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Visitors at a consumer technology exhibition in Las Vegas play a video-tennis game on a SmartTV produced by the Chinese IT giant ZTE Corp. Many companies aim to enter the sector on expectation that it will expand rapidly in the coming years. [China Daily] |
In the near future, customers will be able to use smartphones to control their televisions or access a cloud-computing center and download applications for a smart TV.
In the Internet era, the boundary between Internet mobile devices and TVs are blurred. More and more non-TV makers have entered the smart TV market and have loaded their products with many new features and functions.
This year, many IT enterprises plunged themselves into the industry, including Google Inc, Apple Inc and Lenovo Group Ltd. In January at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the world's largest electronics trade show, in Las Vegas, those companies led the smart TV trend.
Although Lenovo isn't a name generally associated with TVs, it launched the ideaTV K91, the company's first smart TV, at CES and said it will hit the Chinese market in April. The TV uses Android 4.0, an even newer operating system than Google's TV.
Lenovo's 3D-TV has a face-recognition function to help parents to limit their children's watching time. "We are a PC company so we have adapted our PC-making strengths to our TVs," said Liu Jun, Lenovo senior vice-president and president of the company's Mobile Internet and Digital Home Business Group.
Based on its PC-manufacturing experience, Lenovo added a voice-input function and a smartphone or tablet PC control feature to its TV products - functions not seen on a traditional TV before.
Another IT giant, Google, has adapted its popular Android operating system for smart TVs, giving it the look of a huge smartphone.
LG Display is the manufacturing partner for Google TV. It says its two Google TV sets will be on sale later this year and will use a homegrown chipset. LG has revamped Google's user interface to suit its own needs but kept the main features of the US-based company. For example, a cinema screen 3D-HDTV at the trade show used the 3D screen technology for dual-view gaming, with each player getting their own full-screen view simultaneously in a two-player game.
To cater for the younger generation, who spend more time in front of computers rather than TVs, the smart TV has easy access to the Internet and users can choose programs and applications from Google's applications market, turning watching TV into a proactive form of leisure.
In order to keep up with cutting-edge technology, TV makers have also added more functions to their products to compete in the market.
Samsung Electronics Co's 60-inch smart TV has Microsoft Corp's Kinect-style motion sensor and voice-control system packed into it, allowing the user to play popular games such as Angry Birds on TV by gesturing in front of it.
Chinese TV maker TCL Corp attended the show to promote its smartphones and smart TVs. According to TCL chief executive officer Tomson Li, the company will cooperate with Amazon Inc to produce a 3D TV and join hands with other Chinese TV makers, including Changhong Electric Co Ltd and Hisense Group.
"About five years ago, a lot of IT companies launched TV products and failed. However, with the appearance of smart TVs, the differences between TVs and PCs have been blurred. IT companies believe that now is their opportunity to expand into the TV industry," said Lu Renbo, general secretary of the China Electronic Chamber of Commerce.
Last year, 6 million 3D-TV sets were sold in the Chinese market. The number is predicted to grow to 20 million this year, Lu said.
According to the domestic research company All View Consulting, 3D-TVs accounted for only 2.6 percent of the market in China in the first quarter of last year. However, the share increased to 15.7 percent in August and 3D capability is expected to be a "must have" for TV shoppers this year.
Apple was also reported to be launching its first smart TV in April this year. According to media reports, the TV will use Siri, the same voice-control system that was adapted for the popular handset iPhone 4S.
