HARMAN International, a global leader in automotive technology and lifestyle audio, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) business of ZF Group, comprising leading automotive compute solutions, smart cameras, radars and ADAS software functions. The transaction is valued at €1.5 billion.

A Strategic Step toward an Integrated, Centralized Vehicle Architecture

HARMAN’s “Consumer Experiences. Automotive Grade.” strategy focuses on bringing the speed, intelligence and intuitive experiences consumers expect from leading technology brands into vehicles, while also meeting the highest standards for automotive safety, reliability and long-term platform support. As automakers accelerate toward software-defined vehicles (SDV), this approach enables experiences that seamlessly connect safety and assisted driving functions with comfort, connectivity and in-vehicle intelligence. With this acquisition, HARMAN has secured strategic inroads in the ADAS and central compute platforms markets, reinforcing a foundation that anchors and advances its role in the fast-growing SDV market.

By integrating ZF’s ADAS capabilities with HARMAN’s flagship Digital Cockpit offerings within a centralized compute design, the acquisition bolsters HARMAN’s roadmap for next-generation vehicle architectures. The combination creates a foundation for future central compute solutions that bring assisted and automated driving solutions, safety and user experiences on a shared platform. This approach streamlines system design, reduces integration complexity and supports more efficient innovation cycles, allowing HARMAN to enable OEMs to scale differentiated, context-aware vehicle experiences.

“The industry is at an inflection point where safety, intelligence and in-cabin experience must come together through a unified computing architecture,” said Christian Sobottka, Chief Executive Officer and President, Automotive Division, HARMAN. “With this agreement, we take a strategic step to expand our portfolio with complementary ADAS capabilities that unlock a new class of cross-domain experiences ranging from perception-informed audio cues to more personalized, situation-aware driving. Combined with HARMAN’s long-standing automotive expertise and supported by Samsung’s broader technology leadership, this positions us to help OEMs design the next generation of intelligent, empathetic and connected vehicles.”

“With HARMAN, we have found the ideal partner to fully unlock the growth and innovation potential of our ADAS business,” said Mathias Miedreich, CEO of ZF Group. “At the same time, this deal makes an important contribution to reducing our company’s debt and allows us to focus our resources on the core technologies in which ZF is a global leader.”

“Samsung has a successful record of strategic acquisitions that accelerate innovation and expand what’s possible for our customers,” said Young Sohn, Chairman of the Board of Directors, HARMAN and Senior Advisor, Samsung Electronics. “Since acquiring HARMAN in 2017, the company has scaled its automotive and audio business from $7 billion to more than $11 billion today. Adding ZF’s ADAS capabilities builds on that momentum. HARMAN will further expand its technology foundation to deliver safer, more intelligent and more intuitive in-vehicle experiences. This acquisition reinforces HARMAN’s leadership in the industry’s transformation and underscores Samsung’s long-term commitment to the future of mobility.”

“This transaction marks a major milestone in the execution of HARMAN’s long-term strategy and further strengthens our portfolio,” said Carolin Reichert, Chief Strategy Officer of HARMAN. “Throughout the process, we worked in a very constructive collaboration with ZF and demonstrated our ability to successfully execute a highly complex carve-out.”

As part of the agreement, approximately 3,750 ZF employees across Europe, the Americas and Asia are expected to transition to HARMAN upon closing of the transaction. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to receiving necessary regulatory approvals.

Upon closing, HARMAN will integrate ZF’s ADAS capabilities into its centralized compute and digital cockpit roadmap, enabling OEMs to deploy more scalable, safety-integrated vehicle architectures. The companies will maintain strong support for existing programs while aligning engineering, ADAS and compute teams to accelerate innovation for next-generation platforms.

About HARMAN

HARMAN is a global leader in Lifestyle Audio and Automotive technology. We create intelligent experiences that enrich people’s lives on the road, in their homes, on the stage and everywhere in between. Our iconic audio brands — including JBL®, Harman Kardon®, AKG®, Bowers & Wilkins®, Denon® and Marantz® — bring premium sound to consumers and audio/visual professionals worldwide. More than 50 million vehicles globally rely on HARMAN’s technologies to deliver safer, smarter and more intuitive in-cabin experiences. A wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, HARMAN has approximately 26,000 employees around the world.

About ZF

ZF is a global technology company supplying advanced mobility products and systems for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and industrial technology. Its comprehensive product range is primarily aimed at vehicle manufacturers, mobility providers and start-up companies in the fields of transportation and mobility. ZF electrifies a wide range of vehicle types. With its products, the company contributes to reducing emissions, protecting the climate as well as enhancing safe mobility. Alongside the automotive sector — passenger cars and commercial vehicles — ZF also serves market segments such as construction and agricultural machinery, wind power, marine propulsion, rail drives and test systems. With some 161,600 employees worldwide, ZF reported sales of €41.4 billion in fiscal 2024. The company operates 161 production locations in 30 countries.

On January 7, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2025 opened in Las Vegas — bringing together the latest technological innovations from around the world. Expanding on its “AI for All” vision, Samsung Electronics captivated visitors by highlighting the boundless potential of smart homes and presenting reimagined approaches to modern living and beyond.

Samsung Newsroom explored the forward-looking AI innovations and next-generation lifestyle on display at Samsung’s booth.

▲ Samsung’s booth at CES 2025

Vision Highlight: Unlocking Infinite Possibilities

▲ The Vision Highlight zone

Upon entering Samsung’s booth, the Vision Highlight zone immediately stood out with its pastel-colored, futuristic design. This visually dynamic space showcased a vast array of Samsung devices and SmartThings-compatible partner products — a microcosm of Samsung’s integrated and expansive AI ecosystem.

Through various displays, visitors witnessed how IoT devices can connect and operate in a safe environment secured by Samsung Knox. Graphics and videos projected on curved walls highlighted the expansive applications of SmartThings, from industrial and transportation sectors to enhanced wellness services through Samsung Health.

SmartThings Excellence: The Heart of the Connected Home

▲ The SmartThings Excellence zone

Next to the Vision Highlight zone, the SmartThings Excellence zone emphasized the smart home technology’s four core pillars of Security, Ease of Use, Saving and Care. The space conveyed Samsung’s vision for enhancing everyday experiences and depicted how advancements in AI technology elevate quality of life.

Samsung Knox: Improving Smart Home Protection

▲ The Security section

The Security section illustrated the company’s commitment to robust data protection through striking displays, videos and wall graphics. Samsung Knox Matrix unifies the security of connected devices to prevent data leaks, whereas Samsung Knox Vault safeguards sensitive information by separately storing data.

▲ Nicholas Cai learns about the advanced features of Samsung Knox Vault.

“As AI advances, I was concerned about security risks — particularly with device cameras and potential data breaches,” said Nicholas Cai, an attendee from New York. “However, Samsung’s Knox innovations have given me greater confidence.”

Calm Onboarding: A Smoother Way To Integrate Devices

▲ Videos demonstrate the convenience of features like Calm Onboarding.

Calm Onboarding simplifies the setup process for smart devices from purchase and delivery to configuration and installation — eliminating complex procedures and revolutionizing the user experience.

Visitors were guided through the process of purchasing and connecting devices, offering a hands-on look at SmartThings’ intuitive and user-friendly connectivity.

Quick Remote: Device Management Made Easy

▲ Visitors experience Quick Remote’s functions on a large touchscreen.

Quick Remote transforms a user’s smartphone into a powerful, all-in-one remote control centralizing household device management. By consolidating control of major home appliances such as TVs, air conditioners and air purifiers into a single app, Quick Remote removes the need for multiple remotes and offers a more unified user experience.

Map View: Reimagining Spaces With Precision

▲ Visitors discover how to personalize their spaces with Map View.

Map View, an AI-powered smart home management platform, offers a range of intuitive tools for arranging furniture and designing spaces. At Samsung’s booth, visitors explored its capabilities by applying different decorative themes and converting photos of furniture into 3D models using generative AI technology.

▲ Visitors experiment with personalized designs using Map View, featuring the Ashley Home Furniture collection.

HARMAN: A New Era of Connected Mobility

▲ The HARMAN zone

HARMAN, a Samsung subsidiary, presented a range of innovative services designed to provide more personalized and safer in-vehicle experiences. Key features simulated through video demonstrations included HARMAN Ready Care, a solution that detects driver distractions to keep drivers focused on the roads, and HARMAN Ready Display, an advanced screen technology that enriches the user experience.

▲ Stacy Fuentes explores in-vehicle connectivity features in the HARMAN zone.

“The HARMAN demonstration really stood out to me, especially the user-friendly display and the comprehensive connectivity features,” said Stacy Fuentes, an attendee from Mexico.

Through its CES booth, Samsung unveiled a bold new vision for the future that integrates smart home technology, AI and security by underscoring how technological progress is moving beyond mere convenience to prioritize user safety and well-being. With its commitment to innovation and a user-centric approach, Samsung continues to shape a smarter, more connected world — paving the way for the next transformative leap in modern living.

▲ Examples of Home-to-Car and Car-to Home services to be developed

Samsung Electronics today announced a collaboration with Hyundai Motor Group to expand its SmartThings platform to support connected cars, including electric vehicles (EVs). The announcement came after the companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on January 3 to develop solutions for future lifestyles that fully integrate the smart home and connected cars.

The two companies will work together for the next-generation smart home to connect Samsung’s SmartThings with Hyundai and Kia’s connected cars, including EVs, to develop the “Home-to-Car” and “Car-to-Home” services as well as an integrated home energy management service.

The Home-to-Car and Car-to-Home services connect the smart home with in-vehicle infotainment systems, allowing for remote control in both directions. Through the SmartThings platform, users will be able to perform a variety of actions pertaining to their cars while at home — starting them, controlling smart air conditioning, opening and closing windows and checking their charging status. And from cars, the control of home appliances such as TVs, air conditioners and EV chargers will also be possible.

“This collaboration will enable communication from Home-to-Car and integrated home energy management services that are optimized for future lifestyles,” said Chanwoo Park, Executive Vice President at Samsung Electronics. “By connecting the SmartThings platform with vehicles, we’ll be able to significantly enhance the customer experience in both the home and the car.”

Users will be able to adjust their environments with SmartThings by simultaneously operating multiple devices — including vehicles — through routines such as “good morning routine” and “arriving home routine.” For example, when a Galaxy smartphone’s morning alarm goes off, the curtains will automatically open, and the lights and television will turn on. When users are ready to go out for work, the user’s car will adjust itself to an ideal temperature. Also, the smartphone and TV screens will display information such as the EV’s remaining battery and driving range.

“This is an opportunity to make the connected car’s Car-to-Home and Home-to-Car services more convenient in various fields,” said Haeyoung Kwon, Vice President of Hyundai and Kia’s Infotainment Development Center. “We plan to accelerate our technology development to continuously make global Hyundai and Kia customers’ journeys meaningful.”

The integrated home energy management service will allow users to monitor how much energy is consumed by the connected devices in their homes. Energy information of their EVs and chargers will also be available, enabling users to adjust the optimal time for charging their vehicles. EVs connected to the integrated home energy management service offer the possibility of automatically setting the optimal time for charging by factoring in different pricing by time of day,¹ the power demand response (DR) program,² photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage system (ESS) data,³ and time-specific carbon emissions.⁴

▲ Examples of Home-to-Car and Car-to Home services to be developed

To further strengthen Car-to-Home services, Samsung is working closely with HARMAN, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics. HARMAN’s “Ready Upgrade” is a digital cockpit package product that allows hardware and software upgrades. With Ready Upgrade, users will be able to install SmartThings functions to utilize various Car-to-Home services.

¹ Higher rates are applied depending on the season and time of day.
² Incentives are provided to participating households to reduce energy consumption in response to the DR signal during peak hours, when power usage is concentrated.
³ Monitoring of electrical energy production/consumption/storage through PV/ESS.
⁴ Carbon emissions and reductions are monitored through information regarding the amount of carbon emitted when consuming 1KWh of electricity.

HARMAN, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, focused on connected technologies for automotive, consumer, and enterprise markets, today announced the acquisition of Roon, the music management, discovery, and streaming platform for music enthusiasts.

Roon is a music player platform for music enthusiasts, which features a rich interface for browsing and discovering music, compatibility with almost any audio device, and a playback engine designed to deliver the best possible sound. Roon is available for all popular operating systems and manufactures a line of hardware server appliances called Nucleus.

“At HARMAN we take great pride in our ability to create exceptional audio experiences for our partners and consumers around the world,” said Dave Rogers, President, Lifestyle Division, HARMAN. “The team at Roon shares our passion in bringing exceptional sound and connectivity to music lovers as they browse, discover, and listen at home and on the go. We are looking forward to welcoming Roon, whose impressive talent will join the HARMAN family and bolster our already robust engineering capabilities.”

Roon will operate as a standalone Harman business with its existing team. All Roon operations will stay in place and continue to be dedicated to serving and growing Roon’s community of device partners and customers, under a joint mission to deliver engaging and personalized audio experiences across a universe of products and platforms.

Aligned with its ‘work with all’ strategy, HARMAN is committed to growing Roon’s open device ecosystem which includes collaborating with more than 160 other audio brands, delivering audio to more than 1000 high-performance devices. Roon’s dedication to its loyal community and its exceptional UI/UX design expertise will continue to expand and flourish with the acquisition.

“Our team is ecstatic to join HARMAN, a visionary company that has been leading the audio industry forward for decades,” said Enno Vandermeer, CEO of Roon. “By combining forces with HARMAN, Roon gains the incredible scale, resources, and reach of a global technology leader, while maintaining our independence to invest in the business’s growth and future. We look forward to continuing to bring our advanced data management, SaaS expertise, and consumer engagement capabilities to our broad ecosystem of partners, as we join forces with HARMAN to deliver even greater audio experiences to our customers.”

At CES^® 2023, Samsung Electronics is introducing its latest in-vehicle innovation developed jointly with HARMAN: Ready Care. This solution connects the driver’s personal experiences and the driving environment are more organically, wherein the vehicle is able to activate tailored interventions via in-car features according to changes in the driver. Also on the show is Ready Tune, HARMAN’s new car audio technology built with the company’s premium audio performance.

Samsung Newsroom is inviting you to take a tour of the company’s booth at CES to explore how the new In-Cabin eXperience (ICX) is going beyond merely just transportation and is expanding into the lifestyle arena.

Creating the Optimal Driving Environment That Puts the User First

One of the major variables that can determine the driving environment, no matter the trip, is the driver’s condition. Whether you’re distracted by making a mental to-do list for the chores that evening or simply exhausted from a long day’s work, cognitive distraction and drowsiness while driving are directly linked to safety. This is why Samsung’s latest solutions, which determine the condition of the driver and then activate car features correspondingly, have been designed to create a safer automotive environment.

Ready Care is an innovative solution that enables a vehicle to directly recognize the physical and emotional condition of its driver and amend car functionality accordingly thanks to such key features as its Cognitive Load measurement technology and Stress-free Routing.

Detecting and Resolving Driver Cognitive Distraction Through Machine Learning

Ready Care’s Cognitive Load measurement feature detects the driver’s condition through their facial expression, the gaze of their eyes, the way their eyelids open and more thanks to newly-developed machine learning technology. The subsequent key functionality of this solution is that, once the driver’s condition has been comprehensively assessed, features and steps customized to the situation can be applied.

This feature tracks the field of view and cognitive ability of the driver in real-time via in-car cameras and sensors. For example, say a driver has their eyes on the road but in actuality is deep in thought about some key presentation at work, the car’s internal environment will subsequently change in order to bring the driver’s attention back to driving through an alert as well as through changes to the audio volume, lighting and A/C.

Providing A More Comfortable Way Home With Stress-free Routing

In order to provide a stressed driver with the most peaceful way home, the Stress-free Routing feature harnesses the driver’s wearable device to detect their heart rate and, if necessary, will provide alternative routes if the current one being followed includes such stressful scenarios as traffic jams and weather-related issues.

What’s more, thanks to SmartThings connectivity between a driver’s car and their home, the driver can make sure their arrival is as pleasant as possible by remotely setting their devices to Relaxing mode — managing their TV, air purifier, lighting and more. Such inter-connectivity unites the user’s automotive experience with their home life, taking the stress out of the daily commute and allowing the driver to relax, knowing that their home is ready and waiting for them.

