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Philips adds Spotify to some of its 2013 Smart TVs in Europe
Following in Samsung's footsteps, Philips has announced that it's bringing Spotify to its Smart TV platform in Europe. As of today, those of you across the pond who own a qualifying 2013 Philips set -- including the series 6008, 7008, 8008 and 9708 -- will have access to the renowned music streaming service. In addition, Philips is flipping the switch on the Cloud TV service it revealed back at this year's IFA, which allows viewers to stream "hundreds" of channels over the internet on Smart TVs from 2012 and 2013. That's not all though, as the manufacturer also added Cloud Explorer to 2013 models, giving users access to photos, videos and other documents they have stored on a Dropbox account. All in all, we'd say it's a pretty good day to be a Euro-based owner of a Philips intelligent television.
LG promises to stop your Smart TV spying on you
In light of accusations that its Smart TVs were sending private data to its servers, LG has admitted that some of its sets are behaving in ways they shouldn't be. In a statement, the Korean manufacturer conceded that it has been collecting channel, TV platform and broadcast source data from some units, even when the feature was switched off. However, the company said that when the feature operates normally, it helps provide viewing recommendations to other LG Smart TV owners based on what they are watching. In response to claims it was also beaming over names of files located on connected USB keys, LG admits that it actually forms part of an upcoming service that searches the internet for detailed information on a particular film or TV show. Understandably, both features might leave a nasty taste in your mouth, especially if you own one of the affected Smart TVs. With that in mind, LG says that while it has never stored private data, it is working on a new firmware update that will ensure its data-collection settings adhere to user preferences -- that'll include killing off its file metadata-matching service before it had the chance to live. LG regrets any concerns these reports may have caused and will continue to strive to meet the expectations of all our customers and the public. We hope this update clears up any confusion.
LG Google TV update drops Flash but delivers more Play Store apps
Owners of LG Google TVs having been waiting on this Android 4.2.2 update for a good while. Not only does it bring relief from the sickly sweetness of Honeycomb, with no ROM hackery required, but it also adds NDK support, allowing more apps and games to run on the big screen and to be controlled by the Magic Remote (see the video below for more). One downside is that update switches out the original desktop-style Chrome browser with the Android version instead, which won't do much good for Flash-based content, but the browser does gain better HTML5 support and a new Vudu app as compensation. According to Android Police, the refresh has reached some GS6400 users already and is expected to roll out to other models over the coming days.
Deezer music service expands as it launches on Philips and Panasonic Smart TVs
Deezer's currently competing with the likes of Spotify and Rdio to win over the streaming souls of the world, so it knows how important it is to be available in as many countries and on as many platforms as possible. Taking that into account, the music service announced it has inked a deal with Panasonic and Philips which will bring its web-based tunes to Smart TVs made by those companies, similarly to what it did with other manufacturers earlier this year. What's more, Deezer also (quietly) updated its app on LG and Samsung television sets with improvements to search, an easier way to manage the music library and an option to access your friends' playlists. Of course, this all only applies to places where Deezer is present -- in other words, folks here in the US of A need not to power on their Smart TV and look for the app. One day, perhaps.
China's Baidu teams up with TCL to launch their own Smart TV
Imagine a world where Twitter and Westinghouse hooked up to make Smart TVs powered by Netflix, and that's kinda what's happening in China right now. Baidu has hooked up with TCL to let the former's iQIYI video platform drive the latter's newest TV. The TCL-iQIYI TV+ (as it'll be known) is 29mm thick with a "top end" dual-core CPU running Android 4.2.2, and users will have free and permanent access to a library of around 200,000 high-definition video titles. Locals looking to snag the gear will have to save up RMB 4,567 ($746) when it launches at the end of today.
Alibaba develops Smart TV OS, will use it to sell you things
As much as we enjoyed the decade we spent vegging out in front of the shopping channel, we had hoped that the internet had put such days behind us. Not so, thanks to Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, which has developed its own Smart TV OS, separate to Aliyun, in the hope of pumping even more cash out of our wallets. Developed in collaboration with Wasu Media, the duo will launch a set-top box later in the year, and are in talks with companies like Cisco, Haier and Allwinner to produce compatible devices. While customers will be able to use smartphones to stream media and control their TVs, they'll probably be strong-armed into buying apps, shopping at the Alibaba-owned Juhuasuan and even making utility payments via the company's Alipay platform. Looks like we've got no choice but to finally buy that noiseless karaoke microphone we've been avoiding all these years.
Japanese broadcasters reject Panasonic Smart TV advert in fit of jealousy (video)
As technology adverts go, this new one from Panasonic isn't bad. We've certainly seen worse. From the POV of some major Japanese broadcasters, however, it's apparently too dangerous to air. According to AFP, they've refused to transmit the ad because viewers might be confused by its demonstration of Panasonic's Smart TV interface, which mixes terrestrial TV with web content courtesy of a rather ordinary split-screen feature. This semi-justification has inevitably led to speculation that the privately owned broadcasters are actually trying to slow the growth of IPTV in Japan, because they're not quite ready to compete. Panasonic seems to have taken the knock-back on the chin, saying that IPTV is a "new area of service" in its home nation and that it's currently in talks to "create new rules for broadcasting." Meanwhile, the mind-boggling material is embedded after the break if you're sure you can handle it.
