Samsung South Africa launches Samsung's new range of ultra-high definition (SUHD) TV's; swimmer Cameron van der Burgh its new brand ambassador.

Despite a stalling South African economy and falling disposable income from South African consumers, Samsung South Africa on Thursday evening held a small media launch in Kramerville for its new range of ultra-high definition (SUHD) TV sets.

Pre-orders for Samsung's new SUHD TV's that has gone bezel-less - and with quantum dot display that results in better high pixel density - start on Friday.

A few hundred people who buy a new 8-series SUHD TV before 26 June will get a Samsung Galaxy S7 smartphone with it.

Samsung South Africa will now be selling and has a recommended retail price for the 65-inch KS9500 SUHD Curved TV (UA65KS9500) of R64,999, 65-inch KS8500 SUHD Curved TV (UA65KS8500) for R54,999 and the 55-inch KS8500 SUHD Curved TV (UA55KS8500) for R32,999.

The new range of SUHD TV's come with one remote that can be programmed to control anything from a DStv decoder to Microsoft XBox.

"Our new SUHD TV's represent our singular focus on innovation that matters most to consumers, by providing the very best picture quality for the home," says Matthew Thackrah, the deputy managing director and head of consumer electronics at Samsung South Africa.

Samsung South Africa that has already produced and distributed 3.2 million TV sets within the South African market, announced swimmer Cameron van der Burgh as its new TV brand ambassador who attended Samsung's local SUHD media launch.

The Samsung SUHD launch event comes on the same day that Bloomberg reported that Samsung has had discussions with entertainment companies about launching its own multi-channel over-the-top TV service.

Samsung asked companies how much they would charge Samsung to carry their TV channels in a bundle over the internet and straight to viewers through Samsung's internet-connected TV sets. In South Africa Samsung for instance already carries services like the ShowMax app from Naspers.

"Our approach is to continue to develop strategic collaborations with content partners rather than compete with them," Samsung said in a statement.

ShowMax app now one of most popular apps on Samsung Smart TVs; 3-month free ShowMax subscription with all Samsung Smart TVs bought in 2016.

ShowMax has partnered with Samsung, with all Samsung Smart TV's bought in 2016 that will come with a free 3-month subscription to the new subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) service from Naspers.

Samsung Smart TV users will be able to connect to ShowMax through its app and the service, normally costing R99 per month, will be free for three months.

Buyers of a Samsung Smart TV before 30 April 2016 will be able to redeem a unique voucher code for the 3-month free subscription of R297 and will need to complete a once-off sign-up process at showmax.com.

Once signed up, ShowMax can be accessed through the Samsung Smart TV app, through an internet browser, or on smartphones and tablets using the ShowMax apps for Android and iOS.

The growing ShowMax video catalogue has more than 20 000 TV show episodes and movies including Hollywood favourites, the best of British and popular local programming from MultiChoice and M-Net's Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) and kykNET (DStv 144) TV channels.

According to Samsung South Africa the new partnership between Samsung and ShowMax is expected to accelerate the adoption of video-on-demand in South Africa.

"Subscription video-on-demand services and Smart TVs are changing the way people experience video entertainment," says John Kotsaftis, ShowMax South Africa general manager.

"Our viewing statistics show that Smart TVs are one of the most popular ways people choose to watch ShowMax as the convenience and ease of use are compelling. It's one of the reasons why we're excited to be working with Samsung - we think that this partnership has the potential to drive a change in viewing habits in South Africa," says John Kotsaftis.

"The ShowMax app has become one of the most popular among our Smart TV viewers," says Matthew Thackrah, Samsung Electronics SA deputy managing director and head of consumer electronics.

Samsung launches South Africa's first news-on-demand, purpose-built eNCA app with video news on Samsung Smart TV's; first of its kind in Africa.

Samsung Smart TV's news-on-demand, purpose-built eNCA (DStv 403) app with video news for Smart TV's is a first of its kind in Africa.

Currently neither MultiChoice's DStv Explora nor MultiChoice's DStv Catch Up service provide any daily updated video-on-demand (VOD) TV news in its on demand content offering, and neither does streaming VOD services like the recently launched ShowMax or ONTAPtv for people who quickly want to get a sense of the day's news.

People with connected Samsung Smart TV sets are now however able to get some type of video news through using the app.

"We are excited to launch South Africa's first video-rich TV news app," says Matthew Thackrah, the deputy managing director and head of consumer electronics at Samsung Electronics South Africa.

"With progressively more connected technologies available in the market, consumers can access content across a variety of mediums. Our partnership with eNCA gives Samsung Smart TV owners a new way to consume news. The app means they can actively select the stories they want to learn more about, at their convenience," says Matthew Thackrah.

Samsung's eNCA app for South Africa has been designed with its Smart TV platform.

The eNCA news inserts on the app complement those featured on the eNCA website.

The eNCA app's emphasis is on video stories supported by minimal text for a visual experience, says Samsung. Users can access the text and images featured on the eNCA website through the Smart TV app if they want to supplement the stories with more depth.

Samsung says the existing eNCA Smart TV app is the second most popular app among Samsung Smart TV users in South Africa.

Samsung approached eNCA with the intention of collaborating with the 24-hour TV news channel from Sabido to offer viewers a value-added service.

The eNCA app also allows viewers to toggle a news ticker, that provides news headlines at the bottom of the TV screen that viewers can see scrolling wile they watch something else.

"Samsung Smart TV consumers are now able to watch the news on their terms – as and when they want to. They can also keep up to date with the latest headlines while watching TV."

"We are proud to deliver South Africa's first video-rich TV news app in partnership with Samsung," says Timothy Spira, general manager of eNCA's online division.

"When Samsung approached us to partner in developing and promoting a purpose-built eNCA app, we embraced the opportunity to be present on the leading Smart TV platform in South Africa."

Samsung in South Africa to add VIDI and Simfy Africa as video streaming and music streaming apps to its new range of Tizen TV sets.

Samsung will be adding Times Media's VIDI video streaming service and the music streaming service Simfy Africa to its new range of Tizen TV's as apps.

The apps are in development and Samsung gave no date of when the apps would be launched on the TV sets.

Times Media launched VIDI in September last year.

"VIDI, a video-on-demand (VOD) application is being developed which will provide consumers with 30 days of free access and Simy Africa, an online music streaming service, with more than 20 million songs for 90 days for free access," Matthew Thackrah, the deputy director and head of consumer electronics at Samsung Electronics SA said on Wednesday night at a product launch.

"Details of these value-adds will be made available once all development and testing has been concluded," said Matthew Thackrah.

The apps will make it easier for Samsung users to stream video and music through their TV sets.

Samsung is apparently also working with eNCA (DStv 403) to get news and weather content for users. Samsung is also working with Vonetize to launch Aflix, offering Hollywood movies, TV series and other video entertainment content to consumers in 30 African countries.

Samsung unveiled a new range of curved SUHD TV sets for South Africa. From this year, all of Samsung's Smart TV's, including the new SUHD, will be powered by Tizen, an open-source platform that supports web standards for app development.