Samsung's big plans for spring include a new line of business notebooks, a Series 9 slim laptop, two Galaxy Players and possibly a resized Galaxy Tab.
Samsung has a
wide-ranging offensive planned for spring, with a variety of new devices and
software seemingly designed not only to challenge Apple in the consumer market,
but also tech titans such as Google and Lenovo.
At a March 16
event in New York City, Samsung executives suggested that these
devices-including but not limited to televisions, laptops and smartphones-would
combine into a comprehensive ecosystem. If that strategy succeeds with
businesses and consumers, it would bring Samsung more onto the level of an Apple
or Microsoft-albeit with mobile devices that run Google Android and PCs that use
Windows.
Part of the
strategy involves expanding the Galaxy ecosystem, which started with the
Samsung Galaxy S line of Android smartphones before expanding later in 2010 to
the 7-inch Galaxy Tab tablet. Samsung recently released a "teaser" for an upcoming event
in Orlando, Fla., which pundits have widely interpreted as the
unveiling of possibly larger Tabs; in the meantime, however, the company seems
intent on pushing the 7-inch version as the vanguard of its tablet
intentions.
Samsung is
also producing two Galaxy Players, portable media devices that look and operate
like an Android-based iPod Touch. Considering how sales of Apple's traditional
iPod have fallen over the past several quarters, a phenomenon that company
attributes to cannibalization by the iPhone, Samsung's decision to plunge into
the portable media-player market aside from the Galaxy S is an interesting one.
Perhaps the company feels that Apple's traditional stranglehold on that market
segment needs a challenger.
Samsung used
the New York City event to heavily promote its emphasis on 3D for consumer
televisions, but the company apparently intends to export that technology to
its more enterprise-centric initiatives. (The sheer amount of televisions on
display, loaded with the app-heavy "Smart Hub," spoke to the company's desire
to challenge Google TV and other "Web television" initiatives currently in the
works.) Whether businesspeople will go for their presentations popping from the
screen, "Avatar"-style, remains to be seen.
Whether 3D
takes off as a business tool, Samsung unveiled three new laptop lines for both
enterprises, and small and midsize businesses: the Series 2, Series 4 and
Series 6 notebooks. All three lines feature Windows 7 Professional, Fast Start
technology, which rapidly brings the devices into a work-ready mode from sleep,
along with Intel Core processors and security measures such as a fingerprint
sensor. Samsung also focused on anti-spill and ultra-rugged builds: all the
better, apparently, to survive the slings and arrows of office
life.
On the
consumer side, Samsung's Series 9 notebooks offer light weight (2.89 lbs.) and
slimness, paired with Windows 7 Professional and seven-hour battery life.
Whether
Samsung succeeds on all fronts, one thing seems perfectly clear: The company
wants a much bigger piece of other tech companies' pie.
Nicholas Kolakowski is a staff editor at eWEEK, covering Microsoft and other companies in the enterprise space, as well as evolving technology such as tablet PCs. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Playboy, WebMD, AARP the Magazine, AutoWeek, Washington City Paper, Trader Monthly, and Private Air. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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