Tomorrow has arrived

You might as well have sent an invitation to addicts to try a new drug for free. This certified techno geek could not refuse an offer to go to Bangkok and test run the new products Samsung is offering to the public this 2012. From all over Asia, members of media, bloggers and reviewers gathered at the Centara Hotel to attend the launch of Samsung’s new televisions, cameras, refs, vacuum cleaners, music docks and speaker systems, laptops and tablets.

In an age when innovation seems to be happening all too frequently, it is quite a challenge to impress jaded consumers, much less reviewers who often feel they have seen everything. Newness alone is nothing to get wowed about. Add-on value, cutting–edge innovation, consumer appeal, practicality, utility and the capacity of a product to surprise and delight are the elements I personally look for when trying out a new gadget in a store.

Let me tell you that in practically all categories of products I mentioned above, the Samsung 2012 Forum riveted our attention. It certainly did not disappoint. And that is the least way to describe it. In fact, virtually every product charmed the enthusiastic crowd in a big way.

At the onset, I had made a mental note to skip the sales pitch for the home appliances and just go for the cameras and tablets, and yes, the phone. But it did not take long before I found myself giggling and rather giddy because I was as suddenly interested in the vacuum cleaner, aircon, dishwashers and refrigerators almost as much as the “sexier” tablets, laptops, phones, etc.

Samsung ES8000: Changing how you relate to your television set forever

These devices, which have remained pretty stagnant, standard and with little innovation for decades now, have suddenly become exciting with the added capacity of Wi-Fi connectivity. Through Wi-Fi and 3G, one can start an air conditoner (on the way home to make a room cool by the time you get there) or check on the distribution of temperature in a ref, or start the vacuum cleaner to suck up dust and, when finished, return to its dock — and all this through your cell phone. How cool is that?

There was only one phone they displayed during the forum. It was the Samsung Beam. It is your more or less regular impressive Android phone but with the capacity to project images on a flat surface. This feature had been talked about on the Internet before, but to see it actually work with much ease and practicality is quite a marvel. It had powerful lumens and projected video, maps and office docs clearly on a wall in a not-so-dark booth. People milling around and most everyone who tried it had it on their wish list.

I was able to test run the new Tab 2 with its super-clear AMOLED screen and it seemed to me that it was noticeably faster than the already quick 10.1 tab I have. The resolution on the pics seemed higher. I wish I had more time to study the specs but there were just too many things to look at. In my opinion, it will most likely be the Apple new iPad’s main competition.

Another big hit for me is the line of new Samsung speakers with docks for MP3 gadgets including Apple products. Samsung’s DA-E750 took the old technology of the vacuum tube amplifiers which true audiophiles still look for and appreciate today, and combined it with digital capacity thus creating a portable hybrid contraption that can deliver that full–bodied sound in a 2.1 channel speaker and subwoofer, 100-watt package. I listened to music familiar to me, which is my new album “Laro.”

Samsung DA-E750: A hybrid audio dock mixing analog vaccum tube amp and digital hardware.

Another big hit for me is the line of new Samsung speakers with docks for MP3 gadgets including Apple products. I docked my phone and listened to music and I heard everything clearly as it was mixed in the studio. Samsung may have started something really new here that may close the gap between high-end audio buffs and regular consumers.

The darling of the forum was the ES8000 LED new Smart television ably demonstrated by Ariel Arias from Samsung’s audio-visual unit in Manila. I just got a Smart TV last year, and let me say that the features on this new 2012 television are not just add-ons but real breakthroughs that I know will leave a trail of dust on last year’s model. Samsung took the tack of adding a whole new dimension to our relationship with a TV set by making it responsive to voice  and motion commands and  open to upgrades which we can add ourselves to give it more capacity to marvel us. If you like telenovelas and Korean pop culture, you can access Viki, a channel for that kind of content. There are also more apps to keep us entertained with games and greater wireless connectivity to the net and with our cell phones and cameras. Samsung calls it “smart interaction, content and evolution.”

I saw the TV respond easily and accurately to different accents, and yes, to motion commands given by people testing it. One “scans” the screen á la Microsoft’s Kinect by moving your hands in the air up and down before the volume, picture, functions and channel controls on the television screen. You give the command by closing your palm to a fist. The built-in camera reads your motion, and the voice sensor will recognize up to seven users. It is also slimmer, bigger and smarter.

It used to be that such features were only seen in sci-fi films like Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, Minority Report, etc. Not anymore. It will be in many homes this year to surprise and delight us with a whole new television experience.

Amazing vacuum cleaner with Wi-Fi

One thing I realized at the forum is that tomorrow has arrived and that “the future ain’t what it used to be,” to quote baseball manager Yogi Berra. It is looking more tantalizing, marvelous, and mind-blowing than I expected. And like the Philippines, it is really more fun!