00:44:00.000-08:00

Thursday, 17 November 2005

President George W. Bush is said to have been full of praise for a Samsung cellular telephone he took a look at while in Busan for the APEC summit. The company said on Tuesday Bush paid special attention to a slim third-generation phone as well as the Serene model phone jointly produced by Samsung and Bang & Olufsen at the Samsung Electronics booth at the APEC IT exhibition last Friday.

Bush, the company claims, tried out the 14.9 mm thick slim phone, and hammed it up by asking to put through to White House. On seeing the Serene phone, he is said to have praised its design, according to company staff. When asked what kind of cell phone he was currently using, the president admitted he had been living without a cell phone for the last three years because calls are always put through to him by others.

Watching a demonstration of the wireless mobile Internet service WiBro developed by Samsung, Bush is said to have exclaimed, “Samsung is excellent.” He said he had known the company well because of its support from the time he served as Texas governor, the company claims.

By: Chosun

SPH-A900 Fox News Video

2005-11-20T18:00:00.000-08:00

Sunday, 20 November 2005

SPH-A900 Video

Release on Black Friday
Retail $349
Video on exterior display
Black Aluminum Anodized body
Solid, Hefty, in-hand feel

Samsung SPH-A960 FCC

2005-11-17T19:34:00.000-08:00

Thursday, 17 November 2005

Bluetooth 1.2
2MP CCD camera [A800] with Auto-Focus and Macro
PictBridge functionality
2" 320x240 QVGA 262K internal display
65K circular OLED display
Speech-to-text conversion technology along with full voice commands
TransFlash memory card slot
MIDP 2.0 enabled, MM capable
Unique rear sliding lens cover
Dual stereo speakers with speakerphone
3-D games and user interface
Intenna
Motion-sensing capabilities (Beat Box, Compass, Commands, Games)
EV-DO functionality
Flash GUI (probable)

Still to be determined:

WiFi

Click for larger image

Very similar to the SGH-E750

Samsung Introduces Five New Slim Phones

2005-11-07T22:49:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, 08 November 2005

Samsung Electronics, the world's third largest handset maker, introduces 5 new mobile phones for the European market.

The average of the newly unveiled phones are under 15mm and offer the latest multimedia features, such as music playback capability, megapixel camera and Bluetooth connectivity.

The lineups include two 3G phones (model: SGH-Z510, SGH-Z540), two slide-up GSM/GPRS phones (model: SGH-D800, SGH-D820), and a credit-card size mobile phone (Model: SGH-P300).

SGH-Z510, a WCDMA phone that is only 14.9mm thick. Samsung argued that Z510 is the slimmest WCDMA handset now available and the model put to rest portability issue of WCDMA phones.

The five models will be available in Europe within this year.

By TelecomsKorea.com

Samsung to Challenge Apple in Online Music Field

2005-10-30T10:12:00.000-08:00

10/30/05:

The vibes coming out of the Korean electronics giant Samsung, indicate that they could be very close to launching an iTunes type music store, to gain strong hold in the portable music market.

Take another look at Samsung and its market penetration. They have significant product offerings in all portable music device markets including MP3 players (branded YEPP), flash memory technology which powers the iPod Nano and not to forget cellphones that are going to be the converged mobile music device of the future. And the numbers speak for themselves; Samsung sold about 1.7 million MP3 players last year, which significantly trails the iPod offerings and the likes of Creative Zen. Also, Samsung has historically endorsed flash based technology which has its own technical limitations of peak storage. In order to gain more traction in the market place, they have recently jumped into the HDD based portable media player market, where iPod has been able to offer utpo 60GB of music storage. If portable music is on the radar for Samsung’s strategy, a music store targeted to Samsung’s devices can be a good way to offer a comprehensive portable music experience.

Earlier this year, Samsung also announced that it plans to catch up with Apple and become one of the top three leading MP3 manufacturers in 2007, by securing a market share of 25-30 percent. The key would be distinguishing their offerings from iTunes. Typically the approach that Apple and others have taken is to offer a larger choice of music, provide tight integration with their own iPod player offerings and customize music offerings for local markets. Samsung would only be able to afford to pursue this strategy after achieving some ground hold in this space.

