Korea’s two giants primed for Berlin electronics show

The buzzwords for Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics for 2014’s IFA, Europe’s largest electronics exhibition, are “covart” and “circled.”

Samsung Electronics said covart - a combination of the words collaboration, virtual reality and art - is the key to the new products that will be introduced at IFA, where 1,440 companies from 57 countries will be present. The event runs from Friday through Wednesday in Berlin.

The company plans to show a variety of products through collaboration with artists and virtual reality.

A case in point is its art gallery, part of Samsung’s marketing to promote its home electronics philosophy by expressing the advantages of its drum washing machines and vacuum cleaners.

World-famous digital artist Miguel Chevalier will introduce the art installation “Origin of the Curve” using Samsung’s curved TV.

The company will also use virtual reality technology to upgrade its product presentation. Visitors to IFA will be able to experience refrigerators and washing machines with a simple touch at Samsung Electronics’ “Center Stage” and arrange them in a virtual space.

LG Electronics will focus on three concepts - smart home, circle and OLED - for its new products at IFA 2014.

The company cited its G Watch R, which uses a circle design, and its UHD TV that uses an organic light-emitting diode panel for the first time.

The G Watch R will directly compete with Samsung’s wearable Gear S smartwatch, which can be used for voice calls and text messages using Wi-Fi and 3G networks independent of a smartphone, and Apple’s iWatch, which will be equipped with a health care and a smart home platform.

In the smart home sector, which is at the core of the Internet of Things, LG plans to strengthen its home chat service. It will introduce the remote control of refrigerators and washing machines through a mobile messenger, such as KakaoTalk.

LG introduced its smart home service at the Consumer Electronics Show, but it has since upgraded the service.

The smart home market is also targeted by Miele, Panasonic, Huawei, Haier, Bosch and Siemens, which will display their services at IFA 2014.

German electronics maker Miele said on Monday that it will introduce the Miele@home network, which allows the remote control of various home electronics through a mobile application.

The highlight of the smartphone sector will be the battle between Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4 and Apple’s iPhone 6.

Images and specifications of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4 were leaked on Monday through an IFA event poster.

According to the poster, the Galaxy Note 4 has a quad HD (2560X1440) 5.7-inch super Amoled display, 16-megapixel back camera, 64-bit application processor, 3GB RAM and 32GB of internal memory.

A glimpse of Apple’s iPhone 6 using purportedly leaked parts was also released by Feld & Volk on YouTube yesterday. The designers and engineers of Feld & Volk assembled the leaked components from Apple’s production line and offered a glimpse of what the final product will presumably look like.

It is forecast that the iPhone 6 will come out in 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch sizes on Sept. 9.

Meanwhile, Lee Don-joo, president of Samsung’s strategic marketing for mobile business, will be in charge of the Galaxy Note 4 release event on Wednesday, 3 p.m., local time. He is taking the place of Shin Jong-kyun, CEO of Samsung Electronics’ IT and mobile division.

“As the head of IM division will leave for an overseas business trip before the release of an important strategic product, we decided that the headquarters should direct all the circumstances,” said a spokesman for Samsung Electronics.

BY LEE SO-AH, KIM JUNG-YOON [kjy@joongang.co.kr]