Samsung launching new gizmos on February 21

Samsung TV teaser (CES 2013, fake newspaper cover)

Samsung, the South Korea-based conglomerate and the world’s top cell phone and smartphone maker by volume, has new consumer electronics products in the wings that it will show off to the masses at a launch event on February 21, 2013. President of Samsung Electronics’ consumer electronics division Yoon Bu-geun made the announcement during Samsung’s presser yesterday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

A variety of new products will be discussed at the presser. According to Zoon, Samsung is focused on strengthening its premium product line, which probably means one thing: new Galaxy smartphones and tablets to take on its chief rival Apple…

According to a report by E-Today, a Korea-based daily newspaper which covers business news and investment information, the February 21 event will be held by Samsung Electronics, the company’s division responsible for consumer electronics products, smartphones and tablets.

Samsung Electronics is the world’s top cell phone and smartphone maker by volume, the second-largest semiconductor maker by revenue (Intel is #1) and the leading television manufacturer since 2006. It’s also been the largest maker of LCD panels for eight consecutive years and has the largest market share worldwide in memory chips.

At CES, Samsung refreshed its entire TV lineup, adding monstrous 85-inch and 110-inch Ultra High Definition TVs boasting 4K resolution of 3,840-by-2,160, four times the pixels of Full HD 1080p.

Samsung 100 inch Ultra HD TV S9000

These aspirational TVs are targeted at high-end consumers and will roll out in Australia first around summer, priced at between $25,000 and $30,000 for the ‘smaller’ 85-inch version.

Samsung 100 inch Ultra HD TV (CES 2013)

The company also unveiled a prototype cell phone with a flexible OLED screen, but refused to say when it might be commercialized.

Also new is the Exynos 5 Octa mobile chip boasting four Cortex-A15 cores and four Cortex-A7 cores. It intelligently switches between them to handle common workloads while providing better battery life. It is likely that this processor will power the upcoming Galaxy S IV flagship handset and new versions of the Galaxy tablets, both of which could be announced at the February 21 event.

Samsung Galaxy S III Mini (left angled)

The Exynos 5 Octa package boasts twice the 3D performance of any previous mobile processor, including Samsung’s previous Exynos 4 Quad. As you know, iPad 4 uses the Apple-designed A6X processor with three GPU cores and two ARM Cortex-A15 CPU cores.

The Exynos announcement is at mark 12:34.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDJ67df0p6A

The flexible OLED part in the above video starts at mark 39:48.

As you know, we’re increasingly hearing that Apple is moving its mobile processor business away from Samsung as the iPhone maker reportedly looks to TSMC to manufacture the engine that powers iOS devices. And as Apple cuts chip orders, Samsung is now looking to China’s local vendors to use its Exynos silicon in their smartphones.

Basically, Samsung at CES re-asserted its dominance in many fields of consumer electronics and computing. Apple for years hasn’t been a CES exhibitor though some executives from Cupertino were spotted on the show floor, checking out rival products.

All told, it’s gonna be an exciting 2013 as Samsung and Apple again duke it out for the supremacy in the fast-paced worlds of smartphones, tablets, notebooks, television, music players and what not.

Competition is a good thing, no?