Samsung at IFA 2008: Women, ultra high definition and widgets
Samsung had so much stuff on show at IFA that it had put up a tent outside. Join us for a whistle-stop tour of Korea's finest TVs and Blu-ray players
In an ongoing battle to be the biggest exhibitor at IFA, Samsung no longer considers hall 20 at the Messe Berlin to be large enough, despite the fact that it's 96m long by 39m wide. To make up for these cramped conditions, this year it erected a tent outside to contain all the microwaves and fridges that would otherwise clutter up the main exhibition area.
So, what brilliance had the company jammed into its hall this year? First up, there was the RSS-reading TV that everyone has suddenly started making a fuss about, despite a version of it being at CES back in January. There was also a new Blu-ray player, the BD-P2500, which is slender and attractive.
We got a chance to see the Armani/Samsung TV, which we slated on spec a few months ago and are now able to slate on appearance too. It really is a ghastly lump of ugly black plastic. If you've ever seen women wearing those hideous gladiator shoes, it's the technological equivalent of those. Seriously, is the fashion industry just having a laugh, or do people actually think stuff like this is somehow special?
There was also considerable excitement about Samsung's new ultra-high-definition TV, which looks set to replace existing HD televisions at some point, as soon as they can persuade us to part with even more of our cash.
There were also girls -- lots of them. Some were just there helping people understand the technology, some were there to pose for photographs and videos on the Samsung cameras area and some seemed to be mainly for pointing at stuff. -Ian Morris
Look, a girl on a bike. She was here for ages, and I'm amazed she didn't leap off the thing and lynch everyone firing off photos of her. It must've become quite tiresome after a while. We helped her out by taking yet another photo. We could see the gratitude in her eyes.
We really liked the ultra-high-definition TV, although we've seen similar before -- it's becoming clear that manufacturers think this is the future of TV. Samsung claims this is the largest 3,840x2,160-pixel resolution TV in the world and at 82 inches, we don't think it's wrong.
We were very pleased to see a new Blu-ray player from Samsung. With some luck this could see the start of affordable BD players, which, let's be honest, are long overdue.
This is the illuminated logo on the front of the Armani/Samsung TV. The CEO of Samsung is especially pleased with this TV -- he even told us at the press conference that he's had a letter from Mr Armani about such magnificent synergies, which he showed us with great pride.
Viewed from the side, you can see what a total beast this TV is, but the Armani name means football players will lust after it like dogs chasing a postman's leg.
The RSS TV was pretty impressive. The ability to have stock and weather information pop up at the touch of a button is likely to interest some, although those of us who grew up with Teletext 25 years ago are slightly less in awe of the whole thing.
Another girl, here standing in front of a massive wall of televisions. This was frankly the most impressive stand at the whole show. Sony and Panasonic did a good job too, but for sheer jaw-dropping enormity, you can't beat Samsung.