▲ Samsung Electronics’ high-definition displays integrated with Logitech’s conference cameras, webcams and audio systems enable seamless collaboration for hybrid teams.

With the rise of flexible work environments, organizations require meeting spaces equipped with advanced video conferencing technology to enable seamless collaboration for distributed teams. Businesses can now leverage Samsung’s high-definition displays with Logitech’s conference cameras, webcams and audio systems to achieve crystal-clear video and sound, helping remote and in-person participants feel like they are in the same room. Samsung Interactive Displays also enable teams to connect, share ideas and whiteboard on a single screen. These meeting solutions make every participant feel equally engaged regardless of location.

▲ The Samsung Interactive Display is a powerhouse tool for team collaboration.

“Samsung and Logitech products empower teams to work better together,” said Sukhmani Mohta, Chief Marketing Officer, Display Division, Samsung Electronics America. “With purpose-built solutions that integrate effortlessly into today’s workplaces, we’re helping organizations to reimagine collaboration, spark creativity and achieve greater productivity. We are shaping the future of work by fostering deeper connections and creating fulfilling experiences for teams.”

▲ Samsung and Logitech solutions support dynamic and flexible workspaces for today’s employees.

Traditional workspaces are evolving into more dynamic and flexible environments. “Hot desking,” where employees can choose their workstation for a given day rather than having assigned desks, is supported by Samsung monitors that work seamlessly with Logi Dock Flex. This allows employees to quickly plug into any available desk and start working immediately. This streamlined experience minimizes technical challenges, reduces stress and promotes productivity in an adaptable workplace.

“Our partnership with Samsung is founded on shared values such as drive for innovation and focus on customer needs,” said Sudeep Trivedi, Head of Alliances and Go-to-Market, Logitech. “We collaborate to address challenges and anticipate the evolving needs of almost every industry. We’re eager to continue driving innovation, anticipating and fulfilling the needs of our customers in the years ahead.”

▲ Samsung and Logitech remain committed to building sustainable design into every product and empowering organizations to manage their energy consumption.

Samsung and Logitech also share a mutual commitment to building environmental sustainability into every product. Both companies have created solutions that automatically go into standby mode or turn off when not in use to help reduce energy consumption. Device management systems like Samsung SmartThings Pro offer remote control and monitoring of the performance and environmental impact of connected office technologies. Logitech’s ambitious climate strategy includes Design for Sustainability principles that have resulted in three out of four products using next-life, recycled plastics, 66% of products carbon labeled and 94% of the company’s electricity footprint coming from direct and indirect renewable electricity purchases.

▲ Samsung and Logitech help businesses to minimize technical challenges and promote productivity in adaptable workplaces.

At the Logitech Experience Center in San Jose, California, businesses can view Samsung and Logitech’s joint solutions in a realistic work environment. The collaborative space, which serves as both a fully functioning office for Logitech employees and a showroom for customers, demonstrates how these innovations can unlock new possibilities for modern workplaces.

To learn more about Samsung and Logitech’s immersive, integrated workplace solutions, read the full case study on their collaboration.

Samsung Electronics America at FETC 2016 announced three new education solutions for K-12 schools in addition to the new Samsung Chromebook 3. In partnership with Neverware, McGraw-Hill Education and SMART Technologies, Samsung is helping schools adopt one-to-one learning environments that enable greater collaboration, communication and critical thinking. These solutions will be showcased at the Samsung Booth #735 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando from January 13-15.

“In today’s work environment, collaboration is essential as few tasks are completed alone and technology facilitates teamwork that was previously impossible,” said Ted Brodheim, vice president of Vertical Business at Samsung Electronics America. “Samsung is committed to delivering technology that facilitates this teamwork, helping students create, communicate, challenge and think critically. We’re helping schools deploy one-to-one digital learning solutions that drive collaboration and encourage creative problem solving to help students succeed.”

Converting Classrooms to Chromebooks

Schools are rapidly adopting Chromebooks for its easy-to-manage cloud-based infrastructure where 2.2 million Samsung Chromebooks have been shipped into education.* Understanding that many schools must take a phased approach to Chromebook conversion due to budget and resource constraints, Samsung has partnered with Neverware to help schools leverage existing hardware during the transition. Neverware’s CloudReady OS conversion software provides a cost-effective and efficient pathway to one-to-one adoption. With one easy installation, computers running CloudReady can be used in the classroom alongside Samsung Chromebooks and managed under a single Google Device Management Console. Licenses are perpetual and included in the cost of the bundle. The bundled solution includes:

• 100 Samsung Chromebook 3 devices
• 100 CloudReady licenses for existing computers
• 200 Google Device Management Console licenses (100 for Chromebooks and 100 for CloudReady machines)
• Tech support

