Smart TVs haven’t exactly set the premium TV market on fire, but the one area where they have grabbed telly watchers’ attention has been in providing catch-up TV opportunities. Sony’s just announced that by mid-year it’ll add Channel 10 to its lineup on compatible Bravia TVs.
When Panasonic launched its Australian 2012 TV range, the talk was all about multi-tasking; when Samsung did so it was all about Smart TV and exclusive content. LG’s pitch to get you to buy a new telly this year is strongly tilted towards the quality of its 3D offerings.
At last night’s launch of its 2012 TV range, Samsung was at pains to promote its Smart TV offerings, which this year will include fitness apps, Foxtel and both talk and physical navigation options.
At last night’s Samsung TV launch, the company announced that from 2012, selected TV models would be capable of being “upgraded” to match the next year’s features, for a $149 fee each year. Is that a case of brilliant future-proofing, or subscription TV buying?
Samsung’s launching its Australian 2012 range of TVs tonight, and it has just announced that it’ll be bringing Foxtel to its new TVs in July, along with eight free Olympics channels.
Panasonic launched its Australian 2012 Home Entertainment range today, including its first passive 3D LCD panel, TVs with lots of app functionality across Android and iOS and the announcement of both Telstra BigPond Movies and Quickflix Movies for this year’s crop, and selected 2011 TVs as well.
While rumours are firming around the next iPad, the speculation surrounding whether or not Apple will get into the flat panel market continues to circulate. It sounds like a good idea, but I’m not so sure.
As TV’s have packed on more and features, including multiple inputs and Internet connectivity, the complexity of the remote has grown to match. Now you’re lucky to get a remote shorter than your forearm. This new remote from Samsung, however, will replace the bevy of buttons for a touchpad and Siri-like voice control.
Quickflix is certainly picking up steam; it wasn’t that long ago that its streaming movie service was PC only, and then branching out to Sony PS3. It’s just announced that Samsung TVs, tablets and smartphones will get its service from the middle of the year.
