After almost a year, that is since it was first announced at the CES 2011, the M-series is now available for consumers to buy. The M3D HDTVs are edge lit LED LCD panels with passive 3D technology, which they have termed as Theater 3D (similar to LG Cinema 3D). Vizio‘s adoption of the passive 3D tech will allow their customers to buy and wear cheaper, lighter passive 3D glasses, which in practical terms is found to be favored over active 3D glasses by a majority of the consumers. There is a gigantic 65-inch ($2,099) M3D model coming in 2012, but at the moment, there are the 42-inchers ($1,039) and the 55-inchers ($1,649). After taking a look at the price tags, we were pleased that Vizio is hanging on to its low price-high quality promise effectively. Also expect Smart TV features such as hulu plus, Pandora, Netflix etc on the M3D series. You will get four pairs of the passive 3D glasses right out of the box to get you started on your 3D experience as well.
A Taiwanese research company named Topology Research Institute have estimated that even in 2012, the Smart TVs are going to be a greater hit in terms of sales than 3D TVs as the total shipment is expected reach 52.85 million units while the total 3D TV shipment is expected to be lesser at 48.2 million units. This would mean that 20 percent of all the TVs shipped would be Smart TVs. They have further estimated that by 2013, the growth rate for the Smart TV market would increase by 41.2 percent and before 2014, the shipments would grow by 66.2 percent. 3D TVs on the other hand, are predicted by Topology Research Institute to grow by as much as 78.2% by 2013, but the shipment is going to come down according to them, at only 32.2% by the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014. Although this shows that Smart TVs are indeed dominating over 3D TVs, it also shows that customers are catching on to the two new trends now.
Come this October, the 80″ Sharp Aquos LC-80LE632U is going to enter the living rooms of the TV enthusiasts at a price tag of $5499. Apart from the size, it is more or less the same as the slightly smaller (70-inch) LC-70LE732U. Although the Full-HD television set is fitted with full-array LED backlighting and 120Hz refresh rate, what is a bit surprising is the fact that it does not have 3D capabilities. Also, it does not boast the advanced local dimming technology either. According to Sharp, these were not included as the LC-80LE632U is not a Premium class model.
As most of the TVs that are released these days, the LC-80LE632U is also a Wi-Fi enabled “Smart TV“, with Aquos Advantage Live, Netflix, Vudu and a host of other in-built as well as downloadable applications. If you have a big living room and you are not into the third dimension that much, then the LC-80LE632U is certainly the “biggest” LCD that you can buy at the moment.
With a concept like the giant glassless 3D TV on display from the Japanese, very few expected Smart TVs to be a bigger hit at the IFA 2011, but as it turns out, that was indeed the case. It seems that the concept of glassless 3D or anything else related to three dimensional pictures on the television screen did not attract people as much as the concept of being able to access YouTube or Facebook right from the television did. The integration of YouTube 3D as announced by Samsung earlier in the IFA 2011, gained even more attention than was expected, making it one of the hits of the year. What we take away from all that we saw and heard in the IFA this year is that web and 3D capabilities will soon become the minimum standard for all TVs in the near future. These features can no longer be treated as features reserved only for the high-end consumers.
After the glassless 3D surprise that the Japanese company brought to us with the ZL2 at IFA 2011, Toshiba is now back to 3D with glasses. The Toshiba TL515 is targeted towards the more budget conscious TV enthusiasts among us with its combo of affordable pricing and impressive technology, especially with the inclusion of Toshiba’s Natural 3D tech. The TL515 will have Smart TV capabilities with Yahoo widgets and Netflix present in it, right out of the box. To add value to the Passive 3D powered television set, you will also get four 3D glasses when you buy the TV in addition to the option of buying a “Party Pack” of them at $60 only. Expect standard Full HD features like 1080p playback for both 2D and 3D video where it is supported, with a refresh rate of 240Hz and local dimming capabilities to attain the deepest of black levels on the LED panel. All of this was showcased at the Pepcom’s 2011 Holiday Spectacular in New York City, by Toshiba last week. Although the sizes were announced to range from 32″ to 55″ in the TL515 series, the exact prices may differ depending on your location, however, you can catch a bargain on Amazon without having to worry about that.
