Samsung and Its 2013 Smart TV Lineup

Dave Das, Samsung’s vice president of U.S. home entertainment, said Samsung’s newest Smart TVs—its sixth generation of them—feature “some of the brightest pictures and darkest blacks ever seen on a TV.” During the rest of the presentation, the lines between TVs and other smart devices seemed to fade.

Joe Stinziano, executive vice president of Samsung Electronics America, announced new app partnerships. Coming this spring to Samsung’s TV app store are Fox Now, Spotify and Univision’s UVideos, among others.

The 2013 models feature a redesigned user interface with a Smart Hub that offers five dynamic menu panels. Shown here is a panel for finding movie and TV content from various providers.

This panel offers access to users’ photos, videos and music. There are other panels for social networking updates, Smart TV apps and personalized program recommendations.

The Evolution Kit—the first of its kind in the industry, according to Samsung—includes a quad-core processor, a GPU and memory for faster processing and multi-tasking. It can update 2012 models with the features of 2013 units, and keep 2013 units updating in the future. It will be available in May for $299.99.

Supermodel Kate Upton joined Stinziano on stage to demonstrate a few features. Because she likes football (she’s a Jets fan, she said, breaking Giants-loving Stinziano’s heart), the TV offered content she might also enjoy.

Giants quarterback Eli Manning, a dad with a nearly 2-year-old child, said he could use a feature like the ability to ask the TV to show him all the cartoon content available.

Hip-hop artist Flo Rida joined Stinziano on stage to help show off the music features in the Smart TV. Stinziano then pulled up his smartphone and pushed an image from a Flo Rida concert onto the screen.

With its Galaxy Note products, Samsung has also called on celebrities to smile for the cameras—which it’s hardly alone in. (The audience would have been forgiven for wondering if Flo Rida, Upton or Manning were about to be named global creative director.)

Samsung’s F8500 Plasma TV, the 2013 flagship plasma model, features a One Body Form design created from a single piece of metal. It will be available this year in sizes ranging from 51 to 64 inches.