One of the biggest announcements at Unpacked last month was Samsung’s entry into the smart speaker market with the Galaxy Home.
Few details about the device were revealed at the event, so I thought that we would perhaps get a closer look at IFA. I was wrong.
This post was originally published on June 1 at 13:30
The biggest Samsung news to come out of Berlin this week has been its new range of 8K TVs. Along with similar announcements from LG and TCL, 8K has become the TV trend of the show.
Samsung also released a new oven range — the Dual Cook Flex. It allows you to cook two completely different meals at once in the same oven. which is good for a main and dessert situation, or if you have family members with different dietary requirements.
My favourite feature is that the flexible door allows you to open the upper compartment without impacting on the hit of the lower compartment. However, it doesn’t go the opposite way — you can only check on the lower compartment by opening the entire door.
It’s quite cool, but it also wasn’t a new announcement. The Dual Cool Flex was first introduced in April this year.
And that was about it for new things to see in Berlin from Samsung. Though its range is big enough to warrant its own massive building, those familiar with its impressive smart home range won’t find much that’s surprising.
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We still only know a few snippets of detail about the Galaxy Home. Information was so scarce at Unpacked that we couldn’t even get official product photos.
Most of what we know revolves around the speaker element — it includes AKG, full-range speakers and a subwoofer as well as SoundSteer to provide a surround sound experience anywhere in a room. It also has far-field voice recognition for when you want to talk to Bixby.
Lastly, it was a announced that a partnership between Samsung and Spotify has been forged to create a seamless music experience between Samsung devices, including its phones, TVs, Galaxy Home and even its Family Hub fridge range.
But that’s still all we have for now. No extra features. No pricing. No ship date.
I doubt I’m the only one disappointed by the lack of Galaxy Home presence at IFA. Being a consumer electronics and home appliances show, it feels like the ideal place for its debut.
Alas, we’ll have to wait a bit longer.
It’s possible that more info will come out of Samsung’s Developers Conference in November, though I would be surprised to see a release before Christmas. My money is on a CES launch in January.
The author traveled to IFA as a guest of Samsung
[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2018/08/all-the-samsung-galaxy-home-spotify-partnership-details-so-far/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/galaxy-home-410×231.jpg” title=”All The Samsung Galaxy Home Details So Far” excerpt=”The theme of this week’s Unpacked was connectivity. Throughout the show the notion of a Samsung ‘ecosystem’ with seamlessly connected devices was continuously touched upon.
Galaxy Notes. Galaxy Tabs. Galaxy Watches. The branding was strong.
This all built up to a crescendo, which was the announcement of the Samsung Galaxy Home — a brand new standalone smart speaker. Here is what we know so far.”]
[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2018/08/samsung-announces-8k-qled-q900r-tv-at-ifa/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Samsung-8K-410×231.jpg” title=”Samsung Announces 8K QLED TV” excerpt=”Ahead of its press conference at IFA today, Samsung has announced its brand new 8K QLED Q900R. This follows an 8K TV announcement from LG yesterday and we have a feeling this will only be the start of an 8K trend in Germany this week.”]