In the absence of the major announcements expected regarding Google TV this week, manufacturers and software developers alike are pushing for the adoption of the third wave of the Web.
While it wasn't quite the big announcement that was anticipated, Google released a statement yesterday saying it has updated its YouTube app for Google TV with better navigation and new features.
Google TV has, as yet, failed to make an impression in the market and has been plagued by glitches since its launch in 2010, which it has been working slowly to rectify. Apple is also expected to announce updates to Apple TV, its own smart TV platform. Reports have also indicated that Apple TVs are no longer being shipped to major retail outlets in the US, suggesting a new offering is on the horizon.
At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year, smart TVs were one of the main attractions. Following Kinect's lead, major manufacturers such as Lenovo, Samsung and LG announced the inclusion of natural UI technologies such as gesture and facial recognition, as well as voice-control for the new generation of smart TVs. Apple is also widely expected to unveil a Siri-controlled TV.
Norwegian-based Opera Software has been developing its own smart TV platform, and the company says it predicts the way the Internet is accessed on televisions will be quite different to its current use: “In much the same way that consumers bucked expectations that their mobile Web behaviour would mimic their desktop behaviour.”
On the rise
Opera has already signed deals with five major manufacturers and is actively seeking apps in all of the markets in which it operates for the Opera TV Store. Opera's VP of products for TV and connected devices, Frode Hernes, says while people predominantly use computers for research and work, when it comes to TV, entertainment is much more important.
“The browser can intelligently pick up programme information and present to viewers trending topics, tweets, and comments in that exact context,” says Hernes, adding that the rise of social TV and the close link between social media and TV shows is pivotal and will change the way people engage with their televisions.
“Quite often, we switch on our TVs and we don't know what to watch. Social networks can solve this, by presenting to us what the most popular shows are, based on input from sources we have already decided we agree with," says Hernes.
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