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Samsung promises that its new, massive 115-inch Micro RGB TV delivers hyper-realistic color and brilliant brightness, but it comes with an eye-watering price tag. The TV can be yours for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $30,000. The TV uses proprietary Samsung technology the company says sets industry standards for color accuracy for a viewing experience that’s vivid and immersive. It’s available now in South Korea, and Samsung says it will be available later in the U.S. as well as globally. The company did not give a specific global release date. “With this launch, were setting the standard in the large-sized, ultra-premium TV market and reinforcing our commitment to next-generation display innovation,” Samsung Electronics head of R&D for its visual display business Taeyong Son said in a statement. Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A pricey tv in a category that costs less and less While persistent inflation since the pandemic has added to the cost of everyday items, the television set has actually gotten less expensive. The price of a 40-inch TV set has fallen by 99% in 25 years, according to the Progressive Policy Institute. Factors like cheaper production and increased competition have driven down prices for big-screen TVs, and what was once a luxury is now a commodity. With its new $30,000 TV, though, Samsung is finding new ways to make the television set a luxury item again. Samsung’s new TV uses micro-scale RGB LED backlight, a red-green-and-blue LED lighting system that reduces bleeding between colors, resulting in a crisper, brighter image. Samsung says its new TV is the first set of its size to use the company’s proprietary Micro RBG Technology, and the TV was designed to reduce glare and reflections. It uses AI processing to finely control the backlight, and also is compatible with Samsung Vision AI for smart viewing, so viewers can access content like actor bios while watching a show or ask questions about what they’re watching. At 112 inches, it also requires a pretty big wall. [Photo: Samsung] Design that follows the money With a price point that rivals some cars, the South Korean technology company’s $30,000 TV comes as the U.S. economy bifurcates. The rich now hold up consumer spending, and an August Bank of America Institute report found the gap between wages and spending for lower-income households has widened. Lower-income households saw their after-tax wage growth reach 1.3% year-over-year in July, while higher-income households saw 3.2% growth, according to the report. For TV manufactures, that could mean fewer cheap sets are being sold while the market for high-end sets is growing. It’s clear Samsung has been set on capturing the high-end market since releasing a 98-inch, $100,000 TV in 2019. Its Frame tv, released in 2017, is far more affordable at starting as low as $800, but as it’s designed to look like framed artwork, it rejects the idea that TV has to be a utilitarian black box on the wall. Today, the company offers more than half a dozen TVs that cost more than $10,000, including its 114-inch Class Micro LED for $150,000. The number of higher-income consumers who are willing to spend five figures or more on a TV set might be small, but at such high price points, Samsung doesn’t need to sell many. The sale price of just one Micro RGB TV is as much as that of more than 100 of some of Samsung’s cheaper models available at Best Buy.
Category:
E-Commerce
For 75 years, David’s Bridal has been the go-to dressmaker for America’s brides, selling a third of all wedding dresses in the country. But in a strange twist, the company wants to reinvent itself as something else entirely. Next week, the retailer unveils its new identity as a technology platform for the $70 billion wedding industry. It begins with the rollout of Pearl Planner, an AI agent for couples planning their wedding. It provides checklists for each step of the process and connects users with vendors who pay David’s Bridal a commission for each sale. If this tool is successful, not only will it provide a compelling model to companies looking to monetize generative AI, but it would also be one of the biggest brand transformations in recent history. Kelly Cook, who was promoted to David’s Bridal CEO in April 2025, describes this as an evolution from “aisle to algorithm. For years, the company’s business was designing and manufacturing wedding dresses across a complex supply chain. Like other apparel businesses, it’s a model that involves risk, since the company needs to acquire inventory that may not sell. But Cook says the fundamental premise of the business is changing. “One of the core tenets that underpins our strategy is that we’re asset light,” she says. “We’re focused on AI first. This is how we’re making every single decision going forward.” From Bankruptcy to Rebirth This radical change comes after a turbulent period. David’s Bridal has filed for bankruptcy twice over the past seven years, first in 2018 and again in 2023, citing persistent operational and financial challenges. Cook, who joined David’s Bridal in 2019 as CMO, identifies several reasons for the company’s struggles. It had failed to modernize its stores, which are crucial to selling dresses. And just as it was beginning to update its retail fleet, the pandemic hit. As people canceled weddings, the bridal market ground to a halt, and there were massive shipping delays that paralyzed the supply chain. Then, when the stimulus checks stopped coming, people continued to postpone their weddings,” Cook says. “We had one thing after another, and so in 2023 we had to go back to bankruptcy court.” Help arrived in July