Recently, the Samsung App store has gained some serious momentum, which is evident from the fact that consumers have now downloaded applications from the marketplace more than 10 million times. The Samsung marketplace had reached the one million download mark in even less than a year (268 days) last year, and soon it reached double that number in January, 2011. Much of the success can be credited to the ever-increasing collection of various apps which they have on board the marketplace for the Samsung HDTV users to download from. The number of available applications stands at roughly 900 at this time.
This year’s “Free the TV Challenge”, organized by Samsung is sure to add more remarkable applications to their repertoire. The focus of this year’s challenge as set by Samsung for the aspiring developers is to create applications that will work across multiple platforms and OS like Android and iOS in addition to the Samsung HDTVs of course. The theme is termed “converged apps” and it should see programs that work across tablets, smartphones and HDTVs in such a way that will enable the user to access the Smart TV with his other gadgets. According to Samsung, as told to CNET, more and more people are willing to use their TV apps and connect to the internet through their TVs, which shows growth in the Smart TV sector.
The Free the TV Challenge 2011 started yesterday as Samsung has started to accept the entries from developers all around and the entries will close on November 29th. The voting and the decision making will start from December 2nd and will end on December 16th, with the winner announced on January 13th. The prizes include prize money of $100,000, along with a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 inch with 32 GB in-built memory and a 65-inch Samsung LED D8000 television for the winner. The winning application will be marked as recommended by Samsung on the marketplace for two months. The first and second runners up will not go empty handed either because they will each receive a 55-inch Samsung LED D8000 and a Galaxy Tab 10.1 inch in addition to the $75,000 and $50,000 prize money respectively.
Irrespective of how good your 3D HDTV is, you are sure to feel that there is a shortage of available 3D content to enjoy on that giant three dimensional screen of yours. Samsung has addressed that problem by announcing at the IFA that they will soon release an update for their Smart TV application which will allow the owners of a Samsung 3D HDTV to stream 3D videos on YouTube right on their TV screen. YouTube has an impressive collection of both professional and amateur 3D videos as a result of nearly two years of accumulation (since it launched support for 3D videos). This update should supply the owners of Samsung 3D TVs with enough 3D content for now. It should be noted that LG 3D televisions with internet functions had received this update earlier this year.
YouTube’s 3D support was initially a small “20 percent” project by Google but it has now expanded in keeping with the number of users and viewers that have also multiplied greatly in these two years. The initial idea was to make 3D easier to access. Now with the latest updates from the major 3D TV manufacturers in their stock software, not only can one can shoot 3D media with the help of their 3D cameras and share it on YouTube, he can also watch it on a 3D HDTV without being bothered about compatibility or any other technical aspect.
The Korean electronics giant has teamed up with Sharp and Philips to create a common “application ecosystem” that will grant you access to all the apps developed by any of the three companies if you own a Smart TV manufactured by any one of the three manufacturers. The trio will concentrate their resources to jointly develop software kits which would then be utilized by third party software companies to develop applications suited to the needs of the consumers.
If you are wondering how it will work as the OS used by the three companies to empower their Smart TV features are not the same, then the answer is already given by LG. They are expecting to complete their software kit development by 2011 and the common base used in these kits will make the applications interchangeable. This move by LG is an effort by them to strengthen their position in the Smart TV app market and it is sure to affect the market in one way or the other.
In the year 2010, all the television manufacturers were big on promoting 3D HDTVs but this year will see the manufacturers focusing on a relatively new feature known as “Web TV”. The function of a web TV is to bring the TV and internet together with the aid of an Ethernet cable or wi-fi connection. The remote control unit acts as the mouse as well as the keyboard while you surf, video chat and socialize. You would in most cases, might also have a choice of separately buying compatible accessories like a wireless keyboard, a web camera or a USB dongle (if you do not have built-in wi-fi in your model). The latest HDTVs from the leading manufacturers also allow you to use your Google Android phone or the Apple iphone for controlling all the features on your TV, after the necessary apps are downloaded from the app store.
Be it the Panasonic Viera Connect, or the Smart TVs from Samsung and LG, most of them have the common features and applications like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Skype etc. Some of the best models that have the Web TV facilities now, include the Samsung LED D8000 and UND7000, Sony HX929, LG PZ950 and the Panasonic TC-PVT30. What will be interesting to see is how the different manufacturers improve the User Interfaces and incorporate the internet more into their latest models.
