CES: Samsung eyes Smart TV as center of 'digital hub' as it takes on Apple
Following its weakest profits outlook in six quarters, South Korean electronics giant Samsung is banking on copying Apple's strategy from ten years ago, albeit positioning its TVs in place of the Mac as the center of a digital hub.
In a lavish, hour long stage production featuring teenage dancers at CES, Samsung outlined an aggressive new push behind smart TVs, as reported by Engadget.
Company president B. K. Yoon was joined on stage by Zoll, a dancing teen dressed up in a fur hat and goggles, who introduced the concept of a future based on "emotional technology" in a series of skits.
"To satisfy customers, technology must embed the human emotion," Yoon said. "How can we take digital humanism a step further? How do we envision the future of our digital devices? These are the questions I struggle with on a daily basis."
"I am confident that the Samsung smart TV will become the leader in integrating services and content," Yoon said, adding that "Samsung plans to develop a cloud-based platform[?] we are dedicated to making our devices the best gateway to storing, sharing, and playing content from the cloud."
Samsung brought the rival chief executives of Comcast (Brian Roberts) and Time Warner Cable (Glenn Britt) on stage, then referenced a partner who would "provide the essential tools for cross-platform app development."
Roberts announced that "Glenn and I are thrilled to team up with Samsung," saying that the company's Smart TV would be a "revolution." The trio demonstrated an app that enabled users to change the channel using the $600 Galaxy Tab as a remote. Samsung's tablet device will eventually be able to watch cable programming directly.
Jason Kilar of Hulu appeared on stage to demonstrate the company's Hulu Plus app running on Samsung's Android-based Galaxy S smartphone. The app should be available soon.
Samsung then greeted Adobe's chief executive Shantanu Narayen, who presented the company's Flash-based AIR platform as the basis for Samsung's app development across its Smart TVs, smartphones and tablet devices.
"Samsung is the first device manufacturer in the world that's making these developments a reality across all the screens," Narayen said.
Yoon said Samsung's Smart TVs will support Flash as a "must-have for anyone playing web-based content."
Taking an apparent stab at Google and its currently stagnant Google TV initiative with Sony and Logitech, Yoon stated, "The biggest misconception people have about Smart TV is that it's just a TV with a PC inside [?] A TV does not become smart just because it can access the internet."
The company also demonstrated its 3D TV technology and detailed its efforts related to green initiatives before ending the production with more dancing.
On page 2 of 3: This all happened before.
This all happened before
Samsung's 2011 CES production, minus the dancing, is familiar in that it copies the strategy Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs presented a decade ago at Macworld Expo 2001. Back then, Apple positioned its flagship product, the Macintosh, as the center of a digital hub, with connections to moible phones, digital cameras, camcorders, music players, DVD players and PDAs--at a time when PCs were losing steam and failing to attract enthusiasm from consumers, much as Samsung's TV business is today.
Jobs cited a quote from Wall Street Journal writer Walt Mossberg, who Jobs called "one of the smartest journalists in our business," who had recently written that "The PC, which has carried the digital revolution for 24 years, has matured into something boring."
After noting comments from Compaq ("we don't think of it in terms of thePC business anymore") and Gateway ("we are clearly migrating away from the the PC as the centerpiece") chief executives, Jobs countered, "we don't think the PC is dying at all. We don't think the PC is moving away from the center at all. We think it's evolving."
Jobs laid out a path of PC evolution that defined the early 80s as an initial "golden age" of computing based on productivity software, which began to wane in the early 90s. A "second golden age" began in the mid 90s with the rise of Internet, Jobs said, but it too had began to lose its momentum by 2000. Jobs said he believed a third age would focus on a digital lifestyle, driven by an "explosion of digital devices."
"The Mac," Jobs said, "can become the 'digital hub' of our emerging digital lifestyle, adding tremendous value to our other digital devices." Jobs said PCs could be the center of this digital hub because they had the horsepower to run complex applications that other devices lack, and provide large, inexpensive disk storage, can burn discs, and offer big screens and fast networking.