Upgrade Your Audio System at the Touch of a Button With Ready Tune

Samsung’s presentation at CES 2023 also features a dedicated booth showcasing HARMAN’s new car audio technology, Ready Tune, which utilizes proprietary acoustic technologies to upgrade base level audio systems for enhanced branded listening experiences at the touch of a button.

Ready Tune enables users to customize immersive, differentiated sound experiences according to their preferences and features Live Mode, which replicates the acoustics of live stadium performances; Talk Mode, which enhances spoken content, such as podcasts, audiobooks and phone conversations, through customized filters; and Club Mode, which provides crisp bass experiences beyond traditional speaker capabilities.

Consumers are growing ever more expectant that their experiences within their cars rival those that they have with their mobile and other IT devices. In order to provide such experiences, Samsung and HARMAN are working hard to develop automotive electronics technologies that provide differentiated ICX experiences to users.

Following their presentation at CES, Samsung plans to focus on continuing to develop technologies that make their users’ lives even more convenient by organically connecting their in-car experiences with their at-home and daily lifestyle ones. HARMAN is similarly set on solidifying its presence within the automotive electronic solution market through the digital cockpit, the key to providing such convenient services.

To learn more about the future-forward ICX being introduced at this year’s CES, take a look at the video below.

Enhancing Experiences With Next-Level Big Screen Technologies

Positioned 122 feet above the playing field, the 70,000 square-foot oval display features approximately 80 million pixels to enhance the in-stadium fan experience. Teams on the sidelines and fans in the crowd alike are able to watch 4K instant replays, up-close game action, game stats, interactive updates and more.

Samsung’s advanced technology is bolstered by the largest graphics control system in the history of sports. Each LED panel can be uniquely or congruently programmed with statistics, live and animated content — and its unique size and shape make it wider than the field of play.

Delivering the best viewing angles for fans was one of Samsung’s highest priorities. By using the measurements from architectural drawings of the stadium and simulating viewing angles on a test screen, Samsung designed the Infinity Screen to ensure that every seat in the stadium offers a great view of the videoboard. The display is also equipped with a state-of-the-art audio system with more than 260 individual JBL by Harman speakers embedded into its frame — equal to 1,500 home theater systems.

Immersive Entertainment for Every Fan

To offer fans and guests a consistently dynamic experience, Samsung also outfitted the stadium with other innovative solutions, including more than 2,600 large format displays, ribbon boards – long, thin LED screens mounted on the face of balconies — and audio equipment. No matter where fans are in the stadium, they won’t miss the action on or off the field.

Every large format display at SoFi Stadium utilizes HDR10+, making the picture quality life-like and full of vibrant colors, sharper contrasts and crisper details. The same can be said for any fan who watches the game directly from a Samsung TV or compatible device at home. Thanks to HDR10+ technology, viewers can also enjoy the big game from the comfort of their couch, while still feeling that they’re at the stadium itself.

Samsung is the official display, mobile and TV partner of Hollywood Park, a near 300-acre sports and entertainment destination and home to SoFi Stadium.  

The video below introduces viewers to Samsung’s booth at CES 2022. At the booth, the company showcases a scenario in which information on road conditions and other factors is presented to the driver of a vehicle in real time.

In the scenario, the vehicle uses cameras and sensors to analyze its surroundings, then harnesses augmented reality to present road conditions and other information to the driver within their field of view. The driver is then able to make use of that overlaid information to ensure they enjoy a drive that is both convenient and safe.

In the enactment, the driver not only gets details on the vehicle’s speed and status, but is also provided with an arrow-based navigation service, forward collision warning icons and blind spot alerts when switching lanes. Directions, icons and insights are projected directly onto the road, as well as onto surrounding vehicles and lanes, to allow the driver to clearly and conveniently view the important information.

The vehicle in the scenario also analyzes information on the surrounding area and connects to a range of services to make the driving experience both straightforward and enjoyable. For example, if passengers want to grab a coffee, the vehicle utilizes map information and AR to inform them of where there are cafés nearby. The passenger is then given the option to navigate through the menu and place their order from the comfort of their car. The vehicle in the enactment also adds a realistic element to virtual calls by allowing users to manage their meetings with AR.

Check out the video below to learn more about what the future of in-vehicle experiences holds.

Amid this climate, HARMAN, a Samsung company, is raising the bar for car audio, ensuring that the evolving living space that is the vehicle is equipped with the very best in sound and the sonic features that create a better in-car experience, readying it to serve as a platform for whatever users may demand of it.

The Shifting Nature of Car Audio

As the aforementioned changes take shape, our cars are set to become our secondary personal spaces alongside our homes. Thus, our vehicles will need to be sufficiently capable to begin to offer similar levels of accessibility and convenience as our homes offer now. And as users increasingly look to turn their cars into virtual meeting spaces, or utilize them as their own personal studios or hubs for recreation, high-quality car audio stands to play a fundamental role.

Harman Kardon for the Volkswagen Arteon R-Line (Photograph provided by Volkswagen)

The Industry Gets Behind HARMAN

As HARMAN branded audio solutions increasingly emerge as a top-tier solution for the industry, more and more auto companies are going all-in on the Samsung company’s audio tech.

A recent example is HARMAN’s new and growing partnership with Volkswagen through its Harman Kardon audio brand. After Harman Kardon premium audio was introduced to Volkswagen vehicles for the first time in the new Volkswagen Golf, its audio solutions are expanding to the Volkswagen Arteon and Volkswagen Arteon Shooting Brake models. Delivering a captivating mix of premium sound and artful design, Harman Kardon brings 12 high-performance loudspeakers and four different sound settings to these new Volkswagen vehicles, resulting in a consistently clear and exceptionally natural listening experience.

Harman Kardon for the Volkswagen Arteon Shooting Brake Elegance (Photograph provided by Volkswagen)

Since 2016 HARMAN’s B&O premium car audio offerings have been incorporated across the Ford lineup, including Mustang Mach-E all-electric SUV announced at the end of last year. In 2021, HARMAN’s first ever two-tier offering – the B&O Sound System and the B&O Unleashed Sound System – will be included in the new Ford F-150. Bringing never-before-seen features to the F-150, the B&O Unleashed Sound System offers innovative headrest and headliner speakers for transformative car audio experiences.

B&O Unleashed for the Ford F-150 (Photograph provided by Ford)

2020 also saw HARMAN brand AKG named as the exclusive audio system for the 2021 Cadillac Escalade. Sought after for its high-quality microphones and headphones that are used by leading musicians in recording studios and performance venues, AKG’s partnership with Cadillac will see its pure, powerful studio sound realized in a vehicle for the first time. AKG has provided Cadillac with a completely overhauled in-car audio experience through two levels of AKG Audio, the top level being the AKG Studio Reference system, which delivers 28 channels through 36 speakers that are powered by three amplifiers in the vehicle.

AKG for the GM Cadillac Escalade (Photograph provided by Cadillac)

Since that historic reveal, the AKG and Cadillac partnership has grown to include the first-ever all-electric vehicle from Cadillac – the recently announced Cadillac LYRIQ luxury crossover. At launch, LYRIQ will offer a 19-speaker AKG Studio audio system that transports passengers with signature AKG sound to enjoy their favorite music.

Going Beyond Sound Systems

But the part that audio plays in the driving experience is shifting in other ways too, and the car audio of today comprises more than just good-sounding music. In the era of electric and hybrid cars that run almost silently due to the lack of a traditional combustion engine, a need has emerged for these vehicles to produce their own synthesized sounds to ensure that they remain safe to those in their vicinity, particularly pedestrians. As a result, in 2019 the EU mandated that all newly produced hybrid and electric cars needed to make a sound while traveling under a certain speed,¹ while the US NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) is set to implement similar rules in 2020. As the industry looks to strike a balance between energy sustainability and safety, HARMAN is providing its HALOsonic suite of sound management solutions to create new sounds for hybrid and electric vehicles.

Another way that HARMAN is facilitating the broader development of car audio is by seeking to address the issue of peripheral noise. Based on HARMAN’s innovative HALOsonic noise management technology, Hyundai Motor Company and HARMAN released the world’s first active road noise cancellation system for a production vehicle on January 15 in Korea with the launch of the Genesis GV80 SUV. The Road-Noise Active Noise Control (RANC) solution reduces unwanted road noise by emitting soundwaves with an inverted frequency to that of the incoming noises. The Genesis GV80 also features an 18-speaker Lexicon Premium Sound System and QuantumLogic Surround (QLS), an authentic multi-dimensional surround sound technology, to inject unparalleled sonic excellence into the Genesis driving experience.

Lexicon for the Genesis GV80 (Photograph provided by Genesis)

Blazing the Trail

But HARMAN’s work with prominent car brands isn’t the only demonstration of its industry leadership. Recently HARMAN brands have received a number of awards from iF Design – one of the world’s largest and most highly acclaimed design competitions. In addition to 20 award wins for consumer products, HARMAN brands also took home five awards for car audio design.

Harman Kardon received an award for the sophisticated yet highly functional design of the sound system it delivered to the new Volkswagen Golf, and also picked up an iF award for its work on the Polestar 2 sound system. B&O was also awarded for the “elegant and unbridled” premium in-car sound system it designed for the Ford Mustang Mach-E.

As the role our vehicles play in our lives looks set to expand and deepen, car audio stands as an area that will fundamentally shape and enrich user experiences going forward. At the forefront of this trend, HARMAN is providing some of the world’s most iconic car brands with a whole new standard of in-car audio and sonic capabilities, while stamping its leadership and innovation on the industry more broadly.

¹ https://ec.europa.eu/growth/content/electric-and-hybrid-cars-new-rules-noise-emitting-protect-vulnerable-road-users_en

They say the stars shine brighter in Hollywood and thanks to Samsung Display technology, Hollywood Park will be the brightest of them all. Samsung’s outdoor LED products were exclusively used to build SoFi Stadium’s 70,000 square-foot dual-sided center-hung videoboard and five levels of fascia display which will be used to elevate the fan experience to unparalleled heights.  The state-of-the-art videoboard not only features the most LEDs ever used in a sports or entertainment venue, but also has the first and only 4K end-to-end video production in a stadium.

“SoFi Stadium features cutting edge display technology and serves as another example of Samsung’s commitment to changing the way fans interact with live sports,” says Harry Patz, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Display Division, Samsung Electronics America.  “We are proud to outfit the stadium with an iconic, first of its kind, double-sided 4K LED display and additional Samsung digital signage technology to ensure that each fan has a unique experience every time they visit Hollywood Park. SoFi Stadium will instantly become one of the NFL’s most talked about stadiums and Samsung is honored to be a part of its history from the start.”

“The Samsung LED technology represented in the videoboard at SoFi Stadium is unlike anything fans have ever experienced,” said Jason Gannon, managing director, SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park. “The design as well as the board’s video and audio capabilities are the first of their kind in sports and will set a new precedent for the in-stadium experience.”

Built for the future, the videoboard has the largest LED content playback system ever deployed. With nearly 80 million pixels spaced 8 millimeters from center to center, each panel can be uniquely or congruently programmed with statistics, live and/or animated content. The largest panel is almost 40 feet or four stories tall; its smallest panel is nearly 20 feet or two stories tall. Its unique size and shape make it wider than the field of play and offer fans a spectacular view from anywhere in the stadium, enhancing the action taking place on the field.

The different sizes of the video panels are designed to serve spectators in every seat, from the sideline to the upper deck. Fans sitting in the lower bowl of the stadium will view the inside of the videoboard as it sits directly across from their line of view, while guests in the upper bowl will view the outer panels of the videoboard.

Built into the videoboard is a state-of-the-art JBL audio system with more than 260 of the stadium’s total 4,500 loudspeakers. The videoboard sound system accounts for half a million of the 1.3 million watts of Crown Audio amplification in the venue.

This cutting-edge technology within this 298-acre sports and entertainment destination in the heart of Los Angeles will set a new standard for the fan experience. SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park represent the future of sports and live entertainment. Samsung is excited to work with Hollywood Park to enhance, improve and develop dynamic and innovative technology to improve the guest experience for years to come.

“As sports and concerts begin to come back, stadiums need to deliver a new kind of experience to their guests every time they step into the venue that provides customers with safety information and overall peace of mind,” said Brett Unzicker, Vice President, LEES, Display Division, Samsung Electronics America. “At Samsung, we understand how using the latest technology in digital signage can help partners like Hollywood Park not only elevate the overall fan experience, but also ensure that safety is top of mind to all.”

Additional Samsung technology is represented throughout Hollywood Park, reaching fans across the district’s residential, office and retail areas through Hollywood Park’s connected mobile app.

Source: U.S. Newsroom

In their latest iteration, Samsung’s Galaxy Buds have been engineered to deliver premium audio in a truly wearable design. Let’s take a deep dive into the features, from acoustic design to software to form, that enable the wireless earbuds to provide a new mobile audio experience.

Sound by AKG

The latest Galaxy Buds mark the first time that AKG is bringing outstanding sound quality to a truly wireless product. But what defines excellent sound quality? A cursory glance at audio reviews and audiophile forums will show that the answers are diverse. While some users favor rich bass tones, others prefer headphones with a spacious soundstage.

There is, perhaps, no person better qualified to answer this question than Dr. Sean Olive, Acoustic Research Senior Fellow at Harman International. For the past seven years, Dr. Olive and his team have been conducting in-depth research into the perception and measurement of headphone sound quality.

“Good sound is achieved when the headphones accurately reproduce the music without adding any audible distortion or noise to the original sound,” he says.

Dr. Sean Olive (middle) testing headphones with his team

By testing the response of a wide range of listeners, Dr. Olive and his team have developed an objective tool to measure the sound quality of headphones. Dubbed the Harman Target Curve, the measurement helps audio engineers design headphones that replicate the experience of listening to music in a reference listening room.

“Sound quality involves different attributes, including spectral or timbral qualities, spatial qualities and distortion, and noise. The goal for AKG is to be as neutral, accurate and transparent as possible for each of these attributes,” he explains.

Described by Dr. Olive as “a perfect marriage between science, engineering, and art,” Galaxy Buds were tuned to the Harman Target Curve by acoustic engineers at AKG. The wireless earbuds achieved a truly impressive performance on the Curve, significantly higher than other wireless earphones, winning the praise of Dr. Olive.

“The sound quality of the new Galaxy Buds is impressive,” Dr. Olive says. “It is difficult to say they have any sonic personality, which is the ultimate compliment I can give.”

Users can tailor the tone of the Galaxy Buds to suit their tastes and different musical genres by using the customizable equalizer, which features five unique settings. With eartips designed to maximize the noise-minimizing advantages of canal-type earbuds, Galaxy Buds let users listen to their favorite tunes, regardless of the surroundings.

Scalable Codec

In addition to perfecting the acoustics, designing wireless earbuds presents additional challenges. For one, the reliance on Bluetooth to transmit audio information makes wireless earbuds susceptible to interference.

Featuring Samsung’s proprietary Scalable Codec, Galaxy Buds ensure that users can enjoy their favorite tunes without interruption. The codec prevents audio chopping by changing the bit-rate according to the strength of the Bluetooth connection. When the wireless connection is weak, Scalable Codec automatically encodes the audio information with a higher compression ratio, allowing the earbuds to receive data without interruption.

Adaptive Dual Microphone

Galaxy Buds’ noise-canceling capability extends beyond the listening experience. Featuring an Adaptive Dual Microphone, the wireless earbuds also minimize external noise in phone conversations.

The Adaptive Dual Microphone combines signals from an inner and outer microphone. While the outer receiver detects audio in the surrounding area, the inner microphone picks up vibrations resonating inside the body. By processing and mixing the two sources, the Adaptive Dual Microphone produces an accurate representation of the user’s voice. The microphones are further enhanced by SolomonVoice technology and Wind Noise Reduction capability to help Galaxy Buds deliver the user’s voice clearly.

Samsung Newsroom spoke with Dr. Sean Olive, Acoustic Research Senior Fellow for HARMAN International, where he has worked since 1993. He directs the Corporate HARMAN X Sound Quality Group, whose research has mainly focused on the perception and measurement of sound reproduction including loudspeakers, room acoustics, automotive audio, headphones, and smart speakers.

Dr. Sean E. Olive, Senior Fellow, Acoustic Research HARMAN INTERNATIONAL

Q. What are the current music listening trends especially amongst a young generation and how does the context of listening to music influence our experience?

Music today is heard under many different contexts and environments often serving as an accompaniment to daily activities such as exercise, commuting, work, and shopping.

