WASHINGTON, 8 January 2008 — Samsung Electronics Co. will introduce high-definition TV sets with computer-like features, letting users read news from USA Today, play games or look up recipes, the company said Sunday.
A button on the remote of Samsung’s new Series 6 and Series 7 LCD and plasma HDTVs displays news, weather, sports and stocks information supplied by USA Today as a picture within the picture. The TV set needs to be connected to the home Internet connection through an Ethernet port for this feature.
Furthermore, some LCD flat-panel sets will come with content preloaded into flash memory, Samsung said. The content will range from artwork that can be displayed as a screensaver, to fitness programs, food recipes and simple games like Sudoku, said Tim Baxter, executive vice president of sales and marketing for the consumer electronics division of Samsung Electronics America.
“If you think about the TV experience, it has historically been a lean-back experience,” Baxter said, contrasting it to the more active “lean-forward experience” of using a personal computer.
“We think there are opportunities to bring very relevant parts of that experience into the living room,” Baxter said.
