2013 could be the year of the Television. Although that remains to be seen, there is a lot of competition for who will rule the coveted living room and the Television is at the center of the it all. In thinking about this, I decided to write about what it would take to rethink the television. 

Although the television has been relatively unchanged, in recent years there has been advances in the display and the addition of internal software. This addition of internal software has opened up the television in ways that were not previously possible. Google tried to revolutionize the TV with their Google TV, but missed a few key features that has kept them from dominating the market. Lets look at what and how the TV is used today to understand it a bit more.

TELEVISION OF TODAY

The main use of a television is to consume video content in one or a combination of ways. Today, in order to consume this content a customer must add various other accessories and services with the aim to build the ultimate home theatre system. Let’s first look at it from the current user stories of customers based on the content they want to watch and what they need.

CONTENT & ACCESSORIES

Broadcast Television:  This involves adding an antenna to capture the High definition broadcasts available today. 

Cable Television: This involves buying service from a cable TV provider and plugging in their proprietary box. This comes with its own remote and functions like DVR functionality. If you have cable however, you also get the standard broadcast channels eliminating the need for an additional antenna.

Internet: Recent televisions are now internet ready and can stream various content over the web directly such as movies through Netflix, videos through YouTube, video calls through Skype and so on. This also allows for browsing the internet while watching TV and following social media streams.

Movies: This involves buying and adding an accessory device such as a Blu-Ray player, Media PC, Apple TV,  Playstation, Xbox, Google TV, Roku etc. to your television. Recently, you can also stream movies directly from your internet ready TV through various apps like Hulu and Netflix. If using an accessory device, this adds another remote to the mix. 

Sound: In order to get the “High Definition” sound that is part of the home theatre package, you also need to add an accessory receiver and speakers. This device takes all your device input and allows you to have the perfect surround sound system. Using this accessory requires another remote and is usually a hassle for most customers to pick as there are too many choices and not enough distinction between one or another.

Overall, the key point here is that buying a television today is only the beginning. To enjoy your television, you need another multitude of services, devices and especially remotes. This adds up to more wires, money spent and inevitable ruins the customer satisfaction and experience when you need three different remotes to watch your content. 

TELEVISION OF TOMORROW

The goal of the television should be to allow the customer access to their content with the most amount of ease. This means transforming it into a single device eliminating setup issues, wires, accessories and especially remotes. With that in mind, lets look at the reinvented TV with a focus on the above uses

Broadcast Television: The Reinvented TV needs to have both the digital decoders and antenna built-in. A customer should at the very least be able to buy a TV, take it home, plug it in and have access to high definition broadcast television without every having to plug-in an external antenna. This is both an issue with signal strength and device location and should be dealt with from both sides. The use of channel numbers also needs to be eliminated. Punching in 2-1 on a remote to get HD CBS should be eliminated to just pushing a button on a customizable touchscreen remote.

Cable Television:  The Reinvented TV will come with built in cable tuners/decoders for each provider through a partnership. Each provider with a proprietary box will have their decryption technology built directly into the television and customers will pick their TV based on their supposed cable provider. This may introduce an indirect lock-in to a particular provider, but the option could be provided to have their decryption technology available via a software selection. There is always the possibility of providing built-in cable apps for partner providers. Select the one you want, sign up for a package and start watching using your email address and TV identification number as your identifier. This is also beneficial to the providers as they eliminate the handling of their cable boxes which they rent to users hopefully eliminating part of their costs.

AT&T U-verse for example already has a streaming cable box that does not need to be plugged directly into the wall, and recently you can watch your live cable TV through your Xbox. Applying this concept to an internal integrated TV simply means integrating the cable box into a TV. Since most users bundle their internet and cable TV service, only one box needs to be plugged into the wall anywhere in the house and all watching is done via streaming.

Internet: Just like many current Televisions, the Reinvented TV will come with the latest wireless technology allowing for streaming and more.

Movies: This should come as no surprise but online movie rentals and streaming services are available to fill the requirements of a growing number of people. Blu-ray sales are dropping as more people move to digital media. However, for those who still want Blu-Ray and DVDs, an accessory player will be sold that doesn’t need any cables to connect to the TV but uses a streaming mechanism eliminating the need for wires. This includes hard drive based accessories where users can store their content and stream directly from there for digital purchases.

Sound: The Reinvented TV will have the ability to stream sound to capable speakers eliminating wires and allowing for convenient and easy placement of speakers anywhere. 

REINVENTED

The TV of the future will have almost no additional wired input, removing the hassle of setup. It will be light, thin and contain the fastest processors. In fact, it will be a stripped down computer with a HD display powering software that allows for access to available content anywhere from within the home to online on the internet. It will easily connect to accessories without cables and be able to talk directly to them using the same remote. 

THE REMOTE

The remote will need to be capable of taking various formats and button configurations depending on the accessory device or app being used. This will have to be a touchscreen device that contains minimal software built as a companion to each accessory and app. For more see my previous concept the Apple TV Remote.

THE CUSTOMER STORY OF TOMORROW

A customer decides they want a new TV and walks into a store. There they see a Television linked to their internet service provider. They pick up the TV and go home. They connect the power and turn on the TV where they sign in using their email and setup a profile. 

Once completed, they select between simple broadcast or cable television. If broadcast, the TV tunes all available channels and the user has a remote showing the channels with touchscreen buttons. No numbers to remember, just channels by name and current showing content. If cable TV, they sign up right there using their email (automatically loading their profile), television identification number and internet provider. Once completed, the necessary software is loaded over the internet to the TV and remote. In a few minutes, the customer is watching the latest cable TV content.  

When the customer decides they want a more sophisticated sound system, they buy a set of speakers that automatically connects to the TV and uses a software application to complete setup. There are no wires involved and the customer can easily place the speakers where ever they want with only power as the main consideration.

SUMMARY

The future of Television is an all-in-one device with an internal hard drive, installed OS software, in/out streaming technology with a touchscreen adaptable remote.

Next post, I will look at how Apple has slowly worked to achieving the television of the future, along with possibilities for competitors.