LG has just launched its service to access Web content from TV. Netcast bets on widgets that adapt the content to the specific formats and habits of television users and, in addition to services of an international scope, LG is betting on national content, counting on the partnership of PT.
Luis Morais, Head of marketing for LG Portugal’s Home Entertainment area, explained to TeK that Netcast can now be accessed on 60% of the company’s television line on sale, namely on the LD650 and LD750 LCDs and on several LEDs launched after March.
Those who already have one of these devices will only have to make the cable connection to their Internet Router or use a wireless pen from LG, which can be purchased for around 30 euros.
In the TV models that LG will launch in the coming months, Netcast will be present in about 80% of the range, always on equipment above 32 inches and which have the hardware capacity to support the service. The price range from which you can find these Connected TVs starts at 700 euros.
In terms of content, LG established international partnerships that led to the development of widgets to access some of the main social networking services, such as Facebook and Twitter, YouTube and the photo sharing network Picasa.
Acu Weather gives access to information about meteorology, with the particularity of the “climatic effect” influencing the background menu of the applications, showing sunny or rainy days according to the weather state of the location where the user is.
Celso Martinho, technical director of SAPO, demonstrated the features that Grupo PT developed specifically for LG’s Netcast, which for now focus on three SAPO widgets – Football, Kiosk and Pharmacies – and one from Meo, Meo Magazine, which for the first time it jumps from the IPTV service menu to an external platform.
Adaptations of other SAPO content are already planned, not least because there is a defined roadmap for the launch of three new applications on a quarterly basis, but Celso Martinho did not want to tell TeK what the next releases will be.
It is recalled that in late October, PT launched several services with Samsung, specifically adapted for the brand’s Smart TV.
