Once the exclusive domain of Star Trek, video telephone calls are now a very actual part of modern life. Cast your mind back to the ‘Friends’ episode when Monica was dating guest star Jon Favreau’s character ‘Pete the millionaire’ and you’ll remember one where Monica and co had sneaked into Pete’s home, only to be interrupted by a shock video call. So unprepared for the millionaire’s-only technology were the friends, that Pete had to indicate that they all “sucked at hiding” as he revealed them one by one. Today, if you’ve a computer, or a portable tablet, you may make a video call. It is that simple.
In fact, Skype (the program frequently used to make such phone calls) is gratis, remarkably easy to set up and saves you a large amount of cash on the phone bill. It will even make International phone calls, just like that! (I just clicked my fingers, but you can’t see it).
Whilst at University, I recall being woken up early approximately each morning by a Taiwanese girl in the room next to me as she got phone calls from her Mum and proceeded to have her sound system on full blast whilst they conversed in Mandarin (once my understanding of basic Mandarin got better, though, they kept it down for concern that I’d eavesdrop). I actually spoke to another friend of mine who was staying in America and was in a position to ‘meet’ her boyfriend’s relatives (oddly, where my use of Mandarin Chinese would once again come in useful) without having to dress and go to the airport.
I even once had a job interview over Skype. That’s the amount people are using video calls these days.
Well, as it is possible to obviously surmise, Skype (and other video call apps) have become downloadable via your Smart TV. This means that you and your friends or family can meet round and converse with other family and friends who might be as far as half a world away. It’s the right strategy to communicate, perform business and engage in long conversations without continuously fretting about your telephone bill.
Skype is a kind of Innovation, much like the mobile phone (and soon maybe the Smart TV) that it’s hard to remember a period without — and I am only 26. I do not think I even got Skype until approximately 2008 or so.
Downloading Skype to your big screen Television will allow you to talk to the friends whilst sat about the couch, it will be exactly like they are visiting you except you do not have to make then tea plus they will not scoff all the Hob Nobs.
Of all the obtainable apps available on Smart TV, this is probably probably the most universal in its charm and, I think, one of the most welcome. Over the course of this succession, we have seen the Smart TV be a device where what you need to watch is actually on, a gaming system so that you’re never bored, a pc, a network that connects you to your family and friends and now it can even take place of a home phone.
Skype is a quick, enjoyable and interactive way to keep in contact with friends and, when connected using your Smart TV, doesn’t even involve getting up to visit the next room. You can’t say fairer than that. In addition, you are able to always telephone your mates and tell them they’re on the telly. You’ll receive kick out of it, even if they do not quite get what you’re on about and why you laugh when they ask ‘what channel?’
Showing posts with label smart tv. Show all posts
Showing posts with label smart tv. Show all posts
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Read what people are saying about on twitter, facebook and Google + whilst watching TV
Since its beginning in 2004, ‘Facebook’ has made it as an giant success story, albeit not one without controversy. Plenty of controversy. But I am not here to discuss that. I am here to tell you a bit about social networking and why it’s a great addition to any Smart TV.
In some ways coming out through the now elapsed ‘Myspace’ and the excess of imitators it left in its wake, Facebook emerged as champion of the social networks, (until the next one comes along, that is). Facebook has occupied the Web using a clever exploitation of these 3 ever-reliable concepts:
1) People love gossiping about others, particularly secretly.
2) People are inordinately fond of and poking their noses into the lives of others.
3) People’s unquenchable self attention, which, when fuelled by Facebook, is egotism on steroids.
Facebook is a remarkable tool and one which has easily tailored itself to smart phones, portable devices and now, even Television. In the end, Myspace was the cumbersome Neanderthal, who, even though being better, smarter and more powerful than Homo Sapiens, succumbed to the retreating ice age somewhat swiftly, failing to adapt to the world he could no longer understand. Facebook, conversely, was the eventual Cro Magnon victor, shivering in the cave throughout Neanderthal’s time, he emerged on the warm plains of the modern-day and, either directly or indirectly, eradicated his rival before moving with the altering technology and times, to the point he could sit at his writing table and update his position numerous times a day.
