Attempting to distract people from the ongoing phone-inferno fiasco, Samsung Electronics has announced the acquisition of Harman – paying $8bn in cash (a 37% premium) for the IVI (in-vehicle infotainment) specialist and its connected car ambitions. The expansion for Samsung is a logical one, but whether Samsung can restore faith in its brand will be a major concern for investors. Harman is a big name in the automotive world, with a market cap of around $6.1bn and a presence in around 30m vehicles globally. Its latest quarterly results, for the period ending on September 30th, saw net sales up 8% to $1.8bn, with connected car sales up 6%. Operating income was listed as $151m, up 15%, and announcing $2bn in…