Samsung Unveils Pencil-Thin TV
Also announces App Store, 3D products and new e-readers
January 7, 2010 By Jeff O'HeirYou could hear the collective “ooohhh” from the audience at Samsung’s 2010 CES press conference when Tim Baxter unveiled what the company is calling the world’s thinnest LED TV.
The response was justified. The 9000 flagship series (pricing and availability, of course, was not announced) was enclosed in a brushed-metal bezel and is about the width of a pencil. If the set wasn’t bolted to a swing-arm mount, it looked like a stiff wind could carry it over the audience.
Baxter, president of Samsung America, said the set would provide consumers with “a gorgeous, powerful viewing experience with 3D.”
Like other TV manufactures at this year’s show, Samsung is touting its 3D technology. About two-thirds of its 2010 TV lineup (including the new 7000 and 8000 LED series), will feature a 3D engine. The new processing engine can convert 2D programming into 3D, Baxter said. Samsung will also release a 1.4-inch 3D plasma series.
“Just as we created the LED market last year, we will lead in the 3D market in the home,” he said. “People can go from a passive experience to a truly immersive experience.”
Later this year, Samsung will begin marketing its new “3D ecosystem,” which includes the TVs, Blu-ray players, audio system and glasses.
At one point in the press conference, Baxter was joined onstage by Fred Rose, CEO of Technicolor, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks, who presented Baxter with a 3D version of “Monsters vs. Aliens,” the studio’s hit movie. Katzenberg noted that out of the 170 films released last year, 10 of those were filmed in 3D. Out of the year’s top-10 performing films, four were 3D. “Because of 3D, we stand at a watershed moment for the entire film community,” he said.