By: PhoneMag

Motorola Power Vision E815 Very Soon

2005-10-25T12:49:00.000-07:00

10/25/05:

While Samsung-Chaebol does not normally cover other manufactures handsets, we thought it was worth mentioning that the Motorola Power Vision handset is due out very soon, within the next week and a half. Expect the physical appearance to mirror the Verizon E815, while being a tad thicker, but also not quite as wide.

Samsung MM-A940 Released

2005-10-24T20:55:00.000-07:00

10/24/05:

The Samsung MM-A940 has just appeared on Sprint's webpage for purchase. The MM-A940 is the first handset to feature Power Vision (EV-DO). Other major features include Transflash removable memory, dual stereo speakers with speakerphone, Bluetooth 1.2, a 2MP camera with a 2x optical zoom lens, and a unique twist and flip camcorder like design. Samsung-Chaebol broke first live shots of the MM-A940, full retail price is $399.99.

Anyclub Music Video

2005-10-23T17:48:00.000-07:00

Part One
Part Two

If you liked Anymotion, you'll love Anyclub.

Samsung's Luxury Phones for Sprint

2005-10-21T16:10:00.000-07:00

10/20/05:

A900: Picsel File Viewer, 14.5MM flip with 2.2" QVGA, 1.3MP rotating camera, Bluetooth 1.2, MP3 controls, intenna, *possible* TF (conflicting sources), Flash GUI, stereo speakers with speakerphone, Beat Box motion sensing gyro, A2DP Bluetooth streaming. $499

[PhoneScoop image]

A920: Sexy-in black design, 1.3MP camera, Bluetooth 1.2, Transflash, MP3 controls, intenna, stereo speakers with speakerphone. $349

A940: Samsung "Giant"- Picsel File Viewer, 2MP 2x optical CCD with macro/auto-focus, Bluetooth 1.2, Transflash, MP3 controls, intenna, stereo speakers with speakerphone, rotating screen, 1 hour of high quality video capture, Beat box motion sensor. $399 (with stereo earphones, 32MB TF)

[Thanks ROLF]

A960: Samsung "Oracle"- Picsel File Viewer, 2MP CCD with macro/auto-focus, QVGA, external OLED, TransFlash, Bluetooth 1.2,MP3 controls, intenna, stereo speakers with speakerphone, Flash GUI. (Price Unknown)

CDMA SGH-T809: Samsung "Juke"- 17MM thick, slider form factor, Sexy-in black, Picsel File Viewer, 1.3MP CCD with auto-focus, Bluetooth 1.2, Transflash, intenna, stereo speakers with speakerphone, Flash GUI, QVGA. (Price Unknown, expected $499)

[PhoneScoop Image]

Samsung 5MP: Picsel File Viewer, 2.2" QVGA, Bluetooth 1.2, 5MP CCD camera with *possible* 3x optical powered extendable zoom lens (macro/auto-focus), TransFlash, intenna, stereo speakers with speakerphone, Flash GUI.

They will all be EV-DO and all have Voice Signals advanced suite of full dictation:)

All are scheduled from now until Q2 2006, with the A960/Juke/5MP being the ones for 06".

Samsung SPH-A900/BLADE Approved by FCC

2005-10-20T22:16:00.000-07:00

10/20/05:

As Samsung-Chaebol originally reported, the SPH-A900/BLADE, has now been approved via the FCC.

Click for lager image

Samsung to Double LCD Sales by 2010

2005-10-19T18:21:00.000-07:00

10/19/05- Korea Times:

Samsung Electronics aims to double its annual sales of liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels to $20 billion and to introduce 100-inch models by 2010, Lee Sang-wan, CEO of the LCD division, said on Wednesday.