Expanded Classroom in a Box One-to-One Learning Solution

Classroom in a Box is a fully-integrated learning solution for schools looking to jump start one-to-one digital learning in their classrooms. Now compatible with the Samsung Chromebook 3, the solution includes:

• 30 Samsung Chromebook 3 devices
• McGraw-Hill Education English Language Arts Classroom in a Box
  – 30 One year subscriptions to Thrive Powered by Time to Know ELA
  – 30 Three-month trial subscriptions to Reading Labs 2.0

OR

• McGraw-Hill Education Math Classroom in a Box
  – 30 One year subscriptions to Thrive Powered by Time to Know Math
  – 30 Three-month trial subscription to ALEKS®
• McGraw-Hill Education Comprehensive Professional Development
• 30 Google Device Management Console licenses
• Samsung deployment call

SMART amp with the new Samsung Chromebook 3

Alongside SMART Technologies, Samsung will offer a bundle that includes the SMART amp enabled Samsung Chromebook 3 and online professional development to foster student collaboration, while giving teachers real-time insight into the learning process. SMART amp is purpose-built for education, cloud-based software offering that lets students co-create content on a digital canvas to enable anywhere, anytime collaboration. In addition, teachers are able to draw from the SMART Exchange online community and thousands of existing SMART amp-compatible resources, which is especially value when short on time or in need of new lessons. The new SMART for Samsung bundle includes:

• 10 Samsung Chromebook 3 devices
• 60 SMART amp licenses with one-year activation and opportunity to extend licenses beyond the first year
• Access to a 10-module SMART professional development unit for one educator per bundle
• 10 Google Device Management Console licenses

“The SMART amp enabled Samsung Chromebook 3 bundle is a type of instructional technology that provides teachers with the support they need to encourage student participation, exploration and collaborative problem solving,” said Greg Estell, SMART president, Education at SMART Technologies. “By combining the advanced technology of the Chromebook 3 with the feature-rich SMART amp collaborative learning software, teachers are provided with a powerful and affordable tool to enhance the learning experience, inspiring students to communicate and work with their peers.”

All three solutions will be available for purchase starting in February and will be showcased at the Samsung booth at FETC this week alongside Samsung’s full line up of education products and solutions including Interactive Whiteboards, Samsung’s Printing Solutions and Samsung’s WLAN Solution. More information on Samsung’s full technology portfolio for education is available at www.samsung.com/education.

Additional Resources:

• Press Release: Samsung Expands Popular Chromebook Line As Demand Continues to Grow
• Website: http://samsung.com/education
• Blog: http://samsungbusinessblog.com
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamsungEDU
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/samsung-in-education
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/SamsungBizUSA
• Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/SamsungBusinessUSA

* IDC PC Quarterly Tracker (Q3, 2015).

Samsung Electronics has for years been at the forefront of the television industry thanks to constantly pushing the edges of innovation and design. Today’s SUHD and UHD TVs are clearer, brighter and bigger than ever, in a form that’s incredibly thin.

But, at the same time, Samsung has never been afraid of shaking things up and dramatically rethinking everything about its TVs, especially when it finds the right partners. Enter the renowned French designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, who have teamed up with Samsung to create Serif TV, a radically different approach to the user experience of TV.

Launching at the London Design Festival (Sept. 21-27), Serif TV is defined by its I-shaped frame—a serif font “I”, of course. Wider in the top and bottom, the unique shape gives the TV solidity, turning into furniture that is a part of the room, rather than disappearing into the walls. This is a TV that can sit on a flat surface, and that can hold vases, books, or other decorative objects on top. The TV even has attachable legs, allowing it to sit comfortably and prominently within the home.

It’s been three years since Samsung approached the Bouroullec brothers about working together on televisions. It was the brothers’ first foray into electronics, and over that period, many concepts were tried out and models built, until they at last came up with Serif TV. “From the outset of designing Serif TV our aim was to craft an object that fused technology with our knowledge in furniture design and to create a solid presence that would sit naturally in any environment,” said Erwan.

Not only has the frame been drastically redesigned, but the back is very different, too. Now a woven fabric panel covers the back of the TV, concealing the connectors and wires.

Ronan and Erwan didn’t just redesign the outside of the TV; they even redesigned the user interface, coming up with an abstract but enticing setting called “Curtain mode.” Curtain mode takes whatever is being shown on the screen and blurs it, transforming it into shimmering abstract shapes like a digital curtain.

In addition, they created a new remote control device that also reflected their design approach.

“In every aspect Serif TV could only come into existence by artisan spirit and the project has been truly meeting of passions between Samsung and the Bouroullec’s,” said Yun-Je Kang, head of the design team in Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics.

