Apple, Samsung, Sony, LG among vendors to transform tech over 3 weeks

THE world’s tech will undergo a transformation over just three weeks with a bonanza of new phones, tablets, smart watches and OLED 4K TVs.

THE world’s tech will undergo a transformation over just three weeks as manufacturers flag a bonanza of new phones, tablets, smart watches, OLED 4K TVs and other devices.

In recent weeks we’ve seen a cooling of the frequency of new phone and tablet launches by the major players. But with Spring almost here, and with less than four months to Christmas, that will change dramatically.

Next week on September 3, Samsung is expected to unveil its fourth generation Galaxy Note smartphone at its “Unpacked 2014” event which is being held simultaneously in three cities — New York, Berlin, and Beijing.

If Samsung doesn’t flag the Note 4 there, it probably will at the IFA trade event in Berlin that starts two days later on September 5.

It’s reported but unconfirmed that Samsung will unveil two versions of the Note 4 and one will have a curved OLED screen.

Just how successful curved phones are is debatable. Early this year, LG released a large screen curved phone, the LG G Flex — to much fanfare — but we haven’t noticed huge enthusiasm for this handset.

Samsung also might release an OLED ultra high definition or 4K TV, but this is contested. The new OLED screens contain a carbon-based compound that glows when an electric current flows through it. OLED offers great, bright colours, doesn’t need backlighting, and adds to the crispness that ultra-high definition media offers.

Samsung could also announce a competitor to Google Glass and a SIM card enabled Galaxy Gear smartwatch that can operate independently of a smartphone.

Sony, which began the year by releasing its sleek and waterproof Z2 phone and tablet, is tipped to announce a third generation Xperia Z3 smartphone, along with an upgraded Z3 compact, and maybe even a new smartwatch.

LG too is expected to refresh its LG Flex curved phone with the G Flex 2, and show off a larger version of its successful and highly regarded LG G3 smartphone that will take on the Note 4.

The Korean manufacturer has already announced it will sell 65 and 77-inch versions of an OLED TV as well. Sales have already begun within South Korea.

LG too is tipped to flag another G Watch, this one having a round screen.

The round screen could be a reaction to Motorola, whose upcoming round screen watch, the Moto 360, was swooned over when previewed at the Google I/O event in June.

Microsoft-owned Nokia is expected to announce its Lumia 730 Windows phone which is billed as a super selfie smartphone with a higher resolution 5 megapixel front-facing camera, and is codenamed ‘Superman’. It may also flag an affordable smartphone with a 20 megapixel PureView camera, the Lumia 830.

Just as IFA Berlin winds down, over in California Apple will be winding up with the long awaited unveiling of its iPhone 6 models at an event expected on September 9 — September 10 Australian time.

It’s the most anticipated tech event of the year.

This will be make or break time for Apple which, unlike its competitors, hasn’t refreshed its smartphone range since last year. Some of its rivals have already done it twice.

One iPhone 6 model is expected to have a larger 4.7-inch screen — increased from the 4.0 inch screen on the current iPhone 5S — the other an even larger 5.5-inch screen model.

There’s been recent concern about the supply of these larger screens, especially the sapphire crystal screens to be used for some phones, and there are reports of backlighting issues. Whether these problems delay the release of the iPhone 6 remains to be seen.

Apple also may announce its long talked about iWatch at this time — or hold off until next year as is claimed recently. Time will tell.

Apple’s new iOS 8 operating system for phones and tablets, its OS X Yosemite operating system for Macs, along with refreshes for the iPad Air and a Retina display capable iMac also are on the cards.

So within the space of three weeks the global tech landscape will change radically as manufacturers line up to compete as we lurch towards Christmas.