Among Millennials, digital streaming of music has become the preferred means to listen to music. They listen to 75% more music on a daily basis than Baby boomers.¹ A 2016 study from Northwestern University found that when it comes to music discovery, young people value convenience the most, favoring music services that are available across many platforms for easy access.

Moreover, new channels of digital music distribution such as music apps have made it easier for consumers to access a deeper catalogue of music from different artists and genres than ever before. Millennials in particular like to select their own tracks and tend to jump across platforms to hear the songs they like, and will skip songs they don’t like after hearing a few bars. We’ve moved from listening to entire albums from the same artist to listening to individual tracks from multiple artists across different genres, which has not only significantly affected our experience, it impacts how music is created, recorded and distributed.

Q. Does the equipment matter when we’re listening to music or does a great song suffice?

Good equipment can’t fix a bad song or performance but it can make it sound wonderful. Good equipment allows us to hear all the notes of the music from the lowest pipe organ note to the highest overtones of the piccolo accurately reproduced with correct spectral balance and dynamic nuances. There is nothing more exciting than to experience a Beethoven Symphony reproduced through your audio system at home at concert levels without strain or compromise.

Q. What are some practical tips on how we can improve the quality of the music we listen to on a regular basis, including improving our listening experience?

For headphone listening, the fit and seal of the cup or ear-tip is critical to hearing good bass. If sound leaks out of your ear you are less isolated from background noise and will hear less bass.

For loudspeaker listening, proper placement is critical to achieving balanced sound and stereo imaging. The stereo speakers should be equidistant from the listener at an angle of ± 30 degrees in order to hear instruments properly distributed between the speakers. Moving them 1-2 meter away from the walls can reduce excess bass or muddiness. The speakers should be angled towards the listening spot with the tweeter at the same height as the ears of a seated listener.

Q. What does a listener need to pay attention to when they choose the device on which they listen to music?

Many speaker systems, particularly portable Bluetooth systems have limitations in how much bass they can reproduce particularly at higher volume levels. To hide this fact they will sometimes add extra upper bass, or for active speakers, they will reduce the bass as you turn up the volume making it sound thin and anemic. Apart from that, listen to tracks with instruments that cover the entire spectrum and listen for how smooth and even-balanced the sound is. The spectral balance should be smooth and even and sound neither bright/dull, or too full/thin. When you turn up the volume, the balance shouldn’t change significantly or get harsh and fuzzy (an indication of distortion).

Lexicon SL-1

Q. HARMAN launched Lexicon SL-1 recently. What are HARMAN’s expectations for the launch?

Musicians are probably familiar with the Lexicon brand, which invented digital reverberation. This is truly a unique loudspeaker in that the sounds radiated from it range from a narrow focus for an intimate sound to a very broad omnidirectional pattern without a significant change to the timbre of the sound. This gives you the option of hearing a very focused sound or a very spacious sound depending on the choice of music, room acoustics or personal taste. The so-called stereo sweet spot can also be beamed to wherever the listener chooses to sit.

Q. With technological innovations in audio technology, can more people become audiophiles and learn to appreciate high quality audio production and subtle differences that elevate the music to another level?

It is clear from HARMAN’s sound quality research over the past 25+ years that most naive listeners can hear and appreciate better sound quality when given the opportunity to compare different products side by side whether it’s loudspeakers, headphones or lossless versus low-bit MP3 music. With the decline of brick-and-mortar audio stores replaced by internet sales there are fewer opportunities to test products side by side. So, we have to figure out how to educate and reach more consumers on what is good sound, better communicate the benefits, and make it easier for them to find and achieve critical listening. The opportunities are huge since audio is consumed everywhere (car, home, cinema, work, gym and on-the-go). For example, we are working on a consumer-focused version of our listener training software called “How to Listen” that we hope to make available soon.

Q. How can you meet the balance between professional level sound quality and popularization?

HARMAN makes audio products for both professional and consumers. The sound quality targets are essentially the same. Any film, television, or music track mixed on a JBL professional monitor or AKG headphone should sound much the same on our higher quality consumer products. The differences mainly lie in the industrial design, features and user experience.

HARMAN Luxury Audio Studio in Munich, Germany

Q. HARMAN recently opened a luxury studio in Munich, Germany. Could you tell us a little bit about the studio and the features of the studio that you want people to know about?

Dedicated to the Art of Listening, the new Luxury Studio celebrates and showcases HARMAN’s award-winning luxury audio brands through a uniquely immersive approach.

HARMAN’s Luxury Audio Group boasts five prestigious brands—JBL Synthesis, Mark Levinson, Revel, Lexicon and ARCAM—which together deliver the most advanced high-performance audio systems available anywhere in the world. The HARMAN Luxury Audio Studio was designed to serve not only as a billboard for these remarkable, award-winning brands, but to offer HARMAN’s customers and partners the opportunity to interact with them in a wholly original way.

Resembling a musician’s loft, the studio contains a stereo lounge with a vinyl record wall and a conference room. Everything in the studio was designed using materials chosen for their acoustic properties, with vintage layers and textures throughout the space. Completing the studio is a state-of-the-art JBL Synthesis 7.4.4 home theater with Dolby Atmos® to be used as a testing ground for HARMAN’s latest products while providing a luxury in-home experience certain to impress audiophiles and audio professionals alike.

Q. Is there any HARMAN technology applied to Samsung products?

Yes, one example is the new AKG Headphones like the N5005 and N700, and Samsung Galaxy Buds. These new products are designed to conform to the HARMAN Target Curves, which is based on HARMAN X’s research into listener sound quality preferences. The sound profile is very precise and refined, and preferred by the majority of listeners we’ve tested.

In addition, there are already ongoing collaborations between Harman and Samsung in Lifestyle, Professional and Automotive spaces. HARMAN’s expertise, technologies and markets are a natural compliment to Samsung’s so it only makes sense that such collaborations continue.

Q. What will the future look like in the way we listen to music?

We listen to music today more than ever, and this will continue. Autonomous driving is one example where humans will have more free time to actively listen to music with full attention. As we better understand the science of how music and our mode of listening affect our health and wellbeing, we will become more aware and motivated to become active listeners.

¹ Digital Music News : Millennials Listen to 75% More Music Than Baby Boomers, Study Finds (June 2, 2016)

Gone are the days when your earphones were attached to the end of an electric cord. Losing the cables and mounted with Bluetooth technology, they have evolved into wireless earbuds. Users no longer have to worry about the cables getting tangled into a knot in their pockets. What’s more, wireless earbuds are now available in various designs that add a fashionable value.

Samsung Electronics’ all new ‘Galaxy Buds’ offers the best performance of all the advantages of wireless earphones. It is smaller and lighter than the previous generation, which makes for longer and more comfortable wear. With the enhanced battery efficiency, it offers longer usage time with a single charge. Perhaps most importantly, its sound quality has been improved with the technology of AKG, the premium audio brand of Harman.

The upgrade from the previous generation is clear in terms of specs. Samsung Newsroom has tried the product to experience just how much better it is when used.

Galaxy Buds is very lightweight that it is barely detectable in the palm of the hand. The size is also smaller than Samsung’s existing wireless earphones, ‘Gear IconX.’ Instead of hanging on the ears, Galaxy Buds ensures the best possible fit with its wing tips, and do not fall out easily. Even the largest wing tips do not press on the earflaps, making the earbuds comfortable and stable to wear.

The earbuds are a compact size that fits snugly inside the ears and the exterior that shows outside it is fashioned to a nicely rounded shape. The gloss of the surface material is quite natural and soft in color that it goes well with various kinds of styles. Users need not worry about whether the earbuds look good with their outfits.

Well-Balanced and Solid Sound Quality

‘Sound by AKG’ is etched on to the packaging of the product, showing the company’s confidence in the Galaxy Buds’ solid sound quality, which proved to be quite well balanced and consistent. It offers a deep, consistent base and a flat treble. For those who have their own taste for a certain sound field¹, use the ‘Galaxy Wearable’ app to choose one from the five EQ presets and customize the sound profile.

I tried listening to various genres of music for each EQ preset to figure out the difference. For emotional music such as ballads or jazz, the ‘dynamic’ setting was the best fit. For band or dance music, the ‘clear’ setting was a solid choice since it highlighted the differences in mixed sounds. According to the styles and ranges of vocals or instruments used, selecting the ‘bass boost’ or ‘treble boost’ was a nice pick. When I was enjoying music while concentrating on another task, the ‘soft’ preset was comfortable to listen to as it balanced different tones.

The sound quality during phone calls was outstanding in clarity, which makes for a pleasant experience to switch over to answering a phone call from listening to music. A good set of earphones maintains its sound quality not only when the music is playing but also during phone calls. Galaxy Buds showed consistent, solid performance on the subway or inside elevators and blocked out the noise well.

The two embedded microphones also controlled the volume of my voice according to the surrounding environment. During the several phone calls I made when I was using Galaxy Buds, I seldom heard complaints from the other person for not being able to hear me over the surrounding noise.

A useful tip for when making a phone call in a noisy environment is to choose ear tips that are a perfect, snug fit in the ears. This helps make a difference in blocking out the noise from the surroundings so that the microphone embedded in the interior nozzle of the earbud can pick up the user’s voice more easily.

Useful Features Including Seamless Connection and ‘Find My Earbuds’

Galaxy Buds automatically connects to the user’s smartphone when the case is open and disconnects when placed back in the case. With a simple touch on the surface of an earbud, users can play or pause the current song, or move onto the previous or next song. Users can even give orders or turn on and off certain features using voice command.

When the earbuds are misplaced, users can activate the ‘Find My Earbuds’ feature on the Galaxy Wearables app. The earbuds will start making a beeping sound which will help relocate them.

By turning on ‘notifications’, users can receive a voice notification in between the music when they receive a message or email. This feature is useful for those that always need to be available at work or when expecting an important message. Users can also manage notifications and turn them on or off for specific apps.

‘Ambient sound mode’ let noise from the surroundings flow into the earbuds without taking them off. It balances between the sound from the earbuds and from the surroundings. Using this mode, I was able to check work related videos while listening to what my colleagues were saying and listen to some music without missing any announcements in the subway.

Longer Battery Life and Easy Battery Charging

Galaxy Buds lasts up to six hours when used for listening to music, and five hours for making phone calls. Galaxy Buds lasted a whole day with just a single charge when I listened to some music and made a few phone calls during my commute and working hours. Of course, as the Galaxy Buds case act as a charger, the earbuds can last longer. It comes in handy while on a trip or on a long flight.

The newly mounted wireless charging feature also adds convenience. I just put the earbuds back inside the case and place it on a wireless charger or a Galaxy S10². It is completely wireless, in a sense that it doesn’t require a cable when being charged either. Thanks to this feature, users can be relieved from the stress of constantly checking the remaining battery life.

All in all, users are in good hands with the Galaxy Buds, in various aspects including sound quality and battery life – not to mention the sleek, cute design and a comfortable fit. Galaxy Buds handle quite nicely some inconveniences users might have experienced with other wireless earphones. For those who are looking for the ‘ultimate’ wireless earphones, Galaxy Buds will make a good choice.

¹ Sound Field is a virtual space created by sound to provide the most realistic listening experience. Sound fields are usually controlled through the residual sounds and equalizer.

² According to tests conducted by Samsung Electronics, the battery lasts 100 minutes after a 15-minute charge. The exact time may vary according to individual user’s tendencies. ‘Wireless PowerShare’ is limited to Galaxy S10 series and will stop sharing battery power once the smartphone’s battery falls below 30 percent.

Following Episode 1

The Digital Cockpit has become available through the fusion of cutting-edge technologies. A technological breakthrough is certainly the key to this achievement, but more importantly, a collaboration among team members still remains to be one of the significant factors. The Digital Cockpit lab consists of knowledgeable experts from various fields within Samsung Electronics – all of whom are fascinated by the unexplored field of connected vehicles. Let’s find out more about the team and how they work together in the front line of technology.

No Boundaries At Work: Cutting-Edge Technologies Enhance Productivity

The team’s keen interest and excitement in the unchartered realm of connected vehicles led them to gather and eventually build the Digital Cockpit. Not only that, the team streamlined the work process by sharing brilliant ideas flexibly and testing them immediately.

“In many cases, we promptly carried out ideas that came up during meetings. It is possible to make swift decisions since the members are committed to this new field of business,” said Wooseok Hwang, user experience designer. “With engineers not restricting themselves from sharing opinions vis a vis design, there are no boundaries in our project.”

A full spectrum of core Samsung Electronics technologies ranging from components to end-products and HARMAN’s know-how on automotive electronics, were fully mobilized in the Digital Cockpit 2019.

“Samsung Electronics and HARMAN have accumulated cross-field technologies and experiences that led to a variety of connected services,” said Wonhee Jo, hardware circuit designer.

For a car audio system, built in the Digital Cockpit 2019, Samsung and HARMAN worked closely together throughout the process from initial design to tuning. “Entertainment experiences can vary by the location of speakers. So, adding woofers under each seat and surround sound speakers in the back seat produces an immersive effect,” said JH Youn, digital circuit designer. “Engineers at HARMAN traveled back and forth between Korea and the United states and carefully conducted the tuning until the last moment to build the best sound quality.”

Optimization of a Car Platform: Enabling All Necessary Technologies to Drive on the Road

A driving experience involves a series of activities from starting the car and arriving to your destination. All of these procedures are operated under one platform: the car itself. The Digital Cockpit 2019 is carefully designed to enable a convenient in-vehicle experience with forefront technologies from various fields that have been optimized to match with a driving experience.

Observing passengers’ behavior is another key task of the Digital Cockpit Lab. People have different patterns on using their cars based on their lifestyles. Some people drive alone, or they drive with their family and children. Or some might need to read documents while they are on the road, to keep up with their work.

For example, the feature that allows drivers to adjust the temperature from the back seats was inspired by parents that look over to see their sleeping child from the driver’s seat. The feature that seamlessly presents documents from your smartphone on larger screens in the car via ‘Samsung DeX’ was an idea that came from another observation.

“My ideas came from paying close attention to other people when I was traveling with a friend or driving with other people,” said Wooseok Hwang, user experience designer.

“We Put People First for Enjoyable In-Vehicle Experience.”

“Awesome!”

Many visitors at CES 2019 that was held last January were captivated by the new automotive experience of the Digital Cockpit 2019. Several visitors approached the team who were at the site asking, “Where can I get this car?”

“The Digital Cockpit is not the concept of a finished car. It is more about technologies that enables the car,” said Wonhee Jo, hardware circuit designer. “The purpose of the Digital Cockpit is to unleash the potential to the world that Samsung has in the automotive electronics industry”.

The ultimate goal of the Digital Cockpit Lab is to reach out to people with future technologies. During the development process, the team took into consideration what drivers and passengers can experience when they are inside the car. “Our job is done when people have an enjoyable and pleasant automotive experience through the Digital Cockpit,” said the team.

“There is no set direction. As industries evolve, perspectives on cars tend to change as well. Our work is to take one step ahead of such trends and stay committed to integrate both Samsung and HARMAN’s infrastructure and technologies to keep the engine running to lead the ever-changing industry.”

Samsung Newsroom sat down with the Digital Cockpit Lab from Samsung’s Automotive Electronics Business Team to learn how they brought the car of the future into a reality.

The dynamic team behind Samsung’s Digital Cockpit 2019, from the left: Junhong Kim, Sang-geon Lee, Daesoo Choi, JH Youn, Jonghee Choi, Seungwon Oh, Wooseok Hwang, Wonhee Jo, Wonseok Kwon, and Seungwoo Shin of Samsung Electronics’ Automotive Electronics Business Team

The Digital Cockpit Connects Our Lives

The cockpit is the dashboard of the car in front of the driver and the passenger seat. A ‘Digital Cockpit’ is a platform that comes with the latest digital technology which takes the overall in-vehicle system to the next level. With Samsung’s latest Digital Cockpit 2019, the new platform provides full vehicle control for drivers and a variety of tailored content to the passengers as well.

In today’s world, the car is more than just a mode of transportation — it is a space that connects different parts of our lives together. Surprisingly, you will be able to use all of these features in the near future.

At home, you start the car and adjust the temperature in your car from your living room via Galaxy Home.

Once everyone gets in, your car starts to play tailored content for each passenger with face recognition technology.

The car also informs you of possible danger by scanning moving objects and tries to prevent dangerous situations from happening like when the driver dozes off while driving.

