IFA 2014: VR, Notes and Curved Displays

Out of all the exhibitors at IFA last week, Samsung probably had the most bang in terms of diversity. The Korean tech giant has announced two smartphones, a virtual reality headset and a new curved TV.
For starters, there’s the new Galaxy Note 4. The phablet features a 5.7-inch display with QHD resolution and a pixel density of 515ppi. The display, just like its predecessor is a Super AMOLED type and is covered by 2.5D Gorilla Glass 3 panel.

The Note 4 will come in two variants. On one hand we have the Snapdragon 805 version with an LTE Cat 6 support while on the other hand, we have an Exynos 5433 chip with LTE Cat 4 connectivity.  Both versions will have a 16MP camera at the back with optical image stabilization while the front will be graced by a 3.7MP camera with a f/1.9 aperture.
There’s also a 3220mAh battery which supports Qi wireless charging. The phablet will also have three microphones for noise suppression and will have a metal frame just like the Samsung Galaxy Alpha that was unveiled a few weeks back. The Note 4 will be offered starting in October in four different color options including frosted white, charcoal black, bronze gold and blossom pink.
Samsung also announced at the event the much cooler brother of the Galaxy Note 4 – the Galaxy Note Edge. 

Specs-wise, the Galaxy Note Edge is identical to the company’s new phablet with the exception of one special feature. The phone features a curved display that sort of waterfalls at the right edge of the device.
This extra bit of screen gives an additional 160 pixels to the resolution of the Note 4. Moreover, Samsung has put a lot of extra features to maximize this extra space on the phone. For instance, the edge of the display can show different information to a user including stocks, notifications, timer, various shortcuts or even social media feeds.
The phone will be offered before the end of the year with pricing information and specific shipping dates to be announced near the official launch of the device.
Then there’s the Samsung Gear VR – its entry to the virtual reality market. The headset was developed in partnership with Oculus and provides a cheaper alternative compared to Facebook’s Rift or Sony’s Project Morpheus. 

Unlike offerings from Sony and Facebook, the Samsung VR uses the display of the Galaxy Note 4 in order to bring virtual reality to the masses. Basically, the Note 4 clips on to the Gear VR and the headset uses the phone’s sensors in order to bring a sense of virtual reality to the user.
The headset features a small track pad a set of navigation buttons on the side for controlling certain functions of the device. The Gear VR also has a 96-degree field of view and a refresh rate of around 60Hz. 
The device only uses the sensors and controls available on the phone and lacks depth tracking. It only tracks movement that is registered on its accelerometer and gyro sensor and that’s it. There’s also a feature called Video Passthrough that uses the Note 4’s rear 16MP camera and gives uses an augmented reality experience by showing the user a live feed of the real world.

Finally, Samsung also took the opportunity to introduce its newest curved big screen TV. The TV has a 105-inch display with 4K resolution and an aspect ratio of 21:9. It can bend the display turning from a flat screen TV to a curved one in seconds. There’s no word yet on when Samsung plans to ship this product but it’s bound to be more expensive than the $100k+ model it announced last year.
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