Posted Fri Jun 22, 2018 at 08:50 AM PDT by Steven Cohen
We've compiled the latest gear news, including Samsung's QLED summer tour, Bowers & Wilkins new partnership with the Philips brand, and more.
From product announcements and streaming app updates to general industry news and recent gear trends, keeping up with the latest tech news can be a daunting task. With that in mind, we're here to offer you a roundup of some of the latest gear and consumer electronics news that you may have missed.
For this edition, we're covering the launch of Samsung's QLED TV experience tour, Philips new partnership with Bowers & Wilkins, and Amazon's Alexa service for hotel rooms.
So, without further ado, here's a rundown of some of the latest gear and tech news:
Samsung has announced the launch of an experiential US tour for its 2018 QLED TVs. Throughout the summer, visitors in select cities can try out the displays and compete in Forza Motorsport 7 matches on the Xbox One X.
The tour will feature custom-built gaming pods and QLED TVs on a traveling semi-truck set to make stops in LA, San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dallas, and Houston. Guests can then participate in the QLED Cup activation, with participants racing for the fastest winning time in Forza Motorsport 7 on the Xbox One X.
Here's a full rundown of tour dates and locations per Samsung:
- Fry’s Electronics, Renton, WA: June 22-24
- Fry’s Electronics, San Jose, CA: July 6
- Fry’s Electronics, Sunnyvale, CA: July 7
- Fry’s Electronics, Fremont, CA: July 8
- Fry’s Electronics, Manhattan Beach, CA: July 12
- Fry’s Electronics, Fountain Valley, CA: July 13
- Fry’s Electronics, San Diego, CA: July 14-15
- Comic Con, San Diego, CA: July 19-22
- Fry’s Electronics, Las Vegas, NV: July 26
- Conn’s HomePlus, Phoenix, AZ: July 29
- Conn’s HomePlus, Mesquite, TX: August 3
- NFM, The Colony, TX: August 5
Samsung's 2018 QLED lineup is led by the flagship Q9 display. The TVs all feature AMD Radeon FreeSync capabilities with adaptive refresh tech, enabling stutter-free gaming.
Source: Samsung
TP Vision and its Philips brand have announced a new partnership with Bowers & Wilkins. As part of the multi-year exclusive agreement, the companies will work together to make TVs for the European market, combining Philips' expertise in video quality and Bowers & Wilkins' experience in audio technologies
"For far too long, as an industry, we have allowed sound quality to be the poor relation when considering TV performance," said Martijn Smelt, Chief Marketing Officer for TP Vision. "A challenge that has been further exaggerated by the outstanding quality of our OLED sets. So, I'm delighted that we have been able to partner with the World's best audio company Bowers & Wilkins to ensure that in future our Philips High End TV sound will offer a uniquely premium experience."
Under the new partnership, both companies will share internal engineering resources in Europe in order to develop TVs with superior sound quality.
"Our new partnership with TP Vision presents a fantastic opportunity to help redefine the parameters of sound quality & performance on a TV," said Richard Campbell, Chief Revenue Officer for Bowers and Wilkins. "The superb new line of Philips TVs will introduce our well-known audio performance to a new consumer audience who will be able to enjoy first-hand, the incredible experience only we can provide, 'Sound by Bowers and Wilkins'."
Though specific models have not been announced yet, the first products to benefit from the partnership are set to be revealed at the IFA Show in Berlin later this year.
Source: TP Vision
Amazon has announced the launch of Alexa for Hospitality, bringing its voice assistant to the hotel industry. As part of the rollout, Marriott International will be among the first hotel companies to offer Alexa at select locations this summer.
"Customers tell us they love how easy it is to get information, enjoy entertainment, and control connected devices by simply asking Alexa, and we want to offer those experiences everywhere customers want them," said Daniel Rausch, Vice President, Amazon. "Alexa for Hospitality makes your hotel stay a little more like being at home and gives hospitality providers new ways to create memorable stays for their guests."
With Alexa for Hospitality, hotels can now offer voice assistant features via an Amazon Echo in their rooms, allowing guests to access services and amenities in a whole new way. Once installed and configured, hotels can enable guests to use Alexa to ask for hotel information like pool hours, request services like housekeeping, call the concierge, control and adjust in-room devices, or play music from services like iHeartRadio and TuneIn. Likewise, the service will also soon support temporary logins enabling guests to link the hotel's Alexa-enabled device to their own Amazon account during their stay in order to access personal music and audiobooks.
"Marriott has a long track record of innovating for our guests, and we're thrilled to be among the first to offer Alexa for Hospitality," said
The Alexa for Hospitality experience is set to arrive at select properties in Marriott Hotels,
Source: Amazon
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