‘Cloud is a prerequisite for smart TV‘

By Yoon Ja-young

After smartphones greatly changed mobile communications, the market is eyeing smart TVs as the next media to bring in major changes. Park Min-seong, a researcher at the Korea Information Society Development Institute, said in a report that there are a number of problems that should be resolved before smart TVs start to penetrate the market.

Smart TVs refer to multi-functional and intelligent multimedia devices offering both TV and the Internet access. According to Display Search, there will be 138 million smart TV sets in use in 2015, taking up 47 percent of the TV market.

Some analysts, however, point out that there exist hurdles for the penetration of smart TVs. If they fail to offer special services based on multi-screens, the TV set, whose user interface isn’t particularly convenient or fun, is likely to end up as a kind of monitor instead of becoming a platform. The life span of a TV, which is longer than that of a smartphone, people’s habit of watching it at leisure, and a lack of quality content also adds to opinions that smart TVs will have a limited impact.

Park points out that cloud computing is a prerequisite for smart TVs to offer diverse content and services.

“Smart TVs have operating systems and are connected to the Internet to provide videos and diverse services…users can enjoy through other devices the content they use on smart TVs. Smart TVs are thus rising as the core device of the N-screen service,” Park said. N-screen refers to a network service which enables enjoying the same content seamlessly through diverse devices such as TVs, laptops, tablets or smartphones. For instance, a user watching TV at home who has to leave for an appointment can continue watching the program on a smartphone while on their way. The seamless service is possible as the content is stored on a server, not the gadget.

“Cloud is a prerequisite for N-screen services through smart TVs…Cloud is the technological basis for offering seamless content to consumers as the N-screen service,” Park said.

He advised that smart TV businesses should have a strategic alliance with cloud service companies or set up clouds of their own to enhance competitiveness. “That’s why Samsung and LG, the handset manufacturers, are interested in cloud services. It also means that Google and Apple, which already have cloud, have strong competitiveness in the TV market.” Apple, for example, enables synchronization of all data on Apple devices through its iCloud. The Apple TV will be the hub of the synchronization of Apple devices at home.

He also emphasized that user interface and user experience will determine the fate of smart TVs. “On smart TVs, it will be the viewers' search for content they like and the recommendation of content that will be of major importance. Smart TVs in the future will see maximized simplicity and convenience.” The most crucial thing here is the adoption of a convenient user interface, according to Park. Before the launch of smart TVs, the picture quality determined the competitiveness of a TV. Smart TVs, however, go beyond showing good images ― the communication between the device and people matters. It needs a user interface that rightly reflects the users’ intention, in the most convenient manner.

He points out that remote controls have limitations in smart TVs that have complicated screen menus and diverse content. Hence, smart TV businesses are making efforts to adopt new user interface and user experience, including voice and motion recognition. Samsung Electronics, for instance, has adopted technology which enables turning TVs on and off, execute applications, and search for content through voice commands in diverse languages. They can choose hyper links or content on Web browsers by hand motions. Apple’s acquisition of “Siri,” which offers voice recognition services, also reflects Apple’s focus on the simplest interface, according to Park.

The explosive growth of traffic should also be dealt with for penetration of smart TVs at home. “The smart network dealing with the video traffic explosion is a prerequisite for smart TVs…Among the consumer Internet traffic, Internet videos play a huge part,” Park said, pointing out the conflict over networks between Netflix and Level 3, and between Samsung and KT.