of that year, when Cion Investment Corp. bought David’s Bridal, reaching a deal to keep 195 stores open and enabling 7,000 of the company’s 10,000 employees to keep their jobs. It also injected $20 million of new funding. David’s Bridal’s executive team saw the acquisition as an opportunity to try something totally different. The board empowered Cooka seasoned retail veteranto bring the company into the 21st century. Cook hired Elina Vilk, a Silicon Valley veteran who had worked at eBay, PayPal, and Facebook, to be the company’s chief business officer. And Vilk’s approach is to integrate technologists across every aspect of the business, including retail stores and highly specific departments, like alternations. “The secret is not to create a separate tech team that is a silo,” Vilk says. “To change the culture of the organization, you want to put people in different parts of the organization.” An AI Wedding Planner While David’s Bridal sells dresses, the company also has access to vast amounts of data. Cook says that 90% of all brides in America interact with David’s Bridal in some way, from visiting a retail store to browsing the company’s website. In the end, only a fraction of them end up purchasing a dress. “We serve the middle of the market, rather than couture or budget brides,” Cook says. “But the fact that nearly all brides were coming to us at some point was an extraordinary opportunity.” Company executives determined that they could provide a useful service to the entire population of newly engaged couples by providing a free wedding planning tool thats highly tailored to their needs. “When a woman gets engaged, she’s thrilled,” Cook says. “But then she spends the next 18 months in a perpetual state of anxiety. We can help her solve some of these problems.” [Screenshot: David’s Bridal] AI agents like ChatGPT or Claude can help with some aspects of the process. For instance, you might ask: “I just got engaged. What should I do next?” But these platforms are not well-versed in the details of wedding planning, nor will they connect customers with vendors they can use. David’s Bridal trained Pearl Planner, in part, on its own data about the specific steps that couples go through during the wedding planning process. The final product is a guided conversation with the AI agent that walks the user through each stage. “To use ChatGPT, you need to know what questions to ask,” Vilk says. “The blank screen can be very anxiety-inducing. The difference with Pearl Planner is that it guides you through the process step-by-step.” [Screenshot: David’s Bridal] When you open the app, you answer questions about your wedding, including the date, size, aesthetic, and color palette. The app then creates a vision board, which you can tweak. Then you receive a checklist, personalized to your budget, style, and venue. It also explains when you need to accomplish each task. For instance, you’ll get notifications when you should send your save-the-date notices, or when you should begin researching florists. [Screenshot: David’s Bridal] Also, as anyone who has planned a wedding knows, there are many things that can go wrong. The app tries to help with these problems. For instance, if you suddenly discover you need to add five more guests to the event, the Planner will automatically update your seating and catering checklists. David’s Bridal gives the app to customers for free and offers a loyalty program that allows them to earn rewards for every dollar they spend through the app. (The highest award is a two-night, three-day honeymoon.) Th app generates revenue in several ways. First, it directs users to its own product lines, which now include engagement party dresses, bridesmaid’s dresses, and resort wear for the honeymoon. It also introduces couples to vendors in their area and generates commission from each sale. [Screenshot: Davids Bridal] Pearl Planner essentially serves as a marketplace and advertising network for wedding vendors. “Since we capture a lot of first-party data about each user on Pearl Planner, it is so much more productive to advertise to our users,” Cook says. “Their ad spend is so much more productive, because they can target users based on very specific characteristics and introduce themselves to the couple the minute they need their service.” Cook points out that the Pearl Planner completely transforms the companys business model. Now other wedding dress brands are no longer competitors: They can advertise on the Pearl Planner app, and David’s Bridal will receive a commission if they book through the app. In fact, there might come a day when David’s Bridal lets other bridal shops white-label the technology. “They could rename it for all we care,” Cook says. “When the brides go through the funnel, whether they buy the dress from us or not, all the monetization still stands. We benefit by serving the vendors that serve these brides.” Davids Bridal’s effort to reinvent itself is a bold move, particularly for a 75-year-old company. There are other legacy retailersincluding Walmart and Amazonwho are incorporating AI into their core business with agents that help merchants decide what products to bring into the assortment or help them manage store inventory. David’s Bridal stands out because it is using AI to evolve into an entirely different kind of company, with new revenue streams. It’s unclear yet exactly how well this transformation will work. But Cook models the kind of ambition required to revive a struggling business and make it relevant in the AI age. “At some point, we might not even just be a bridal company,” she says. “You can use this same technology to plan any of life’s events, from quinceaeras to bat mitzvahs to baby showers.”