On the move, you can even check what’s inside your home refrigerator via the car system, in order to prepare for the evening’s dinner.

“If your destination is a soccer field, the car transforms itself into the soccer field by playing soccer game content while you are on the go,” said JH Yun, digital circuit designer from the Samsung Digital Cockpit Lab. “The volume of content that you can enjoy in your car will expand naturally. What we need to do is to create an optimal environment for you to enjoy that content in your car.”

Customers can start or turn the engine off simply on SmartThings app.

A feature called ‘Home to Car’ is an example of the leading-edge innovation featured in the Digital Cockpit. The function allows customers to control their cars at home through the SmartThings app. “One of the biggest advantages the connected vehicle offers is that there are no spatial constraints,” said Junhong Kim, software developer. “You can start the car, check the gas level and more, regardless of your distance from the vehicle. We are ready for the next generation of mobility.”

When your hands are on the wheel to control your driving safely, a voice command can be the best alternative when you are interacting with your car. Bixby, Samsung’s AI platform, has been integrated into the Digital Cockpit undergoing a transformation in order to fit into the vehicle environment.

“We conducted voice command tuning and adjusted it to the vehicle environment by enhancing the icon and font size so that a driver can see them well while they are driving,” said Jonghee Choi, user interface developer. “And an increased interoperability with third-party services offers a wide range of information like weather forecast and flight schedule from your seat.”

No Matter Where You Sit, the Car Provides You with the Best Experience

While the previous Digital Cockpit had three displays, the 2019 version has a total of six displays delivering tailored infotainment to all passengers. For instance, passengers in the back seat will also be able to enjoy tailored content from their own screens.

“All of the displays will enable you to enjoy high resolution videos in your car without hassle,” said Wonhee Jo, hardware circuit designer. “Not only that, the back-seat screens can be folded conveniently into the seats when they are not in use.”

The back seat screens can sync together to do various things such as painting pictures.

The screens can also recognize your face wherever you sit and suggest content based on the preferences of pre-registered passengers in which they can activate or deactivate the feature.

“It’s amazing because you can enjoy your in-vehicle experience seamlessly even if you sit in a different seat,” said Seungwoo Shin, user experience designer. “Each passenger can enjoy different content, or they can just sync all of the screens to enjoy the same content, as if they were watching it from the living room of their homes.”

“The experience of each passenger can be managed for each seat,” said Daesoo Choi, human interface developer. “The passengers can make detailed adjustments such as the height, angle and temperature of each seat or the screen’s brightness.”

When a vehicle is equipped with various sophisticated technologies, the challenges increase. One of the challenges had to do with the number of buttons. Not only were the least used buttons taking up space, they were also ineffective. So, the team solved the problem with a knob. “We got a hint from a knob on the Samsung Galaxy Watch when we were thinking about ways to fuse analog nostalgia with the digital world. And we solved the problem with a single knob that can serve as the functions of various buttons,” said JH Yun, digital circuit designer. “This year’s Digital Cockpit will also have knobs in the back seat that can be activated according to the user’s preference.”

Nine Cameras Cover Every Direction, Ensuring Safety on the Road

A car must assure the safety of its driver and passengers. In order to support safe driving, the Digital Cockpit 2019 is equipped with a total of nine cameras.

The Digital Cockpit features a ‘Mirror Replacement Vision System (MRVS)’ that replaces side-view mirrors in conventional cars. The system consists of two displays on both sides and it helps safer driving by detecting moving objects in the rear when the driver checks behind them. By utilizing the camera technology, Digital Cockpit 2019 ensures safer driving with a wider viewing angle.

The Digital Cockpit also monitors the driver’s condition through a system that tracks the driver’s pupils to detect drowsy eyes or careless driving. “The Driver Monitoring System is an essential technology for autonomous driving in the near future,” said Seungwon Oh, camera system developer.

Drivers can sometimes miss the system alert while they are looking ahead when they are on the road. To prevent this from happening, the Digital Cockpit 2019 provides additional alerts. “We’ve added a vibration alert by using the Samsung Galaxy Watch on your wrist,” said Oh.

In the next installment in this series, we will go behind-the-scene stories on the team’s close collaboration and its continuous efforts to connect our lives will be disclosed. Stay tuned.

Building on the standard set by last year’s Digital Cockpit, the 2019 version addresses the needs of drivers and passengers alike, providing a seamless link between devices, vehicle and home, with simple controls for ease of use.

An Experience Tailored for Every Passenger

For 2019, the Digital Cockpit has increased the number of displays from three to six, delivering tailored infotainment options to more of the car’s passenger. In addition to a new, independent Passenger Display, two Rear Seat Displays also have been added, allowing passengers in both the front and rear to enjoy personalized contents that will keep them entertained during their travels. The Driver Monitoring System (DMS) and Occupant Monitoring System (OMS) are able to recognize registered drivers and passengers, adjusting the environment – such as screen settings and seat position – to provide an experience personalized to their tastes.

Three screens in the front of the Digital Cockpit show the driver important information and settings. The Cluster Display, situated in front of the driver, is a screen that highlights crucial driving information, such as the speed and oil gauge, with a layout that changes according to the driver’s preference. Between the driver and the front passenger is the Center Information Display, which shows Bixby and SmartThings services for cars, as well as basic apps, like navigation and music. Below that is the Control Display, a screen that oversees a host of functions, including air conditioning and sound volume, and can also be used to set the functions on the knobs of the Digital Cockpit.

By connecting their smartphone to the appropriate display via In-vehicle Samsung DeX, passengers can enjoy a smartphone experience optimized for their display and give their full attention to documents and emails, even while on the move.

Equipped with two knobs positioned in the front of the car and two in the back, the Digital Cockpit offers intuitive setting controls. The knobs have a circular UX, similar to the Galaxy Watch’s hallmark display, and can be customized to configure settings most frequently used by the driver and passengers, such as temperature and speaker volume.

Connectivity throughout the Car

With new Bixby, the in-car experience is even more convenient. The intuitive, conversational AI platform allows drivers and passengers to control their third-party apps – as well as automotive-optimized functions – hands-free inside the car.

As our world becomes increasingly more connected, the Digital Cockpit is strengthening the bond between car and home. Last year’s features supported car-to-home interactions, allowing you to check what’s inside your fridge or start up the washing machine at home, all from the driver’s seat. In addition to adding more devices that can be controlled from the car, the Digital Cockpit now also facilitates home-to-car interactions. With the help of SmartThings and Galaxy Home, users can access vehicle status and controls from the comfort of their own home. This means that you can check fuel levels, start up the engine, and cool down or warm up the inside temperature by turning on the AC before jumping into your car.

Smarter Safety

New features have been implemented to further enhance car safety. Incorporating Samsung Electronics’ Exynos semiconductor, the Mirror Replacement Vision System, Front Facing Camera and Driver Monitoring System assist safe driving in a variety of potential scenarios.

Since last year, the Mirror Replacement Vision System has moved to the front left and right sides of the vehicle to reflect where users habitually look when changing lanes. The system can identify moving objects and gives the driver a wider field of view in the direction of the lane they wish to change into.

The Front Facing Camera detects the environment on the roads ahead. This is particularly useful if the driver wants to make a sudden left turn on an intersection or change lanes, for example. The camera identifies vehicles, pedestrians, lanes and traffic signs while driving and warns the driver of any hazards before they act. Data is shown on the Cluster Display, helping the driver make informed decisions on the road.

The Driver Monitoring System will also transmit a warning sound if it detects dangerous behavior, such as driving while drowsy or sending text messages behind the wheel.

As car design embraces new trends in mobility lifestyle, the Digital Cockpit 2019 represents the next stage in vehicle comfort, connectivity and safety. As the development of 5G technologies continues apace, Samsung’s IoT platform will drive the future of automotive innovation and broaden the horizons of connected living.

Sitting down with three of the flagship smartphone’s designers in the Mobile Communications Business – Dongsoo Kim from the Global Product Planning Group and Jaehyun Kim and Seongkwan Yang from the Audio Group – we took a closer look on how the speakers of the Galaxy S9 and S9+ were optimized for multimedia content.

(from left) Jaehyun Kim from the Audio Group, Dongsoo Kim from the Global Product Planning Group, and Seongkwan Yang also from the Audio Group at Samsung’s Mobile Communications Business

More Speakers, More Sound

Dongsoo Kim reflected on what drove the team to bring the stereo speaker experience to the Galaxy S9: “As more and more people access content through their smartphones, greater emphasis was placed on the screen and creating bigger, higher-quality displays to view content with. Since display technology has already reached this point, we set out to design a high-performing speaker to equal the screen.”

The first step in Samsung’s journey towards stereo sound was equipping the device with two speakers. Whereas previous generations of the smartphone have placed a single speaker at the bottom of the phone, the Galaxy S9 has speakers at both the bottom and the top of the phone, creating a more immersive experience.

“The key was to develop speakers and amplifiers that serve the dual purpose of making phone calls and consuming media,” said Jaehyun Kim. “We poured our efforts into enhancing the quality of the sound and creating greater volume.”

The speaker holes were redesigned to be larger, producing higher quality audio, and the team was also able to increase the device’s volume, making it 1.4 times (3-4 dB) louder than the Galaxy S8.

Over 80 Designs Tested

There are strict procedures to ensure the reliability of Samsung products and multiple stages of testing were involved in designing the speakers of the Galaxy S9.

To achieve greater sound accuracy and precision, the audio designers paid close attention to enhancing the speakers’ dynamic range – the ratio of the quietest to the loudest sounds that the speakers can reproduce – and their frequency range, which controls the pitch.

“Our primary focus was to develop a speaker that is both high performing and stable,” Seongkwan Yang explained. “We carefully examined the quality of the components, testing more than 80 versions of the diaphragm before we were finally satisfied that we had a speaker that functioned seamlessly at both high and low pitches.”

Jaehyun Kim added: “We encountered unexpected challenges as we converted the mono speaker into stereo speakers, so we strived to optimize the device for viewing multimedia content.”

Partnering with Audio Experts

As part of their commitment to create a high-quality sound experience for the Galaxy S9, Samsung joined forces with two global experts in audio technology: premium Harman’s brand AKG, and Dolby.

The developers aimed to achieve high-fidelity sound quality and precision at any volume by leveraging the expertise of Harman’s AKG. Coordinating closely, it took half a year to fine- tune the speakers to meet AKG’s high standards.

“Users with a good ear for sound can immediately appreciate the difference. Samsung’s long dedication in search of enhanced audio, coupled with Harman’s expertise, resulted in the speakers satisfying both sound quality and volume,” commented Jaehyun Kim.

The Galaxy S9 also integrates Dolby Atmos® immersive sound technology, which brings entertainment to life with moving audio that flows all around you, be it over a device’s built-in speakers or through regular stereo headphones. Leveraging Dolby’s deep understanding of what listeners prefer in an audio experience, Dolby Atmos® on the Galaxy S9 makes you feel as if you are inside the action as the sounds of people, places, things, and music come alive with richness and depth and seem to move in three-dimensional space. This feature benefits other types of content in addition to Dolby Atmos® enabled content, through enhancements to sound quality and consistent playback volume across all content.

“During our testing, our results showed that immersive sound could bring a whole new experience to smartphone users,” Dongsoo Kim elaborated. “Since so many people now view premium content on their smartphones, it felt like the right moment to implement Dolby Atmos on our devices.”

Making the Most of an Optimized Audio Experience

The audio developers had plenty of tips about how to enjoy the stereo sounds of the Galaxy S9.

Jaehyun Kim recommended listening to classical music to gain a fuller understanding of the difference: “You can distinguish the individual sounds and characteristics of each instrument. It’s an amazing feeling to hear the audio how it was originally intended, picking out every interaction between soft and loud.”

“Head to the sounds and vibration settings on your phone,” advised Dongsoo Kim. “Take a look at sound quality and effects under the advanced features and turn on Dolby Atmos to enable immersive audio. Users can also enhance their headphone audio experience by turning on the UHQ upscaler and the Adapt Sound feature, taking their listening to a new level.”

Now, one month on from the launch of the Galaxy S9, the team is already carefully considering its next steps in audio design. Dongsoo Kim elaborated: “Our aim will be to create a mobile multimedia experience that is just like holding a cinema in your own hands.”

Samsung Electronics has been showcasing its portfolio of innovative display solutions at the Digital Signage Expo in Las Vegas in March. The company’s collection of cutting-edge solutions includes the latest digital signage products, industry-leading displays including the Samsung Flip and exciting new video conferencing solutions with HARMAN and Cisco.

Samsung’s workplace solutions are designed to foster a creative, collaborative and productive business environment. The Samsung Flip is a perfect example of Samsung taking digital connectivity and collaboration to a new level by transforming the paper white board into a digital solution for businesses designing mobile workspaces.

The Samsung Flip display promotes more collaborative digital engagement by addressing some of the leading challenges businesses face when coordinating, facilitating and recapping meetings. The Samsung Flip gives users the familiar feel of writing, while also providing a noticeable upgrade on both analog boards and standard flip charts. Additional capabilities include the display’s ability to easily share and search content, allowing for multiple users to contribute at once and quickly transform any location into a huddle room with its wheel-based, portable stand.

By leveraging Samsung’s industry-leading professional displays and collaboration products from HARMAN, the Samsung-HARMAN Huddle Room Solutions take a modern twist on a huddle space. From reducing setup time and offering support for sharing materials with the advanced display technology, these meeting systems can address all needs for small and medium-sized collaboration sizes. Suitable for modern office style, it provides the best solution for BYOD meetings and comes with easy to use features including one-click Skype for Business. The huddle rooms are available in four different options, providing a range of functionality for any huddle room application, including: Huddle Standard Solution, Huddle Premium Solution, Huddle Enterprise Solution and Huddle Enterprise Plus Solution.

Visitors used the Cisco Spark Room solution to connect the Cisco Korea office and the exhibition hall in Las Vegas for video conferencing.

Samsung and Cisco have completed the HDMI-CEC compatibility test between Samsung’s QMH and QBH displays, and Cisco Spark Room Kit and Kit Plus. Now, Samsung UHD SMART Signage, QMH Series displays and the last firmware release of Tizen 3.0 can be seamlessly integrated with the Cisco Room Kit Series featuring non-touch and play synchronization for smooth user experience.

Combining Samsung’s dynamic displays with Cisco’s innovative video conferencing creates the ultimate Cisco meeting experience. It includes automatic recognition of devices, optimal Spark display configuration for video conferencing and automatic HDMI switching for incoming calls. Powered by stat of the art technology, it provides more advanced features including analytics and cloud service. The compatibility of Samsung displays and Cisco solutions create smart rooms for smart meetings with crisp images and clear connections.

Further, business managers can elevate the customer experience at their commercial locations by installing Samsung’s fine pixel pitch IF-H LED screens for an ideal combination of superior picture quality and intuitive usability. The IF Series combines Samsung’s leading video processing technologies with High Dynamic Range (HDR) picture refinement to add clarity and sophistication to featured content – all within a compact, easy-to-maintain design. In turn, indoor users can deliver more realistic and memorable content without incurring additional costs or added burden.

Back in February, Samsung unveiled its state-of the art display technologies including ‘The Wall’ and ‘3D Cinema LED’ at the ISE 2018. The company has shown continued commitment to setting new standards in the display market and will continue to make meaningful contributions as an industry leader.

With today’s introduction of the world’s first 3D Cinema LED screen at Arena Cinemas’ Sihlcity theater in Switzerland, Samsung Electronics continues its efforts to make traditional, projection-based cinema technology a thing of the past.

Designed and installed with the help of Imaculix AG, the 3D-ready variation of Samsung’s Cinema LED screen maintains consistent brightness for immaculate delivery of subtitle text, images and minor visual details for viewers wearing 3D glasses. Unlike standard 3D cinemas, the Samsung Cinema LED screen provides consistent picture quality across an entire theater, ensuring a uniform, immersive viewing experience for viewers in every seat.

“Samsung is thrilled to be able to debut the world’s first 3D Cinema LED screen in Switzerland,” said Seog-gi Kim, Executive Vice President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “We hope that more movie-goers can experience the Cinema LED screen firsthand as we look to partner with more theaters around the world.”

As the industry’s first Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI)-certified High Dynamic Range theater display, the Samsung Cinema LED screen invites Swiss consumers into a next-generation viewing experience. Stretching nearly 10.3m (33.8ft) wide and 5.4m (17.7ft) in height, and featuring nearly 9 million pixels, Samsung’s Cinema LED screen delivers exceptional visual quality, technical performance and reliability.

