Your favorite show is on TV, but at the same time, you need to keep track of an eBay bid. So you sit with the TV on and the laptop perched on your lap in an uncomfortable position trying to view both. Instead of the hassle, why not consider a television with HGTV and Internet capabilities rolled into one. Internet capable TVs are hybrids with web content downloaded to your system via a wired or wireless connection.
Features
• Access-Internet capable TVs do not have complete access to any website of your choosing…yet. The individual leading television companies have formed partnerships with various web outlets to offer specialized packages such as Yahoo, YouTube, Netflix, and Amazon VOD. Select movies can be rented, streamed, and made accessible for immediate screening with the push of a button on the TV remote.
The system requires high bandwidth, which limits the number of movies and programs that can be downloaded over the Internet to the TV. However, on the horizon is new software from Adobe called “Flash Platform for the Digital Home” that allows for faster streaming and provides a boost to high-definition video availability as additional manufacturers implement the software.
• Dual view-The key feature is dual viewing, which allows you to watch TV and access the Internet simultaneously and view them in separate windows on your screen. So the next time you watch a favorite program, you can also send out a tweet. Weather and traffic updates, Flickr, and widgets for YouTube can run on the bottom of the screen without obscuring program viewing capabilities.
• Automatic updates-As with computer applications, an Internet capable TV allows automatic updates to download, adding new web partnerships as they are formed. This gives the viewer the instant benefit of the latest content.
As with all new technology, advancements in performance and accessibility are bound to expand in the next year as more manufacturers jump on the Internet TV bandwagon.