Smart-TV Space May Never Take Off as Predicted

Viewsonic has, for now, abandoned plans to integrate Boxee into a smart TV. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Internet-connected TVs, often referred to as smart TVs, were supposed to be the Next Big Thing. But so far, they’re more promise than reality.

A combination of factors, including a lousy economy, lackluster products and consumers more than a little hesitant to buy yet another gadget, have conspired to stall the adoption of smart TVs. The technology is faltering so badly that many electronics firms are reining in plans to offer it.

Viewsonic, for instance, just nixed plans for a Boxee-powered smart TV set and says we won’t see it anytime soon. The company showed off a 46-inch set earlier this year at CES and said we’d have them by the second quarter. But now the company says in a statement:

“’Smart TV’ has not achieved the consumer acceptance or market expectation… that was forecasted over the last couple years. In addition, consumer spending for Smart TV’s in general has experienced a significant slow down as the economy has slowed. Our current strategy is to stay involved with the various technology developments and consider them in the future as they become available.”

Viewsonic’s wake-up call is hardly unusual. Pretty much everyone is discovering consumers aren’t terribly interested in smart TVs.

“What’s happening in the connected TV space is it’s not really about what consumers want, it’s about what manufacturers are making,” Forrester principal analyst James McQuivey says. “Simply having a connected TV doesn’t mean you’ll actually use it.”

Other analysts share a similar sentiment.

“In most cases consumers are buying a television with Internet connectivity as insurance. In other words, they are buying them just in case they need it in the future,” says Van Baker, a vice-president at the research firm Gartner. “Less than half of Internet connected televisions actually get connected to the Internet so clearly consumers don’t yet see this capability as a must have feature.”

Smart TVs, as well as various smart TV set-top boxes like Boxee, Roku and Google TV, once had rosy outlooks.

“Over the next few years, connected TV will become a mainstream consumer technology. Its widespread adoption will not only be disruptive to the entertainment industry; it will also heavily impact the global advertising and marketing industries,” read a May press release outlining projected global shipments of connected TVs. By 2015, 43 million homes in the US are expected to have at least one connected TV.

But so far, evidence of a disruption is hard to come by. Logitech, for example, recently drop the price of its Google TV set top box, the Revue, from $299 to $99 to better reflect consumers’ perceived value of the product after customers returned them in droves.

Apple may be a notable exception to the trend, as there are persistent rumors that some sort of Apple TV set is in the works.

Many blame the lackluster economy for the slow adoption rate of connected TV sets. McQuivey blames the devices. He’s still bullish on the technology, but says the current crop of smart TVs are actually pretty stupid, lacking enough power to make them a truly relevant, transformative technology. Many people buy smart TVs, take them home, and then never utilize the connected features of the set.

The people buying these TVs tend to buy them because they are the best TVs on the market — not because they are connected. The people who actually use Internet connectivity capability do so for only a handful of tasks, like accessing Netflix, watching YouTube videos and maybe checking out photos on services like Facebook or Picasa.

“Nobody has designed these devices to be inviting, to work quickly,” McQuivey says, noting that Google is at least trying to fix that in the software space. The situation is entirely different from another product that debuted around the same time as the smart TV: the iPad. “We’ve found there are at least ten activities that 50 percent or more people do on their iPad, which is very unusual. The iPad beckons you to try these things.” And Internet connected TVs? Well, it’s a TV, so you mostly just sit there and… watch the TV.

And what about that Apple television rumor?

“I am 100 percent convinced that Apple rumor is true,” McQuivey says. “I’m also convinced Apple may never bring this product to market. If we don’t see one, it’s not because the rumor wasn’t true, it’s because Apple is convinced it’s too broken a market to enter.”

Apple would need to add something new in order for their smart TV to possibly succeed, and its options are to provide additional content (like when Netflix was added to Apple TV’s streaming abilities), or add apps. If they can convince major developers to create apps for the experience, McQuivey says, it may succeed.

It looks like Viewsonic may revisit the space when production become more affordable, citing ” future cost reduction of processing solutions” and “advancements as to the performance of streaming and decoding of digital media and cost” as technological developments they were working on in the meantime.

But there’s no point in pursuing smart TV development further if nobody’s adopting it.

