Samsung LED TVs To Offer Online Content From NineMSN
One of the coolest features in all the top of the line home entertainment kit coming to market over the next year or so is the inbuilt IP connectivity for access to online service. In Samsung’s upcoming LED backlit TV range, that content will be coming directly from NineMSN.The decision is interesting, considering that in the US, Samsung has partnered with Yahoo for their TV widgets. According to a Samsung representative, each of the top 5 markets for Samsung are free to organise their own partnerships for the content, and in Australia, they felt that NineMSN was the better fit.
When the TVs hit shelves next month, the only content on offer will be YouTube (without the ability to search) and a weather app. NineMSN’s content will be arriving sometime in August, so long as everything goes to plan. The deal with NineMSN also doesn’t mean that yoyu’ll never see a Flickr widget on their TVs – it’s definitely something Samsung or working on implementing.
Part of the NineMSN content planned is a location based entertainment guide, with information on local cinemas, restaurants and bars all available through your TV, including menus and restaurant types. All that’s required is for you to enter your postcode, and the NineMSN content engine will offer the rest.
Like Panasonic’s Viera Cast, all the content is aggregated on Samsung’s own servers, which means that they can implement updates without you requiring to download an update for your TV.
While it’s still very early days for this type of integrated IP technology in home entertainment hardware, it’s actually a really promising start. Sure, we’ll probably never get a Bittorrent client built in to our TVs, but simple web content is probably all that most people will use.
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Comments
As a series 9 owner I’m going to be pretty pissed if all this functionality isn’t provided to owners as part of a software update.
The current series 9 probably could acheive the same functionality with a software update should Samsung decide to actually do it.
DNLA over wireless isn’t currently available on the original series 9(you have to use CAT6) and Samsung as yet to release a software fix for it. I mainly bought the series 9 for this functionality and didn’t want to run cables.
I would warn protential buyers of these new models to not expect all features to work as actually advertised.
Ive owned a 5 and 6 series and now a 9 series. Possibly the best tv’s ever made! I have had a viera so i’m not to biased. The idea behind a software update is so that they can provide this kind of functionality! Im sure they dont intentionally try to aggrevate their customers.
I love the thin sexy lines of the LED backlit screen! mmmmm im drooling!
@peedoff
You bought a series 9 mainly for its wireless DNLA functionality?
Surely the awesome contrast ratio was a bit of a selling point?
Tis my understanding you need to buy a little usb dongle to get the wireless, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen those available in Australia.
How often do you actually use those little widgets anyway?
Also, if you are super disappointed with your 950, i’ll take it off your hands :P
Samsung AU support are pretty useless. I rang them to ask which USB wireless adaptors are supported and tested and they couldn’t provide any tested devices and said just buy anything and it ’should’ work. Thats a great answer.
They also advised me that DNLA isn’t supported over wireless anyway and they are looking into whether this can work.
Yes they could fix\add this functionality via software updates but the question is will they.
It seems to me that many companies are now offering products that can be updated to include extra functionality via software however just dont do it. After you’ve bought they would rather focus their energy on winning new customers and not satisfying existing ones. Like having to buy a new ipod just so i can have a shuffle on\off or display display cover art on the main menu.