Float Left Interactive Blog | OTT Solutions for Video Service Providers

Well after a successful CES, I’m sitting here at the Venetian by the canal recapping my thoughts  as gondolas float by and gondoliers serenade twitterpated lovebirds.

There’s no question that smart TV is here. It was clear that the primary focus of nearly EVERY manufacturer’s display were the Internet connected features and application functionality of their platform. Between meetings we did have some time to hit the show floor and here are some of our favorite features of this year’s line of Smart TVs…

If CES was any indication of what’s to come, we may find that voice will replace the remote in the near future. We demoed Samsung’s new voice and gesture recognition technology. When released, the technology will be featured on two of their models, the 7500 and 8000. We can’t wait to develop applications against this technology!

A sneak peak at the LG Netcast 3.0 UI

Along with Samsung, LG introduced a 55″ Organic LED TV (OLED) that was simply stunning. Featuring vivid colors, deep blacks, and superior clarity and contrast…the LG OLED was a show stopper. We loved the voice technology in the remote. We pulled up Google, said “Float Left” and next thing you know, our website’s on the display. This also works within the app store, so if you know what you’re looking for….this is a quick way to find it. The Netcast app store received a new look and feel with the 3.0 update. Thumbs up, guys!

We didn’t see a whole lot from Google TV themselves, but we learned that some new manufacturers are going to be pushing Google TV embedded devices such as Samsung, LG, and Vizio.

Of course Sony is still supporting Google TV in their TVs as well as their blu-ray players. But what we thought was the coolest was a new set-top box that supports both Google TV AND the Sony Entertainment Network which has a beautiful interface and features a decent amount of apps. The combination of these two platforms makes this device a legit contender and a cost-effective way to make your TV “Smart.”

The new sony remote featuring a track pad on the front, and a full QWERTY keyboard on the back

In regard to Sony, we think they’ve put out one of the coolest remotes for a Smart TV. The remote on the backside features a full QWERTY keyboard and on the front side, they  have a track pad that’s about half the size of the remote which makes browsing the web on your TV so effortless. Oh yeah, and if that wasn’t enough, the remote can process voice and sense motion.

We said “We want one” when we saw Sharp’s new 8K (7680-by-4320 pixel) and LG’s 4K (3840-by-2160) TVs. A beauty AND a beast, we can’t wait until these come out. Notably, there’s no so-called 4K or 8K content available just yet.

We didn’t see everything (is that possible?), but we were very impressed with what we saw. At the end of the day, we’re app developers, over-the-top advocates, and gadget-heads, so it was wonderful to see Smart TV be such a focal point this year.

We definitely have to give some honorable mentions to Panasonic’s Smart Viera 3D TV’s with crosstalk reduction technology. We thought this was one of the best 3D TVs at the show. Another one of our favorites of the show was the LG Styler which is a closet that will shake, steam, dry, and freshen your clothes up for you with a variety of selectable aromas. Say goodbye to dry cleaning bills.

Just when we thought oversized phones graduated along with Zack Morris and co, Samsung comes out with the Samsung Galaxy Note phone (or is it a tablet?) I’m not sure, but the massive screen makes me want one.

Samsung had a surround sound system powered by vacuum tubes that was probably the best sound system I’ve heard in a while. Be on the lookout for those!

Float Left Interactive client, Simple TV wins "Best of CES" (Photo courtesy of Rovi)

CES was a success this year and although we are leaving Las Vegas, it isn’t without some memorable moments. Our client, Simple TV won “Best of CES”. One of our guys made it about 98% though the Diablo’s “Death Wing” Hot Wing Challenge before running out of time. The narration of the taxi drivers to and from meetings had us on the floor laughing. We also probably walked 25 miles, but what we lost in calories, we made up for in guacamole. We also discovered that we shouldn’t become professional bull riders any time soon.

We love what we do and we can’t wait to go back next year.

Tags: connected tv development, Flicast, Float Left Interactive, lg netcast 3.0, oled tv, over the top solutions, over the top video, samsung 3.0, smart tv, smart tv developer, streaming media