Samsung Mobile and Filmmaker Baz Luhrmann Partner to Inspire Passion Through Innovation and Technology

Source: Samsung Mobile Press - Press Releases - April 30, 2013 

Samsung Mobile and Filmmaker Baz Luhrmann Partner to Inspire Passion Through Innovation and Technology 

Reveal of a short personal film, created by the world-renowned director, invites audiences into a world of artistic vision and inspiration

New York, NY - April 30, 2013 - Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a global leader in digital media and digital convergence technologies, and film visionary Baz Luhrmann, today announced a partnership created to bring passion to life through innovation and technology. At the onset of this partnership is the unveiling of an exclusive short film, created by Luhrmann, which highlights his artistic inspirations and illustrates how technology has enhanced his creative process. Samsung also announced today its official sponsorship as the exclusive technology partner at the premiere of Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Village Roadshow Pictures’ highly anticipated film adaptation of “The Great Gatsby,” in New York City on May 1, 2013.

In this short narrative film, available in the coming weeks, Luhrmann describes his lifelong journey of storytelling and filmmaking, from inspirational moments with those that have influenced him, to the role technology plays throughout his creative process. In observance of the powerful ways that technology and storytelling can change people’s lives for the better, Luhrmann previews his future collaborations with Samsung to help foster passion within future generations. 

“Samsung is leading the world with their devices and their creative tools because they are imagining them and creating them out of a philosophy of bringing passion and inspiration to life, and sharing it, and this is a philosophy which I have lived and also share,” says Baz Luhrmann. “I have always been a collaborator creatively and the big breakthrough with the Samsung Galaxy and Notebook is that they enable any group of like-minded creatives, large or small, far or near, to forge true connections, to share their passions and inspirations, dreams, thoughts, and discoveries on the spot, in the moment, anywhere or anytime. The fact that the devices speak to each other in lockstep, sharing a single image, a moving picture, a song, or all three instantly, among a collective, and being able to manipulate that material while everyone shares in the experience is a huge step forward in the creative process and facilitates a passionate life.” 

This coming year, Samsung and Luhrmann will explore the role of technology in the individual’s journey to explore and share inspirations, and cultivate new ideas. Samsung believes in the power of technology and innovation to help each individual discover what lies within him or herself, and to enrich their lives and the lives of others.

“Samsung is committed to creating technology that gives individuals a sense that the world is without boundaries or limitation. Our products are designed to make lives richer, simpler and more meaningful, and we are thrilled to partner with Baz as a symbol of collaboration-fueled creativity and passion,” said Younghee Lee, Executive Vice President of Global Marketing Group, Mobile Communications Business of Samsung Electronics. “Baz’s films bring together many influences, past and present, through a spectacular mash-up of creativity and ideas. Through this convergence of technology and everyday inspiration, Baz creates new worlds that go on to surprise, delight and inspire others to do the same.”

In addition to a long-term partnership with Luhrmann, Samsung is also the exclusive technology sponsor for the May 1, 2013 New York City premiere of Baz’s latest film achievement, “The Great Gatsby,” which also opens the Cannes Film Festival on May 15, 2013. Samsung will be part of the live stream from the red carpet in New York, along with devices loaded with exclusive content from the film. Follow the action around Samsung at “The Great Gatsby” premiere events via the #gatsbypremiere hashtag.  

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in technology, opening new possibilities for people everywhere. Through relentless innovation and discovery, we are transforming the worlds of televisions, smartphones, personal computers, printers, cameras, home appliances, LTE systems, medical devices, semiconductors and LED solutions. We employ 236,000 people across 79 countries with annual sales of US$187.8 billion. To discover more, please visit www.samsung.com .

