LG Electronics today announced two new HDTV series with NetCast Entertainment Access for streaming movies, TV shows, video, and a Widget-based user experience via Ethernet connectivity.
Through alliances with Yahoo!, Netflix, and YouTube, consumers can instantly stream entertainment from viral videos and movies to photo sharing Web sites without the need of a separate PC.
LG’s HDTVs with NetCast Entertainment Access (47- and 42-inch class LH50 LCD models), 60- and 50-inch plasma models, are on display this week at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show.
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The Yahoo! Widget Engine enables the discovery and enjoyment of interactive applications called TV Widgets. Widgets enable viewers to interact with popular Internet services and online media.
- Through Flickr, Yahoo!’s online photo management and sharing application, lets consumers enjoy their latest family and friend photos on the big screen, running slideshows and viewing individual photos.
- ThroughYouTube, LG’s alliance enables consumers to instantly stream millions of Web videos directly from the Internet for viewing on their television.
- Netflix Instant Streaming can also be delivered directly through the TV.
With the accompanying remote control, Netflix members will be able to browse and make selections right on the TV screen LG’s HDTVs with NetCast Entertainment Access will join the LG BD300 Network Blu-ray Disc Player providing the ability to stream movies instantly from Netflix. Netflix members owning one of these devices pay as little as $8.99 for a monthly subscription for unlimited streaming and DVD rentals.
LG’s HDTVs aren’t the only ones that stream entertainment off the Internet.
Samsung and Yahoo are also working on a web-based content service to be released this spring. Media 2.0 will allow Samsung TV’s to download content, including movies, games, even recipies, all through clicking a widget on the TV. Yahoo has created a “widget engine” for Samsung HDTVs, which will allow viewers to check out Yahoo sites like Flickr, Yahoo News and Yahoo Finance, as well as outside interactive content from USA Today, YouTube, Showtime Networks, and others. The interactive service will be available on sets sold in 13 countries including the U.S., U.K., Mexico, France, Spain and Germany. Samsung also has alliances with Pandora and Netflix.
VIZIO’s “Connected HDTV” platform goes to 11; with built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi. It is expected to ship to retailers later this year.
VIZIO’s remote control lets viewers access movies from Netflix from an easy-to-navigate, on-screen display. VIZIO’s “Connected HDTV” partners include Flickr, Netflix, and Yahoo, as well as:
- Accedo Broadband, a gaming service, with a variety of fun games including Texas Hold Em Poker, Sudoku, and QuizzMaster.
- Adobe with Adobe Flash Player and Adobe Flash Lite on over 98 percent of connected computers and more than 800 million devices. Both players are part of the Adobe Flash Platform and ensure that content and applications are presented consistently in the format users want.
- Amazon Video on Demand with a selection of over 40,000 movies and TV shows will be available to users of VIZIO’s “Connected HDTV” Platform.
- Pandora, based on the Music Genome Project begun in 2000, Pandora’s personalized Internet radio and music discovery service delivers personalized playlists built from a database with over 550,000 songs against nearly 400 distinct musical attributes.
- Rhapsody gives consumers access to more than six million songs on their PC, on their portable device and in the home. Now, VIZIO “Connected HDTV”-enabled users will have living room access as well with personalized recommendations and thousands of themed playlists.
Sony’s 2009 series of XBR models, are also equipped with “widgets” courtesy of Yahoo. The XBR9 series consists of four sizes: the 52-inch KDL-52XBR9, the 46-inch KDL-46XBR9, the 40-inch KDL-40XBR9, and the 32-inch KDL-32XBR9. Prices were not divulged, as usual, and availability details were limited to “spring.”
If the Yahoo Widget Channel isn’t directly built into a TV, then a set-top box must be used. At the Intel Developer Forum, the set-top box platforms were designed around the CE3100 or “Canmore” chip. Adobe’s decision to port its Adobe Flash and Flash Lite technology to the Canmore processor means that Intel’s Canmore chip, as well as set-top boxes that include them, now have hardware support for Flash.
Freescale also launched a platform on Monday with Flash acceleration, although its integrated ARM processor is designed for netbooks. Adobe and Intel are also working together to bring an optimized implementation of Adobe AIR technology. A rich internet application deployed in a browser does not require installation, while one deployed with AIR requires the application be packaged, digitally signed, and installed to the user’s local file system. AIR applications can operate offline.
