Live from Samsung's CES press event
By Thomas Ricker 
posted January 7th 2009 4:47PM
posted January 7th 2009 4:47PM
2:48PM And that's all, folks!
2:43PM Yup, Q&A time.
2:42PM That was a lot of product in a Very short time. Sounds like we're wrapping up.
2:41PM Palm Theater P3 out now -- something we've seen for quite awhile now. Widgets, haptics, seen it.
2:40PM Covering new 64GB SSD Camcorder HMX-H106 that shoots Full HD (1920 x 1080). "As leader in flash memory we are in a position to lead in capacity in HD camcorders." HDMI connection, too, for instant connectivity. HZ10W (that was leaked) out now: 24-mm wide-angle lens and 720p (H.264) video.
2:37PM HD-BD8200 features a wireless subwoofer and Bluetooth for connectivity to your Cellphone or Bluetooth enabled DAP.
2:37PM The HT-BD8200 is the world's first home theater Blu-ray soundbar. BD Live 2.0, wall mountable, and installable in "under 10 minutes."
2:36PM 3D monitor 2233RZ is 22-inches with new googles for viewing. BDP-4600 flagship Blu-ray player with BD live, Full HD video and "latest HD soundtrack encoding and ejects a disk in a single second." It's WiFi ready (a first!), 2x USB, 1GB of internal storage. It's the world's slimmest Blu-ray player at 1.5-inches. It's so thin that it's wall mountable.
2:34PM Time for middling TVs now, LCD 750, plasma PDP 850 only 1-inch thick. All the TVs are being rolled on to stage right now by husky male dancer types.
2:32PM LED 800 brings a 240Hz refresh with "chrome look and feel" in addition to all the best of the other Luxia TVs.
2:31PM Digging into Luxia brand now -- 6000, 7000, and 8000 LED TVs. LED 6000 just over an inch thick and builtin ATSC tuner. Green: 40% less power than conventional flatscreen TVs -- also mercury and lead free. 7000 features media@2.0 services, 4x HDMI, and Wireless DLNA features. Pushing Yahoo! Internet@TV again. Also brings a new ultra-slim wall mount solution that reduces the gap between the TV and wall from 2-inches to 0.6-inches. "A TV that now hangs like a picture." Hot.
2:26PM Done with the past -- on with the future, "2009 strategic products" slide up on the display. "We know that you as journalists are very hungry to learn about future products now." Crowd scoffs contempt.
2:24PM Video of consumers talking about their needs rolling now. Here's a tip Samsung, let's try something other than piano black finish on your designs, hmm?
2:23PM Environment: "Samsung is working to meet consumers' expectation." Proving it with statistics about eco-friendly, low power consumption of new white and brown goods and recycling program. Can you feel the love?
2:20PM Showing off magic touch shot on camcorders -- a touch on the camcorder display will focus on the object you touch and snap the photo. Showing new P3 audio player with interactive UI.
2:19PM Samsung Luxia LED TV. 40 to 55-inch models, LED 6000, 7000, and 8000 models with new unified UI for consistent menu format across various Samsung products (showing camcorder, PMP, TV, home theater system, and digital camera. Nice!
2:17PM New "Touch of Color TV" being presented. LCD, graceful neck, eco-friendly, red trim, "design that performs." Content is very soft so far, low on specifics.
2:15PM Samsung pushing DLNA connectivity and full HD wireless without degradation of picture quality as member of Wireless HD, WiFi, WHDI, and USB forums. Mobile WiMax now. Pushing Xohm now -- hey Samsung, that's not the name anymore. Product please.
2:14PM Showing MySpeace, Flickr, Yahoo News, Video and more widgets. Looks slick.
2:11PM Yahoo! Widget Engine is being deployed today on Samsung devices and is built upon Konfabulator. Demo starting.
2:11PM Ok, enough with the vision, on comes Patrick Barry, VP Connected TV of Yahoo. "Yahoo! Cinematic Internet promises users choice, personalization, and openness that is very easy to interact with with your remote control. TV widgets are compact apps that allow you interact with your favorite websites on your TV."
2:08PM Discussing triple and quadruple play strategy for the integrated home.
2:07PM "Why is Samsung better than others? We have a broad product portfolio from semiconductors to media devices. We are integrated and we are worldwide leader in marketshare for three consecutive years."
2:05PM Discussing consumer challenges. "Samsung wants its users to experience a seamless experience." This is the slickest presentation we've seen yet.
2:04PM Jong Woo Park is on stage. "Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen."
2:03PM "We listed to your feedback from the last year and you said the room is too small." Now it's still too small" (chuckle from the press, this place is stuffed).
2:02PM Oh man, another loop of this track and we're going to start punching babies.
2:01PM Video is looping showing all of Samsung's variation: TV's, monitors, Blu-ray players, cellphones, DAPs, laptops, PCs, etc. making them the world's largest consumer electronics company.
1:55PM Most of the press is still outside but we managed to file in early. Music is jumpin' and the Samsung marketing video rolling.
1:50PM Ten minutes to go... so much blue.
come on guys ask if samsung will still manufacture led dlp rptv sets in 2009 rumor is they wont. (we need a 72 inch led dlp set)
i wonder if anyone is going to be making dlp tv's in 09
i hope so facekicker. mitsubishi will prob continue, but i want an led dlp set in the 72 inch range, 67 isnt big enough. i would buy the laservue if it was affordable
seriously...I didn't know people could still put up with that crappy PQ! (Well, its actually pretty good if you are directly in front of it and your head is perfectly centered with the middle of the tv)
fargus its not crappy. the samsung led sets from 2008 are highly rated even beatking the sony sxrd in quality. viewing angles have improved some on them. laservue though has the same viewing angles as a plasma, but are more expensive than other dlp rptv sets
I agree, they need a 72" but it would be great if they also made an 80 or 85" that was in a price range middle class might afford.
No video streams?
Am I the only one who just doesn't care about widgets? Certainly not enough to want them in every single one of my electronics.
You re not alone but i guess loads of people out there requires it.
so....firmware upgrades for us 9 series owners? :P
What's up with rich corporate types and not being able to find a decent barber or hairdresser??? whoever that guy is in the pic. must have the same barber as Donald Trump and Bill Gates
Oh no you didn't! Insult Bill Gates and Donald Trump in one sentence over their hair!?
On a side note, I agree with you :p
engadget come on ask about dlp tv
More like who is the guy that goes up on stage trying to look business with his tie tied like crap and crooked, not to mention his scraggly hair.
anyone else notice that all of the graphics in the presentation (not pictures of actual TVs) were closer to 2.35:1 than 16:9?
So... all news today is pretty much entirely about TVs?
Fun, 2009 looks like the year of the TV (again...)