Samsung - which recently lost US$7 billion in a third consecutive quarterly profit slide - is attempting to stem the decline that has hit its mobile division particularly hard with its release of the Gear VR headgear overnight.
Described by detractors as head-worn birth control devices, the Gear VR headgear promises an immersive mobile virtual reality experience with 360 degrees video and games. It will retail for A$249.
The Gear VR is developed in conjunction with Facebook-owned Oculus, and features a 96 degree field of view, acceleration, gyro, magnetic and proximity sensors, and less than 20ms latency for the display. It connects to the new Samsung Galaxy Note 4 with a microUSB 1.1 connection.
Samsung has paired the Gear VR headset with its new Galaxy Note 4 handset that has a 5.7-inch 2560 by 1440 high-res Super AMOLED display. The Note 4 also has a 60 frames per second camera and 3D spatial sound for virtual reality gallery content.
The Note 4 has a 2.7GHz quad-core processor, LTE Cat 6 mobile broadband support, 32GB internal storage and will retail for $949 from October 15.
Samsung is also looking to wearable technology, such as its Gear S smartwatch. This features a curved two-inch Super AMOLED screen, and can be used with health and fitness apps. It can also recognise voice commands, make calls and display notifications and messages. RRP $449 including GST.
A special Swarowski crystal edition of the Gear S is also in the works for the fashion conscious smartwatch aficionados. Samsung did not release the price or say when it will be available.
The Note Edge with its 2560 by 1440 wraparound screen with 160 pixels facing sideways is the first smartphone with a display that reaches around the edges. It's RRP in Australia is $1249 and goes on sale on November 5.
Samsung - which recently lost US$7 billion in a third consecutive quarterly profit slide - is attempting to stem the decline that has hit its mobile division particularly hard with its release of the Gear VR headgear overnight.