Samsung Galaxy ‘Olympic Edition’ Launching July 7th
The summer Olympics in Rio are just weeks away, and just in time for the summer Olympics, Samsung is launching an Olympics-themed Galaxy smartphone.
The new Android phone, officially dubbed the “Galaxy S7 Edge Olympic Edition” by the Tech Times, is likely to get nice product placement in an event sponsored by Samsung for many years past and in the future.
“Samsung has long been a sponsor for the Olympic Games and it previously launched special editions of the Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 3 in 2012 and 2014, respectively, to show its support,” Tech Times reported.
So what are the features of the new Galaxy Olympic edition? Tech Times told its readers not to expect much difference in this new Galaxy Olympic edition versus older versions of the phone.
“This special edition of the handset aims to celebrate the upcoming Rio 2016 Summer Olympics, sporting a sleek thematic design, but otherwise the same specs and features as the regular Galaxy S7 edge. This means that besides different aesthetics, you should not expect any changes to the Galaxy S7 edge.”
The publication added that the company has partnered with other companies for promotional purposes in the past, most recently with Warner Bros. for the “Injustice Edition” of the Samsung Galaxy Edge S7, which featured the same specs and added a Batman logo on the backside of the device.
Despite reporting that the device would essentially be the same on the inside and on the outside, IBT reported that the new Galaxy “Olympic Edition” could actually feature some updated features not always included with other editions.
“Key difference will be the colouring. It is said to boast physical fingerprint sensor and speakers with gold-hued accents in the front. Whereas on the back, It is expected to feature a blue-coloured camera module on the top and a blue-hued Olympics sigil at the bottom.”
The Galaxy “Olympic Edition” comes at a time where Samsung will be touting its virtual reality programming available for many of its Galaxy smartphones. Fortune reports that Samsung is the exclusive virtual reality broadcast partner of NBC for this summer’s Rio Olympics, which could provide an opportunity for even more advertising and product placement of the brand’s “Olympic edition” Galaxy devices.
“NBC said on Thursday that it would broadcast 85 hours of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 360-degree virtual reality to owners of Samsung smartphones who also have compatible Samsung Gear VR headsets.
The Olympic Broadcasting Services, a broadcasting arm of the International Olympic Committee, will film the games in 360 degrees and send it off to NBC to broadcast internationally.”
The virtual reality experience for Samsung users watching through the partnership with NBC will take viewers not just to the most popular sporting events, but also to events such as the opening ceremonies, according to an NBC Olympics official quoted by Fortune.
“Olympic fans can be transported to iconic venues such as Maracana Stadium for an unprecedented view of the Opening Ceremony, and Copacabana Beach for an immersive beach volleyball experience in the sport’s ultimate setting,” said NBC Olympics president Gary Zenkel.
An official broadcast schedule for virtual reality at the Olympics has not been announced, but with 85 hours of programming to fill, one can assume that the most popular sports will be featured, as well as some of the more obscure. How close you will be able to get to the action is unknown, but as anyone who has used virtual reality will tell you — even being in the proximity of the action is more impressive than watching on a high definition television.
[Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for Samsung]