Category:
E-Commerce
Every year, theres one track that somehow makes its way from a teenagers headphones to my moms Pilates playlist. You know, the song that plays at rooftop bars and seeps into your subconscious through car radios and TikTok feeds. By early August, its everywhereinescapable, undeniable, and, somehow, still a bop. Is it possible to construct a song with the summer fame in mind? What actually makes a song the summer song in the modern age? After years of writing music for brands, bands, and everything in between, Ive realized its not just about vibe. Its also math (yes, really), great marketing, strategic timing, a lyric with a seasonal tinge, and most elusive of allbottled lightning. Lets break down the necessary elements that can determine whether or not the song will be the one for the summer. 1. The math: BPM (Beats Per Minute) is the foundation When I crunched the numbers from the biggest summer tracks of the past five years, tempo was one of the common denominators. There are two lanes. Swagger tracks generally groove below 112 BPM. Theyre confident and cheeky, they dont beg for attention, and they wink. Think of BTSs Butter, Taylor Swifts Cruel Summer, and Sabrina Carpenters Espresso. These tracks carry a retro or breezy confidence, which leans back rather than forward. On the other hand, shimmer songs punch in at 125 BPM or higher. These are your danceable, effervescent tunes that make you want to move. Think Harry Styless As It Was and Calvin Harriss Blessings with Clementine Douglas. Now, songs that are between 112 BPM and 124 BPM are on tempo no mans land. Theyre too sluggish for shimmer, too hyped for swagger. If your tracks stuck there, odds are you wont be creating this summers anthem. Sorry. Maybe next year. 2. The marketing: TikTok or bust Whether we like it or not, TikTok is the new radio. If youre not soundtracking a transition video, a get ready with me, or releasing solid remixes, youre missing out on potential. Just look at Sabrina Carpenters Manchild: Over 4 million TikTok users propelled it to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Last year, Carpenters Espresso sparked choreography and creator remixes before the full track was even officially out. Blessings by Calvin Harris got traction from remixes. Love Me Not generated mashups and retro dance clips that boosted it to a Hot 100 top ten. 3. The summer cred: seasonality sells Of course, a summer song has to sound like summer. A familiar groove, or even a single lyric line, can seal the deal. “Thats that me espresso is a fun hook that feels sun-drenched. Even Love Me Not, despite its retro DNA, sparkles with heatwave heartbreak. It feels like cool lemonade spilled on a vintage cassette tape. Contrast that with Zara Larssons Midnight Sun or PinkPantheresss Tonight. Theyre catchy and vibey, but have no visceral summer tag. 4. The intangible: bottled lightning Some songs just hit a nerve. Its the undefinable quality that blows up influencer feeds, festival sound systems, fashion week playlists, and even Facebook timelines. Sometimes its a surprise. Harry Styless As It Was is heartbreak disguised as pop candy. Sometimes it’s a mystery (Love Me Not breaking through a slow chart year with retro-swagger). Sometimes its perfect timing (Espresso landing right as spring needs a caffeine jolt). Blessings also caught the perfect club season wave. Potential summer song of 2025 Based on this, whos winning summer 2025? Manchild checks nearly every box: BPM? Check. Viral? Over 4 million uses. Lyrics? Skirts the lightness of the summer. Magic? You bet. Where Im not so sure is whether or not it delivers on bottled lightning, which generates staying power. Love Me Not is a stealth contender. You have viral TikTok edits and a retro freshness. However, its on the cusp of no mans land, so its dangerously sitting on no mans land. Blessings by Calvin Harris has big shimmer energy. Its danceable, has international reach, and is poolside playlist ready. Alex Warrens Ordinary might be the big sleeper hit, but its not a song of summer. Sure, its a great song released in the summer. It was initially slow on the digital marketing front, but suddenly exploded, and it topped U.S. and global charts for weeks. Its the perfect groove tempo and an irresistible anthem, but unlikely to make anyone think of bikinis or mai tais by the pool. Bottom line: I dont see one clear winneryet. Currently, Im seeing a lot of great songs that check some boxes, but not others. Perhaps we can expect that due to the fractured nature of the media. It has never been more difficult to create that singular song of summer across all audiences unless a song comes along with a heavy checkmark in all four boxes. Weve yet to see a song with the jolt of Espresso, but summer is far from over. And until then, theres still a top spot open on the charts and on my moms Pilates playlist.
Category:
E-Commerce
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