Samsung’s New Connected TVs to Stream Live Content to Galaxy Tabs and Smartphones

Samsung reportedly told Pocket-lint that owners of its latest Smart TVs will be able to stream live TV shows to a compatible tablet or mobile phone. Both the newly announced Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Samsung Galaxy S II will be able to make use of the televisions’ second tuner, effectively turning them into second sets to watch around the home

Presenting at SmartTV Global Summit 2010 in Seoul

I’ll be presenting “Future of TV-based Entertainment” at the SmartTV Global Summit 2010 next week.

For many years, the broadcasters determined what content was available and when on the TV. The last few years has seen an explosion of alternate sources of entertainment — IPTV that enables virtually an unlimited number of “channels” and whole-home DVR, personal content, on-line content, social networking, video calls, etc. The downside was that accessing all these capabilities required moving between the TV (with multiple set-top boxes) and the computer. Today, the industry is rapidly enabling the easy access of all the different kinds of content and features through the TV, along with new, innovative ways to find what you are looking for.

Project Canvas Launching in September?

The open Internet-connected TV platform Project Canvas could be ready to engage with content and service providers as soon as September. If it comes to fruition, Project Canvas should be available to all ISPs that want it, offering a range of on-demand services through broadband Internet and a television set. All content will be in one place without any subscription required, so in effect anybody with a broadband connection will be able to use it.

Panasonic Launches Skype Video Calling on Select HDTVs

Panasonic has finally activated the Skype video application on all of its 2010 VIERA Cast-enabled TVs (including the VT25, VT20, G25, and G20 Series), enabling easy video calls for consumers.

HbbTV Retail Success in Germany

The sale of hybrid TVs equipped with HbbTV has turned out to be a major retail success in Germany, according to the latest figures from research firm GfK. Speaking at the ANGA Cable conference, Gerhard Schaas, chairman of the German TV-Platform, said that 546,000 connected TV sets have been sold during 2009. The figure represents a market share of around 14% of all TV sets sold in the country during 2009. The actual percentage of new TV sets might be higher, as HbbTV sets only began shipping in October 2009. For 2010, GfK predicts that at least 2 million hybrid TV sets will be sold, a figure set to rise to 4 million in 2011.

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