Hisense SA Adds SportsCast as a FAST-channel to its VIDAA Line-up

by Thinus Ferreira

While Samsung has failed to launch its built-in FAST (Free-Ad Supporting Streaming TV) platform, Samsung TV Plus in South Africa, which is a very bad and a massive drawback for its Smart TVs sold locally, rival Hisense has a great existing FAST service that continues to grow and has now added SportsCast Africa as a sports channel.

Samsung Smart TVs in South Africa don't have its Samsung TV Plus FAST service, but Hisense South Africa has VIDAA that continues to expand and has now added SportsCast Africa on channel 5208.

SportsCast Africa is a 24/7 linear sports TV channel for sub-Saharan audiences with continental and global sports news, highlights and live events.

It is distributed free of charge across FAST platforms and combines a fixed daily schedule of recurring sports strips with live event coverage.

SportsCast Africa, operated by Broadsmart, is already available and accessible on the South African public broadcaster's SABC+ platform as its own streaming feed, and is now on Hisense TVs too.

SportsCast Africa's schedule covers African and international football, motorsport, basketball, rugby, tennis and multi-sport action.

It is aggregated within daily shows like Football Daily, Soccer Highlights and SportsWrap for football fans, Pole Position for motorsport, Slam Dunk for basketball and Cross Court for tennis. Some live matches are also shown from time to time.

"Partnering with Hisense, a market leader in the region and a brand that takes a genuinely innovative approach to working with content providers, puts SportsCast Africa where African sports fans already are," says Yokow Quansah, managing director at Broadsmart.

"Our promise is simple: great sport, whenever and wherever you want it, free and with nothing to install. This is a meaningful step in building a genuinely free sports service for African viewers."

Luna Nortje, Hisense SA deputy general manager, says customers who support Hisense "can enjoy the sport they love without paying extra for it".

Samsung Galaxy S25 series launched with improved video editing quality, recycled cobalt and a stronger screen

by Thinus Ferreira

Samsung has launched its Samsung Galaxy S25 series last week Wednesday which comes with certain further advancements in AI technology, a stronger screen, a claim of recycled cobalt, as well as further enhancements in the quality and capabilities offered in video editing.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 series was announced through a global Unpacked streaming event, with Samsung South Africa that held a media event on Wednesday for the streaming at the WITS Anglo American Digital Dome in Johannesburg.

Unfortunately, Samsung SA's PR company Cheil SA didn't bother to communicate beforehand about it or with any notification that there would be a Samsung Galaxy S25 series streaming event or offering any link.

Neither was there even any invitation to the media event, or reaching out to hear if its possible to actually attend it. 

However, late on Wednesday night after the media event, Cheil then emailed out a press release about the Samsung Galaxy S25 series.

The cost of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra (256GB) in South Africa is R30 000, R32 000 for the 512GB and R35 for 1TB. The Samsung Galaxy S25+ (256GB) will retail around R23 500, with the pricing for the Samsung Galaxy S25 (256GB) that is around R20 000.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 comes with One UI 7, the Galaxy S25 series' "AI companion".

The Galaxy S25 series is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite, Samsung's most powerful processor yet on its Galaxy S series, that according to Samsung delivers a performance boost of 40% in NPU, 37% in CPU and 30% in GPU compared to the previous generation. 

With a 50-megapixel ultrawide camera sensor upgraded from the previous 12MP, the Galaxy S25 Ultra has clarity and vibrancy with 10-bit HDR recording now applied by default, offering four times richer colour expression according to Samsung, compared to 8-bit. 

Samsung is also enhancing video editing capabilities and quality on the new device with the Galaxy S25 that has Audio Eraser which simplifies the removal of unwanted noise in videos.

For a DSLR-like experience on mobile Galaxy S25 introduces depth-of-field control with Virtual Aperture, integrated into the popular Expert RAW. 

The Galaxy S25 also comes with Galaxy Log, enabling precise colour grading options for more professional video production.

Portrait Studio has also been enhanced Samsung says, allowing users to create personalised avatars with more true-to-life facial expressions. Filters introduces new analogue-style filters, delivering a film-like aesthetic for photos and videos.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 also has a stronger build and screen.

With durable titanium and the new Corning Gorilla Armor 2, a first-of-its-kind material, the screen is more durable than glass. 

It combines Corning’s glass-ceramic with a proprietary anti-reflective surface treatment, helping to ensure advanced drop protection alongside anti-reflection surface treatment and scratch resistance.

Samsung further claims that its Galaxy S25 series device now uses a minimum of 50% recycled cobalt for its battery.