The Korean electronics giant also expects the worldwide market for flat-panel displays to grow by 75 percent to $115 billion over next five years due to the growing demand for high-end television sets.

Lee said that this year’s sales of Samsung Electronics is estimated to reach $10 billion and it will expand to $20 billion in 2010. Lee disclosed these figures during a keynote speech at FPD International 2005, a conference for flat-panel display businesses being held in Yokohama, Japan. He added that in order to accomplish the goal, Samsung will develop new markets for LCDs and will strengthen its leadership in related technologies.

Lee forecasted that the increasing demand for LCD television sets will lead the market growth over the period. Television’s portion in total LCD panel sales will continually rise from 17 percent this year to 42 percent in 2010, he said.

Currently, PC monitors and mobile handsets account for around 40 percent and 27 percent of LCD demand, respectively.

He said that three years ago, Samsung expected the flat-panel display market to grow to $47 billion but the market has grown far faster than projected and reached $66 billion, adding that the market can grow to $115 billion by 2010.

Lee predicted that 100-inch LCD televisions will be available in the market by 2010. Currently, a 65-inch screen from Japan’s Sharp is the largest of the kind in the market, while Samsung recently developed an 82-inch panel in March.

LCDs are more adequate for screens less than 50 inches due to the higher manufacturing costs of plasma-display panel (PDP) televisions. For PDPs, Samsung and LG Electronics both have presented 102-inch prototypes this year, and the former is selling 80-inch models at around 130 million won.

Samsung has been competing with LG.Philips LCD for dominance of the LCDs. Samsung’s LCD department had recorded sales of 8.7 trillion won ($8.6 billion) in 2004 and 5.2 trillion won ($5.2 billion won) in 2003. The company expects it will reach the 10-trillion won mark this year, as accumulated sales until the third quarter recorded 8.3 trillion won.

An LCD is a thin, flat display device made up of hundreds of thousands of color pixels arrayed in front of a light source or reflector. It uses relatively small amounts of electric power compared to traditional displays using cathode ray tubes (CRT), and has been widely used for battery-powered electronic devices such as laptops and cell phones as well as televisions and monitors.

By: Korea Times

JBenchmark Ranks Samsung SPH-A900

2005-10-17T17:27:00.000-07:00

262K 320x240 QVGA, 73MBs onboard memory.

JBenchmark

Samsung SGH-T809

2005-10-13T19:44:00.000-07:00

10/13/2005:

Update: PhoneScoop has complete first impressions and more photos of the SGH-T809

Samsung treated the press today, showing off their brand-spankin' new SGH-T809 in New York, and boy is it a sweet one.

Comes complete with complete Bluetooth 1.2, a QVGA display, TF card functionality, a 1.3MP Auto-focus, macro CCD camera, all in a sex, Razr esque package.

Look for this one to make a T-Mobile USA appearance within a month as well as a CDMA release here shortly thereafter. You heard that here first.

Click for More Photos.

Photos coursey of Mobile Burn.

Samsung BLADE = SPH-A900

2005-10-13T16:56:00.000-07:00

The Samsung Blade now appears to be the Samsung SPH-A900.

The 5MP Samsung that was previously thought to be the BLADE will most likely appear as the SPH-A980 or SPH-1000.

Samsung SPH-A920 Photo

2005-10-13T12:30:00.000-07:00

10/12/05:

Samsung is showing off the SCH-A950 and SPH-A920 side by side on their accessories page.

[Thanks PMB33]

Samsung MM-A940: $399

2005-10-11T21:40:00.000-07:00

10/11/05:

Sprint has placed the price for the Samsung MM-A940 on it's resepcted webpage. Although the A940s phone page on Sprints ordering website has been existent for quite some months now, the updated price now confirms the $399 rumors that have been spilling around the internet.

Click for Full Image

Samsung SCH-A950 Released

2005-10-10T22:18:00.000-07:00

10/10/05:

Verizon has officially released the Samsung SCH-A950, Verizon's latest entry into the VCast, EV-DO craze. The A950 comes packed with Bluetooth (limited profiles), EV-DO, a 176x220 262K internal display, speakerphone with dual stereo speakers, an intenna, a scollwheel and music buttons on the front flip, TF card slot, and a 1.3MP camera.