The Samsung Cinema LED display amplifies on-screen content through HDR picture quality. All visuals shine through ultra-sharp 4K resolution (4,096 x 2,160) and peak brightness levels nearly 10 times greater (146fL) than the common cinema standard (14fL). The resulting high contrast showcases bright colors, pristine whites and deep blacks, making it perfect for both 2D and 3D movies. Paired with state-of-the-art audio technologies from HARMAN International’s JBL Professional brand, it is a truly immersive experience.

“Zurich is one of Europe’s burgeoning hubs for the film industry, and an optimal location to introduce a pioneering technology like the Cinema LED screen to the region,” said Eduard Stöckli, owner of Arena Cinemas. “The display’s streamlined design also allows our Sihlcity theater to remove its projector closet, making room for additional seats and allowing us to deliver a more complete, comfortable and innovative setting for our guests.”

First introduced in July 2017, Samsung’s Cinema LED screen has been successfully installed in theaters in Seoul and Busan, Korea and Shanghai, China. The Arena Cinemas partnership marks the first implementation of Samsung’s Cinema LED display in Europe and is the world’s first 3D Cinema LED screen.

1. Faster, more transparent machine learning

Artificial intelligence (AI) will dramatically expand within the next 12 months. It is already changing the way people interact with a number of applications, platforms and services across both consumer and enterprise environments.

In the next couple of years, there will be new approaches on two fronts. Firstly, less data will be required to train an algorithm. This means an image recognition system that currently needs 100,000 images to learn how to operate will only need a small fraction of that number. This will make it easier to quickly implement powerful machine learning systems.

Secondly, the technology will become more transparent. Advances in technology will mean researchers will be able to open the black box of AI and more clearly explain why a particular model made the decision it did. Currently, a lot of academia and start-ups are putting much effort into understanding how a machine makes decisions, how the models are learning from the data and what are the parameters of data that influence the models.

Scott Phoenix, The CEO of Vicarious, makes a presentation about human-level intelligent robots at the Samsung CEO Summit last October in San Francisco. (source: www.vicarious.com)

Samsung plans to build an AI platform under a common architecture that will provide the deepest understanding of usage context and behaviors. This is one of the core strategies to make the user-centric AI ecosystem. Samsung NEXT has also invested in various companies innovating in the field, including Vicarious, a company developing neuroscience-based artificial general intelligence (AGI) for robots for simpler deployment with faster training and Bonsai, which develops an AI platform that empowers enterprises to create, deploy and manage AI models, and FloydHub, a start-up that has developed a cloud service for machine learning.

2. New AR and VR form factors and viewing models

Both augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are increasingly being relied upon to create more immersive worlds where technology enables users to get more hands-on with virtual overlays and environments. In the case of AR, devices won’t remove us from our world, but will rather enable us to have objects appear as if they were really there.

2018 will witness more developers embracing AR, starting to make interesting applications moving beyond the world of gaming. One such example is a furniture company planning to make its full catalogue available in AR. Samsung NEXT has invested in companies like 8i, which provides a platform that enables true 3D (fully volumetric) video capture of people, allowing viewers to walk around as real humans in VR and AR.

8i’s Holo augmented reality application enables digital recreation of people and characters to be seen in the real world through a smartphone camera. (source: www.8i.com)

Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) will see foundational technology improvements in the quality of their displays, sensors, and materials. In 2018, there will be a lot of excitement in the industry in the form of M&A and investment activities. “For VR, we will see more standalone devices, falling between existing HMDs powered by mobile phones, and high-end hardware connected to powerful PCs. This will enable more people to experience the technology in new ways,” said Ajay Singh, Samsung NEXT Ventures.

3. Blockchain to look beyond cryptocurrencies

“In 2017, we saw blockchain technology increasingly applied to develop unbanked countries and communities,” said Raymond Liao from Ventures. “With underpinnings in peer-to-peer transactions, blockchain has the power to democratize transactions by removing the middleman and reducing the needless fees that so frequently hamstring those deprived of banking services.”

Cryptocurrency is the dominant killer application for blockchain up to now. However, we will see blockchain entrepreneurs and decentralization idealists, freshly financed by token sales, marching to either empower consumers against the one-sided data monetization paradigm, or break up enterprise data silos in, e.g., supply chain and healthcare industries.

Samsung’s focus on security will be an advantage for the company as far as blockchain is concerned. The elephant in the room around blockchain is that the entire technology is only as secure as the users’ keys. Samsung’s technology enables enterprise customers to be assured of a certain level of security in how their employees interact with their blockchain-based apps. Furthermore, Samsung NEXT includes in its portfolio companies like HYPR that provides enterprise with enhanced security and user experience using blockchain and Filament that secures Internet of Things (IoT) devices with their blockchain protocol.

4. IoT to put power in the hands of healthcare patients

Healthcare is an industry that is ripe for disruption. We will begin to see the power of IoT in healthcare with the emergence of inexpensive, continuous ways to capture and share our data, as well as derive insights that inform and empower patients. Moreover, wearable adoption will create a massive stream of real-time health data beyond the doctor’s office, which will significantly improve diagnosis, compliance and treatment. In short, a person’s trip to the doctor will start to look different – but for the right reasons.

Samsung is using IoT and AI to improve efficiency in healthcare. Samsung NEXT has invested in startups in this area, such as Glooko which helps people with diabetes by uploading the patient’s glucose data to the cloud to make it easier to access and analyse them. Another noteworthy investment in this space from Samsung NEXT is HealthifyMe, an Indian company whose mobile app connects AI-enabled human coaches with people seeking diet and exercise advice.

HealthifyMe connects patients with AI-based healthcare coaches

(source: www.healthifyme.com)

Samsung is uniquely positioned among tech companies in that it already has a significant business in healthcare. The company has solutions in wearables, hospital screens and tablets, and X-ray and MRI machines. By tying all these solutions together and cooperating with other partners, it will enable patients to manage their health from their own devices.

5. IoT breaks free from homes and enters the city

In the next couple of years, one should expect to see IoT transform urban environments thanks to the combination of learnings from smart homes and buildings, and the proliferation of 5G. Transformation will happen in waves, starting with innovation that requires fewer regulations. It is expected to impact the daily life of the community in meaningful ways, such as parking solutions, mapping, and bike share schemes.

Samsung NEXT already has various IoT investments including Stae for data-driven urban planning, and Swiftly that provides enterprise software to help transit agencies and cities improve urban mobility.

The company has its own IoT platform SmartThings—an acquisition that came through the Samsung NEXT team. The platform is connected to ARTIK for enterprises and HARMAN Ignite’s connected car platform, creating a comprehensive IoT ecosystem. Based on its progress on IoT, Samsung showcased its vision for ‘Samsung City 2020’ at this year’s CES, which is on its way to realization.

The Samsung Electronics CES 2018 booth showed off its “Samsung City 2020” concept

Eventually, people will be driven by their cars – not the other way around. This will open the door to new possibilities. Cars will be a personalized workplace, entertainment center and a vital part of your digital life. And the best thing is, these efforts will also include functionalities to make driving safer and more enjoyable than ever. Samsung and HARMAN are committed to using their deep, combined technological experience to create the revolutionary car of the future. These videos will show you how.

Rinspeed Snap

Digital Cockpit Solution

Design and UX of Digital Cockpit Platform

Telematics

DRVLine Automated Driving Platform

Moodscape

AudioworX

Configurable Audio Experience

Samsung Electronics today announced a partnership with the world’s largest theater operator Wanda Cinemas to bring its pioneering Cinema LED Screen technology to Wanda’s Wujiaochang theater, located in Shanghai’s Yangpu District. The theater marks the first implementation of Samsung’s Cinema LED Screen in China, and follows successful implementations in Asia last year in Seoul and Busan, Korea, and Bangkok, Thailand, and also in Europe, at the Arena Cinemas Sihlcity in Zurich, Switzerland.

“Since its introduction mid-last year, Samsung’s Cinema LED Screen has captivated the cinema industry with its potential revolutionize the theater and filmgoing experience. Through sharper colors, true-to-life audio and an ultra-wide viewing environment, our Cinema LED Screen makes viewers feel as if they are part of the picture,” said Seog-gi Kim, Executive Vice President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “Through Cinema LED, we are confident that consumers in China will embrace the opportunity to engage with their favorite films like never before, and are thrilled to partner with Wanda Cinemas to bring this advanced technology to this growing market.”

The new partnership expands Samsung’s relationship with the world’s leading cinema chain. A Fortune 500 company, Wanda Cinema Line Corp. operates nearly 14,347 screens at more than 1,352 theaters around the world, and also owns recognizable global cinema brands including AMC, Carmike, Odeon and Hoyts Group. Even as Cinema LED at Shanghai’s Wujiaochang theater launches, Samsung and Wanda Cinemas already are finalizing a second cinema conversion in Beijing, with plans to open the venue to the public in the first half of this year.

As the world’s first Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI)-compliant High Dynamic Range (HDR) LED theater display, Samsung’s Cinema LED Screen delivers excellent visual quality, technical performance and reliability that surpass that of legacy projector-based operations. Stretching nearly 10.3 m. (33.8 ft.) wide, the Cinema LED Screen fits comfortably in usual theater configurations, maintaining the same stunning picture quality at even the widest viewing angles. The display also transforms content with ultra-sharp 4K resolution (4,096 x 2,160) and peak brightness levels nearly 10 times greater than the typical cinema standard. As a result, viewers can experience more immersive content supported by bright colors, pristine whites and deep blacks.

To go with the stunning picture technology, Samsung has paired its Cinema LED Screen with state-of-the-art audio technologies from JBL by HARMAN. This integration includes powerful speakers bordering the screen, and an expanded audio “sweet spot” throughout the theater’s seating area, producing a true multi-sensory experience the way the content creators intended.

“As the world’s leading cinema company, our customers expect a differentiated and memorable theater experience both worthy of their investment and reflective of the Wanda Cinemas brand,” said Qi Wang, Vice President, Wanda Film Holding Co., Ltd. “We are honored to work with Samsung to set the new luxury theater standard, and look forward to making the Shanghai Cinema LED theater a must-see destination for both movie enthusiasts and casual consumers alike.”

With the demands for theater space evolving across the industry, Samsung’s Cinema LED Screen will enable Wanda Cinemas to expand the service offerings inside its improved Shanghai theater. The display’s consistent presentation, even against dark or ambient lighting conditions, accommodates non-movie content including gaming competitions, corporate events and presentations, and sports and concert simulcasting, among others.

For more information about Samsung’s Cinema LED Screen, as well as related articles, photos and videos, visit http://news.samsung.com.

On February 4, the launch ceremony of the first Samsung Cinema LED of China was held at Wujiaochang’s Wanda Theater in Shanghai, China. From left, Jason Kim, VP of Samsung Electronics Visual Display Business, Yontak Jin, VP of Samsung Electronics China Consumer Elecronics Division, Wang Qi, CTO of Wanda Cinemas, Zeung Guang, VP of Wanda Cinemas, Frank Xiao, VP of HARMAN China Enterprise Business and David McKinney, VP of HARMAN.

“AI and machine learning are major strategic imperatives for Samsung. There’s no doubt that, in the coming years, these technologies will completely change the way people interact with every device in their lives, from phones and wearables to home appliances and cars,” said Young Sohn, President and Chief Strategy Officer at Samsung Electronics, and Chairman of the Board at HARMAN. “For this to happen, we believe AI must be open—so we can harness the talent and expertise of a vast ecosystem of companies, and ultimately give consumers smarter, simpler, more meaningful interactions with the devices they love. This Summit underscores our commitment to an open, collaborative AI ecosystem, and serves as a call to action for all researchers and entrepreneurs who share our vision for a more connected world.”

Samsung’s AI Summit opened with a keynote by the company’s Senior Vice President of AI Research, Dr. Larry Heck, a world-renowned leader in AI and voice recognition who has led AI teams at Microsoft, Google and Nuance. During his talk, Dr. Heck outlined the need for increased industry collaboration to drive broader adoption and consumer confidence in AI technology. He also advocated for the importance of making AI open to 3^rd parties.

“This is an incredible time in our industry. Artificial Intelligence and machine learning are becoming mainstream, used by millions each year. Yet, we need more collaboration in the industry—from companies to academics and researchers—to let AI flourish,” said Dr. Heck. “It’s time for us to find new ways to work together to ensure AI serves the needs of people first and foremost.” As a part of this collaborative effort, Samsung plans to host many more AI-related events around the globe this year.

Dr. Heck also shared Samsung’s plans to tap its massive device ecosystem to learn user preferences and needs. “Under a common architecture, Samsung’s AI platform will not only scale quickly, but will also provide the deepest understanding of usage context and behaviors, making AI more relevant and useful,” he said. Attendees at the event also heard from experts at Google, MIT, Carnegie Mellon and the University of California at Berkeley.

In November 2017, Samsung announced the creation of a new AI Research Center dedicated to applied research and development in the space. Samsung’s new AI research center plans to open additional AI research labs in Canada, the UK and Russia in 2018 to strengthen the company’s AI research efforts.

Dr. Larry Heck (pictured second from the left), Senior Vice President of AI Research at SRA, Dick Lyon (pictured second from the right), a Director at Google Research, and Ian Lane (pictured on the far right), a Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, discuss open collaboration in the AI industry at the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit on January 16, hosted by Samsung Research America at Mountain View.

Samsung Newsroom spoke with Wonsik Lee, Senior Vice President, R&D Strategy Group of Samsung Electronics’ Automotive Electronics Business, and Dr. Mike Peters, President of the Connected Car Division, HARMAN, about what to look forward to in the automotive industry, including the new Digital Cockpit platform that is being demonstrated at CES 2018.

Q. What is the purpose of the Digital Cockpit, the new automotive electronics platform that was unveiled by HARMAN and Samsung at CES 2018?

Wonsik Lee (Lee): Through our CES exhibition, Samsung is planning to introduce AI and IoT experiences to visitors, where they can easily use and control our inter-connected products and services. In order to expand Samsung’s AI and IoT platform from home appliances and mobile phones to other ‘things’ including automobiles, we developed the Digital Cockpit by infusing Samsung’s mobile, IT and display technologies with Harman’s automotive technologies. Through the Digital Cockpit showcase, we will demonstrate the new lifestyles offered by next-generation mobility, and lead innovations for the connected car business.

Since Samsung acquired Harman last March, a combined Samsung-HARMAN team has been forged to boost our competitiveness in the next-generation connected car business by seeking ways to apply Samsung’s components, products and services to automotive products. It is remarkable that we were able to jointly develop a concept for the Digital Cockpit by converging Samsung’s technologies applicable to the automotive industry with HARMAN’s technologies for the first time.

Mike Peters (Peters): With the Digital Cockpit, we wanted to bring together several previously distinct computing domains into one platform. The former infotainment system, the instrument cluster, audio and lighting controls, and connected ADAS features are brought together in a single hardware and software package. This allows the OEM to bring a much more intuitive, easy-to-use and visually-integrated approach to cockpit design.

Q. What were the insights and thinking that helped you create the Digital Cockpit?

Peters: Consumer demand is dictating that the car become an extension of the connected lifestyle rather than being a product of a siloed industry. This means in-car technology needs to replicate the smartphones and smart audio experiences people enjoy at home or the office. By integrating this into the Digital Cockpit and creating more “hands-free” tools like voice activation, haptic controls and smartphone projection, HARMAN can help OEMs meet this demand while still keeping drivers safe and focused on the road ahead.

Lee: Specifically speaking, Samsung’s mobile, IT and display product development experiences can contribute significantly to increasing the consumer value of the Digital Cockpit. As the same UX that was applied to Samsung Galaxy smartphones was incorporated into the Digital Cockpit, users can easily operate our cockpit with no learning curve. Additionally, we are going to showcase a differentiated design by merging both digital and analog aspects and applying the signature, circular design of the Samsung Gear S to the three configurable knobs. The invaluable UX experiences that Samsung has accumulated from its mobile business have been a foundation for the design of the Digital Cockpit.

Q. How will the Digital Cockpit connect with other IoT devices? How important was it to incorporate this level of connectivity from the outset?

Peters: The Digital Cockpit can connect to devices, such as a driver’s smartphone, seamlessly. In a premium configuration, it weaves together a driver’s entire connected lifestyle across the Internet of Things through a multi-display layout that leverages HARMAN’s Ignite Platform.

