CES 2014: Samsung Launches Tablets, Loses Film Director

Samsung has extended its tablet family with four further devices at an incident-packed CES press conference, during which film director Michael Bay slunk off-stage after a teleprompter failure.

The company showed new 12.2-inch, 10-in and 8.4-in Galaxy Tab versions, designed to compete directly with Apple’s iPad, as well as a larger version of the company’s Galaxy Note phablet.

“We created the Galaxy NotePro and TabPro series to kick-off a year in which Samsung truly establishes its leadership in the tablet market,” said JK Shin, Samsung CEO.

Bigger brothers

The 12.2-in version of the Galaxy TabPro is unsurprisingly the most powerful, containing either an 8-core Samsung Exynos processor or a quad-core Snapdragon processor, depending on whether the device has 4G/LTE capability. It features a 12.2-in screen featuring a 2,560 x 1,600-pixel display, with an 8MP rear camera, a 2MP front-facing camera, and 3GB of RAM. The device will be available with either 32GB or 64GB of internal storage, and also feature microSDXC support, Bluetooth 4.0, a 9,500 mAh battery and will run Android 4.4 KitKat.

This larger screen version will also feature a special user interface called Magazine, which is optimised for larger screen devices to display content such as news feeds. By including a screen size that is more comparable to traditional magazine-sized material, the company claims, content is easier to view in its original format when reading digital magazines or e-books, with a subscription to a collection of titles bundled with the device.

Samsung also announced a 12.2-in variety of its Galaxy Note phablet, called the Galaxy NotePro, which features identical specifications to its TabPro cousin. Both devices will also be available in various connectivity options, coming as Wi-Fi only, Wi-Fi and 3G, or Wi-Fi and LTE, depending on market coverage.

“This new line offers the best-in-class content consumption and productivity, combining a stunning viewing experience with Samsung’s design legacy. The Samsung Galaxy NotePro and TabPro truly demonstrate our commitment to providing our customers with extraordinarily versatile product offerings, tailored to tablet users of every description,” Shin said.

Samsung has not yet revealed any prices for either the NotePro or TabPro lines yet, however it did reveal that the new devices will be available in the first three months of 2014.

In online media coverage, the tablets lost out to a press conference fumble, when film director and explosions aficionado Michael Bay walked off stage after his teleprompter failed. Seemingly at a loss for what to say next, Bay attempted to muddle on describing how Samsung’s new Curve televisions would help audiences enjoy his films, before simply giving up and slinking offstage.

In a post on his personal blog, Bay found his eloquence, with a clearly spontaneous gush about the product he was supposed to plug in the press event:  “Wow! I just embarrassed myself at CES – I was about to speak for Samsung for this awesome Curved 105-inch UHD TV. I rarely lend my name to any products, but this one is just stellar. I got so excited to talk, that I skipped over the Exec VP’s intro line and then the teleprompter got lost. Then the prompter went up and down – then I walked off. I guess live shows aren’t my thing.”

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