Full Retail = $369.
2 Year is $249 - $100 rebate = $149
1 Year is $299 - $100 rebate = $199

Bang&Olufsen Samsung Serene (SGH-A910)

2005-10-07T11:45:00.000-07:00

10/7/05:

Not so long ago, Bang&Olufsen and Samsung announced their intentions to collaborate for the development of a phone like no other. And the result is indeed beyond any expectations. Having a trapezoidal shape, measuring 69.7x64.7x23.9 mm and weighing 114 grams, Samsung Serene is a black clamshell phone; this type of design was very successful for Samsung.

All of the phone’s components are designed for simplicity and comfort. When unfolded, the two almost equal halves, joined by a metallic portion, reveal the 2.1 inch, 260,000 color QVGA display, and the keys circularly disposed around a wheel which can be thumb operated. This layout bears a striking resemblance to the iPod.

Samsung and Bang&Olufsen wanted to have a unique phone and that is why each element has been carefully designed. The colors, fonts, screen format and size have been specially selected with logical operation in mind.

To maintain the concept’s integrity, Samsung and Bang&Olufsen have even introduced some limitations. In this way, the background image cannot be changed by the user. These limitations, together with the fact that Samsung Serene doesn’t have an external display, won’t thrill users to much, but the producers consider that the targeted segment (persons aged over 28, with incomes above average and an active social life), won’t care too much about these “drawbacks”.

The phone’s features also include a digital camera, whose lens is placed on one of the phone’s sides; the battery provides enough power for 2 hours of talks and 180 hours in Stand-by.

The charger is a veritable work of art, the device allowing Samsung Serene to be used as a minilaptop, and its metallic color blends in perfectly with the entire concept.

According to the Samsung Serene press release, the device will be launched at the end of the year in Europe, Russia and Ukraine, with a price ranging from 1000 to 1100 Euro.

A complete presentation of this phone is available here .

By: Softpedia

Samsung Group's Internal Power Struggle

2005-10-04T23:43:00.000-07:00

10/4/05- Korea Times:

Samsung Electronics seems to be increasingly adopting the principle of competition, distancing itself from its usual practice of giving special treatment to sister companies or other business divisions within the corporation.

The latest case in point is the decision by the semiconductor division of Samsung Electronics to give big volume discounts on NAND flash memory to Apple Computer of the U.S. at the expense of sales by the electronics firm’s MP3 player business unit. Apple’s decision to ditch its hugely popular hard disk drive-based iPod mini to make way for the NAND flash-based iPod nano allowed the U.S. portable digital jukebox vendor to significantly shave production costs.

The agreement is forecast to deal a direct blow to the sales and profitability of smaller MP3 player makers worldwide and Samsung Electronics’ MP3 player unit is no exception. Earlier this year, the company announced its bold vision to beef up its MP3 player business.

Therefore, the semiconductor division’s sweet flash supply deal is expected to boomerang on Samsung Electronics itself in a bitter sales loss by the digital media division’s MP3 players. Apple is believed to have signed a deal to purchase 40 percent of Samsung’s 2- and 4-gigabyte flash memory output.

The electronics stalwart has also waged a power struggle against its sister company Samsung SDI, the world’s biggest plasma display panel (PDP) module maker, over the rights to develop and commercialize the next-generation display organic light emitting diode (OLED).

The digital media division also encroached upon other business divisions’ territories, single-handedly producing 37-inch liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs currently on sale in Europe. Samsung’s LCD operation does not produce 37-inch LCD modules and is unhappy about the digital media operation’s arbitrary decision.

Moreover, the digital media division recently rolled out the Miniket VP-MS15 digital camcorder, which has strengthened the digital still-shot function, and this may chip away the digital camera sales of Samsung Techwin.

