With Consumer-Centric Innovations, Samsung Electronics Latin America Showcases How It Is Building a Better Tomorrow and Creating Meaningful Technology

Samsung Electronics showcased, to over 350 stakeholders from all over Latin America, an exciting array of Smart and category re-defining products, from wearables to Smart TVs and washing machines, at the Samsung Latin America Forum 2016 in Estoril – Portugal.

The Samsung Latin America Forum is an annual event that provides exciting opportunities to experience the latest innovations in the industry, exchange information, as well as meet the leaders who are the driving force behind Samsung Electronics’ progress in 19 countries – from Mexico in Central America all the South to Chile and Argentina.

At the event, the company reinforced its focus on smart and connected lifestyles, while also revealing a premium set of new products that are coming to the region this year, which includes the bezel-less curved SUHD TVs with Quantum dot display; the flexible – next generation of smart kitchen appliances with a range of refrigerators with Twin Cooling™ technology; besides the cleverly designed and industry-first front load washing machine using AddWash™, among other unique products and services.

“We are confident that our exciting range of premium connected products and services will be very well received in the Latin American market, where consumers trust and recognize the superior value of the Samsung brand”, affirms Pedro Kim, president & CEO for Samsung in the region. He added, “Samsung will continue to enhance and revolutionise the everyday lives of its consumers by listening closely and anticipating their needs, and delivering state-of-the-art products and services that fulfil and exceed expectations.”

Samsung established the Latin American Research & Development Centres, Lifestyle Research Labs, and Product Innovation teams to operate as in-house incubators, to learn more about behavioural patterns in Latin America and tune-in to their needs, and developing technologies and innovation that are driven and inspired the market.

Setting a New Standard for Home Entertainment

Samsung unveiled its spectacular new line of SUHD TVs, which offers unparalleled picture quality with Quantum dot display and HDR technologies, together with state-of-the-art design – the world’s first bezel-less curved TV, which is beautiful from every angle; and the smartest user experience that makes it easy for consumers to access all their entertainment content in one place.

Samsung’s 2016 SUHD TVs feature the world’s only cadmium-free, 10-bit Quantum dot display, offering the most true-to-life picture quality with stunning brightness, exceptional contrast and the most lifelike colours ever offered by Samsung. The future of display technology, Quantum dot display converts light into nearly any colour in the visible spectrum without distortion or compromising the brightness level, delivering the optimum viewing experience for consumers, regardless of the lighting environment.

This year, all of the Samsung SUHD TVs will feature the ability to provide a premium high dynamic range (HDR) experience, with 1,000 nit HDR minimum for a higher level of contrast between light and dark images. New Ultra Black technology also significantly reduces light reflection, further enhancing picture quality with minimal glare.

Built on the Tizen operating system (OS), Samsung’s 2016 Smart TVs make it easier for consumers to discover and access all their favourite content and services, from TV shows and movies, to games and programme information, all in one place. The new Samsung Smart TV eliminates the need to juggle multiple remote controls. The Samsung Smart TV will automatically recognise the type of game console, OTT box or home theatre system that is connected to the TV. This allows users to control such external devices with the Smart Control remote — with no setup required.

Samsung also unveiled the latest additions to its audio product lineup, including the new soundbar lineup with the wireless rear speaker kit  that creates a “True” surround sound system without any wire, and Samsung’s Wireless Audio 360 Speakers that deliver the ‘sweet spot’ everywhere in the home with proprietary ‘Ring Radiator’ technology for a rich and vibrant audio experience.

New Generation of Digital Appliances Transforms the Home and Makes Life More Pleasant

The revolutionary Samsung Smart Convertible 5-in-1 Refrigerator is powered by Twin Cooling™ technology that enables consumers to be flexible with cooling storage, depending on their needs. First in the refrigerator category, the fridge and freezer compartment has its own cooling system allowing the refrigerator to be flexible depending on the necessity, offering five different modes: Daily, Economy, Vacation, Party and MiniBar. The five (5) conversion modes deliver the required flexibility, while also saving energy according to the chosen setting.

Many consumers have dreamed of owning a spacious refrigerator that keeps food fresher, so their weekly grocery shop lasts longer. But it is a common disappointment to reach into the refrigerator to find that the fruits or vegetables have lost their natural moisture, even when kept in the vegetable drawer. That is the reason why Samsung’s teams have developed the innovative Twin Cooling Plus™ technology, which with a truly independent cooling system, prevents unpleasant smells from food moving between the fridge and freezer, ensuring the original flavour of ingredients stored in the freezer is perfectly preserved and odourless.

