

Ask HN: What do you think about Smart TVs? - IsaacL

All the usual suspects are talking about Smart TVs at CES. Everyone is waiting for Apple to make their move in this space. Analysts are talking up the size of the market over the next few years, but it's still relatively small and very fragmented.<p>1. Do you think TVs really are the next big form factor?<p>2. What are the prospects for Smart TV apps?<p>3. TVs have two main features: a) they're big screens, and b) they're receivers for high-quality  video content. Add internet access, the ability to run arbitrary software and (in future) touchscreens and the possibilities of both increase. Lots of people are thinking about expanding on b), eg apps for viewers to socialize over TV programmes. What about a)? Will we see TV apps that make use of the form factor - eg, allowing multiple people to work or play together?
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dangrossman
My life is much better with my Google TV box (Logitech Revue).

I watch more Netflix.

I watch more regular TV. The "TV & Movies" app gives me a Netflix-style list
of movie/show covers arranged by genre... based on what's currently playing
right now. The search button lets me type a few letters of a show I know is on
now and quickly switch to its channel. I could never remember all the 3 digit
channel numbers before.

I watch more YouTube because the app is so easy to use, it's got a little
button that tells it to only show me HD videos in the results, videos almost
never buffer unlike on a PC, and I can't tell the difference between a 1080p
YouTube video and live HD TV.

It makes any TV I plug into it an Android device. Android Market and all. I
use a couple apps regularly.

It eliminates 3 remote controls. The Revue can power on and off my TV, AV
system and set top box... plus do every other function on their remotes, down
to digging through settings menus -- all the intelligence of Logitech Harmony
devices that cost more than the Revue does. It saves me time and money --
don't have to press "power" 3 times to turn everything off when I leave a
room.

I want one for every TV in my house. A TV without Google TV feels dumb now.

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stonemetal
We have had "smart TV"s for a while now in the form of wiis, Xboxs, and PS3s
attached to a big screen with the only difference being additional cost for
the secondary box. I have as of yet to see anything engaging outside of
streaming content aka netflix or hulu(not counting their primary function of
games.)

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rdtsc
These might become the new PCs, but locked down. You trade convenience for
privacy.

My TV for example, has apps for twitter, facebook, netflix. It has skype (they
want me to buy a $150 proprietary web cam to attach to it). To use all those
it makes you connect to the internet (it has WiFi as well). However before you
can enable WiFi it makes you agree to a bunch of stuff. Technically it is
capable of spying on us. What we watch, when we watch, who we skype with (if
we'd choose to buy their webcam add-on), what we talk about on facebook and so
on. It is rather scary. It also auto-updates. One day I turned it on and all
its widgets and apps looked different. Law enforcement potentially could turn
on the skype camera add-on and use it for a total big brother type
surveillance.

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dholowiski
"Law enforcement potentially could turn on the skype camera add-on and use it
for a total big brother type surveillance."

Um... you have a cell phone right?

~~~
rdtsc
I know but this is yet another thing. And it is exactly the idea from 1984.

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dholowiski
Smart TV's are clearly the future... we're sitting at a similar point to right
before the original iphone was released. Several companies are taking a
credible shot at a smart TV, but no one's done it "right" yet. Obviously,
everybody's waiting for Apple.

Everything else aside, what's the killer app for a smart TV? It's the HBO app,
or the CNN app or the Arrested Development app... it's the direct delivery of
content from producers to consumers, and cable companies better be ready to
pivot away from delivering content to delivering data, or else.

What will a apple tv look like? I suspect it will basically be like an
embedded Google TV (passthrough HDMI with Apple stuff overlayed), but done in
typical Apple fashion.

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kenjackson
Unlike smartphones in 2006, I think it's clear what TVs need to do. The
problem isn't technological, but political/financial.

TVs just need to do what they do now, but better:

1) HD/3D movies, TV, games -- all on deman 2)
Remote/Voice/Gesture/Expression/Tablet/Phone interaction 3) Fewer wires,
especially for audio 4) Bigger and cheaper 5) Recommendations from social and
coll filtering (I want them split out)

The real problem is almost purely, how do you get on-demand HD content
(movies/tv/games) on the device at a reasonable price and logistically easily
(I don't want to have to pay Netflix, Hulu, Comcast, Spotify, Microsoft,
Valve, etc... -- just one place I pay and I get service for everything).

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salman89
I think the Smart TV features should be built into a set-top box rather than
the TV itself, and the TV should be used as just display. Think about 5 years
from now, when you are not quite ready to upgrade your TV, but your "smart tv"
is now incapable of the current features. The more expensive a product is, the
slower the rate of innovation (ex cars, TVs, appliances..)

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JulianMiller520
I agree. I'm a firm believer that the TV itself should remain fairly stupid
while the peripherals get smart. I love that i can hypothetically pop a roku
stick into my carry on and make my hotel TV smart for the duration of my stay.