Such profit-first business decisions sometimes result in considerable financial sacrifices from other business divisions within the company or sister firms, triggering concerns that the solidarity of the Samsung Group may be disrupted.

It remains to be seen whether the overheated competition is a result of Samsung Group’s decision to single out the most profitable business operations and discard less profitable ones aimed at re-streamlining its business portfolio through the "survival of the fittest" scheme or whether it is just a consequence of the conglomerate’s profit-related-bonus system by business division.

Regarding the inefficiency of the overlapping investments in specific items within Samsung Group, a Samsung Electronics official said "such intra-company competition is inevitable due to the accelerating digital convergence trend and competition will continue to increase in the future.’’

By: Korea Times

More of Hyori...More of Anymotion

2005-10-02T20:56:00.000-07:00

New Handset Details Emerge

2005-10-01T00:14:00.000-07:00

10/01/05:

1. Flash GUI might be here faster than you think. It is a real possibility that the A920/A940 will ship with it. You will also be able to skin the media player/visualizations.

2. Samusung SPH-A960: Flip with everything under the sun, including a QVGA and 2MP camera (up from 1.3). OLED/TF/EV-DO remain in the mix.

3. Sanyo SCP-5700: Flip with everything under the sun, including a QVGA, and 2MP camera. Major emphasis on data, as it will come equipped with Bluetooth, WiFi, and EV-DO.

4. Sprint seems to be looking a second 5MP from Samsung, this time with an optical zoom, the SPH-V7800. This is more of a rumor, but still holds some merit.

Samsung SPH-A940 Commercial

2005-09-26T19:45:00.000-07:00

Update 2.1:

We now have the COMPLETE Samsung commercial spot featuring the MM-A940 to show.

[Thanks again Clash]

Update:

SprintPCSinfo Editor-In-Chief Chris Price explains the commercial:

"Samsung buys yearly ad spots and this time every year they promote their most powerful Sprint phone. Last year's ad spot was the A700. This year's is the A940.

Unfortunately, most people don't remember TV ads from only a year ago, where we went through the same process of the A700 being in TV ads and not in-stores.

These ads are made and targeted long before carrier and device approval is completed, and are always running before the launch of the device. Samsung does this to save money, not create confusion."

9/26/05:

Samsung is showcasing the SPH-A940 in television spots, pointing to an immediate release of the phone, and Sprint's 3G EV-DO network. It is important to note that this is not a Sprint commercial, but a Samsung one, which are rare.

Samsung SPH-A820 Released

2005-09-26T16:46:00.000-07:00

9/26/05:

Samsung has luanched the Samsung RL-A820 for Sprint.

Speakerphone
Ready Link
96x96 Exterior display (grayscale)
Vision
Intenna
128x160 65K STN display
Voice SMS
Voice Signal Text-To-Speech(Spoken Navigation)
Synchronized Vibration from VibeTonzTM

Sprint Media Release

Samsung EV-DO Launch

2005-09-23T22:33:00.000-07:00

9/23/05:

Sprint will be releasing Power Vision (EV-DO) in early November.

Launch phones include:

Samsung MM-A920 (1.3MP, intenna, BT, TF)
Samsung MM-A940 (2.0MP, intenna, swivel, BT, TF)
Motorola E815 Java Phone (1.3MP, BT, TF)
Sanyo 9000 (1.3MP, QVGA, MiniSD)

Future phones include:

Samsung A900/BLADE (1.3MP, 17MM thick, QVGA, BT, OLED, Flash GUI, 128MBs RAM)
Samsung A960 (1.3MP, intenna, QVGA, BT, OLED, Flash GUI, TF)
Samsung (unspecified, possibly 1000) (5MP, QVGA, Flash GUI, TF)
Sanyo 7500 (1.3MP, BT)
Sanyo 5700 (2.0MP, BT, QVGA, MiniSD)

Samsung Supplies Wibro System to Sprint Nextel

2005-09-20T23:35:00.000-07:00

Thursday, 15 September 2005
Establishes Cooperation in Developing International Standards:

Samsung Electronics announced Thursday that it agreed on supplying Wibro(Wireless Broadband) system to Sprint Nextel of the US.

