Plenty of TVs get sold with net connectivity these days. Australian data presented at Sony’s big product showcase today suggests that the majority of people still don’t take advantage of that option, but those that do get properly hooked.
More: Gizmodo’s Smart TV Buying Guide
At its 2011 product launch a year ago, Sony said that 25 per cent of the internet-capable TVs it sold ended up getting connected to the Net.. At the equivalent event today, Sony officials said that the number was up to 33 per cent. On the fact of it, that’s not a massive improvement.
However, it seems that those who do bother to connect find it useful. According to Sony, 100 per cent of customers who do have a connection watch at least one piece of content a month using it.
I suspect the biggest barriers to people making use of net-connected TVs (in no particular order) are indifference to the idea, an unwillingness to grapple with getting the connection set up, and concerns over using up their monthly bandwidth. What do you think?
Republished from Lifehacker
Lee
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 4:40 PMAs with ipads, iview content doesnt fall under the unmetered content with iinet. Sony/LG need to get in bed with some ISPs if they want a better takeup.
Mango
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 4:50 PMIf your talking about ABC iview then the content is unmetered on iinet. It’s in the freezone.
jonny
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 5:43 PMMy sony tv comes with connectivity – to crappy pay TV bundles and METERED content on iview even though I’m with iinet. I went to the ‘browser’ page (covered with sony articles and ads) and tried to search the word ‘Google’. I got the message ‘Not enough memory’ and the TV crashed. Woeful, bloody woeful.
Jeff
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 5:46 PMI dont have time for all this nonsense. I have a PC and Laptop to access the net and catch up services. I do not involve myself with networks such as FB/Twitter. If the TV is on I am either playing a game or watching TV.. that is all. Smart TV features are a waste of money.
Nat
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 7:18 PMI have a fairly new LG Smart TV.
The browser and apps on it are so slow, I have given up trying to use the set’s net connectivity. I don’t know whether the problem is hardware – too slow a processor or the proprietary software.
It can also record TV shows to a USB connected hard disk. Again it uses a silly proprietary format that produces recordings of truly dreadful quality.
Looks like I am still going to have to build a HTPC.
NickT
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 7:25 PMCompletely agree with Nat. I too have an LG Smart TV, and as my Samsung before it, using the apps is painfully slow. It’s quicker to pull out my iPad and look at whatever.
The trouble for smart tv manufacturers is that theres a host of ‘add-on’ boxes, such as AppleTV etc, that are cheaper to replace than a TV when processor speeds improve and technology improves etc,. I’d rather upgrade a $129 AppleTV device than a $1300 TV for faster performance and better features.
As for the LG DVR type functionality… Hmmm. Used it once but I couldn’t do anything on the TV while it was recording.. Pointless. A DVR on a single tuner TV is just a gimmick really, as is (IMHO) adding Internet apps.
EMH
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 7:46 PMI have an internet or ‘smart” TV and the only thing good about it is that it did not cost me much for the internet connectivity. Internet connectivity with a TV is a pain in the bum, pointless and without value. Use a computer for the sake of your sanity.
awallafashagba
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 7:48 PMi use my Sony Qurocity (i think thats how it’s spelled) and Apple Tv + Xbox360 …. fully tapped in ! – spend a fair deal a month prob .. $70 maybe …..
the browser is pointless – and the apps too ….
browny
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 8:17 PMi love my smart tv.
v8 supercar channel, afl & nrl channels 24/7.
warcroft
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 9:24 PMWDTV Live.
Tiny media box that plays pretty much any format file, built in WiFi, 1080p.
Also has all the features those smart TV’s do too. . . Facebook, Shoutcast, Pandora, Live 365, YouTube, AccuWeather, Picasa (theyre just the ones off the top of my head, theres about 20+).
Also has a whole bunch of those shitty games like Bejeweled and such.
The absolute best home media investment I have made.
I got the first model when it was released a few years ago and just got the new model a few weeks ago. $124 from The Good Guys web site.
DarkAura
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 9:20 AM100 per cent of customers who do have a connection watch at least one piece of content a month using it. – That is not an impressive statistic and I’m sure they would of used a better one if they had a better one.
If you watch 2 things a day that’s 56 things a month so the content they are taking about is about 2% of people viewing?
And what is this Content? could it be ads, 5mins clips like youtube?
sean
Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 6:09 PMWe use our XBoxen for this, no need for a new TV.
iView and SBS onDemand are indispensible, considering our spotty reception for the two best TV channels in Oz.
Phil
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 12:53 PMI’m glad i don’t have an internet connected TV , they seem to be full of compromises. Friends who have them complain of poor scaling ( image wont fit screen ), media player has limited codec support to play all file types with no ability to upgrade , poor user interface , limited HD support , the list goes on. It seems a more bulletproof and upgradeable solution is to use separate components such as a Blu ray media player with network / usb support , a P.C or tablet and use the HDMI ports so the TV is just a display