Are smart tv's smart features well supported by manufacturer?

johnsmi

Hi,

After looking at smart TV's when upgrading my old tv I get the impression that most of the manufacturer's don't really support the smart features that well, other than bbc implayer most don't have all the catchup apps there.

I know that probably its a licencing thing as well, but get the impression that the manufacturer's are not that bothered just want the smart gimmick to sell the tv in first place.

I did get a few of the now tv boxes and all the catchup there, seems at the moment anyway Sky has more clout than the rest to provide these features.

that saying I'm no great lover of Sky but I have to hand it to them in this regard.

John

Inner_Zone

johnsmi wrote: »

Hi,

After looking at smart TV's when upgrading my old tv I get the impression that most of the manufacturer's don't really support the smart features that well, other than bbc implayer most don't have all the catchup apps there.

I know that probably its a licencing thing as well, but get the impression that the manufacturer's are not that bothered just want the smart gimmick to sell the tv in first place.

I did get a few of the now tv boxes and all the catchup there, seems at the moment anyway Sky has more clout than the rest to provide these features.

that saying I'm no great lover of Sky but I have to hand it to them in this regard.

John

Why, Freeview Youview and Freesat Freetime boxes have all the major on demand players and a few lesser known ones on both boxes also.

wongataa

As mentioned Youview boxes have all the catch up services for the terrestrial channels. I think most new Samsung TVs have all the catch up services as well. Many new Panasonic models also have all the catch up services.

marvin

You are quite correct that (as far as smart TV is concerned) only Samsung currently licence all the catchups but if it has a fully working web browser you don't need the app you just go to the website of the TV company and use that.

This way they don't need to pay a licence fee to the TV companies, time they got around to open licences allowing apps on all platforms and start getting the revenue in this way.

paddyrg

Smart tellies - you're right, support is chequered after a year or two. Think how little support you get for a 2-year-old smartphone, then look at the expected lifetime of a telly...

cookie365

I have a Samsung Smart TV , had it about a year and a half I think, all the catchup services work, the apps still get updated, none of the apps seems to have closed down yet.

InsideInsurance

Also have a Samsung Smart TV but its coming up to 4 years old now, no idea if the catchup apps work or not as never used them, nor have I used them on the BluRay player or AVR or Apple TV

The issue these days is so much tech is becoming "smart" that you end up with a lot of duplicated functionality. I tend mainly to use the apps on Sky but occasionally via the iPad and then stream to the TV via AppleTV - they keyboard input is easier than the remote for AppleTV when searching etc.

Support initially tends to be ok, the challenge comes when the operating system that the TV is running stops being used as there is then little incentive for them to keep multiple versions of each app in line with the services from the different TV channels across the globe.

chrisw

My samsung smart TV is coming up to 4 years old and the apps seem to be disappearing one by one. There are very few to none new ones. Yahoo went, Google maps went, blink box, love film/Netflix, etc. all gone. I got a message recently that YouTube will disappear by March.

JohnB47

marvin wrote: »

You are quite correct that (as far as smart TV is concerned) only Samsung currently licence all the catchups but if it has a fully working web browser you don't need the app you just go to the website of the TV company and use that.

This way they don't need to pay a licence fee to the TV companies, time they got around to open licences allowing apps on all platforms and start getting the revenue in this way.

I'm pretty sure the latest range of Panasonics licence all of the catchups. Panasonic uses 'Freetime' as well as some standalone apps. But didn't I hear somewhere that BBC iplayer was being dropped, by the BBC, on smart tv platforms?

johnsmi

Inner_Zone wrote: »

Why, Freeview Youview and Freesat Freetime boxes have all the major on demand players and a few lesser known ones on both boxes also.

I do have a Talktalk youview box the basic one as part of contract.


Takes a lifetime to startup though.


john

DCFC79

Just a thought but I wouldnt buy a smart TV based on the apps you can get with 1, theres no telling how many years down the line the TV Manf/or whoever will pull the apps. Be better off buying a Roku or now TV box.

Its just something to consider.