1. Manufacturers aren’t making it easy enough. The majority of connected TVs sold in 2011 can only be connected with Ethernet. Wi-Fi remains a premium, additional feature. Yes, some manufacturers offer Wi-Fi dongles, but these are in the region of £70, which can be quite a significant amount of a TV buyers budget.2. Are consumers buying TVs because they are connected/smart? Some are, no doubt. But most are quite likely just buying a TV that happens to be connected.3. The failure of retail. We recently undertook a mystery shopper project to see if retail was pushing Smart TVs this Christmas. In the high street, the answer was categorically “no”. It is well known that there is no internet connection in the majority of shops, reducing the chances of showing off all the functionality that connectivity brings. But, on an even more mundane level, shop assistants do not have access to remote controls to let users actually interact with the Smart TV, see the enhanced UI and the services that are actually available. Instead, TVs are being sold in the old fashioned way - ‘this TV has a large screen with a nice picture’.
Personally at this point, I would query if anything the TV manufacturers bring out this year will be as good as theXbox’s latest dashboard with Kinect, which I think is currently setting the bar. It is not only because the UI looks nice and lets you quite easily move from one type of service to another. It also offers a social network. Perhaps most important is Kinect.
A simple gesture is all it takes to access your favorite movies, sports, apps and other Smart Content. Forget the remote and use your hands to control TV functions by swiping to navigate and grabbing to select. It's as smart as it is easy.Say what you want and let your TV do the rest. With voice control, your voice is all you need to turn on your Smart TV, navigate menus and get to your favorite Smart Content. It's a faster, easier, smarter way to control your TV.Be seen and be recognized. The built-in camera recognizes your face and logs you in to your profile, giving you instant access to your favorite apps, your personal Skype address book and more.
On the supply side, second-screen apps like those from Yap.tv, Umami, IntoNow,BuddyTV Guide and Miso are proliferating for smartphones or tablets. “Five years ago, we thought interactive TV was one screen,” Ms. Subramanyam says. “Turns out, it’s the second screen.”
