Samsung Announces New 85-Inch UHD TV and Curved Sets

Samsung announced three new UHD televisions on Tuesday, including two curved sets and a monstrous $10,000 addition to its HU8550 series.

At a whopping 85 inches, the new TV is the largest set in Samsung's HU8550 lineup, though it's not the company's largest UHD TV, which is 110 inches. The television will sell for $10,000 when it becomes available later this month.

The two new curved sets — part of Samsung's new HU7250 lineup — come in more manageable 55- and 65-inch varieties, and will retail for $2,200 and $3,300, respectively, when they hit stores in August. The new curved offerings are powered by a quad-core processor, and include Samsung's UHD Dimming feature, which adjusts the display's brightness and contrast. They also have the ability to display content from four different sources onscreen, simultaneously.

Finally, Samsung announced its new HU6950 series, new flat screens meant to be more affordable UHD TV offerings. The sets come with some of the same features as Samsung's flagships, including UHD Dimming, UHD Upscaling and multiscreen capabilities. The HU6950 lineup come in 40-, 50- and 55-inch options, and will cost between $1,000 and $2,000.

Image: Samsung

Read full Article…

Here's What Apple's Chromecast Killer Could Look Like

With rumors surfacing that Apple may be working on a streaming television service with Comcast, it's only natural that some observers are beginning to wonder what form Apple's smart TV will take in the future.

To that end, Germany-based Curved has come up with a very realistic-looking take on what it might look like if Apple decided to launch an answer to Google's Chromecast HDMI dongle.

The designers dubbed this concept device Apple TV Air — not the most creative moniker, but also not out of the realm of possibility, given Apple's growing obsession with the word "air" to describe its slimmed-down products.

One image (see below) shows the Apple TV Air concept device in direct comparison to the real Apple TV box and remote control. The juxtaposition illustrates just how closely the concept hews toward Apple's existing design aesthetic.

Housed in a convincing Apple-style case, the Apple TV Air comes with a slick black dongle, emblazoned with the Apple logo, along with an attractive remote control that is about the same size as the dongle.

Some might see this concept as wishful thinking, and perhaps it is. Still, the notion of dongle-based smart TV solutions seems to be catching on — as shown by a recent report that suggests an Amazon HDMI dongle is in the works.

IMAGE: CURVED

Read full Article…