Smart TVs in India: Changing Landscape

Smart TVs are a bit of novelty in India – despite the phenomenal marketing push of leading brands on that score. Our country, which has adopted mobile and computing technologies almost in sync with the entire world, is somewhat lagging in the uptake of HD TV. In such a landscape, selling a Smart TV must be a considerable challenge for the TV makers. One of the biggest hurdles in this respect is the absence of relevant content. Being an owner of an LG Smart TV myself, I have myself felt hampered by not having been able to utilize the full suite of its capabilities.

BoxTV from TIL

However, over the last few weeks, a number of developments have taken place that promise to change this position. In this post, I will inform a few such developments. Only today, the media powerhouse Times Group, through its subsidiary – Times Internet Limited (TIL) – introduced BoxTV - a video service for Indian users. Considering the formidable muscle of Times Group, and the quantity of content that it has access to, I have high hopes for this venture. Yes, I remember the fate of BigFlix – it failed to make a mark. Yet, my understanding is that the BoxTV venture has a number of strengths that will help it succeed, where BigFlix failed – foremost being that Indian viewers are now more ready for such a service. Also, as per the news, the content library of BoxTV is much bigger.

Then next two developments  are quite varied, yet they offer to enhance the capabilities of your TV, and turn them into much smarter TVs. Yes, you can enjoy Smart TV functions on your current TV – without investing into a real Smart TV.

EvoTV Box with Remote

The first is EvoTV Smart TV Box launched by Amkette, the reputed computer peripheral maker. EvoTv is a small device, smaller than your current set top box that will convert your ordinary TV into a Smart TV. Priced at a very reasonable Rs 13K (the actual sale price is around Rs 10K only), it comes with a sleek motion sensing remote to control the box. The best thing about EvoTV is that it is based on Android Gingerbread – most smartphone users will already be familiar with the interface, and the hundreds of cool apps that come with it. It is WiFi capable, and can also connect with your home theater.

LG Smart TV

The second development is the launch of Digital Direct Broadcast (DDB), a digital entertainment platform – that is a combination of hardware and service. The hardware part will be dealt with at the level of manufactures, wherein the STB will be inbuilt into the TV itself. With this addition, the TV will become a really Smart TV. The platforms promises a lot - compatibility with both analog and digital telecast, HD telecast, internet connectivity, regular software upgrades and even 2D to 3D conversion (this feature will work only with 3D TVs). For more information, you can check their website.

Keeping these developments into perspective, I can really see that the TV landscape of India is finally changing. We can definitely expect more launches in the future – new services, hardware, and platforms – which turn our TVs into multifarious entertainment and information devices. I am also happy that I will get more choices to add to my own favorite LG SmartTV!