About Baz Luhrmann

BAZ LUHRMANN (Director/Producer/Screenwriter) has captured popular and critical imagination internationally with a diverse range of award-winning projects in film, opera, theatre, and music. His current project, a film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is set to be released May 10 in theatres across in the U.S. Previously, he directed “Australia" (2008), “Moulin Rouge!” (2001), “William Shakespeare’s Romeo ＋ Juliet,” (1996), and “Strictly Ballroom” (1992). In 2002, “Baz Luhrmann’s Production of Puccini’s La Boheme on Broadway” was nominated for seven Tony Awards, including Best Revival and Best Director for Luhrmann. In 2003, he conceived and directed the campaign for Chanel Nº5 perfume, Nicole Kidman. The soundtrack albums for “William Shakespeare’s Romeo ＋ Juliet” and “Moulin Rouge!” executive produced by Luhrmann, have sold more than thirteen million copies worldwide.

About “The Great Gatsby”

Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, in association with A&E Television, a Bazmark/Red Wagon Entertainment Production, a Film by Baz Luhrmann, “The Great Gatsby.”  The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher, and Jason Clarke.  Luhrmann directed the film from a screenplay he co-wrote with Craig Pearce, based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel.  Luhrmann produced, along with Catherine Martin, Douglas Wick, Lucy Fisher and Catherine Knapman.  The executive producers are Barrie M. Osborne, Shawn “JAY Z” Carter, and Bruce Berman.  Opening May 10, 2013, “The Great Gatsby” film will be distributed in RealD 3D, 3D and 2D by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures.

HP Helps Clients Enhance Customer Interactions by Transforming the Contact Center

HP - Press Releases - April 30, 2013 

HP Helps Clients Enhance Customer Interactions by Transforming the Contact Center

PALO ALTO, Calif. — HP Enterprise Services today announced new services designed to enable organizations to break free from legacy contact center technology and bring new multichannel customer experience capabilities to customers quickly and cost-effectively.

As end-user consumer expectations continue to grow, the contact center must evolve to maintain the highest levels of customer service. By harnessing the latest contact center technology, organizations have the capability to provide a consistent experience that delights customers across a variety of touch points.The outcome is increased customer loyalty and satisfaction at a lower cost.

The new HP Customer Engagement as a Service (CEaaS) combines HP’s leadership in enterprise cloud with technology from Avaya, a market leader in contact center technology, to provide clients a fast path to transition their legacy contact centers to a new, flexible platform.

HP CEaaS provides clients with a complete suite of contact center tools supported by a skilled global team. These services enable clients to add valuable capabilities such as social media marketing, mobile integration and customer analytics into a single contact center platform, enriching a customer’s overall experience. By creating a flexible and adaptable cloud-based business model, HP CEaaS also assists client efforts to:

• Facilitate a consistent customer experience across all channels with the ability to route voice, email, chat, scanned documents, SMS and fax-based workflows to agents.
• Accelerate response times to customers with interactive voice response (IVR) technologies, including voice prompts, speech recognition and text-to-speech.
• Support higher levels of customer service with call recording and quality monitoring capabilities that evaluate agents’ performance and interactions with customers.
• Incorporate value-add services including analytics, mobile integration and social customer relationship management while reducing the total cost of ownership.

With HP CEaaS, HP provides enhanced contact center technology and infrastructure delivered via the cloud, allowing clients to retain their own customer service agents and focus on managing customer relationships. In addition to working on-premises, customer service agents can work remotely or from a non-networked site via public internet access.

“When a customer reaches out to a service center, a negative experience can lead to lost business and a damaged reputation,” said Danila Meirlaen, vice president, Business Process Outsourcing, HP Enterprise Services. “HP CEaaS helps clients provide their customers a better contact center experience that increases customer loyalty while positively impacting the bottom line.”

Hosted in a virtual private cloud environment, HP CEaaS enables clients to rapidly scale services up and down to meet changing contact center needs. By utilizing these services, which are delivered via a scalable cost structure, clients have the potential to reduce upfront capital spend on software licenses and hardware while eliminating annual maintenance fees.