‘Twitter’ is an extremely limited website that acts like a miniature Facebook. Users have a couple of words to publicize their actions, opinion and/or feelings to a world that mostly does not care unless its worried that it is being cheated on. Yet, while famous people on Facebook tend to not update their own web pages, on Twitter an individual can follow (and sometimes communicate with) the behavior of Hollywood luminaries, celebrities, sports stars and other notable people, who are often surprisingly honest about their daily lives.
Facebook and Twitter are both big ones, but there’s others, greater than I can count that follow the same simple model but specialise in a new area (LinkedIn, for instance, deals with business relationships a lot more than personal ones). Many sites co-exist with Facebook now, feeding off their scraps like remoras on the back of the Tiger Shark. With nearly all online content, there is even an option to ‘Like’ it, thus adding it to the Facebook page (when you look closely at this page, you will almost definitely find one, which serves to spotlight just how all-encompassing Facebook’s presence is.
Smart TV, recognising the ubiquity of such sites and the emphasis that modern online business places on this ubiquity, has Facebook, Twitter (and the other social network sites) available for download. This means that you can have full (or nearly full) access to your Facebook account and update it without even going to a computer. Last night, when I needed to update my very own Facebook to say that I was watching, for what must be the hundredth time, the movie ‘The 40 Year Old Virgin’ I might have easily done it throughout a tea break in the movie itself rather than aiming to do it and ultimately forgetting, as I essentially did.
When you’re wondering how people are doing and you need up-to-the-minute information, Facebook is frequently the place to go. Facebook the site is free to use, could be the Smart TV app at time of writing and is a wonderful comms tool, particularly for people you do not essentially know that well. These days, people change their phone numbers every 0.3 of a second, so Facebook remains one reliable way to ensure you can always keep in touch. I like to think of it as a really badly written newspaper, where the headlines are a little sunnier, a lot less biased and contain individuals I essentially give a damn about.
In some ways coming out through the now elapsed ‘Myspace’ and the excess of imitators it left in its wake, Facebook emerged as champion of the social networks, (until the next one comes along, that is). Facebook has occupied the Web using a clever exploitation of these 3 ever-reliable concepts:
1) People love gossiping about others, particularly secretly.
2) People are inordinately fond of and poking their noses into the lives of others.
3) People’s unquenchable self attention, which, when fuelled by Facebook, is egotism on steroids.
Facebook is a remarkable tool and one which has easily tailored itself to smart phones, portable devices and now, even Television. In the end, Myspace was the cumbersome Neanderthal, who, even though being better, smarter and more powerful than Homo Sapiens, succumbed to the retreating ice age somewhat swiftly, failing to adapt to the world he could no longer understand. Facebook, conversely, was the eventual Cro Magnon victor, shivering in the cave throughout Neanderthal’s time, he emerged on the warm plains of the modern-day and, either directly or indirectly, eradicated his rival before moving with the altering technology and times, to the point he could sit at his writing table and update his position numerous times a day.
‘Twitter’ is an extremely limited website that acts like a miniature Facebook. Users have a couple of words to publicize their actions, opinion and/or feelings to a world that mostly does not care unless its worried that it is being cheated on. Yet, while famous people on Facebook tend to not update their own web pages, on Twitter an individual can follow (and sometimes communicate with) the behavior of Hollywood luminaries, celebrities, sports stars and other notable people, who are often surprisingly honest about their daily lives.
Facebook and Twitter are both big ones, but there’s others, greater than I can count that follow the same simple model but specialise in a new area (LinkedIn, for instance, deals with business relationships a lot more than personal ones). Many sites co-exist with Facebook now, feeding off their scraps like remoras on the back of the Tiger Shark. With nearly all online content, there is even an option to ‘Like’ it, thus adding it to the Facebook page (when you look closely at this page, you will almost definitely find one, which serves to spotlight just how all-encompassing Facebook’s presence is.
Smart TV, recognising the ubiquity of such sites and the emphasis that modern online business places on this ubiquity, has Facebook, Twitter (and the other social network sites) available for download. This means that you can have full (or nearly full) access to your Facebook account and update it without even going to a computer. Last night, when I needed to update my very own Facebook to say that I was watching, for what must be the hundredth time, the movie ‘The 40 Year Old Virgin’ I might have easily done it throughout a tea break in the movie itself rather than aiming to do it and ultimately forgetting, as I essentially did.
