evolution of smart tv
Expectations of our TVs have changed: We now expect our equipment to do much more than just flip through TV channels. Consumers have been able to sample a wide range of online content available through televisions, allowing them to watch shows they may have missed through apps like Plus7 and I-View, and to “rent” new video releases directly from the TV from applications such as Bigpond TV. Content that we traditionally only accessed on our PC is now available to us through our televisions, Blu-Ray players, and home theater systems, bridging the gap between the Internet and television.
Films
One of the most attractive capabilities of smart TVs is the ability to stream movies over the Internet directly to our big screen. This has revolutionized the way many people access their videos, and the video rental industry is beginning to feel the pressure. In fact, Samsung has just announced that it has signed a deal with Blockbuster to bring more movies to Samsung devices. Blockbuster’s new streaming service is expected to hit the US and Europe in early 2012 and Australia in September.
Bigpond Movies has been available on Samsung and LG TVs for a couple of years now, and this represents a collection of thousands of new and back catalog titles being streamed to your TV over the internet. No more leaving home to go to the video store, or racking up extra fees for that disc you forgot to return.
Quickflix has previously been available on Sony TVs and Blu-Ray players, and thanks to a recent deal, Samsung has teamed up with Sony to partner with the online DVD subscription service and develop an app that will allow Australian users to stream video content to your Samsung Smart TVs.
Sony is also bringing us its own streaming service, Video on Demand, which offers late-release movies in the option of HD or a cheaper SD version, for those of us who don’t have the fastest internet speeds available or are just adjusting our wallets.
Consumers are also starting to use services like Telstra’s T-box and FetchTV, a similar service from Optus, over traditional cable or satellite connections from Foxtel and Austar. This has become a billion dollar industry in Australia, with nothing but growth forecast for the near future.
There are also a plethora of media devices available on the market, such as Apple TV, Boxee, and WD Live, so we now have the widest choice of Internet content available for us to watch on our TV screens than ever before. Two of the most powerful media centers have emerged from Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox, with the latter recently also able to carry a wide selection of Foxtel channels, including movies and sports over the Internet. Both also have movie streaming services available.
TV
Smart connectivity also opens up a lot of options for us when it comes to TV channels. Nearly every major TV manufacturer has ABC’s popular I-View app preloaded on their menus. ABC iview is a catch-up service featuring the best of ABC TV. You can watch your favorite shows in full screen at your leisure. Most shows are available to watch for 14 days and new shows are added every day.
Another application always present in the arsenal of any Smart TV is PLUS7. Yahoo and Channel 7’s Plus7 offers full-episode video streaming as seen on Seven, 7mate and other content partners. High quality full screen videos are available for immediate streaming. New episodes are added daily and are available up to 28 days after they air. You can pause, fast-forward, and rewind shows, and they’re all available to watch on your TV in full screen. PLUS7 also includes an email reminder service so you don’t miss watching shows before they expire. There is also the option to share videos with friends via email and Facebook.
BBC iplayer is another video-on-demand service that provides access to the bulk of the BBC’s massive television archives, with over 1000 hours available at launch and “hours” of additional footage being “added regularly” . Available content includes BBC news, documentaries, entertainment, drama, science and nature, as well as family and kids, music and culture, and comedy and lifestyle. There are also collections of the BBC’s best exports including Dr Who, Little Britain, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Absolutely Fabulous and more.
Bigpond TV is available through LG Smart TVs and Samsung Connected TVs (with Internet on TV feature). This is also the same service available through Telstra’s T-Box. Bigpond TV is a TV channel streaming service that provides us channels like AFL TV, NRL TV, Bigpond News, Bigpond Sport and Bigpond music and more. According to a study by independent telecommunications research company Telsyte, one in ten subscription television services in Australia is delivered over broadband and they predict that by 2015, one third of all pay television services will be delivered over broadband. over broadband networks.
This is an obvious concern for cable subscription companies Foxtel and Austar. Austar, in particular, has seen a big drop in fortune as it faces increasing competition from cheaper Internet TV rivals like FetchTV, iiNet and Internode, available from as little as $10 a month. With streaming Internet TV content available on Smart TVs, like first-run movies and TV shows, as well as many new free digital channels, compared to a cable subscription that starts at $45 a month plus possible box charges, consumers are voting with their wallets en masse.
