Samsung Galaxy S4 Understands Korean Dialects?! 

Samsung Galaxy S4 's 'S Voice Engine', 'S Translator' and 'S Voice Drive' now allows for a more correct translation of Korean dialects.

The South Korean conglomerate have been collecting data about different dialects around Korea (and mind you, they are remarkably different from standard Korean).

Samsung Electronics have been continuously making developments in the voice technology area. S4 had a 'non-touch' concept that allows you to control major functions using your voice only.

Samsung Electronics official said that "[they] have been making continued progress in speech recognition and voice technology... in preparation for the next product."

It will be interesting to see what the next device from Samsung would look like!

LG Releases Displays With Bendable screens

We all know that LG is investing in flexible displays for new high-tech panels and mobile devices (OLED panels) that support ultra high-definition (UHD). Obviously, the South Korean conglomerate is solidifying its leadership in the display market. They will be mass producing a new flexible smartphone panel for major clients from the Q4 2013.

LG said that this new development is to meet the growing demand for innovative business solutions.

The firm plans to release its first flexible smartphone later on in 2013. LG’s competitor, Samsung Display is working on a similar product - it’s unlikely that the Galaxy Note 3 will have a flexible screen. This is due to manufacturing-related issues.

 LG’s plan to dominate the global OLED market and legal suit

Flexible OLEDs are just one part of LG. LG has been increasing its investment (as we saw earlier this year) in various business projects and have been devloping OLED TV screens.

“LG Display is developing UHD OLED TV screens. For enhanced brightness, we plan to switch the existing ‘bottom-emission’ tech into ‘top-emission’ tech. The company also has interests in developing materials that can help OLED applications extend their lifespan,” an LG affiliate said.

LG Display however has been involved in a legal battle with Samsung Display due to Samsung's involvement in 'stealing' OLED patents. There has been a police raid (we wrote about this also) - and officials at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said that the investigation should be finished by September 2013.

Samsung Struggles In The US Tablet Market

Market analysts have said that Samsung Electronics is struggling to get a strong foothold in the US tablet market. This is due to their lack of understanding of customers. The Korean conglomerate considers US as its most important market.

However, Apple currently dominates the tablet market.

“Samsung’s tablet share in the U.S. is hovering around 13 percent, well below Apple’s 50 percent. Our technicians and management are now trying to come up with a different approach,” said one Samsung affiliate.

What are major challenges for Samsung?

•  higher retail prices,
• lack of competitive content,
• lower royalties of the Google Android software and
• Americans’ preference for Apple’s iOS user interface

Samsung focuses on hardware, something that tends to turn American consumers off. A Samsung insider, surnamed Park, says the company stuck to its old-fashioned marketing style that focuses on hardware, but notes that this strategy “hasn’t been very effective.”

An analyst at Kium Securities, Lee Jay-yoon said that: “Consumers in the United States just use tablets as a plaything. They just purchase goods via online shopping malls and play games. Samsung should think about simplicity not complexity if it wants to grab the minds of U.S. consumers... Samsung needs to expand its budget tablet lineups if it wants to get a greater share in the United States. That means some unnecessary features on the general consumer side should be removed strategically. More budget tablet variants doesn’t mean less brand awareness. Samsung’s brand power has increased in the United States." 

Rather than release more variations of the Galaxy smartphone in 2014, Samsung Electronics plans to roll out more tablets. The company hopes the strategy will solidify corporate brand awareness by combining the minds of consumers with Samsung devices.