Among a giant drop of Asia-only Samsung sets today is one nice tidbit--a 40-inch Series 7 LCD with local-dimming LED backlighting, the smallest set yet to do so. The latest US Series 9 LED-lit LCDs we saw recently are definitely on the high end (US$4,200 for a 55-incher), but the PAVV Bordeauk 780 (similar to the 850 being shown off by the lovely ladies above) shows that Samsung is keen to push energy-saving, black-enhancing LED tech down the line. It joins all the regular 1080p, 120Hz goodness we've seen before. Good deal. No word on the pricing even in Asia yet. [Tech ON]

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If you want to build a skyscraper 2,275 feet (693 metres) tall, you will face engineering challenges comparable to those of the Space Shuttle just because its sheer size. One of them is communications. When the unbelievable Burj Dubai started to get really high, the construction workers discovered one problem that seems obvious now: their walkie-talkies stopped working as they climbed the structure.

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Here's a viral video of the Samsung Omnia. I'm not sure if a troupe of minuscule, badly rotoscoped Vegas dancers and an orchestra will send the message home, but whatever works for the people who announced their alleged iPhone-wannabe on the worst day possible is good enough for us. [YouTube- Thanks Jack!]

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The Gadget: Samsung's 46-inch Series 6 LCD TV.
Price: The RRP's $3,849, although you can pick it up cheaper in the shops.

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Samsung has been pioneering efforts to improve performance of SSDs in operating systems, working with Apple to integrate ZFS reading and writing to the next version of OSX Server. This means a 128-bit file system with faster data throughput and lots of other fun things that make servers run better. This also means Apple is taking SSD technology seriously, as it has already dropped the price of the SSD upgrade for the MacBook Air—the only current MacBook to ship with an SSD option—to US$599 from US$999. We likely won't see SSDs across the MacBook lines yet, but this means it could be in the cards. [MacRumors]

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Samsung are one of the few companies outside of Apple who really take their MP3 players seriously. That's why their S3 looks like such a promising little music player.

The guys from the US had a look at the S3 back in April, but Samsung has just announced that they're releasing it in Australia. That means we get an MP3 player that will play back MP3, WMA, OGG, MPEG4, JPG and TXT files, will let you drag and drop files onto the device, and comes in a range of colours (pink, white, blue and black) and capacities (up to 8GB). It also uses LEDs to light up the controls, which looks cool, as you can see from the picture.

The pricing's a bit weird though: $129 for 2GB, $149 for 4GB and $209 for 8GB. I mean, who's going to opt for just 2GB when an extra 20 bucks gets you double the storage? Hopefully nobody reading this, that's for sure...

[Samsung]

"Firmware update" sounds like something you'd want. Something solid, yet fresh and new. But lately deciding to update is getting more complicated. The newest firmware is no longer just a nice downloadable present from a benevolent electronics overlord; on many devices, it has been buggy or downright dangerous to install. Manufacturers like Apple, Nintendo and Sony are increasingly releasing firmware that disables functionality for business reasons—or that just make products worse by being halfbaked. Here is a rundown of firmware updates that weren't exactly beloved by users.

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When I was 10 years old, my family took my younger brother and I to Disneyland. And even though I loved the rides and the people dressed up like cartoon characters, one of my favourite experiences there (at the time) was the 3D Michael Jackson movie. Before you judge me, this was back in 1990, and MJ was still considered to be more normal than not.

My point is that it seems like 3D TV has been one of those technologies that has been coming for a long time. Like virtual reality, it's been promised for years, with nobody actually delivering the goods.

Until now, that is. Samsung has just announced that their new 3D plasma TV model is on sale in Australia. The 450 Series not only plays back 3D-specific content, but also features some tech inside to create a pseudo-3D effect from a 2D source.

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Sprint's best phone, the Instinct got a little bit better today with a firmware update that patches some sniggles. No new features, but this update apparently lubes it up for a big one next month that'll drop in changes to... Read More »

This video is some sort of really strange new attempt at going viral sponsored by Samsung, pitching the Q1 Ultra using comedy. Normally, not something we'd be all that interested in. This, however, stars Bob Odenkirk and Mike Naughton. Yes, the same Bob Odenkirk from best-show-of-all-time Mr. Show. So we'll give it the benefit of the doubt. It's about these two guys who are brothers-for-hire, allowing you to pay them to pretend to be your brothers. They use the Q1 Ultra a bit, but you can tell they just crammed in references to it after they had written the main sketch. Why Samsung had decided to do this now, over a year after the Q1 Ultra came out, is anyone's guess. After the jump, Rap the Musical from Mr. Show, just because.

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