When you’re wondering how people are doing and you need up-to-the-minute information, Facebook is frequently the place to go. Facebook the site is free to use, could be the Smart TV app at time of writing and is a wonderful comms tool, particularly for people you do not essentially know that well. These days, people change their phone numbers every 0.3 of a second, so Facebook remains one reliable way to ensure you can always keep in touch. I like to think of it as a really badly written newspaper, where the headlines are a little sunnier, a lot less biased and contain individuals I essentially give a damn about.
Monday, August 26, 2013
How to play video games on a smart Television
Abiding its strategy of integrating basically everything into itself, the Smart TV also has a restricted choice of games, available as downloadable apps, for our playing delight.
Now, the times of downloading ‘Tekken Vs. Street Fighter’ or the modern ‘Resident Evil’ directly to your Smart tv are a long way away certainly, so you’ll yet need your PS3, Xbox or Wii for the time being. In addition, none of the games available (with the likely exemption of the massively addictive ‘Angry Birds’) will equal the gaming experience already available in your consoles, but that doesn’t signify that the selection of games available in your Smart TV are in any way limited. There are simulation games, puzzle games, card games and plenty more besides. Once again, Smart TV is making huge improvements to the tried and true area of TV (as anyone who ever enjoyed the old ‘Teletext’ games will attest).
Another much-maligned type of entertainment frequently patrolled by the ‘fun police’ is console games (see our first article for particulars). Which began with a simple mistake, one stating that video games were exclusively for kids.
Now, this was not initially accurate but it is not true nowadays, but there is a period where consoles and peripherals were principally geared towards children and young teenagers. Then obviously, the cultural watchdogs backlashed against gaming in much a similar way they did against movies in the 70’s, music by the 60’s and comic books by the 50’s.
For our General gamer knows implicitly that a number of games are created with adults at heart (these tend to be the ones that possess the title spelled out in blood, or the choices to disembowel hookers for extra points) whilst some are made for kids (its a hint if no one really tries to kill you over the sequence of the game and you may finish it in a matter of hours) just like movies, books and everything else you can imagine, most are catered for. The games you will find in your Smart TV are mostly pretty simple plus the great thing about downloadable apps is, if you have any difficulty whatsoever with lurid game content on offer, then simply do not download it.
Right then, let’s have a look at some of the games you can download on your Smart TV (NOTE: Please do be aware that not all games are similar with all models, therefore the games mentioned below are just a selection that I find fascinating. In case you’re after a specific game for your Smart TV, be sure you buy a TV that will be able to play it).
‘Texas Holdem’ is the poker sim that lets you play games of virtual poker, either alongside the computer or your friends. As far as I know, no actual money changes hands in TH, but you might want to double ensure before you bet your mortgage (even if you have a straight flush). One more game that is great fun to play with mates is ‘Dynamic Bowling’. DB is another simulation that allows you to, yep, you guessed it, go bowling. This game could be played alone or with friends. My advice would be to practice in the home and dazzle your pals by bowling an ideal game. ‘Bejewelled 2’ is a sequel to the trendy ‘Bejewelled’ a game title which has enthralled and addicted my own father for about 3 years now. Bejewelled (which I will not break down to initials for obvious reasons!) is addictive, stimulating, challenging and, above all, fun.
So here you go. I’m sure that, when the months and years go on, an incredible many other gaming apps will be added to the Smart TV’s options. Watch this space!
Now, the times of downloading ‘Tekken Vs. Street Fighter’ or the modern ‘Resident Evil’ directly to your Smart tv are a long way away certainly, so you’ll yet need your PS3, Xbox or Wii for the time being. In addition, none of the games available (with the likely exemption of the massively addictive ‘Angry Birds’) will equal the gaming experience already available in your consoles, but that doesn’t signify that the selection of games available in your Smart TV are in any way limited. There are simulation games, puzzle games, card games and plenty more besides. Once again, Smart TV is making huge improvements to the tried and true area of TV (as anyone who ever enjoyed the old ‘Teletext’ games will attest).
