Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. will release an 80-inch plasma television set, a portable music player that runs for 42 hours on one battery and a DVD recorder that copies one disc directly from another, the company said Wednesday.
Those products are among a broad range of media devices Samsung plans for 2005, all on display at the Consumer Electronics Show here this week.
Samsung plans to release the 80-inch plasma TV in May but did not name a price. It bills the display as the world's largest plasma TV, though Samsung has actually demonstrated a prototype 102-inch set.
The long-life MP3 music player, with prices ranging from $120 up to $200 for a 1 gigabyte model, supports systems to copy-protect music and includes popular MP3 player add-ons like an FM radio tuner and voice recording capabilities. It will be available this month.
The dual-tray DVD recorder, permitting direct disc-to-disc copying, is set for the third quarter with a $500 price tag. Samsung says it can copy two hours of video in 30 minutes.
The world's electronics companies have descended on Las Vegas this week to showcase the latest in home entertainment and productivity technology, and the buzz created by new products at CES can make a major difference at retail, particularly among heavy-spending "early adopters," as consumers who rush to buy the newest products are known.
Other new products in Samsung's lineup include a camcorder with a five-megapixel camera lens, wide-screen LCD TVs up to 57 inches, and a number of home theater systems.