Jobs touted iMovie as "adding tremendous value to your camcorder," an example of how Apple could combine its hardware and operating system technology with application development, internet access and marketing to present a solution that enabled users to edit their own videos and then stream them over the web to their friends.
Jobs said Apple was unique in the industry in being able to put together all of these components, and noted that the company saw apps as the "glue" used to attach digital devices to the Mac hub, citing the existing iMovie, iTunes and iDVD and noting that Apple was working on new ones.
On page 3 of 3: Apps without a place.
Apps without a place
Ten years later, if Jobs could update his 2001 presentation, he might define a fourth golden age of computing oriented around mobile devices now able to run complex apps and store as much content as desktop computers could a decade ago, while also connecting to fast wireless networks.
The Mac has also evolved, with this year's release of Mac OS X Lion expected to adopt major facets of its interface and behaviors from iOS (including downloadable apps that save documents automatically, quit instantly, and keep themselves updated).
While Samsung delivers products that are modeled after Apple's past successes, ranging from its iPhone-like Galaxy S to its new iPod touch doppelgänger Galaxy Player and the iPad nod of the Galaxy Tab, Samsung lacks Apple's operating system and development platform technology and focus.
The company builds smartphones using a wide range of platforms, from Windows Phone 7 to Android to its own Bada. Its Smart TVs and Blu-ray players run web apps that run on the Maple Browser using web standards, and also support Flash 8.0 and Flash Lite 3.1 content. Future Smart TVs will run AIR 2.5 and support Flash 10.1.
In theory, Adobe AIR should enable developers to build an app they can port across multiple devices, from Android devices to RIM's new PlayBook to Samsung's new Smart TVs and Blu-ray players. However, according to a report by ZD Net, RIM developers eying the PlayBook have said that "AIR apps can be tough to port," and that "BlackBerry?s biggest developers are unlikely to use AIR," preferring instead to wait for RIM to deliver a Java development kit.
Android developers have historically been attracted to that platform because of the familiarity of working with its familiar, Java-like virtual machine. Meanwhile, neither AIR nor Java nor Android has delivered a sustainable business model like the one Apple has built around its own custom App Stores for the iOS and, as of this week, the Mac.
Apple has not, notably, extended its iOS App Store to deliver software for the new iOS-based Apple TV. This has left room for Samsung and other Smart TV vendors, including LG and the Google TV platform embraced by Sony, to take a shot at beating Apple into that market with a first mover advantage.
In a lavish, hour long stage production featuring teenage dancers at CES, Samsung outlined an aggressive new push behind smart TVs, as reported by Engadget.
Company president B. K. Yoon was joined on stage by Zoll, a dancing teen dressed up in a fur hat and goggles, who introduced the concept of a future based on "emotional technology" in a series of skits.
"To satisfy customers, technology must embed the human emotion," Yoon said. "How can we take digital humanism a step further? How do we envision the future of our digital devices? These are the questions I struggle with on a daily basis."
"I am confident that the Samsung smart TV will become the leader in integrating services and content," Yoon said, adding that "Samsung plans to develop a cloud-based platform[?] we are dedicated to making our devices the best gateway to storing, sharing, and playing content from the cloud."
Samsung brought the rival chief executives of Comcast (Brian Roberts) and Time Warner Cable (Glenn Britt) on stage, then referenced a partner who would "provide the essential tools for cross-platform app development."
Roberts announced that "Glenn and I are thrilled to team up with Samsung," saying that the company's Smart TV would be a "revolution." The trio demonstrated an app that enabled users to change the channel using the $600 Galaxy Tab as a remote. Samsung's tablet device will eventually be able to watch cable programming directly.
Jason Kilar of Hulu appeared on stage to demonstrate the company's Hulu Plus app running on Samsung's Android-based Galaxy S smartphone. The app should be available soon.
