On Thursday, I went down to downtown San Francisco to take a look at Panasonic’s traveling road show. They were demonstrating new 3-D TV sets, and the new Viera Cast Internet-connected TVs.
I was very impressed with the quality of the 3-D but my main interest was in Viera Cast, which allows viewers to access YouTube, NetFlix, Picasa and other sites from their TV sets.
What are Internet connected TVs? Simply put, they are TV sets that can connect directly to the Internet (via an Ethernet port or even Wi-Fi) and access certain web sites or even applications. Sony, HP and others already have this in their line of TVs. And no doubt all TV manufacturers will have connected TVs in their product portfolio.
Although 3-D TV may make the most headlines and have consumer appeal, I think the real story is with connected TVs.
As this website said:
“Would you rather see an AVATAR in 3D at home…than have your home TV connected wirelessly to 1500 apps that feed your home network?”
At the demo I saw last week, in order to access the Internet content users just have to press a button on their remote control and the Viera Cast home page pops up. Sadly, the demo wasn’t live (no Internet connection!) so all I saw was recorded demos. But the most interesting app available on Viera Cast was Skype. I saw a quick video of what it looks like, and I was excited at the possibilities. Skype on an HDTV really does look like The Jetsons.
Users just need to buy a USB camera, and connect it to the back of the TV set and then start up Skype. Apparently, Skype works just like on your computer–free calls to other Skype users and charges for calls to mobile or landlines. However if you have a Skype subscription, this can be a great way to stay in touch with far-away family.
The downside about Panasonic’s connected TV is that it doesn’t come with built-in Wi-Fi. You have to buy a separate USB dongle that connects to the back of the TV. Having just an Ethernet port is OK, but I think consumers don’t want to lay out Ethernet cable into their living rooms. I think cost of Wi-Fi chips may be one barrier, but they shouldn’t add too much to the cost of an already expensive TV set.
Hitting that Viera Cast button on the remote was easy and using the apps was intuitive. These are important considerations when it comes to TVs, since everyone just wants something you can turn on and use without a manual.
You may not have heard or seen of Connected TVs, but I think that they will be included with most, if not all, of TV sold in the next few years. Last year, iSuppli predicted that Internet Connected TV sales would grow sixfold by 2013, from 14.7 million in 2009 to 87.6 million by 2013. I haven’t done any research into this area but if all TV manufacturers have Connected TV capabilites in the future, then this forecast seems reasonable.
Consumer electronic manufacturers are also putting Internet connectivity inside Blu-Ray DVD players, but I don’t think this will be a popular way to get to the Internet. Blu-Ray hardware and DVD sales have been slow, mostly because of the popularity of Internet content.
I think there will be a big battleground for these Internet connected TVs. These TV manufacturers are clearly trying to replicate the popularity of the Apple iTunes ecosystem on the TV. But there are many companies, including Yahoo, Microsoft and even Google preparing to battle for the connected living room.
If Apple can dust off the disappointment of its Apple TV product, and release a compelling living room solution, they already have a huge headstart.