Lee: For example, when someone gets into their car, it recognizes them and shows a welcome message on the display monitor. The driver can then select a video from his mobile phone to be played on the car infotainment systems, or control home appliances such as their refrigerator or air conditioner through SmartThings while driving. Moreover, with Bixby, the driver can easily and safely control the car’s air conditioning, audio volume, brightness settings and more with just his voice.

Peters: This means the in-car user experience can be personalized for the driver and passenger via services such as virtual personal assistants, portable profiles, augmented reality and more. This also allows for Android to be integrated on four displays – a first for the industry. Having an agnostic platform was important to us as the collaboration between OEMs and suppliers is the only way future mobility will be successful.

Q. What are the strengths of the HARMAN-Samsung automotive electronics business?

Lee: Along with rich and diverse development experiences, Samsung owns a vast range of leading technologies in the areas of mobile, IT and components including wireless communications, UI/UX, displays and semiconductors. HARMAN, meanwhile, retains proven automotive technologies, development expertise and affluent business experiences with car makers.

Peters: Indeed, the synergies between HARMAN and Samsung have astounded me. Becoming part of Samsung has accelerated the depth and breadth of resources for innovation and synergy across all of HARMAN’s business: from the car to home and everything in between. What I admire most about our relationship with Samsung is the balance our companies offer each another. Together, we increase innovation through scale, resources and competencies, leveraging Samsung’s global scale, R&D and distribution channels, and HARMAN’s deep heritage in automotive technology.

Integration is our secret weapon, and an open ecosystem encourages collaboration to accelerate innovation and bridge ecosystems. At CES this year, we’re showing that while the in-car experience is fueled by technology, it’s ultimately human at heart. With this mantra driving our mission, we’re becoming the leader in connectivity and autonomous driving.

Q. What are the challenges you need to overcome?

Lee: Automotive electronics is relatively new to Samsung compared with other sectors that we have been focusing on, leaving a lot of room for us to grow. Especially, since it is critical that the automobile and auto components industries meet the safety standards and comply with a wide variety of different regulations in different countries, close cooperation between car makers and suppliers is essential.

Peters: The automotive technology market is also a crowded one, and with the excitement of autonomy on the horizon, there’s even more clutter to cut through. We’re no longer just in competition with other automotive suppliers, but are part of a future of mobility revolution, along with suppliers, OEMs, tech companies and even rideshare startups fighting for a piece of the pie. In order to drive innovation and lead the pack, we’re forging partnerships and harnessing our best technologies and global scale to better serve the needs of automakers in this rapidly-evolving automotive market.

Q. How do you foresee the future of connected cars combined with 5G technology, AI and autonomous vehicles?

Lee: It is expected that cars will become more than just a means of transportation in the future. Cars will gradually evolve to be our living and working space. If lesser burden is put on drivers with the advent of autonomous driving technology, users will be able to enjoy more value while on the go.

Peters: That’s true. Autonomous vehicles will create a paradigm shift in how people operate cars and many drivers will transition into passengers. 5G technology and AI will play a pivotal role in this evolution to ensure autonomous vehicles have the situational awareness needed to navigate a wide variety of environments safely. This is why HARMAN is building the industry’s first automotive-grade, 5G-ready connectivity solution that automakers can use to start building telematics solutions that will handle today’s requirements, but also be flexible in the future when 5G becomes more ubiquitous.

Lee: Connected car technology is moving beyond simply converging automobiles with IT. Cars will become a part of IoT, and be connected to all infrastructure including houses and offices. Therefore, connected cars will help us not only control appliances inside the home but also enhance road safety by data transmission among cars on the roads, and will eventually lead us to develop intelligent transportation systems that could minimize traffic congestion. With the implementation of self-driving technologies, people won’t have to drive and thus they will come to enjoy the car as a living and working space, which is essentially the ultimate goal of connected cars. This means that drivers can relax, enjoy movies, search the internet or write an email inside the moving car. This will bring about fundamental changes in our life. Furthermore, this will create new business opportunities such as real-time navigation services based on traffic data in the IT service industry, location-based services in the content industry and insurance premium discounts based on driving behavior in the insurance industry, among others.

Q. How do Samsung and HARMAN plan to lead the future automotive electronics industry?

Peters: Our collective mission is to become the architects of experience and the leaders in connectivity and autonomous driving: connecting the lives of people, whether at home, on the go or together in the car. HARMAN plays the role of expert in the automotive field while Samsung’s global scale, R&D capabilities, dominance in mobile/TV/semiconductors and distribution channels will help accelerate innovation and drive fast growth. Through the HARMAN-Samsung relationship, we can now provide a true chip-to-cloud, fully-integrated offering.

Lee: Samsung and HARMAN will continue to cooperate closely and through our close collaboration, we will reinforce our position in the connected car industry and drive innovation across the business.

Consumers’ needs have changed greatly when it comes to automotive technology. While both drivers and passengers have always needed ease of use, personalization and safety, more than ever, they need their devices to be able to connect to each other and to offer simpler controls. The Digital Cockpit meets these needs and more by providing infotainment and IoT services across a suite of OLED and QLED screens.

The Digital Cockpit consists of three displays and three knobs that can all be customized according to driver and passenger tastes.

The Cluster Display in front of the driver uses a 12.3-inch OLED and provides driving information such as speed and RPM. Infotainment is handled by a 28-inch QLED Central Information Display (CID) and Passenger Display, using the integrated solutions for multiple displays running on a single chip. Below these displays is the Control Display, a 12.4-inch curved OLED that enables control of other features such as air conditioning.

The Digital Cockpit’s three knobs have a circular display akin to Samsung’s Gear S watch, so users can directly and intuitively use them. The customizable knobs can be set to functions most frequently used by the driver, such as clock, temperature, volume and Bixby.

The Cluster Display (left) for information and the Center Information Display/Passenger Display (right) for infotainment

The Digital Cockpit really sets itself apart in the way users can interact with it. For instance, the system includes a gesture sensor in the back seat so that passengers can use motions to control music or the radio. It also uses Samsung’s Bixby voice assistant, which offers automotive-optimized control functions such as moving the QLED display or changing the colors of ambient lighting. But it isn’t just the in-car settings you can control with the Digital Cockpit. It also uses Bixby and SmartThings to control a number of IoT devices not even in the car. So you can check the inside of your fridge to see if you have enough milk before you get home, for example, or can start up your washing machine or vacuum cleaner from within your vehicle.

Turn on your vehicle’s air conditioner using only your voice with Bixby.

Additional features ensure that driving is safer than ever. The Mirror Replacement Vision System provides a front/back HD camera and display system instead of physical side and rear-view mirrors. It gives three-split-view for key moments such as changing lanes or parking. It can even detect moving objects and sound an alarm if things get too close.

The Mirror Replacement Vision System replaced with side- and rear-view mirrors

All this is on display at the Samsung and HARMAN booth at CES. Since Samsung acquired HARMAN last year, the two companies have focused on connected technologies for automotive, consumer and enterprise markets. Leveraging Samsung’s mobile and IT technology as well as HARMAN’s automotive expertise to create a unique platform, the Digital Cockpit has set the industry standard for integrated and advanced display technology.

The future will see the car becoming a mobile living space. It will literally become a home away from home. This will require new levels of comfort and also added safety and connectivity to all aspects of life. The Digital Cockpit showcases this level of connectivity, and also paves the way for further innovations in the future. Based on Samsung’s technology and state-of-the-art IoT platform, the company continues to lead the way into the era of the autonomous car.

It hasn’t been a year since HARMAN International became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics focused on connected technologies for automotive, consumer and enterprise markets, and the two companies have already leveraged their combined teams and resources to drive future mobility forward. Unveiled today at CES 2018 are a host of unique connected car solutions that support HARMAN and Samsung’s joint mission to become the leader in connectivity and autonomous driving: connecting the lives of people, whether at home, on the go, or together in the car.

These key innovations showcase an integrated approach to a rich digital car experience, including:

• A reinvented digital cockpit platform for all vehicle segments that has given the interior of the car a makeover;
• A new telematics solution along with the industry first automotive-grade 5G-ready connectivity solution; and
• An ecosystem of partners and solutions to further build out the Samsung open autonomous platform, along with a showcase of our first implementation of this together with TTTech.

Each new solution was made possible through the HARMAN-Samsung alliance that leverages Samsung’s global scale, R&D capabilities, dominance in mobile/TV/semiconductors and distribution channels and HARMAN’s leading connected car heritage, relationships, market knowledge and growing community of innovation partners. Both companies are also making global investments in start-ups to help OEMs meet growing consumer demand for in-vehicle technology through scalable solutions that enhance the user experience for every vehicle segment.

“Together with Samsung, we have increased innovation speed through scale, resources and competencies to help automakers focus on the car’s evolution from device-centric to experience centric,” said Dinesh Paliwal, HARMAN President and CEO. “HARMAN has the heritage and expertise in automotive, and collectively HARMAN and Samsung harness our best technologies and global scale to accelerate how we better serve the needs of automakers in this rapidly evolving automotive market.”

New HARMAN Digital Cockpit Platform  

The new Digital Cockpit platform includes a suite of flexible and scalable premium experiences that support today’s connected lifestyles without compromising safety or performance. It’s available in standard and advanced system configurations and can seamlessly integrate the instrument cluster with center console via voice, haptic feedback, and physical knobs and steering wheel controls in a single, center screen for all vital vehicle information and features. This also supports a multi-modal approach for interactions with different human-machine interfaces to allow customization in terms of HVAC, media and user settings.

The Digital Cockpit platform brings an entirely new generation of communication and ergonomics inside vehicles, allowing drivers to focus on the road ahead while intuitively and safely interacting with their in-car technology. This is made possible through a projection mode for services and apps via a user’s smartphone, allowing for increased personalization. A greater IoT ecosystem via cloud technology in the entry-level segment, as well as mid/high-level configurations, not only improves connectivity, but helps lower costs and overall vehicle weight.

In a premium configuration, the Digital Cockpit weaves together a driver’s entire connected lifestyle across the Internet of Things. Through a multi-display layout that leverages HARMAN’s Ignite Platform, the in-car user experience can be personalized for the driver and passenger via services such as virtual personal assistants, portable profiles, augmented reality and more. This also allows for the Android OS to be integrated on four displays – a first for the industry.

Focused on a future generation of shared mobility, the premium Digital Cockpit personalizes occupant experiences, so drivers and passengers feel like the car is theirs even if they don’t own it. By leveraging the phone as a key service, the system can automatically access subscription services associated with user profiles while Bixby offers intelligent personal assistance to help occupants complete tasks by voice, touch, gesture and context-based triggers.

The Digital Cockpit is scalable and made available for every automotive segment, offering future proof and safety focused features within a developer-friendly open ecosystem.

First 5G Automotive Telematics Solution and Customer

HARMAN and Samsung are jointly developing modular approaches for advanced telematics, capable of 1 Gb/s bandwidth. HARMAN and Samsung will deliver the industry’s first 5G-ready automotive solution and multi-band conformal antenna to enable secure, fast and reliable data communications. The solution consists of a telematics control unit with a modular design accommodating a network access device (NAD) supporting LTE CAT 16 connectivity today and 5G in the future leveraging the same hardware design. 5G represents a paradigm shift in the future of mobility. In the automotive sector, 5G delivers safety-enhancing C-V2X capability that is an essential enabler for autonomous transportation. 5G boosts speeds up to 100X faster than current 4G LTE standards to provide incredibly fast high-resolution streaming, immersive virtual and augmented reality features and seamless cloud-based applications in fast-moving cars. Ultra-reliable and with low-latency response times of just 1ms, 5G enables C-V2X and cloud-based compute and storage for the next generation autonomous vehicles. HARMAN today announced that a leading European automaker will be the first customer for this solution. At CES 2018, HARMAN and Samsung will demonstrate high speed connectivity in a future mobility concept vehicle powered by the Samsung Networks 5G infrastructure.

Advanced Driving Solutions Today for an Autonomous Tomorrow

Developed in close collaboration with HARMAN, Samsung announced its new DRVLINE platform, an open and modular platform for autonomous driving designed to scale from Level 3 automation up to Levels 4 and 5. The two companies will continue to focus on engineering, high-performance computing, sensor technologies, algorithms, artificial intelligence, and cloud and connectivity solutions that are scalable and capable of lower-level autonomy through to Level 5. The first HARMAN/Samsung-developed ADAS product will be a forward-facing camera featuring lane-departure warning, adaptive cruise control, collision warning and pedestrian warning algorithms. The new system combines Samsung’s heritage in camera technology with HARMAN’s ADAS 360 solution that blends machine learning and data science with augmented reality to create a self-learning virtual co-passenger to ensure the connected driving experience is personalized and safe. The new system will begin shipping in 2018.

Visit HARMAN’s newsroom for additional information about these new solutions and check back for updates now through CES 2018.

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ABOUT HARMAN

HARMAN (harman.com) designs and engineers connected products and solutions for automakers, consumers, and enterprises worldwide, including connected car systems, audio and visual products, enterprise automation solutions; and services supporting the Internet of Things.  With leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson® and Revel®, HARMAN is admired by audiophiles, musicians and the entertainment venues where they perform around the world. More than 50 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and connected car systems. Our software services power billions of mobile devices and systems that are connected, integrated and secure across all platforms, from work and home to car and mobile. HARMAN has a workforce of approximately 30,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. In March 2017, HARMAN became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

“The cars of tomorrow won’t just change how we get around, they’ll transform our streets and society. They’ll bring mobility to people who need it, make our roads safer, and revolutionize our communities,” said Young Sohn, President and Chief Strategy Officer at Samsung Electronics, and Chairman of the Board at HARMAN. “Building an autonomous platform requires close collaboration across industry, as one company cannot deliver on this enormous opportunity alone. The challenge is simply too big and too complex. Through the DRVLINE platform, we’re inviting the best and brightest from the automotive industry to join us, and help shape the future of the car of tomorrow, today.”

Samsung’s announcement, at CES, comes after a year of historic firsts for the company. These include: an $8 billion acquisition of connected technologies company HARMAN and the creation of a joint automotive Strategic Business Unit; the establishment of a $300 million Samsung Automotive Innovation Fund; and a series of investments and partnerships designed to promote collaboration in the automotive sector.

Many hardware and software autonomous driving platforms force the end user to adopt particular technology as an all-or-nothing black-box package. The DRVLINE platform however, has been designed so vendors can collaborate and the software can be customized or enhanced and individual components and technologies can be swapped in and out as needed. This also helps future-proof the platform – an essential consideration in such a fast-changing industry: OEMs can market the most advanced existing autonomous technology, while incorporating new innovations as they work toward Level 5 automation.

The DRVLINE platform incorporates several best-in-class components and technologies, which leverage Samsung’s global expertise in electronics, IoT, and embedded systems, including in-car compute for Levels 3, 4, and 5 automation. It also includes a brand-new ADAS forward-facing camera system, created by Samsung and HARMAN, which is engineered to meet upcoming New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) standards. These include lane departure warning, forward collision warning, pedestrian detection, and automatic emergency braking.

“In a car, the human brain is constantly performing incredibly complex calculations while driving,” said John Absmeier, SVP of Autonomous/ADAS Strategic Business Unit at HARMAN and VP of Smart Machines for Samsung Electronics. “How far is that lamppost? Is that pedestrian going to step into the street? How long until the yellow light turns red? The industry has made incredible advances in automation, yet in-car compute is still a long way from approximating the power of our brains. The DRVLINE platform with its open and high-level compute capability is a first major first step toward building an ecosystem to support full autonomy.”

Samsung appears at CES alongside several of its partners in ADAS and autonomous driving. As part of its strategy of open innovation and collaboration, the company has engaged a robust ecosystem of partners across the industry, including:

• Software: TTTech, AImotive, Hella Aglaia, Renovo Auto
• In-Car Compute: Graphcore, ThinCi, Infineon
• Communications: Autotalks, Valens
• Sensors: Quanergy, Tetravue, Oculii, Innoviz

For more information about the Samsung DRVLINE platform, as well as other innovations in the automotive area, please visit www.samsungdrvline.com.

In addition to the fund, HARMAN, which was acquired by Samsung earlier this year, has established a new Autonomous/ADAS Strategic Business Unit (SBU). The new HARMAN SBU, which will report to HARMAN’s Connected Car division, will work with the Samsung Strategy and Innovation Center (SSIC) Smart Machines team to develop key technologies for safer, smarter, connected vehicles.  The SSIC Smart Machines team is an advanced automotive engineering group dedicated to enabling next-generation mobility solutions.