“Enterprises looking to augment existing infrastructure investments need the ability to quickly and easily activate multichannel contact center capabilities through a cloud-based delivery model,” said Mark de la Vega, vice president, Global Contact Center Solutions, Avaya. “When HP CEaaS is combined with Avaya Collaborative Cloud solutions for customer experience management, clients are able to create customer experiences that build brand loyalty.”

HP has more than 30 years’ experience in providing contact center services and was recently recognized as a leader in NelsonHall’s “Targeting Customer Management Services” market analysis.⁽¹⁾

Pricing and availability

HP CEaaS is available immediately in the Americas with pricing varying according to client need.

HP’s premier Americas client event, HP Discover , takes place June 11-13 in Las Vegas.

⁽¹⁾ NelsonHall, “Targeting Customer Management Services,” M. Cook, December 2012.

(Source: www.hp.com)

HP Launches Industry’s Most Complete Software-defined Network Fabric for Cloud

HP - Press Releases - April 30, 2013 

HP Launches Industry’s Most Complete Software-defined Network Fabric for Cloud

PALO ALTO, Calif., April 30, 2013 — HP today unveiled an industry-leading data center network fabric built on HP FlexNetwork architecture , enabling business agility for clients by delivering two times greater scalability⁽¹⁾ and 75 percent less complexity over current network fabrics⁽²⁾ while reducing network provisioning time from months to minutes.⁽³⁾

As companies move to a cloud environment, legacy network architectures are buckling under the pressure for instant access to applications and services that offer a high-quality user experience. Organizations also are struggling with the complexity of current data center network fabric designs, which require manual device-by-device configurations and limit the performance of bandwidth-intensive applications.

HP is addressing these challenges with a series of software-defined network (SDN) data center switches that deliver advanced automation capabilities and industry-leading scalability for bandwidth-intensive applications such as Hadoop.⁽⁴⁾ The new offerings include the new HP FlexFabric 12900 , which is the industry's first OpenFlow-enabled core switch capable of scaling to meet the demands of increasing virtualized workloads.⁽⁴⁾

"For the past 20 years, data center networks have lagged in supporting new enterprise demands for cloud, virtualization and big data," said Bethany Mayer, senior vice president and general manager, Networking, HP. "Only HP is positioned to deliver the industry's most complete software-defined data center network fabric with innovations that enable our customers to create a network foundation that will meet their needs today and well into the future."

Simplify network design and operations

By simplifying network design and operations, new HP Networking solutions enable customers to:

• Improve IT productivity by unifying the virtual and physical fabric with newHP FlexFabric Virtual Switch 5900v software, which, in conjunction with the HP FlexFabric 5900 physical switch, delivers advanced networking functionalities such as policies and quality of service to a VMware environment. Integrated Virtual Ethernet Port Aggregator (VEPA) technology provides clear separation between server and network administrations to deliver operational simplicity.
• Reduce data center footprint with the HP Virtualized Services Router (VSR) , which allows services to be delivered on a virtual machine (VM), eliminating unnecessary hardware, by leveraging the industry's first carrier-class software-based Network Function Virtualization (NFV).⁽⁴⁾

"Today's data center networks are somewhat static and limiting in their ability to scale—they are also complex and require manual provisioning for cloud and virtualized applications," said Rohit Mehra, vice president, Network Infrastructure, IDC. "HP's portfolio of physical and virtual switches, as well as its SDN-enabled network fabric, indicates its readiness to address many of these challenges, providing clients simplicity, scalability and automation to enable new services and applications for the data center."

