A mix of different types of industry news made headlines this week, each very exciting. Netflix churned out a new series - for kids! They might also like the new finger gesture controls that Samsung is going to release in 2014. We wonder if Samsung had energy conservation in mind, because the US Energy Department is beginning to look into an aspect of the TV industry.
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Kids get their first Netflix series, and DreamWorks makes money on Turbo (GigaOm)
Christmas is over but Netflix is still giving presents! For the first time, they released a new series for kids. Their new original series, Turbo: F.A.S.T made its debut on Christmas Eve. Bad move? Actually no. Kids are typically home in the time between Christmas and New Years, so that gives them the chance to sample the show. Netflix is planning to repeat this strategy with future kids shows, and they just might release childrens’ series at 5 episodes at a time, because of the time that goes behind animations.
Samsung’s Smart TV 2014 Lineup to Support Finger Gesture Control (ThinkDigit)
Samsung has something special in store for its 2014 range of Smart TVs. In an attempt to deliver a more interactive experience for users, they have added advanced voice controls and finger gesture controls. The voice commands will be of appeal to a much wider market by covering the native languages of 23 different countries instead of 11. Viewers can use the finger gestures to change channels, adjust volume controls, and rewind/forward videos. The best part of all is that this feature only requires the use of one finger. Do you think the finger gesture control will be a hit, or a miss?
US Energy Department Outlines Efficiency Standards for Set-Top Boxes, Verizon Already on Board (Engadget)
Many pay-TV providers, in collaboration with the US government, are looking to create a new voluntary standard for set-top box energy efficiency. This can be done by “curtailing phantom power usage and implementing a pair of sleep modes for periods of device inactivity.” The savings would add up to approximately $1 billion, and enough energy would be saved each year to power 700,000 homes. Do you think consumers would be okay with scaling back on power, possibly at the cost of the user experience?
