The idea of Samsung’s Evolution Kit came about due to customer requests, according to Vassilis Seferidis, director, European Business Development, Samsung Electronics.
In a wide-ranging presentation about the Kit, which allows viewers to upgrade a number of Samsung 2012 smart TVs into 2013 models, he said that the 2013 smart hub consists of a new interactive UI with five windows, or ‘panels’, that are thematically arranged.
‘On TV’ simply shows what is on and next, along with five recommendations based on viewing history and day and time; Movie and TV, including VOD and N-Screen Experience, working on tablet and TV together; Photo Clips and Music; Social; and Apps.
While 2012 Samsung smart TVs were command based, this year’s are command and natural language-based.
Seferidis spoke about the cooperation between Samsung and TeliaSonera that has resulted in the first full IPTV service without a set-top box.
The app is based on multicast rather than unicast technology and supports such services as VOD and catch-up.
He was unable to provide a figure for the number of Evolutionary Kits sold to date and said that they are not a mass market product.
As previously reported in Broadband TV News, the Kit has only recently been made available worldwide following its launch in South Korea in April.