Scale data center fabric for improved application performance

HP FlexFabric solutions improve end-user application experience and enable customers to:

• Enhance support for complex, high data-consuming applications with the HP FlexFabric 12900 switch series, which manages bandwidth spikes with the built-in networking standard Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links (TRILL). The HP FlexFabric 12900 switch series can move up to three times more data across the network per 40-gigabit Ethernet (GbE) port compared to leading competitors.⁽⁴⁾
• Improve virtualized application performance by up to 50 percent⁽⁵⁾ with theHP FlexFabric 11908 , the industry's first OpenFlow-enabled aggregation switch.⁽⁴⁾ HP FlexFabric 11908 delivers 10/40 GbE connectivity for blade servers, such as HP c-Class servers with Virtual Connect FlexFabric modules, enabling flexible and cost-effective deployment for data centers.
• Boost resiliency by simplifying network service delivery with the HP HSR 6800 router series , which consolidates routing, firewall, switching and more than five times the security services of other solutions⁽⁶⁾ into one device that supports thousands of users.

"At the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Lab, we ensure interoperability and conformance to industry standards for networking products in an independent and neutral environment," said Christina Dube, senior manager, Bridge Functions, InterOperability Lab, University of New Hampshire."In our multivendor lab, we recently tested interoperability of the industry's first standard-based TRILL functionality with switch software Comware 7 available on the HP FlexFabric portfolio."

"Providing solutions for increasing needs to scale out our clients' application and services in our data center is one of the key factors for our business success," said Masaki Hayashi, director, Technology Division, IDC Frontier, a subsidiary of Yahoo! JAPAN. "We considered a multitude of technologies and selected HP to help design a data center network fabric based on the innovative standard TRILL to deliver very-large scale, high-performing and differentiated public cloud services across our data centers throughout Japan."

Automate the network with management and SDN

HP's unique single pane-of-glass management automates accelerated application and service delivery for SDN-enabled and traditional network devices from the data center to the campus and branch. This enables customers to:

• Improve application performance with templates for network services that simplify and automate network configurations for applications from edge to core with the HP Intelligent Management Center (IMC) Virtual Application Network Resource Automation Manager software.
• Simplify management of SDN and traditional network infrastructure operations with HP IMC SDN Manager , the industry's first complete configuration, monitoring and policy management application software spanning campus, branch and data center networks.⁽⁴⁾

Focus on innovation and the business

HP Technology Services help customers evolve and operate complex data center networks to reallocate resources to innovation and business growth. New services include:

• HP Connectivity Transformation Experience Workshop —helps customers achieve network scale and agility with a defined strategy for network transformation that aligns business and IT goals.
• HP IPv6 Roadmap Service —provides access to experienced consultants to develop a transition roadmap to IPv6 by considering all six of the domains affected by this transition—the network, security, infrastructure, applications, governance and finance.
• HP Datacenter Care for Networking —offers a single point of contact for reactive support and proactive services that enable customers to quickly resolve network issues, evolve the network to meet changing business needs and reduce IT administrative tasks, allowing them to focus on technology innovation.

HP at Interop Las Vegas 2013

HP will demonstrate the new data center products and services in the HP FlexNetwork architecture at Interop Las Vegas , held May 6-10 at Mandalay Bay, in booth 1527. HP's networking products also are powering the InteropNetNetwork Operations Center (NOC), a multivendor, high-speed network that serves the exhibitors, conference rooms and attendees at the event.

HP's Bethany Mayer and Conrad Menezes, vice president, Network and Information Security, Sears Holdings Corporation, will deliver a joint keynote at 9:35 a.m. PT, on Thursday, May 9, at Mandalay Bay Ballroom H. The live webcast will be available at interop.com/live .

Pricing and availability⁽⁷⁾

• HP FlexFabric Virtual Switch 5900v is expected to be available worldwide in October 2013; pricing will be available at that time.
• HP FlexFabric 5900 switch series is available today for a starting pricing of $14,990.
• HP Virtualized Services Router series is expected to be available worldwide in the second half of 2013; pricing will be available at that time.
• HP FlexFabric 12900 switches are expected to be available worldwide in October 2013; pricing will be available at that time.
• HP FlexFabric 11908 switch is expected to be available worldwide in June 2013 for a starting price of $83,000.
• HP HSR 6800 router series is available worldwide for a starting price of $46,000.
• HP IMC Virtual Application Network Resource Automation Manager is expected to be available worldwide in December 2013; pricing will be available at that time.
• HP IMC SDN Manager is expected to be available worldwide in December 2013; pricing will be available at that time.