Samsung then greeted Adobe's chief executive Shantanu Narayen, who presented the company's Flash-based AIR platform as the basis for Samsung's app development across its Smart TVs, smartphones and tablet devices.
"Samsung is the first device manufacturer in the world that's making these developments a reality across all the screens," Narayen said.
Yoon said Samsung's Smart TVs will support Flash as a "must-have for anyone playing web-based content."
Taking an apparent stab at Google and its currently stagnant Google TV initiative with Sony and Logitech, Yoon stated, "The biggest misconception people have about Smart TV is that it's just a TV with a PC inside [?] A TV does not become smart just because it can access the internet."
The company also demonstrated its 3D TV technology and detailed its efforts related to green initiatives before ending the production with more dancing.
On page 2 of 3: This all happened before.
This all happened before
Samsung's 2011 CES production, minus the dancing, is familiar in that it copies the strategy Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs presented a decade ago at Macworld Expo 2001. Back then, Apple positioned its flagship product, the Macintosh, as the center of a digital hub, with connections to moible phones, digital cameras, camcorders, music players, DVD players and PDAs--at a time when PCs were losing steam and failing to attract enthusiasm from consumers, much as Samsung's TV business is today.
Jobs cited a quote from Wall Street Journal writer Walt Mossberg, who Jobs called "one of the smartest journalists in our business," who had recently written that "The PC, which has carried the digital revolution for 24 years, has matured into something boring."
After noting comments from Compaq ("we don't think of it in terms of thePC business anymore") and Gateway ("we are clearly migrating away from the the PC as the centerpiece") chief executives, Jobs countered, "we don't think the PC is dying at all. We don't think the PC is moving away from the center at all. We think it's evolving."
Jobs laid out a path of PC evolution that defined the early 80s as an initial "golden age" of computing based on productivity software, which began to wane in the early 90s. A "second golden age" began in the mid 90s with the rise of Internet, Jobs said, but it too had began to lose its momentum by 2000. Jobs said he believed a third age would focus on a digital lifestyle, driven by an "explosion of digital devices."
"The Mac," Jobs said, "can become the 'digital hub' of our emerging digital lifestyle, adding tremendous value to our other digital devices." Jobs said PCs could be the center of this digital hub because they had the horsepower to run complex applications that other devices lack, and provide large, inexpensive disk storage, can burn discs, and offer big screens and fast networking.
Jobs touted iMovie as "adding tremendous value to your camcorder," an example of how Apple could combine its hardware and operating system technology with application development, internet access and marketing to present a solution that enabled users to edit their own videos and then stream them over the web to their friends.
Jobs said Apple was unique in the industry in being able to put together all of these components, and noted that the company saw apps as the "glue" used to attach digital devices to the Mac hub, citing the existing iMovie, iTunes and iDVD and noting that Apple was working on new ones.
On page 3 of 3: Apps without a place.
Apps without a place
Ten years later, if Jobs could update his 2001 presentation, he might define a fourth golden age of computing oriented around mobile devices now able to run complex apps and store as much content as desktop computers could a decade ago, while also connecting to fast wireless networks.
The Mac has also evolved, with this year's release of Mac OS X Lion expected to adopt major facets of its interface and behaviors from iOS (including downloadable apps that save documents automatically, quit instantly, and keep themselves updated).
While Samsung delivers products that are modeled after Apple's past successes, ranging from its iPhone-like Galaxy S to its new iPod touch doppelgänger Galaxy Player and the iPad nod of the Galaxy Tab, Samsung lacks Apple's operating system and development platform technology and focus.
The company builds smartphones using a wide range of platforms, from Windows Phone 7 to Android to its own Bada. Its Smart TVs and Blu-ray players run web apps that run on the Maple Browser using web standards, and also support Flash 8.0 and Flash Lite 3.1 content. Future Smart TVs will run AIR 2.5 and support Flash 10.1.