Another much-maligned type of entertainment frequently patrolled by the ‘fun police’ is console games (see our first article for particulars). Which began with a simple mistake, one stating that video games were exclusively for kids.
Now, this was not initially accurate but it is not true nowadays, but there is a period where consoles and peripherals were principally geared towards children and young teenagers. Then obviously, the cultural watchdogs backlashed against gaming in much a similar way they did against movies in the 70’s, music by the 60’s and comic books by the 50’s.
For our General gamer knows implicitly that a number of games are created with adults at heart (these tend to be the ones that possess the title spelled out in blood, or the choices to disembowel hookers for extra points) whilst some are made for kids (its a hint if no one really tries to kill you over the sequence of the game and you may finish it in a matter of hours) just like movies, books and everything else you can imagine, most are catered for. The games you will find in your Smart TV are mostly pretty simple plus the great thing about downloadable apps is, if you have any difficulty whatsoever with lurid game content on offer, then simply do not download it.
Right then, let’s have a look at some of the games you can download on your Smart TV (NOTE: Please do be aware that not all games are similar with all models, therefore the games mentioned below are just a selection that I find fascinating. In case you’re after a specific game for your Smart TV, be sure you buy a TV that will be able to play it).
‘Texas Holdem’ is the poker sim that lets you play games of virtual poker, either alongside the computer or your friends. As far as I know, no actual money changes hands in TH, but you might want to double ensure before you bet your mortgage (even if you have a straight flush). One more game that is great fun to play with mates is ‘Dynamic Bowling’. DB is another simulation that allows you to, yep, you guessed it, go bowling. This game could be played alone or with friends. My advice would be to practice in the home and dazzle your pals by bowling an ideal game. ‘Bejewelled 2’ is a sequel to the trendy ‘Bejewelled’ a game title which has enthralled and addicted my own father for about 3 years now. Bejewelled (which I will not break down to initials for obvious reasons!) is addictive, stimulating, challenging and, above all, fun.
So here you go. I’m sure that, when the months and years go on, an incredible many other gaming apps will be added to the Smart TV’s options. Watch this space!
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
What applications can be found on the typical Smart TV
Harking back to days of GCSE science, I tend to think of the term ‘application’ usually meaning ‘practical usage’ as a particularly annoying section of these seemingly countless worksheets we had to fill out, just so we might set fire to a bit. The ‘application’ part was the bit where you needed to say what (if any) real world, useful value your experiments had, which, because it seems, was not usually a great deal in my case. I recall a classmate rather nastily drenched a spider in hydrochloric acid once, but I doubted, even at age fifteen and three quarters, that it would turn into a popular form of pest control.
As Led Zeppelin have been telling us since the 70′s, you understand sometimes words have double meanings. In the case of software design and programming, there’s also quite a lot of words that have now been co-opted to be able to denote something, usually only somewhat similar, to what the word actually means. So, applications, or ‘apps’ as we hip, swinging cats refer to them, don’t have anything whatsoever to do with GCSE science and everything to do with innovative consumer tech.
An app is basically a computer program designed to aid the parent device carry out a specific purpose. Apps are like little programs that were initially planned for portable devices like iPods, Smartphones and Pc tablets. Apps range from the sublime, (such like the app that can track migratory whales in real time or the one which shows you the exact position of all the stars and heavenly bodies from any place on the earth) to the totally stupid, but amusing anyways (the app where it is possible to punch a cartoon cat in the face, Angry Birds). Apple consumers alone have access to over 60,000 downloadable applications, most of them are totally free to use.
Smart TV, obviously, has its own set of downloadable apps. I should indicate now that these are not as esoteric as the wide-ranging apps available for the phone or Tablet, yet. So far Smart TV’s list of apps is a typically practical one. Here’s a look at some of the applications you’ll manage to acquire for your Smart TV (NOTE: Different applications are licensed to various manufacturers – so if you’re specifically after a TV because of its apps, it pays to try and do your homework, that is, in its own way, a bit like GCSE science).
Netflix – The extension of the online film rental company (and proud sponsor of our iFanboy comic book discussion show, I hasten to add) can be an app which supplies you the choice to stream ‘rented’ movies over the Web for a small cover fee.