The handset maker said that they would test Wibro system and devices jointly with Sprint-Nextel and provide a pilot service to carry out field tests and compatibility with Sprint data networks. The two also agreed to strengthen cooperation to promote Wibro as an international standard and technological advancement.

As Wibro makes its way to the world’s largest telecom market, it would get more momentum to be spread to the world and be an international standard, Samsung said. This is the first time that homegrown telecom technology and system penetrate the US market.

Last month at Samsung 4G Forum 2005, Samsung successfully demonstrated such Wibro services as seamless Internet access and video call while moving at 80km/hr.

Samsung plans to unveil more affordable and usable devices at APEC slated for November in Busan and to commercialize the service in the first half of next year for the first time in the world.

By TelecomsKorea.com

Samsung dominates OLED market

2005-09-20T23:24:00.000-07:00

20 September 2005
Shipments of OLED grow 82% with Samsung accounting for 30% of sales.

The Korean electronics giant Samsung is dominating the soaring market for organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays, according to the latest set of figures from the US-based analyst DisplaySearch.

In its most recent “Quarterly OLED Shipment and Forecast Report”, DisplaySearch reveals that OLED shipments in Q2 2005 grew 82% over the same period in 2004 to reach 14.2 m units worth $124.8m. Samsung SDI dominated the market accounting of 30% ($37.2m) of sales in the period, followed by RiTdisplay, Pioneer, Univision and LGE (see table).

OLED league table

DisplaySearch says that the growth in shipments was largely due to an explosion in demand (1300% growth) for passive matrix (PMOLED) displays for portable music (mp3) players. It believes that OLEDs have now captured about 40% of the market. The reason for dramatic transition from LCDs to OLEDs in portable equipment is likely to be OLED’s reduced power consumption which helps extend battery life.

OLED applications

“All of the growth is in PMOLEDs using small molecule material,” said Display Search in its report. “PLED [Polymer light emitting diode] material panel producers now represent less than 3% of the total shipments.”

While this is good news for Kodak which pioneered small molecule OLED technology and has now licensed it more than a dozen firms it must be worrying for companies such as CDT of the UK which are developing rival polymer organic light emitting material (PLED).

Last month, Philips decided to exit the PLED market after saying that its PolyLED business did not become financially viable within an acceptable period of time. OTB of The Netherlands purchased the business for an undisclosed sum of cash.

By Optics.org

SPH-A940, SPH-A820 Live Shots

2005-08-22T15:07:00.000-07:00

8/22/2005- Unspecified Source

SPH-A820

Speakerphone
Ready Link
96x96 Exterior display (grayscale)
Vision
Intenna
128x160 65K STN display
Voice SMS
Synchronized Vibration from VibeTonzTM
Voice Signal Text-To-Speech (Spoken Navigation)

SPH-A940

Bluetooth 1.2 (OBEX, BT DUN, NO A2DP - Advanced Audio Distribution Profile)
2MP CCD camera with 2x optical zoom
PictBridge functionality
1.9" 176x220 262K internal display
Speech-to-text conversion technology along with full voice commands
TransFlash memory card slot
MIDP 2.0 enabled, MM capable
Unique twisting/swiveling camera/display
Dual stereo speakers with speakerphone
3-D games and user interface
Intenna
Motion-sensing capabilities (Beat Box, Compass, Commands, Games)
EV-DO functionality
Support for Vision Music On Demand
Included in box: Samsung stereo earphones, Samsung wrist strap, 32MB TF card, USB Cable

Samsung Releases Two Symbian Smartphones

2005-08-15T18:04:00.000-07:00

Monday, 15 August 2005- Telecoms Korea

Samsung Electronics, the world’s third-largest handset maker, releases its first Symbian smartphones, which account for about 80% of smart phones in the global market.

Samsung is going to introduce two Symbian smart phones, SCH-D720 and SGH-D730, in Europe.