In theory, Adobe AIR should enable developers to build an app they can port across multiple devices, from Android devices to RIM's new PlayBook to Samsung's new Smart TVs and Blu-ray players. However, according to a report by ZD Net, RIM developers eying the PlayBook have said that "AIR apps can be tough to port," and that "BlackBerry?s biggest developers are unlikely to use AIR," preferring instead to wait for RIM to deliver a Java development kit.
Android developers have historically been attracted to that platform because of the familiarity of working with its familiar, Java-like virtual machine. Meanwhile, neither AIR nor Java nor Android has delivered a sustainable business model like the one Apple has built around its own custom App Stores for the iOS and, as of this week, the Mac.
Apple has not, notably, extended its iOS App Store to deliver software for the new iOS-based Apple TV. This has left room for Samsung and other Smart TV vendors, including LG and the Google TV platform embraced by Sony, to take a shot at beating Apple into that market with a first mover advantage.
Comments
Apple has not, notably, extended its iOS App Store to deliver software for the new iOS-based Apple TV. This has left room for Samsung and other Smart TV vendors, including LG and the Google TV platform embraced by Sony, to take a shot at beating Apple into that market with a first mover advantage.
Apple needs to address this issue soon. They also need to step up content acquisition and build subscription services for both music and TV content.
We always poke fun at Balmer, but the rest of them seem to be in the same boat and of the same breed. Creating a culture that your infrastructure supports seems not to be an easy thing to do, even if they pay you a lot.
TV as the hub of your business model? This is a first year marketing class case study, not something to expect from the head of an electronic company. Yeesh.
No Vision. Thats what these companies produce.
Apple needs to address this issue soon. They also need to step up content acquisition and build subscription services for both music and TV content.
You address it when it's ready.
I agree that Apple needs to get a little more serious with the ATV in terms of getting apps on there and more content, etc. But I can tell that Apple is being patient looking for the right moment with the right product(s) to make a splash on the TV scene. This isn't going to be like the music industry at all; it'll be much more complicated and there'll be a lots of more serious and formidable players in this space to contend with. I don't foresee a dominant player in the Internet TV space; it's too convoluted for one or even a few companies take control.
Apple needs to address this issue soon. They also need to step up content acquisition and build subscription services for both music and TV content.
More importantly Apple have failed to make the ATV multi-functional. They should expand media options (though under a consistent UI) but TV as a single justification is not strong enough and Apple alone aren't filling in the gaps. Where are the games that use your iPod/Phone/Pad as a dual screen/controller? MS are getting there first. Where's the video chat? Apple got this down before Skype! Where's the super easy Bluetooth/WiFi access point for guests?
Samsung have followed Apple in making functionality device-independent though with weaker design & aesthetics. They are on the right track with a non-computer as the digital hub, as our computers come with us local storage actually decreases and the internet cloud proves to be less than robust where's Apple's digital hub now?
Time for ATV to come of age. McD
You address it when it's ready.
Well the market is ready and waiting. And I have to believe that Apple foresaw the potential for apps on the ATV so I would like to see some announcements.
Well the market is ready and waiting. And I have to believe that Apple foresaw the potential for apps on the ATV so I would like to see some announcements.
That doesn’t mean that an SDK is ready. We have only to look at Palm’s first attempt at a WebOS SDK to see how that can hinder app development on a platform.
Also, the AppleTV is still a hobby. They might have waited to see how sales were before making the investment. If they do make an SDK and App Store (which I think they will) they also have to release it at the right time. This means an event with a demo and beta release of the SDK. Right now the AppleTV is under iTunes/iPod umbrella. This might mean waiting until the September event or it might mean announcing it now and making it proper member of the Apple product line, or anything else you can think of, but the "I want it so Apple should release it" market is not a viable market to back.
I agree that Apple needs to get a little more serious with the ATV in terms of getting apps on there and more content, etc. But I can tell that Apple is being patient looking for the right moment with the right product(s) to make a splash on the TV scene. This isn't going to be like the music industry at all; it'll be much more complicated and there'll be a lots of more serious and formidable players in this space to contend with. I don't foresee a dominant player in the Internet TV space; it's too convoluted for one or even a few companies take control.
