PSY of Gangnam Style Fame Helps Launch Galaxy Note II
One of the most popular internet video sensations goes live to launch Samsung's latest Galaxy device.
Last week, Samsung launched its Galaxy Note II in the United States with the help of Kanye West in New York City. On Tuesday, Samsung started shipping the phone to Canadian customers, and the multi-cultural city of Toronto got an even more global star, PSY, to help launch its 5.5-inch phablet (smartphone tablet).
While you probably hadn't heard of PSY up until a few months ago when his Gangnam Style music video went viral, amassing over 600 million views, this Korean rapper has six studio albums. His name is now making it over to the west, having appeared on mainstream television shows such as X-Factor, The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Saturday Night Live. PSY also did an AMA post on Reddit, making it to the site's Front Page in no time.
Samsung likely saw this rising Korean superstar's international fame as something analogous to the growing popularity of the electronic company's smartphones and tablets. Samsung is leading the Android market with its selection of Galaxy devices.
At an event in Toronto, Samsung launched the Galaxy Note II with demonstration areas where people could pick up and play with live devices. There was even a sketch artist creating drawings using the S-Pen and the Note II.
It was a smart marketing effort from the Korean company, even though the real attraction of the event was PSY and his first ever performance in Canada. Casual observations of the crowd revealed that Galaxy devices were particularly popular, which may not be all that surprising given that Samsung held a giveaway for tickets to the event on its Facebook page. Nonetheless, Samsung's commitment to holding such music events, including the Kanye West show in New York City, shows the company is as confident as ever in the North American market.
Of course, PSY performed Gangnam Style at the event, giving the crowd a live-rendition of the most 'Liked' YouTube video of all time. We got it on video and you can check it out below:
Contact Us for News Tips, Corrections and Feedback
Stay On the Cutting Edge: Get the Tom's Hardware Newsletter
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Intel says Arc Xe4 Druid GPUs are already in the works — Software optimization is the only remaining step for Xe3 Celestial as it approaches launch with Panther Lake
USB-C cable CT scan reveals sinister active electronics — O.MG cable contains a hidden antenna and another die embedded in the microcontroller
Elon Musk plans to scale the xAI supercomputer to a million GPUs — currently at over 100,000 H100 GPUs and counting
-
BuckminsterCampione Samsung! Throw in some Korean short ribs and you have yourself a customer.Reply -
amdwilliam1985 Very surprised by the popularity of this big phone.Reply
Many of my friends already picked it up, one LINED UP on the first day and got it on TMobile. -
halcyon I would have liked to see it with a display with the same ppi (or higher) as the S3. I may have reached for it.Reply -
rebel1280 ...i think i missed the whole Gangnam train....thankfully, i have no idea what it is lolReply -
boju 9421897 said:...i think i missed the whole Gangnam train....thankfully, i have no idea what it is lol
Pair of drum sticks mate, very good dancer. Just silly watching everyone else do it D: -
I love my Note 1 but hate the reduced resolution to make it 16:9. Came out too soon from the 1st one the same year. It gets lots of attention but most say they wouldnt like the size to carry around. Took me about 2 weeks to get used to it from the Iphone 4 but love it now. I will wait for the Note 3 next year maybe with a 1080p screen and 4gb ram, better camera, and a quad core cpu.Reply
-
halcyon soldier2013I will wait for the Note 3 next year maybe with a 1080p screen and 4gb ram, better camera, and a quad core cpu.Yeah...what he said.Reply -
Old_Fogie_Late_Bloomer Oh, Samsung, I had already pretty much decided to buy the Note 2 (seriously, if you spend a little time using it, it kind of sells itself)...you didn't have to go and do that. :pReply