“This will end up being one of the most successful flops in the history of consumer tech adoption,” McQuivey says.


Sony’s new internet TV box, projector and Blu-ray player make an appearance at IFA

They didn’t earn highlights during Sony’s IFA 2011 keynote, but it did slip out a few more pieces of home theater hardware that are more likely to end up in your living room than its outlandish 3D helmet. The SMP-N200 replaces the earlier Netbox that debuted last year with a refreshed design and support for HD and 3D. Unsurprisingly, this Blu-ray player (without the Blu-ray) also supports DLNA “throwing” of content, making it a natural Apple TV-style tie-in for the Tablet S and Tablet P once they launch. Moving on, the VPL-VW95ES is a proper replacement for last year’s VPL-VW90ES that we’ll probably get more properly acquainted with later this week at CEDIA. For 2011 it’s been refreshed with 3D conversion capabilities, an integrated 3D emitter to sync the glasses and the ability to set and memorize different lens positions to switch seamlessly between 16:9 and ultrawidescreen projecting. Finally, the BDP-S185 Blu-ray player was announced, with compact size and power consumption that Sony claims is 47 percent less than the previous year’s models as its most notable features. All should start shipping in October, no specific word on pricing yet.

Continue reading Sony’s new internet TV box, projector and Blu-ray player make an appearance at IFA

Sony’s new internet TV box, projector and Blu-ray player make an appearance at IFA originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 04 Sep 2011 21:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DirecTV’s Nomad teaser page suggests a Slingbox competitor, but little else

It’s been a while since we heard anything solid about the DirecTV Nomad unit, but a teaser page recently went live on the satellite company’s website showing the device. The tiny pic isn’t incredibly revealing, but other than “coming soon” the page also displays a laptop, phone and tablet — likely targets for viewers to watch their TV broadcasts away from the satellite box. That MDR1R0-01 remains scarce, but hit the source link and keep your eye peeled on that URL for more information about DirecTV’s competitor to the Slingbox / iPad apps being offered by other TV providers.

[Thanks, Tyler]

DirecTV’s Nomad teaser page suggests a Slingbox competitor, but little else originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 05:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Time Warner Cable will pay for your Slingbox, in exchange for love

If you’re a faithful Time Warner Cable customer, your next Slingbox purchase could be on the house. Yesterday, the provider announced that it will offer full rebates to any Wideband internet subscribers who buy the $300 set-top box, as part of a promotion due to launch sometime in September. Jeffrey A. Hirsch, TWC’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer, told the New York Times that the offer is geared solely toward promoting his company’s $99 Wideband service, though it’s hard to ignore the move’s larger symbolism — especially in light of that ongoing legal battle with Viacom over live streaming content to the iPad. Time Warner has yet to pinpoint a launch date for its new promotion, but we’ll let you know as soon as we get word.

Time Warner Cable will pay for your Slingbox, in exchange for love originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Aug 2011 08:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Honeycomb beta update now available for Logitech Revue, only the intrepid need apply

Logitech Revue users are waking up to some exciting news today, because they can finally run Honeycomb on their TVs — if they’re brave enough to try. As expected, the folks over at GTVHacker have leaked their Android 3.1 beta update for the recently discounted set-top box, now available for download and flash without even requiring a root. You can find all the requisite details and downloads at the source link, though you’ll have to register with the site to do so. It’s also worth noting that the update is still in a buggy, beta phase of development, and that once you upgrade, you may not be able to go back. If you’re willing to dance with danger, let us know how you fare.

Honeycomb beta update now available for Logitech Revue, only the intrepid need apply originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Aug 2011 02:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Roku 2 HD, XD, and XS officially launch: same price, smaller size and Angry Birds

Roku has gone from a barely known streaming media box manufacturer to a retail darling in a remarkably short amount of time (the last hardware revamp launched less than a year ago) and it’s back with more new hardware to continue the assault. The Roku 2 lineup will put their (much smaller) footprint in the spaces left by their predecessors when they hit shelves later this month without changing the price one bit. Besides being more energy efficient, it brings new channels including Angry Birds, Epix, MLS and more, while also upgrading the Netflix experience with support for subtitles, surround sound and 1080p video. The pricing tiers of $60 (HD), $80 (XD) and $100 (XS) remain; while stepping up to the XD adds 1080p video output, splurging for the XS adds a game remote (a $29 accessory), included copy of Angry Birds plus Ethernet and USB ports. If you still need confirmation after all the leaks, there’s another pic and a press release after the break, plus a quick demonstration of the box by the cutest product spokesperson of all time.

