Samsung announced the first curved ultra-high definition (UHD) TV during its presentation at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas yesterday, reports Megan Rose Dickey for Business Insider. Samsung CEO BK Yoon said that this would be the year of the Internet of Things, but considering all the rumors about a curved Galaxy 5 and iPhone 6, maybe bendy will be the real electronics trend of 2014, unexciting as that is.
Transformers director tries to plug transforming TV
Yoon unveiled a number of different curved UHD TVs, the largest having a 105-inch display. The company also unveiled an 85-inch model that can transform between being a flat screen and a curved screen, and to help sell the crowd they brought in Transformers director Michael Bay to talk it up. In case you haven’t seen the video over at The Verge, Bay actually walked off the stage within about a minute after getting frustrated with the teleprompter (good thing he’s normally behind the camera, apparently).
Samsung also showed off their new line of Galaxy tablets, the Note Pro and Tab Pro, which at first glance seem to be updates to existing models instead of a complete rethinking. Maybe the curved model was still proving too unwieldy to stow in a briefcase.
Samsung working to stay on top of UDHTV
What seems most important is that Samsung is working to stay on top of the UHD TV market, a segment they currently lead and which will continue to grow as the amount of suitably high definition content increases (Netflix is already hard at work on this front) and more consumers become aware of the technology, much like what happened with HDTV before. This could be a strong source for revenue growth over the next few years as long as Samsung doesn’t let one of its rivals upset its current market advantage.
Continuing on with the “Internet of Things” idea, Samsung also unveiled smart laundry and smart cooking appliances (including a fancy dishwasher) that will be integrated into local home networks. While these aren’t the kinds of products that get a Las Vegas crowd’s blood pumping, improving on something that nearly every household owns and will need to replace is still good business.
