Wanted: Sexy HDTV That Connects to the Internet and Services All DVRs

With that lesson learned, Sparks believes Thomson is well-positioned to provide the ultimate connected home experience. "We are already having very serious conversations with some of the top operators right now," he told me. "Once we get our solution rolled out later this year, you are going to see us get some very good traction. But the gateway product, like the AGC 905 we showcased at CES, that’s basically the heart of the connected home. The whole idea is to provide something that you don’t require a PC with, for the users who aren’t PC-centric, and something that is self-installable and doesn’t require operators to run a truck out."

HP’s TVs
One company that does believe televisions connected to the internet will play a big role in the home market is HP. At CES, I discussed HP’s strategy for its internet-capable MediaSmart TVs with a very passionate Brian Burch, who is the director of marketing for HP’s Managed Home group. Listening to Burch discuss HP’s vision for the connected home experience was like listening to an evangelist. Where traditional CE manufactures struggled to provide any spokesperson at all, or provided people who were helpful but reserved, Burch spoke about HP’s vision for the connected home and its MediaSmart TVs with obvious enthusiasm. This may be due to the fact that HP has been at this for more than 5 years and is working on its third generation of MediaSmart TVs.

I asked Burch about HP’s move into making televisions connected to the internet and whether this represented a big market for HP. "We definitely see the connected television and other connected entertainment products as a big market opportunity for us. We entered for maybe similar reasons that other people have exited," he said. "If you think about it, prior to the advent of high-definition televisions, the technology of the television had not changed very much. Since color television, you basically had incrementally improving tube televisions for 25 years, and then all of a sudden a disruption occurred."

HP saw an opportunity to take advantage of this disruption. "We really believe it is not going to be many years before there won’t be such a thing as a non-connected television," Burch said. "They will all be connected, because it’s just so plausible and powerful to have a device that is so central to your entertainment system in the home, connect to the personal computer products in the house and to the internet."

Burch also addressed whether costs would escalate as new technology is added into these connected TVs. "We are applying the lessons we have learned over 20-plus years in the consumer printer business and 15-plus years in the consumer PC business," he said, noting that printers that used to run $1,000 or more are now available for less than $100, and PCs that would have cost several thousand dollars 5 years ago are now available for $500. "We just really ‘consumerize’ technology; I mean dramatically simplifying and making it easy for people to use them as a very versatile appliance. We are doing the same thing to televisions," he said.

One unique feature of HP’s MediaSmart TVs is how they can upgrade themselves via the internet. "MediaSmart TV is an apt description because they get smarter in your home," Burch said. "They are connected to the internet and they update themselves with new capabilities. Relatively soon we are going to be updating all of the MediaSmart TVs we sold in 2007, plus the MediaSmart TVs that are coming out in early 2008. They are all going to have the capability to act as Microsoft Media Center Extenders (technology by Microsoft that allows you to stream content from one device to another within a home network), and that leverages the Media Center capabilities on roughly 90% of the PCs we sell today and have sold for the last 5 years."

Media Center Extender functionality allows users to access certain internet content on their TVs. If you have a Microsoft Windows Vista Premium or Vista Ultimate system, you have access to Microsoft Internet TV beta, as Microsoft calls it, with Media Center that will stream directly to the television from your Media Center PC. "Another thing is if your PC has a TV turner, especially if you have a cable card, you can find the programs you want to record, record those programs, watch live television, and stream your DVR content straight to your television, bypassing any cable box, any satellite box, or any other box," said Burch.

Just as I was about to shout "Hallelujah!" I remembered that I don’t have a MediaSmart TV or a TV that is otherwise connected to the internet or any of that other stuff he mentioned.

After a long day of looking at a lot of new, sleek, and sexy television technology, I ultimately got home, kissed my wife, and sat in front of my HD, non-internet connected television. I was relieved to discover that I lost only a few of my key shows. I couldn’t help but wonder when I would be able to someday watch a recorded version of Jim Lehrer’s NewsHour from a central video server in my house on any TV I wanted to. I laughed at myself as I heard the answer in my head: "Soon."