Continue reading Roku 2 HD, XD, and XS officially launch: same price, smaller size and Angry Birds

Roku 2 HD, XD, and XS officially launch: same price, smaller size and Angry Birds originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Jul 2011 23:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Roku 2 HD struts its stuff in the wild along with a new remote (Update: new comparison pics)

Sure it already posed for the FCC’s unflattering cameras, but now we can observe the Roku 2 HD — with packed in MicroSD card and lightly refreshed remote — in its natural habitat. Our tipster didn’t indicate the provenance of this particular package but we’d previously heard they would start shipping to beta testers last week with an updated UI and this likely represents one of the lucky few delivered so far. The polished state of the hardware and packaging suggests the testing period is to work out any software kinks and (more likely) get in a few rounds of Angry Birds; until we hear something about more specific you can check out a few more of shots in the gallery.

Update: Another anonymous tipster has just sent over this picture of one of the new units next to a Roku XD that gives a good impression of how tiny the new units really are, and another showing the surround sound option. They also noted the new hardware shows improved picture quality, however at this stage the UI isn’t different and there aren’t any new games available yet.

[Thanks, Geraldine]

Gallery: Roku 2 HD

Roku 2 HD struts its stuff in the wild along with a new remote (Update: new comparison pics) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 07:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Roku 2 HD struts its stuff in the wild along with a new remote

Sure it already posed for the FCC’s unflattering cameras, but now we can observe the Roku 2 HD — with packed in MicroSD card and lightly refreshed remote — in its natural habitat. Our tipster didn’t indicate the provenance of this particular package but we’d previously heard they would start shipping to beta testers last week with an updated UI and this likely represents one of the lucky few delivered so far. The polished state of the hardware and packaging suggests the testing period is to work out any software kinks and (more likely) get in a few rounds of Angry Birds; until we hear something about more specific you can check out a few more of shots in the gallery.

[Thanks, Geraldine]

Gallery: Roku 2 HD

Roku 2 HD struts its stuff in the wild along with a new remote originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jun 2011 07:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Xtreamer’s Prodigy media streamer gets upgraded internals, shoots 3D video to your screen for €149

Last time we saw the Xtreamer Prodigy, it was shaping up to be quite the slick little media streamer with a Realtek 1185 chipset running at 500MHz, a plethora of supported codecs, and a fancy flash-based GUI with Android underpinnings. In the months since, the Prodigy hit the gym and now packs Realtek’s 1186 silicon clocked at 750MHz and HDMI 1.4 for pumping out video in three dee. There’s also Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n WiFi, and support for up to a 3TB HDD in its 3.5-inch bay, so you can source your videos from home or abroad with the greatest of ease. Currently up for pre-order, this digital media distributing dandy will cost €149 (that’s $213 here in the States), but won’t ship until September.

Xtreamer’s Prodigy media streamer gets upgraded internals, shoots 3D video to your screen for €149 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Jun 2011 22:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sigma Design’s ‘ultra thin’ TV box design promises HD in a tiny package

It’s not much bigger than many of the wall warts currently filling outlets in your power strip, but this reference design from Sigma Designs could be your next cable box. With HomePlug networking, Z-Wave RF remote control technology and the ability to process multiple 1080p streams at once built in, it only needs to be plugged in to the wall (and connected to a TV via HDMI) to get to work. connect to the network and pull in video from the internet, feeds from an IPTV provider like U-Verse (or Comcast eventually), or multiroom streams from a connected DVR. At its heart is the SMP8670 chip unveiled at CES that’s optimized for XBMC, Adobe AIR and Flash which could make it an ideal extender for someone like TiVo or Boxee, if Sigma can get them to bite on the concept. Until then, all we can show you are a few pics of the bare internals in the gallery and a press release after the break.

Continue reading Sigma Design’s ‘ultra thin’ TV box design promises HD in a tiny package

Sigma Design’s ‘ultra thin’ TV box design promises HD in a tiny package originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 05:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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