I agree with your assessment that there will be no dominant player in internet TV but I do think Apple needs to decide soon if the ATV will continue to be a hobby or a real product with the appropriate marketing support and expanded entertainment options.
Time for ATV to come of age. McD
Exactly! Hobby or real product?
That doesn?t mean that an SDK is ready. We have only to look at Palm?s first attempt at a WebOS SDK to see how that can hinder app development on a platform.
I understand and agree but I would like some evidence that this is a priority for Apple.
I understand and agree but I would like some evidence that this is a priority for Apple.
Since it?s all software at point I doubt that will happen. I think the best we?ll get is a leak from a developer Apple contacted about making AppleTV apps, and I think that is unlikely..
Oh yeah, everyone does Netflix about the same and that's the biggest "smart" thing people need or want on TV right now. I have Apple TV. I have TV's/Blu-Ray players that stream Netflix. I have game systems that stream Netflix. I have computers that stream Netflix. Everybody's system is similar and comparable. I actually think the best interface right now is the Wii's, though it only outputs at 480p which is noticeable if you're used to HD streaming. But again, their interface does little things that most others don't and it's FAST. Definitely superior to Apple TV in this sense, though again, no 720P or higher unfortunately.
I just give Samsung credit here for dropping Google and the idea that "Smart" somehow just means internet connected. So far from the truth as Google TV proved. Samsung does do a good job for a consumer electronics manufacturer in this sense. Their quality control has been iffy at times on Blu-Ray, but they and LG are trying hard to do the right thing in their own way with TV's and Blu-Ray devices that might qualify as "smart."
I agree with your assessment that there will be no dominant player in internet TV but I do think Apple needs to decide soon if the ATV will continue to be a hobby or a real product with the appropriate marketing support and expanded entertainment options.
What do you want to see?
Samsung is just a very uninteresting company when it comes to product development and marketing. "Digital humanism?" Just inventing catchy (or corny) phrases to say that they want to be like Apple? Samsung is certainly on the cutting edge when it comes to semiconductors and display screens, but as far as the whole package of finished goods and ecosystem are concerned, they just have no clue. They're simply all over the place with no coherent strategy or vision: throw anything and everything at the wall and let's go with what sticks.
I agree that Apple needs to get a little more serious with the ATV in terms of getting apps on there and more content, etc. But I can tell that Apple is being patient looking for the right moment with the right product(s) to make a splash on the TV scene. This isn't going to be like the music industry at all; it'll be much more complicated and there'll be a lots of more serious and formidable players in this space to contend with. I don't foresee a dominant player in the Internet TV space; it's too convoluted for one or even a few companies take control.
I don't think Apple's just waiting for the right moment. There just isn't a lot of room to move in this arena period. There probably never will be, so I just think they're putting out "something" to get iTunes to the TV. They've done a lot with a little and as flawed and frustrating as the new Apple TV is in many ways, it's also pretty cool for what it is at the price.
I'd be almost entirely satisfied with it if it output at 1080p. I don't get why they skipped over that ability in many ways. Well, I kinda get it, but in this day and age, I don't. They likely wanted to stick with one output format for everything, and most of the iTunes HD stuff is at 720p, so that wouldn't need to be "scaled" and it's less intensive to scale lower res stuff to 720p than to 1080p, but really, it's not that bad either. Surprisingly, I don't mind it as much for video as I do for photos that could really benefit from the extra resolution. But anyways, For the majority of users, that 720p output is getting scaled to 1080p on the TV, so why not just scale everything to 1080p out of the box so anything that's going through the box up to 1080 horizontal lines isn't scaled down and then scaled up again? Makes sense to me, and again, at $99 with 1080p output, I'd have no gripes. It's a nice little device.