According to the manufacturer, the Galaxy S25 will be the first Galaxy smartphone to feature batteries made with recycled cobalt sourced from previous Galaxy devices or the batteries discarded during the manufacturing process.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra has a 5,000mAh battery, capable of 45W wired fast charging and 25W wireless fast charging. The Galaxy S25+ has a smaller 4,900mAh battery, also with 45W fast wired charging and 15W fast wireless charging.

The Galaxy S25 Ultra is available in Titanium Silverblue, Titanium Black, Titanium Whitesilver and Titanium Grey, while the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25+ will be available in Navy, Silver Shadow, Icyblue and Mint.

Created from sapphire materials Samsung SA unveils its new borderless Micro LED TV with a 'wow'-factor that comes with a price tag of R1.4 to R3 million.

by Thinus Ferreira

Created from sapphire materials, "borderless", and available in screen sizes from 76 to 126 inches, Samsung Electronics' new Micro LED TV now on sale in South Africa comes with a "wow"-factor that has a "wow"-price as well: Anything from between R1.4 to R3 million.

Samsung South Africa says that its latest Micro LED TV representing the "pinnacle of display technology" is now on sale in the country, boasting the latest advancements in picture quality, sound technology and smart features.

With a price tag of between R1.4 million and up to R3 million, Samsung SA says that the Micro LED TV again elevates "reality with lifelike images, immersive sound and hyper-personalised experiences".

Samsung SA says the Micro LED TV with 25 million micrometer-sized LEDs delivers "a front-row experience that feels like you're sitting in a movie theatre or a concert hall".

"Samsung understands that TV entertainment is more exciting when it's involving and more cinematic and the Micro LED TV heeds that call in exceptional fashion," says Samsung SA.

"With its innovative take on what's possible, it stretches viewing possibilities to grander levels," says Mike van Lier, vice president of consumer electronics at Samsung.

"The Micro LED TV demonstrates the potential of ultra-premium home screen products for Samsung and shows not only the tech leadership but the company's bold approach to creating products."

"Ultimately it is all for our customers and those who get to have the pleasure of witnessing this level of TV will attest to its majestic viewing experience and how it suits their lifestyle."

Samsung's Micro LED TV is available in size formats 126″, 114″, 110″, 89″ and 76″ and supports 20-bit greyscale depth.

It also expresses 100% of DCI and Adobe RGB colour gamut, which Samsung SA says "results in stunning, lifelike colours".

Samsung says the TV set's "Art Mode" allows consumers to turn any room into an art gallery making it possible to select and display artwork or digital photography.

"Multi View" lets users view content from four different sources simultaneously – from any or all of the four HDMI ports – in 4K resolution at up to 120fps. The set also has Dolby Atmos for a premier audio experience, with top, side and bottom channel speakers.

Samsung SA silent on how KwaZulu-Natal flooding has impacted it business.

by Thinus Ferreira

Samsung South Africa has been silent and hasn't responded with answers to a media query on how the recent devastating flooding in the country's KwaZulu-Natal province impacted it business, distribution and warehousing there as well as nationally, or what the company has been doing to help customers and minimise the impact.

Earlier this month South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province experienced extremely heavy rainfall that led to disastrous flooding and the loss of hundreds of lives. With a growing humanitarian disaster, billions of rand of damage were caused to infrastructure and property, including the Durban port and cargo containers.

Samsung SA was asked in a media query last month, similar to competitors like LG South Africa, what impact Samsung SA experienced to its business in South Africa, and in KwaZulu-Natal due to the flooding.

On 20 April TVwithThinus asked Cheil, repping Samsung SA, if it could please say what the damage has been to its warehousing facilities in KwaZulu/Natal due to the rain and flooding in that province, if there were loss of production, distribution interruption, work and disruption due to loss of staff unable to get to work.

Samsung South Africa was also asked through Cheil for comment on what Samsung SA has been doing to minimise or help lessen the impact on its business in KwaZulu-Natal or to help customers.

Samsung SA failed to respond to any of the questions with no answers forthcoming from Cheil the past two weeks.

In July 2021 Samsung South Africa saw its biggest warehouse in Cato Ridge, Durban and service centres in the KwaZulu-Natal province looted and destroyed by fire during weeks of civil unrest in South Africa.

ALSO READ: KZN flooding: LG Electronics SA says it's working hard to prevent delivery disruption of LG products to retail and South African consumers.

ALSO READ: South Africa's KZN flooding disaster: How flooded sets paused production and pushed out filming on Uzalo, Durban Gen, Imbewu and a movie.

Sales of TV sets in South Africa have plunged after July's mass looting of thousands of televisions in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

by Thinus Ferreira

The sales of TV sets in South Africa have plunged in July and August after the shocking mass looting of thousands of TV sets from shops and warehouses during the rampant looting that continued for days in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

Brazen looters made off with TV sets and others goods from warehouses used by Samsung South Africa,  as well as LG Electronics and others which also had their warehouses torched and burnt down; while looters also ransacked multiple shops and shopping mall stores.