Although the Bouroullecs are more known for designing furniture, lifestyle accessory and art installations, Serif TV appears to have made a big splash in the design world. Fast Company’s popular website Co.Design called it a “design masterpiece” and “the most beautiful TV ever.”

The Serif TV is scheduled to go on sale in the United Kingdom, France, Sweden and Denmark beginning November 2, 2015. It will be available in three sizes (40-inches, 32-inches and 24-inches) and in three colors (ivory white, dark blue and red).

Samsung has teamed up with great designers before to come up with cutting edge and unusual concepts in TV. It partnered with Giorgio Armani in 2008 for the Armani/Samsung LCD TV, then with artist Yves Béhar in 2009 for the abstract, high-tech installation “Anima Terra” at the Art Institute of Chicago, and again with Yves Béhar earlier this year for an 82-inch, extra-wide-screen curved SUHD TV.

The Avengers are remarkably well-equipped when it comes to communications devices, including high-tech watches, Bluetooth ear pieces, and a smart device that was used by Tony Stark. All of these products were created in close collaboration between the film producers and Samsung’s Top Secret Hero Testing Lab, otherwise known as the design team at Samsung Electronics. Their challenge was to come up with devices that effectively reflected the dynamic and futuristic theme of the movie, while also being convincing and credible as advanced communication links that superheroes would use even during a tense battle.

The Tony Stark device consists of a frame that holds a clear, see-through display, which can be removed and used on its own. The frame and its clear display work like any normal smart device, although it also has the ability to upload holographic images, detect motion and transfer large amounts of data. In addition, a fingerprint sensor on the bottom right of the clear display provides extra security and only the highest-ranking employees working for Stark Industries can access the device.

The watches worn by the rest of the crew (Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow and sometimes Bruce Banner) are interactive devices that allow team members to contact each other easily thanks to their flexible display edge. Selecting the icon of each member will enable instant video communication anywhere in the world. Each watch has sensors that monitor the wearers’ heart rate, body temperature and mental state in real time. With voice command capabilities, they can also relay battle tactics to help each other fight off killer android clones. The Avengers’ Bluetooth devices automatically activate when an incoming call is answered and place an earpiece in the users’ ears.

These devices were developed as prototypes for the movie, worn by the actors while filming and then later touched up with CGI by Marvel Studios.

Design Progress

From the outset, the designers at Samsung’s Top Secret Hero Testing Lab wanted to showcase the full potential of the company’s technologically advanced digital devices without distracting from the characters in the movie. To achieve this, Samsung had to create a unified theme in terms of design, color and materials. Meteorites were first identified as a motif for the ‘Metal of Power’ concept and were applied to the design of the devices. During the brainstorming for the design, Samsung also selected “Arc” as an additional keyword. Not only was it appropriate in conveying the flexible screen or the curved line of the Samsung Galaxy S6 devices, but it was also a reference to the Arc Reactor technology that sustains Tony Stark’s heart in the movie.

The Tony Stark device uses a high density laminated glass for maximum resolution and transparency. Since both the Avengers watches and Bluetooth devices are wearable devices, they were made from titanium, metal known for being lightweight yet highly durable. Tony Stark’s device, however, is flexible with a screen that makes it possible to communicate quickly and easily with other team members. All three devices have bended glass incorporated into the design, and a user interface that makes the best use of this design breakthrough. To emphasize the curved screen technology (similar to the Galaxy S6 edge), other elements were reduced to a minimum on all three devices.

Of course, you may assume that all this is hypothetical, matching the fiction of a superhero movie. However, these devices are much closer to reality than you may think; the technologies shown in the Avengers movie are already being developed and refined by Samsung. The transparent screen on the Tony Stark Device, for example, is a technology that’s already proven and available. We only need to develop the frame a bit further, and work on making the device more hardwearing before bringing it to market.

The Value of Collaboration

This collaboration with Marvel Studios presented a unique opportunity to introduce Samsung’s products to a younger audience in a truly special setting. Instead of simply creating movie props and leaving it at that, we are reaching out to our audiences to show them our technological and design innovations.

There is little that is more enthralling than having an opportunity to imagine the future. For the designers and engineers at Samsung, the question of how users will interact with their devices in the future is, of course, of utmost importance. However, hypothetical scenarios and creative ideas without any real world applicability are not very useful.

That’s why the design of the Avengers themed devices is based on actual technology platforms, with just a few minor details added to make them fit the context of both the movie and real life situations. This is how Samsung imagines the future. This is how Samsung combines cutting-edge product performance with functions, solutions and ideas that bring imagination to life.

Samsung’s collaboration with Marvel Studios has given the company a unique opportunity to create designs for the future. As the legendary folk singer Bob Dylan so eloquently put it, “the true hero understands the responsibility that comes along with the freedom to dream.”

Visit design.samsung.com to read more Samsung Electronics design stories.