“During this period of extraordinary transformation in the automotive industry, we are excited to play a leadership role in supporting and shaping the future of smarter, more connected vehicles,” said Young Sohn, President and Chief Strategy Officer of Samsung Electronics and Chairman of the Board of HARMAN.  “The Autonomous/ADAS Strategic Business Unit and automotive fund reflect the company’s commitment to the values of open innovation and collaboration. In partnership with OEMs and startups, we will make the driver and passenger experience safer, more convenient, and more enjoyable.”

According to the World Health Organization, road injuries are among the top 10 causes of death worldwide.¹ In the U.S. alone, the most recent data suggests that there are more than 35,000 fatal crashes each year.² Samsung’s goal in the automotive market is to tackle this challenge by bringing to market technologies, from sensors to data-processing solutions, that will help make cars safer while creating a more comfortable and convenient mobility experience.

To address the increasing demand for integrated solutions, particularly those for automated driving, Samsung and HARMAN will focus on engineering, high-performance computing, sensor technologies, algorithms, artificial intelligence, as well as connectivity and cloud solutions that enable Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and automated driving.

“There is already a high demand for ADAS solutions, and that demand is rapidly growing with the advancements in connected cars and autonomous driving,” said Dinesh Paliwal, President and CEO of HARMAN. “This strategic business unit demonstrates Samsung’s and HARMAN’s commitment to answer that call – to be the definitive partner for seamless and integrated technologies. It also reflects the incredible power that Samsung and HARMAN, as a collective force, will bring to our OEM customers as we combine Samsung’s scale and resources with HARMAN’s deep automotive experience and networks. Together, we are driving the future of automotive.”

Industry veteran John Absmeier has been appointed Senior Vice President of the new HARMAN SBU, and will also retain his current role as Vice President of Smart Machines for SSIC.  As a leader in both organizations, John Absmeier will ensure seamless collaboration to bring Autonomous and ADAS solutions to the market.

The first strategic investment of the Samsung Automotive Innovation Fund will be in TTTech, a leader in functional safety, deterministic networking, real-time systems, and complex software integration for ADAS and an automated driving platform. Earlier investments by Samsung’s existing investment funds have included stakes in automotive startups, including AImotive and Renovo for automated driving; Quanergy, TetraVue, and Oculii for sensors; Autotalks and Valens for connectivity; and Graphcore for high-performance computing.

To date, Samsung has secured licenses for on-road testing of autonomous driving software and hardware under development in Korea and California. Samsung will not enter the car-manufacturing business, remaining focused on working with automakers and mobility enablers to develop the next generation of automotive innovation.

About HARMAN

HARMAN (harman.com) designs and engineers connected products and solutions for automakers, consumers, and enterprises worldwide, including connected car systems, audio and visual products, enterprise automation solutions; and services supporting the Internet of Things.  With leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson® and Revel®, HARMAN is admired by audiophiles, musicians and the entertainment venues where they perform around the world. More than 50 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and connected car systems. Our software services power billions of mobile devices and systems that are connected, integrated and secure across all platforms, from work and home to car and mobile. HARMAN has a workforce of approximately 30,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. In March 2017, HARMAN became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics.

¹ http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs310/en

² https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812348

TTTech has been active in the automotive space for years, providing technology to a variety of manufacturers. Samsung’s future investment complements TTTech’s longstanding partnership with AUDI AG and their combined efforts in highly automated piloted driving systems for Volkswagen Group. TTTech’s safety technologies power the zFAS piloted control platform in the 2017 Audi A8.

Beyond automotive, TTTech has improved the safety and reliability of networked computer systems in the aerospace and industrial sectors, with its technologies found in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and NASA’s Orion spacecraft.

“Automotive advances like autonomous controls and advanced driver assistance systems will have a profound impact on society—from transforming urban spaces to bringing mobility to aging populations.   At Samsung, we see it as our responsibility to invest in the technologies that will revolutionize the way we live, work, and connect with one another,” said Young Sohn, President and Chief Strategy Officer of Samsung Electronics and Chairman of the Board for HARMAN. “TTTech has demonstrated a remarkable ability to innovate and build world-class technologies and platforms. This is a seminal moment for Samsung and our Automotive Innovation Fund, and we look forward to working with leading OEMs like Audi and the entire TTTech team to set a new standard for automotive-safety technology.”

“We’re excited about Samsung’s commitment to TTTech and the joint creation of new architecture for open autonomous and ADAS technologies, involving multiple key automotive players and suppliers,” said Alejandro Vukotich, Vice President Autonomous Driving of AUDI AG.

“We are very proud to have Samsung as an investor and partner in TTTech to create solutions for the next generation of highly integrated and data-intensive safety systems” said Georg Kopetz, Member of the Board at TTTech. “Samsung brings a breadth and a depth of technologies as well as an ecosystem of partners to accelerate development for level 2 to level 5 autonomous platforms.”

“Together we will build products to support new NCAP requirements, solutions for in-vehicle infotainment systems, and new scalable architectures to support fully autonomous vehicles across various industries,” stated Stefan Poledna, Member of the Board at TTTech.

At a transformative moment for the auto industry, TTTech plans to use Samsung’s investment to accelerate the growth of its safety technology for autonomous driving and operations. The company’s collaborative and flexible technology—like its new open safety platform, MotionWise—enables OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers to accelerate the development, integration, and validation of new capabilities in their vehicles.

Together, Samsung and HARMAN are fostering the development of cutting-edge automotive safety technologies like those from TTTech, which will raise the bar for automotive safety controls and ADAS throughout the industry.  HARMAN, a Tier 1 supplier, now makes TTTech’s open safety solutions available to the leading global automotive OEMs.

President Young Sohn will join Ricky Hudi, founder and managing director of Future Mobility Technologies, and other industry experts on TTTech Auto division’s new supervisory board.

About TTTech

TTTech is a global leader in the field of robust networking and safety controls. TTTech solutions improve the safety and reliability of electronic systems in the industrial and transportation sectors, with a portfolio of products that are helping to make the Industrial Internet of Things and autonomous driving a reality.

Thanks to the platform-based architecture, TTTech Auto’s production proven solutions enable simple system integration with shorter time-to-market and significant cost reductions for customers. TTTech solutions support highly scalable and modular open real-time control architectures based on Deterministic Ethernet and operates within a rich ecosystem of technology partners.

More information about TTTech and TTTech Auto is available at www.tttech.com

Forward Looking Statement

This press release contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including but are not limited to, statements regarding the benefits of the strategic partnership between Samsung and TTTech Auto;  the development of next-generation solutions for auto safety systems; and the ability of TTTech technology to enable OEMs and other customers to build advance auto safety solutions. These and any other forward-looking statements in this release are based on the parties’ current expectations of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, changes in the markets and the regulatory environment of automobile technology industries, difficulties in integrating technologies of the parties in the partnership, the inability of the new solutions to achieve wide market acceptance, and the ability to compete with other products in the market. The companies are providing the information in this release as of this date and do not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Designed as a High Dynamic Range (HDR) LED theater display, the Cinema LED Screen measures nearly 10.3 meters wide and delivers next-generation picture quality with both ultra-sharp 4K (4,096 x 2,160) resolution and peak brightness levels nearly ten times greater (146fL) than those of conventional projectors. All this adds up to distortion-free visuals that feature the brightest colors, the deepest blacks and the whitest whites, and a theater experience that makes viewers feel as if they’re part of the picture.

The Cinema LED Screen’s integration with audio technologies from JBL by HARMAN, meanwhile, provides likewise realistic sound. This state-of-the-art setup includes powerful speakers bordering the screen, proprietary audio-processing technology, and JBL’s Sculpted Surround System. The result of all this innovation is an incredibly accurate sight and sound experience that allows audiences to view films exactly as their creators intended.

Since its debut, Samsung’s first-of-its-kind screen has grabbed headlines around the world, and garnered positive reviews from filmmakers and movie-goers alike, who have tabbed the display as the theater technology of the future. See for yourself, in the video below, what makes Samsung’s immersive screen a game-changer for the industry.

Audiophiles from every generation rely on HARMAN to produce the best in sound in the studio, on the stage, at home and on the move. Now, working in partnership with Samsung, HARMAN has its sights set on new levels of innovation and connectivity.

At IFA 2017, HARMAN showcased its audio products as the part of the Samsung booth in addition to its own exhibition, and generated a buzz around this exciting new tandem. Among the products on show were high-end headphones, Bluetooth headphones, and portable speakers. Newsroom sat down with HARMAN CEO Dinesh Paliwal to discuss what Samsung and HARMAN have done together already and how he foresees the synergy of both companies in the future.

Q. Samsung’s IFA 2017 booth includes flagship AKG products, as well as products designed to seamlessly sync with Galaxy devices. Could you tell us what it means to have HARMAN’s latest innovations featured in Samsung’s showcase?

It is exciting to witness our combined journey as a global connected technologies powerhouse. Collaboration between Samsung’s Galaxy S8, Tab S3 and Galaxy Note 8 and  HARMAN’s AKG products, which have been recognized for their design and innovation – N60 is a winner of Red Dot Award 2017 and N90Q received EISA Award, CES Innovation Award 2016 and iF Design Award 2016, among others – is a good indicator of what we can achieve together in the future. Samsung’s support allows HARMAN and our brands to attain vast visibility and reach at an incredible pace.

Q. What strengths do you believe the two respective companies – HARMAN and Samsung – bring to the table, and why do they work so well together?

We believe Samsung’s global scale, R&D capabilities, and distribution channels along with HARMAN’s deep technical and engineering expertise, particularly in automotive, audio and enterprise solutions, create the most comprehensive connected technologies company. We are connected with Samsung in our shared vision and culture of speed, innovation and technology.

Q. What aspect of working with Samsung has impressed you the most?

Samsung is truly one of the most innovative and admired companies in the world. Their innovation and technology leadership can deeply benefit HARMAN’s global customer base, and provide HARMAN with the scale, platform and complementary technologies to propel us to the next phase. We are very proud to see Samsung stores in Korea selling HARMAN products, and excited to see our distribution channel expand so quickly. This is just part of what we think defines a true end-to-end partnership.

Q. At this year’s IFA, Samsung has outlined its desire to be a lifestyle brand that changes people’s daily lives. Could you elaborate on how this goal aligns with HARMAN’s?

HARMAN and Samsung are aligned in our goals to drive and elevate the connected lifestyle. At HARMAN, our JBL brand is the market leader in portable speakers. In the world of headphones, everything is moving towards wireless and we were among the first to cut the cord. In our efforts to keep up with the trend, at this year’s IFA we launched a number of new JBL products, including an EISA Award winner JBL Boombox, all-new JBL BAR series, JBL E65BTNC, JBL Free, JBL Jr, and JBL Reflect Fit. Our passion and purpose is to create smart products and solutions that connect and entertain people wherever they are. Our joint vision is to create a world where connected technologies offer people richer and more fulfilling life experiences, and this is really the shared essence of our partnership.

Q. In your opinion, what are some of the ways that advancements in IoT, AI and cloud computing will impact consumer audio technologies’ evolution?

Audio, voice and sound management are critical components of the connected world. Smart audio that is integrated in a seamless, secure and simple way is essential. At HARMAN, we’re leveraging cutting-edge AI and IoT technologies to develop world-class, voice-enabled smart solutions for the home, in the car, at the office and everywhere in between. And this is just the beginning, we envision that advances across the cloud, mobility and analytics will positively connect ecosystems.

Q. How do you foresee the near future? How are HARMAN and Samsung working to shape that future?

HARMAN and Samsung’s union will help us to expand R&D and fast-track innovation in both the near- and long-term. Our combined resources provide the scale, capabilities and networks to expand our leadership in today and tomorrow’s connected lifestyle, and across sectors such as automotive, consumer electronics, retail, healthcare, manufacturing, and enterprise, among others.

Q. Could you give us a taste of the types of audio innovations consumers can expect to see in some of Samsung’s upcoming TVs, mobile phones and appliances?

With the voice-controlled device market to cross $7 billion by 2024, we believe intelligent assistants will shape custom, connected experiences across environments, regardless of the device or platform. Today, HARMAN leads the race in voice-enabled technologies with Personal Digital Assistant solutions for every platform, ecosystem and consumer need. With Samsung, we will have access to resources that will enable us to exceed our expectations across all consumer device segments. In Display, we have already seen the power of immersive audio paired with Samsung’s unrivaled LED screens at the Lotte Cinema in Korea. Imagine that combination in theaters around the world!

The director, who is known for his engaging, well-plotted thrillers such as “Secret Reunion” and “The Front Line,” had already seen the film in several other theaters. However, none of the screenings could compare to the one at the SUPER S theater, the home of the world’s first Cinema LED Screen, a projector-less, HDR screen that creates a captivating viewing experience through next-generation picture quality and true-to-life audio.

Director Jang said that Samsung’s Cinema LED Screen will help audiences to have the same visual experience.

“I’ve been really curious as to what this new screen might be like,” Jang said, referring to the 10.3-meter-wide display, which provides ultra-sharp resolution, bright colors and deep blacks. “Now, I can see that its picture and audio quality will enable directors like myself to more effectively achieve their intended results.”

Jang also noted that the display will help to ensure that all audiences of a film can have the same visual experience, in the way the filmmaker intended. “With conventional projector-based systems, picture quality can differ from theater to theater,” he said. “But the Cinema LED Screen will provide consistent picture quality, no matter the venue in which the film is shown.”

Jang is not the only big name in the industry to be impressed by the visually captivating display.

Director Woo-suk Yang (“The Attorney”) noted at the launching event of the Cinema LED Screen earlier this month that the unveiling of the display marked a “monumental moment” in the 120-year-long history of film, and that Samsung’s technology will create a “revolutionary change” in the way we watch movies.

Director Yang noted at the launching event, “Today marks a monumental moment in the history of movies.”

“It’s been 20 years since the industry began using the term ‘digital cinema’ and it’s only now that we can enjoy motion pictures in a theater directly from the light source, rather than from a projector,” he said. “As a result, there are about to be a lot of changes across the movie industry as a whole – from the actual filming to the editing and finishing processes.”

Unlike standard projectors, which lose color quality as brightness is increased, the Cinema LED Screen maintains perfect color accuracy at peak brightness levels, which are nearly 10 times greater than those of conventional theater projectors. This allows for a more vibrant and immersive viewing experience, as the characters and settings on the screen look exactly as they would in real life. These realistic visuals are complemented by an audio performance that’s just as lifelike, thanks to the screen’s integrated sound technologies from JBL by HARMAN.

As demands within the cinema space evolve, Samsung’s Cinema LED Screen offers the versatility to expand services to meet a wider range of needs. Having already garnered the attention of some of the biggest names in film, Samsung’s Cinema LED Screen is expected to continue to bring big changes to the industry for filmmakers and moviegoers alike.

“Through sharper and more realistic colors, complementary audio and an elevated presentation, our Cinema LED Screen makes viewers feel as if they are part of the picture,” said HS Kim, President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “We are excited to partner with Lotte Cinema to bring this technology to theater-goers, and look forward to continuing to shape the cinema of the future.”

Stretching nearly 10.3m (33.8ft) wide in size, the Cinema LED Screen accommodates a variety of theater configurations while ensuring superior levels of technical performance, reliability and quality. The display brings the visual power of HDR picture quality to the big screen, and enlivens content with both ultra-sharp 4K resolution (4,096 x 2,160) and peak brightness levels (146fL) nearly 10 times greater than that offered by standard projector technologies. Additionally, the Cinema LED Screen’s futuristic, distortion-free presentation leverages ultra-contrast and low-tone grayscale settings to showcase the brightest colors, deepest blacks and most pristine whites at a nearly infinite contrast ratio.

To go with the stunning video technology within the ‘SUPER S’ theater of Lotte Cinema, Samsung has paired its Cinema LED Screen with state-of-the-art audio technologies from JBL by HARMAN. This integration includes powerful speakers bordering the screen, proprietary audio processing technology, and JBL’s Sculpted Surround system, producing an unparalleled sight and sound experience the way the content creators intended.

As demands within the cinema space evolve, Samsung’s Cinema LED Screen offers the versatility to expand services to meet a wider range of audience needs. The display maintains its advanced presentation capabilities in a range of dark and ambient lighting conditions. This flexibility makes the Cinema LED Screen ideal for venues wishing to use their theater space for corporate events, concerts, sports event viewing and gaming competitions.