The smartphones, unlike other PDA phones, are the size of general handsets. D730 is dual folder phone that weighs just 97g while D720, a slide up phone, weighs only 110g. The phones are the smallest and the lightest smart phones ever released.

Samsung said that, although it has introduced other smart phones adopting Palm, Microsoft and Linux platform, it would put more energy on developing smart phone with introducing those Symbian phones,

The Symbian smartphones will be released in Germany for the first time this month and will be available in France, Italy, Russia and other European nations later on.

According to Data Quest, a market research firm, global smart phone demand will be expanded from 28m units in 2004 to 51m in 2005 and 150m in 2008.

Samsung to lose its only ODM notebook client, Dell

2005-08-14T00:37:00.000-07:00

DigiTimes.com [Wednesday 10 August 2005]

Samsung Electronics will lose its only contract notebook client, Dell, next year, industry sources revealed yesterday.
Samsung's Taiwan office declined to comment on the report, while Samsung's Digital Media Business, which is in charge of the company's notebook business, did not respond at the time of publication.

The Korea company started making notebooks for the US computer giant in the third quarter of 2001, and at that time, they signed a four-year $500 million contract for component purchases, sources with Taiwan notebook makers said.

Samsung currently makes Dell's high-end ultralight 12.1-inch Latitude X1 model, but the US vendor has awarded Quanta Computer the contracts for the Latitude X1's follow-up models, the sources said.

The two companies' contract-notebook relationship is set to terminate in the second half of 2006, the sources said.

Samsung's strength is making ultralight notebooks, and with its design capabilities and component supply channel, it appeared to be a strong candidate to check Taiwan's growing domination of the contract notebook market.

However, fierce pricing from Taiwan makers has driven margins down to levels that make profits difficult, which has forced Samsung and fellow Korean-based firm, LG Electronics, out of the notebook OEM/ODM business.

Last year, LG ended its eight-year-long notebook contract-making relationship with IBM, and it did not receive any new notebook contracts this year from another major client, Hewlett Packard (HP).

Samsung is expected to focus on marketing its own-brand notebooks , with the aim of becoming a world leader in the ultralight segment, the sources said.

Apple Falls Far Behind S. Korean MP3 Player Makers

2005-08-10T15:48:00.000-07:00

SEOUL, Aug 10 Asia Pulse

Apple, the manufacturer of the popular MP3 player iPod brand, is lagging far behind South Korean rivals in the local digital music player market, a survey showed Wednesday.

Apple accounted for 1.8 per cent of the South Korean MP3 player market in terms of revenue in the first half of this year, compared with ReignCom Ltd.'s 35 per cent and Samsung Electronics Co.'s 14 per cent, according to the survey by GfK Marketing Services Korea, a marketing consulting firm.

Another South Korean manufacturer, Cowon, is closely challenging Samsung with a market share of 13 per cent, the survey found.

When it comes to unit sales, Apple came in 13th place with a market share of less than 2 per cent, compared with ReignCom with 31 per cent and Samsung with 14 per cent, the survey showed.

The survey found Apple, the world's biggest MP3 player maker, didn't win much attention from South Korean consumers.

Apple's Korean unit officials were not immediately available for comment.

Aside from the top three manufacturers, the nation's MP3 player market is fragmented by smaller Korean makers and Japanese companies such as Sony Corp., the consulting company said.

The value of the MP3 player market in South Korea fell slightly to 174.5 billion won (US$172.2 million) during the first half, compared to 210 billion won a year ago, according to the consulting company.

New Samsung SPH-A940, SPH-A960 Details Emerge

2005-08-06T10:43:00.000-07:00

08-06-2005

The following is an E-Mail from a Samsung Representative that was posted on PhoneScoop.com:

"the 940 (Giant) will have Bluetooth, but Speakerphone is not showing on the feature list (of course it didn’t show on the list for the a880 either, but that phone has it, so it is possible that the 940 might as well.)

