LAS VEGAS--Samsung proffered its most detailed explanation yet of its smartphone vision while unveiling a new, high-end Android smartphone and a content initiative called "Smart Life."
At the opening keynote of the CTIA Wireless 2010 conference here, J.K. Shin, the president of Samsung's handset business, said smartphones are the future of the mobile industry and predicted that by 2013 smartphone sales will double to 373 million units.
"Smartphones are not exclusive devices for wealthy consumers in advanced economies," Shin said. "Samsung is committed to bringing a new smartphone experience to everyone in the world."
Samsung has made increasing its presence in the smartphone market a key goal for 2010. The world's No. 2 handset maker by unit shipments has said it will increase its smartphone sales in 2010 to around 18 million units, up from 6 million in 2009, by focusing its efforts on Google's Android platform, Microsoft's Windows Mobile and its own bada OS.
Shin said Samsung plans to stay ahead of smartphone demand with super AMOLED displays, faster processors and access to content. The company's new "Smart Life" content plan aims to give consumers access on their smartphones to anything they can watch, read or play at home. The plan calls for a premium content initiative to give users access to full-length movies and TV shows as well as books, newspapers and magazines.
To highlight the effort, Shin debuted Samsung's new Galaxy S Android phone. With a bit of bravado, the longtime Samsung executive noted, "The first shot has been fired, and Galaxy S is already standing at the finish line."
The Galaxy S has several key new Samsung features, including the "daily briefing," which offers instant access to weather, news, stocks and calendar information; "all share," which enables inter-device connectivity via Digital Living Network Alliance technology; and "home cradle," which allows users to use the device as a digital photo frame, table clock, calendar and music station.
The device runs Android 2.1 and features a 4-inch super AMOLED touchscreen display, TouchWiz 3.0, a 1 GHz processor, WiFi and a 5-megapixel camera. Samsung did not provide a specific release date or pricing information, but said the device will be available in the U.S. later this year.
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