samsung posts (Subscribe to this feed)

It looks like Samsung is willing to pay as much as $250,000 to development teams or individuals for any mobile game pitches that eventually make it to the recently launched Samsung Application Store. According to Develop Online, Samsung has enlisted the help of mobile developer Handmark to help oversee the upcoming megaton of pitches, prototypes and products, as well as assist developers with production of their ideas for the platform.

Having lost a sizable chunk of the mobile consumer base to Apple, and more specifically the iTunes App Store, Samsung is now reaching into its pockets to ensure the company's slip in market share doesn't turn into a complete mudslide. "This is a fantastic opportunity for anyone, including big brands, mobile developers or any individual with a unique, creative idea to make it a reality," Handmark's senior VP of Global Sales, Chris Barnett said. If you're looking for advice on how not to pitch your idea, we have you covered.

The Sci-Fi Channel has partnered with Samsung and Granada America to hunt down the most well-rounded gamer in the United States as part of WCG GameQuest, a new "elimination-style" game show. Besides bragging rights (and sore thumbs), the winner of the "competition series" will also walk away with $100,000 and trips to attend future World Cyber Games events.

However, to survive the eight-episode tournament, contestants will not only have to stand up to the rigors of gameplay, but also real-life "physical challenges." We hope to see the gaming elite vie for superiority by plunging head first Double Dare-style into pools of slime when WCG GameQuest hits the airwaves in the first quarter of 2009.

Aw, and we were just starting to miss our Blu-box graphic ... Sure enough, after several months of peaceful bliss, here we are again on the verge of an Xbox 360 Blu-ray announcement! Or not. Toshiba-Samsung Storage Technology Corp. (not to be confused with plain old "Toshiba Corp.," which is apparently "strictly against Blu-ray") has allegedly been contracted to manufacture an external Blu-ray drive for Xbox 360, reports X-bit labs. The drives are rumored to retail at around $100 to $150 in an attempt to cut into PlayStation 3 sales (combine a $150 drive with the Xbox 360 Arcade, for example, and the total cost would be $350).

X-bit labs speculates Microsoft may launch the external drive this holiday, but with reportedly low sales, Blu-ray could likely wait until a proper CES unveiling. Still, we've got TGS popping off in mere hours and Blu-ray's clock ticking down every day. No time to waste then?

Samsung UK consumer electronics boss Andy Griffiths doesn't see a lengthy lifespan for the Blu-ray format. Speaking to Pocket-lint, he said, "I think it [Blu-ray] has 5 years left, I certainly wouldn't give it 10." 10 years as in the product cycle Sony has mapped out for PS3, which features Blu-ray as a core technology?

Griffiths' prediction could very well be accurate, but consider DVD, a format that is still going strong 12 years after the first player launched in Japan in 1996. To put things in perspective, Blu-ray players only hit the scene two years ago. With adoption of HDTVs continuing at a steady pace and that whole victory over HD-DVD thing, the format (for video, at least) has to have at least six years left in it.

While the HD format wars are over, Blu-ray still has a long way to go before it can tackle its main competitor: DVD. Many consumers still haven't converted to Sony's next-gen format, and Samsung UK director Andy Griffiths doesn't believe there's much time left for Sony's format. "I think it [Blu-ray] has 5 years left, I certainly wouldn't give it 10", Griffiths told Pocket-lint in an interview.

The time to capitalize on Blu-ray is now, the Samsung head said. "It's going to be huge", he told Pocket-lint. "We are heavily back-ordered at the moment." The company is one of few that's heavily invested in the format, with numerous Blu-ray players available on the market.

There will always be new formats on the horizon, but we find it unlikely that Blu-ray will extinguish in so little time. With HD adoption still slowly growing, so too will Blu-ray's momentum. Regardless, it'll be interesting to see where home video stands in the next decade.

[Via Engadget]

According to Samsung, the T220 display "looks more like a beautiful piece of art than a monitor." So, even if you're satisfied with the screen you've already got, why not enter for your chance to win this little marvel of modern art -- it looks great on the wall or the coffee table! And who knows, you may even use it one day ... (Geek out on the full specs here.)

To enter this giveaway:

• Leave a comment telling us what kinda "art" you've got hanging on your walls.
  
• You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec).
• Limit 1 entry per person per calendar day (exceed limit and you'll be disqualified).
  
• This entry period ends at 6:00pm ET on Monday, August 18th. We'll randomly select one winner at that time who will receive a Samsung T220 monitor (MSRP: $330) -- please check your email!
• For a list of complete rules, click here.

You remember the rumor that hit the interwebs yesterday regarding Microsoft allowing third party manufacturers to incorporate the Xbox 360 in other products? Well, today we bring you yet another rumor that piggybacks the third party manufacturer rumor which ultimately makes it a rumor based on a rumor that can't be confirmed. Confusion aside and simply put, Samsung is rumored to be releasing an Xbox 360 integrated television this Fall.

