A team of engineers in Irvine is part of the brain trust behind new products and potential business lines for the world’s largest technology company.
The local office of Samsung Information Systems America Inc. is one of the places where “frontier” technologies are born, running the gamut from hard drives to digital TV applications, printer software and wireless connectivity.
The North American unit of Samsung Electronics Co. is charged with “creating new businesses” and developing core technologies for existing Samsung products, which range from high-end smartphones and entry-level watches to microwave ovens and dishwashers.
The Irvine office developed the application that specifies how software components interact with each other in all Samsung printers.
It also handles advanced software design and architecture to enhance printing accessibility.
Its latest mission: Develop a converged network that allows any smart device to interact with a Samsung printer that targets ads and promotions to the end user within seconds.
Samsung Information is lining up test locations in California and retail partners for the endeavor.
One Senario
Here’s one scenario of the idea on the ground: A jobseeker goes to a coffee shop to print a resume—an uncommon setup today but one that Samsung could aim to change based on the technology’s potential. The jobseeker swipes a near-field communication tag attached to his phone over a reader on the printer that identifies his device, location and perhaps payment information. The printer then offers coupons for the coffee shop’s fare or maybe for a movie theater down the street. The user pays a nominal fee to print the resume, or perhaps it’s free if he uses the coupons.
Another application could involve a guest in a hotel lobby buying, downloading and printing tickets to a Dodgers or Angels game on the spot, or accessing a parking permit or security badge for a visitor to a commercial building.
The possibilities seem endless, and “because it’s in the cloud, it’s very, very scalable,” said Shay Benchorin, director of cloud services at Oregon-based IT firm Mentor Graphics, which is partnering with Samsung Information on the project.
The idea aims to drum up e-commerce and catch workers and consumers on the go.
It might never see the light of day—a common fate for many research and development projects.
Or it might become a hit or lead to another product design or idea.
Powerful Parent
South Korea-based Samsung Electronics is the world’s largest consumer electronics company and TV maker, with $143.1 billion in sales last year. Its other U.S. units include New Jersey-based Samsung Electronics America, which includes a consumer and enterprise business segment; Samsung Telecommunications America in Dallas; and Samsung Semiconductor Inc., its chip-making outfit in San Jose.
Samsung throws dozens of darts and bets some will hit the target. It’s a creative mindset that drives an R&D operation that’s created refrigerators with baby-monitor screens in full high-definition and a smartphone with an attached compact camera.
The Irvine office of Samsung Information employs about 90 people—mostly engineers, including entry-level hires who start at close to $100,000 a year. It’s part of the company’s sprawling research and development arm that crisscrosses dozens of economic hubs across the globe.
Samsung Information Systems employs about 800 overall, with additional labs in San Diego, San Francisco, Boston and Colorado, among other locations. Its San Jose headquarters, where most of its workforce is based, is slated to move to an 8.5-acre campus in Mountain View next year.
Irvine Project
The latest initiative at the Irvine research and development center is two years in the making and aims to monetize the consumer trend of using connected devices.
“There’s going to be a greater demand for printing content,” said Brent Richtsmeier, senior director of Samsung Information’s IT Solutions division. “As we bring it to market, we’ll learn about the sweet spots for integration and also to target different customers.”
Samsung Information is aiming the printer system test at mobile workers in office lobbies, universities, airports, coffee shops, hotels, malls and other businesses with heavy foot traffic.
It’s a fast-growing segment of the population.
Framingham, Mass.-based market researcher International Data Corp. forecasts the global mobile workforce to reach 1.3 billion by 2015, up from 1 billion in 2010.
“We identified about 100 needs, ideas and opportunities” that could capitalize on that growth, Benchorin said. “We have a prototype, and now we’re trying to take it to market.”
The Business Journal got a sneak peek of the new technology during a recent demonstration at Samsung Information’s eighth-floor office at Irvine Towers near John Wayne Airport. Technology companies commonly demonstrate soon-to-be-released products for potential customers and the media about six to eight months before they hit the market.
Inside
Visitors must contact a staffer via an outside intercom to let them into the office.
The state-of-the art space is armed with myriad Samsung products, from large interactive display systems and smart TVs to a stainless steel refrigerator, sans the baby monitor, that holds staffers’ lunches.
The demo room’s bright white lights showcase Samsung’s latest generation of printers; an interactive display that sits on a coffee-table-like monitor; and jumbo flat TVs. The sleek, modern office has bright green walls, glass offices and panoramic views of the Irvine Business Complex district.
Samsung Information also operates a 22,000-square-foot digital media lab on the seventh floor of the building, where some 65 engineers work on projects, such as TVs.
The R&D offices’ work is in greater demand these days, as Samsung has become a top product vendor and component supplier in several markets, according to Adam Just, a cloud architect consultant at the printing software lab.
The company reserves 9% of its revenue for research and development; so as its sales have increased, so has its project development budget. Samsung is also trying to make bigger gains in the business-to-business segment, according to IT Solutions division director Richtsmeier, who established the Irvine office.
It has 28 job openings in Irvine and plans to hire some 500 this year in the U.S.
The company also maintains an outfit in El Segundo devoted to set-top boxes.