Sceptre's Android-powered Sound Bar 2.1 makes any TV smart
Convergence, the dictionary tells us, is the point where two things combine, so imagine Sceptre's new hardware as the singles bar where speakers and Android first met. The SB301524W Sound Bar 2.1 marries dual front-facing speakers, a 35W subwoofer, 2.4GHz WiFi 802.11 b/g/n WiFi and Ice Cream Sandwich to rejuvenate any old display into a Smart TV. Naturally, users will be able to access Google Play and download apps to the machine, but there's no word on capacity or expandability -- something you'll have to ask in the store before you shell out $300 on the gear.
Pandora launches TV / console-friendly HTML5 site
With 70 million active monthly users, we suspect the world isn't desperately searching for another way to listen to Pandora. That said, we certainly can't fault the internet radio provider for attempting to optimize the experience for as many platforms as possible. The latest push comes in the form of tv.pandora.com, a service the company claims is optimized for that proverbial "10-foot experience." The HTML5-based site plays nicely with your Xbox 360 at the moment, and Pandora says that it'll be coming to further TVs, set top boxes and consoles in the months to come. tv.pandora.com has a simplified navigation system, play, pause, skip and thumbs up and down functionality and 500 curated stations to get you started. You can check the site out today, or peep a press release on the matter after the break.
OnLive's new senior VP of engineering to push tablet, Smart TV
OnLive is looking into the tablet and Smart TV gaming market with its latest hire, Don Gordon, founder of Smart TV tech company Bulldog United. Gordon is OnLive's new senior VP of engineering, and his goal is to drive integration of OnLive onto tablets and Smart TVs, Develop reports.OnLive saw a public, rocky buyout and restructuring in August, when Lauder Partners picked up the company for $4.8 million. At the time, OnLive was $18.7 million in debt and had no available cash. Gaikai, a competing cloud gaming service, was picked up by sony for $380 million in July. OnLive is still, well, alive, and LG Smart TVs now come standard with the streaming service.
Editorial: TV gets prettier, smarter and dumber
Good ideas are hard to predict, both before and after they are introduced as prototypes. The push-button (touch-tone) telephone was conceptually launched to the consumer market at the 1962 Seattle World's Fair, 21 years after the device was invented by Bell Telephone labs. Another 20 years after the Seattle exposition, touch-tone phones finally penetrated 50 percent of American homes. A general lack of tech frenzy, and monopoly pricing control, slowed adoption. But it's also true that the new phones didn't solve a fundamental problem. They sped up dialing, which solved a non-essential but important user-interface problem of rotary dial phones. Each year at CES, tech enthusiasts get a chance to glimpse prototypical ideas and guess whether they will endure. In doing so, one question should remain central: "What problem is being solved?"
Sharp announces new 6-, 7- and 8-Series AQUOS LED TVs as part of 2013 lineup (update: pricing info)
Despite not having the best of years, Sharp has still managed to make its presence felt in the television market -- namely by introducing plenty of AQUOS TVs in recent months, including that 90-inch LED beast we saw back in June of 2012. Today, the Japanese electronics maker is looking to increase its efforts on that front, with the firm adequately choosing this year's CES as the platform to unveil its new lineup of 60-,70- and 80-inch LED televisions in the 6-,7- and 8-Series. For starters, the entry-level 6-Series will boast 1080p capabilities with AQUOMotion 240 (120Hz) as the main driving tech behind it, while the higher-specced (and presumably more expensive) 7- and 8-Series are set to carry the same resolution features (sorry, no 4K here) but with Quattron "color intensification" and AQUOMotion 480 and AQUOMotion 960 technology inside both. Smart and 3D features can also be found in most of Sharp's novel TV models, which should pair nicely with what the company's calling "striking new slim designs." All in all, Sharp is kicking off the new year with about 18 new AQUOS LED TVs -- and for those interested in learning each model name, the presser after the break should help do just that. Update: We have just received pricing information from Sharp, and it looks as if the cheapest model will start off at about $1,500 for the 60-inch, non-3D LC-60LE650, while the most expensive HDTV is set to be the 80-inch LC-80LE857 with a hefty price tag of $6,500 -- both of which will be available in February and April, respectively. In addition, Sharp today also announced its new SmartCentral platform, which will be a one-stop hub for the now-accustomed smart TV applications like Netflix, Hulu Plus, Vudu and Facebook. You'll find more pricing and availability information for the other models inside the updated PR past the jump. Follow all the latest CES 2013 news at our event hub.
