iT Rumors

It admits that yes, it was collecting stuff like “channel, TV platform broadcast source, etc.” from its customers with certain LG Smart TVs, but that “that is not personal but viewing information.” Which, okay, if I’m watching 13 episodes of Snapped! in a row, I consider that personal, but whatever.

LG said that it collected that information for advertisers and also to offer viewers recommendations, but that it should be a setting that can be turned off.

“We have verified that even when this function is turned off by the viewers, it continues to transmit viewing information although the data is not retained by the server. A firmware update is being prepared for immediate rollout that will correct this problem on all affected LG Smart TVs so when this feature is disabled, no data will be transmitted.”

Imagine that! A setting that can be turned on or off. Although it might be nice if the TVs came with the default set to “off,” but that’s just something customers should now be aware of before buying LG sets.

As for the TV’s propensity to collect the file names of any media connected via an external drive, LG reiterated that the files names weren’t really going anywhere at the moment, but it’ll fix that, too.

“While the file names are not stored, the transmission of such file names was part of a new feature being readied to search for data from the internet (metadata) related to the program being watched in order to deliver a better viewing experience. This feature, however, was never fully implemented and no personal data was ever collected or retained. This feature will also be removed from affected LG Smart TVs with the firmware update.”

Great. And are you sorry, LG? Yes.

“LG regrets any concerns these reports may have caused and will continue to strive to meet the expectations of all our customers and the public. We hope this update clears up any confusion.”

Source : Consumerist

Intel Corp is trying to sell its yet-to-launch Internet television service for $500 million and wants to complete a deal by year-end, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

Verizon Communications, one of the suitors, has spoken with content providers about a streaming television service, Bloomberg also said, citing unnamed sources.

Intel declined to comment on the report.

Intel's project, called OnCue, has faced challenges getting off the ground since it was officially launched in February. The chipmaker's new CEO, Brian Krzanich, ultimately decided Intel could not afford the distraction and expense, sources familiar with the decision told Reuters last week.

Source : Reuters

Like smartphones, smart TVs have embraced the app model. Netflix, Hulu Plus, and everything from MLB to Twitter have developed apps that will work on most smart TVs. In these cases syncing is simply a matter of logging into your account. Once your TV has your YouTube info, for example, anything you've liked or added to a playlist on YouTube is now available on your TV.

Some services are more commonly accessed by smart TV apps than others. Flickr seems to be the most popular photo-hosting service, but Picasa has its share of apps as well. Pandora and last.fm are custom music station services that are well-supported by apps. Vimeo has a presence on many platforms, but YouTube remains the king of streaming video.

So far so good, but what about all those movies you have on your PC? Well, that depends on your TV. The latest and greatest TVs can connect to your local network and automatically find any videos on your desktop computer. For example, LG's new Smart Share TVs can stream content from your PC's media player. Smart Share also includes what LG calls "Media Link," a service that provides extra information about what you're watching, like plot synopses, actor bios and other metadata.

LG's new Smart TVs, and similar models from other manufacturers, also offer their own custom apps for streaming other things, like educational content or games for kids. And of course most offer a built-in web browser as well. Though browsing the web from your armchair is not an ideal experience, it does offer a fallback plan for content that you can't get any other way.

If your TV isn't one of the newest models that include built-in streaming tools you'll need to add another box to the mix -- like the Apple TV 2, Boxee or a PC running XMBC.

The Apple TV 2 makes it incredibly simple to stream content from any iOS mobile device to an Apple TV on the same network. Sadly, the smart TVs on the market at the time of this writing can’t easily stream movies or other content on your phone. For now at least, you'll have to content yourself with the movies on your PC or jump on the Apple bandwagon.

While you were out standing in line for an elusive gold iPhone 5s, Apple quietly rolled out the latest Apple TV update. Unlike previous updates that added new channels, version 6 of the Apple TV firmware goes under the hood, adding support for Apple’s iTunes Radio streaming service, allowing purchases from the iTunes music store, supporting podcast syncing, and providing access to shared iCloud Photo Streams. Additionally you can stream purchased iTunes content via iCloud to any Apple TV, even when it isn’t currently using your iTunes credentials.

The new iTunes Radio fills the fourth spot on the top row of Apple TV’s apps. Launch it, wait a while as it loads, and the iTunes Radio screen appears. Along the top are Stations, Add Station, Edit Stations, and History headings. Choose Stations and you’ll see a row of Apple’s preconfigured stations (playlists) and then the My Stations entries below. Just as with iOS 7’s Music app, you add stations by clicking an Add Station button. This produces the Add Station screen where you can select a genre and then sub-genre—Alternative > Indie Rock, for example, and highlight and click a plus (+) button to add the station.

Alternatively, on the Add a Station screen highlight and click Create a Station and in the resulting screen type in the name of an artist, song, or genre; select a matching station; select and click it to add the station; and start it playing.

On the Now Playing screen you can start and stop playback with the remote’s Play/Pause button. To see additional options, press and hold the remote’s Down button. Do this and you can access the Play More Like This, Never Play This Song, and New Station From Artist options.

Navigate to the Edit Stations screen and you can enable or disable the Explicit Music option as well as select a station and click the Trash icon next to it to delete the station. If, instead, you highlight the station and click you find options for tuning the station (choosing between Hits, Variety, and Discovery), Play More Like This (artist, song, or genre), Never Play This (artist, song, or genre), and Delete Station.

Choose History and you’ll see those tracks you’ve played as well as have access to your Wish List. All the data you find within the Apple TV’s iTunes Radio area is synced over iCloud from other devices, which explains why you need to be running iOS 7 and iTunes 11.1 (along with OS X Lion or later) to use it.

Again, as with iOS 7’s Music app, you can purchase tracks within most of the iTunes Radio screens. Speaking of which…

Source : Macworld