It’s
is an extremely rare event when a Smart TV set maker update the Operating
System in their TV.
So
when LG announced that their updating the Web OS 1.0 Operating system in their
series of Smart TV sold in 2014, including the 55EC9300 OLED, to Web OS 2.0 as
reported in the article “LG updates
2014 TVs to Web OS 2.0”, published April 22, 2015 by David Katzmaier, CNET News I was immediately intrigued.
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This
new update, slated to land sometime in the second half of 2015, will
be rolled out to all Web OS TV's. LG had purchased the rights to Web OS from
Palm, which they announced after CES (Computer Electronics Show) 2013 back in
February 2013 as reported in my blog article entitled “LG
Electronics purchases WebOS from HP to develope its line of Internet Connected
TV's - HP's The Great Gatsby as The Wolverine of Streaming TV rises”.
They
soon followed up with an official launch of their Web OS 1.0 TV a year later at
CES 2014 as reported in the article “LG
to show off webOS 2.0 smart TV at CES 2015”, published December 17, 2014 by
Jaehwan Cho, CNET News.
LG Updates Web 1.0
Smart TV to Web 2.0 – Smartphones update model indicates strong Developer
support
It's
quite a treat that they're giving away this major update for free. This is a
move that’s different from other Smart TV makers such as Samsung.
Samsung,
like other Smart TV makers, who apparently want you to effectively purchase a new
TV each time they make one, such as the new line of SUHD TV that sue Quantum
Dot technology as reported in my Geezam blog
article entitled “Samsung's
SUHD Smart TV running Tizen OS as UHD Alliance Grows and Internet of Things
Beckons”.
LG's
trying to set a trend here with this latest update, introducing the same
updates to smart TV in a model that's worked quite well with Smartphones and
Tablets in the Telecom world.
In
a nutshell, this Web OS 2.0 will result in your LG Smart TV having more
channels and features and will make it run 3 times faster than Web 1.0. The
interface won't change much so as not to frustrate the user.
LG’s smartphone
Developer Advertising Business Model – Charge for access and resell customer
information
Not
sure how LG's business model works, but it appears that they are making money
from some other means, possibly reselling viewing habits of their users of
their Smart TV as had mentioned in my blog article
entitled “@samsung
Smart TV Listening to you – How DSP enables Voice Recognition in Smart TV's to
make our lives more convenient”.
Or,
more likely, Developer for Web OS pay a premium in order to develop for the Web
OS platform, as the audience is guaranteed, being a Smart TV is a device that
most Americans and East Asians and Chinese, which are very large markets, will
buy. By leveraging their sales numbers, they can get Developers and Content
providers to not only pay them to develop for Web OS, but possibly get a cut of
all sales made via the platform.
Charging
for access by developers and advertising within the Web OS apps on the platform
may be the business model that they’re using. This guarantees a continuous
stream of revenue unlike merely selling a new hardware update every time they
make a new TV.
This
also works out cheaper for LG, who merely have to update the firmware and
Software API (Application Interface) instead of investing huge sums is R&D
(Research and Design) involved in the making of a new Television set.
So
a treat awaits all owners of LG Smart TV running Web OS 1.0, as they'll be
getting a significant OS update to Web 2.0 without having to purchase a New
Smart TV.
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