“‘SUPER S’ theater is a new paradigm of movie screening,” said Wonchun Cha, Lotte Cinema CEO. “We look forward to working with Samsung to introduce new, high-quality technology to the movie industry in the future, and we are excited to drive customer satisfaction through an improved viewing environment that brings a variety of content to life.”

Prior to its commercial debut, Samsung ran the Cinema LED Screen through a series of the industry’s most rigorous tests to validate its performance and presentation. In May 2017, the Cinema LED Screen became the first product to achieve full compliance with the highly-esteemed Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI) theater technology standards prior to its commercial release. This certification acknowledges the display’s ability to showcase the complete color spectrum with unaltered accuracy.

About Lotte Cinema/Entertainment

Lotte Cinema/Entertainment is a Korean-based entertainment company that provides theater screening, movie investment and movie distribution services throughout the globe. By showcasing a variety of culturally-relevant content, Lotte Cinema/Entertainment is committed to delivering Happy Memories to its partners and customers.

Together, More and Better

At the start of the conference on June 14, the companies held the Samsung-HARMAN Partners Forum, where speakers discussed how the integration of Samsung’s visual display technologies with HARMAN’s audio, lighting and control solutions can create an engaging, multi-sensory experience in entertainment, transportation, retail, hospitality, corporate, education and government environments, among others.

Through the incorporation of Samsung’s motion sensors, drape controls and thermostats, and HARMAN’s voice-enabled cognitive room solution, for example, a hotel room can be transformed into a fully-connected environment that offers guests an upgraded in-room experience.

Hospitality Vertical Scenario

Likewise, a theater that utilizes a combination of Samsung’s cinema screen and HARMAN’s JBL speakers and Lexicon immersion processor allows moviegoers to enjoy the latest blockbusters in an exciting new way. This collaboration, first presented in Samsung LED Cinema Screen in Las Vegas on March 27, is expected to be commercialized in July.

Cinema Vertical Scenario

Everywhere, Every Vertical

Under the theme “Your Future. On Display,” Samsung’s booth at InfoComm also showcased a suite of next-generation signage technologies, including two that were deployed in collaboration with HARMAN, that aim to improve efficiency in customer engagement and operation across all verticals.

Samsung demonstrated how HARMAN’s AMX Acendo Core and Acendo Vibe work well with its touch-screen displays to create a huddle space solution that allows for highly efficient remote video conferencing. Visitors were also able to see how corporate interactions in the boardroom can be enhanced through Samsung’s SMART LED Signage equipped with HARMAN’s AV Control System.

“By bringing the leading technologies of Samsung and HARMAN together, we hope to build a more synergistic future to redefine what’s possible in the enterprise environment,” noted Seoggi Kim, Executive Vice President, and Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “We look forward to elevating user experiences and offering more powerful and integrated solutions to our partners as the needs of the market evolve.”

“Together we are well-positioned in an economy where businesses are increasing spending to create more memorable experiences for their customers and to increase productivity from their employees,” said Mohit Parasher, EVP of HARMAN and President of HARMAN Professional Solutions. “Combining audio, video, lighting and controllers into one solution is where the combined synergies of HARMAN and Samsung become very compelling as we define the next generation experience.”

UHQ Audio Playback

Recognizing the importance of audio technology, Samsung equipped the Galaxy S8 with Ultra High Quality (UHQ) Audio Playback capabilities with UHQ 32-bit and DSD support*.

This, along with support for digital recordings up to 32 bit/384kHz, ensures that the smartphone can reproduce the full range of sound from recordings that have been mastered from better than CD quality music sources. In other words, the Galaxy S8 does not downsample (or compress) audio files, so the user can experience music and sound much closer to the original recording. Recording quality, too, has also been improved thanks to the High Acoustic Overload Point (AOP) Mic that minimizes distortion in noisy environments.

Dual Audio

The all-new Dual Bluetooth Audio feature provides users with the facility to simultaneously stream audio to two sets of headphones or speakers, while also allowing them to control the volume of the outputs separately.

Settings > Connections > Bluetooth

Separate App Sound

The new Separate app sound function permits users to simultaneously broadcast sounds from two individual apps using their Galaxy S8 smartphone and a separate device. This means that, for instance, a user may listen to GPS navigation via their Galaxy S8’s speaker while streaming music to their car’s Bluetooth audio system at the same time. The volume of the audio, meanwhile, can also be controlled independently.

Settings > Sounds and vibration > Separate app sound

Adapt Sound 6.0

The Galaxy S8’s Adapt Sound 6.0 function has been improved with new Preset and Advanced modes to allow for enhanced audio personalization. Clinical research and statistical analysis of people’s hearing patterns were used to develop three preset sound profiles optimized for people by age: under 30 years, between 30 and 60 years, and over 60 years.

Users can select a preset profile according to their age, or opt to use the Advanced mode to test their hearing and find the best sound for them. The Galaxy S8 will then automatically adjust the audio output for calls, music and video based on their specific needs so they can enjoy a truly tailor-made audio experience.

Settings > Sounds and vibration > Sound quality and effects

SoundAlive 4.1

The latest Galaxy flagship is also backed by SoundAlive 4.1, a tool that gives the user the ultimate control over sound quality and effects.** The tool features an easy-to-use, 9-band Equalizer with six pre-set options to tweak the phone’s audio; a UHQ Upscaler to enhance sound resolution; and Surround, Tube Amp Pro and Concert hall effects.

Settings > Sounds and vibration > Sound quality and effects

Extra Volume

There’s nothing worse than having to make or take a call in a noisy environment, such as a crowded café or heavily-trafficked street. But the Galaxy S8’s Extra volume feature makes it possible to increase the call volume without sacrificing sound quality by simply tapping an icon, right from the call screen.

Interview Mode

To better capture an interview using the Galaxy S8’s Voice Recorder app, users can activate Interview mode. In this mode, sounds near the top and bottom of the phone are amplified, while those closer to the sides are suppressed to ensure the voices of both the interviewer and interviewee are crisp and clear.

UHQ Upscaler

To enhance the sound resolution of music and videos even further, users can activate the UHQ upscaler via the Entertainment Mode settings menu.

Settings >Device Maintenance >Performance Mode>Entertainment

Superior, In-Box Earphones

For the Galaxy S8, Samsung worked with HARMAN to create AKG-tuned earphones that deliver pure, superior sound. Included as an in-box accessory, the new high-performance earphones have dual drivers — 11 and 8 millimeters — to offer uncompromised audio for unbeatable sound quality. In addition, the earphones have a comfortable hybrid canal fit for improved noise cancellation and are made from anti-tangle, metal-fabric material.

*DSD64 and DSD128 playback may be limited depending on the file format.

**Some features are only available when the device is connected to a pair of earphones.

Dr. Jaeweon Cho, Director of 5G Technology Strategy within Samsung’s Next-Generation Communications Business Team, and Samsung’s representative on the Board, said “This is a serious opportunity for Samsung and our industry partners to leverage the work we’re doing in diverse spaces such as mobile networks, home appliances and chipsets and apply it to the growing connected car industry. I’m really excited to explore the potential opportunities here and help the 5GAA Board set its future direction. What the 5GAA and Samsung are working on will be globally transformational.”

Samsung acquired Harman, a company with leadership in connected car technologies, in March of this year. Samsung expects that the combination of  this expertise paired with its own experience in mobile devices, wireless networks and chipset development will serve to empower the 5GAA’s mission to accelerate the commercialization of communications solutions that improve mobility and safety on our transportation networks.

In addition to joining the 5GAA board, Samsung was also elected to serve as Vice-Chair of the 5GAA’s Working Group 4, which is responsible for exploring connected car-related standards and radio spectrum opportunities.

Samsung joined the 5GAA in January as a pioneering leader in 5G technology development and strives to support industry initiatives to standardize approaches to research, develop, commercialize and deploy wireless technologies that will power entirely new and exciting use cases, from connected cars to augmented reality and beyond.

Samsung Electronics will unveil its latest visual display blockbuster, the new Samsung Cinema Screen. As the world’s first High Dynamic Range LED theater display, the cinema screen delivers unprecedented picture quality and brings movies and other on-screen contents to life with higher vibrancy and accuracy.

Samsung will formally debut the cinema LED screen at a series of preview demonstrations during March 27-30, 2017 at the Cinemark Century Orleans 18 and XD Theatre, located inside The Orleans Hotel & Casino. The premiere will coincide with the neighboring CinemaCon 2017 conference, the largest and most important gathering for the worldwide motion picture theater industry with attendees from more than 80 countries.

The 34 foot Samsung Cinema Screen easily accommodates modern theater dimensions. In addition to delivering LED picture quality at 4K (4,096 x 2,160) resolution, the screen also exceeds the highly-esteemed DCI specifications used to ensure a uniform and high level of technical performance, reliability, and quality in digital cinema. As a result, the new Samsung screen’s performance surpasses traditional projection-based technologies’ visual capabilities for a realistic presentation and is guaranteed to impress even the most entertainment-savvy guests.

“As the popularity of advanced at-home entertainment systems and streaming platforms increases, theaters must reposition themselves as a destination for an incomparable viewing experience that consumers simply cannot encounter anywhere else,” said Sang Kim, Vice President of Samsung Electronics America. “Our new Cinema Screen technology brings a more powerful and high-quality picture to the big screen, creating an environment where viewers feel as if they are part of every scene.”

The Cinema Screen’s direct-lit LED technology truly delivers High Dynamic Range (HDR) to the cinema, showcasing on-screen contents at a peak brightness level nearly 10 times greater than that offered by standard cinema projectors (146fL versus 14fL) with improved uniformity and free of optical distortion and interference. This futuristic exhibition also offers a highly accurate and superior color presentation that will capture the viewer’s eye. Complementary ultra-contrast and low tone grayscale settings enable the screen to showcase both brightest colors and the deepest blacks at a nearly infinity:1 contrast ratio.

The innovation present in Cinema Screen will be matched with an innovative audio solution powered by Harman Professional Solutions’ Cinema Group (a recently completed acquisition) and Samsung’s Audio Lab. Details will be forthcoming about this combined evolution in cinema “Sight & Sound.”

“Harman is excited to continue its collaboration with the Samsung Cinema Screen team and the Samsung Audio Lab. With our expertise in cinema sound systems, we look forward to helping to extend Samsung’s leadership in Visual Display solutions into the theater,” said Brian Divine, Vice President of Tour and Cinema Solutions Group.

As the demands for movie theater space evolve, the Samsung Cinema Screen offers the versatility to satisfy various audience needs. The screen maintains its advanced presentation capabilities in ambient lighting conditions regardless of the featured on-screen content and accommodates users who wish to utilize their theaters for corporate events, concert and sports event viewing, and gaming competitions.

“The launch of our cinema LED display is merely the latest step toward our vision for a complete end-to-end theater experience powered by digital signage,” said Seog-gi Kim, Senior Vice President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “Through modern technologies ranging from touch-screen self-ticketing kiosks to digital concession menu boards and interactive movie posters, Samsung already is helping theaters improve customer engagement and boost operational efficiency. We look forward to continuing to serve as a total solutions provider for the theater industry and finding new and exciting ways to improve the customer experience.”

The Samsung Cinema Screen is currently undergoing the DCI certification process and recently completed compliance test at Keio University in Tokyo.

To learn more about CinemaCon 2017, visit cinemacon.com.

“Today is a historic moment for us. The close of this transaction opens the door to create substantial growth opportunities and deliver greater benefits for customers worldwide,” said Young Sohn, President and Chief Strategy Officer of Samsung Electronics, and Chairman of the Board, HARMAN. “We see transformative opportunities in the car – and a future which seamlessly connects lifestyle across automotive, home, mobile and work. Samsung’s and HARMAN’s leadership in these spaces perfectly positions Samsung to be the preferred partner to our OEM customers. In addition, bringing together HARMAN’s iconic audio brands and capabilities paired with Samsung’s leading display technologies will deliver enhanced audio and video experiences to consumers and professional end markets. And most importantly, we are enthusiastic about our common vision, the similarities in our culture of innovation, and the added value we can create for customers. We look forward to working with all of HARMAN’s employees to execute on our vision.”

“We are excited to have completed the transaction, which provides compelling cash value to our stockholders, benefits our customers and provides new opportunities for our employees,” said Dinesh Paliwal, HARMAN President and CEO.  “Samsung shares our commitment to our customers and our culture of speed, innovation and execution.  Samsung provides HARMAN with the scale, platform and complementary technologies to accelerate growth and extend our global market leadership in automotive, smart audio and connected technologies. Recognizing the importance of partnerships in an increasingly connected world, particularly in automotive, we are poised to leverage our combined teams and resources to produce even greater value for our customers. Working closely with automakers and other technology companies, Samsung and HARMAN will define – and drive – the future of automotive.”

In connection with the completion of the transaction, HARMAN’s common stock will cease trading prior to market open on March 13, 2017 and will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. HARMAN will operate as a standalone Samsung subsidiary, overseen by a Board of Directors led by Mr. Sohn. Mr. Paliwal will remain CEO of HARMAN, leading the Company with his management team, and will continue to serve as a member of its Board. Samsung is retaining HARMAN’s work force, headquarters and facilities, as well as all of its consumer and professional audio brands.

About HARMAN

HARMAN (harman.com) designs and engineers connected products and solutions for automakers, consumers, and enterprises worldwide, including connected car systems, audio and visual products, enterprise automation solutions; and connected services.  With leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson® and Revel®, HARMAN is admired by audiophiles, musicians and the entertainment venues where they perform around the world. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and connected car systems. The Company’s software services power billions of mobile devices and systems that are connected, integrated and secure across all platforms, from work and home to car and mobile. HARMAN has a workforce of approximately 30,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

As the first stage of this audio collaboration, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3 will debut with quad stereo-sound speakers tuned by AKG. With premium 4K video playback and a vivid Super AMOLED display, the Galaxy Tab S3 will offer a cinema-like experience and feature S Pen productivity. The tablet’s AKG tuned speakers will produce pure sounds, free from distortion and distraction, inspiring listeners with a truly immersive acoustic experience. The speakers will also automatically adjust depending on whether the device is in landscape or portrait mode to offer the highest-quality sound.

Samsung and AKG will expand their collaboration by bringing AKG’s superior listening experience to Samsung Galaxy smartphones. Select Galaxy smartphone users will soon be able to enjoy pure, natural sound with earphones tuned by AKG included in-box with their smartphone.

AKG by HARMAN was founded by an engineer and physicist with the idea of creating pure studio sound that could become a catalyst for creative expression. For 70 years, AKG microphones and headphones have been used from the studio to the stage by the world’s most respected musicians, producers and DJs with a legacy of innovation that includes more than 1,000 patents and over 300 inventions in the field of electro acoustics.

“AKG has been delivering Grammy® Award-Winning reference sound for professional musicians for more than 70 years. Integrating AKG technology will greatly enhance Samsung’s mobile products by delivering a fully differentiated and superior audio experience to customers,” said Michael Mauser, President, HARMAN Lifestyle Audio. “We are very excited to be a part of Samsung’s prestigious Galaxy portfolio and look forward to bringing our premium audio capabilities to Samsung Galaxy users worldwide.”

Younghee Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of Mobile Marketing and Wearable & Accessory business at Samsung Electronics, said, “HARMAN and the AKG brand were the natural choice to elevate our audio quality and immediately communicate the distinct and premium offering that we wanted to bring to consumers with our new product introductions. For a totally immersive experience, we wanted the best performance in audio – and we achieved that through this exciting collaboration, giving Galaxy users the ability to fully enjoy enhanced listening experiences across Samsung’s mobile portfolio.”

About HARMAN

HARMAN (harman.com) designs and engineers connected products and solutions for automakers, consumers, and enterprises worldwide, including connected car systems, audio and visual products, enterprise automation solutions; and connected services.  With leading brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson® and Revel®, HARMAN is admired by audiophiles, musicians and the entertainment venues where they perform around the world. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and connected car systems. The Company’s software services power billions of mobile devices and systems that are connected, integrated and secure across all platforms, from work and home to car and mobile. HARMAN has a workforce of approximately 30,000 people across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and reported sales of $7.2 billion during the last 12 months ended December 31, 2016. The Company’s shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NYSE:HAR. Learn More About AKG at: http://www.akg.com/