Samsung who are desperate to hold onto their spot in the smartphone pecking order ahead of the launch of a large iPhone 6 now wants you walk around looking like a dork.
The Company who overnight launched a new Galaxy Note 4 with a display that curves around one side of the device has also launched a head up display virtual reality headset which when mounted on the head would leave you looking like a cast member in in a sci fi movie.
The software for the virtual reality headset will be powered by Oculus VR, a US virtual reality company that Facebook acquired earlier this year for $2 billion.
The headset, called the Samsung Gear VR Innovator Edition is wrapped around a nylon head strap and has been designed to allow users to mount the new Galaxy Note in front of their eyes so that gaming and watching movies becomes a little more real when sourced via the new Galaxy Note 4.
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The new device along with the Note 4 will go on sale shortly in Australia.
Samsung chose to reveal the device to Australian Financial publications and mass lifestyle journalists ahead of technology writers at the IFA trade show in Berlin.
Pricing for the new phone that straps onto your eyes has not been revealed.
It was only recently that Samsung revealed that profits from their mobile communication division had slumped 30% and that sales of their Galaxy smartphones were falling to the extent that they now only account for one in four smartphones sold around the world Vs a third of all smartphones this time last year.
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In Australia Samsung dumped their highly visible head of mobile communications Tyler McGee in February.
Ahead of Samsung’s overnight announcement from IFA Samsung shares in Korea took a nose dive with Goldman Sachs cutting its earnings expectations and target price, citing risks to the company’s smartphone sales.
Samsung’s announcement of a new Galaxy Note comes five days ahead of arch rival Apple launching a large iPhone 6 which executives at Telstra believe will further hurt Samsung smartphone sales.
“It is going to be very hard for Samsung to compete if they market likes what they see from Apple who are a Company who has the brand credibility that Samsung craves. Sales of smartphones are as much about brand as they are about specs. You only have to look at HTC they have brilliant smartphones but lack the brand credibility resulting in consumers thinking twice about their products”. The Telstra executive said.
Internal Samsung research reveals that users of prior Note smartphones spent 390 minutes a day on their device which is more than 244 minutes a day for its tablet users and 229 minutes a day for its smartphone users.
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In an effort to position the device at the top end of the smartphone market Samsung has added a metallic frame to the new Note 4.
The new Note also features improved screen resolution and pixel density, as well as an optical image stabilizer for the built-in camera-which Samsung called a first for a phone camera.
The Galaxy Note Edge-will be expensive however Samsung PR executives who would not even reveal which media or even which Samsung executives were attending IFA ahead of the launch are refusing to say just how expensive the new device will be.
We suspect that the Korean Company is waiting to see what pricing Apple puts on their new iPhone 6.
