New LG Smart TV based on Web OS

I've written a post last year about how LG can transform the Web OS they bought from HP and integrate it into their products. Recently in the CES, LG has finally debut their Smart TV based on the Web OS platform.

However the similarity stops there. Previously I have mentioned that the Web OS is not as bloated as the rest of the OS and therefore the company that has bought it will be able to integrate it and make things simple to use.

However, based on the demos I've seen so far, LG has made the Web OS bloated with many other apps which I felt that is not essential to TV.

What is TV to us? Essentially, it's watching a video, be it pre-recorded or live. That's it. The key is the experience that you want the users get that revolves around this functionality. With an operating system that is designed for the internet, the logical choice is to integrate this experience to the internet by allowing the user to share this information with others.

Unfortunately, I did not see this experience being demo at the reviews I've seen so far for this TV. As this functionality is not easy to do, it would have been demo if it is being built within the TV. An example would be for the TV to get information from the TV tuner and allow this to be shared on Facebook directly for example. You can also integrate live twittering during a TV show for example to name a few.

The other aspect is about making the TV easy to use. Personally, I find that a long row of app choices at the bottom of the screen does not really make things easy to use because there are just too many choices. A TV is not a computer and people expect the experience to be different when using a TV. It's like a touch screen device and a normal laptop. You definitely do not expect to use the mouse and scroll down on a touch screen device.

The part about LG making it easy to setup and connect the TV is a right step though, although I did not see much reviews about this functionality. I hope the experience is similar to how a Playstation integrates with the Sony TV. for example, the PS can auto switch on a Sony TV once it is activated and likewise switch it off when it is powered down.

This kind of little things really make the experience complete, and make it simple to use. This is just the first version though. Let's wait and see...

Below is a video I've found on a review of the smart TV.