Samsung TV Discovery searches on-demand and live TV
The new smart TV service lets you search across live TV and apps to find what you want to watch.
Samsung's got a new TV service that aims to make smart TV viewing a tad easier, letting you search multiple apps for the single programme you're trying to watch.
Dubbed 'Samsung TV Discovery' (bold -- I like it), the service will search through services like Netflix, Lovefilm, YouTube, as well as live TV listings. Samsung's wizard wheeze is that you'll only need this one app to search through everything your telly has to offer, saving you the chore of hopping in and out of different on-demand services.
As modern trends dictate, the TV Discovery service will make personal recommendations based on what you watch, so that -- in theory at least -- the more you use it, the more useful the tool becomes.
The service will also work on supported smart phones, though Samsung says it will work on "upcoming" mobile devices, which could mean current Samsung mobiles are left out. I expect the Samsung Galaxy S4 will be first in line when it launches, however.
You'll also be able to use your phone or tablet as a remote and mirror video across devices, which would let you start watching something on a tablet and continue on the big screen, for example.
The bad news is that it seems even slightly older Samsung smart TVs won't be supported, as Samsung's site intimates that the service will be arriving on the company's 2013 tellies. Here's hoping an update brings existing models up to speed. The mobile version meanwhile is set to launch in the second quarter of 2013.
Samsung teased the service at CES, and now promises that we'll get another viewing at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week. CNET will be at the show in force, so stay tuned.
Smart TVs are great in principle, but moving gracelessly from Netflix to Lovefilm to other services using a TV remote is very little fun. If Samsung can address that problem, it could make evening viewing a lot more comfortable.
Do you like using smart TV, or is it more hassle than it's worth? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook wall.