The Verge - Samsung at IFA 2012: Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Camera, Windows 8 tablets, and more

Hype-emitting diodes: can anyone ship an OLED TV?

2012-09-03T14:00:23Z

When it comes to OLED TVs, I start to feel like Roy Batty. The things I've seen on trade show floors are almost beyond articulation: TVs so thin that they make the latest superphone look fat, contrast ratios high enough to challenge Pioneer's legendary Kuro, and nearly 180-degree viewing angles. What amazes me to this day is that you can find all of these components of desire coexisting within just one display.

Whether produced by Samsung, LG, or Sony, OLED televisions have been the perennial darling of technology trade shows, however they have yet to make the leap from the exhibition floor to retail shelf space. Some smaller OLED panels have managed to escape the factory and go on sale in limited quantities, but the promise of a living...

Samsung's S Cloud service appears on Galaxy Note II

2012-09-03T07:44:10Z

Samsung was widely expected to unveil a cloud service called S Cloud alongside the Galaxy S III in May, but it didn't materialize in the end. We've just seen the first solid evidence of its existence, however, courtesy of a hands-on video from German site BestBoyZ where S Cloud appears in the Galaxy Note II's settings menu.

There are options for syncing photos and videos, and beyond requiring a Samsung account it also hooks into Dropbox — potentially a good way to use that 50GB of free storage that Galaxy Note II and Galaxy Camera owners will receive. We previously heard that S Cloud might have been delayed while Samsung searched for a commercial cloud storage partner, and it seems that may well have been accurate.

Samsung adds Google TV to its Smart TVs: Chrome, YouTube, and Google Play store (video)

2012-08-31T18:39:57Z

Although, yes, this is technically Samsung's first Google TV device, a more accurate description for what we saw today at IFA would be that the company is adding Google TV-related apps to its already expansive SmartHub suite. But those three apps arguably make up the entire Google TV experience: Chrome (without Adobe Flash support), YouTube (updated from its previous version to be much snappier and support keyboards), and most importantly the Google Play store (with "most but not all of the Google TV apps," according to a Samsung representative we spoke with).

Using Samsung's own Smart TV Wireless Keyboard is practically a requirement given all the search bars involved. It's definitely a value add for Samsung's lineup, but if you've...

Samsung OLED Multi View stacks two separate videos on one gorgeous 55-inch TV (video)

2012-08-31T18:16:04Z

The "multi view" concept isn't new, even if it still lacks a quick-and-easy description. In essence, it's two videos signals stacked on one another — using special polarizing glasses not entirely unlike 3D specs to "isolate" a (two-dimensional) signal and thereby allowing two or more people to watch different videos on the same TV. LG has it with Dual Play and Sony with PlayStation 3D Display.

Samsung's demonstration at its IFA 2012 booth didn't play up the multiplayer gaming aspect like the last aforementioned predecessors, but it did showcase the technology on gorgeous 55-inch OLED TVs. The special, very light headsets let you jump between the two videos with a push of a button — remarkably with no bleeding between the two signals...

Samsung Galaxy S III running Android Jelly Bean: our first look

2012-08-31T17:14:39Z

It's perfectly understandable that recent Galaxy S III purchasers are anxious to hear Android 4.1 Jelly Bean will make its way to Samsung's flagship, and now we've finally found the updated version on the device at IFA 2012 in Berlin. The Galaxy S III in question is Vodafone Germany's yet-to-be-released LTE variant (GT-i9305), and, completely as expected, it's no different than what we saw on the Galaxy Note II earlier this week. Many of Android 4.1's changes are obscured under Samsung's heavy TouchWiz skin, though Google Now and the new voice features are, of course, present. The noticeable improvement that we noticed on the Galaxy Nexus thanks to Project Butter wasn't nearly as apparent on the Galaxy S III, unfortunately.

For those...

Samsung's ultra high-resolution 'dual display' laptop and other crazy prototypes

2012-08-31T15:51:11Z

While Samsung's Ativ hardware is relatively tame — especially compared to some other Windows 8 tablets we've seen this week — the company did section off a part of its IFA booth to show off a few experiments in industrial design. Quarantined behind the glass were various Windows 8 laptop / tablet hybrids that range from familiar ("Slide" and "Swivel") to slightly less so ("Binder" with a slide-on keyboard and "Pop Up" with ports only visible on the hinge) and even an asymmetrical "Memo PC" that's specifically conceptualized with future Samsung mascot the S Pen in mind. We would be surprised if a few of these ideas made it to production level, but for now they're just for show.

More enticing, however, were the functional prototypes on...

Galaxy Camera accessory prototypes shown off by Samsung

2012-08-31T09:23:10Z

Samsung's Galaxy Camera appears to be a fairly humble point-and-shoot, but the high-end Android smartphone strapped to its back means we'd expect it to be pretty expensive. The company is showing off some prototype accessories at IFA that it says will likely weigh in at the high end of the pricing scale, too, and will only have the possibility of making it to market if the camera itself sells well. Almost no information was available on these products, unfortunately, and they were all firmly behind glass, but they looked interesting enough to share nonetheless.

it's difficult to see how a lot of these products will work

The lineup includes a waterproof housing, a ring light, a large flash, a lens hood, a complex-looking studio-style...

Samsung Galaxy Camera and Galaxy Note II getting 50GB free Dropbox space for two years

2012-08-31T08:03:07Z

Android devices getting free Dropbox space is nothing new: we've seen it on the HTC One series and Samsung Galaxy S III already. The news that Samsung's IFA stars, the Galaxy Note II and Galaxy Camera, will come with a 50GB Dropbox storage expansion for two years shouldn't come as a surprise, then. It's also unclear whether US carriers will even allow it. But having said all that, think of the possibilities for the latter device.

A 4G-connected compact camera could be the perfect match for Dropbox's Android automatic photo upload on Android — you'd have access to far more storage than most people carry in SD cards, and all your pictures would be almost instantly available on your other devices regardless of platform. We'll have to wait...