Samsung Smart Hub on 2011 Blu-ray players (review)
CNET reviews Samsung's Smart Hub streaming media content portal, finding that it offers a very strong selection of video services, but its cluttered and overambitious user interface gets in the way.
They may be called Blu-ray players, but in 2011 they're as much about streaming media services as they are about high-definition discs. With every manufacturer having a different collection of streaming media services, it can be tough to choose a player, which is why we're taking an in-depth look at each major manufacturer's 2011 content portal.
We're starting with Samsung's Smart Hub, the company's renamed content portal (formerly called Internet@TV), which features streaming media services like Netflix and MLB.TV, (supposedly) cross-platform search, and the Samsung App store.
Smart Hub is the same on nearly all 2011 Blu-ray players--and home theater systems with built-in Blu-ray players--but slightly different on Samsung TVs. The main exception on the Blu-ray side is the entry-level Samsung BD-D5300, which doesn't have the full Smart Hub interface.