Amazon – From Amazon, you can download content. So when you’d rather buy a movie or Television show, you are able to simply click the link and it’ll be sent straight to your hard drive. It is cheaper than buying discs and much easier to store.
BBC iPlayer – It is a little version of the iPlayer site; there is also a BBC News and sports application.
Youtube – You will also find other video sites available as apps. Dailymotion and Vimeo are now properly accessible from your TV.
Along with these applications, you’ll find Sports applications that’ll record every game and apps for specific channels, making them accessible as individual networks as opposed to part of a cable/satellite package.
Whichever applications you need, be sure they do what you think they do and these are available for that TV you select, before you buy. That way you will avoid disappointment.
As Led Zeppelin have been telling us since the 70′s, you understand sometimes words have double meanings. In the case of software design and programming, there’s also quite a lot of words that have now been co-opted to be able to denote something, usually only somewhat similar, to what the word actually means. So, applications, or ‘apps’ as we hip, swinging cats refer to them, don’t have anything whatsoever to do with GCSE science and everything to do with innovative consumer tech.
An app is basically a computer program designed to aid the parent device carry out a specific purpose. Apps are like little programs that were initially planned for portable devices like iPods, Smartphones and Pc tablets. Apps range from the sublime, (such like the app that can track migratory whales in real time or the one which shows you the exact position of all the stars and heavenly bodies from any place on the earth) to the totally stupid, but amusing anyways (the app where it is possible to punch a cartoon cat in the face, Angry Birds). Apple consumers alone have access to over 60,000 downloadable applications, most of them are totally free to use.
Smart TV, obviously, has its own set of downloadable apps. I should indicate now that these are not as esoteric as the wide-ranging apps available for the phone or Tablet, yet. So far Smart TV’s list of apps is a typically practical one. Here’s a look at some of the applications you’ll manage to acquire for your Smart TV (NOTE: Different applications are licensed to various manufacturers – so if you’re specifically after a TV because of its apps, it pays to try and do your homework, that is, in its own way, a bit like GCSE science).
Netflix – The extension of the online film rental company (and proud sponsor of our iFanboy comic book discussion show, I hasten to add) can be an app which supplies you the choice to stream ‘rented’ movies over the Web for a small cover fee.
Amazon – From Amazon, you can download content. So when you’d rather buy a movie or Television show, you are able to simply click the link and it’ll be sent straight to your hard drive. It is cheaper than buying discs and much easier to store.
BBC iPlayer – It is a little version of the iPlayer site; there is also a BBC News and sports application.
Youtube – You will also find other video sites available as apps. Dailymotion and Vimeo are now properly accessible from your TV.
Along with these applications, you’ll find Sports applications that’ll record every game and apps for specific channels, making them accessible as individual networks as opposed to part of a cable/satellite package.
Whichever applications you need, be sure they do what you think they do and these are available for that TV you select, before you buy. That way you will avoid disappointment.
Monday, August 5, 2013
What are the ways of using your Smart TV for surfing the internet?
Right now, as in the very instant you read this, I am sure that somebody, anywhere around across the greater landscapes that make up planet Earth, is having a discussion about what they like best: Television on the Internet.
It is a noteworthy query, actually. The principle disparity between the 2 (as both are largely sedentary, involving gazing at a display for an extended time frame) is that internet browsing is an energetic (or preferably, interactive) activity, whereas TV is really a passive one.
Within the 1990’s, a group of self-appointed cultural watchdogs took it upon themselves to fabricate a variety of pseudoscientific factors that Television, a passive, largely entertaining activity enjoyed by billions around the globe, was an entirely terrible and destructive thing. The only ‘evidence’ even remotely convincing they might provide you with was that frequent exposure to open sex and violence at the young age can warp a child’s conception of our world (like we could not have figured that out for ourselves) and sitting too near to the display knackers your eyes.
Naturally, if a parent lets television bring up their child, the kid will develop to be a moron, but if ever the parent has made this decision of their own preference; it stands to reason that the child was genetically predisposed to moronism in the 1st place.