Westinghouse set to launch 'Roku ready' CES lineup of HD, 4K models
Westinghouse is already jockeying for CES 2013 position in the crowded connected-TV arena, saying it'll announce a bevy of MHL-compliant models at the show that'll work with Roku's HDMI Streaming Stick. That would presumably give the panel maker Smart TV options without having to bake the circuitry into the new models, letting Roku take the load in providing WiFi connectivity along with 400 channels like Netflix, Amazon Instant Video and Hulu Plus -- all accessible with the TV's remote. Westinghouse teased LED side-lit models ranging from 27- to 60-inches that'll have the option, along with UHDTV sets like the 110-incher it trumpeted earlier. Pricing and availability are still in the air until at least CES, of course, but considering the company's lack of a premium reputation and the fact that you'd also need to purchase the $99 Roku stick, we don't see them looking at the haut de gamme set. Follow all the latest CES 2013 news at our event hub.
LG adding more games to its Cinema 3D Smart TVs in 2013
You may wince at the idea of your TV supplanting your games console, but LG's seen enough potential in the idea to swell the number of titles available for its Cinema 3D units. It'll add The Sims Free Play, Air Penguin and Mini Motor Racing (amongst others) that you can control with the Magic Remote. The latter has also been tweaked to offer three-dimensional gaming, and, thanks to the company's FPR 3D tech, two players can battle each other without having to glare at a split screen. The only downside to the announcement is that we won't see 'em arrive until the first quarter of 2013, because LG are naughty teases.
Deezer, Eurosport and Napster coming later this month to LG Smart TVs in the UK
Over the past few months, we have seen LG slowly but surely increase the amount of entertainment content in its Smart TV platform, with apps such as Verizon FiOS (in the US) and Disney rentals among the latest inclusions. Today, the Korean outfit announced there are more of applications coming to its 2012-range television ecosystem, although these newcomers won't be available worldwide -- that said, owners in the UK will soon be able to enjoy what Napster, Deezer and Eurosport have to offer from the comfort of their own couch, which should make a nice addition to LG's current app repertoire. All three new applications are said to be available in "mid-December," so you should expect 'em to show up on that sleek TV of yours any moment now.
Switched On: The next microplatform
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. The case for rich operating systems supporting a wide range of applications has been proven out among PCs, tablets and smartphones. But the jury is still out for other devices such as televisions. While Samsung pushes ahead on attracting apps to its Smart TVs using its own platform and LG, Sony and Vizio align with Google TV, there are still reasons to believe that the smart TV will fail to have tremendous impact as Switched On discussed last year. Blu-ray players, video game consoles and cheap boxes from Apple, Roku, Netgear and others allow consumers to expand their video options while integrated networking provides gateways to content from smartphones, tablets and PCs.
Xiaomi Box taps the Chinese smart TV market on the cheap, flirts with AirPlay (hands-on)
The Apple TV may not be officially available in China, but there are already plenty of cheap Android TV dongles and set-top boxes over there to keep the folks occupied. That said, many of them don't offer a satisfying multimedia experience, so even for a latecomer like Xiaomi, there's still space for competition. Having just launched the much anticipated Xiaomi Phone 2, the Chinese startup recently announced that it had acquired digital content provider Duokan for some time, and the first fruit is this conveniently named Xiaomi Box. Even with the bundled one-meter HDMI cable, the pebble's priced at a competitive ¥399 (about $64) and we've been told it'll be available in mid-December. Better yet, it claims to be compatible with AirPlay right out of the box! Read on to see if that's the case with our pre-production unit.
Samsung video shows us the design story behind its 75-inch ES9000 smart TV
Samsung's got one problem, but delicately designing a wondrous $9,999, 75-inch smart TV ain't one. Psst... and don't forget that magic 30 million number.
Hisense jumps into 4K TVs with the XT880, promises Android 4.0 and a sane size
The current crop of 4K TVs from LG and Sony are large enough that some of us would need to knock out a wall to get them inside. Enter a surprise early challenger from Hisense: its upcoming XT880 line's 50-, 58- and 65-inch sizes deliver that 3,840 x 2,160 picture at dimensions built for mere mortal living rooms. We're also promised a full-fledged, 3D-capable smart TV based around Android 4.0 with WiFi internet access, a remote with voice commands and a removable camera for gesture control or Skype chats. Hisense yet hasn't committed to launch details for the XT880 line besides a presence on the CES show floor; however, it's safe to say that the smaller sizes will bring the price of Ultra HD down from the stratosphere.
Open webOS-powered HDTVs said to be on the way from... LG?
If you were wondering what was next for webOS now that it's gone all open source on us, webOS Nation chimes in with word that Gram is working with LG to bring it to connected HDTVs. Several names from the HP / Gram team are dropped as being involved in the effort, which reportedly was under way even before HP revealed it would spin the project off as an independent. Of course, when we actually saw Open webOS 1.0 it was already stretching to fill the space of an HP TouchSmart computer screen (project architect Steve Winston specifically mentioned hotel kiosks as a possibility, a market LG is all over) so it makes sense that larger displays have been a target. With LG supposedly both looking to replace its existing NetCast smart TV platform and unhappy with Google TV based on its rate of adoption and Google's terms, engineers have been working to port the software to its dual-core L9 chipset. In the past LG has pursued voice and motion control, the aforementioned Google TV integration and even Plex support to make its smart TVs more appealing, and has founded the Smart TV Alliance for cross platform apps. We only have to wait until CES 2013 to see if webOS is next up to power its efforts, stay tuned.
