Samsung execs excited about tech in ‘Avengers’

Top executives of tech giant Samsung Electronics gathered in a movie theater to watch the Hollywood blockbuster “Avengers: Age of Ultron” in Gangnam, Seoul on Monday.

The Samsung executives showed a great deal of excitement after watching the film, due largely to Samsung’s collaboration with the film’s producer Marvel to show off futuristic devices, including see-through smartphones, smart watches, and Bluetooth earpieces, used by the Avengers team.

Some of those devices are said to be in the works for development. 

After watching the movie, Shin Jong-kyun, chief executive of Samsung’s mobile business unit, excitedly asked reporters “did you see the device with the transparent display?” referring to the see-through smartphone in the movie frequently used by Tony Stark, a billionaire and inventor played by Robert Downey Jr.

The Samsung CEO refused to elaborate on whether the product could be turned into an actual product.

In the movie, Tony Stark fiddles with the transparent smartphone, swaying it to transmit visual data onto a large hologram display in his lab. It does not function like a real smartphone, but can project images onto a screen.

With regard to market concerns over lower-than-expected sales of the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, Shin simply said the phones are currently “basking in a more positive market response than before.” He also said the production yield of the multisided display on the S6 Edge has improved.

“Samsung ramped up the production of the S6 in May compared to April,” he said.

Also present at the movie session was Lee Young-hee, executive vice president of Samsung’s mobile division, who said a special Iron Man edition of the Galaxy phone is on its way.

“Samsung is prepping up to rollout the Iron Man edition of the S6 Edge, which will be in red,” Lee told reporters.

The Iron Man edition is expected to be released late this month at the earliest or next month, she said.

The Korean tech giant has been working with Marvel to conduct joint marketing campaigns for the Hollywood film and Samsung’s latest flagship smartphones since last year.

Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone maker by sales, displayed the futuristic smartphone with the transparent display, smart watches and Bluetooth earpieces from the “Avengers” movie at the International CES 2015, the world’s largest electronics show, which was held in January in Las Vega.

The Marvel movie has attracted a massive seven million local viewers since its release on April 23.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)