Coming from the guys over at MAXCONSOLE comes word that Samsung is developing an Xbox 360 built into a LCD television called the X-Series and will feature 4 USB ports, 512MB HDD and is set to release this November in both the US and Europe. Interesting, no? Our official take on this Xbox 360 TV rumor is that it's a quick photoshop job and is complete bologna. Especially the fact that it'll only use a 512MB HDD, because we don't think they even manufacture 512MB hard drives anymore. Pessimism is all the rage.

If you like Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and you happen to live in the UK, then this announcement might have some kind of connection with you. Twenty Gamestation stores across the nation will each be hosting a 64-person Super Smash Bros. Showdown on June 28. This is no slouchy, bored-marketing-guy tournament either. Every winner from every store will take home a 40" Samsung LCD TV and a Samsung Home Theater System, with all the DVD and surround sound trimmings.

Tournaments are great and all, but this one is really something else. The prizes are actually extremely good, and you only need to win six matches to take home the grand prize. Only one Fanboy blogger lives in the UK, but fortunately he is awful at Brawl. In fact, he doesn't even own the game. Or pants.

Register for your local tournament at the official website -- it's probably going to fill up fast, so make like a tree and hurry.


[Via press release]

For every story we post about Second Life's various troubles, there's always another story about one company or another arriving late to the SL bandwagon. So, following up our news of Phillip Rosedale's resignation as CEO, we have word that Samsung will be including technology to run Second Life on its line of smartphones.

The technology is being shown off at the CTIA wireless event this week in Las Vegas, and will allow users to access the 3D world of Second Life, as well as communicate with in-game avatars via text and SMS. The application is due to launch on Samsung phones running Softboard software in the second half of this year. Huzzah?

[Via GayGamer]

An adventurous and skillful modder has managed to turn a Wii remote into an Xbox 360 controller with middleware help from the PS2 control scheme -- it's as if all the console makers are working in harmony for this one hack. Try humming this to the tune of "Dem Bones" (actually, don't, because we're not even going to try to fit the rhyme scheme):

• The Xbox 360 is connected to the XFPS PS2 to 360 adapter
• ... which is connected to a big black box Microcontroller "with custom firmware emulating a PS2 controller"
• ... which is connected to a Samsung Q1 PC with custom Wii remote firmware
• ... which is connected via Bluetooth to the Wii remote itself.

Full details of the process can be found here. A video demonstration is embedded after the break that not only shows the control scheme work with Halo 2 but also the thought put into making it a comfortable and viable control scheme (such as anti-acceleration and smoothing algorithms).

[Via Engadget; thanks, Chris]

In case you seek additional help, we've linked additional reading for your research.
IGN.com HDTV Q&A
PS3 Forums HDTV Suggestions
AVS Forum PS3, HDMI and HDTV compatibility

As always, we're curious to learn more about our community and welcome feedback. Which HDTV are you using (or do you plan to use) for all your PS3 pleasures?

In the market for an HDTV? How about making it a Samsung and getting a free PS3 system alongside your new HDTV? While supplies last, popular online retailer Newegg wants to give away a free PS3 system with each purchase of an LCD Samsung 46" 1080p television. The Samsung model seems to be well reviewed by those very same people who purchased the unit, and what better way to watch your Blu-Ray movies than with a brand new "full HD" 1080p television? Don't sit on the fence with this one. You can be guaranteed a deal like this will not last for very long. Free PS3's, people!!!

[Via digg]

Every Saturday, PSP Fanboy will answer your burning questions. If you have a question for the team, send an e-mail to andrew @ pspfanboy.com with the subject "Ask PSP Fanboy." NOTE: We do NOT answer questions related to downloading illegal copies of games. Stop asking.

Q: I heard that the original SHARP-brand LCDs were superior to the Samsung LCDs being used in the current models. Is there any truth to these claims?
A: This is a popular discussion that's hard to follow up on, simply because its not easy to get two PSP systems from the two regions side by side. There's one picture that's used frequently to showcase the difference, but it's considered fake by many. Even people on the AVS Forums have conflicting opinions about the validity of such claims. Sorry for the lack of an answer, but suffice it to say, both screens manufactured for PSP are fantastic.


Two tiny little questions after the break.

Thanks to the always reliable services of machine translation and Powerpoint slides, we're free to speculate on the possible inclusion of Samsung's new -- and, at 1.8", diminutive -- 60GB hard drive making its way into the PSP. Of course, we heard rumors of a 50GB PSP2 nearly two years ago, with rumors of mini PSPs, flash-based PSPs, touch-screen PSPs and, according to PlayStation Magazine, a Samsung flash-based PSP2 since then. Did Samsung let something slip in their slideshow? Perhaps that flash deal led to the creation of this new drive, engineered specifically for this application? There's an awful lot of smoke around this one ...

[Via PSP Fanboy]

Do you see what I see? There seems to be a very familiar looking portable device in that girl's hands. This photo was taken at Samsung's announcement of new portable hard drive tech. The 60GB version of Samsung's 1.8" N-series drives may end up in a future PSP revision, which should be enough to satiate you with days, if not weeks, of music and games and porn.

[Via Engadget]