The Magic of Internet-Connected TVs

I recently had a chance to play with a friend’s Internet-connected TV, and was greatly surprised at how well the Internet features have been integrated. This practical marriage of Internet and TV means the consumers get easy access to a vast amount of entertainment content without having to buy a separate box for each. If you’re planning on buying a new TV any time soon, be sure to read on.

The particular TV I played with was a 42” Vizio with “VIA”, which is Vizio’s Internet feature. Samsung and Sony also offer Internet integration on some of their TVs, with others expected to follow. You also have the option of buying an external box from Sony or Logitec to get these features on your TV, although that takes away from the experience a bit.

Besides the obvious benefit of having access to a lot more content, the key benefit of Internet-connected  TVs is not having to connect yet another box to your TV. Many households have at least a cable or satellite box and a DVD player connected, with many also adding a DVR, a game box, and even a Roku box or a computer to the mix. Managing the remote controls and connections for so many boxes can quickly become complicated and frustrating. Internet-connected TVs not only don’t need an additional box; in some cases, they even do away with some existing connections such as a Roku box and a computer, since they can provide the same content as part of the TV’s features. In fact, as online movie services such as Netflix and Amazon expand their libraries; you soon won’t even need a DVD player either.

To give you access to the Internet content, Internet-connected TVs use the already familiar concept of applications and widgets used in Smartphones. The basic applications include weather, sports, stocks, and news. In addition, there are applications for accessing your online photo services such as Flickr; music radio services such as Rhapsody, Pandora, and TunedIn; and video on-demand services such as YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon; and even social networking sites such asTwitter and Facebook. Remember that the list of applications varies based on the TV manufacturer and their Internet software partner. For example, Vizio’s partner, Yahoo, doesn’t currently offer YouTube as part of their applications, since YouTube is a Google-based service. Similar limitations would be expected to exist on the Google-based TVs.

You do pay a premium for the Internet-connected feature on a TV, but the premium is well worth the convenience of simplifying your entertainment system and getting access to the online content. Also, there are no subscriptions involved for having the Internet feature and applications, although many of the online sites such as Pandora and Flickr require at least a free sign-up to allow access to their content. You also don’t have to worry about things getting out of date, since the TV software and the applications get automatically updated through the Internet connection.

The Vizio TV I checked out also features an impressive remote control, which not only did a great job of being a universal remote for the existing cable box and DVD player, but also boasts an integrated keyboard for entering anything from search terms to tweets. The remote control uses Bluetooth technology, so you don’t even have to point it to the TV when you’re entering data or giving the TV any other commands.

So if you’re out shopping for a TV, be sure to keep an eye out for the Internet feature.