The 960 (Oracle) will be a mid-tier VOD phone with camera/camcorder, and will be our first capable of supporting packaged downloads (pick a download package/theme from Sprint and it sends you menu wallpaper, screensavers, ring tones, external LCD picture, etc, all in your theme. For example, the NASCAR theme makes the external LCD (which is a gorgeous OLED) look like a fuel gauge, and gives you NASCAR themed menu clips and ring tones that sound like the cars speeding past on the track, etc. Very cool.

No pricing indication on either yet, but should be approximately in the a800 range or a little higher. Sprint sets the pricing, so it is hard to say?"

From this, we can deduce that the A960 handset will most likely indeed support Samsung's flash UI which enables the user to quickly download a customizable graphical user interface of their choice. Furthermore, from the fact that it was mentioned that there was an OLED display, we can say that it will a flip device. No mention of a time frame for release however.

As for the A940, there is a speakerphone button on the side, so it will definitely come equipped with one. The A940 should be out soon.

Samsung Electronics Stays on Top of LCD Market: Research Firm

2005-08-05T16:14:00.000-07:00

SEOUL, July 28 Asia Pulse -

South Korean technology giant Samsung Electronics Co. (KSE:005930) remained the world's top supplier of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels in the first half of this year, a U.S. market researcher said Thursday.

Samsung Electronics posted the largest LCD revenue of US$4.51 billion in the January-June period, followed by its arch-rival LG.Philips LCD Co. (KSE:034220) with $4.41 billion, DisplaySearch said.

Samsung has held the top position in the LCD market since 2002.

In terms of sales, Samsung also prevailed over LG.Philips with 46.60 million units versus 40.63 million units.

"Samsung will further increase output from October when the production line of seventh-generation LCDs reaches its peak capacity," a Samsung spokesman said.

The next-generation LCDs enable TV manufacturers to make their products with bigger screens at lower costs.

Samsung's Goal: Be Like BMW

2005-08-05T01:42:00.000-07:00

AUGUST 1, 2005 -

"Like the iconic carmaker, the Korean electronics giant is out to build a brand that people know instantly and desire, says its chief marketer

Since BusinessWeek and leading brand consultancy Interbrand launched our annual ranking of the 100 largest global brands five years ago, no brand has dominated the list more than Samsung, the Korean consumer-electronics maker. In that time, no other global brand has risen as much in brand value -- 186%, to $14.9 billion, by the end of 2004. Advertisement

Surpassed only by eBay (EBAY ) last year in brand growth, Samsung posted a 22% gain, overtaking Sony (SNE ) in overall brand value to become the leading consumer-electronics brand (see BW, 7/4/05, "The Best Product Designs of 2005").

How Samsung did this is a testament to a strategy of singularly focusing on one brand -- a "master brand." With so much media fragmentation and clutter, Samsung believes the master-brand strategy is the only way to reach the consumer today. A similar strategy is being followed by other top gainers on this year's list.

In an interview with Robert Berner, a correspondent in BusinessWeek's Chicago bureau, Samsung's Global Chief Marketing Officer Gregory Lee discusses in detail why Samsung made this shift, why design is a very important part of brand identity, and where the Samsung brand is still weak. Edited excerpts of their conversation follow:

>Read full Business Week article

SAMSUNG Touted As One Of The Fastest Growing Global Brands

2005-08-05T00:27:00.000-07:00

(28, Jul, 2005 / SEC) -

"Beginning in 2001, the newly defined Samsung came out with a line of top-notch mobile phones and digital TVs, products that showed off the company's technical prowess. By vaulting the quality of its offerings above the competition in those areas, Samsung figured it could boost the overall perception of the brand. Besides, consumers form especially strong bonds with cell phones and TVs. Most people carry their mobile phones with them everywhere, while their TV is the center of the family room..."

Read the full story here.

http://samsung.com/PressCenter/PressRelease/PressRelease.asp?seq=20050728_0000180762

Samsung

2005-08-04T21:48:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my Samsung blog.