Merriam Webster Dictionary defines convergence as “…the coming together of two or more things at the same point”.
In the realm of information technology (IT), convergence has long fascinated me. I’ve always been a fan of gadgets that work together seamlessly. I always hoped for the day when my TV, computer monitor and printer became more than just standalone appliances. And at the Samsung Convergence event, I was seeing it happen.
First reason I got excited about the event was the fact that I now own two Samsung phones (totally unplanned, mind you). I wanted to see how Samsung had designed their convergence line to make it easier and more convenient for a Samsung mobile phone owner like me.
Samsung’s convergence line consists of the following:
1. Smart Station Monitor – is the hub that can connect multiple devices to your notebook. A single USB connection can dock your notebook to your 24″ full HD monitor, keyboard, mouse, external hard disk or printer. I saw a demo where the smartphone, a Galaxy Note, was docked so that its screen display was also shown on the Smart Station Monitor, allowing you to have a greater gaming experience or viewing pleasure on a bigger screen. While docked, the keyboard and mouse can also be used to control the phone. The demo showed how you could type an SMS message on the keyboard and it would display on the mobile phone as you typed.
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24″ (1920×1080) Full HD Monitor with Wide Viewing angle LED Display
Comes with USB 3.0 x 2 and USB 2.0 x 1 ports, HDMI, MHL connectivity
Price: PhP 16,990 |
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| What you see on smartphone, you see on big monitor display |
2. Wireless printers – Samsung’s wireless printers allow the printing of any document via WIFI even without a router. A direct connection is established with the printer to print wirelessly. Now, the Samsung Mobile Print App has extended functionality so it does not just print wireless, it scans wirelessly as well! With my Android phones, I can now scan, save and print stuff on my phone.
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| A command to print is issued from smartphone |
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| Remote printer executes print command |
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| Tada!!! Here’s the document after it’s printed wirelessly |
The 3 models being offered by Samsung are: The ML-2165W (PhP 4,990), a 20PPM single function monochrome laser printer; the SCX-3405W (PhP 6,990), a multi-function monochrome laser printer that scans and copies; and the SCX-3405FW (PhP 8,990), similar to the SCX-3405W but also has capability to send fax.
3. The Series 5 Ultrabooks – Samsung has equipped this line with the latest 3rd generation Intel Ivy Bridge CPUs. They’ve also upped SSD storage to 24GB together with either 500GB or 1TB hard disc drives. These ultrabooks come in 3 variants: the i3 for PhP 38,900; the i5 at PhP 42,900 and the i7 at PhP 54,900.
Budget-conscious people will be happy to know that Samsung also has the Series 5 Slim which runs on AMD’s Low Voltage A6 CPUs with 7660G Discrete Class Graphics (very little lag for videos and gaming) and 500GB hard disc drive. It comes in pop pink and mocha brown and retails only for PhP 29,900.
5. Samsung Series 9 15″ Notebook – Samsung claims it’s the world’s thinnest 15″ notebook (14.9mm thick, 1.58kg weight). I have to see how this looks beside a Macbook Air! It comes with an Intel core i7 processor, 8GB memory, 256GB SSD, runs Windows 7 Professional and has a 400nit HD+ Superbright Plus Screen (you can use this in broad daylight and still be able to read well). It also cold boots in 10 seconds. It retails at PhP 76,900.
My current printer, which still works but definitely has seen better times, is showing sure signs of age. So I have been looking around for a possible replacement. From what I saw at the Samsung Convergence event, the Samsung wireless printer seems like a tempting deal because at least I know it would work with my Samsung phones.
