A year from now, according to Intel, television will have been reinvented by a concept it calls, Smart TV. Google and Intel are widely expected to announce a significant breakthrough into consumer electronics and the broadcast industry with the announcement of the launch of a “Smart TV” platform.
Intel says it’s chips and software will enable not just internet video streaming but could also allow operators to turn set-top boxes into video game consoles with games served over their connection.
Grid-style TV guides will be replaced by interfaces blending broadcast TV with internet content.
Samsung, Sony, LG, Vizio, Sharp and Panasonic are all releasing internet-enabled TVs this year with features such as Skype video calls, Netflix movie streaming and on-screen widgets that offer news, weather, financial quotes, social networking and internet radio.
With TV’s, Blu-ray players and set-top boxes rapidly adding wired or wireless internet connectivity to their features, a host of companies are tailoring and integrating web-based content for living room entertainment.
Apple has yet to mount a serious challenge to. It’s Apple TV box allow users to buy and rent movies from its iTunes Store to play on their TVs. But apart from YouTube videos and Flickr photos, it’s access to the wider web is limited.
Intel Chief Executive, Paul Otellini, told analysts last week that “The revolution we’re about to go through is the biggest single change in television since it went colour”. It already has a backlog of 1m units for its latest Atom Chip; which offers better audio and video performance, wider and open software support and is cheaper than the competition.
For it’s part, Google is expected to call on its Android developer community this week to create applications for TVs and its software could prove popular if it also promises advertising revenue for TV manufacturers.