CES 2012: Samsung Looks To Deliver Convergence Umbrella

By Peter Suciu -- TWICE, 1/12/2012

LAS VEGAS - Sharing and connectivity between platforms and devices is what Samsung promises for 2012 and beyond at International CES this week.

Yoo Lee, product innovation VP at Samsung Electronics America

For this convergence, Samsung will not limit itself to one standard, such as near field communication or Cloud-based connectivity. Instead this convergence will evolve as it is developed.

"We will pull in what technology is available," said Yoon Lee, product innovation VP at Samsung Electronics America. "We are not keen on Cloud only. We will work with whatever technology is available."

Lee noted that this technology was about bringing the connected lifestyle to consumers.

"This is not about hopping from one screen to another," said Lee. "This is our driving strategy for 2012 and beyond."

Samsung's N Service will be built around key strategic directions, which Lee outlined at a press briefing here. These strategies include the combined experience, from consumption to control, across an open hardware ecosystem that is available and optimized. The core concept of these strategies, said Lee, is that software will not be developed for one platform, but instead the goal would be to develop innovative solutions that can be used across multiple devices.

Lee further demonstrated three product offerings to exemplify the key differentiators to Samsung's convergence strategy including AllShare Play, AllShare Control and Family Story. AllShare Play will further let consumers easily share and store content from one device to another, and Lee said it would further promise remote access, instant play of content, seamless interaction and even web page sharing.

AllShare Control will give users universal control of all screens, where users can treat their smartphones, tablets and even smart TVs as remote controls. These would be multi-device controllers for such applications as presentations, home monitoring and even remote access control.

Family Story will allow users to openly, yet also privately, share content with family and friends across multiple devices, while offering a secure network where content can be shared only with those who are invited to view the content.