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New TV apps will drive broadband adoption, FCC says
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01/11/10 09:41 AM ET
LAS VEGAS--The FCC is using the Consumer Electronics Show to push forward its hope of making the television the gateway to the Internet.
Televisions that allow consumers to connect to Facebook or download movies could make it easier and less intimidating for people to go online, easing the job of the FCC and Obama administration to make broadband access ubiquitous.
About one-third of Americans do not subscribe to broadband even though it is available to them, largely because they don't consider the content and services useful or relevant to their lives, surveys show.
Genachowski was pleased at the rapid evolution of the TV market. While 75 percent of U.S. households have a computer, 98 percent have at least one TV, he said.
Everywhere you look in Las Vegas, you see examples of television makers opening up their devices to the Internet.
Nearly every Web-enabled TV set at the show offered an array of useful applications, from Skype to make phone calls to Netflix to stream movies.
Some TV manufacturers like Samsung and Sharp are allowing third-party developers to create applications for people's TVs, using the same model Apple and Facebook have used to offer hundreds of thousands of applications for iPhones and social networks.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski hopes that will make it easier for even the least tech-savvy consumers get onto the Internet. And he hopes to see more applications that appeal to all kinds of people to help drive broadband adoption.
"Can TVs be part of the solution to broadband?" he said Friday. "There's been much less innovation and activity in that area than there have been in other areas."
The FCC is expected to expand its vision for broadband in the living room in the national plan it will submit to Congress in March, which will outline a strategy for achieving ubiquitous broadband access. The original deadline was Feb. 17, but the FCC asked for a one-month extension.
"If you look at broadband, it's produced millions of applications--150,000 mobile applications alone," Genachowski said. "If you look at the living room and the TV, that's much lower. There's clearly a tremendous desire--you see it here on the floor--to make sure the TV and and the set-top boxes attached to it are really open to innovation."
When taking a tour of the floor, Genachowski was impressed that he could access Skype for video chats and phone calls directly from an LG flat-screen TV.
Sharp was showing off multiple online video options on their newest plasma and LCD screens. Vudu, for example, has an application that lets consumers stream high-definition movies over the Internet.
TV-watchers can also access Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter and online music site Pandora via their Web-connected TVs. Many of the TVs on display connect to the Web wirelessly.
"In a year or so, every TV will be wireless," said Megan Pollock of the Consumer Electronics Association.
Genachowski did see something he wasn't pleased with. Some companies are making "walled-garden" systems that don't accept applications from third-parties. He said he was "pretty concerned" about the "closed systems" as he toured the floor.
He asked exhibitors detailed questions about how set-top boxes can easily connect to consumers' own content as well as the Internet.
"Yes, this is the type of thing we're exploring," he said when I asked him about the Web-enabled TVs. "I'm asking questions because they have to be easy to use for everyone."
Televisions that allow consumers to connect to Facebook or download movies could make it easier and less intimidating for people to go online, easing the job of the FCC and Obama administration to make broadband access ubiquitous.
About one-third of Americans do not subscribe to broadband even though it is available to them, largely because they don't consider the content and services useful or relevant to their lives, surveys show.
Genachowski was pleased at the rapid evolution of the TV market. While 75 percent of U.S. households have a computer, 98 percent have at least one TV, he said. Everywhere you look in Las Vegas, you see examples of television makers opening up their devices to the Internet.
Nearly every Web-enabled TV set at the show offered an array of useful applications, from Skype to make phone calls to Netflix to stream movies.
Some TV manufacturers like Samsung and Sharp are allowing third-party developers to create applications for people's TVs, using the same model Apple and Facebook have used to offer hundreds of thousands of applications for iPhones and social networks.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski hopes that will make it easier for even the least tech-savvy consumers get onto the Internet. And he hopes to see more applications that appeal to all kinds of people to help drive broadband adoption.
"Can TVs be part of the solution to broadband?" he said Friday. "There's been much less innovation and activity in that area than there have been in other areas."
The FCC is expected to expand its vision for broadband in the living room in the national plan it will submit to Congress in March, which will outline a strategy for achieving ubiquitous broadband access. The original deadline was Feb. 17, but the FCC asked for a one-month extension.
"If you look at broadband, it's produced millions of applications--150,000 mobile applications alone," Genachowski said. "If you look at the living room and the TV, that's much lower. There's clearly a tremendous desire--you see it here on the floor--to make sure the TV and and the set-top boxes attached to it are really open to innovation."
When taking a tour of the floor, Genachowski was impressed that he could access Skype for video chats and phone calls directly from an LG flat-screen TV.
Sharp was showing off multiple online video options on their newest plasma and LCD screens. Vudu, for example, has an application that lets consumers stream high-definition movies over the Internet.
TV-watchers can also access Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter and online music site Pandora via their Web-connected TVs. Many of the TVs on display connect to the Web wirelessly.
"In a year or so, every TV will be wireless," said Megan Pollock of the Consumer Electronics Association.
Genachowski did see something he wasn't pleased with. Some companies are making "walled-garden" systems that don't accept applications from third-parties. He said he was "pretty concerned" about the "closed systems" as he toured the floor.
He asked exhibitors detailed questions about how set-top boxes can easily connect to consumers' own content as well as the Internet.
"Yes, this is the type of thing we're exploring," he said when I asked him about the Web-enabled TVs. "I'm asking questions because they have to be easy to use for everyone."
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