According to a GfK Lighthouse market study, sales of TV sets, fridges and washing machines in South Africa fell during August compared to point-of-sale data benchmarked against the weekly sales of certain consumer goods during the first half of 2021.

Nicolet Pienaar, GfK South Africa's head of market insights, says that "While KwaZulu-Natal is seeing encouraging recovery in sales of IT and telecoms products - perhaps due to consumers wanting to keep safe and stay home - we're seeing countrywide week-on-week declines in fridge, televisions and washing machine sales".

"This is the direct result of the destruction of key manufacturing facilities as well as the ransacking of inventory from warehouses in KwaZulu-Natal, compounding existing component and product shortages due to Covid-19."

KwaZulu and Gauteng were severely underperforming in sales of certain products like TV sets compared to South Africa's other provinces.

TV set sales in South Africa showed a week-on-week decline of 11 points, and KwaZulu-Natal was 21 index points behind the average week.

Samsung South Africa has since activated its "TV Block" feature to render looted smart TV sets unusable once connected to the internet.

ALSO READ: Samsung South Africa's biggest warehouse in Durban and several of its service centres in KZN looted and destroyed after building is set alight by criminals.

ALSO READ: LG Electronics South Africa's warehouse and factory in Durban looted and destroyed after building is set alight by criminals.

ALSO READ: Samsung South Africa activates TV Block function to render all TV sets useless that were looted and stolen in July.

Samsung South Africa activates TV Block function to render all TV sets useless that were looted and stolen in July.

by Thinus Ferreira

Samsung South Africa has announced that it has activated a TV Block Function on all Samsung TV sets stolen during the looting, violence and unrest in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng during July that saw TV sets stolen from Samsung warehouses.

Samsung has activated TV Block on all Samsung television sets looted from its Cato Ridge distribution centre in KwaZulu-Natal since 11 July.

Samsung's television block technology is already pre-loaded on all Samsung TV products and the company says that all sets taken unlawfully and stolen from Samsung warehouses are being blocked, rendering them useless.

TV Block is a remote, security solution that detects if Samsung TV units have been unduly activated, and ensures that the television sets can only be used by the rightful owners with a valid proof of purchase.

Samsung SA says that the aim of the technology is to mitigate against the creation of secondary markets linked to the sale of illegal goods, both in South Africa and beyond its borders.

"In keeping with our values to leverage the power of technology to resolve societal challenges, we will continuously develop and expand strategic products in our consumer electronics division with defence-grade security, purpose-built, with innovative and intuitive business tools designed for a new world," says Mike Van Lier, director of consumer electronics at Samsung South Africa.

"This technology can have a positive impact at this time, and will also be of use to both the industry and customers in the future."

Samsung Television Block works as follows: A TV blocking system has been activated on Samsung television sets stolen from its warehouse and the blocking comes into effect when the user of a stolen television connects to the internet, in order to operate the television.

Once connected, the serial number of the television is identified on the Samsung server and the blocking system is implemented, disabling all the television functions.

Samsung SA says that should a customer's TV be incorrectly blocked, the functionality can be reinstated once proof of purchase and a valid TV license is shared to serv.manager@samsung.com .

"As an organisation we acknowledge the critical role in giving our customers and clients the peace of mind. Working together, we can overcome the impact of the unprecedented disruption to business, as experienced by many of us recently. We will continue to review the situation and will make adjustments as necessary to ensure business continuity for all," says Mike van Lier.

ALSO READ: Samsung South Africa's biggest warehouse in Durban and several of its service centres in KZN looted and destroyed after building is set alight by criminals.

Samsung South Africa's biggest warehouse in Durban and several of its service centres in KZN looted and destroyed after building is set alight by criminals.

by Thinus Ferreira

A Value Logistics warehouse used by Samsung South Africa in Cato Ridge for distribution of TV sets was looted, then set alight and burned down by criminals, with several Samsung service centres across KwaZulu-Natal that have been destroyed as part of the ongoing unrest in the country.

Justin Hume, Samsung SA director of integrated mobility, said that the looting and destruction of the warehouse and distribution centre will lead to potential disruptions in the supply chain of appliances like refrigerators, as well as its ability to help customers at service centres.

Social media was filled with shocking videos showing looters ransacking the warehouse as criminals ran off with Samsung TV sets and other Samsung appliances kept at the Value Logistics warehouse.

ALSO READ: LG Electronics South Africa's warehouse and factory in Durban looted and destroyed after building is set alight by criminals.

ALSO READ: Telkom has closed all South African stores indefinitely after after violence and looting in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.

ALSO READ: MultiChoice shutters its main MultiChoice City campus in Randburg, closes walk-in service centres in KZN and Gauteng as a precaution following unrest.

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.