Samsung Philippines Inc. officially launched vaunted Smart TV offering in the Philippines, bringing a ton of new features, content and methods of interaction to a device that’s largely stayed the same all these years.
Let’s make this clear right now – Samsung’s new Smart TV lineup isn’t simply just a box anymore – the new sets (namely the ES8000 and ES7500) are powered by a dual-core processor and runs on a highly modified version of Android – which makes the TVs capable of running apps natively on the TV itself, without needing a separate unit.
The entire brains of the device is housed in an enclosure called the Evolution Kit, which Samsung says can be upgraded as newer technology comes along. Yes, you heard that right – for the first time ever, you’ll now be able to upgrade your TV the way you upgrade your home desktop. Obviously you’ll still be using the same display that you started with, along with any other hardware that came along with the device (which includes the camera on the front of the device) but as long as you can upgrade the Evolution Kit (which Samsung tells us is the brains of the new TVs) you’ll be able to enjoy the benefits of the latest TV technology year after year, without purchasing a brand new set.
Another feature of the new Smart TVs is the ability to control the device through voice recognition and gestures. Because of the aforementioned dual-core processor inside the new Smart TVs, the ES8000 and the ES75000 can recognize voice commands, allowing you to control the TV without lifting a finger. The ES8000 and the ES7500 are also outfitted with Samsung’s motion control technology. Think Microsoft Kinect, but for the TV – the front facing camera that’s on top of the TV captures your gestures and translates them into commands that your TV can understand. We’ve embedded a video of the tech in action below.
Probably the most significant offering of Samsung’s new Smart TVs is the promise of content. Or to put it simply, the availability of no-bullshit, no region lock content that you can stream from the net to your TV. The lack of content has been our main point of contention when Internet connected TVs first came out, and it’s something that newer Smart TVs from other companies can’t deliver. Samsung’s content drive is made up of two things – apps and streamed content. Samsung’s closely working with developers to provide content to their Smart TVs that further enhance the functionality of the TV sets beyond being passive devices you watch video on. The company is also offering streamed video content that consist of shows, educational programs and other genres direct from the web to their Smart TVs, without region locks and without recurring fees. Lastly, Samsung is also giving people who buy their Bluray players and Smart TVs a complimentary pass to their Blupass service – which basically allows you to rent Bluray movies and have them delivered to your doorstep for free. The pass will be good for six months.
That’s it for now. We’ll get a more comprehensive review of Samsung’s new Smart TVs once we get a change to have more time with it.