During the mid 2000s, the exact same band of watchdogs took it upon themselves to disclose just the level of damaging stuff there’s about the Internet. Like we didn’t previously know. Even going as much as to say that children’s active participation in internet gaming could warp a child’s (already fragile from too much TV, you realize) perception of the world. Now, while a number of us let out an frustrated cry of ‘What exactly can people do that’s both beneficial and not boring enough to execute you instantly!’ whilst thinking at what point parental accountability would turn out to be an element on this oh-so tedious ‘debate’, the Television and computer manufacturers did something unprecedented: they developed a TV that lets you browse the Internet.
Somewhere in the last decade roughly, the straightforward family telly became re-fashioned as the ‘entertainment centre’ that’s a part of your living room dedicated to leisure, where the only possibility of tension is unintentionally channel surfing over to the News during the advertisements of Star Trek or finally getting the bill for the blasted thing.
The Smart Television in fact allows you to visit cyberspace, in real time, like you’d do on your laptop. You can download applications, social network (which is a posh way of saying ‘check your Facebook’), watch you tube your friends have uploaded and catch the selective web-only programmes which are putting Television writing, acting and directing within the reach of the common man. Yes, your Television has become both active and passive. The choice is yours. That’s the thing about TV, and maybe the point that our moral guardians find so detestable, TV always gives you a choice, even when that choice to switch it off and go for a walk every once in a while.
So, to go back to our initial scene, our person who can not determine between the two, now does not need to, as he or she can do both, from the same place. Smart TV has advanced the tv into a strong, all encompassing multimedia tool and, for the next five items in this series; I’ll be giving you information on the practical applications and far-reaching usefulness of this newest home entertainment innovation. Stay tuned.
It is a noteworthy query, actually. The principle disparity between the 2 (as both are largely sedentary, involving gazing at a display for an extended time frame) is that internet browsing is an energetic (or preferably, interactive) activity, whereas TV is really a passive one.
Within the 1990’s, a group of self-appointed cultural watchdogs took it upon themselves to fabricate a variety of pseudoscientific factors that Television, a passive, largely entertaining activity enjoyed by billions around the globe, was an entirely terrible and destructive thing. The only ‘evidence’ even remotely convincing they might provide you with was that frequent exposure to open sex and violence at the young age can warp a child’s conception of our world (like we could not have figured that out for ourselves) and sitting too near to the display knackers your eyes.
Naturally, if a parent lets television bring up their child, the kid will develop to be a moron, but if ever the parent has made this decision of their own preference; it stands to reason that the child was genetically predisposed to moronism in the 1st place.
During the mid 2000s, the exact same band of watchdogs took it upon themselves to disclose just the level of damaging stuff there’s about the Internet. Like we didn’t previously know. Even going as much as to say that children’s active participation in internet gaming could warp a child’s (already fragile from too much TV, you realize) perception of the world. Now, while a number of us let out an frustrated cry of ‘What exactly can people do that’s both beneficial and not boring enough to execute you instantly!’ whilst thinking at what point parental accountability would turn out to be an element on this oh-so tedious ‘debate’, the Television and computer manufacturers did something unprecedented: they developed a TV that lets you browse the Internet.
Somewhere in the last decade roughly, the straightforward family telly became re-fashioned as the ‘entertainment centre’ that’s a part of your living room dedicated to leisure, where the only possibility of tension is unintentionally channel surfing over to the News during the advertisements of Star Trek or finally getting the bill for the blasted thing.
The Smart Television in fact allows you to visit cyberspace, in real time, like you’d do on your laptop. You can download applications, social network (which is a posh way of saying ‘check your Facebook’), watch you tube your friends have uploaded and catch the selective web-only programmes which are putting Television writing, acting and directing within the reach of the common man. Yes, your Television has become both active and passive. The choice is yours. That’s the thing about TV, and maybe the point that our moral guardians find so detestable, TV always gives you a choice, even when that choice to switch it off and go for a walk every once in a while.
So, to go back to our initial scene, our person who can not determine between the two, now does not need to, as he or she can do both, from the same place. Smart TV has advanced the tv into a strong, all encompassing multimedia tool and, for the next five items in this series; I’ll be giving you information on the practical applications and far-reaching usefulness of this newest home entertainment innovation. Stay tuned.
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