Like many ‘intelligent’ devices, SmartTVs have a limited life and Philips will withdraw smart features from the 8000 and 9000 series TVs that it sold in 2009 at the end of December and using the WebTV platform. The older sets are unable to support the sha-2 security technology for updating in the future.
TPVision, which sells the Philips TVs in Europe, has decided to provide a free Amazon Fire TV stick to customers that want to maintain some smart interactivity, although it didn’t do this initially. Customers need to contact Philips Customer Care.
2010 sets are said to need a firmware upgrade to allow support of sha-2.
Analyst Comment
I’ve often said that “your smartTV becomes your stupid TV in three years”. Clearly it may get completely brainless after seven years. It was that concept that persuaded me, some years ago, that the only model that made sense was to use a thin client/cloud model which would allow most of the smarts to reside under the control of the vendor, rather than being out in the sets. Over time, this just becomes more and more clearly the way to go.
The choice of the Amazon stick surprised a few, as the service has not been available in the Netherlands, according to local sources, but it is said to be ‘coming soon’. (BR)
