Samsung is planning to introduce several 4G tablets and smartphones at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, furthering its vision of "digital humanism."
Samsung Electronics has sold more than 1.5 million Galaxy Tabs, the
7-inch, Android-running tablet that it has made available through every major U.S.
carrier. Nevertheless, the South Korean electronics giant appears to have only
begun its attack on the Apple iPad's market share.
At the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show, which wrapped up Jan. 9, JK Shin,
president of Samsung's mobile communications business, said the company is
planning to announce several dual-core tablets and smartphones at the Mobile
World Congress event Feb. 14-17 in Barcelona,
according to Phone
Scoop, and that it plans to soon sell 4G devices through all major U.S.
carriers. It reportedly also has several phones running Microsoft's Windows
Phone 7 in the works.
The Wall Street Journal
added that Samsung has a "slate of tablets of different sizes"
planned.
While rivals Motorola and HTC, with
Android-running phones, gained early leads in the smartphone race, Samsung has
quickly caught up, with its successful line of Galaxy S smartphones. By the end
of 2010, it had sold more than 10 million of the smartphones.
"[Samsung] executes extremely well, devices that customers like and don't
bring back," Glenn Lurie, president of the AT&T group responsible for
the carrier's tablet portfolio, told the Journal.
While a "slate of tablets" is likely to help Samsung compete in a
tablet market crowded with competitors such as Hewlett-Packard, Research In
Motion, Motorola, ViewSonic and others-in addition to market leader Apple-they
also fit into the company's new vision of "digital humanism."
During a Jan. 6 keynote at CES, Samsung CEO
Boo-Keun Yoon explained the term, which he said is achieved "by adding
emotional value to digital technology." It's also guided by four
principles he called "the four A's"-Access, to communicate freely and
share experiences through products; Align, by experiencing comfort through
multisensory design and the user experience; Amaze, by creating "a new
dimension of enjoyment" through viewing experiences; and Act, to fulfill
our responsibilities to the planet.
"The next step for digital technology is for ... human nature to be at
the center of our efforts," said Yoon. "What we need now is digital
technology that is truly aligned with our most fundamental human desires. Human
life becomes our priority. People become our priority."
He continued, "We at Samsung are breaking down the wall between
devices, empowering consumers to seamlessly enjoy any content on any Samsung
device. Whether it be our Samsung TV, cell phone or tablet, consumers will be
able to access and share a variety of content on any one of Samsung's network
of products."
At the CES show, Samsung additionally introduced a WiFi-only Galaxy Tab, an
Android-running "smart player" called the Galaxy Player and the Infuse 4G smartphone-which, with a 1.2GHz
processor and 4.5-inch Super-AMOLED Plus touch screen, will begin enriching the
lives of AT&T subscribers beginning in the second quarter.
Michelle Maisto has been covering the enterprise mobility space for a decade, beginning with Knowledge Management, Field Force Automation and eCRM, and most recently as the editor-in-chief of Mobile Enterprise magazine. She earned an MFA in nonfiction writing from Columbia University, and in her spare time obsesses about food. Her first book, The Gastronomy of Marriage, if forthcoming from Random House in September 2009.
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