Samsung had a very big booth at CeBIT – substantially bigger than last year, and with more partners present, it seemed to us, in line with the change we noted at ISE this year. Samsung in Europe is now being led by executives with long B2B experience and it is starting to show. After Mobile World and ISE, there was only a limited opportunity for new product announcements.
The 105″ 21:9 ultra wide display was shown at ISE and before, but at CeBIT Samsung told us its name, the QM105D and what it would cost. The list price has been set at €169,000 inc VAT, so it’s in the realms of “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it”. The display has 5120 x 2160 format and has lots of input flexibility to allow many configurations. Contrast is quoted at 4,000:1, brightness at 500 cd/m² and response time at 8ms. Despite the price, the panel is only rated for 16/7 use. Connectivity includ D-Sub, DVI-D, Display Port 1.2 (2 inputs), Display Port 1.1 (1 input)<
Samsung’s 105 inch 21:9 LFD looks great, but if you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it!
Most of the smartphone news was at MWC and there were plenty of people looking at the new Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge at CeBIT. News at the show was that the newest smartphone from Samsung adheres to military ruggedness standards. The Galaxy Xcover 3 complies with the MIL-STD 810G specification; it can survive a 1.2m drop and is IP67-rated.
There are physical buttons for Home, Back and switching apps to windowed mode (‘Multitasking’), as well as a dedicated ‘Xcover’ key. The Xcover button will turn on the torch, or activate the camera when double-tapped.
A 4.5″ display has 800 x 480 resolution. Android 4.4 – to be upgraded to 5.0 in the future – runs on a 1.2GHz quad-core processor with 1.5GB of RAM. The phone has 8GB of storage and a 2,200mAh battery, as well as Samsung’s Knox security system.
Samsung will release the Xcover 3 in April, for €230.
There have also been rumours of a rugged feature phone in the Xcover line. The B550 Xcover 3 – according to a leak – will have a 2.4″ display with 320 x 240 resolution; aSC7703A processor; 128MB of RAM; and 128MB of storage. The same IP67 protection is expected to be featured, as well as a 1,300mAh battery. The phone will be launched in Q2 for €85, it is claimed.
Finally, a rugged version of the new Galaxy S6 is also planned, say sources. SamMobile says that the phone will have the same 5.1″ AMOLED display and octa-core processor, but will be water- and dust-proof. There will be 16MP and 5MP cameras and 32GB of storage. The phone will also be slightly (2mm) thicker, and the battery will be larger (3,500mAh).