Music
TV giants Sony and Samsung will have streaming music services available on their Smart TVs, with Samsung’s “Music Hub” launching soon ready to revolutionize the connection between our music and our devices like never before.
Samsung Music Hub gives us access to shared music without the need to download and transfer content from one device to another, and the service will be available on Samsung Smart TVs, Samsung Smart Home Theaters and Blu-ray Discs. intelligent in mid-December. The music center offers owners of Smart TVs, Smart Home Theaters and Smart Blu Ray players access to over 10,000 music videos with the premium subscription.
The technology stores music playlists in a cloud, and music can be accessed from individual devices anywhere in Australia where an internet connection is available. An interesting feature is the “follow me” function, which allows users to start listening to stored music via a mobile phone, before picking up the same playlist when they get home via their TV.
Sony Music Unlimited has been available for a couple of seasons now, on phones, Bravia Smart TVs, PlayStation 3 and Sony PCs and tablets. There are over 10 million songs available on demand, from independent artists to blockbuster superstars. Thousands of new songs are added every week, and you can create and edit an unlimited number of playlists, as well as listen to any song you want as often as you want. There are Internet radio channels classified by genre, period or mood. You can “Like” or “Dislike” tracks to customize channels to your personal taste, and you also have the ability to create new channels based on your favorite artists.
How smart will smart TVs be this year?
Viewers will be able to control their TV using facial recognition, in addition to voice and gesture controls, and move away from the traditional TV remote, similar to Microsoft’s XBox Kinect. LG and Samsung demonstrated voice and gesture controls on their next-generation TVs at CES 2012.
Samsung’s new 8-series TV, the ES8000, has gesture recognition built in, via a camera that recognizes hand gestures and prompts you to change channels, adjust volume, move an on-screen cursor and more.
Samsung and LG introduce voice control on some models in their 2012 lineup. Current LG Smart TV owners may be familiar with the Magic Motion Remote, which lets you control an on-screen cursor similar to how a Nintendo controller works. Wii. This year will see an update to the Magic Motion remote that now offers voice recognition functionality. A microphone on the remote sends your voice to your Smart TV, allowing the user to search the web, tweet and post to Facebook, all with spoken words.
Panasonic has developed a new “flick” technology and believes it will open up new ways to display content from our mobile devices in perfect picture quality on a Viera TV. This will revolutionize connectivity between our devices, allowing us to simply “touch” content to remotely stream photos, videos and web pages from Android or Apple products directly to the TV.
Another big feature coming is the ability to upgrade your TV with future features, without the need to buy a new TV. It will basically be in the form of an upgrade slot on the back of the TV and you will be able to purchase upgrade “kits” as they are needed and available.
Google has announced that LG, Sony and Vizio will showcase Google TV devices at CES 2012, with Samsung introducing Google TV later in the year, and Apple is also rumored to make TVs from 37″ to 50″, and reported iTV Features, such as Siri-powered controls, iOS app support, AirPlay, iCloud support, and deep integration with iTunes.
Sony has announced two complementary Google TV boxes in the form of a Blu-ray player and a network media player. These will be shipping to the US and Europe shortly, and other parts of the world can expect them to roll out afterward. Both boxes have a completely new remote control, with a backlit QWERTY keyboard with touchpad. The remote can also function as a universal remote for other devices, while the Blu-ray player also supports voice search.
The Death of the Idiot Box
The goal and vision of TV manufacturers has advanced far beyond giving us great picture quality. The ability to seamlessly link our media, whether on our phones, tablets, or computers, with our home televisions has become paramount. A plethora of new content, in the form of apps teeming with movies, TV and music, is taking us away from the traditional way we consume such content, putting heavy pressure on industries like traditional video and music stores and cable TV. wire/pay. companies like Foxtel and Austar. What before we had to leave the house, now we have it with a movement of the hand. The days of the lost remote control are fast disappearing, in fact the days of using a remote control are completely disappearing. The idiot box has finally gotten smart!