Additional information about HP Networking solutions is available atwww.hp.com/go/networking .

HP's premier Americas client event, HP Discover , takes place June 11-13 in Las Vegas.

⁽¹⁾ HP FlexFabric design using TRILL and IRF reduces operational complexity by up to 4:1. 
⁽²⁾ Based on HP FlexFabric 24,000 port design vs. Juniper Qfabric 6,000 port orCisco FabricPath 12,000 port design . 
⁽³⁾ HP internal comparative analysis when having to provision networks via CLI vs. using HP Virtual Applications Networks. 
⁽⁴⁾ Based on HP internal research. 
⁽⁵⁾ HP FlexFabric 11908 compared with Nexus 7010. 
⁽⁶⁾ Based on HP internal comparative analysis of publicly available data from major competitors. 
⁽⁷⁾ Estimated U.S. street prices. Actual prices may vary.

(Source: www.hp.com)

Samsung Unveils GALAXY Tab 3

Source: Samsung Mobile Press - Press Releases - April 29, 2013 

Samsung Unveils GALAXY Tab 3

SEOUL, Korea, April 29, 2013 - Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a global leader in digital media and digital convergence technologies, today announced the introduction of the GALAXY Tab 3 - 7-inch tablet featuring sleek design and enhanced capabilities that bring better performance and multimedia experiences to your fingertips.

With the new GALAXY Tab 3, Samsung has evolved its range of innovative tablets, making them smaller and easier to carry, while increasing the user experience overall

• Easy Handgrip and Portability: Its compact, one-hand grip form factor ensures users can hold comfortably for hours as well as store in a pocket or small bag for reading and entertainment on the go. The sleek and stylish design encompasses thinner bezel than the previous GALAXY Tab 2 (7.0).

• Better Multimedia Performance: Powered by a 1.2GHz Dual Core processor, the device allows for faster downloads and sharing, while providing easy access to videos, apps, games, and the web. Offered with either 8/16 of internal storage plus up to 64GB of expandable memory, the device has plenty of space to hold your favorite photos, music, apps, videos and more. 

• Enhanced User Experience: The GALAXY Tab 3 7-inch is equipped to better capture life’s moments in stunning clarity and resolution with its 3-megapixel camera rear camera and 1.3 -megapixel front camera. Combined with the latest Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), it allows users to share photos, videos, and life’s special moments through a few quick taps and swipes. 

The GALAXY Tab 3 7-inch WiFi version will be available globally beginning May and 3G version will follow in June. The product availability varies by market and will be rolled out gradually. 

Note to Editors:

Samsung GALAXY Tab 3 7-inch Product Specifications:

Network	WiFi 3G - 3G : HSPA＋21 / 5.76 Quad 850/900/1900/2100 - 2G : EDGE/GPRS Quad 850/900/1800/1900
Processor	1.2 GHz Dual Core processor
Display	7 inch WSVGA(1024 x 600, 169 PPI) TFT
OS	Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)
Camera	Main(Rear): 3-megapixel camera Sub (Front): 1.3 -megapixel camera
Video	Codec: MPEG4, H.264, H.263, WMV Playback: 1080p Full HD @30fps
Audio	Codec: MP3, OGG, AC3, AAC, AAC＋, eAAC＋, WMA, WAV, FLAC
Services & Additional Features	Samsung Apps
	Samsung Hub＊ - Music Hub/ Game Hub/ Video Hub/ Learning Hub
	Samsung Kies, Samsung Kies Air (Downloadable via Samsung Apps)
	Samsung ChatON mobile communication service
	Google Mobile Services: Google Search, Gmail, Google Play Store, Google Plus, YouTube, Google Talk, Google Maps (Turn-by-turn Navigation), Google Now
Connectivity	WiFi a/b/g/n (2.4/5GHz), WiFi Channel Bonding, WiFi Direct Bluetooth® 3.0 USB 2.0
GPS	A-GPS ＋ GLONASS
Sensor	WiFi: Accelerometer, Geo-magnetic, Light 3G: Accelerometer, Geo-magnetic, Light, Proximity
Memory	8/16GB Internal Memory ＋ 1GB (RAM) microSD slot (up to 64GB)
Dimension	111.1 x 188.0 x 9.9mm 300g(Wi-Fi), 306g (3G)
Battery	Standard battery, Li-ion 4,000 mAh

