Businesstraveller.com brings you the latest travel gadgets and accessories to make life on the road easier. This week’s round-up focuses on some of Samsung’s new releases over the next six months...
Out this month
New R-Series notebooks
Samsung has extended its R-Series range of laptops with five new models – the R780, R580 (pictured), R730, R530 and R430b. The R780 and R580 are the most powerful of the bunch with Intel Core i5-520M processors crunching the numbers, making them better for more power-hungry applications such as image and video editing. All five come in Samsung’s new “Touch of Colour” crystal finish, in other words glossy with a “light-inspired” colour gradation (see image) and a choice of patterns. The scratch-resistant case apparently also prevents unsightly finger smudges, which have plagued similar fashionable glass-like designs. As for screen sizes, the R770 and R730 come with a 17.3” display, the R580 and R530 a 15.6” one and the R430 (have you spotted the pattern?) a 14.0”. Aspect ratio is 16:9 for full-HD playback. All but the R530 come with a USB sleep-and-charge port for recharging USB devices even when the laptop is off. For the security conscious business traveller, all but the R780 come bundled with Phoenix FailSafe software (albeit a 30-day trial) which allows the laptop to be encrypted and tracked if stolen.
Price TBC
The NX-10 compact digital camera
Out of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas comes Samsung’s new next generation of compact digital camera, the NX10. Despite its small size (just 12cm wide), this 14.6MP pocket rocket has an interchangeable lens much like a full-size digital SLR. It even looks like a mini-DSLR. The NX10 can also record 720p HD-quality video, displayed on its 3” screen. It would be fairer to compare the NX10’s ultra-fast autofocus to its larger DSLR cousins than other compacts of a similar size. Other features include a “Supersonic Dust Reduction” system and a sensor that detects when the viewfinder is used, automatically switching off the 3” display to conserve power.
Price £599.99
February/March
SMX-C20 and HMX-M20 camcorders
Samsung is set to release the small but beautiful SMX-C20 (pictured) and HMX-M20, both updates of earlier models. Like their predecessors, the C10 and M10, both camcorders feature a 25 degree lens which allows them to be held lower and at a more natural angle. Both have the same glossy, colour-gradated styling of Samsung’s new R-Series notebooks (see above), and their sleek, minimalist design is far removed from their button-infested rivals. The two are especially attractive in deep red and blue. The difference between the C20 and M20 is their recording resolution – the former with a standard resolution of 720x480, while the latter boats full-HD at that all-magical 1080p.
The C20 is available next month, followed by the M20 in March.
Price TBC
The E6 and E101 e-books
Come March Samsung will enter the fast-growing e-book market with the release of the 6” E6 and 10” E101 (pictured). Both devices use the same e-paper technology as other similar devices, but unlike their rivals, the E6 and E101 can be written on using a stylus, handy for annotating books and making calendar notes. The E101 has a more intelligent pressure-sensitive stylus, allowing for cutting and pasting and calligraphy. But both come with an in-built MP3 player for audio books or music, and a “text-to-speech” engine which can read out a book in case you’re driving or busy doing something else. Finally, the A6 and E101 come with inbuilt wifi so you can download new books and share content with other e-books wirelessly.
Price TBC
May/June
S-series wifi camcorders
It seems every technology manufacturer worth its salt is cramming wifi into all sorts of gadgets, and Samsung is no exception. This time it’s the turn of the camcorder, with Samsung’s S-series apparently the first with built in wifi. The full-HD HMX-S10 (pictured), HMX-S15 and HMX-S16 camcorders also come with “inbuilt DLNA” which along with the wifi allows them to be connected to a PC or laptop via a wireless network. Each camcorder features Schneider optics with a 15x optical and 18x digital zoom. Also, no tape or hard disk here, as the S-series comes with either a SD/SDHC card only or an additional solid state drive, which means no moving parts and an extremely fast read/write speed. Other features include optical image stabilisation and the ability to shoot 10MP still pictures.
Price TBC
For all Samsung products visit samsung.com/uk for more information.