Tech Features

This week in the world of tech, Google's Nexus hit a huge stumbling block and Samsung unveiled an incredibly impressive TV.

Samsung unveil jaw-dropping TV - with a price point to match

Just look at that goddamn TV in the above image. Unveiled in South Korea this week, Samsung's 75-inch ES9000 Smart TV is just 7.9mm thick and simply jaw-dropping. Tempted? Your wallet may cry once you hear the cost - $17,500. As Samsung explains:

“Samsung’s ES9000 also represents the culmination of Samsung’s latest design and engineering technologies, and marks a new era of minimalistic design.

"Because Super OLED technology features self-emitting RGB sub-pixels which do not require a backlight, the TV weighs 30 percent less than a standard LED TV, and sports a sleek design thinner than 0.3 inches - one quarter of the thickness of a conventional LED TV.”

Fine, fine - we'll take two.

Analysts excited about potential iPad Mini

Will Apple fire a broadside to the upcoming Google Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire 2 by entering the budget tablet market with an iPad Mini? It certainly doesn't appear to be the kind of product Apple would typically release, yet the rumours aren't going away.

According to plenty of analysts, the product would be a huge hit if it came to fruition despite the late Steve Jobs reluctance to embrace mini tablets years ago.

"Despite what Steve Jobs claimed, the seven-inch form factor is popular and very useful if you want true portability," said analyst Jack Gold at J Gold Associates told AFP.

"Also, seven-inch is less expensive and so they can compete for the lower end of the tablet market."

Google Nexus hits huge stumbling block before it's even launched

Could Google's Nexus 7 be dead on arrival before it even launches? Despite the tablet hitting stores in the US and Europe this month, Google will release the Nexus 7 without access to music, magazines or TV shows, leaving just Android apps to spare.

“We want to bring different types of content to as many places as we can, but we don’t have anything more to share on timing. We plan to continue expanding the Movies & TV shows category to more countries in the coming months," said a Google spokesperson.

The lack of licensing deals could severely hurt the Nexus 7 and it is for this exact reason that Amazon's Kindle Fire has still not made its way to our shores. Would you pick up a Nexus 7 without the bells and whistles of an iPad available at launch?

12 per cent of Irish residents not aware of digital switchover

Lastly, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Pat Rabbitte TD, has said that 88 per cent of residents in Ireland are now aware of the October digital TV switchover. So what about the remaining 12 per cent - how are they still in the dark?

“While the results are encouraging and highlight that our public information and awareness campaign is working, the switching off of the analogue TV network is now less than four months away,” said Rabbitte.

“Therefore, it is essential that all those who have not yet taken the important steps to ensure they can continue to enjoy their TVs when the analogue network is switched off in October do so as soon as possible. Digital TV is available now, so we are keen to encourage people not to wait until the last minute to make the switch.”