BBC.com
Samsung’s ‘future-proof’ voice-controlled television
A “smart” internet-connected television that has the ability to have its hardware upgraded every year has been unveiled by Samsung.
Samsung was one of many companies that unveiled new connected TV facilities at CES
Q: There is always a lot of unveiling at trade shows. What does unveil mean?
Words & Phrases:
a slot
new kit
to boost
gesture
pulling up
a milestone
to hedge bets
to struggle
Reading:
The device has a slot which allows new kit to be added to boost processing performance and add new features.
The innovation may help reassure shoppers concerned about their screen becoming outdated.
The move is aimed at helping the South Korean tech giant retain its lead as the world’s best-selling TV maker.
Samsung’s president of consumer electronics, Boo-keun Yoon, unveiled the firm’s flagship LED television at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas noting that his firm currently sells two televisions every two seconds.
In addition to its “smart evolution capability” Samsung has also added gesture, voice and face recognition features to the ES8000 model.
Familiar faces
A built-in camera allows users to browse the internet with a wave of their hand and to change channel by speaking in one of the more than 20 languages that the set can “understand”.
A facial recognition facility also allows the set to recognise users, pulling up the relevant selection of their favourite apps.
“It’s been the year of connected TV ever since 2008”
The device is the latest in a run of so-called Smart TVs launched by the firm since 2008.
Samsung is on course to hit a milestone of 20 million global TV app downloads before the end of January, said its president of consumer electronics America Tim Baxter.
New apps announced at the trade show included Rovio’s Angry Birds video game.
While Samsung pursues its own software solution, its rival LG has announced a television with built-in Google TV facilities for the US market.
The firm’s chief technology officer, Scott Ahn, only briefly mentioned the move at his firm’s CES press conference saying that the step “will form the basis of a strong future working relationship” with the US search giant.
LG also promised voice-recognition via a new remote control.
Meanwhile, Sony continues to hedge its bets.
Its new LED TV shares the same connected features as its predecessor including access to the Sony Entertainment Network and its Video Unlimited and Music Unlimited streaming services.
However, the firm also unveiled two new devices powered by the revised Google TV – a media streamer and a Blu-ray player.
Panasonic and Haier are among several other companies also showing off new connected TV facilities at CES.
Although sales of internet capable TVs are on the rise, analysts said the trend can be explained by the fact that the facility is offered on most of the biggest and highest quality sets.
“It’s been the year of connected TV ever since 2008,” said James McQuivery, television industry analyst at Forrester.
“Every year you see these at CES. However, the manufacturers have struggled with the fact that around half of all people who buy connected TVs never put them on the internet.
“So the challenge going forward is getting people to use the new functionality.”
Vocabulary exercise:
Please use the following words in the sentences below:
a slot, kit, to boost, to gesture, to pull up, a milestone, to hedge bets, to struggle
1. When we finishes our meal at the restaurant I ____________ to the waiter for the bill.
2. Would you be able to ____________ that webpage again?
3. Things are very uncertain in 2012, the best strategy is to _______ your ______ .
4. I told my Father, at the ticket machine there are 3 _______, one for credit card, one for coins and one for cash.
5. The iPad is a terrific piece of ______ for me to help me teach English classes.
6. Blackberry ___________ last year in the smart phone market and need to ________ their sales vastly in 2012 with new products.
7. Many consider the age 40 to be an important __________ in life, what do you think?
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
CES 2012: Samsung intros gesture and voice controlled TV
What is CES ?
Samsung laid out its television strategy at its press conference on the eve of the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show. It has added motion control, voice control and face recognition to its Smart TVs.
Discuss the following words & phrases:
to lay out –
toggle –
super oled technology –
integrated –
a dual core processor –
highlights –
Netflix –
Listening comprehension questions:
1. How does the face recognition and motion control work?
2. What did Tim Baxter say about the dual core processor?
3. What market share do Samsung have in the 3D TV market?
4. With whom is Samsung partners with and why?
Discussion:
Using all the above vocab and phrases, discuss the following
Talking to the TV is usually considered crazy!?!
Forget the old TV and get yourself a decent computer.
Modern society is completely hooked on entertainment and time wasting.