The air does not move between the compartments, and the freezer stays completely frost-free, prolonging the shelf life and the flavour of its contents. It also prevents the build-up of ice, removing the need to defrost the freezer.

Moving from the kitchen to the laundry area, Samsung’s new washing machines come with the much needed, practical solutions for easier and more efficient daily experiences. The Samsung Add Wash front-load washer allows consumers to add items – such as an overlooked sock or t-shirt – or either, add fabric softener, during wash cycle, through its world’s first additional “Add Door” located on the upper part of the main door.

It also comes with an array of smart functions, which work with both Android and iOS smartphones. That not only makes it easy to monitor the progress of the laundry program, but also offers the option to alert users on their smartphone just before the start of a new washing cycle, for example if they want to add a few delicate or hand-wash items towards the end of the wash cycle. An embodiment of Samsung’s innovation in delivering time savings and washing performance, the AddWash Washing Machine comes with a SuperSpeed feature that makes it possible to complete a normal wash in less than an hour without compromising washing performance.

In terms of top loaders, the 9kg & 11kg ActivWash+ with built-in sink and dedicated Water Jet for convenient pre-treatment of laundry, incorporates a magic dispenser that lets you wash with less worry about residual detergent. It is specially designed to create a powerful water vortex that dissolves both liquid and powder detergent and spreads it evenly before you start washing.

Breaking Barriers in Mobile Productivity and Wearable Technology

In the 2016 Forum, Samsung also showcased the news of its wearables for Latin America. The brand announced the increase in its portfolio of products and services that work seamlessly together, also breaking new grounds and introducing new categories. This is the case of Gear VR – Virtual reality goggles with high definition that allow people 2D and 3D experiences. Beyond creating immersive situations in a very comfortable way, it also counts with a large amount of contents.

On the other side, Gear S2 classic 18k rose gold and platinum will also come to Latin America, offering a more personal and customizable experience. Therefore, Samsung is expanding its line of watch straps and watch face options. Samsung has partnered with exclusive designers, such as Alessandro Mendini, on premium watch straps for the Gear S2, and has introduced fun and creative watch faces including Peanuts characters and artworks.

Mobile Payment Service in Devices

On top of all the high quality smart devices already available in Latin America, Samsung is also developing new services to guarantee, full convenience and connectivity, proving its commitment with meaningful technology.

Samsung Pay is about to be launched in Brazil, in the coming months. With the widest acceptance of any mobile payment service, Samsung Pay is also very safe and simple, bringing us closer to a world without wallets. When it is time to pay, just launch Samsung Pay, scan your fingerprint and hold your Samsung device close to credit card reader in the payment machine. Done! In short seconds, the operation is concluded.

Even fast, it does not lack anything in terms of security. The system also has security layers composed of KNOX that constantly monitors any malicious activity. Each transaction uses a digital token to replace the actual card number. The mobile authorizes payment only with the consent (authentication through fingerprint) of the user.

Samsung Pay works with most existing card terminals in Latin America. That means this is the first and only payment solution that will make a transaction in almost any place where you can tap a credit or debit card (Samsung Pay is compatible to supports both NFC and MST systems)

Corporate Citizenship at the Heart of Business Strategy

Pedro Kim, president and CEO of Samsung Electronics Latin America, speaks about company’s vision and business strategy during a press conference at Samsung Latin America Forum 2016

For the first time at Samsung Forum, the company detailed in depth its Corporate Citizenship initiatives all around Latin America.

“Our strategy in Corporate Social Responsibility is based in using Samsung’s global network and innovations to create positive change for people across the world. Specifically, in Latin America, we have chosen education as our main cause”, explains Helvio Kanamaru, senior manager of Corporate Citizenship at Samsung Latin America Office.

In this context, Samsung works with three major programs in the region. They are:

• Solve for Tomorrow is a program that challenges young students in Latin America (since 2014) to show creative ideas of how Math and Science can improve their local communities. Goal: stimulate youth’s engagement into thinking about practical solutions to issues encountered in daily lives (society).
• Tech Institute is the program in which Samsung contributes to personal and technical professional training for young people in order to promote inclusion according to labor demand in the industry. Samsung is even starting to provide the 1^st IoT Tech Institute of Latin America, in partnership with USP University in Brasil (in São Paulo).
• Samsung Smart Schools are aimed at providing students and teachers of under-served areas with quality environment for education. Goal: enhance the learning process of students enrolled in public schools by providing new technologies and equipment, making the educational environment more intuitive, interactive and efficient.

“Innovation brings us not only inspiration to create new products and to deliver growth for our business, but also, great ability to help us on addressing some of the major social challenges of the world”, concludes Pedro Kim, CEO and President of Samsung Latin America.