I give Samsung a bit more credit than you. For a consumer electronics company, they're actually a ways ahead of many of the others. The fact that they have any sort of app store is ahead of the curve as usually your stuck with what a company decides to give you. Sony makes real nice Blu-Ray players, but you can only use what they give you, which in truth is quite a bit. They've had Hulu Plus for a long while already even. But you can't get rid of what they give you which can also be annoying.
My biggest pet peeve with all of these TV manufacturers comes down to one thing: "wireless ready." Stupid. People just get pissed when they need an $80 adapter. With Blu-Ray, wi-fi built in players tend to cost $20-30 more than a wi-fi ready model too. It's stupid. Just include wi-fi with everything at this point. Don't make it any more complicated. Maybe you make more money but you alienate the customer and make them dread buying these products. It's just a dumb move.
Why do all these big electronic companies seem so rudderless? Yea, I know, SJ brings a vision to Apple, but what are the other, paid more then a dollar a year, CEO's doing?
We always poke fun at Balmer, but the rest of them seem to be in the same boat and of the same breed. Creating a culture that your infrastructure supports seems not to be an easy thing to do, even if they pay you a lot.
TV as the hub of your business model? This is a first year marketing class case study, not something to expect from the head of an electronic company. Yeesh.
No Vision. Thats what these companies produce.
It really has more to do with the culture and Wall Street. It's not like these guys are wholly oblivious, but most of these companies are public companies that have to answer to shareholders that don't want the boat rocked. You take big chances, and sure, you might succeed, but you also stand a strong chance of failing. Plus, the "people," including shareholders usually don't know what they want. This complicates things immensely. Apple got lucky because they've got a CEO that doesn't give a rip at this point and in turn, he can get away with it because they got the ball rolling when they were already at the bottom. They've gone up on that momentum so Jobs is able to get away with a lot more now that others simply can't. It's unfortunate, but it's not as simple as suggesting that these companies are completely out of touch or just plain stupid.
You push what works for you. If it's a TV, then it's the Center of your Universe. It's your "hub".
You stop becoming a "me too" company when you stop copying. All these iPad-killers all look like the iPad. Aren't there other colors and materials for a tablet besides black, chrome, rounded edges and glass? What Samsung should do to push their "hub" is to give away their Tab with every TV, washing machine, DVD player, whatever. That would sell product and get a leg up on Apple. I just read how Sony is pushing to be Number 2 to Apple's iPad. Apple's iPad is unbeatable. All these giveaway Tabs would link back to the Samsung TV "Hub". That would be great for Samsung and Adobe.
The new Apple AppStore is amazing.
Apps download and install like a dream. The store itself is well designed- cleaner and better than MacUpdate.com! I'll bet an AppStore for AppleTV is already done. Who's to say you won't be able to use that flat screen TV you got for Christmas to use Aperture on your Holiday photos or use Pages and Keynote to edit your company newsletter or create slides for your next business presentation. All you need is a keyboard.
We don't need no stink'n Surfaces!
Samsung, Apple's got yer "hub"!
That doesn?t mean that an SDK is ready. We have only to look at Palm?s first attempt at a WebOS SDK to see how that can hinder app development on a platform.
Also, the AppleTV is still a hobby. They might have waited to see how sales were before making the investment. If they do make an SDK and App Store (which I think they will) they also have to release it at the right time. This means an event with a demo and beta release of the SDK. Right now the AppleTV is under iTunes/iPod umbrella. This might mean waiting until the September event or it might mean announcing it now and making it proper member of the Apple product line, or anything else you can think of, but the "I want it so Apple should release it" market is not a viable market to back.
I bought Angry Birds for the Mac. It is on all of our iDevices and quite popular.
Big hit on the iMacs.
We have a Mini connected to the HDTV, so I installed it on that too -- and planned to use a Magic Trackpad to control it.
Sadly, it will not run on the Mini -- requires a OpenGL 2.0 capable GPU.
I find this odd, because AB requires less capability on iOS devices.
The AppleTV's A4 is capable of running AB -- all it needs is to be allowed (SDK, Store) by Apple, and support for touch input devices.
C'mon Apple, let's do this now!
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