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Ask HN: What do you think about Smart TVs?
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.
1. Do you think TVs really are the next big form factor?
2. What are the prospects for Smart TV apps?
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?
- dholowiski 15y agoSmart 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.
- salman89 15y agoI 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..)
- JulianMiller520 15y agoI 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.
- acheron 15y agoThat's my position too -- bought a new TV recently, and made sure to look for a "dumb" TV, since I'd rather have all those features separately. We're probably in the minority though; more people would rather have "all in one" machines.
- stonemetal 15y agoWe 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.)
- kenjackson 15y agoUnlike 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).
- rdtsc 15y agoThese 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.
- dholowiski 15y ago"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 15y agoI know but this is yet another thing. And it is exactly the idea from 1984.
- dangrossman 15y agoMy 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.