＊ The availability of each Samsung Hub and Google service may differ by country.

＊ All functionality, features, specifications and other product information provided in this document including, but not limited to, the benefits, design, pricing, components, performance, availability, and capabilities of the product are subject to change without notice or obligation.

＊ Android, Google, Google Search, Gmail, Google Play, Google Plus, YouTube, Google Talk, Google Maps and Google Now are trademarks of Google Inc.

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in technology, opening new possibilities for people everywhere. Through relentless innovation and discovery, we are transforming the worlds of televisions, smartphones, personal computers, printers, cameras, home appliances, LTE systems, medical devices, semiconductors and LED solutions. We employ 236,000 people across 79 countries with annual sales of US$187.8 billion. To discover more, please visit www.samsung.com.

LG Begins Sales of World's first Curved Oled TV

LG - Press Releases - April 29, 2013 

LG Begins Sales of World's first Curved Oled TV 

Pre-orders for 55-inch TV Starts Today in Korea, Shipping Next Month

SEOUL, Apr. 29, 2013 ㅡ LG Electronics (LG) announced that it will begin accepting pre-orders for its 55-inch (54.6-inch diagonal) Curved OLED TV (Model 55EA9800) in South Korea, with deliveries to begin next month. More than 1,400 LG retail stores in South Korea will begin taking orders today from customers for the premium TV, priced at KRW 15 million (approximately USD 13,500). The announcement makes LG the first and only company to commercialize both the flat screen OLED TV, which began shipping to Korean customers in February, and the Curved OLED TV, giving LG a significant lead in the OLED segment that is expected to grow to 7 million units by 2016, according to DisplaySearch.

“Our Curved OLED TV is not only the proof of LG’s unmatched leadership in next-generation displays but also a testament to LG’s commitment to bringing to market the most exciting TV technology available today,” said Havis Kwon, President and CEO of LG’s Home Entertainment Company.

The new EA9800 model features the industry’s very first curved screen ergonomic design, providing an “IMAX-like” viewing experience in the home.With more than five years of research behind developing the optimum curvature, the entire screen surface is equidistant from the viewer’s eyes, eliminating the problem of screen-edge visual distortion and loss of detail.

Only 4.3 millimeters (0.17 inches) thin and weighing just 17 kilograms (37.48 pounds), LG’s Curved OLED TV produces astoundingly vivid and realistic images thanks to its proprietary WRGB technology. The unique Four-Color Pixel system features a white sub-pixel, which works in conjunction with the conventional red, blue, green setup to create the perfect color output. What’s more, LG’s exclusive Color Refiner delivers even greater tonal enhancement, resulting in images that are more vibrant and natural than anything seen before. As in the original flat screen OLED TV, the Curved OLED TV also offers an infinite contrast ratio for optimal contrast levels regardless of ambient brightness or viewing angle. TÜV Rheinland, Intertek and VDE, three international testing and certification bodies, recently recognized LG’s Curved OLED TV for its superb picture quality.

Finally, LG’s Curved OLED TV features thin transparent film speakers in the crystal clear stand, providing high-quality sound without compromising the TV’s beautiful design. LG’s Curved OLED TV took the top “red dot: best of the best” honor at the prestigious design competition earlier this year.

Timing and pricing of the Curved OLED TV in markets outside of Korea will be announced in the months ahead.

(Source: www.lg.com)