As Apple’s Event Looms, Samsung and Sony Make Their Plays

Apple has released invitations to a media event next Tuesday, where it is expected to announce the next generation iPhone and perhaps its long-rumored wearable, widely predicted to be called the iWatch. But the company’s competitors aren’t standing idly by—both Samsung and Sony held events yesterday morning to introduce their latest products, and between the two they announced three smartwatches, a tablet, a virtual reality headset, and four new smartphones. These entrants aren’t necessarily designed to compete with Apple’s as-yet-announced new products, but surely indicate the direction Samsung and Sony believe the market is headed—bigger, bolder, and more diverse.

The new Samsung Galaxy Note 4. Source: The Verge

A tale of two phablets

Samsung’s massive—and massively popular—Galaxy Note family saw its newest additions yesterday, as the company introduced the Galaxy Note 4 at its biannual Unpacked media conference. The phablet boasts new 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display that clocks in at an enormous 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution. That’s right—the “quad HD” screen has as many pixels as four 720p televisions, and is powered by a 3,220mAh battery that charges to 50% in as little as 30 minutes.

The new Samsung Galaxy Note Edge. Source: The Verge

But Samsung has always led the pack in terms of over-the-top feature sets and jaw-dropping specifications. Their approach is to iterate their product lines with cutting-edge features and expand them in experimental directions—which is exactly their intention with the Galaxy Note Edge. The smartphone is essentially the same as their Note 4—quad HD display and 16 megapixel rear shooter included—with one major difference: its screen curves 45 degrees over its right edge. This addition of a curved OLED display allows for some unique software capabilities and sleep state features, including shortcuts to commonly used apps and static date and time information while the device is asleep.

Rear view of Sony’s new Xperia Z3. Source: The Verge

A tale of three Xperias

Sony’s Xperia product family has received accolades for its products’ leading cameras, and their newest installments raise the stakes on industrial design. Its Xperia Z3 generation, comprised of the Z3 and Z3 Compact smartphones and the Z3 Tablet Compact, offers a sleek all-metal exterior casing that resembles the frequently-leaked iPhone 6 prototypes. The devices are the first to take advantage of Sony’s PlayStation 4 Remote Play, which will allow smartphone users to continue playing PS4 games remotely over a strong wireless connection.

The full Sony Xperia Z3 family. Source: The Verge

The devices also offer a collection of professional-grade lens extensions and photography accessories that elevate their cameras to new heights. Coupled with dedicated accessories to connect a PlayStation DualShock controller, these add-ons seek to make the Xperia devices more than just smartphones, but instead an integral and connective piece of the larger Sony product ecosystem.

Sony’s new SmartWatch 3. Source: The Verge

Timely additions

While both companies have proven themselves leaders in the wearable space, both were quick to introduce a slew of new offerings yesterday. Sony introduced its first Android Wear smartwatch with the aptly named SmartWatch 3, part of the new SmartWear family that also includes the SmartBand Talk. The company’s SmartWatch 3 offers the full suite of Android Wear capabilities and includes Bluetooth and NFC sensors, while the SmartBand boasts an e-ink display and focuses on fitness tracking.

The Samsung Galaxy Gear S. Source: The Verge

Samsung, meanwhile, has been busy—this week’s Gear S represents its sixth smartwatch in 12 months. Joining a family of three Galaxy Gears, fitness-focused Gear Fit, and the Android Wear–enabled Gear Live, Gear S comes with a built-in 3G antenna and a 1.0 GhZ processor behind a curved 2-inch display, looking something like a full smartphone melted over users’ wrists. Like the original Gears before it, the Gear S runs Tizen, Samsung’s proprietary operating system that coexists with Android within the Galaxy family. The Gear S is absurdly powerful for modern wearable devices, and opens the door to a new class of applications that can run straight on users’ wrists.

Samsung’s Gear VR headset, with a Galaxy Note 4 inside. Source: The Verge

Samsung enters the next frontier

Samsung became the first major player to market with a virtual reality headset product yesterday morning when they announced their long-anticipated Gear VR headset. Built in partnership with the virtual reality pioneers at Oculus and similar to Google’s cardboard project from this year’s I/O, the Gear VR allows wearers to strap their Galaxy Note into a portable visor to play games and explore virtual environments.

Both companies have been quick to innovate in some of mobile technology’s hottest product categories, and are positioning themselves for a strong holiday quarter against forthcoming products from key rivals. These new smartphones continue the popularity of larger, more capable devices among Android manufacturers, while new initiatives like Gear VR seek to ignite entire new industries unto themselves. The wearable market continues to steadily mature, and it remains to be seen how new emergent trends like curved displays and divergent operating systems will play out. As customers begin lining up two weeks early for an iPhone that doesn’t officially exist, Samsung and Sony believe that iteration and diversification are the best competitive tools in their arsenals.