With all the hype about Smart TVs lately, lets get things into perspective... they're not smart, they are doing deals to feed you 'Preferred Content' within a walled environment!
The real battle is between the Content Distribution Channels, like Sky, Virgin and the plethora of corporate content providers/services that have to do the deals with them... and, THE INTERNET. Because they're not offering an open Internet user experience. They're not offering the required software Add-Ons! Like a simple operating system (Google TV is perhaps the one to watch).
So here's a short-term solution for those of you who want it Now...
The ability to easily display any content from your PC or Laptop, on your TV - with No Cables! Decent laptops now have powerful graphics cards and faster processors, making it so easy to display different Windows between screens, in HD.
You can now easily watch a Movie via the Net, on the plasma (via Channelfilms of course), while surfing/emailing/face booking on the Laptop or PC, on the sofa, with no wires to worry about and switch between screens depending upon what you want to watch!Its always interesting how technology's available for quite a while before its released into the market... there's a lot of 'holding-back' it seems to me. Politics and personal interests are apparent, especially between the traditional Channels of Content Distribution. Sky and other major Cable/Satellite providers have been calling the shots for some years now, when it comes to 'Revenue Windows'. Perhaps so much so that they're actually stifling Hardware Development whilst protecting traditional revenue streams. Look at Sony! Major Hardware and Major Content... PS3 is a walled environment, great though it is (plays Divx VOD Movies), it's technically capable of doing everything you want, in an open Internet. I-Tunes are the same... Walled, while they try to build on their clout with the major Hollywood Studios.
Which is why the likes of Samsung are starting to get some traction and Fill-The-GAP.
Its all going to be about the Phone...
You can now buy a fairly cheap HDMI connector for the Samsung Galaxy II smart phone, and use the wireless Ezair as mentioned above, to stream any content straight to the Telly. They've also done a deal with a third-party content provider for mainstream Hollywood Movies - download to the phone and Point-And-Play to your Plasma! The great thing about it is the Android Angle, which means that eventually ANY content can be accessed from your phone and played back on the Plasma (phone needs to be fully charged). And folks, that will include all our Flash films as well, although we're already Samsung Galaxy II compatible as they're DIvX Certified Devices!
