LG’s 2013 Smart TVs to Offer Multiple Roads to Wireless Content
LG is pushing Smart TV, an updated remote control and its Ultra HD lineup at CES this year, the company said in a pre-release Monday of its CES introductions. In addition to the 84-inch Ultra HD model that recently began shipping, LG will trot out a 55-inch OLED again, after showing one at CES 2012 with unrequited plans to launch by year end. A spokesman told us the 55-inch OLED will make it to market this year in the “premium” category for the upscale customer. He said LG doesn’t typically announce pricing for upcoming products at CES.
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Ergonomics and navigation will be central to LG’s marketing effort in 2013 as the company upgrades its Home Dashboard and Magic Remote. The new dashboard adds “My Interest Cards,” which the company calls special folders for apps and other content linked to trending topics on news sites. The interest cards can be customized to the preferences of users, LG said.
LG’s Magic Remote has been redesigned to improve navigation of content and menus, the company said. In addition to the point, wheel, gesture and voice recognition found on previous versions, the company has added Voice Mate voice control technology that’s said to recognize “the natural flow of language.” Voice Mate offers a search option that filters results across the LG Smart TV platform including VoD services, websites and connected devices, the company said.
A new twist on LG’s SmartShare feature lets users mirror or transfer content from smart devices to LG connected TVs via WiDi and by Miracast, which is based on Wi-Fi Direct. The 2013 lineup will also implement near field communication (NFC) for wireless and seamless content mirroring from smartphones and tablets. By engaging “Tag On,” users can hold an NFC-enabled smartphone to the NFC sticker on a TV to enable content sharing, the company said. LG’s 2013 TV lineup also supports LG Cloud for remote streaming, the company said.
To help users find programming they want among the growing sea of content available through multiple sources including movies, games and 3D viewing options, LG has added a feature called On Now that highlights trending VoD and broadcast content. When users engage On Now, thumbnail images pop up, allowing users to access the content easily regardless of source, the company said.
The CPU and graphics processors in LG’s 2013 smart TVs have been overhauled, the company said. CPU speeds are 120 times faster in high-end 3D models, it said, and graphics processor speeds are 300 percent faster to boost performance in gaming and during multi-tasking, it said. LG continues to promote its passive film-pattern retarder technology in its 3D TVs.
Among the disclaimers LG provided with the new feature announcements were that that no Ultra HD video content is currently available (Sony provides Sony Pictures 2K movies on a server to customers who buy its $25,000 Ultra HD TV) and that its 84LM9600 “may or may not” be compatible with broadcast or other 4K standards when they're defined. LG also noted that stereoscopic 3D video can cause “dizziness or nausea,” and users experiencing such symptoms should discontinue 3D use and “contact your health care provider."